Roburt

The misspelling of the song on the B side of the 45's label could have also contributed to Paul Glass stopping promotion on the single and then pulling it altogether. He may have thought about having a revised label made up for the B side ... but then just left things as they were when he was spooked by all the booking enquires that started coming in from 'chiltlin circuit' venues.

This has been discussed before .... .... over many years the comparison has been made (going back to the 80's & pieces printed in soul fanzines way back then) ..... Definitely two separate guys but with similar voices (& as you say, Van McCoy involved with both). Chris Jackson seemed to 'fade away' after he made some money writing a big 70's hit for the Tymes ("You Little Trustmaker") ... ... Chris Bartley hung on in the biz much longer & was a member of the Ad-Libs in the 80's.

Carole has also put a picture of herself with Roy Morris on his WRGP-TV show up on her facebook page (though its quite faded) .... The WRGP-TV studio was at 1214 McCallie Avenue (Chattanooga) back in those days .......

Carole has her own web site ......... https://littlecarolewaller.com/ and has a facebook page ....... https://www.facebook.com/carole.waller.10 ... she's recently posted a picture of herself with Big Al (of the Mob) up there..

.............. A youtube clip of Melba's performance .......... (if you wanna see Kenny Hamber's 18 minute long slot you have to watch Part 2 of this 3 Part video of the recent show) ......

Melba just played a big gospel show in New England .......... .... this is what a local newspaper had to say on her performance ........ Miss Melba Moore — four-time Grammy nominee and Tony Award winner came out in a beautiful diva gown of sparkling midnight blue. Singing “Precious Lord, take my hand,” she demonstrated an incredible vocal range and powerful presence that has not diminished with age. She played with extemporaneous vocalizations as she sang, like an artist doodling on the page, which made the audience gasp. With “Power in the Blood,” she danced across the stage, the Sunday-go-to-meeting dance. “I got a new hip and a new knee,” she said, “so I feel like shoutin’.” She then launched into “Lean On Me,” a song written by Van McCoy for Aretha Franklin (not the Bill Withers song). “I’ll take the crumbs from the Queen’s table any day,” she said. She seemed to have fun playing with her higher vocal register and received a standing ovation. For the encore, she returned to the stage with a spectacular deep blue curling ribbon long coat, closing with “Can’t Stop Praising His Name.” Schenectady Mayor Gary McCarthy presented her with a key to the city, and as she departed the stage, she took the mayor’s arm, which charmed the audience. Some good photos are included with the article (including a really fine one of Kenny Hamber who was also on the show) .... ............... http://www.nippertown.com/2013/04/24/live-gospel-jubilee-proctors-41913/

A show the Magnificent Men headlined during the 'Capitol Records Soul Caravan' package tour in summer 1966 ...........

