Albums you would like to see on CD

[Mickey Finn]

In years gone by on EMS there were lists compiled of albums deserving reissue, and many of these have since been reissued on labels like Expansion, Soulmusic.com, Big Break, Soul Brother, Harmless, Robinsongs, BGO, and others. Also as with Harmless, Expansion and the Ace stable, among others, albums can be compiled bringing together tracks previously unissued in digital form. Perhaps forums like these can attract the attention of people who can pull the strings necessary to bring about a result, and even if not I would certainly appreciate being given a heads up re soul music of any era and genre that I might have missed but which deserves a proper hearing in all its remastered glory. 

To kick things off I nominate something that's been bugging me for years, crying out for a crisp reissue, OC Smith's 1982 LP "Love Changes", originally released on LA independent South Bay before being picked up by Motown, which, by all accounts, buried it. According to Discogs the only other LP or artist to be associated with South Bay was Marlena Shaw, who released her album "Let me in your life" in the same year.

"Love changes" was produced by long-time Johnny Bristol associate H.B. Barnum and stands as one of O.C.'s strongest collections, steering clear of the MOR that he was prone to record. The quality of the production and musicianship suggests that decent money was spent, despite it being on an indie label, and for me this track is the icing on a very rich cake:

 

[Johndelve]

Harmon Bethea's "Got To Find A Sweet Name" and Ralph Graham's "Differently "would be nice. 

[Mickey Finn]

Thanks for this, John. I wasn't familiar with Harmon Bethea's work before but I'm with you on Ralph Graham's 1974 album:

The output of Sussex definitely deserves a close scrutiny, even after so much has already been reissued. 

The recent growing appreciation of Van McCoy's contribution to our music is most welcome and there is already quite a lot of reissued material out there, from albums by the Presidents and Brenda & the Tabulations to the Kent releases, including what at the time was billed as the first of 2 compilations. Looking forward to volume 2!

Apart from the Presidents, Sussex released other artists produced by McCoy, including Sharon Ridley's 1971 album "Stay a while with me". Mostly co-written and co-produced with Joe Cobb, this is another fine example of classy songwriting, big production and distinctive, soulful vocals.

It would be another 7 years before we heard again from Ms Ridley, and once again on a Clarence Avant-owned label, Tabu. "Full Moon", featuring the wonderful "Changin'", was recently reissued as part of Demon Music Group's Tabu reissue series. But her first album's title track is a great showcase for her talent and reason enough to deserve a proper reissue:

 

[Mickey Finn]

Staying with Van McCoy, this time we move forward a few years to the period when he was becoming famous for his disco symphony orchestra and hustle. As Tony Rounce says in his liner notes to the Kent comp "The Sweetest Feeling: A Van McCoy Songbook 1962-1973", the reason for including the 1976 Melba Moore tune "Lean on me" is that it is such a fantastic piece of soul music, showing just how tuned in to real soul McCoy remained whilst enjoying all the disco fame and fortune.

During this period he oversaw the release of three albums by the Choice Four, whose output seems to have been neglected or largely forgotten, and is therefore due a major revival imho. What you've got is group harmony soul, trademark McCoy production and songwriting, with a mid-70s production sensibility. That'll do me. The group was signed to RCA Records, which seems to have combined a great soul music roster (e.g., Greg Perry, Tavares, Zulema) with poorly focused marketing department. Fortunately, however, there has been a steady flow of RCA reissues, suggesting that whatever licensing issues which are tying up certain other labels' material do not apply. So let's have a re-issue of "The Finger Pointers" (1974), "The Choice 4" (1975), and "On Top of Clear" (1976), perhaps altogether as a special issue, or separately, whatever ... let's get this music out there again.

 

[ajb]

cracking stuff fella, your opening my eyes up to things i didn't know 

nice one 

Edited July 25, 2016 by ajb

[davidwapples]

Ralph young cool on the floor as dont think this has been available on cd

[Mickey Finn]

Thanks Alan - small recompense for the amount of goodies you regularly dig out.

