TRAFFIC Last Exit RARE Orig UK 69 Island Pink EX LP

	£		107
	$		142

ONEADAYRECORDS – Simply Delivering Quality Music to the World.

Postage: UK £4. Europe £10. Rest of World £14. ALL signed for. – NOTE: I now apply the Ebay ‘4-day’ rule for non-payment.

Artist or Band: TRAFFIC

Album Title: Last Exit.

Producer(s): Jimmy Miller.

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Just For You; Shanghai Noodle Factory; Something’s Got a Hole of My Toe; Withering Tree; Medicated Goo.

Side 2: Feelin’ Good; Blind Man.

Label/Format: Island – Original pink format with the orange eyeball logo. These are deeply textured with the deep ring ridge.

Label Conditions: Both look superb: as can be seen on my scans. These first press labels look fantastic with the most beautiful shade of real pastel-pink. Any spindle marks are few, fine and faint, all evidence suggests this elusive Isalnd record has been played little.

Cat Number: ILPS 9097.

Mode / Speed: Stereo / 33.3 rpm.

Warps: Assume all records I offer have no warping of any significance and all tracking is easy and effortless and should play on all turntables and even ‘budget’ decks.

Weight of this Record: 158 grams. A very impressive weight for this Island first issue.

Country of Manufacture: England.

Rarity: Rare: a poor selling album and first pressings are elusive and seldom seen, especially with a record this clean. The Island label in 1969 was available in three distinct formats and even variants on them too. This was one of the last albums issued on the orange eyeball label. Some new albums and repressings were pressed on the pink block label and then along came with more familiar pink i format (textured and smooth). This first issue would have had a fairly limited run and remains one of the more elusive albums within the Island catalogue.

Original Year of Release: 1969.

Matrix Nos: ILPS + 9097 + A / ILPS + 9097 + B [these are deep punched, large and pronounced]

Brief Info: This third Traffic album was somewhat hasily put together as to mark the end of their Island contract – ironically, this failed happen and the band went on to make several more great albums on the same label. The first side is studio material and includes two classic singles and a B-side. Side two was recorded live at The Fillmore West which includes two lengthy tracks. This was a commercial non-starter and no early copy is easy to find. A title I have seldom seen on vinyl and to find such a lovely first pressing came as a real surprise. The cover is incredibly prone to wear and although it has a little edge rubbing, it is probably the best I have seen as yet. The record itself looks very modestly played with any surface marks few, light and faint and those famous labels are gorgeous. So a strong examples of one of Island’s most elusive rock albums.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT: or very close to. An unlaminated gatefold format with matt, smooth surfaces. Printed and made in England by Ernest J. Day. This has a wide spine construction. The inside of this one is the correct way round, I have seen examples with this area upside down.

Cover Front: This is a very fine front and lacking the usual rubbing, creasing and damages more often seen. Any wear or rubbing is largely confined to the corner tips with a tiny few traces on the very edges. This retains rich deep colour and a very decent degree of freshness. A small few, light and minor surface marks are seen critically under angled light, but this will never prove easy to find much better – the lack of sticker marks is also a bonus as this surface is highly susceptible.

Cover Back: The back is also impressive – the lack of ringwear the significant factor here. Any traces are tiny and faint. Overall, this is very similar to front.

Cover Inner Gatefold: Barely any real wear at all. But as so often with wide spine covers, there is a little natural waviness or mild creasing to the left of the centrefold. This is NOT apparent on the outside areas and this trait is seldom avoided by such covers. Here it is moderately light.

Top Edges: Mainly light patchy rubbing, more near the left corner.

Bottom Edges: Moderate patchy rubbing, seldom avoided on these traditional storage edges.

Right Edge(s), and Type: These two edges are sharp and very neat with minimal traces of any wear. Minimal thickening and burr-free, this cover was made with quite thick card. Record enters on the back edge.

Spine and Text: Appart from the ends that have moderately rubbed, this is a super spine. This is wide and still erect and robust. Solid and straight with minimal compression and folded squarely, so the edges are parallel and meet up quite closely together. This, I feel sure, the first I have seen where ALL the text is present and totally unworn. Barely any hint or rubbing to the top fold and any to the bottom very fine and slight.

Corners: All the corners have moderate rubbing and this seems near impossible to avoid on this dark thick card cover. No tip-ins and fine shape retained.

Cover Summary: A difficult and original Island cover – one day a perfect one may appear – but I will not hold my breath. In the meantime, this is a very nice example and still attractive. Few bought this initially and this elusive EJ Day cover will always prove difficult to find a great deal better. This should please many, if not most collectors.

The Inner Sleeve: NEAR EXCELLENT: a plain white polylined inner. A heavy-duty flipbacked inner with two immaculate crisp window circles and very clear lining that has largely avoid any excessive creasing and crinkle. Minimal creasing and aged little. All edges unsplit with no repairs.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT: this being somewhat critical, just a small few very fine and faint surface hairlines seen under bright angled light and few originals will be found a great deal cleaner than this. A very fine visual copy that is very clean with lovely shine, intense black and very heavily pressed. A copy with very modest plays on all the evidence and still visually impressive. One that should please many, if not most collectors again.

