Roburt

Loads of previous threads have dealt with different Numero releases .... They do a really good job; tracking down old artists / producers/ studio owners and buying up old stock, acetates and master tapes to enable them to license & release the stuff. They go for obscure labels and have unearthed loads of great 'forgotten' soul / funk tracks Their Boddie Studios (Cleveland) and Lou Ragland box sets are great examples of the quality releases they put out.

I framed up similar memorabilia many years back (30+) and have had the results hanging up in my record room ever since (see below). Such stuff can be really effective; I used to be the guy that decorated the 'Soul Barn' (a well known private soul party event that used to be staged in a barn in South Yorkshire) and had 100's of soul 45 label / old music ads / soul show poster scans printed up to hang on the walls (it helped that I worked in a place that had a drawing office / print room, so could produce stuff that was 4ft x 6ft in size). Used some of my old stuff to decorate a village hall a while back (it was hosting Paul Dunn's big birthday bash) and will do the same next year to celebrate my old mate's (Tom Sleight) 65th birthday party. Pulling montages together to form an effective poster can be quite a lot of fun. Only trouble was at the Soul Barn, too many guests had a lot to drink & nicked the wall hangings at the end of the night.

https://cumberlink.com/news/opinion/blogs/thats_entertainment/entertainment-temptations-singer-s-final-fight/article_65bdb890-3a39-11e2-8a32-0019bb2963f4.html

Damon Harris @ Prestatyn 2007: Sound check run through before show .....

He's in discussion with Amazon.com re:book sales .......... ... but says there will be more from him (dates, etc) on Facebook as soon as he knows.

Damon (& his group) played Prestatyn Legends Weekender in October 2007. Though I spent a bit of time talking with him back then, he was more private about his medical challenges then. He showed no signs (then) of the problems he must have been experiencing and put on a really great show.

Pat Hervey ........ doesn't look very funky IMO ........

Seems that the 1st 100 copies will be higher spec (colour photos, etc) & will each be signed before being sold ............... the rest will have paperback covers + B&W photos. All down to the cost of production Bruce says on Facebook.

Damon Harris, ex Philly singer (Young Vandals, Unifics, Impact & solo artist) PLUS ex Temptation is close to death. He has been fighting prostrate cancer for some time The ex Temptation great is reminded daily that he is in the fight of his life and it is a battle that gets more challenging as each second ticks off the clock. Harris is open about his illness, which he was diagnosed with in 1999, and blunt about his prospects. "I'm here by the grace of God only," he said. "My worse fears are dying as a broke and alone musician." It wasn't as though Harris mismanaged his earnings with The Temptations. Prostate cancer, like any other cancer, is expensive to fight. The Baltimore native said he goes month-to-month often not knowing how he will meet his bills. Rent on his condo near Baltimore is paid, "whenever I can make the payment," he said. "I live a very simple life, but I'm sick and there isn't much I can do. I've been offered gigs, some I haven't been able to do because, since October, I haven't been able to walk much," he said. "I'm still here," he said. "Cancer has been trying to shut my system down and the doctors here have been trying to put it off as best they can." .... INFO found using link posted up on net by MAA (Motown Alumni Association).

'GROWING UP IN THE SOUND OF PHILADELPHIA' ............. EXTRACT ............ ~From The Chapter~ "LIFE IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY BEGINS" “This is T Life,” Earl Shelton announced to me and this is Bruce Hawes,” he said to T. Life. The two of us shook hands. “I want you to listen to some of his songs and let me know what you think,” Earl Shelton stated. T Life agreed and invited me into his office. Now Theodore Life was also an artist on Philadelphia International Label. ‘T~Life,’ as he was called then, would discover Evelyn Champagne King’ a few years later. T Life would also have in his group, Talmadge G Conway who was another talented staff songwriter and a member of his signed band, ‘Spiritual Concept.” Roland and Carl Chambers were also members of this exotic 'Funk Rock Band' of Philadelphia International Records. Then, another member was a GREAT and wonderful songwriter named: Dexter Wansel. In later years he would become a staff member and Produce Patti LaBelle and write, ‘If Only You Knew,’ with someone from my post High School group, 'The Original Overbrook Singers,' a gospel group that I had just recently quit being a member of. His collaborator name was the amazing creator, Cindy Biggs. Cynthia Biggs and I had collaborated on, a few years before she met Dexter, her very first song

