Roburt

... YEP ...

Near the end (bankruptcy), a label would have no (or very little) money to pay for big pressing runs. Their distributors would have heard they were struggling, so they would be holding back any payments to the label for past releases in the hope that they went under & the bill wouldn't have to be paid. The guys at the company would most probably be selling all the old stock they had in their storerooms at knock-down prices. The label wouldn't be able to afford to bung any DJ's or hire any promo guys, so getting airplay would be difficult. Studios wouldn't let them cut any new stuff + musicians, arrangers, producers etc would steer clear unless paid up front. Maybe one of the guys who owned the label (or one of their artists with a 45 due out) would stump up just enough for a few promo copies to be pressed up & sent out. Talk about the 'living dead', nothing worse. Such a label in summer 1970 was LA's Canyon. They had stuff they put out that was selling well + pressed up loads of stuff for all the labels they distributed .... BUT ... the money going out exceeded the money coming in (hit records initially caused you grief as it would be 3/ 4 months before any money would start rolling back in but you had all the bills to pay -- pressing plant, promo, mag ads, DJ bungs -- right at the beginning). So by September / October 70 Canyon was going under & no one was paying any bills / invoices they sent out. Releases such as "Frankie & the Spindles "War" must have died an instant death (especially with the big label alternative versions).

For much of the 60's, just about everyone in the music biz regarded Tony Middleton as just a cabaret singer ... coz of that, he got many recording jobs in that genre.

Can't ignore guys like Sonny Til, Clyde McPhatter, Eugene Pitt, Jimmy Ricks, Jimmy Castor & the like.

If there wasn't already a good group using the name .... .... they could bill themselves as the Masqueraders !! ... OR LETS GO (WAY BACK) TO THE LATE 60's .... they could be the Fabulous Dynamics (but not the Original Dynamics).

... believe me I never sang with the Dynamics .......... That's what you say now .... BUT ... I expect we'll see you up on that stage @ Prestatyn next year !!

Surely, he can't have ..... ....... DECIMATED !!!! .... DESOLATED ....... DESECRATED .... DESICCATED ....... DESCANTATED .... and .... DEPRECIATED !!

There's an RnB nuta in ULL who I think may have a few rekkids ..... AND ... he's alas postin onear.

Kegsy, you always muddy the water !!! (marked you down above to stop you becoming a Supersoulstar).

Seem to recall another thread about this a couple of weeks ago.

I know it's done in a sort of Ramsey Lewis style (very loose definition as the guitar -- lead instrument -- is nowhere near Ramsey Lewis style or even soulful in any way) but this version of the old (Nat King Cole) standard just ain't worthy of soul nite plays (IMHO).

The LP cover ....... Discogs has the info off the sleeve which gives the group line-up on the album as The Dynamics are Fred "Sonny" Baker, George White, Samuel Stevenson & Zerben Hicks Another site states .... Isaac "Zeke" Harris, George White, Fred Baker, and Samuel Stevenson were the Dynamics. (Zerben R. Hicks also sang with them but left shortly after their album release.)

Lorraine, what was it like running a recording biz out of this place .............

This lady lost her Patience with Roger ... well you can only stand so much ......

David Hudson finally hit the recording scene in the late 70's and was involved at TK Records right up to the organisation's financial collapse. He kept on going through the 80's, signing with Waylo and working in Memphis (where he had almost commenced his recording career at Stax back in 1970) with Willie Mitchell. He was still with Waylo in the early 1990's but once again his label sank due to finances. He kept going and even had a UK 45 release a few years back .... BUT ... even that wasn't the end for him and he's still out there making decent music. He's cut some newer stuff and has put it up on REVERBNATION ...... give it a listen ...... https://www.reverbnation.com/davidjhudson

