This record is dear to me. I used to have this on tape, and like so many of my tapes, I found the record later and bought it. Both Seji Osawa and Vladimir Spivakov do a superb job, adding a lively performance to a well known composition. Add to that a high quality recording so when I look back at it now, I can imagine why this record made such an impression on me.
I used to listen to this on my way to school. I had a walkman and of course I listened to music all the time. I was walking to school, even though on the bike was easier. I just liked, and still like walking. It gave me the chance to listen to this.
I was so happy with this record, that I cleaned it and treated it well. Or so I thought. Now look at this.
This is the result of a cleaning job by the infamous knosti disco antistat. Infamous among record collectors, but still sold. It is a wet cleaner, that relies on the cleaning fluid drying in the air. The problem is that cleaning fluid leaves traces, because it is not completely removed. The inner sleeve from the library warned against this: do not clean wet, it makes the record unusable by anyone else. Also for yourself as I found out.
While there can be a lot said about record cleaning machines (RCM….oh!), my solution works well for me. I use the Clearaudio smart matrix. It doesn’t come cheap, but it does the job.
There are still some marks left, but at least the knosti damage is gone. I hope I remember to tell about different kind of damage on a record later. That is a story unto itself.