Sold Date: April 27, 2014
Start Date: April 20, 2014
Final Price: $55.00 (USD)
Bid Count: 3
Seller Feedback: 13625
Buyer Feedback: 64

TOUCH "THIS IS TOUCH" LP

ORIGINAL 1968 LP on the UK DERAM label, STEREO SML 1033

COVER IN VG++ shape, some crinkling, flimsy gatefold held up well

VINYL is shiny and clean, plays VG+ with some scattered pops

Got a beef with progressive rock?  Blame these guys, then.  1968’s self-titled album by TOUCH pretty much kicked off the genre.  Earlier than you probably expected.  Most people point to album closer “Seventy Five,” with its rather epic near-12-minute running time, as the precursor to bands like Yes and Uriah Heep, but personally I find a song like “Down at Circe’s Place” to be much more likely.  With it’s faroff steady guitar riff building up almost exactly like Yes’s yet-to-come “Astral Traveller,” and a midsection that sounds very much like the mysterious runic tribal dance “The Ancient” off the polarizing TALES FROM TOPOGRAPHIC OCEANS album.  It’s here that Yes was born.  But TOUCH isn’t all starship troopers and Siberian khatrus – songs like the big heavy sludge rocker “We Feel Fine” remind me a lot of early hard rock monsters Blue Cheer and the MC5.  Screaming vocals and distorted fuzz guitar create a sound too big for the mikes to handle, and gives it a raw unpolished proto-metallic vibe.  Either way, be it a precursor to metal or prog rock, TOUCH is clearly a fish out of water in the heady days of 1968.  An album with far heavier ambitions than anything else around it.  Rumor has it that Mick Jagger, Jimi Hendrix and Grace Slick all attended these recording sessions.  The world still waits for that Rolling Stones double concept album with the Roger Dean cover.

HEAR IT!

PLEASE NOTE I NO LONGER SHIP TO ITALY DUE TO A CORRUPT POSTAL SYSTEM (THERE, NOT HERE).  BUYERS FROM ITALY AGREE TO PAY FOR GLOBAL PRIORITY MAIL INSURED ONLY!

The less exciting stuff

Media mail shipping with delivery confirmation starts at $4.00 in the US, with each additional record only $1 additional shipping.  Overseas shipping has, unfortunately, gone way up in the fast few months, which translates to $15 for the first LP to Canada ($3 each one thereafter) and $24 for the first LP everywhere else in the world, with each add'l LP an extra $5 (so it pays to buy more, nudge nudge wink wink).   I accept payments through Paypal.

I try to grade as best as I can, and I list as many blemishes/imperfections I can find (writing, ringwear, scuff marks, etc.) – Also, please note that I DO listen to these albums – I may not listen to every track, but my grades are based on LISTENING, not just looking at it, since chances are you’ll be listening to the record you buy, not just looking at it.  Most of the albums I sell are the ones I’ve enjoyed for years – and I treat my records with kid gloves.  But sounds speak louder than words, so check out the sound clips below – they’re from the actual record you’re bidding on. 

SHIPPING AND PACKAGING

Listen, I buy a bunch of records too (when I’m not getting outbid at the last second, which is more often than not) – and I know what it’s like to get a rare, one-of-a-kind album packaged dangerously in a flimsy bubblewrap package.  I hate that too.  So rest assured, I ALWAYS package albums with stiff cardboard reinforcements, same for 45s.  And yes, the records are removed from the sleeves (for albums).  I ship out once a week, every Friday, because I have a regular day job.  But I’d be willing to give that up if you’d all be so kind as to bid my items up to stupidly high amounts. 

 For more security and international tracking, you may request GLOBAL PRIORITY MAIL - but bear in mind the cost of this service is upwards of $30.  For expensive items, however, it may be well worth it.  Unfortunately, there isn’t a cost-effective way of tracking parcels to foreign countries yet, and shipping times vary depending on your country’s postal system.   Italy in particular seems to be really bad at delivering packages quickly, or delivering packages at all, now that you mention it.  I will always email you when your package ships, but once it’s on its way, please don’t ask me when it will arrive because I don’t know.  If the world’s postal systems can ever agree on a universal tracking system that’s affordable, I’ll be the first to use it.

NOW IT’S YOUR TURN…

I will always leave positive feedback for successful transactions, and would appreciate the same in return.  All I ask of you is the following – please pay for your items within 14 days of the close of auction.  Compared to other sellers, that’s a generous amount of time, so if you don’t pay within 2 weeks, then I have to assume something’s wrong.  You’ll get an Ebay payment reminder at that point, and possibly a decapitated horse head in your bed.  If, after 30 days, you still haven’t forked up the cash, I’ll relist the item and yell at you if I ever see you in town.