Cunningham, David

Grey Scale

London, England, UK: Piano Recordings, 1977. First Edition, First Printing. LP Record in sleeve. “Error System: The players play a repeating phrase. As soon as one player makes a mistake that mistake is made the basis of his repetition unless it is modified by a further mistake. Thus each player proceeds at his own rate to change the sound in an uncontrollable manner. On no account should ‘mistakes’ be made deliberately to introduce a change into a performance. In short…sustain your errors.” (From back cover) The first release by David Cunningham (b. 1954), the Northen Ireland-born composer and producer whose biggest success was the Flying Lizard’s version of "Money (That’s What I Want).” Grey Scale is a minimalist piece made while Cunningham was a student at Maidstone College of Art in Kent, England; the pieces were performed by fellow students who were non-musicians and were based on the aforementioned error system. From the collection of Richard Cupidi (b. 1945), our esteemed mate in the UK who managed the fabled Unicorn Bookshop in Brighton, England for founder Bill Butler (1934-1977, the famed American-expatriate bookseller & publisher). From the late 1960s through the early 1970s, Unicorn proffered & published many outstanding productions by William S. Burroughs, J.G. Ballard et al., some of which have become the scarcest, all-but-unobtainable Beat-&-Beyond collectibles (see for example our Item No.s 8217 & 8366). After prevailing against censorious harassment efforts, Unicorn closed & Butler died in short order. Cupidi went on to found the Public House Bookshop in Brighton, which had a long & successful run but is also now closed, & he still resides there. We have been honored to obtain what Cupidi has termed "The Last Hurrah," all the remaining treasures of Unicorn & Public House, some of which have become the stuff of myth. Vinyl LP Record in sleeve. First Edition, First Printing as indicated by drawing of piano in bottom-right corner of front cover. LP appears Fine-Very Fine and still housed in its original mildly age-toned blank inner sleeve & with a few discernable short scratches, marks & sparse, light detritus at both sides. Outer “sleeve,” which is two separate sheets, in Fine condition with light rubbing & scratching & minor creasing to edges & corners; a moderate crease to front cover along outline of album. Housed in plastic protective sleeve. Fine-Very Fine / Fine. [Item #8695]

Price: $100.00