Thanks also to David for the Ralph Young tip - wasn't familiar with that album at all.

One label that seems to have an endless supply of reissuable soul music is ABC. Harold Melvin and the Bluenotes went there after leaving Teddy P behind at PIR, replacing him with David Ebo, who never got the credit he deserved imho. Part of the reason for this was Melvin's clear decision not to repeat the "mistake" of allowing another singer to overshadow the official headliner - understandable but unfortunate. The ABC contract clearly gave Melvin more artistic control over the group's output, and on both ABC albums there are songs written or co-written by Melvin, who also took over production duties.

"Reaching for the World" (1976) was not so long ago released on cd by Dutch outfit Vinyl Masterpiece, which has a tendency to rely on vinyl rips rather than original masters. Ideally it could have been put on a two-for-one with its follow up, "Now is the time" (1977), which, although not as strong as its predecessor, still has a few cracking tunes. This album also has the oddly titled dancer "Baby, you got my nose open", which is one of the few songs where Ebo is allowed to let rip. That is also a pity, because the lyrics alone condemn the track to curiosity status. (Another song that uses a similar line, "you surely opened up my nose, you kept it so that it can't close", is "I need it" by Johnny Guitar Watson, who is the kind of artist who can get away with it.)

Fortunately we have other opportunities to enjoy Ebo's voice, including on the title track, some socially conscious soul written by Melvin and featuring both singers on lead. Melvin's crooning is showcased on "Feels like magic", perhaps the standout track of the album, although the Melvin-authored title track, which allows each group member to take the lead, surely comes close.

Hopefully the masters will be recovered and a more thorough job done of reissuing this, together with "Reaching for the world" - there's more than enough great soul music on these albums to justify the effort.

 

 

 

[Mickey Finn]

Staying with ABC ... it is hard to believe that Bobby Hutton's "Piece of the action" album from 1973 hasn't ever been reissued. Given the popularity of especially "Lend a hand" it would not be difficult to generate interest. Together with the sides released as single only the following year (and anything else still in the can? we can only wish) there would be a superb package, and in all its remastered glory.

It was great to see him perform at Blackpool this year, and with all the interest generated by that event alone it would be a shame to let it go to waste - assuming that there are no legal obstacles too large to get around, that is.

 

 

 

[Mickey Finn]

And staying with ABC, and 1973, here's a classic Philly production that would benefit greatly from a nice remaster - Charles Mann's "Say you love me too", featuring the cream of the MFSB musicians and produced by Dave Crawford. It's amazing just how much music these musicians were able to record across so many different labels. But what of Charles Mann? Like Bobby Hutton, an additional single of non-album tracks appeared in 1974 ("Got to let you know" b/w "Loving you is changing me") and then ... well I don't claim expertise here so any further info gratefully received, but it was 1981 before he surfaced with a single "Sho' nuff no funny stuff love" on LA Records, executive produced by Dave Crawford, who seems to have been the label's owner.

So, like Bobby Hutton, a reissued album plus the 1974 single plus whatever else might be sitting on the shelves ... we don't ask for much.

 

 

[Mickey Finn]

Moving forward to 1978 and over to Cotillion Records, here is a relatively unsung hero of soul music whose recorded output was less than it should have been. It was thanks to Tony Monson playing a track from this album on his radio show that I took notice of this singer. Then it didn't take long to realise that he had a popular track on the 80s boogie scene, "Searching for your love" and ... well not a lot else. He seemed to visit a recording studio only every few years, beginning in the late 60s as a precocious teenager, recording "Yo-yo" on A&M in 1968 as R.B Hudman. Another release a year later was followed by years of nothing and then his most prolific period during the mid-70s, when he cut various tracks with the cream of Memphis musicians and ultimately put together "Closer to you", plus a few non-album singles. Perhaps the best known of all is "This could be the night", which is a popular modern tune. A reissue of the album together with the singles and anything else that might still be lurking in the vaults from this time would be well deserved recognition for this under-appreciated singer. After "Searching for your love" there was one more single, "I could paint a picture", released around 1987, and featured on the Goldmine "Independent Soul" compilation of rare 80s tracks. R.B. Hudmon died in 1995 at the age of 41.

