TRAFFIC Last Exit RARE ORIG UK 1969 Pink Island EX LP

	£		58
	$		77

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Please see my Detailed Packing Description Further Down & All Shipping Costs and Options – 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 scan, side two has a very early Virgin Records stamp – this could possibly have differing opinions for collectors. Personally, I consider it part of this record’s history – the UK Virgin store in London clearly had a policy of stamping albums, for a while anyway. This stamp is very neat indeed, unsmudged and in some ways almost enhances the label. That only my opinion of course. In terms of wear and ageing, well barely any at all. These first press labels look fantastic with the most beautiful shade of real pastel-pink. Any spindle are ultra fine, very few and faint and without doubt, this first issue has hardly been played.

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: 157 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

Brief Info: This third Traffic album was somewhat hasily put together as to mark the end of their Island contract – ironically, this did not 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 at all and to find such a lovely first pressing came as a real surprise. The cover is incredibly prone to wear – the most on this one is on the spine that has some considerable rubbing, but the main surfaces are impressive and have resisted any major wear. The record itself looks very modestly played with any surface marks few, light and faint and those labels are (to these eyes anyway) gorgeous. One of the tiny few of these I have ever seen, this has always been an elusive album as a first pressing.

Cover’s Potential for Wear: High: all the ingredients again for rubbing and ringwear and this will seldom be seen devoid of some issues.

Cover Grade and Format: VERY GOOD: or very close to. Mostly marked down because of the spine which is not pretty and I feel only fair to show with a picture. An unlaminated gatefold format with matt, smooth surfaces. Printed and made in England by Ernest J. Day. The inside gatefold is constructed upside down.

Cover Front: Any wear on the this unforgiving front is modest and this does still look attractive. The only noteworthy blemish, the top right corner that has a light crease and a possible tip-in – that the only lightly apparent one on the entire cover. The only rubbing is seen on the spine fold and the corners and the lack of creasing is a bonus. A lovely graphic that retains fine, rich colour and being honest, it will not prove too easy to find much better.

Cover Back: The back is also impressive: it has a light rim arc rub at the top and a trace near near the bottom but not a great deal else to really fault bar again some rubbing on the spine edge fold. Of the small few EJD covers I have seen for this album, most have had deeply penetrating ringwear and creasing. This back has avoided most of that and like the front, it will take a hugely impressive one to better this significantly.

Cover Inner Gatefold: Little short of as made and very attractive indeed, as stated, this was made inverted from the front.

Top Edges: Light to less than moderate patchy rubbing.

Bottom Edges: Light rubbing, more moderate near the ends. The back is pale so notices little.

Right Edge(s), and Type: These two edges have remained quite sharp and very neat with little wear at all. Minimal thickening and almost burr-free, both are guaranteed untrimmed. Record enters on the back edge.

Spine and Text: This has two areas of quite heavy rubbing and then some patchy moderate rubbing, most near the top corner. Not the greatest spine I have ever seen which is a slight shame as the rest of the cover is hugely respectable and would grade around excellent bar the spine. So a full grade drop purely for this area which I think is fair. Still solid and straight with minimal compression and folded quite straight. The only text to survive the rubbing is the Island catalogue number details near the bottom, any other is purely traces. If this spine wear is an issue, well consider before committing to buy – I can say no fairer.

Corners: The spine pair have moderate to heavy rubbing (top). The right ones are far better and still quite neat. As stated, the front top right has a crease and appears with a small tip-in.

Cover Summary: One day, a near ‘perfect’ example of this rare and challenging cover will show up, but I cannot hold my breath that long. In real terms, this original example is more than respectable, in fact the main areas are still attractive. The spine and corners do let it down, that simply being honest. Still the very rare first pressed record more than compensates and more than delivers for sound and looks. So obviously, not for the more discerning collector, but those who put of a priority on a) being a rare original and b) the record, it should appeal. Not one seen often, so you pays your money, you takes hour choice.

The Inner Sleeve: NEAR EXCELLENT: a plain white polylined inner. Very mild darkening with some moderate crinkle (not creasing). A heavy-duty flipbacked inner with two immaculate crisp window circles and very clear lining htat has largely avoid creasing and crinkle. All edges unsplit with no repairs.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT: a very fine visual copy that is clean with fine shine, intense black and very heavily pressed. A copy with very modest plays on all the evidence with any surface marks modestly light relatively few and mostly faint. Visually an impressive first pressed record that should please many collectors.

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 up to its high visual grading with little to fault. In fact most all of this record exceeds it’s fine good looks. 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. Barely any surface sounds and only a brief few light and gentle ticks were noted on a very quite part of the live material. 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 (unless total perfection is non-negotiable), that from a record this age and difficult, a big ask. Practically nothing spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this rare 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 still prove challenging to find significantly better and is recommended for all Traffic and Island collectors. The main issue is the cover spine wear, so make up your own mind.

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 QED Silver 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 7,000+ items sold in nearly 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 3 or 4 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). I will not respond to questions on shipping costs as all the details are included here and on ALL of my adverts. Details below:

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’.