Roburt

Yep, the GC 45 came out on UK 45. When it was a new release, I came across a bunch of em in the Nottinghill branch of R&T. Didn't realise how rare it was, so only bought 2 copies of it. Sold one to them there Lancastrians at a Withernsea Hotel soul do a few days later.

I have a copy of the S.P.At. 45 .... thought it was on an Island label (was Zing distributed by Island). It's been a while since I pulled it out though (the 45), so my memory may be playing tricks on me.

More Radice & Brass Construction ..... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpXQIzvaDmQ

A later Mark Radice effort ......

Mark Radice had 2 x 45's out on UK Paramount. He was the son of a top recording engineer & this helped him land a record deal with RCA (in the 60's) at the age of 7 (!!). He was working with Jerry Ross in the early to mid 70's and then he hooked up with Brass Construction for a few tracks. He later went on to work on Sesame Street & the Muppits, no doubt a well paying job.

I don't think many of the UK Paramount label soul 45's are about in any quantity. .... I know (Sth Yorks) John Benson has copies of quite a few of em .... .... I only have copies of a couple (the fine James Phelps "Check Yourself" from March 72 being one of em). The Stephanie Mills track was included on her 1st ABC LP wasn't it ?? (Paramount Pictures lost interest in the record label and sold it off to ABC).

It wasn't just soul singers / groups that headed down to Miami to play gigs. There were quite a few high profile gospel singers who performed there .... & even a few jazz guys ........ In 1959, the Kenny Drew Trio played a gig at the Sir John Hotel .... Not long afterwards, Kenny relocated to Copenhagen (Denmark) where he lived out the rest of his days. Before he left the US, he appeared on quite a few Blue Note albums. But after he moved to Europe, he cut tracks for many years with locally based musicians. In 1971, he co-wrote the music for (& actually appeared in) the high profile porn film 'Pornografi -- en musical' (Pornography -- the musical).

Kegsy, you really should know the answer to this yourself (you being such a switched on & informed guy !!). Frank Guida liked to exploit any opening .... as "Just Ask Me" & "Working For My Baby" were both popular in different regions (including the UK) over a number of years, he released a number of 45's that featured one or both of these tracks (more than one pressing being numbered SPQR 1002 I believe). Don't have the definitive answer as to which 'incarnation' was the original release or even which of the many versions on 45 is the rarest, but no doubt one of the OVO-boyo's on here will know.

I seem to recall that I have quite a few 45's / 12"ers on the Guess label (by other artists than Lenis) from the 1980's . ... ... could the track you're thinking of date from this late on ??

.......... BITS of a BIO I wrote some time back ............. "Lenis was one of the few who didn't have the time to wait to be discovered.... he discovered himself and let the world catch up to him. Lenis Guess is a genius without fear, and I'm proud to be able to call him my dear friend" so says Swamp Dogg. And if you impress Swamp, you must be someone special. Not only is Lenis Guess a talented singer, musician, song writer, producer and arranger but more than anything, he's a stayer. He is still an accomplished entertainer, some fifty plus years after he first recorded. ............. It was at this point that Frank Guida first entered his life. A recording contract was offered but Lenis' parents decided that he should complete his education, so he had to quit the group. He continued to write songs though and established recording star Kenneth Deal was so impressed with some of these that he took Lenis to meet local club owner George Perkins. The threesome decided to start a record label and just a year later, Lenis cut the self written "Thank Goodness" which soon became a top play locally. But the big fish in Norfolk record company circles was Frank Guida and so Lenis teamed up with him. "Working For My Baby" was written, released on Guida's SPQR label and quickly shot towards the top of the local radio station singles charts (the cut was also played on Dick Clarke's American Bandstand, the most influential US TV music show back then).. Lenis performed at radio station WRAP's Music Award Show (held at the Chrysler Hall) and was voted best male vocalist of the year. Guida thought that "Working For My Baby" still had some life left in it, so this time coupling the track with "Just Ask Me", a new 45 was released. The single didn't instantly enjoy repeated commercial success, but with the passage of time, "Just Ask Me" became a top collector's item. The cut first found favour on the UK allnighter scene around 1972 and it quickly became a top sound at clubs such as the Golden Torch. Its continued popularity resulted in the track being licensed for UK release on Route in 1975. Back in the US, further releases by Lenis had continued to be issued, these being on the SPQR, LeGrand, New Faces & Norfolk International labels. "You Can't Destroy A Pure Man" was released on the Norfolk International label but despite its obvious class, it failed to sell in sufficient volume. Above all things, Frank Guida was an astute businessman. After almost allowing Lenis to take up residence in his recording studio to learn the technical side of the recording business, he grew tired of the scant returns his studio was generating. Losing interest, Guida quit the recording industry and returned to the retail side of things. Thus Lenis found himself with the necessary skills to operate a recording studio but he had no studio in which to utilise them. He put matters right in 1970 when, in conjunction with Dorsey Brockington (a gifted engineer & sax player) he started Brockington & Guess Studios. He worked with the likes of Barbara Stant (Shiptown), Debbie Taylor, Oliver Christian, the 35th Street Gang (his studio musicians), Sir Guy, Calvin Wilson, Roy Hines & Reginald Wilson. On such sessions, Lenis would also play keyboards. He didn't totally neglect his own recording career though. In fact, he landed himself a contract with Polydor Records and they put "Super Woman" out in 1972. With the help of Swamp Dogg, a deal was done with Brunswick Records in 1974 for the release of the 35th Street Gang's "Come On Go With Me". The studio was in use almost continuously from the early to mid 70's, but money was still a scarce commodity. Because of this, many tracks remained in the can and those cuts that did make it onto 45, were pressed up in very limited numbers on labels such as DPG, Guess and LaShawn (thus creating almost instant collector's items). The studio was mainly known for its funk output, but the best cuts by Lenis to escape on DPG were "For All You've Been" & "Thank You Baby". Running the studio was always a struggle, but Lenis soldiered on even after Dorsey Brockington quit and left town. But in 1979, Lenis threw the towel in and relocated to New York, the days of the 'Norfolk Sound' were finally over. Lenis set up on 8th Avenue in Manhattan and soon had another studio operational. He cut "I Keep Coming Back For More" and this was released on the Guess label in the 1980's. Lenis continued to cut both himself and other artists, his own 45's being released on both the Guess ("Purified By Love") and SOS: Sound Of Soul ("Falling Deeper In Love" - 1983) labels. A 12" release (featuring a picture cover) escaped on Guess in 1984: "I Can't Leave Your Love Alone", but commercial success largely continued to elude him. So he moved on, the proximity of Broadway inspiring him to start writing stage plays. A number of these have now been staged 'off Broadway' and Lenis also created the film character Lash. Frank Guida had the likes of Lenis working in the studio on a daily basis .... both on his own recordings & on those of other Norfolk based singers / groups. Guida also released some stuff a number of times & on different labels .... sometimes having an artist re-record a song. .... So tracking down all the recordings Lenis was involved with in Norfolk (let alone New York after he relocated) isn't the easiest of tasks.

