Roburt

A good NS dancer from Jewel .............

It seems that we have yet lost another 60's soul singer. A posting on Southern Soul stated that Jewel passed away yesterday (1st March) in an LA hospital. Tap to view this Soul Source News/Article in full

A 20th Fox 45 release I've always been after (NOT) is Rolf Harris' "Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport" which was out as Fox # 207 in August 1960. Wobble boards were provided to guests on TV shows such as Clay Cole's Music Show in New York & the record was played on the show & members of the studio audience provided with boards. STRANGELY this track was a big US national R&B chart hit when re-issued on Epic (Top 20 Billboard R&B hit in summer 1963). Wonder if the 20th Fox version of the 45 is rare ........ should I be chasing a copy if it is rare .... decisions, decisions.

Dave, I'd guess that this is the guy who recorded for Kapp (61) & Coral (63) before 20th Century Fox .... he seemed to be both a song & dance man going by this TV show clip from 1964 .... Below is a photo of the dancer. Even though it seems to date from later than 1964 (going by how old he looks in it), I'd say this guy shows a great similarity to the guy in the clip above. The dance guy was born in 1936 & had a spell in the army (around the mid to late 50's), so that would make him 25 years old in 1961 and 28 yrs old in the TV clip.

There's an article up on the net about 12" singles -- 'Zoo Story: For The Longest Time' that includes this section .... ... 1974 .... Tom Moulton, an A&R rep for King Records, was about to make a mix of the Al Downing disco track "I'll Be Holding On". Like so many great innovations of the modern age, he invented the 12-inch single by accident. In the book 'Record Players: DJ Revolutionairies', Moulton simply tells the history of the first 12-inch single: “The seven-inch blanks, they were out of them. So he had to give me a twelve-inch. And I said, that’s ridiculous. So they said, I know what we’ll do: we’ll spread the grooves and make it louder. And, of course, when I heard it, I almost died.” This new format started to make the rounds with the DJs before any 12-inch singles were commercially available. It split the difference between the fidelity of the 40-minute, 12-inch 33-rpm LP and the brevity of the three-minute, 7-inch 45-rpm single. The 12-inch single emerged in the mid ’70s at the height of discotheques, as DJs called for longer songs to entertain the bell-bottomed girls who made the disco ball go ’round. As Moulton said, the grooves cut for a 12"³ record are wider, which makes the bass deeper and the sound louder. The benefit of the 12-inch single is simple physics: Not only do the wider grooves allow the record stylus to create wider sound waves for louder amplification and bigger bass; but also the further out the groove is from the center of the record, the more space there is for the stylus to move. Just try spinning the 10-minute live version of Bruce Springsteen’s “The Incident on 57th Street” from the B-side of the 1987 “Fire” 7-inch. You’ll hear what’s called “inner groove distortion” because the grooves on the 45 are so close the center. It sounds like shit. Eventually, the 12-inch single started to creep out of the disco clubs blasting Double Exposure’s 10-minute “Ten Percent” and Donna Summer’s 17-minute “Love to Love You Baby” and into the mainstream pop consciousness. Everything .... just about became available on 12" after that ........................... ........................ Apart from the fact that Tom Moulton was a freelance mixer (who was affiliated to King Records way back in 1963) and the Al Downing track was cut in 1974 for DCA Records out of Washington DC and released on Chess & Janus (via GRT), I guess most of the above rings true. Tom was getting success as a re-mixer with cuts by the likes of B T Express & (coincidently) Don Downing. He was soon to be in demand with every record label who wanted a disco hit (& was so influential in such matters back in 1975, the Billboard gave him his own weekly column). ANYWAY to my points .......... Was it a HAPPY ACCIDENT that the plant was out of 7" blanks when he needed one ? .... ALSO ...... I know (from my own collecting habits) that 12" singles can be a pain for a number of reasons ..... 1/ Because of the space they take up. 2/ Coz they mean a 3 min 30 track can be extended to infinity and thus 'lose the plot'. 3/ Coz for the last 20+ years, they have been putting out numerous remix versions on different 12"ers .... so findin the 12" that has the right soulful mix can be a right pain. BUT THAT APART ....... and especially as it states above, most tracks over 4 minutes long 'sound like shit' when pressed on 7" vinyl ... ....... why do NSers continue to be so against 12" singles (they ain't even too keen on LP's & CD's). Are they just 'dinosaurs' who bury their head in the sand & resist all technological progress ?

When soul artists made LP's back then, little thought went into what went on them (Marvin Gaye's 'What's Going On' changed everything but that was still 3 years down the line). If an album was trying to secure sales off the back of a big hit 45, then it would be rush recorded and would contain sound-alike tracks & covers of other recent soul hits. I'd say Jesse's album (when recorded) was initially meant to sell to the people that went to see his live shows (and he was a very popular draw on the west coast back then). As with his live show I'm sure he was trying to cover all the bases when it came to the sound of the various tracks he cut. Down the years, he cut Impressions, James Brown, Chicago, Detroit, Memphis & 'big city soul' sounding tracks. Like many other singers trying to establish his own sound, he was just going with what was selling at the time to remain current (& thus keep the work coming in).

