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Thanks -- I am guessing that's a Billboard article and it's likely that Cody is top left.

Cheers, Robb I will add some other interviews to YouTube before too long. The problem is the poor sound quality of many that I taped, and not all the interviewees are as good at storytelling as Melvin and Cody. I've just listened to the Emanuel Laskey interview I did and his voice sounds weak - he was too far from the microphone, but I will see if I can enhance it with the aid of software.

It's in two parts.... and the second part....

I'll make a new thread, but I have just uploaded the Melvin Davis interview, which is in two parts: .... and Part 2 -

Cody did visit the UK and perform, and no doubt that was a positive, life-affirming experience for him. I'm glad you enjoyed the interview - listening to him speak makes the words more powerful. The next one coming online will be Melvin Davis. .

An edited interview is now on YouTube....

Cheers.... I'm working on my Cody Black interview recording and that should be on YouTube quite soon.

My interview with Tommy is now online...

The interview I did with Ronnie Abner is now on YouTube and the one with Tom Storm should be uploaded in the next day or two....

Sam did some great stuff with the help of Joe Hunter and the other musicians. Could you understand him - and me?! He has quite a strong accent. Hopefully my Ronnie Abner interview will on YouTube in the next day or so. I'll keep you informed

It's taken me a while, but finally the interviews that I recorded a good few years ago are getting sorted out and there's now a video on YouTube of one with Sam... the sound quality isn't great, but hopefully you get the gist: The plan is to upload more in the near future.... I'm now working through ones with both Tom Storm and Ronnie Abner - two of The Fabulous Peps

Yes, the recording was done on a cheap Radio Shack cassette machine and mic. At the time - in the late 1990s - I wasn't thinking of using the interview recordings; I just wanted to a record of what was being said. In case you didn't understand, here are some salient points: At about 1:05 to 1:40 - Tommy says he once sang in The Flame Show Bar, when he was 19. His mother managed to get him in and he sang some jazz songs. At about 1:48 he mentions Jackson Park... At about 2:30 he talks about Eddie Kendricks At about 4:05, Tommy talks Eddie and others telling him about Jackson Park - I get the impression T Eddie also went to the talent contest in Windsor.

Did Tom Storm debut "Alone" in an Emancipation Day concert there in 1959? No. Many Detroit amateur acts went to Jackson Park in Windsor for the Emancipation festival and I was simply letting people here know where Jackson Park is. Didn't you hear Tom mention Jackson Park in the MP3 segment? Tom sang a Platters' song (My Prayer) there in the late 1950s and won the talent contest. Ronnie Abner's group in the 1950s (The Vibratones) won the talent show there the year before. (Ronnie teamed up with Tom around 1962).

You're right about it being an office/practice room. I recall others talking about it prior to the move to the office/practice room on Grand River. You've totally lost me on the 'tea in China' comment.

PS: Jackson Park in Windsor (over the river from Detroit) used to hold Emancipation Day festivals.

Here's another segment of my interview - this being near the start. Maybe I shouldnot have talked about Richard Street - but he recorded for for Thelma Records and became Thelma's (Berry's ex) boyfriend. Tom mentions a ' studio' on John R and Edmund. You can find that location on Google Maps. I think he's a talking about a place the Colemans (Thelma's family) had before moving to Grand River - that Daco period. Tom II.mp3

Tom likely knew The Primes - not The Distants. There's a lot of guessing and supposition in there, Robb. Popcorn and his group recorded for Motown in 1960/61. I can clearly hear Tom say 'Alone'. I put my ear to my speaker... Can't you just turn up the volume? Like you, I doubt the existence of a record by Tom titled 'Alone'.

PS: Tom mentioned Norman Whitfield earlier in my interview with him... something about meeting him at an early Motown place on the corner of John R (a street in Detroit). It didn't see quite right at the time as I know Norman was with Popcorn's Mohawks, but I don't recall reading anything about a 'Motown' place on John R.

At the start of the segment, he refers to The Temps (Temptations) and he's talking about Eddie Kendricks. Earlier Tom told me he used to babysit Eddie's children when he was young. I can clearly hear 'Norman ' - "That's when Norman wrote...

Here's an MP3... Segement of Tom Storm.mp3

I'm puzzled, too, Robb. Tom seemed very clear about it, but I have to wonder if he was mistaken... take a listen:

I just played an interview with Tom from about 20 years ago (he has since passed away) and he mentioned his first recording was a song that Norman Whitfield wrote called 'Alone'. He said the label credited him - Tom Storm - but didn't know anything else about it: Does anyone here know that 45? He said it was before The Peps were formed - and talked about in being in the late 1950s, which doesn't seem quite right. (Tom was born in 1940.) Norman Whitfield wrote a couple of early Thelma productions, such as 'I've Gotten Over You' by The Sonnettes (released on the KO label around '62).

Barbara Mercer (and her man, George McGregor) told me that Brian had the keys to the Motown studio and that the songs were actually recorded in the Snakepit.

There were three 45s on REM's sister label Oncore (as far as I know) and are all from 1964: ON 83: THE FOUR-GENTS - YOUNG GIRLS BEWARE / CHERRY LIPS ON 84: GWEN OWENS - MYSTERY MAN / SOMEONE TO LOVE OR 85: THE FOUR-GENTS: THE DONKEY / TOMORROW MAY NEVER COME

Yes.. I was just going from memory in that interview and thought Jamie was a 1962 release. No wonder Sonny was adamant! Regarding Raldo (Robb and others)... If there are more than two 45s on the label, I would love to know about them. Regarding Pat Meehan... he was also the backer of Power House records in the early 1970s. Johnny Powers did the studio work, but Pat financed the recordings. I have four Power House releases listed - 1003, 1009, 1011 and 1015. Are there any others that people know about? Does anyone know the flip to Tommy Diamond's "I Think Somebody Loves Me"? (PH 1003) I have a (1979) 12" Westbound disc by Sonny Monroe -"I Was made For Love" - that Pat was also behind. His name is down as co-producer with Mike Theordore. Sonny told me that Pat pumped a lot of cash into the project.