Lot 72SMOKIE-MIDNIGHT CAFE-1976-FIRST PRESS ( PROMO) JAPAN-RAK-NMINT/NMINT

NAZARETH- NO MEAN CITY-1978- ORIGINAL PRESS 1982 UK-SAHARA-SAH129. A rare British edition of the iconic album. The tenth studio album by the band Nazareth. The album cover was painted by Rodney Matthews, a famous English fantasy illustrator who created covers for the works of many other artists (Scorpions, Thin Lizzy and others) The title of the CD is borrowed from the novel "No Mean City" (1935) by Alexander MacArthur and Kingsley Long. With this album, the band's sound has become heavier, given the addition of guitarist Zal Cleminson from the Sensational Alex Harvey Band. The popularity of the album allowed the band to perform with several big names such as Thin Lizzy on their 1978/79 tour. ...more

IAN CARR WITH NUCLEUS-SOLAR PLEXUS-1971-THE FIRST UK PRESS-VERTIGO SWIRL-6360039. A mega rare original of the iconic jazz-rock progressive British band. Solar plexus is the third album by legendary musicians. On the previous two Nucleus albums, Carl Jenkins was the main songwriter. Now bandleader Ian Carr, who single-handedly wrote all the material for this album, has finally decided to take the reins. As a result of his conceptual approach, more spontaneous, groove compositions (reminiscent of the band's second album) alternate with more static and "compositional" ones (in the spirit of the first disc). Thus, the material here turned out to be, although without bright themes (Jenkins could not be surpassed), but more balanced and high-quality than on the previous disc. Yes, it is quite possible to blame Carr that his playing is devoid of Miles's emotional depths, but both he and the rest of the uncles from Nucleus have both individuality and a serious level of skill, which does not kill the music. Despite the seriousness of the ambitions, this is a very lively, diverse and mobile jazz-rock with a good game. In terms of mobility, a separate respect should be expressed to drummer John Marshall - it is always interesting to listen to him. Guitarist Chris Spedding doesn't do much solo, but he expertly maintains rocking rhythms. The final 15-minute Snakehips Dream is especially good: a cool groove and a real expanse for all musicians and listeners. ...more

JUDAS PRIEST-POINT OF ENTRY-1981-THE FIRST EU PRESS- HOLLAND-CBS-84834. A rare European original by a cult hard band. Judas Priest is the seventh studio album by the English heavy metal band Judas Priest, released on February 26, 1981 by Columbia Records. Following the commercial success of their previous album British Steel (1980), in 2005 Point of Entry was ranked 352nd on Rock Hard Magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Rock and Metal Albums of All time. ...more

WILLY TOKAREV - IN A NOISY BOOTH-1981-ORIGINAL PRESS 2015 -EU-MIRUMIR-MIR100467. A rare anniversary edition of the iconic album. In a Noisy Booth is the second studio album by Soviet, American and Russian author-performer Willy Tokarev, released in 1981 on the DCG Recording Corporation label in the USA. The producer is Willy Tokarev. At the age of 40 in 1974, Willy Tokarev emigrated to the United States with $100 in his pocket. He was sheltered for 2-3 weeks by the Tolstoy Foundation, headed by Alexandra Tolstaya, daughter of Leo Tolstoy. There he was a courier, a cleaner in a bakery, sorted through the Russian library of a millionaire, a newspaper deliveryman, became unemployed because he did not know English well, so he began to learn the language by reading American newspapers, graduated from a nurse's course, learned to drive a car, passed a taxi driving test and began working as a taxi driver to earn money for recording records, writing songs in his spare time, he was robbed four times (once, on Christmas Day, he was almost killed by a black man). He played at Carnegie Hall on a balalaika, which he bought at a souvenir shop on Fifth Avenue for $ 50, then played and sang in restaurants and nightclubs.  In 1979, the first record "And life is always beautiful!" was released, which was not particularly noticed. In 1981, the second album "In a noisy booth" was released, which brought Tokarev fame among Russian-speaking emigrants. In the 1980s, he worked at the Russian restaurant Sadko, and then at the restaurants Primorsky and Odessa, accompanied by Irina Ola. He was called the "honorary Jew of Brighton." Willy founded his own label, One Man Band, and recorded about twenty albums there.In 1989, Willy Tokarev flew to the USSR with concerts. A major role in organizing these tours was played by the famous entrepreneur Viktor Shulman, who himself also performed "Odessa songs" from the repertoire of Leningrad "tape recorder" bards, Boris Sichkin and other veterans of the genre. 70 concerts throughout the Soviet Union were a success. ...more

FOREIGNER-UNUSUAL HEAT-1991-The first press UK/EU-GERMANY - ATLANTIC- number 7567-82299-1, WX 424 is a rare original of the 90s cult band. The seventh studio album by the British-American rock band Foreigner, released on June 14, 1991 on Atlantic Records. Unusual Heat suffered a commercial failure, reaching only number 117 on the Billboard chart due to a sharp drop in sales compared to all previous albums, each of which reached the Top 20 and became at least platinum. None of the two singles released from the album made it onto the Billboard Hot 100 charts, and "Lowdown and Dirty" only reached number 4 on the Mainstream Rock chart. ...more