Well I was a regular at the Wheel from 67 to 70 ............ and less than half those on the Wheel CD meant anything to me back then. Before the Wheel I was doing Yorks soul clubs / nights from 65 (where very similar stuff to the common wheel sounds were played) & I'm including that period in my assessment of the tracks as well. I guess its all subjective though, but if I (& most other regulars in 67) had to choose the big Bobby Bland Wheel track I'm sure we'd go for "Call On Me". Loads of Dells cuts played back there, but "Its Not Unusual" isn't one I ever remember hearing and my Esquires cut would be "Get On Up" rather than the copycat "And Get Away". The guy who selected the tracks must have visited the club on different nights to me.

No way that it 'gnaws at my soul' ....... in the 70's I was into bringing up my family & getting on at work ...... ...OHH, AND LISTENING TO REAL MUSIC; Curtis Mayfield, Leroy Hutson, Reffa, Al Green, Bobby Womack, Latimore, O'Jays, Joe Simon, Gwen McCrae, Tyrone Davis, Marvin Gaye, Willie Hutch, Candi Staton, Spinners, Emotions, Tommy Tate, Donny Hathaway ......... DEFFO NOT the pop trash played at Wigan. ....... if I went to a soul night back then, I wanted to enjoy the music that was being played .... so Wigan was not a destination for me.

Not being one of the 'Casino Kids' I never did get all the pop crap that was played there in the 70's. Thankfully, most of that rubbish died a death on the scene many years back, however Peggy Marsh still seems to get plays. Never got her at all mesen (in soul terms at least). She was massive in Germany & Japan, sold millions of records in both countries. She made lots of tracks in German & Japanese and toured both countries (she seemed to visit Germany to play live / TV gigs a number of times a year from around 64 thru to 73). Going by the titles of some of her German outings, she seemed to be a bit of an Anglophile ...... but even that doesn't get her into my good books. Mind you, she seemed to like flashing her thighs back then, so she can't have been all bad ..........

I'm liking Tommy Sears "Salvation train" that you've posted up on youtube. It has the same sort of feel to it that many Terry Callier cuts have.

This Philly based label PROBABLY had something to do with 20th Century Fox calling the 1st incarnation of their record label just 20th Fox .....

In Jesse's first stint with 20th Century, he was initially handled by the label's west coast office (by Hosea Wilson). But the label closed down its west coast office and so Jesse was transferred across to be dealt with by the label's New York office. Things didn't improve though and he was left without a record deal when the label was closed down. They didn't really do right by him during his 2nd stint at the label either ..... talk about being jinxed.

Seeing as I posted up a Jesse James 45 in post # 10, I thought it might interest a few here if I put up an extract from my bio on Jesse James ............ ... the extract relates to his periods signed to 20th Century (+ the intervening years) .............. In May 67, Jesse came to the attention of 20th Century Fox Records' Hosea Wilson. Signed to a record deal with the label, money was advanced to allow Jesse to cut a full album. At Sierra Sounds Recording Studio (Berkeley) the whole project was quickly completed, with Willie Hoskins handling arranger’s duties. The two part “Believe In Me Baby” was the obvious cut to form his initial 20th Century single. With the labels promotions team on the case, the 45 took off immediately. In early September 1967 it entered the national charts where it stayed for 2 months, attaining a Top 50 placing. With a hit now under his belt, 20th Century released a (self titled) album and they also coupled “Thank You Darlin” with “Bring My Baby Back” (yet again) to form his next single. This outing failed to chart and so two further tracks were lifted from his album to form a third 20th Century 45. “Green Power” was the side of this record that was promoted, however it’s the flip, “If You’re Lonely (Take My Hand)”, that has really stood up to the test of time. By now Hosea Wilson had taken over as his manager and this led to a release on the Uni label prior to Hosea starting his own labels (Zea & Zay Records). Jesse’s first outing on Zea, “Don’t Nobody Want To Get Married”, returned him to the national charts in August 1970. The track rose to reach #18 on Billboard, so becoming the biggest hit of his entire career (its success resulted in the single gaining a UK release on Mojo). “I Need You Baby” (Zea) became Jesse’s next single and this classy ballad had him on the charts again in April 1971. Further chart success came with “At Last” (on Zay at the end of 1971) and “I Need Your Love So Bad” followed in 1972 (“I Know I’ll Never Find Another One” being used as the flip to both 45’s). A return to 20th Century Records occurred in summer 74 when “You Ought To Be Here With Me” was issued by the label. But it was Jesse’s next outing, “If You Want A Love Affair” (arranged by H B Barnum and produced by Ron Carson), that returned him to the charts in July 1975. Strangely, 20th Century didn’t issue a follow-up single and so it was left to Ron Carson to put out Jesse’s next effort on his Happy Fox label.