 

 

[Mickey Finn]

We've visited ABC already, and there is one gaping hole in the ABC catalogue that has yet to be discussed - the 8 albums released by the Four Tops. Only one of these to my knowledge ever got a cd release ("Live and in concert") but for some reason it was a butchered version of the original vinyl release. We can come back to these later because there is one Motown release that has been dear to my heart for the many years since I picked it up in a bargain bin. It was released in 1983 as part of Motown's 25th anniversary celebrations, organised a year early but whatever...

The Temptations and Junior Walker were also brought back and reunited with key producers of their 60s golden years. The Four Tops were reunited with Holland-Dozier-Holland, back together for the first time after an acrimonious split 10 years earlier. HDH were given all of side 1 and side 2 featured productions from Berry Gordy himself (with Gil Askey), Willie Hutch, and Marilyn McLeod & Mel Bolton. Overall the album hardly ranks as a classic - the duet with Aretha was ok but nothing special, and the dancefloor action with the Temptations seems to be an acquired taste (I've got it, but it's lonely out here). No, the real stuff happens with HDH, and while the opening track is bouncy enough but nothing special, the next two tracks do it for me: in reverse order, the uptempo "Sail on" which has Levi Stubbs at his best singing over a steadily rising drama of strings and piano chords about a relationship in difficulty but worth saving. And before that, a fantastic ballad that doesn't seem to have caught the imagination of many, but which gives Levi space to let rip over a spacious production with orchestral backing adding to the drama of the song. Brilliant stuff, although in his recently published and thoroughly worth acquiring book, "Spinning Around", John Lias goes instead for the remake of "The masquerade is over". Not our only disagreement!

 

 

[Guest spiritsoul25]

I have listened some cool music on https://online.radio111.com/, but there are not showing titles of songs...

[Mickey Finn]

The ABC catalogue is a real treasure trove of goodies that deserve a proper airing in the here and now, as a few of the selections above confirm. Actor Laurence Hilton-Jacobs released 2 LPs for the label in 1978 and 1979, produced by Lamont Dozer and Freddie Perren respectively. It was around this time that Perren had been producing a more commercially-focused set of Tavares albums and of course the (for me at least) truly terrible "I will survive" for Gloria Gaynor. No surprise that the Perren album follows a similar path, although it does have a couple of strong tunes. In his book John Lias doesn't really rank Hilton-Jacobs as a soul singer, and the Perren-produced album gets a big thumbs down ("faceless ... so boring"), but together I think these albums would make a good twofer package of the kind that Expansion Records is good at issuing...

 

 

 

[Mickey Finn]

On 7/25/2016 at 17:56, Mickey Finn said:

So let's have a re-issue of "The Finger Pointers" (1974), "The Choice 4" (1975), and "On Top of Clear" (1976), perhaps altogether as a special issue, or separately, whatever ... let's get this music out there again.

 

The power of Soul Source: 

https://www.funkytowngrooves.com/!-PRE-ORDER-CDs-!-/58/The-Choice-Four-On-Top-Of-Clear-(Expanded-Edition)/3741

Hopefully the first of three!

[Mickey Finn]

Been busy of late so less able to think of candidates, especially when so much stuff, new and reissued, keeps pouring out.

But one candidate has pushed its way out from under. In 1986, after several years of intermittent output, William Bell returned with a very strong album on his own Wilbe Records. Prior to Wilbe's distribution deal with Ichiban, the album was picked up in the UK by Tout Ensemble Records and the title track and "Headline news" given UK remixes. At the time there was a lot of excitement about this and for me this was justified, as the album holds up very well. "Headline news" is an 80s mellow classic and "Passion" a strong dancer. There's a decent remake of his Stax-era classic "Lovin on borrowed time" and we were introduced to the vocals of Janice Bulluck on 2 duets. She later recorded a solo album on Wilbe, "Don't start a fire" (1987). That would be worth a reissue too...

