Still Diggin

I find it difficult to accept some of the accreditations made on discogs to certain artists, more so when the time frame between releases spans nearly a decade. Productions change dramaticaly so vocal delivery accomadates this in such a way it can sound like a different artist. IMO Bobby King on Motown and Warners does not sound like the chap on the Luna 45, however the chap on the Lunar 45 does sound like the chap on Reprise with the Stevie Wonder cover. Like I say maybe it's just a time frame thing.

I also thought it was a slightly different mix, however the point I was making is it is Bobby King singing, with no evidence of it being Rudy Love.

A good captivating soul record is often it's simplicity. often wondered if it was Al 'alonzo' Wilson as it does sound like him. But that was from down south.

Given the fact this record is the same as Bobby king on Lunar then it would be reasonable to think King Superfly is just a play on Bobby's surname to negate contractual issues. Where is the provenance this has anything to do with Rudy Love. I stand to be corrected as my time spent at school was limited.

Just dropped you a line. Andy

Great choices Kev, as expected!

Excellent thread to start, however it may have been best to limit the suggestions to American based artists, as I can see this decending into numerous biddu type productions based on carribean and islands acts that lived over here, of which there are several hundred some mentioned already, not saying their all crap but it could go on forever. Car;l Douglas mentioned above also had a different flip in the Uk with his Buddah release, in the States it was 'Marble and iron' in the uk it was 'Do you need my love to get better', off to play the flip 'Lean on me' a soulfull piece if ever there was one. Thanks for the nudge on Carl.

Just wondered if you have the group members for the Four Wonders?

Great subtle harmony, busy chap back then was Ronnie Mcneir.

It saves them from bringing a stick.

To be fair Chris even the thickest of skined collector was reluctant to spend a shed load of cash on most titles like that for the simple fact most of us thought in the end they would slowly start to drift over from the states and end up being a fiver as most were relatively knew, even after the best part of forty years you could probably fit all the known copies of those titles you mention ever found in a bucket and still have room for your shoes! but the thing is if you wanted to hear it you had three options, buy it, turn up, or scrounge a hissy cassette off ya mate! , no youtube mixcloud discogs spotify re-issue etc. Everybody's an expert now without going out of the front door. Good times back then for sure and credit to Poke, Sam Arthur, Robin, Richard etc for the inspiration.

Many thanks for getting in touch Peter, your best bet would be to contact Steve Guarnori, he has just brought out the wonderfull book which is All Platinum the making of a sound. In the book are scans of the Maple 45's, Collector Greg Tormo let Steve have a scan of the Prescott 45. I still have the 45 which plays reasonably well, but had sadly been in a basement which at one point in time been underwater, this has rendered it unfit for what you would need it for, some info on the label is ok, but some missing. A very rare 45 indeed,

Yes, I recall several folks playing this back in the early 90s, we used to play it down the mucky duck in Norwich, I say we in that I knew at lease 4 local people who spun there owned a copy. It's great to see collectors and dj's take on this subject, but in reality the halcyon days of the rare modern soul scene (given most of the tracks that have been mentioned) was between 1980 and 88, for the simple fact most of the tracks mentioned did at the time sound relatively modern due to being recent releases or a couple of years old ie Curtis Anderson and Ronnie Barns were not a million miles away from new releases being played in the better end clubs around Londons north circular,it was a subculture of club culture. Even back then the people I knew who were really on it never classed Melvin Moore or Earl white junior modern, even back then they sounded dated, I still have both and are fantastic records, but had either got 1975 written on the label I doubt too many would have questioned it. The term Modern Soul should have been well and truly been dumped for these releases in and around the early nineties as record productions changed and in turn call them for what they infact are, which is rare 80s. There have also been too many records on this thread made well before the term modern soul was to my knowledge ever used! I mean surely Sammy lee and the Nialations are just seventies dancers, I have the Sammy Lee 45,supposed to be from 78, sounds more like 71 to me, that's not modern. For example a proper modern soul record is Anthony David feat Kiesha Jackson 'Lady', came out last year ON CD so it sounds modern!. Back then there were also a few tracks played that only appeared on 12" , many of these have remained elusive like the Purple Gang, Bachelor, James King, Pike, Juice on Outlet the list goes on. There have been hundreds of 45's which failed to make it back then or had yet to be found, many of similar rarity and quality of most mentioned above. There seems to be several small fractured scenes for this output now, So sadly many will get little attention. Has Larome Baker, Glenda Mcloed,Raj, Brothers Gilmore,SPG had a mention?. One record I must mention that I had purchased in the early 90's was Darrell Johnson's 'Days gone past' on DTJ productions, it actually came out in 1980, such a great production for the period, way ahead of it's time. Sorry about the terminology rant, unable to contain myself. By the way Steve I used your post to thank you for excellent work that is ALL PLATINUM the making of a sound. For a group harmony fan like miself a real treat. Never knew Jay player was in the Optamistics, every day's a school day. Oh, Jay player on 45 is no easy piece in 2024.

Yep, same guy who was flogging the Charmels 'Ive done it again' on Volt! a few years back, with the release number convienently crossed out, because the type face used for this boot is from a release three years previous and had not been recorded at that point in time.

Have we had James Fountain 'Seven day lover' yet? memorable start if ever there was one. Or The Quantrells 'Show me the game of love' pure kitchen sink stuff ! Just cant wait for the best ending thread to start