Grant Smith & the Powers MGM 45 cut "Thinkin About You" is quite a decent blue-eyed soul track (with a bit of a 'Foundations' feel to it at the start) ..... ........ the track was written & (is credited on the label as being) produced by Al Rain .......... Al Rain who still lives in Toronto said this about the cut ..... The tracks were done here at Sound Canada, produced by John Irvine (great guy). John ,Brian Ayer & I went to N.Y. to meet Tony Orlando who was A&R man at MGM. They loved the record & offered me a contract which was shortlived because of finances, I'm told. ....... and the Tiaras add backing vocals to good effect ........ "You Got What I Want" is more messy but still has a very R&B feel to it. More about Grant Smith & the Power ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grant_Smith_%26_The_Power

In the early to mid 60's, London clubs had all the best soul / R&B acts on .......... mainly coz US acts would visit the London offices of their record labels to do promo work or appear on a London based TV / radio show. Whilst here, if they had the time, they would play a London club / theatre gig. All the top UK artists (in the soul field) also based themselves out of London back then, so London gigs were local for them ........... easier to get to & make money out of (no big petrol or B&B bills) ......... so the best acts were on in London all the time. If visiting US acts were undertaking a UK tour, then they would head off up north. But many times, they didn't have the time to play too many northern gigs (all the best bookings were Friday/Saturday/ Sunday nights & the Yank acts couldn't hang around without work for the other 4 days of the week). So the 'in-crowd' acts were on in London and because of this, much of their audience gravitated towards the capital. Not to say that there weren't 'soul outposts' in the north though (the Mojo, Wheel, etc + back then at times the local Top Rank or Locarnos).

Because of their involvement with other Canadian acts, much of the Tiaras work is well documented in Canadian music circles .... ..... A popular Canadian group in the early '60's was EG Smith & the Express. On January 1st, 1967; rival R & B/soul act Eddie Spencer & The Power (who had formed around 3 months earlier) decided to ditch their frontman Eddie Spencer and guitarist Les Morris and chose the Express's Grant Smith (vocals) and Jim Pauley to replace them. Effectively, members were dropped from each group, just one ‘new’ outfit rising from the ashes. As EG Smith & the Power (soon to become Grant Smith & the Power), the new band quickly established themselves as one of the top R & B acts on Toronto's club circuit. On June 16th, 1967 they played Whitby Arena (Whitby, Ontario) in conjunction with James & Bobby Purify plus Shawne Jackson. They then secured two months live work in the US (summer 1967), but their line-up continued to evolve. Whilst in the US, the band was offered a record deal with MGM (via Tony Orlando). They were soon topping the charts with their only hit -- a remake of the Spencer Davis song "Keep On Running" (released January 1968 - Boo Records in Canada). Their 2nd single featured the Al Rain penned songs "Thinkin' 'Bout You / You Got What I Want". These tracks were recorded in Art Snider's Toronto studio with backing vocals by the Tiaras (Jackie Richardson, Brenda Russell, Colina Phillips and Arlene Trotman). Both songs featured the contributions of guest saxophonist Steve Kennedy. More personnel changes took place but Grant Smith & the Power were soon opening shows in Toronto for the likes of the Hollies and Spanky & Our Gang. They returned to the US to support Janis Joplin, Rare Earth and Traffic but members continued to quit and be replaced. After their return to Canada (summer 1968), Steve Kennedy was asked to formally join them (he walked out on Eric Mercury & the Soul Searchers to do so). The new line-up recorded the tracks that were to form the group’s only album in November 1968 (their earlier singles also making the LP). Canadian web sites state that the Tiaras 3rd Canadian single ("Right On") is by the same group.