 

[Daved]

Good call Mick. Headline News was huge nationally at the time. I've still got the UK 12"

[Thinksmart]

Some of Jerry Butler's early 1970s albums have not been reissued yet (including the one with Stop Stepping On This Dream).

Sharon Ridley's album too I don't think has had a proper reissue.

[Mickey Finn]

Been finding myself coming back to this album of late, and it's a prime candidate for long overdue reissue. Considering its release date (1986) and label, what could have been a very programmed, flat backing was instead suitably organic - real drums! - and of course with the songwriting craft of Prince Phillip Mitchell and the great man's vocals, you could hardly lose. A strong album from start to finish, but the closer really clinches it for me. It also appears on the Ichiban 1995 comp "Between the Grooves - Rhythm and Blues", which offers a decent selection of proper soul tracks from the label.

Mitchell released a further album on Ichiban in 1991, "Loner".

 

[Mickey Finn]

Now for a sharp turn in some other direction ... down it might be for some, but not for me. I have long been partial to a nice bit of well-orchestrated, beautifully arranged real musicianship as applied to disco, broadly defined. Vince Montana's work ranks among the very best. When the people at BBE put out the second volume of their Private Wax compilations I was knocked sideways by Lou Johnson's "Keep that fire burning", rightly championed by Mick O'Donnell, who ended up getting a lot of stick because it wasn't soul, supposedly. Well if you disagree with that view you're gonna love this nomination, which is to say, not.

Chicago-based producer, arranger, writer and keyboardist Donald Burnside put together a very nice album of big production disco in 1979 for Mercury with Elaine and Ellen sharing lead vocals. The album is most famous for their version of the Bacharach/David classic "The Look of Love", which was more recently reissued as a re-edit by Dimitri from Paris on another BBE comp. But hidden among all the big orchestra BPMs is this very melancholic ballad which I reckon earns the album reissue status all on its own.

Burnside went on to produce releases by First Class and Superior Movement, among others. Their work has been reissued. As for Elaine and Ellen, I know nothing, but any information of course much appreciated.

 

[Mickey Finn]

There's a clutch of albums from the tail end of Aretha Franklin's run on Atlantic that have never seen the light of day on legally issued compact disc. She owns the rights to them, and has reportedly been holding out for a fat fee that is beyond the willingness of any potential partners, so far. This is a great shame because this is a period during which she was still able to climb incredible heights with her voice whilst trying out new styles. I don't think she ever matched those heights following her debut for Arista in 1980, where she does a storming version of Otis's "Can't turn you loose". But if we skip over the patchy collaboration she did with Van McCoy in 1979 ("La diva") and land back in 1978, we find her second collaboration with Curtis Mayfield, "Almighty Fire". 

Legend has it that the working relationship between these two was difficult, but maybe that accounts for the success of the collaboration. Similar stories circulate of her working with Luther Vandross a few years later, and for me those albums with Luther are her last consistently good ones. Released at the height of the disco boom, the lack of commercial success for "Almighty Fire" is probably unsurprising, but there's more than a few solid tracks on this LP, and it would be worth hearing them in their remastered glory.

The following year she released an album with Van McCoy. Nile Rodgers tells of how he and Bernard Edwards turned down her request to produce her album, as he knew what sort of reaction there would be to the producers who "discofied Aretha". Van McCoy maybe should have followed that example, but he seems to have been someone unable to turn down anything - perhaps contributing to his desperately premature passing shortly after recording was completed on that project. But Aretha knew what she wanted and seems to have got it. Maybe a more stubborn producer like Curtis or Luther would have produced better results, like on "Almighty Fire".

