Curved Air – Air Conditioning 1971 UK picture disc LP

$75.00

Free U.S. shipping!  A limited edition 1970 UK picture disc edition of Air Conditioning by Curved Air, the first commercially released LP picture disc.

1 in stock

Description

Offered for sale is a rare UK picture disc edition of Air Conditioning, the 1970 debut LP by British progressive rock band Curved Air.

Air Conditioning has the distinction of being the first long-play album ever released as a picture disc anywhere.

About this copy: This copy of Air Conditioning is a 1970 UK pressing on the Warner Brothers label and not the U.S. 2018 Record Store Day reissue.

This is the first issue with the original WSX 3012 catalog number.

This disc was issued in a clear plastic sleeve; the sleeve is M- with no splits.

The heavy (218 gram) record is M- and may be unplayed.

A nice copy of a beautiful record, and a pretty good album, as well.

Background: Curved Air isn’t all that well remembered today, but during their time together they made some pretty good progressive rock.

The band is best remembered today for their unique contribution to record collecting – the first pressings of their 1970 debut, Air Conditioning, were pressed as picture discs, and this was the first long-play record to be issued in that format.  Due to quality control issues, the pressings were limited to 10,000 copies, and subsequent pressings were pressed on regular black vinyl.

There were two pressings; the first had the original Warner Brothers WSX 3012 catalog number and the second one had the K56004P catalog number and the Damont Records credit.

Allmusic.com gave Air Conditioning a 4 star review:

Air Conditioning rates among the great debut albums of 1970s rock, a hybrid whose breathless audacity stands in starkly good-natured contrast to the po-faced noodlings of the genre’s other leading progenitors. Even in full, fanciful flight (the instrumental “Rob One” or the sawing discordant “Vivaldi”), you can hear the band enjoying themselves, as Darryl Way’s violin soars to pitches unknown to rocking man, the immortally named Florian Pilkington-Miksa conjures brand new rhythms from his percussive arsenal and Monkman. Well, Monkman is as Monkman does, but even when you know what’s going to happen next, a frill or a flourish still leaps out to surprise you. Kristina, meanwhile, possesses one of the most distinctive voices of the age, a virtue which is apparent from the moment she enters on the opening “It Happens Today.” Hints of Grace Slick enter her delivery during the Airplane-like “Stretch,” but it’s a fleeting comparison. By the time you hit “Propositions,” all echoed riffs and space age synth, Curved Air don’t sound like anything else on earth. You do, however, notice how many subsequent bands sound a lot like them.

You can listen to “It Happened Today” here:

Country of origin: UK
Size: 12″
Record Label: Warner Brothers
Catalog Number:
WSX 3012
Year of Release: 1970
Format: Stereo
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Additional information

Weight 10 oz
Dimensions 12.4 × 12.4 × 0.2 in