I was a late starter so I purchased my first soul pack in 1987. The deal was 100 45's for £50. When I got them home the first thing I realised was how FILTHY most of them were. Some were so caked in muck you couldn't even feel the grooves. It must have taken me a couple of days just to wash them all clean enough to be able to play them. Looking back my Mum was so accomodating and understanding, even when she found her airing cupboard emptied of clothes and full of damp soul 45's.
After cleaning I took stock of what the pack contained. About 30% were rubbish and of the remainder these were included:
Darrow Fletcher - My young misery (Groovy)
Darrow Fletcher - The pain gets a little deeper (Groovy)
Jimmy McGriff - All about my girl (Sue)
Geater Davis - My love is so strong for you (HOO)
Geater Davis - Don't marry a fool (HOO)
Contours - A little misunderstanding (Gordy)
Bobby Bland - Honey Child (Duke)
Bobby Bland - Ain't nothing you can do (Duke)
Carl Carlton - I can Feel it (Backbeat)
Carl Carlton - Drop by my place (Backbeat)
Ballads - I wish I knew (Venture)
Chosen Few - Birth of a playboy (Maple)
Symphonic Four - Who do you think you're fooling (Zudan)
Jackie Wilson - I've lost you (Brunswick)
Jackie Wilson - What you gonna do about love (Brunswick)
Jackie Wilson & Count Basie - Uptight (Brunswick)
Martha reeves & Vandellas - Love guess who (Gordy)
Martha reeves & Vandellas - Heartless (Gordy)
James Fountain - Seven day lover (Uk Cream)
Clarence Carter - I smell a rat (Atlantic)
Eddie Holman - This can't be true (Parkway)
Sounds orchestral - Cast your fate to the wind(Parkway)
Edwin Starr - If my heart could tell the story
Edwin Starr - I'm still a struggling man
Clarence Ashe - Working man
Kim Weston - I've got what you need /someone like you (mgm pic sleeve)
There were also a lot of other major label releases and all of the Parliments 45's on Revilot records (except for "don't be sore at me") that were pretty good & I've still got about 90% of them. As for the value of the records; the Chosen Few and Symphonic Four 45's became popular in later years... but in all honestly I couldn't stand them at the time and they were filed away and never played. They both grew on me when I rediscovered them a few years ago however. The Carl Carlton 45 has also gone big in recent years but that's it really.
All in all a great purchase for me as it really broadened my musical tastes. No mega rare tunes in there but no wonder. I remember at the time Lonnie Lester ‘you can’t go’ was doing the rounds for £8 which was still 16 times the price of a soul pack 45. Most of the records I still love & play to this day, especially that track by the Ballads.
A year later I bought another soul pack from an ad in "Scootering magazine" which turned out to be a load of ric-tic 45's, does anyone remember them? They worked out at about 20 pence a record. it also included a lot of Uk stuff including a Larry Clinton grapevine demo and some H-D-H releases.
To answer the original posters question about the best 45 I've ever got in a soul pack it would have to be "The Ballads - Wish I knew" followed closely by Kim weston's 'Someone like you'
Take Care.
Dave