Paul, you're right ....... Soul scene was owned by A. J. Lewis ( Tony) who had previously run a mail order list out of Hastings before moving up to St George's, Telford in 1973. Firstly based just off the square he took over the vacant miners club, and changed the name of his business to Oldies Unlimited. He also had old stock in a chapel that he had bought at some time. We used to visit the ex Working Mans Club premises but he wouldn't let you personally look thru the stock in there as he had his young staff all over the place all day fulfilling mail order requests. But, he would lock us into the Chapel & we'd spend all day trying to get to the bottom of all the piles to see what stuff was hidden away down there. He mostly kept his 45's in those 25 singles boxes that record companies used to send them out in. He'd sell stuff from each box (25 of the same 45) but when only a couple of copies were left in a few boxes, he'd show em all into one box & send it off to the chapel 45 grave pile. Loads of 25 count TK 45's were his main 'new' soul stock in the 1980's but if you unearthed some old stuff in the chapel, you'd go right back to 60's releases. Got quite a few bargains out of there BUT Also loads of crap bought on spec (but at 20p a copy for mint soul / disco 45's it was still worth it).

A 2015 release.

Either Monk asked him to sing in the wrong key OR this guy was having a really bad day vocally (he misses notes all over the place & strains in other passages). Not lead singer material.

Only 2 days from now, have to try to remember to tune in (brain cells depleting rapidly so memory shot these days).

Greg has great musical taste (& a super fab collection of gospel dancers), so this collection will be an essential buy. Just bought a copy of the CD (UK Amazon -- £10).

Last nights BBC4 show 'Arena -- 1966 - 50 Years Ago Today' was a lot better (in parts at least). In 1998 I took a large group of UK soulies to Vegas. We went to loads of shows, had 2 we organised ourselves (Nancy Y did the work on the LA one & we had 2 live acts there -- Brenda Holloway being one), Lou Ragland organised the Vegas one where we had about 10 acts perform. Anyway, we also organised a 'soul crowd trip' to the local Motown Cafe. The weekend after our visit, they were running the 'Temptations Story' TV movie on a major network all over the west coast. To promote the show, the LA news team from the network contacted the Vegas Motown Cafe. They told them to come along on the day we were there (we had arranged the day / time ahead so that they would give us a behind the scenes look round) and so we found ourselves being interviewed by the news team & being pushed up on stage to sing / dance with the 'Imitation Supremes' who were performing live numbers. The subsequent news piece wasn't too bad BUT almost 30 minutes of footage they shot was condensed down to a 90 - 120 seconds long piece for broadcast. A few of the UK crowd at the Motown Cafe (with the LP-lookalike menus -- got one of them here somewhere) ...

When Cholly Atkins (the old Motown choreographer) was still alive, he was always invited to shows given by Motown acts. As he was a bit frail in his final years, Lou would always pick him up & take him along to such events. So Lou always ended up backstage with Cholly and got intruduced to all the acts, celebs who were around. Cholly was responsible for all the Temptations stage moves, so was always welcome at any shows they gave in Vegas ...

Zoot Money's Big Roll Band were always a good watch ... Zoot (who played the keyboards) would take his pants off half way thru the show & sit there playing in spotted boxer shorts !! Saw them play @ the Mojo and at clubs like the Boulevard in Tadcaster. A live LP they had out illustrates the type of songs they would do in their live act ... https://www.discogs.com/Zoot-Moneys-Big-Roll-Band-At-Klooks-Kleek/release/6668585 A clip of them performing at Klooks Kleek ..... I saw them a few days before this at the Boulevard (Friday 30th Dec 1966) ....

My main gripe with it was their line that.... UK music fans became hippies around 1967, then got into satanism via Black Sabbath before being converted by T-Rex and then moving on to worship all things Bowie ...... I was there at the time & not one of those scenarios even touched my life or any of my friends lives ... still the BBC says that's what happened so I guess I can't really have been there.

Anyone buy soul packs (or Motown packs) from Oldies Unlimited in Telford ?? In the 80's, if you bought 100 soul 45's (for £10) you'd get about 50 US 45's on TK labels + 10 pic cover euro released things (lots of CBS labels like Philly Int stuff) + a few assorted indie label things. But you then had to wait about 6+ months to buy another pack from them or you'd get lots of the same 45's in your new pack.