Two real ladies down in Miami to perform ......

I've got the Hump tonight ...........

How about Bud Harper & the B side of "Mr Soul". ............ that beat your pick Kegsy .... ... (even though u r a very knowledgeable guy)

Samuel E Wright 45 ........

... & I always thought T C Lee wrote the song himself .... ............. for his daughter ....... D C Lee !!

No, can't agree with either of you. Bill Boss (who used to be label supremo at Wand after he had run Okeh & Bell but before he started Philly International & Gemingo) says he never had any such discussion.

Can't say I ever really liked much that Slade did (though they did make good fun pop tracks) .... but the guys did appreciate good (soulful) music. An old bluesy track .... .... and Slades take on it .......... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fzehl8C0E6E

This guy made the odd good record .............

Can't agree with the above & think Ian is making it all up. I e-mail Billy Boss & Mike Minion on a regular basis and they have NEVER mentioned such a conversation. They did once tell me though that in Bill's basement there are 100's of copies of all the Wand 45's that soul collectors think were never pressed up. He's just waiting for the right time to put em all up on Evilbay.

In the UK 78's were being phased out at the end of the 50's ..... for a while new record releases would be available on both 78 & 7" but that wasn't for long. THING IS THOUGH .... the big UK companies weren't just going to throw decent machinery away .... so they shipped the unwanted 78 making equipment out to places like India (+ other old Commonweath countries) & the local branch of EMI (or whoever) went on using them through to 1964-ish. So, the answer to the question of are there soul releases on 78 is ... YES but only really from places like India (& there are even Beatles records on 78 from there).

Jazz 78's are still highly sought after by the fans of that music; heavy, man !!

From the late 60's through all of the 70's, Miami artists were well served by record labels (though in the 60's, many of these were out of state outfits) ... ... but a number of top local club acts still never really made it onto vinyl even though they were top draws locally ... I have no idea who the In Crowd Band were but no doubt some of their members ended up in groups that did land record deals .....

As I've slipped into 'return visit' mode, thought I'd give this one a spin as well ......... ... though its for an earlier gig that LaVern did than the one in Post No.134 ....

RE: .toac was released in uk on 9/11/1970 (by that I take it you mean 11th Sept 70) ........ Guess Dr. Who & the Tardis were involved then as TOAC entered the UK Top 50 Singles Chart on 1st August 1970, almost 6 weeks before you had the 45 getting released. After its early August debut, it stayed on the chart into November.

......... who's Tony Newton then? Tony Newton was a Motown studio musician who moved onto work with HDH after they split with Motown. He played on most (well very many at least) Invictus / Hot Wax tracks from the inception of those labels through into the 70's. As the original version of this track was laid down in 1966 & then 'extra' musical bits were added in 1970 .... I'm sure both guys played on the track (though not at the same time).