Born in the south and rooted in the church, Carole Waller grew up with a love of gospel music. She sang from an early age and started to write songs when only 13 years old. This skill, when coupled with her fine vocal abilities and good looks helped launch her on a long and enjoyable career path before she hit 18. She developed a particular liking for the more soulful gospel tunes as she was growing up. It was therefore only natural that when soul tracks made their chart breakthrough in the 60's, she was drawn to singing those songs. Carole joined her first group when 14 and landed a spot on the Roy Morris TV show (WRGP-TV Chattanooga) while still in high school. The reaction to her appearances back then helped her decide to embark on a career in the music business. She took the decision to go on the road after landing a Atlanta based booking agent and was soon performing her versions of top soul songs in dance clubs across Georgia, Alabama, North Carolina and Florida. One club where she was a favourite was Fred Koury's Plantation Supper Club in Greensboro, North Carolina. This club was only the third venue she played after going on the road and it was at about that time that she wrote “This Love of Mine”. As Carole gained experience, she quickly developed stage presence and was soon considered an all around entertainer. Opportunities were soon presenting themselves from even further afield and this led her to take on work in the Chicago area. After only 8 months of touring, she was impressing club owners enough for one of them to take a hand in moving her career onto the next level. She was booked to play Nate Pasero's 'Gi Gi A Go Go Club' in Lyons, Illinois (a western suburb of Chicago). Pasero arranged for Carole's picture to feature on the cover of a local entertainment magazine to publicise her appearance. This caught the attention of two local record company men and as a result, Paul Glass of USA Records and Eddie Mascary of Mercury Records, came to see her perform. For the show, Carole was backed up by Ronnie Ross & the Good Guys. She performed three of her own songs and this fact really impressed both of the record label guys. She was offered record deals by both of them but Carole was most impressed with Paul Glass and so decided to sign with USA Records (he was also willing for her to cut one of her own songs). Glass teamed her up with Bobby Whiteside, a singer, songwriter, arranger and producer who was also a USA artist and who would go on to work for Chess and Curtom Records. The songs she would record were selected and all the preparations made for her session which strangely wasn't held at Glass's own studio (48th St & Cottage Grove) but at the Chess studios. Bobby Whiteside and Paul Glass selected a Van McCoy song, “Stop & Get a Hold of Yourself”, for her to cut and it helped in the studio that she liked the song. “This Love of Mine”, the song Carole had written herself, was the second track that she laid down. As Glass also owned All State Record Distributors, he had very good contacts throughout the business. Because of this, Carole had every confidence that he would market her records effectively. Another act signed to USA Records were the Buckinghams and they had a hit 45 in Chicago in September 66 with “I've Been Wrong”. The track peaked just outside radio station WLS's Top 10 and with all the airplay it got, the record sold well around the city. The Buckingham's follow-up ("Kind of a Drag" USA # 860) escaped in late November 66. This track took off very quickly, making the local charts on release before entering the national pop charts at the very end of the year. It kept climbing the US pop singles charts over the next few weeks, making it to No.1 in mid February. With USA Records enjoying pop success, it seems Paul Glass saw similar opportunities for Carole. She went back into the studio and cut two more songs, one of these being “Say Say Chicken Man”). In 1966, for WCFL radio DJ Jim Runyon's morning show, Dick Orkin had created a satire on the "Batman" TV series called "Chickenman" and the song was a homage to those spots (which soon become so popular they were syndicated across numerous radio stations). The song also took inspiration from a current Tommy James hit cut “Say I Am” (which had entered the US pop charts in mid August 1966 and remained on them for 4 to 6 weeks.). Although it wasn't her first recording, it seems (going by label catalogue numbering) that her first single release was “Say Say Chicken Man c/w I'll Never Get Away“ (USA # 854). This must have escaped around September 1966 but made little impact outside of Chicago itself (where it obviously got plays on WCFL). Carole was never taken with “Say Say Chicken Man” and just about totally blanked out the record's release. She would rather remember her other USA 45 as being her first ever record release. Early in 1967, her second record was readied. “Stop & Get a Hold of Yourself” was selected to be the plug side of this 45 (USA # 863). “This Love of Mine” (the song Carole had written) became the flip side of the single. Review copies of the record were sent out and it gained a Top 100 pop chart tip in a Billboard magazine review dated 11th February, 1967. Everything was set for her new release to make the charts, it was doing especially well in Chicago, New York and the mid west. But just as it was threatening to break though, Paul Glass stopped all promotion on the single. With her tracks sounding 'black' and getting plays on soul radio shows, he started to get enquiries from chitlin circuit venues who wanted to book her. With Carole being young, innocent and white, to get offers of bookings for her from places like the Apollo in Harlem rather alarmed him. He didn't think she would be safe taking on such engagements and came to the conclusion that it wasn't a good idea to market her as a 'soul artist'. Between September 66 and April 67, most of Paul Glass's (& USA Records) efforts had been going into pressing, promoting, distributing & selling the Buckinghams' releases. With all the pop success they were enjoying, Glass decided that he wanted a different sound from Carole and that wasn't to be the soul songs that she preferred singing. She wasn't at all happy with the new musical direction he wanted her to take and that effectively spelt the end of her time with USA. She moved on and flung herself back into live work. She was soon clocking up gig after gig around Chicago, a venue they played on numerous occasions was Western Illinois State College in Macomb (Illinois). Other bookings were picked up in Ohio (she appeared at the Carousel Club in Toledo with Ronnie Ross & the Good Guys in May 1968), New York and Florida. Carole also got to perform in Las Vegas, securing a booking at the famous Flamingo Hotel. She did get to do some more recording work for a couple of companies (Reo Records being one of them) but little came of these projects. By 1970, Carole had joined Cirkus, herself and Ronnie Ross fronting the group. They were soon a popular draw and were securing bookings across a wide area. In May 1970 they enjoyed a successful stint at the Rhoda arms in Newburgh, New York before Carole and Ronnie found themselves booked back into the Carousel Club in Toledo in 1971. It was while she was with Cirkus that she got to appear on the same bill as the Mob. Carole had played the same venues as the Mob on numerous occasions but only shared the stage with the group once, this being on a gig in Orlando, Florida. After Cirkus folded, Carole was in a similar outfit who went by the name of Moppy. She then got to team up with the Mob's lead singer Big Al Herrera. Carole still based herself in Chicago, as did Big Al. They got together to sing with the Bob Young Band and Carole has nothing but good things to say about Al (needless to say, Al holds Carole in high regard). From 1983 to 1986 Carole worked at Rupert's 33 Club in Chicago. Here she was one of the main featured artists with the Rupert's 33 Club Orchestra and Singers. However after 20 years as an entertainer, she decided it was finally time to head back down south. She relocated to Tennessee and commenced a new chapter in her life. Today, she is the music director at a local church and still performs herself sometimes. She owns the copyright to her USA recordings but only learnt of the popularity of her old tracks two to three years ago. She sang many styles of music throughout her career, but soul music always remained her first love. Pleased that her old records are still appreciated, Carole is seeking a way to capitalise on their popularity.

