Garethx

This is a rare record and a really one good too. Not distributed by Atlantic, unlike JPR's other Alston singles. The Atlantic distributed version of "Love Is Not A Stranger" has "You Got Your Thing On A String" on the flip. I've only seen one for sale in the last decade. Price doesn't reflect its scarcity. If it suddenly got in-demand a few could be winkled out out of collections no doubt, but while it's under the radar it's a tough one to track down.

It's a rare and great record. If anything his other 45 on the label is even better and more in-demand for both funk and ballad fans. It always amazes me that a singer with this amount of talent only managed to release a small handful of records.

Yes. Was always a very cheap record in every original pressing. Tastes change I suppose.

Who knows!

Local Original: Tramp Records Repro: As you can see the Tramp re-issue has "180B" underneath the artist credit, while the original local issue doesn't. The Atlantic-distributed version is available as a tan label issue and white demo.

Can we have an 'unlike' button for this? "That's How It Is" is one of the cornerstones of 60s soul music and a very special performance from one of the greatest soul singers–indeed singers full stop–to ever draw breath. How anyone can call it average is beyond me.

Serena Johnson is a relatively commonplace record. Vivilore Jordan much, much rarer.

Top recollections. As well as the Northern rarities lists I kept the bulk label lists of General Soul for decades. In the days before the internet and widely available discographies these were an invaluable resource to see just how much soul had been released on labels like Atco, Chess, RCA, Wand etc. All these were interspersed with great reproductions of trade ads, artist photos etc. It was obvious this was all done with great care and added to the idea this was above being just a business. Also worth bearing in mind that most everything was unplayed stock. I remember ringing up for Willie Tee "First Taste Of Hurt" in the mid 80s. John had the 45 for something like £8. He mentioned that he had a copy with a different b-side (I'm Having So Much Fun) but because it was what he called 'far from mint' I could have it thrown in for nothing. Crazily I turned it down. That's how much we took for granted the idea that there were stocks of great records in brilliant condition from that source, and that crucially it was all priced to actually sell. It's no exaggeration to say that without John and Marisa the whole character of the UK Northern Scene could have been completely different. Their hard work provided the raw material the whole scene could thrive on at a crucial time. Had they not been doing so i'm not convinced that the incredible surge in popularity of the scene circa '73-'75 and beyond could have been sustained musically.

Always struck me as an underrated example of this sound at its very best. Dean & Jean ‘Silly Little Girl’

Sad news. "Look The Other Way" on Mercury is tremendous blue-eyed soul. Credits on that include Mikki Farrow, Thom Bell and Gamble & Huff.

French EP but no US 45.

A true giant of soul music. Rest in peace Don.

The Wand copy of this seems to be offered for sale a hell of a lot less than the Karma one in the last twenty years.

The information about runs above is misleading. 1A isn't necessarily the first run, just as 1B isn't the second. These refer to different lacquers being cut from the same master. The letters refer to the destination of the lacquer. The letters didn't correspond to a particular destination, that's why you can have a Columbia pressed 45 with (for example) 1A on one side and 1F on the other. Where a 45 was anticipated to sell in large numbers many lacquers would have been cut, going up to (I think) J. Part 1 being replaced or superseded would be 2 then followed by the letter suffix.

C for Chicago indicates the Columbia Custom Office in Chicago–the hub for outside, independent label clients. They did not actually press the records there. The Columbia pressing plants for 45s in the 1960s were Bridgeport CT, Terra Haute IN, Pitman NJ and Santa Maria CA. Records pressed at any of these plants will still have the ZTSC code if the paperwork went through the Custom Office in Chicago. The metalwork could have come from either a Columbia source (hence a stamped matrix) or sometimes from outside mastering (accounting for the etched or scratched matrices). As long as the account was administered through that Custom office it got a ZTSC matrix. There were other custom offices, Nashville (ZTSB) and Pitman (ZTSP). Pitman also handled the admin for the vast majority of the Columbia the in-house labels too, so Columbia, Epic, Date, Okeh etc. in addition to lots of independent clients. ZTSP on a label or run-out doesn't necessarily mean the 45 was pressed at the Pitman plant though, just that it handled the admin of the process. Each of the Columbia plants used slightly different type styles on the label copy, whether it be different font sets or different layout styles.

Garry Cape had mint stock a couple of decades ago. Not much help now I know!

Both original releases, different pressing plants. The top one is the styrene press (Monarch?), the second one vinyl from the MGM Bloomfield plant. This factory closed in 1971 and this would have been among the last 45s pressed there.

Right on!

The Tommy Ridgley dilemma puts the Billy Davis thread into focus. If even the pre-eminent DJ of the late 70s can't remember playing such an esteemed record at the biggest allnighter of the time what chance of unravelling the mysteries of who is responsible for resurrecting ‘Stanky (Get Funky)’.

Several early Memphis groups were racially mixed. Think of The MGs or LH & The Memphis Sounds. Taking a wild guess I'd say Henry C is the song's writer Henry Thomas. The singing on both sides sounds black to me, but I wouldn't be totally surprised if members of the backing group were white.

After a quick look on popsike the 06 mix appears to be only on the Columbia Custom pressing (ZTSP 83675). The RCA, MidWest and Monarch presses all use the other version. Just listened to both on the Complete Motown Singles 1962 set. Pretty clear differences. The 06 mix has more prominent percussion yet a smoother overall beat. Strings really different in both mixes.

Did this come out on a USA 45 other than the re-issue of “Way Over There”?

Think I have a spare somewhere. Will have a look.

I think it's unhelpful to make distinctions between DJs, dancers and collectors on the early scene. The interactions between these groups were fluid–records and knowledge about music were often shared freely up to a point–and I don't think there were that many DJs who put themselves on some kind of pedestal. Obviously you had the Roger Eagles and Guy Stevens figures, but beneath that rarefied grouping the whole thing was seemingly more democratic (or more accurately meritocratic). Roger Eagle leaving the Wheel may have been the catalyst for the whole character of the scene to be fully shaped in that the musical content became more important than the identity of the person behind the decks playing it. I'd be interested to hear from early attendees about this point.

Yes. Should have been GRT.