Sunnysoul

Excellent thanks. According to Discogs, Crazy Beat issued their release in 2005 since which time which Gene made those general comments about bootlegs. But has Gene ever specifically addressed the Balance Town 45 release which was released in the late 70s ... or early 80s (if you believe the cynics who are saying that the Balance Town record magically appeared purely on the back of the two tracks' popularity on the UK modern soul scene). And if Gene himself was responsible for the Balance Town record back then, well that surely makes it an original legit first issue. So still no substantial evidence to suggest that the Balance Town release is a bootleg.

No Dobre 45 release has come to light but there have been a couple of threads on here before on the Balance Town 45 and some knowledgeable and well respected members on here have expressed some doubts over the legitimacy of that Balance Town release . And Gene may indeed have said it's a boot . But so far there has been no definitive evidence that it is boot ... and as for Gene thinking it's a boot, he may well call it a boot because he may never have got any money out of the record's release and had no say in its release ... but even as producer/ arranger/writer, did he have the rights to the masters in the first place ? Did the release need Gene's approval ? From the beginning of time artists have had records released without their knowledge, so let's not dismiss the Balance Town record so easily as being illegitimate. Crazy Beat are selling it as a 45 on their own label. Has anyone them asked them who they dealt with when they licensed it? That might possibly shed a bit more light on the issue ...

Anyone want to sell ???

Still looking for both of these. If anyone has a High Frequency 7" I'm happy to pay $300.00 US which is well over the odds. The highest sale to date on Discogs for the 7" is $251.00 US ... so if you sell yours at $300.00 you'll be doing some great business for yourself. And if you have a Jay Player 7" , happy to pay £300 GBP ... which is 50 quid more than the previous highest ever sale for that one. PM me now !!!

About 48 hours ago Mr Manship had the maximum number of facebook friends - 5,000 - at last count it's now down to 4,994 .....

Once records like manu dibango, barrabas babe ruth etc were discovered and became popular on the early New York disco scene, US DJ's and record labels started casting their nets far and wide , including Europe ... al foster was a popular disco record in the mid 70s ...

Christ Chalky ... have you also been looking at microscopic organisms with that camera ....

Mick was right .... Rod's way out of tune and his vocal is all over the place !!! The Wicked Pickett's original is far superior .... with Tami Lynn on female lead ... great film of him on Hollywood A Go Go

Kym, please tell us more about your time with Willie & the Mighty Magnificents ?

Hopefully there is a member on here who has full access to that particular issue of Billboard and can reproduce that list of best disco or club. Also, having read most of the books on the story of discos in the US in the 70's , it leads to another question abut the sheer scale and numbers attending Wigan each week ... was it 1500 at its peak ? As I understand it none of the legendary US discos like The Gallery and The Loft came close to those numbers did they ? Was Paradise Garage the first truly large scale dance venue in the US ?

So, the "two different originals" should both have the Bell Sound studio stamp in the run out ... as Mr Manship asserts ...

Anyone have one without the Bell Sound Studio stamp ?

According to Mr Manship, this WAS booted in 1971 ...

the song sounds so out of character for Chubby Checker .... and the vocal is almost a little too sophisticated and polished for Chubby. When I heard it back then ... and again now ... immediate thought was Big Dee Irwin ...

Just sold on ebay at $787.00 US ... Visual grade: VG, faint label wear ... https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/70s-Soul-45-Gene-Townsel-There-039-s-No-Use-Hiding-Balance-Town-mp3-/311948900293?_trksid=p2047675.l2557&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&nma=true&si=NjaUeuRAbp%2FKjYBMCerTuSL5l9k%3D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc 70s Soul 45 - Gene Townsel - There's No Use Hiding - Balance Town Ended: 11 Sep, 2017 00:29:22 AEST Winning bid: US $787.00 [ 21 bids ]

They are both good sides but I agree with you, the other side is better ... surprised a little that they preferred Cat Walk at the Torch ...

Was it booted ?

Lol ... the seller describes it thus : "hole was double punch but dnap" ...

Current ebay listing - look at the centre hole ... https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Ron-Shy-Dont-You-Know-Little-Star-Modern-Soul-45-HB-Barnum-Mega-Rare/132296687321?_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIM.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20140107090050%26meid%3D285459b6394342a3a6bd2fd8756767ad%26pid%3D100011%26rk%3D5%26rkt%3D12%26sd%3D122674962961&_trksid=p2047675.c100011.m1850

Which prompts the thought that maybe in the earliest days of the scene, the Sidney Barnes record was in fact known and possibly played a few times but then discarded as not quite making the grade and then Jerry Cook was discovered and the rest as they say is history ...

Sidney Barnes to Jerry Cook is like Jimmy Breedlove to Paul Anka ...

Yep, Sidney's version is very nice although to be honest the rhythm plods along to some degree and sounds as though Leiber & Stoller left the sound microphones for the instruments in the laundry while the orchestra played in the room next door ... whereas Jerry Cook is right upfront and just hits you in the face from the very first note and demands that you move your feet as fast as they can take you. Matter of fact, if someone asked "name one record that epitomises the (60's) northern soul sound" , I'd have no problem at all if they put forward Jerry Cook's record. It really stands right up there as one of the greatest dancers to ever hit the scene.

One gets the feeling that if most of those who voted for Sidney Barnes were 18 years old again then the vote right about now would be something like Sidney Barnes 5% and Jerry Cook 95% ...

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ok ... so ... who's got either or both of these to pass on to a needy soul brother ?