It was the Cue Club in Paddington that we all wanted to visit. USAF guys from the bases around London used to frequent the place as well as the usual Brit mods & soul / ska fans.

"Emidisc" was EMI's brand name for their blank acetates. They were made at the EMI plant in Hayes, Middlesex. Emidiscs were used by anyone in the recording industry and the name does not mean that the recording was produced by EMI itself. However, for every NS Emidisc there are 100's of legit Emidisc acetates made (as Pete said) for labels, producers, publishers, acts. They originally date back to around 1962, a bit before NS bootlegging commenced I believe .......... ........... https://www.45cat.com/label/emidisc

No Pete, she only learnt to play the piano in the dark much later on.

Seems that they had a 3rd 45 release ...............

On the net it states that ............... .... The Tiaras members were Jackie Richardson, Brenda Russell, Colina Phillips and Arlene Trotman ..... ............ here's a picture of them that dates back to when their Barry 45 was released in 1968 .... ... all black & no Pat Hervey listed (though she could have sung on the Op-Art 45 as a 'guest' member). Seems that they appeared on a Canadian CTV show "A Go Go '66" (later renamed "It's Happening)" Gigi & the Charmaines were based in Toronto at the same time, so the two outfits probably knew each other.

Another member of the group was Brenda Russell ............ ..... Brenda Russell was born to musical parents,(her father Gus was a one-time member of The Ink Spots. She spent her early years in Canada after moving to Hamilton, Ontario, age 12. As a teenager she began performing in local bands. Brenda was recruited to sing in a Toronto-based girl group called The Tiaras along with Jackie Richardson. The group's ONE single (WRONG), "Where Does All The Time Go" was released on Barry Records in 1968 and sunk without a trace in to obscurity. In her late teens she joined the Toronto production of Hair, during which time she had begun to play the piano.

Both pieces are out of Billboard (the foreign music section).

What Tim Brown had to say .................. Pat Hervey is a white Canadian artist (still alive to this day) often likened to Brenda Lee but who occasionally veered towards black music (apparently she recorded a version of Mitty Collier’s ‘Pain’ that I’ve yet to hear). By the later 60s, she was signed to Stan Klees’ Red Leaf label (which has a Northern sound by the Charmaines on it). Nothing came of her time with the label and this Toronto artist moved to Vancouver in 1969. Before doing this, she did a moonlight session as part of a one-off girl group THE TIARAS with a release on Op-Art which sank out of sight immediately. That Hervey was signed to another label hardly helped matters. And that was that until my one-time apprentice Andy Dyson turned a copy of the Op-Art single up about 8 or 9 years ago, duly reporting to my office with said vinyl for sale. The record was entitled ‘Surprise’ and was coupled with ‘Foolish Girl’. To be honest on the day the tracks seemed a little lightweight and I refused the offer of the disc. Since that time brother Dyson came up 4 more copies — all from the same source and as it happened, a source known to Martin Koppel. No more copies have been located and the record’s Canadian origins will surely ensure that it will remain very rare indeed.

These have to be the people involved with that 45 (which appears to be totally Canadian in origin) ..... ..... Toronto group the Tiaras and Toronto based writer / arranger / producer Al Rain ......

Of course music is of its time. 60's music sounds like 60's music, etc, etc. But why do simple tunes cut in rudimentary studios by guys (gals) with little formal musical education still sound so great all these years later (I can't see much 90's music still finding a big audience in 40+ years time). ......... and it's not just me who thinks this way ...... ...... over 50% of TV ads seem to feature 60's / 70's tracks and if ad men didn't think they would still 'sell product' then they wouldn't still be using them. And if kids today don't like 'old music' why do so many of the tracks they do like listening to start out being built around a classic 60's / 70's soul sample ??

They even got funky down at the Swinger ..............

So about how much did the 45 auction raise in the end ???