Garethx

Most of the cover versions of this seem to come from the Carolinas and surrounding areas. The Radiants original presumably made a larger impression there than in other markets. It must have become a standard in the live sets of practically every Beach Music act. Must say I love the Scotty Todd reading and consider it to be one of the very best genuine Blue Eyed Soul 45s of the classic era. Both the topside and the ballad flip—a version of The Magnificent Men's "Cry With Me Baby"—are absolutely top notch with superior arrangements and the most credible of white soul vocals.

WANTED Dorothy Moore "One Day You're Gonna Hurt Me" c/w "Same Old Feeling" Avco 4590 Issue Please PM with price and condition. TIA for any leads. gareth

Those both look OK, although the image above does seem a bit overexposed, thinning out the type a bit. The ballad side has the lower master number which is sometimes indicative of what was indented as the promoted side. Wonder if this is a case of the record company realising at a slightly later date that the dance side should get the nod as the plugged side. Tower is a really odd label to try to release soul/ R&B on. Sam Williams and Bill Brandon might have had more of a chance of airplay and sales had they been on Uptown or even the main Capitol label.

Never seen the variant of the Sam Williams Tower 45 with an A on the label you mention. As far as I know there is only one original pressing of this, a white demo on styrene. Label artwork done by Bert & Co. in Los Angeles and pressed at a plant called Rainbo which was a Capitol overflow facility notorious for really poor quality styrene pressings.

If I recall correctly the UK issue of this didn't come out until 1987. The USA copies from 1979 only feature the rap intro on the reverse of the white demo copy. The Canadian 45 issue from 1979 apparently features the rap intro but I've never seen one in the flesh. Bear in mind that the album version (and UK 12") is a full minute longer at over five minutes. I think the edited versions always leave one wanting more. Speaking of Womack 12" singles it's worth pointing out that the US 12" of Trust Your Heart is a completely different cut to either the "Pieces" album or the US 7" and features more Womack vocals, more David Ruffin vocals and a scintillating guitar solo. Pricey but well worth seeking out as it's a great surprise if you're only familiar with the other formats.

^ The great Godoy Colbert on vocals.

The Free Movement version of this is the best of the 'soul' versions by a country mile.

The clues are all in the runout grooves and the label artwork Julian.

There are at least two different legitimate pressings of the demo. The red text copy is pressed at Monarch from a Bestway lacquer. The black text copy pressed at Columbia Terra Haute from a Columbia lacquer.

Done Rod. Cheers

FOR SALE: CHARLES DIAMOND and THE INSPIRATIONS "NO ONE CAN TAKE YOUR PLACE" C/W THE JOEY JEFFERSON BAND "NO ONE CAN TAKE YOUR PLACE (Instrumental)" BREAKTHROUGH VG++ 100 SOLD WILSON PICKETT "LET ME BE YOUR BOY" C/W "MY HEART BELONGS TO YOU" VERVE VG++ DH TO LABELS £60 SOLD Buyer to pay postage, paypal as gift. TIA for any interest.

Good 45, the Pam Bowie.

I think the width of the edge and the different plug side stars are a bit of a red herring. This was pressed at three different Columbia plants and slightly different qualities of vinyl plus different typesetting is quite normal.

The simple tell with the Bobby Sheen bootlegs is that the vinyl is translucent. Hold it up to the light and you can see through the very dark brown vinyl.

That one was pressed at Plastic Products (PL) in Memphis. Atlantic used many pressing plants. From 1967 onwards the pressing plant codes were on the labels.

That is not a vinyl copy. It's a styrene copy pressed at Monarch in Los Angeles (MO after the master number). 100% authentic, legitimate.

The youtube clips can be misleading unless they actually show the disc in question being played.

That copy of 169 sounds like a Monarch press (delta 54749) from a Columbia-cut lacquer. Could be that it's a bit more complex than all copies of 149 play one version and all copies of 169 play a completely different one. Can anyone confirm they have a Wand 45 which definitely plays the "give me a kiss…" version? This is the version first used by Kent on "Club Soul" in 1984.

Cheers. Surprised that 149 and 169 apparently play different versions with the same master number.

A number beginning with 5 in the runout grooves Baz.

Indicating a Columbia press Andy.

Never knew that either. Has anyone got the deadwax info for 169? According to the labels they use the same master #: 50219.

Here's the Pye International for reference.

The Pye International single is definitely different to the version used by Kent on the "Club Soul" LP from the mid-1980s. Whether that means it is different to Wand 149 or Wand 169 I don't know. Those both use a Wand master number 50129 if that helps.

Agree with Chalky and the comments above regarding the accuracy of UK grading. For years the VG+ grade was used in the UK to mean a shagged, substandard disc. According the Goldmine standard it should mean a practically unused record. Most of the 45s funkyou is selling as VG- would be Ex or Ex+ according to the standard I've historically observed among collectors and dealers on the UK Northern scene. That is changing thankfully. The grading system on the sales section here is helping to educate. The bigger commercial dealers are far more realistic with their grades than they were ten or fifteen years ago.