Anyone know just what was going on at ABC / Dunhill Records in the mid 70's with regard to the label's LP releases ........

 

............... A few of the labels LP releases in late 76 / early 77 were as follows ...........

 

 

ABCD 968  .......... Catfish   --     Four Tops  .................................  1976 ........ made the US LP chart in Nov 76 
AB 969 ...... Reaching For The World -- Harold Melvin & Blue Notes.. 1977   ...... made the US LP chart in Feb 77 
AB 970 ................... Susie Allanson   --   Susie Allanson .........................Jan 77 release 
AB 971 ................ The Big Wha-Koo   --   Big Wha-Koo .....................   1977 
ABCD 972 ............... Sweet Release.. --   Gabriel ...............................  1976
ABCD 973 .................. Hitchhikers   --  The Hitchhikers .......................  1976

AB 974 ............. Little Funk Machine  --   Street Corner Symphony .......1977
AB 975 ................... Ask Rufus   --   Rufus Featuring Chaka Khan .......1977 ......... made the US LP chart in Feb 77 

 

I assume that those releases that were designated just AB were supposedly ABC label items, whereas those designated ABCD were really ABC Dunhill releases (though actually issued with the same ABC labels on the records as the others).

BUT my main query is about these albums release dates, they seem to be all over the place at that time. I know that Otis Smith (later to run Beverly Glenn) was in charge of the ABC Black Music Division back then and no doubt he ran things his own way, so releases from his division may have easily been 'out of number order' to LP's put out by the label's other units ........... HOWEVER ..... that being so .....

how come the Hitchhikers LP (# 973) escaped prior to Xmas 76 (the group's tracks had been recorded some time earlier & licensed in by Otis Smith in November 76) whereas the Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes LP (# 969) didn't seem to make the shops till late Jan 77.

 

By all accounts, ABC (Otis Smith?) put some effort into promoting all their LP releases at the time. Trade ads were taken out for the main artists (Tops, HM & Blue Notes, Rufus, etc.) but even the releases by lesser known group's such as the Hitchhikers weren't neglected.

I'm told that extensive radio station visits & record signing sessions were even organised for them and so a decent amount of radio airplay was secured for their tracks. 45's were also lifted from the albums to help in promoting sales and this effort even spread overseas, with different tracks being selected in foreign territories to try to catch extra sales by selecting cuts more likely to catch on in the other countries.

 

ABC did loads of strange things down through the 70's ......... not the least of these being their decision to junk all master tapes of unissued tracks from the 60's (to save on storage space). So when the CD era led to many old cuts being released again, the company had no unissued stuff to beef up sales of the CD's by putting out 'expanded versions' of the original albums.

 

Any explanations going for their haphazard LP release schedule back then ?

Edited April 11, 201312 yr by Roburt

" not the least of these being their decision to junk all master tapes of unissued tracks from the 60's (to save on storage space)."

 

Are you sure about this? Several of the later reissues on 45 were different takes to the original 45s eg Tyrone Davis.

The initial Tyrone Davis version of "Can I Change My Mind" was a totally separate recording to the hit version put out a bit later on Dakar.

I BELIEVE that the ABC version was licensed in by the label but not then released. A copy of the master tapes must have still been held by the 'outside party' and when a decision was made at ABC (around the early to mid 70's I believe) to belatedly put 'their version' out, they probably sourced the master from that 3rd party.

I have that ABC 'reissue' 45 and its on a 'dedicated reissue label' I seem to recall (were promos of the single put out on ABC in 68 ?).

 

By the way, going back to my original question ...... the label of the Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes LP (#  969) gives a 1976 release date ..... BUT ....... copies of the LP were only supplied to trade reviewers / radio stations at the end of Jan 77 (Billboard reviewed the LP as a new release in their 29th Jan edition. The Rufus LP - # 975 - was reviewed alongside the HM&BN's album).

Edited April 11, 201312 yr by Roburt

Probably all the usual reasons Roburt.

 

As you know , companies like ABC, and Motown to name another obvious one,  had release schedules planned well in advance but often never stuck to those plans in terms of release dates or even releasing the records at all .

 

Other considerations like releasing product earlier or later than planned if the artist, for example, was touring the country in order to gain maximum exposure for the record etc etc.

 

Interesting you specifically mention the Blue Notes though. In their case, the big split around that time (1976) between Harold Melvin and Teddy Pendergrass and then the Blue Notes themselves splintering into two groups (ABC & Glades) with all the possible legal ramifications may well have had something to do with the release timing of their first ABC LP.

I THINK that the 1st actual release of the ABC version of the Tyrone Davis track was on the Various Artist Dunhill LP 'The Big Hits Now' which escaped around September 1970 (though the album label attributes a 1972 release date to the LP).

So the track was released by ABC in 1970 & so wouldn't have qualified as 'unissued' when the master tape cull was undertaken a while later. 

The cut later escaped on MCA, ABC Goldies & Roulette label 45's. 

Edited April 11, 201312 yr by Roburt

The Dakar 45 escaped in early December 1968, so I'd say a ABC 45 of "Can I Change My Mind" would have been put out around summer 68.

So would have been somewhere around ABC # 45 11120 if it had gotten out (any missing ABC 45 numbers around that?).

 

The 'ABC' Goldies 45 ................

Edited April 11, 201312 yr by Roburt