boba

the mark fi group was a vocal group (not musicians), they're the "total destruction" in the name...

This was also my experience. The price hasn't gone up that much either, I've never seen a gold copy sell for $150 much less 150 pounds. Of course, I have no idea what stuff actually sells for in a face-to-face transaction in the UK.

people complain about the italy postal system a lot in my experience...

I'm impressed. I still think it had to have been obscure major label singles where they pushed for prosecution. Do you have more details? Thanks.

when I get records from a (tobacco) smoking household, I can smell it as soon as I open up the package. it seems to dissipate quickly though. I bet the weed smell would never go away though.

maybe it's the same as in the US -- crates of records in flooded basements. I wonder what Jamaicans think about 45s given that a specific style of music is more strongly associated with their country. Like do most people think it's old crap to be thrown away or do they value them more?

I'm in the US and I get 1-2 packages missing a year. Surprisingly, the worst place to get stuff from (to the US at least) is Canada. Half my missing packages are from Canada and it takes forever (much longer than from the UK) to get here.

I see this in the US as a result of a crate of records in a flooded basement. It would be interesting to know (as you're asking) how they get that way in Jamaica.

I think there's only one version of the gold press. Manship guide says original is green label with gold text and green label with black text is either a reissue or boot.

Demand drives up price. I've been told that there was stock of the salvadors around in the UK, look at it now. the 100 copies of the four voices you're describing isn't that many amongst all the people that want it. I agree it's not up there with the rarest records but it's in demand and rarely comes up for sale now.

good luck

I might have a copy, what is the current going rate or what are you offering? Thanks.

I don't know about boston events but there is some dude named mike curtis who DJs in Boston. Look for him on facebook, I assume he would come up as connected to at least one of your friends?

I don't have a problem with the current meaning of the word (I use it), but back then a "bootleg" was an unauthorized live concert recording. A bigger problem was "pirated" copies, which was when you pressed a current hit up and sold it as a legitimate copy. There's clearly a much bigger potential for money there. I can't imagine the government caring about bootlegging / piracy of a bunch of obscure US singles that had a (relatively) small market.

sorry,i would have done it but i was doing my radio show. did you find someone?

man, we couldn't stop hearing about it... where were you?

I won it. It wasn't totally trashed. I can fix the skips. Then I have a playable copy for under $500. It would have gone for much less if not for the second bidder. I wish the label were cleaner though.

this is my favorite burrage cut (and I think his biggest hit).

I wish I could get some of the things at Tim's prices (although actually some of the stuff is priced that way on his lists). Manship's book is better if you specifically want bootleg information, and it has more listings overall.

I love how both of you are accusing each other of liking records based on their value. I do see that happen with many mediocre records on here but it's pretty awesome that you can't grasp that anyone has a different aesthetic of evaluating the quality of records and your opinion about the quality of this record is absolute. If someone explains why they like a record (versus just saying "it's better"), either argue with those points or give reasons why you like it better under your own personal values. I collect group harmony soul, including girl groups. Both sides of this record sound great to me. The lead has a great voice and the harmonies are great. It's a really nice midtempo reworking of a track versus the sound of Jackie Beavers on Jaber / Mainstream, which is a storming track without any backing vocal. Each version has it's positives and negatives given my values, but if you're going to tell me I'm wrong, do it based on arguing with with my reasons for liking the record or do it by presenting your own aesthetics under which the record is bad, but saying that there's some kind of absolute where the record is inherently the worst is silly. One of my favorite groups of all times is the Sensations. The rare, expensive record sounds totally different and is just mediocre to me, just a pounding beat without good change ups or harmonies. You might disagree, but I'm not gonna tell you that you only like it because it's expensive if you give specific musical or personal reasons why you like it.

all of my life IS the ringleaders. The side you posted is some unknown artist (although the not-to-be-named bootlegger might know). It was smart to put a sweet flip because he was able to sell copies to northern and sweet dudes.

man, i didn't notice the b-side posted above, that side is awesome too

my copy of the brotherly five is on a blue label called chatham. Did it also get released on a label called CGA?

The "detroity" comment was RobbK not BobA. This version sounds totally different than the other ones, made it more like a midtempo girl group cut vs. a storming northern cut.

I was just interacting with someone who told me that the Mad Lads on Mark Fi are the male members backing Ty Karim in Towanna and the total destruction. I looked at the liner notes of the ace/kent masterpieces CD that has the towanna track (and the group on the cover) and there was no mention of this, it just said Towanna is Ty Karim. The person who gave me the info I think got it from fairly reliable sources, but can anyone confirm / deny this here? If ace/kent has any member names of the group I can compare them to the mark fi names. Also, I guess the Mark Fi group had another 45 on Melic. I've never seen it. Is it any good? It's called Eli the Iceman / Quit Shucking. Sounds like a novelty record but maybe quit shucking is some sort of black power / social consciousness record. Thanks in advance for any info.