The Magnificent Men certainly had a high profile back in 1966 / 67 / 68 ......... .. they even went out on the 'Capitol Records Soul Caravan' package tour in summer 1966 ......

The Magnificent Men were 'making waves' by early 1966. "Peace of Mind" escaped on a Capitol 45 around March 66 and other Capitol 45's soon followed. As they were so good plus a 'blue-eyed soul' outfit they were getting loads of publicity and starring on the chiltlin circuit from 1966 right through 1968 and beyond. Their late December 1966 45 track "Stormy Weather" (the old standard song) got loads of radio plays & sold well enough for it to become a feature track on the group's 1st LP which was issued in February 67. ........... so the group had a 'very high profile' by Feb 67 ....... AND YET .... ..... at the end of January 67, Wilson Pickett was still making live appearances with his (then) backing band, the Magnificent Men. Wilson was also 'ever present' on the chitlin circuit, so he must have been aware of the other Magnificent Men. Wilson had renamed his backing band the Midnight Movers by July 68 when he had his big hit 45 "I'm A Midnight Mover" (anyone know if the Magnificent Men were just renamed the Midnight Movers or if was a different outfit altogether ?) ........ ..... but surely the situation (two sets of Magnificent Men) being advertised at the same venues for around 12 to 18 months must have caused a whole load of confusion back then.

