Dark – Dark Round The Edges `Mega Rare` 1972 Private Pressing £25,000
In the early ‘90s, a visiting American executive, clearing out the debris from an office at EMI, one of the companies to which Dark had sent their LP, found ‘Dark Round The Edges’. The rest they say is history. The Latest Copy Sold For £25,000 check out Steve Giles comments below
`Dark Around the Edges` (SIS SR0102S) has become one of the most sought after records in the world. Initially there were only 32 produced (including 2 test pressings) which had the Black on Red label. soon after handing them out to family & friends, more were needed so another 32 produced (again with 2 test pressings) there have only ever been 64 Originals!
Guitarist Steve used the facilities of his father’s photographic business to add his own photographs, which he glued on. On the sleeve was a girl Steve knew at the time (local vicar’s daughter) shown staring out of a bay window at his parents’ house, where is she now we wonder? There have only ever been three variants of the handmade sleeve a Colour Gatefold, Black and White Gatefold, & Black and White Single Sleeve.
The gatefolds were made by gluing a flap of card to the inside of the back of the sleeve opening so that it folded over the sleeve covering the opening. Onto the inside of that was the B&W ‘Montage’ shots and when folded over it showed ‘The Girl On The Settee’. So on the front of the album sleeve it was actually the band and not the ‘Girl In The Window’. There were only ever 13 colour gatefold sleeves made. Also on all the original single sleeve versions it is the group shot that is on the front of the album. From the first run there were 19 single B&W sleeves made. The final tally 12 Colour Gatefolds (1 ‘Special’ Colour Gatefold), 1 White Doodle On Sleeve, 12 B&W Gatefolds and 38 B&W Single Sleeves
Every single album came complete with hand made Lyric Booklet, using Feather-Weight photo paper. The fact that they are actual photos is the reason that there is nothing on the reverse side. Completed by stapling together. All the booklets were identical but the ones included with the single sleeves had the ‘Montage’ and ‘Car-Track Listing’ shots included. Why not subscribe as I list new videos regularly
http://thevinylrecordcollector.com/round-the-edges-ultra-rare-prog-rock-lp/
Side 1
1. Darkside
2. Maypole
3. Live For Today
Side 2
1. RC8
2. The Cat
3. Zero Time
The LP cost £34.68 to record and £87.17½p to produce, for which they were supposed to have a whip-round, only Steve, then earning £6 a week, seems to have picked up the entire tab. The record was bought mostly by friends, who paid £3 each. Some were sent out to record companies. They never even received an acknowledgment. Nevertheless they went down to London and knocked on doors. One company, Island Records, held out the promise of work and even quoted a fee (£40 for a seven-day week), provided the group organised a gig its executives could come and watch. Dark organised a gig, but Island Records never turned up.
And that was it really. They broke up in late 1972 and drifted apart. There were jobs, marriages, children and even other bands, but it was the end of Dark, until in 1993 their phones began to ring.