Album Played For Grading: Yes. [I play ALL records I offer before submitting to Ebay, also the record is played in its entirety unless clearly stated otherwise. I do NOT play snippets or joining grooves to check for sound quality and quietness – I play from the beginning to end via clinically revealing B&W speakers that include the legendary tweeter from their awesome Nautilus range that reveals every blemish or minuscule sound present on any record.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This elusive and quite rare first issue Island record plays even above it’s high visual grading with little to fault. Strong, distortion-free sound, all frequencies are sharp and clear - sound quality is high with a wide dynamic range and very detailed sound on side one. Side two is live and, although still sounding fine, lacks the studio fidelity of side one which is excellent. Minimal surface sounds and overall an exceptional clean pressing for a fairly difficult album, and Island records often vary in pressing quality. Few genuine originals will outperform this one significantly I feel sure. Both channels are clean and sharp, I feel very sure this record has been played sparingly and offers very enjoyable sound, that from a record this age, always a challenge. Nothing spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this scarce Traffic album, for me, their rarest ever record on vinyl – and by a distance. I have seen far more mono originals of the debut album than I have this. This copy will prove challenging to find significantly better and is highly recommended.

Now one of the most established sellers on Ebay and still offering the finest and most accurately described and graded records I can find. I pride myself on offering a variety of genres to keep my site as interesting as possible. I will rarely offer any record that falls below a true Excellent grading, unless its of a certain rarity which will justify offering a lesser grade. I try, to the best of my ability to describe as accurately and as honesty as I can all items I offer for sale with all the relevant information I can think of to help any potential bidder and collector. You may notice I only submit records sparingly on Ebay - on average ONEADAY, a couple more at weekends if time permits, hence the name - time rarely allows for more as I Play-Grade virtually every record I offer in their entirety, not just bits to guess a grade - visuals alone do not always tell a true or full story. I will mention any defects or flaws no matter how small that I notice to be fair as possible to any interested collector – I am very fussy and my buyers have the right to be too. Every record I offer, whether it be a common or rare item deserves the same respect as far as I am concerned and will be treated the same - just because an item is rare does not always mean its good. I get just as much pleasure offering a relatively common record in stunning near mint condition as the real rare items. All the pictures I use for your guidance are taken with a digital camera or scanned - they are NOT improved, cleaned-up or made better looking than they are with camera trickery or enhancing with digital programmes. What you see is what you get and scanned labels will give a more accurate representation of the genuine colour than flash photography where light is variable. I cannot guarantee total accuracy for colours however but most will be very close. If any picture I take looks more flattering than the actual item for any reason, I will clearly state the fact in the advert and vice-versa. I hope the item below is to your liking - any questions can be emailed and I will do my very best to answer you. I am enthusiastic, and have a fair degree of knowledge about many genres and I promise quality items - bid with confidence - excellence comes as standard and so does Near Mint regularly. Please assume all records I offer have NO jumps, sticks, warps or writing on covers or labels unless clearly stated to the contrary. Thanks for your interest and Good luck – MIKE.

Deck: Linn LP12/Hercules/Cirkus with Ittok Mk II arm and Ortofon Rondo Red moving coil cartridge (tracks at 2 grams). Amps: Naim Nait 5i with Project USB phono stage and Chord interconnects. Speakers: B&W 704 Floorstanding 3-way Monitors (bi-wired with Terrarium Black terminated cable). All records I offer on Ebay are cleaned on a professional VPI-17 vacuum machine before play-grading for the cleanest and best possible sound and will include a brand new lined inner and protective cover too. Pictures taken with a Nikon D5000 SLR Digital Camera.

PACKING - THIS IS WHAT YOU GET.

What You Get: To confirm to the strict Ebay rules on shipping, I must now send ALL my packets ‘Signed-For’ with NO exceptions. Both buyers and sellers want their packets to have a safer journey and this is not a bad thing.

I now offer the fastest possible posting, often the very next day after payment is received or within two to three days maximum (unless on holiday). I only use FIRST-CLASS Mail. The record’s cover will be placed within a BRAND NEW soft protective sleeve and the actual record will be professionally cleaned on my new VPI-17 Pro vacuum system to give ultimate clean grooves and playing surfaces and the best possible looks and ultimate sound quality. You will NOT get tired, dull looking, dust infested records inside worn and foggy covers with tatty inners from this seller and that’s a promise and guarantee. All records are posted in professional boxes (NOT Mailers, these do not offer any real protection). The record(s) are REMOVED from their main cover to avoid edge splits and placed within a brand new polylined inner. The record’s original inner will be included if available. The boxes are then reinforced with at least TWO, ULTRA THICK stiffeners for maximum extra protection – these are FOUR TIMES thicker than commercial stiffeners and are custom-made for oneadayrecords. Really rare and expensive albums will even be Double Boxed if deemed necessary and possible. When larger boxes are used, the thick record and stiffener ‘sandwich’ is then thickly embedded into bubble-wrap to bulk out the record inside the box to centre the item inside to reduce the risk of damage still further. Printed address labels are used for clarity as well as a sender label. Customers requests or special needs for P&P will be respected if at all possible but ‘Signed-For’ posting is NOT an option anymore. I do not profit on posting and the cost of this lavish packing is NOT even charged for, I offer probably the best-value and safest shipping possible for ultimate confidence. The boxes and ultra thick double-wall stiffeners and bubble wrap make a near impregnable fortress for safe shipping and this is used inland and overseas for ALL my records, not just the rare and expensive. I will invoice any winning bidder as soon as possible after the auction ends. My ‘loss’ or ‘damage rate’ is less than one in two thousand+ based on over 8,000+ items sold in over 10 years of Ebay trading and I consider that pretty exceptional. The only damage rate acceptable for this seller is ZERO and I think my packets will offer just that. It would take a vicious postman or postal service to damage these for sure. Even one of these stiffeners cannot be bent by hand, so what chance 2 inside a box? Oneadayrecords is a MAILER-FREE ZONE. I discount of course for multiple purchases with a maximum of FIVE records per box (one double can sometimes be included subject to total weight). All postage costs are below and at the top of the listing.