 

 

 

[Tim Richmond]

Great post, totally agree with your comments re 'Almighty Fire', another belter from that  era  -  'Sweet Passion' 1977, produced by Lamont Dozier, arrangements by HB Barnum and Mc Kinley Jackson. Seems like Atlantic were looking to 'refresh' Aretha's career by using different producers, I wonder if George Kerr was ever considered. May get a chance to ask him at Blackpool in June!!

 

Tim

[Mickey Finn]

Hi Tim, yes, totally agree with you there, it was a bit of a toss up, "Almighty Fire" winning because I've heard some jocks (e.g. Paul Clifford) playing out tracks from "Sweet Passion" recently. But pretty much anything produced by Lamont would be worth a reissue, as with the Laurence Hilton-Jacobs set mentioned above.

Big Break Records did a very nice job on the Lamont-produced 1975 Originals album, "California Sunset". Seems to be out of print now, but there's still some copies cheap on Discogs.

[Mickey Finn]

From the "California Sunset" LP:

 

[Mickey Finn]

Sticking with Motown, we move forward to 1984 for what was the second solo LP of Bobby King, who had previously recorded for Warners in 1981. Bobby's solo albums contrast strongly with his more rootsy r&b style duets with Terry Evans and in his work with Ry Cooder. On his Motown set, Bobby is produced by Steve Barri and Brian Potter, who together with Dennis Lambert was famous for their work with the Four Tops on ABC, among other acts. The album itself is a mix of styles indicative of the confusion of Motown during this period - a scattergun aimed at various charts and not quite making it at the time, despite all that state of the art 80s polish. However, a few years later Ralph Tee put together a brilliant compilation "Motown Trackin'" of 70s and 80s album cuts which featured this mid-tempo shuffler:

And more recently interest began to revive in the more dancefloor oriented "Lovequake":

and there's a good duet with Alfie Silas on the kind of song Dionne Warwick would have been very comfortable with:

The album opens with an uptempo Leon Ware song "Show me the magic", which also appears on Leon's "Undercover" LP from 1987.

Overall, there's enough here to justify a reissue, and a proper crisp remastering would do justice to the production which, when coupled with decent songs, makes for a very worthwhile effort that holds up well after all these years.

[Daved]

5 hours ago, Mickey Finn said:

Sticking with Motown, we move forward to 1984 for what was the second solo LP of Bobby King, who had previously recorded for Warners in 1981. Bobby's solo albums contrast strongly with his more rootsy r&b style duets with Terry Evans and in his work with Ry Cooder. On his Motown set, Bobby is produced by Steve Barri and Brian Potter, who together with Dennis Lambert was famous for their work with the Four Tops on ABC, among other acts. The album itself is a mix of styles indicative of the confusion of Motown during this period - a scattergun aimed at various charts and not quite making it at the time, despite all that state of the art 80s polish. However, a few years later Ralph Tee put together a brilliant compilation "Motown Trackin'" of 70s and 80s album cuts which featured this mid-tempo shuffler:

 

The Motown Trackin compilation could also do with a CD issue Mickey.

[Mickey Finn]

Yes indeed - so many good tunes on there, including this, originally from an otherwise mediocre album if I remember correctly:

 

[Mickey Finn]

Thanks to BBR, Funkytowngrooves and Elemental Records, all of Tyrone Davis' Columbia Records output is now available on cd. But in 1982 he left Columbia and recorded a self-titled album for Highrise Entertainment, a short-lived LA-based record label that also released singles and albums on Maxine Nightingale, Sonny Charles and Alphonse Mouzon. The format for Davis' album was the same as before, with Leo Graham producing and co-writing most of the material with bassist Paul Richmond. However, the most famous track off the LP was an LV Johnson song, later recorded in 1991 by LV himself. Despite my preference for LV's version, Tyrone's stands up pretty well, as does the rest of the album, which benefits from the combination of organic instrumentation and crisper production techniques coming into vogue at that time. Time for a reissue.