AN EXTRACT FROM THE BIO I WROTE ON TROY (KEYES) BACK IN 2005 ............. Born in Pantego, North Carolina in 1940 Troy’s love of music developed while singing in his local church choir. At age 10 he moved to Brooklyn, New York but continued to sing. During these formative years Troy would hang with the crowd developing Doo-Wop harmonies on street corners. In the mid 1950s he became a member of Brooklyn based group the Starlites. In no time they had entered and won a talent contest and this netted them a recording contract. The resultant single "Missing You" (Peak) has gone on to become a much sought after collectors item. From the Starlites, Troy briefly joined acclaimed New York outfit the Velours (who would evolve into the Fantastics). Troy got to sing lead on just one of their cuts, “I’ll Never Smile Again” (Cub; 1958), but made a good friend in group member Richie Pitts. Troy was introduced to Bob Crewe by the Starlite’s Clifford Rice and with Bob he cut “The World Without You” (Atco) and this was released under the name of Mitchell Keyes. With the multi-talented Bob Crewe encouraging Troy, his confidence grew and he quickly honed his vocal and writing skills. Troy then teamed up with Clifford Rice, Jimmy Williams and Bobby Hoggard to form the group the High Keyes and they hit big with their first release “Que Sera, Sera” (Atco). A top 40 pop chart hit across the USA in 1963, the track also charted in Canada and was issued in the UK on London. In addition to recording their own tracks, the High Keyes also provided backing vocals in the studio for artists such as Lennie O’Henry. Fate though took a hand and Troy was drafted into the US forces. However he still utilised his vocal talents, entering and winning the All Army talent contest as a solo singer. On his return from the forces, Troy reformed the High Keyes along with Jimmy Williams and new members Calvin Williams and Bubbles Moore. Under the supervision of George Kerr in 1965, they recorded their only Verve release, “Living A Lie”, but this failed to chart. Later however this would become a highly prized item with Northern Soul fans. Impressed with George Kerr’s studio skills, Troy kept in touch and this was to pay dividends. In late 1967, George oversaw a session at New York’s ABC studio at which the backing vocals and music track for a song he had written were laid down. All he needed now was the right lead voice to finish it off. Remembering Troy’s earlier efforts for him, George gave him the lyric sheet for “Love Explosion”. Troy learnt the song and just three weeks later he was in the studio completing the track in just one take. On its release in January 1968, the record instantly started to gain massive radio airplay and made it onto the US charts. Industry politics reared their ugly head though and this prevented the single from fully delivering on its true potential. ABC persevered but Troy’s follow-up 45 “No Sad Songs” (written by Sammy Turner) and a duet he cut with Norma Jenkins, “A Love Gone Bad” both failed to make any significant impact.

Not an EP but marketed purely for jukebox use .... hence it had to be a 7" and was designated as a 'Little LP' (some companies called them mini LP's). The evolution of these records is dealt with in some depth on the earlier thread (7" LP's). If you started talking about EP's with a US record collector, he would struggle to understand what you were on about. It was only in the UK, France & Europe that EP was a term that was in common useage.

Troy was on at Prestatyn and was convinced to come over here to perform by his old friend Richie Pitts. I spent some time chatting with Troy at the weekender and he never mentioned being Lenny O'Henry. Richie is on Facebook and knew Troy well back in the High Keyes & Velours period. Go on Facebook, pull up Richie's profile and ask him the question. I'm sure he'll say that Troy and Lenny are not one & the same.

A montage showing how the Record Company's label artwork evolved with time ............

I put up a thread on here about mini / little LP's last year. On that thread, I posted various ads for these 7" jukebox records. Amongst them was this ad for London Label 'Little LP's' that was in the music / jukebox mags back in 1968 ....... Amongst the releases available back then was the Willie Mitchell one that contained "the Champion". The outfits who pressed these records up & marketed them to jukebox renters seemed to do a number all at once, so the dates when the mini LP's became available didn't often tie in with the date the full LP had been released ............

"Use Your Head" was Mary's biggest seller on 20th Century Fox. It peaked at No. 13 on the (Billboard) national R&B chart and even managed to make it onto the national Pop Top 40 charts. It makes sense then that this 45 would have been pressed up on both the west & east coasts (to meet peak demand). Both R&B and Pop radio stations across the US would have been sourced with promo copies. ...... and thus there were 2 x demo copies PLUS 2 x issue copies of the 45 manufactured.

Guess the R.P.M Generation track ended up on Romar coz it was masterminded by John D'Andrea (who no doubt was the same guy as the 60's singer John Andrea).

