Ady Croasdell

Steve analyse the first half of your last sentence: you've not been paying attention have you? Mr Soussain booted it on Soul Fox after "borrowing" Mirwoods tapes. It was of course the Mirettes singing not the Belles and the fact that he changed the group's name shows how dodgy it was; the Jackie Lee one he just changed the title as it was obviously Jackie. So the first legit release was on Kent's Mirwood Soul Vol 2. If you wanna get a carver done of it for your own DJing, be my guest! And no you can't play the pink 'un, the only person who got money off that was Soussain; the artists writers and producers who made it got sod all. Ady

Perhaps it was the later ones then?

He wasn't very happy when he found out about your licensing procedures was what he told me and others.

What Should I Do was first on vinyl on a Kent 45 with the brilliant OC Tolbert I'm Shooting High on the flip. WAYTTF also came out first with a different Little Ann B side, the copy you have that is still available is a recent reissue as the originals were sold out and deleted. Two brilliant sides though.

Parkway is of course owned by the highly litiginous Alan Klein so in a way it would be better for you if it didn't do TOO well or you might arouse the slumbering beast! Dave Godin's recollection of the Soul City deal to me and a few others was far from giving his blessing I'm afraid. Ady

Art Gentry Steve

I bow to your superior reference books, I was thinking of Tell Me It Is Just A Rumour Baby. There was plenty of awareness of Northern at Motown then and a couple of blokes who had half an idea so perhaps they came across the tapes in researching the LP and put it out as a punt? 3 months isn't long between releases so it's doubtful that it wasn't already scheduled for LP release by the time of its 45 debut.

Ah but there are different reasons for a company to reissue a 45. In some cases like say The Magic Touch, it's to satisfy demand, in others like the recent Millie Jacksons it's to make LP tracks available on 45 and in others like Luther Ingram or Danny Cobus it's to get a previously unissued track onto vinyl so DJs other than the ones who have had the exclusive acetates can play it out and popularise the music more, thereby upping demand for the recording and getting artists, writers (and us) more income. In the case of the 100 Club anniversary singles it is promotional for the forthcoming CD and a thank you and a memento for the customers who take the trouble to support our venue and label. Invariably the buzz from being on a collectible anniversary vinyl 45 improves sales in the long run on CD and sometimes reissued vinyl.

Actually dear DAFZ I may be of the same ilk as I can picture a Starline LP but then again it might have been the Isleys one with summat unissued on. I'm still pretty sure the Contours was LP first though. The bloke on that other thread should remember if someone wants to give him a nudge and get him away from his love-in.

As it takes time and effort and money to locate a true label owner it is very often the case that the bootleggers have gone ahead and done it before we can get all the connections and paperwork in place. So when we make a deal we have to take into consideration that it's already been booted and the sales will therefore be less so we can only offer a smaller advance than if it was first time available. In a few cases it won't be worth doing because of the boot. However we have a very loyal set of customers who invariably would rather have a sound on a legit label in the best possible quality so luckily most things come out in the end. I think you may have put a deliberate mistake in your first paragraph; I don't think even the UK label owners would claim that all of their reissues are licensed correctly! It's tough for a collector to know who is right and who is wrong but over the years I think it's become clear. Let's face it if you were licensing a label from Simon Soussain would you expect the deal to be legitimate?

I think the LP was just put together with unissueds to make up the numbers and because they turned out to be good. Dave Burton and others picked up on the tracks and started playing them, EMI certainly didn't cater for the Northern crowd with the LP, it was the DJs that made it big.

On Kent CD "New Breed R&B with Added Popcorn". Would it sell many on a vinyl 45? Ady

I'm sure I saw a listing for The Revolution on BBC4 too!

We'll play one for him tonight.

Originally an unissued Wand recording produced by Otis at his studios. It's on the Kent 'One In A Million' CD.

No sillyballs, get 'em any time between the Aug nighter and a week before the do when it always sells out. Though it should be even quicker selling out next year as it's our 30th!

I posted off the penultimate bunch today so if you ain't sent off for tickets or arranged to pick them up from me, then you won't get in; sorry, I did warn everyone! nb No admittance after 4am due to licensing laws. If you missed this one the next do is Dean Parrish & Karime Kendra (singing Ty Karim) at Crossfire Oct 11th 10pm-6am or Sat Oct 25th at the 100 Club 11pm-6am for this one only as Jerry Lee Lewis is doing an early night first. Watch out for those Rockers! www.6ts.info

I've got a feeling I discovered this in new Orleans, 2 copies. same time as the Changing Scene on Jo Ve Jal or whatever. I might be talking nads though.

Just buy it, you'd love it, mid-tempo and much more soulful and great quality. There'll never be a Loadstone, WC Stone did the deal with JayBoy changing their name because they were under contract elsewhere in the States.

I had 3 John and the wierdest and left two more at the same shop because the bloke was a nutter.

Richard Searling's copy was on a very unassuming typed white label as Ann Bridgeforth. Not Ric Tic one of Dave Hamilton and Rony Darrell's own productions that never came out. If we're talking acetates the Ben E King 8" Mirasound with sheet music must be up there, a complete one-off by a huge artist that even Atlantic didn't have. I'm not selling mind you!

Very good to play out at an R&B do, it's a bit faster than the Downey CD version. But feel free to play the CD or a carver of it if you or anyone really like it.

Nice one Seb, is the Detroit Gold one rare, i couldn't find it in either price guide. I agree I think the Pic & Bills aren't Detroit, just curious about the similar name.

You see that little fat thing in the avatar? Well he gets through that in nappies in a week; so it's all in a good cause!

Jersey Boys is great apart but don't expect the night or You're Ready Now. Hugely entertaining, funny and I even learnt a lot. Buy the Four Seasons box set CD with my sleevenotes on the same page as Nicole Kidman's; we don't usually hang out together.