Dmc

The Clock Stoppers were a Chicago group, recorded in Chicago. The act are reported to have been from the Kenwood neighborhood and likely approached Saturn label owner Alton Abraham for help in putting the record out (hence the Enterplan publishing). Though Sun Ra and the Arkestra relocated to Philadelphia circa late 1968, Abraham remained in Chicago and conducted the label's business from there through the late 60s and 70s. No members of the Arkestra play on the Clock 45, which is a scarce item, as I've only encountered 2-3 copies in many years of record hunting in Chicago.

Hillyard's final years were spent in Merced, California, where he had a "store" for a time. His first foray into the record biz was most likely at Imperial, but I do know for a fact he worked at Riva Records in the late 70s. There is a Riva-produced book from 1979 entitled Trend Setters which contains one of the few vintage Hillyard photos I've seen. According to the book, John was from Montreal.

Being in Chicago, I've found/had at least six copies of the Mystery Men 45, only one of which played the Living Color instrumental. The label and deadwax markings (NMP-PH-1002) are identical on each Penthouse pressing, so it's a case of having to play the 45 in order to determine which version you're dealing with. Also interesting to note that the Living Color 45 shows an RCA mastering job in the deadwax, where the Mystery Men does not. I think this is simply a case of a mix-up at the pressing plant, and not any kind of special product aimed for the Northern market.

Pretty sure the town of Niles that is cited in the article is the one located in Michigan, not Illinois.

The plant was Apex Record Pressing at 7247 S. Racine, owned in part by Sunny Sawyer. If one were to own every record pressed at Apex, they would certainly have a premier collection of 60s soul and garage from the Illinois-Wisconsin-Indiana tri-state area. A quick list of Apex-pressed soul monsters includes COD's "She's Fire" and Combinations on Kellmac, Walter & The Admerations on La-Cindy, Ben Brown on Steeltown, Emeralds on Vick, Del-Tours on Starville, Aspirations on Peaches, and on and on. Apex seems to have been the go-to for smaller indies in Chicago in the 60s, as the other plants like Sheldon and United were likely clogged with orders from the larger operations in the city like Chess and the Leaner stable of labels.

https://gripsweat.com/item/352284445739/the-black-exotics-i-hate-hate-boogie-to-the-beat-mark-i-45-macon-ga-hear-mp3

I have a suspicion that the above article was basically cribbed from this one that appeared in 2018: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/counterfeit-queen-soul-180969340/

Not an uncommon occurrence, so that could be the case. Also to consider is that many times the name of the act that appears on a 45 is not the actual performing name a particular group used, so the fact that many Detroit folks have not heard of the Tootsie Rollers or the Martiniques could be caused by that.

Taylor was actually from Toledo, Ohio, and like many Toledo acts he did most of his studio work in Detroit. His move to Los Angeles in the mid-60s resulted in most of the records with his name on them, beginning with the R.T. & The Pot Lickers 45 on Hooks. It's safe to assume that the Me-O artists are mostly Los Angeles-based acts, but with Taylor shuttling production between LA and Detroit/Toledo. Taylor also had his hand in writing the Originals 45 on Associated Artists 1464, again a Los Angeles release. As far as I know, Romeo Taylor is still alive and well, as a friend interviewed him recently regarding his career.

The Brothers Of Soul on Rhythm is from east Arkansas, so very unlikely it's related to the Lifetime record in any way. "Brothers Of Soul" is one of the most common band names in 60s and early 70s soul (similar to The Outcasts or The Chosen Few in the garage genre), so to immediately link any groups sharing this moniker is a fool's errand.

The only Way Out releases actually pressed at Boddie are the Exceptional 3 (101), Bobby Wade (102/ 3) and Norman Scott (01). Both versions of the Jesse Fisher "Beginner" have the Boddie "B" inscription in the deadwax, meaning it was likely plated there, but the actual pressing was done at ARP.

Deke 5411 is credited to Jimmie Lee Jones, so that may be a source of the confusion. Jones also cut "Do It Yourself/ If I Had A Hammer" on Gospel Truth 1215 in 1974. I think the Jimilynn 45 might be the work of Jimmy "Handyman" Jones rather than the Chicago artist.

Baxter was Jerry Baxter, a Cleveland drummer and producer with close ties to the O'Jays. Baxter was certainly in Los Angeles for a short spell, as evidenced by the Jerry & the Medicine Men 45 on Edco. I assume that Wright-Hanson-Baxter made a production deal with Uptown in LA and culled most of their talent from Cleveland.

Addition: Sacca Twins Revue “You Got To Funkafies/ Ooh Baby Baby” (Virtue 61975) 1975

Lucky / Lucky Inc. 1000 The Embracers “Stop And Let Yourself Go/ Mr. Sunrise” 1004 Otis Leavill “Gotta Right To Cry/ Rise Sally Rise” 1005 Singing Sam & his Sparks “Messin/ Box Lunch” 1005 Velle Scott “You’re Gonna Cry Some/ Merry Christmas” 1009 Phil Orsi & the Little Kings “C’mon Everybody/ Oh My Darling” 1015 Phil Orsi & the Little Kings “Don’t You Just Know It/ ???” 0017 Doc Oliver “Going Thru’ A Change Of Love/ Inst.” 1779 Doc Oliver and the Sergeons “Tighten Up Your Game/ Inst.”