This double CD features quite a few 'old school' dance craze recuds ............ .......... 'LETS SOUL DANCE' ........... S0UL006 Disc One 1. Shake A Tail Feather The Five Du-Tones 2. Shake Sherrie The Contours 3. Mashed Potatoes U.S.A. James Brown 4. Do Wa Didd i Frank Ballard 5. Carl's Dance Party Carl Lattimore 6. Teach Me How To Shimmy The Isley Brothers 7. Stupidity The Van Dykes 8. The Greasy Chicken Andre Williams 9. Foot Stomping Pt 1 The Flares 10. Now Let's Popeye Pt 2 Eddie Bo 11. The Chicken Scratch J.C. Davis 12. A Shot Of Rhythm And Blues Arthur Alexander 13. Booty Green Bobby Marchan 14. The Wah-Watusi Dee Dee Sharp 15. The Slop The Olympics 16. The Roach George Hudson 17. Do The Camel Walk Magic Sam 18. The Climb The Coasters 19. Slow Twistin' Chubby Checker 20. Hitch Hike Marvin Gaye 21. The Bird The Dutones 22. The Bossa Nova Watusi Twist Freddie King 23. (Do The) Mashed Potatoes Pt 1 Nat Kendrick 24. The Snake Maximilian 25. The Chicken Back Pt 2 The Gay Jays 26. Do The Hully Gully King Coleman 27. Pass The Bug Gene the Hat 28. The Hunch Bobby Peterson 29. The Hully Gully Twist Bill Doggett 30. Let's Pony Again The Vibrations 31. The Stomp The Olympics 32. The Crawl Willie Mitchell Disc Two 1. Shout and Shimmy James Brown 2. Mashed Potato Time Dee Dee Sharp 3. Bacon Fat Andre Williams 4. The Flea The Five Du-Tones 5. The Twist Hank Ballard 6. Twist It Up Herbert Hunter 7. Pony Time Don Covay 8. Sloppy Twist Thomas Cannaday 9. Dish Rag Pt 1 Nat Kendrick 10. Waddle Waddle The Bracelets 11. (Baby) Hully Gully The Olympics 12. Camel Walk Benny Gordon 13. Let's Shimmy King Coleman 14. The Continental Walk The Rollers 15. Hush Puppy Gene the Hat 16. Dance The Boomerang The Canjoes 17. The Fly Chubby Checker 18. The Horse Wilbert Harrison 19. The Popeye Lonnie Brooks 20. The Splib Pt 1 J.C. Davis 21. The Squat Big Jay McNeely 22. Shake Shout & Soul Lil Ray 23. Do The Bug George Hudson 24. Twistin' With The King King Curtis 25. The (Bossa Nova) Bird The Dells 26. The Watusi The Vibrations 27. The Drag The Isley Brothers 28. Let's Do The Slop Little Joe Cook 29. The Madison Pts 1 & 2 Al Brown's Tunetoppers 30. Cha-Cha Twis t Brice Coefield 31. Twist and Shout The Top Notes ........... https://www.historyofsoul.net/

Fontella on Sonja ......... A partial label listing ........... https://www.45cat.com/label/sonja Seems most of the 45's on the label escaped around 1964 after Ike (& Tina) had relocated to LA. Ike had other labels that put out 45's by these (& other artists) going back to the 50's ........ ................ https://www.45cat.com/label/bobbin ... AND .... https://www.45cat.com/label/prann

A bit more info on the Final Decisions (+ Charles Beverly) here ........ an Airwave 45 also featured .......... https://www.raresoulie.co.uk/page-101.html ... and even more here ........... PLUS Boba knows the SP on this group ..... https://www.sirshambling.com/artists_2012/F/final_decisions/index.php

An old SDF thread here ........... https://soulfuldetroit.com/archives/6593/10470.html?1095982582 EXTRACT ........ Jay Davis's song was recorded in NY. I have an "Abbott" promo photo of him which he gave me when I interviewed him. He was also in The Moments that recorded on the Hit label in Detroit - and then The Tempos for Diamond Jim... The Final Decisions on Bumpshop etc. His name was James Davis and he's still living in Detroit.

A Supreme attempt at the song ............