Back to the Cornelius Dwyer 45 .... ...... is much of anything known about the guy ? .... was he white or black ? ..... was he west coast or east coast based (I'd guess at east coast, maybe the Philly area) ?? I know a fair bit about the guy who produced his tracks .... R. P. Marcucci. Bob Marcucci had started out managing 'manufactured' film / pop stars in the late 50's / early 60's. His biggest successes came with Fabian and Frankie Avalon. He had borrowed a wad of cash to start Chancellor Records around 1956. At Chancellor, his biggest success came with Claudine Clark though the likes of Josef Damiano & Fram Lori did little. He next signed the 'Fabian styled' Mark Valentino with Swan in 1962. He also signed Johnny Burnett to Chancellor that year. In 65 he was trying to get hits on a guy named John Andrea (guess Marcucci invented names for most of the artists he signed). The Chancellor label eventually collapsed and he moved on to form Robert P. Marcucci Productions. It must have been for that outfit that he cut Cornelius Dwyer and pacted him with 20th Century Fox. Fabian was signed as an actor to 20th Century Fox which is probably how Mancucci got close to the guys at the company. He reactivated Chancellor in 68 but it didn't last long. Then he started up the Romar label around 1970 and this enjoyed its biggest UK success with a (NS played) instro from the R.P.M. Generation -- "Rona's Theme". This had started life as a TV show theme & so his Hollywood connections probably helped land the 45 on his label). After Romar went under, he teamed up with Tony Camillo (Gladys Knight, etc) to manage the likes of Chelsea Records artist Ronnie Williams. He was still managing singers from his LA office in 1974 but without much success. The 1980 film 'The Idolmaker' was based on his life / career. He passed away in 2011.

Another question ..... ....... how many 45's were bought in from indie labels in 65 / 66 and released on 20th Century Fox's (TCF) Fox Family label ? .............. and were any of these soul tracks ???

Of course, the guys from the successful film division always kept an overview of things at the record label. Film execs knew the value of a star name and so decided to land one for the record label. Mary Wells was in dispute with Berry Gordy at Motown and so she was poached in summer 1964. She was tempted to the label by a large 'signing-on fee' plus the carrot of possible roles in films and so she duly joined the label. Though top record producers & songwriters were hired to cut tracks on her, none really repeated the level of success she had enjoyed at Motown (though she did have 2 R&B Top 20 hits early in 65 -- "Use Your Head" & "Never, Never Leave Me"). By the end of 1965, she had moved on to Atlantic and the label was left without a figurehead artist again.

The thread about the Cornelius Dwyer 45 got me thinking what a strange concern 20th Century (Fox) Records was. 20th Century Fox was (of course) originally a large successful film company. They had movie soundtracks & songs from popular films under their ownership plus of course they ran the 20th Century Fox Symphony Orchestra that provided the background soundtrack on films as well as playing a few live gigs in LA. The film executives wanted to exploit the music they had under their control more effectively and (as records were selling in much greater numbers by the mid to late 50's), they started a record company division in 1958 (20th Century Records). In 1963, this was renamed 20th Century Fox Records. Although the parent company was Hollywood based, they decided to set up the record labels HQ in New York (where many big record companies had their home base). Even though they set on an experienced team to run the record label, they struggled to make a massive impact (hit wise). So around spring 1966 they re-organised the management, the old guys moving on and a new team taking over. This didn't really seem to work and the label soon went into hibernation for a few months. However in July 1966 they re-established the record label's west coast office and poached Jackie Mills from Mainstream Records to act as A&R chief. At the same time, Seymour Poe (Exec VP of the film division) signed a deal for ABC Records to act as distributor for the label. Things got going again in 1967 with product being sourced by both the NY and LA offices of the label. Once again however, the label failed to make money and after initially closing the west coast office (which Calif's Jesse James had been signed to), in 1970 the parent company shut the label down again. But the record biz was very lucrative back then and so the film guys decided it was worth another try in 1972. This time, they did manage to get lots of success, mainly from April 1973 onwards with the likes of Barry White spearheading the hits they enjoyed. BUT back to 1966 ........ as the label was fading away back then, it's releases became more random. TV had become big and was having more impact than film, so I guess the film guys got involved again and as a result 'Batman' Adam West was signed to a record deal in March 66. A 45 followed around April and this had the Catalogue No. # 627. The Cornelius Dwyer 45 became 20th Century Fox 45 # 637 not too long afterwards ... this must have been one of the last 45 releases by the failing label (which probably accounts for its rarity .... does issue copies exist ??). Of course, with 20th Century being a strong international company, the label had numerous overseas licensing deals. So loads of stuff from the label escaped around the world, many via the deal they had done with EMI (who placed the releases on its Stateside label in various countries). Anyone here have a list of the last 45's the label released and when in 1966 these escaped ???