NOTE: First Time Bidders: Please as me first.

PLEASE NOTE: I now exercise my right to open a dispute after the Ebay rule of FOUR days if no payment is received. I will then cancel the dispute to end the, again after the mandatory FOUR days and then offer the item to the runner-up or relist. The non-payer will also be blocked from my Ebay site and they take the Ebay consequences (a strike or removal from the system). Small businesses need prompt payment to trade and these strict rules WILL be applied.

SHIPPING COSTS & CONDITIONS – THESE comply with EBAY’S RULES - PLEASE READ CAREFULLY:

Posting & Packing: UK & CHANNEL ISLANDS all now sent via Recorded Delivery:

1 LP (FIRST-CLASS Recorded Delivery with Standard Royal Mail Insurance) [Signed For] = £4.

1 LP (Special Delivery with Standard £500 Maximum Insurance) [Signed For, Next Day] = £7.50. (this includes insurance of £500). Add £2 per extra LP.

Posting & Packing: EUROPE & SCANDINAVIA. (Airmail Only):

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£46 maximum]) = £10. (Royal Mail insurance is an optional extra £3). Add £3 per extra LP.

Posting & Packing: ALL OVERSEAS (non-European) e.g. USA (ANY PART OF); South America; New Zealand; Australia; Canada; Japan and other Far East; (Airmail Only: I NEVER use Surface Mail):

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£46 maximum]) = £14. Add £4 per extra LP. (Royal Mail insurance is an optional extra £3)

Payment Conditions:

I prefer PayPal or cheque from UK winning bidders. I can accept PayPal from overseas bidders or direct payment into my bank account.

Potential Bidders: I will cancel any bids I feel are time-wasters. A maximum 3 days for communication and 7 days for payment to arrive - if not I will relist the item or offer to the runner-up. Fast deals get great feedback from me. Any questions - please ask and thanks for looking.

My Guarantee: If any winning bidder is not satisfied with their purchase I will offer a complete refund. I will not refund if any defect detail is clearly stated on the advert and missed by the buyer, so read the item description carefully. If any overseas collector does not understand anything in my listing, please email and ask me to help. Thank You.

SOME GENERAL GUIDES TO WEAR AND CONDITIONS TO HELP YOU DECIDE

My Use of Description Terminology: Surface Marks = Superficial, usually light marks, hairlines or light scuffs that rarely sound. Scratch = a needle mark that goes below the record’s surface, some will sound, some will not, my play-grade will inform. Original = a record that has been pressed with the first label design which does NOT necessarily mean a very first pressed record. First Pressing = A record that I believe or know to be a genuine very first pressed record. I do not claim to always know for sure, and that’s why I state the stamper and matrix numbers if at all possible, for those who claim to know what they all mean, the information is there for the collector to decide. I prefer to use terms like ‘Early Copy’ rather than ‘First Pressing’ if I am not totally sure. Surface Sound = Mild, light sound, usually light crackle or similar. Distortion = Break up of the actual sound caused by groove wear or damage from a chipped stylus – the most undesirable form of unwanted sound, vintage mono records were the most prone to this happening but not exclusively so. The symptoms of distortion are high frequency clipping, moderate constant crackle or an echo type sound quality. Violin, piano and vocals are most prone to groove-wear distortion. Feathering = Fraying or softening of the entry edge of a cover. Covers with feathered entrance edges are more likely to have had the actual record inserted and removed more than a non-feathered, sharp-edged cover which are always far more attractive. Set Off, actually a printer’s term for dark ink leaving mild residue on pale or white ink when rested upon. e.g. when a gatefold cover has black ink closed against white, this can leave some black residue on the pale area – this is mostly unavoidable or course.

The Argument for Vinyl Original sound and mix (mono mixes are rarely available on CD), high quality sound on clean copies (played on a hi-end dedicated analogue system – breathtaking sound!), beautiful, large format covers, artwork, inserts and even full size posters etc; huge investment potential, and the pleasure of owning ‘the real thing’.