 

 

[Daved]

Are you Serious is a great song Mickey. There's also a very good version of it by Vance Kelly which was done quite recently.

[Ian Dewhirst]

Unless things change in the future, I would say that there's virtually zero chance of getting many of the above out anytime soon. The majors have lost all interest in CDs or in even licensing them out to third parties. As Quincy Jones recently said, "There is no music business anymore". And he's right, there isn't, at least in terms of specialist back catalogue.

Ian D

[Mickey Finn]

Hi Ian, the general lack of interest from majors has been apparent for some years now, although especially Sony BMG and Warners seem to be more cooperative. And the reissue specialists are still doing fine work - at least as reflected in my own spending limits compared to what keeps being put out there. But I am assuming that, in line with a lot of comment on here and elsewhere, the general direction is down. That of lot of reissues coming out now are in fact recycled earlier reissues in a different format tells its own story.

The advantage, and even a function, of a forum like this is to flag up actual or potential market interest in such things. A lively and broad community of people sharing a strong interest in a particular form of music, especially to the extent that they pay sometimes stupid money for it, should be of interest to at least some in whatever remains of the music business. If there is sufficient evidence of interest that stands a good chance of translating itself into purchasing power, then all good. 

I agree that it's unlikely there will be reissues of even half the above, but there is at least the Choice Four example to give us hope. Meanwhile in Don Quixote style I will continue this campaign, and if it means that some forgotten gems are rediscovered, then that's at least something.

[Mickey Finn]

4 hours ago, daved said:

Are you Serious is a great song Mickey. There's also a very good version of it by Vance Kelly which was done quite recently.

Thanks for the tip, Dave, will definitely look out for that.

[Mickey Finn]

Back to ABC Records again ... what a catalogue! Chuck Jackson's 1973 LP "Through all times" is a great example of what top level production and great songs sounded like back then, along with Bobby Hutton, Charles Mann, Ralph Graham, etc. (see above). Produced by Steve Barri (see above), some of the best west coast session players are here, including Crusader Wilton Felder on bass. There's a great mix of up and downtempo tracks that give Jackson plenty of space to let forth, and overall it's a very strong piece of work that would greatly benefit from a good remastering.

 

 

[Daved]

Great LP Mickey. This is my favourite track from it.

 

 

[Mickey Finn]

Moving on to 1978, United Artists subsidiary Manhattan Records released "Me!", the one and only solo LP of Ramona Brooks, who is probably better known for her single "I don't want you back" that came out on Q Records in 1980 (see jazz funk thread). But this obscurity recorded in New York and produced by Neil Portnow and John Miller contains some very lush orchestral backing and arrangements that complement the vocalist over a selection of songs that stand up well overall. Around this time Portnow was involved in producing work on Grey and Hanks as well as Ralph Graham, in addition to other projects of less relevance here. Considering the prices this seems to be fetching at the moment, there would appear to be enough interest out there:

 

 

[Thinksmart]

Enjoying this thread immensely.  Just picked up the reissued soundtrack of 'The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh' by Thom Bell with some great Modern Soul songs on it.  A wonderful album.  There are still many good reissues - Four Top's 'Nature Planned It' and others on the way.  But I'm keen to see many more while we can in the CD era.

[Mickey Finn]

Amen to that.  

Dee Edwards needs little introduction on here, but her 2 LPs on Cotillion are probably overlooked to some extent. The second of these, produced by Michael Zager in 1980, is probably the stronger one (not what I would have predicted), which maybe explains why it came out reissued in Japan a few years back. Which leaves us with "Heavy love", produced in 1979 by husband Floyd Jones in Detroit and featuring the Sweethearts of Sigma (!) on background vocals. Aside from the inevitable nods to disco at this time, there are some very nice mid and lower tempo tunes, and she is in great voice throughout. Maybe a 2-on-1 with the Zager-produced "Two hearts are better than one" album would be viable, but at least let's have "Heavy love" out there:

 

 

 

[Thinksmart]

George 'Bad' Benson's 'Supership' on CD for first time (I think) plus other Jazz-Funk-Disco played in 70s and beyond.  Great work by Cherry Red.

https://www.cherryred.co.uk/product/cool-heat-the-best-of-cti-records/

[Mickey Finn]

That's an interesting comp, if a bit disappointing for anyone who's already been on the case with CTI/Kudu reissues. Much of it has been reissued before, and there are parts of the CTI catalogue that have been done to death since the late 80s whereas others, like the Dave Matthews LP for instance, came out only on a limited Japanese reissue ten years ago. But most of the tracks here are easily found elsewhere. There's still a good few LPs that have not been touched at all.

I hope "Supership" gets the extra exposure it deserves.

 

[Thinksmart]

Acid Jazz is releasing a double CD compilation of Leroy Hutson in October. https://www.acidjazz.co.uk/leroy-hutson-anthology-1972-1984/.  Hopefully this could lead to the remaster and wider reissue of his catalogue.

Also recently picked up CD reissues of such as Arthur Alexander, 1972 album and Four Tops, Nature Planned It.

I see P.P.Arnold's unissued album is finally being released soon too.  This week the Voices of East Harlem CD is released which I'm looking forward to.

Tasty CDs coming from Ace/Kent/BGP this and next month to cover subsequently.

[Mickey Finn]

This is all good. It's been years since Leroy Hutson's albums were reissued. As for Kent, they're trying to bankrupt us all

Soulmusic.com has a twofer of Willie Hutch coming soon: https://www.cherryred.co.uk/product/havin-a-house-party-making-a-game-out-of-love/

Also BBR has a special 40th anniversary edition of Delegation's first: https://www.cherryred.co.uk/product/the-promise-of-love-40th-anniversary-edition/

 

[Thinksmart]

Yes looking forward immensely to the Willie Hutch.

Those 2CD recent releases are great - Enchantment, Delegation, Kleeer, Skyy etc - all welcome and often more soulful on other songs than the obvious disco oriented hits would indicate.

The Brenda Holloway soulmusic.com release coming out on Friday looks good and is preordered. I cannot see it listed at the label yet so list it at Amazon (I try to avoid listing one specific seller normally).

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B072ZF3TPF/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 

[Mickey Finn]

I have a similar policy - either use the record label's own page or, if that's not available, an independent retailer where possible. Not difficult in the case of that Voices of East Harlem reissue

Re Brenda Holloway: https://www.cherryred.co.uk/product/spellbound-rare-and-unreleased-motown-gems/

These 2CD comps are very nicely done, but also recycling much of what's been put out already. Hopefully we don't get into ever decreasing circles because there is still so much stuff buried away out there. As long as sales are strong enough for them to at least break even, we have a chance, although much also depends on the energy, enthusiasm and knowledge of the reissue specialists themselves, who have hopefully discovered the secret of eternal youth.

[Thinksmart]

Thanks, I had not realised Cherry Red is distributing the Brenda Holloway.

Edited August 14, 2017 by ThinkSmart

[Stevesilktulip]

Lanier and Co and Ralph Graham, though I'm not that fussed. What tortures me are five cuts that I had as vinyls and have as rips but would pay highly for a compilation with any of them on: Stan Ivory - Come Live with Me, Rance Allen - Where Did I go Wrong, Deon Jackson - I'll Always Love You, Bobby McClure - You Bring Out the Love in Me and Epicenter/ Sandra Feva - You Can't Come up here no More. The latter I had on a seven but the rip is a twelve which renders the seven version redundant.   

[Guest]

This thread is very informative and I've been taking notes about albums I've not yet heard. I'd like to nominate all four of David Oliver's albums They've never been released in the UK and maybe because Oliver passed over at a young age his profile has remained very low . Each album has some superb soul music I'll select one from each. 

 

[Guest]

This is the original of LOVE TKO