RE: Cody Marshall "Yours until tomorrow" Wizdom Records I guess this Wizdom label is the one owned / run by Jimmy Wisner. Quite a few releases on the label (in fact Cody Marshall himself had another 45 out on Wizdom). I'd also guess that "Yours until tomorrow" is the Goffin / King song recorded by numerous artists (Dee Dee Warwick, Vivian Reed, Bettye Swann, Irma Thomas, etc.). Irma Thomas's version ............ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bb0KUNjBcfY

Sonja was one of Ike Turner's labels. He operated it in the late 50's / early 60's out of both St Louis & after he & Tina moved, LA. I have a book on Ike at home (away again at present) & in the back of the book is a full listing of all Ike's records and all the Ike related records. There's a full Sonja listing in the book (about 20 singles from memory but I could be wrong as my memory is shot these days)

No response to the above, so I did more research on Paul Glass & USA Records and found this ..... ......... a newspaper obit piece on him from April 4th, 1986 ......... Paul Glass, 60, a pioneer Chicago distributor of independent record labels, founded in 1955 the Allstate Record Distributing Co., one of the largest independent distributors in the country at the time. He later owned the USA label, which launched several local musical groups that became famous. A memorial service will be held at 8 p.m. Monday in All Saints Episcopal Church, 4370 Woodland Ave., Western Springs. Mr. Glass died Saturday at his home in Oceanside, Calif. He had moved there after retiring last July. ``He started in 1955, just before Motown Records,`` said Cy Gold, who worked for him for 25 years. ``He really made a lot of records. He could smell a hit. He could pick the winner and consequently became one of the biggest independent record distributorships in the country.`` Mr. Glass, a native of Iowa, was a bombardier in World War II. After the war, he moved to Texas, where he worked for a record company for seven years. His Chicago-based Allstate firm, in addition to Motown, handled such independent labels as Atlantic, Chess and Checkers and Roulette. ``He was known then as the `boy wonder of the record industry,` `` Gold said. ``He won many awards. The distributorship extended as far as Milwaukee and Indianapolis.`` Mr. Glass then formed Token Distributors, which was the parent company for Look-N-Hear Electronic Stores, which had outlets in several suburbs. He also initiated USA Records, a label that gave a start to such local groups as the Buckinghams and the Crying Shames. ``He helped a lot of people get started, both recording stars and people who worked for him,`` his daughter, Marilyn Kroc, said. ``He loved everyone and would take a person out of reform school to work for him. He was an entrepreneur, a high-energy person who always had time for other people.`` Survivors, besides his daughter, include his wife, Nicole; 2 other daughters, Penelope & Candice; 2 sons, Michael & Tobin; 2 grandchildren; his mother, Irene Ramagos; and a sister, Helen Farrell.

Sad to say we have lost another singer ..... https://www.artiewhite.com/

Bet David Frost's got demo copies of all her 45's .........

