G F

Thanks!... Sam said he was a 'fat dude'.

Lots of things don't make sense after the event. I'm just relaying what I was told by people who were there. When I asked Sonny Sanders about him joining Correc-tone, he said he had quit Motown. I told him that didn't seem quite right due to the recording of 'Jamie' - which he did the string arrangement for - and the first 45s on Correc-tone. There was clearly an overlap, but he seemed to be offended and was adamant he didn't work at both at the same time. That didn't make sense to me.

Great, Robb... thanks very much!

Robert Bateman told me it was Mickey Stephenson who got him to quit Motown - he never mentioned the Holland brothers. Robert felt strongly that Mickey wanted him out the way so as to cement his own position at Motown. Mr Golden told me that Mickey had been involved at Correc-tone in the early days and had written a song while there called 'Old Southern Beat' that became 'Dancing In The Street'. Mr Golden never mentioned the Holland brothers being involved in any way at Correc-tone, but did tell me that one of them nearly joined him before going to Motown. (I'd have to play that interview recording to confirm which one, but it was likely Brian). Remember that blood is thicker than water.

Dorothy Pierce owned the Pillar label. Barbara Mercer (later at Golden World etc) was one on the Sty-letts. Dorothy's daughter was married to Brian Holland and any songs that bear the name 'D Pierce' were actually penned by Brian, who was obviously under contract at Motown.

Raldo was one of Sam Motley's labels and funded by a guy (Gerald) Sam knew. It was named after Gerald's two children. I only know of two releases on Raldo: The Dawnbreakers, and Big Bubbles (a drummer). I want a good scan of the Dawnbreakers disc (She'll Meet Her Match) for a project I'm working on.

REM are the initials of Richard E Medinas, who was one of the financial backers. The label is a sister to Oncore and the main guy was Patrick Meehan. Hi-Lite was Pat's first label and he was initially in the Seminoles before getting drafted. His uncle managed the label for a while during his military service. Pat also had a label called Sunday - it released a Frank Kinsell 45. Pat and Richard were both real estate guys - and white. The Impacs were the session musicians on the Gwen Owens' recordings, and were called The Fabulous Impacs on the Bomb 45 (owned by Bill “Preston” Carnes). The group later became Black Murder and recorded 'Foxy Lady' that Gino Washington released (credited to The Soul Agents) on his ATAC label - without their knowledge.