LOCAL TRAFFIC RARE 1960s GARAGE BAND PSYCH TIME GONE TO WASTE & SECOND CENTURY

$

700

Please Read Information Below Before You Bid

I do not have expertise in all areas, but I make every effort to inspect each auctioned item carefully and include a detailed written description supported by one or more photographs. Please read the description carefully and view all photos. If you have any questions, ask them via email before you place a bid. I will do my best to answer your questions quickly and straightforwardly. In addition, please note the following:

• This item is being auctioned in AS IS condition. It is not being offered on an approval basis.
• No drop-offs or pick-ups for local bidders.
• Postage fees include delivery confirmation and tracking, and insurance.
• The winning bidder can pay via PayPal. However, I will only ship to a confirmed PayPal address--a buyer's billing and shipping addresses are the same. PayPal will confirm a bidder's address when he/she adds a credit card to his/her PayPal account.
• Payment must be received within five (5) days after the auction has ended. I reserve the right to relist or resell any item not paid for within five days.
• International Bidders--Please Note: I will not falsify customs forms, under-value merchandise, or mark the item at this auction as a gift. Such false statements violate U.S. and international laws and invalidate shipping insurance. Import duties, taxes, customs fees, and other charges are not included in the item price or shipping cost. These charges are the buyer's responsibility. Please check with your country's customs office to determine what these additional costs will be before you bid. Please note that packages may be delayed in customs and take longer than expected for arrival. Such delays are beyond my control.

*****Description of the Auction*****

My name is Mickey "Mick" Hassell, at least that's the name I went by when I was the lead singer with the Local Traffic 1965 - 1969. I'm the guy in the back of the autographed picture and in the B&W picture wearing a hat (pics of band members are not for sale). Please click on Seller Information for a contemporary picture of me. I wrote the song Time Gone to Waste and co-wrote Second Century with Mike Cottage, the bass player for the Local Traffic (for more information, please click on Garage Hangover to listen to these two songs and learn more about the Local Traffic).

In early April 2011, I couldn't sleep one night, so I was surfing the Internet. Over the years, I would sometimes do keyword searches for the Local Traffic and the songs on this 45, just for kicks to see if any records were floating out there in cyberspace. From time-to-time, I'd find one of the records listed for sale at a cheap price on a website somewhere across the globe. On that night in April, however, I was surprised to find that Time Gone to Waste had been posted on YouTube (Thanks!!! to halfdroid). I went to the site and, with some anticipation, I clicked on the song--which I had not heard since 1968 - 1969. When the song had finished playing, I was stunned. Composing myself, I searched more diligently and found popsike.com, where I discovered that two copies of this 45 had been sold on ebay--one auction ending 06-05-2010 at $1000 USD and another ending 05-17-2009 at $1524 USD. That night I learned that something incredible had happened. . . . Our record had hit the New Orleans market in the fall of  1968. While it got some airplay on WTIX and WRNO, it was largely overlooked (except for our fans) and then forgotten in the dust-bin of time. During the passing of over 40 years, however, our record had surfaced, and it was attracting the attention of collectors and fans of 1960s garage-band music around the world!

By getting in touch with the dealer (leontgross) who had sold our 45 on ebay (06-05-2010), I learned that our record was listed as being rare in the Garage Records Price and Reference Guide: 1960's Garage, Psychedelic and Uncharted Rock 45s, ©2012 by Geoffrey M. Richman and Barry G. Wickham. I also learned that the auction results had outstripped the price guide's estimated value of our record, substantially. Shortly thereafter, I decided to write a short biography of the Local Traffic and post the information online. I am grateful to Chas Kit, the founder of Garage Hangover, who posted the story of the Local Traffic on April 23, 2011. Also, my thanks go out to ShapelyDice and detective17 who have also posted recordings of Time Gone to Waste and Second Century on YouTube. 

What Is the Condition of this Record?

This record is FRESH TO THE MARKET. It has been in my PERSONAL POSSESSION SINCE IT WAS PRESSED IN 1968, kept in its brown-paper sleeve in a sturdy plastic file box. To get an expert's opinion of this record's condition, this past Monday, I took it to Lunchbox Records here in Charlotte, NC. The owner, Scott, examined it carefully, and wiped the dust off the surface, gently. When he ran his finger around the outside edge, he noticed a little roughness in some spots. He said this was probably caused by the outside edge of the record coming into contact with the inside surface of the plastic file box. The roughness does not extend to the playing surface. Given the roughness in some areas around the outside edge, Scott graded the condition of this vinyl record in a range from NM/M- to EX/VG++. After his visual inspection, I used his Gemini PT 2400 turntable to play each side ONE TIME . . . the ONLY TIME THIS RECORD HAS BEEN PLAYED. Both songs play in their as-pressed original condition . . . no surface noise, skips, pops, etc . . . a rich and full sound, not like the compressed MP3s on the Internet. There are NO CHIPS, NO GOUGES, NO SCRATCHES, NO CRACKS on the vinyl playing surface. You can see a couple of "wrinkles" on the paper label, but NO INK MARKS and NO TEARS. Please see the pictures at this auction. I took the pics of the 45 in natural light from a window on a cloudy day. My apologies for any shadows, reflections, or glare on the shiny surface of the vinyl.

FYI, the paper sleeve is original to this record. Back in the day, money was tight, so no picture sleeve was made. However, the Black Light label is florescent . . . and glows if you hold it under a black light (see images at this auction).

Note: On the vinyl surface around the label, you can see the name Sheldon in script impressed into the vinyl. You can also see the following numbers, which appear to have been applied by hand to the acetate master-- on the side with Time Gone to Waste 269 - 102 and the number 86 in two places; on the side with Second Century 269 - 101 and the number 86 in two places.

Don't miss this chance to add this rare 45-RPM record to your collection of 1960s garage-band music.