I sent an e-mail to Little Artie & Al Herrera to ask them about their 'Kane & Able' tracks & work in the music biz ........ .... I got a reply but it came from the Mob's James Holvay (who wrote, produced & arranged "Life of the Party"). James tells me ............ My name is James Holvay and I am the writer and producer of “Life Of The Party”. Al Herrera forwarded me your email, in hopes that I can answer some of your questions regarding the session and the song. I first met Artie and Al Herrera when they were performing at a club in Chicago called The GiGi. I was attending college at the time, having just gotten off the road with The Dick Clark Caravan Of Stars tour. It was the height of the Vietnam War and the only way to avoid being drafted was to be attending college, unless you had a medical deferment. Joe DeFrancesco (who later became the manager of The MOB), was a promoter of local dances and record hops. He told me that I needed to see this great group (Little Artie & The Pharaohs), who were transplanted to Milwaukee, Wisconsin from Waco, Texas. I was blown away by Arties voice and showmanship. They did a Righteous Brothers Medley in their set that was dead on. Joe wanted me to write a song for them and get them in the studio asap. Their first release was a take off on The Righteous Brothers, who at the time were red hot. I wrote “Break Down And Cry”, which recently came out on an Ace Records compilation — “Wall Of Sound”. Having been heavily influenced by my hometown idol and mentor Curtis Mayfield, I wrote “Life Of The Party” for Artie to sing, as their second release. There were only a handful of studios in Chicago at the time. Universal was the best and most expensive. All of the early VJ stuff had been cut there. (Dee Clark, Jerry Butler, Betty Everett, etc.) Chess was the next most expensive. Out of my budget. (ha, ha) Sound Studios (230 N. Michigan Avenue), is where I cut “Life” and a lot of other tunes over the years, was in the middle price-wise. The remaining studios went down hill from there. It’s kinda like “you get what you pay for.” If you go to a cheap studio, the sound is horrible. Stu Black was the engineer at Sound Studios and always did a great job. He later moved onto Chess and engineered a lot of The Dells hits in the 60’s. (“Stay In My Corner”, etc.) I used the musicians that were part of the Dick Clark Tour band, who later became The MOB. Gary Beisbier wrote the horn charts. Regarding your questions to Artie about performing in the military, etc., that is an extremely sensitive subject for him. At the time, Artie was the lead singer of The MOB and our whole show was based around him. Al played tenor sax and sang background parts. Artie was “the star” of The MOB. We were performing at a club in Milwaukee, Wisconsin called The Attic and getting standing ovations every night. We were on fire. A few months prior to this, Artie received a notice to report to the draft board. We all figured that his “medical deferment” was going to keep him out of military service. He arrived at the draft board on Friday morning and in the afternoon he was whisked off to Fort Bragg, Georgia. Unfortunately for Artie and us, the military folks did not accept his deferment. That night we had 2 shows to perform and no lead singer or front man. We told the club owner what had happened and he told us to just play dance sets to get thru the weekend and get paid. We went back to Chicago with our tails between our legs, wondering how in the hell we were going to go on without Artie? With “our star” gone, it was our manager (Joe DeFrancesco), who suggested Al become the lead singer. After a tremendous amount of work and rehearsals we were able to continue as The MOB for 14 more years. For the next year, there were numerous letters, phone calls and pleading from Artie’s mother and the pastor of their church to try and get Artie released from his military service. He eventually did get out. When he was released from duty, emotionally Artie was not in a good place. He returned to Milwaukee and gave up the entertainment business to focus on his wife and family. The military experience and the fact that he gave up his music career bothered him for decades. The story does end on a good note. Two years ago, The MOB was inducted into a Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame in South Dakota. I contacted Artie, who now lives in San Diego, California and invited him to perform with us at the Hall Of Fame event. Like the professional he was and still is, Artie rose to the occasion was the fantastic singer, entertainer and performer he always was. What a night that was to see all of us original members back together on stage. It had been 30+ years and way over 40+ years for Artie. THANK YOU for asking about “Life Of The Party” and the best of Chicago 60’s soul. . . . . James Holvay (a.k.a. Jimmy Soul)

I like "life of the Party" so much, I decided to drop Artie Herrera an e-mail to ask him a bit more about the track & his music biz career. I actually got a reply ..... but it came from James Holvay (who wrote the song & produced / arranged the track) coz Artie still has such bad memories about an event that took place at the time he originally fronted the Mob (which was just after this 45 was released). I'll put most of the info James sent me up on the Mob thread but thought this bit of trivia would fit well here ........ As Little Artie had 4/5 years performing / recording experience by 1967 when he was called up by the military, I asked if he perfomed (for the troops) while in the forces. James tells me that ....... your question to Artie about performing in the military is an extremely sensitive subject for him. At the time, Artie was the lead singer of The MOB and our whole show was based around him. Big Al played tenor sax and sang background parts. Artie was “the star” of The MOB. We were performing at a club in Milwaukee, Wisconsin called The Attic and getting standing ovations every night. We were on fire. A few months prior to this, Artie had received a notice to report to the draft board. We all figured that the “medical deferment” he had been granted was going to keep him out of military service. He arrived at the draft board on Friday morning and in the afternoon he was whisked off to Fort Bragg, Georgia. Unfortunately for Artie and us, the military folks did not accept his deferment. That night we had 2 shows to perform and no lead singer or front man. So one day Little Artie was the 'star of the show' for the Mob and the next he was whisked off to Fort Bragg and taught how to kill Viet Cong ..... BUMMER.

Most probably info on James in an Ace 'Dave Hamilton related' CD booklet notes ......... not at home at present so can't check ... ... but I'm sure Ady or someone like Chalky will see this thread & give a proper reply. Will be @ the Cleggy Weekender soon & Glen not being there (as he always was) will remind us how much we still miss the guy. ..... .... R I P Macce lad

BTW, Rich tells me that he has had a number of enquiries from people in France over recent years about his Star West records. The guys there though wanted him to press up new copies of the original Star West 45's BUT as he has no rights to use that label name, he didn't progress the proposal at all. NOW if some UK indie record label guy wants to put a couple of these cuts out on their own label, that would be a totally different matter.

Got in touch with my mate Rich Adams re: these records ........ .......... STAR WEST 152/153 - Richard Adams - What A Way To Say Goodbye / Your Love Is (Ecstacy) .......... STAR WEST 153 - Mel Adams - Hello My Friend / Your Love Is (Ecstacy) Rich was originally from St Louis and fronted the group Mal Adams & the Cashmeres (signed to Emerge) back in the 60's. So in the music biz he has gone by both the name Mal Adams & Rich / Richard Adams. He has confirmed that it was him that cut these tracks ... AND .... that he still has possession of the original master tapes for the tracks. ........... BITS OF THE STORY .......... in no particular order ......... the 45 that featured Mel Adams - Hello My Friend / Your Love Is (Ecstacy) was pulled before release due to Mal's name being listed as Mel on the label. The majority of copies of this single were destroyed due to the name error and therefore this will be quite a rare item. Star West Productions (& label) was owned by an old guy, Owen Garris, that Rich got to know in the mid to late 70's (he recalls that Owen had Motown connections of some kind). Anyway, Owen & Rich became friends when Rich was based in the LA area and was running a 'Richfield Oil' Gas (Filling) Station. Owen was looking for artists to sign to his Star West label and so Rich signed up. Roy Dodson was a bass player that Owen had already used on some recordings and so Rich got to meet him as well. Roy Dodson obviously also got to cut some tracks himself & had the 45 out on Star West that's also sought after now. Also at that time, members of the Gap Band were using his service station on a regular basis and Rich became friends with some members, mainly Malvin "Dino" Vice, and Robert Wilson. The Wilson brothers had a long time friend, Charles Townsend (they all grew up together) and Charles (who went by the name of Chuck then) lived very close to Rich's gas station. Charlie, Robert and "Dino" would visit Chuck almost daily and that's how Rich's friendship with the members of the Gap Band began. Owen, seeing Rich was getting connected, made an agreement with Rich to release a record on him. The song "What A Way to Say Goodbye" was written by Rich in conjunction with Rudy Rodgers (DJ Rodgers brother). Another song written at the time was "Inside Out" (penned by Rich and Fred Jenkins), But some conditions attached to the song (publishing rights maybe, Rich didn't go into the details) weren't right and so Rich had to re-write the song. The initial song, with changes, thus became "Your Love is Ecstacy", hence the fact that the title of the 'Ecstasy' song still seems to be "Inside Out". Rich also wrote "Hello My Friend" but that, when cut, had very limited availability due to the name error on the 45 when it was pressed up. The 'Mel Adams' 45 was never promoted and copies should never have escaped the 'junking process' (though a few obviously did). Rich did try to track Owen Garris down some years back but believes he passed some time ago (what happened to the other Star West track master tapes he has no idea about). Rich is still involved with the music biz and runs an outfit by the name of Playyosong. Check out their web site ............ .https://www.playyosong.com/ I posted a couple of tracks up yesterday (on the Soul Source Record Club Groovin into Summer thread) that Playyosong put out; both have major input from Malvin 'Dino' Vice and feature female singers Maia & DeNitria Chance. ....... both are also great cuts IMHO. Rich is willing to 'do a deal' on a reissue of his Star West tracks and so, any interested parties should contact him via his e-mail addy ............. playyosong@live.com .