Robbk

I saw 2 of them in The Motown Vaults. We taped the better one, which was taped off me and taken to The UK in 1981 by Rod S. Somehow, the OTHER one ended up in The UK, and is now the preferred NS cut, or the only version known by most, and the only one on video on The internet. no accounting for taste.

Yes, I have two Seminoles' releases on Hi-Lite with no catalogue #, and three Tommy Fronteras with none, in addition to their catalogue-numbered releases. Based on the Columbia Midwest pressing plant 84000 to 87000 numbers, it seems that Hi-Lite started using catalogue numbers in late 1963, after having none in 1962 and early 1963.

I've never seen the second Elites' record (Hi-Lite 108). I think the listing is an error. I've seen The Seminoles' Hi-Lite release with those 2 titles. I think someone just transposed those titles to The Elites from The Seminoles.

So, Helen Simpson of The Vows was also the female lead of The Fascinators on Burn, and also a group member back in 1958, when they were with Dootone?

Does anyone here know who B. Nicholson was?

Sorry Ady, The old memory played tricks on me. It was The Fascinators on Burn, that King produced. I remembered it as "The Robins" because I have a record on a label called "Robins Nest" that is the same orange colour, and has the same L.A. font. Monarch's pressing number 59500s places it in November of 1965. I wonder if this was the same Fascinators from Compton, CA, who recorded "Teardrop Eyes" for Dootsie Williams' Dootone Records in 1958? The 2000 block of Hatchway Street is in Compton. Both the Dootone and Burn groups had one female member. I think THAT fact, and the Compton street address seal it that they are, at least two directly connected groups, with at keast one member shared (likely more), despite the 7 year spread in released records. But, perhaps they had a few releases in between that I can't remember offhand, or have never seen.

I think he had a house in Chicago all through the 1950s, but recorded also in Detroit and New York during the '50s (especially the late '50s) I suspect that his Spotlight recording sessions took place in New York, Same for Bobby Lewis and Dave Hamilton and His Peppers, as well as Bob Crewe.

Sorry. I thought you meant there was a story behind the Bobby Lewis record. I guess I'm getting too used to Dutch sense, at the expense of my English.

That was mostly in the very late 1960s and entire 1970s. He was a Chicagoan, who recorded in Chicago, Detroit and New York during the 1950s. He and his band traveled all over The Chittlin' Circuit, and worked for many, many labels, often not getting label credit.

Whatever gave you that idea? I bought that Dramatics record new, and have owned at least 20 of them. The record I don't have is the Bobby Lewis on Spotlight. I had almost all the Golden World/Ric Tic records, except for "Oh Angelina" and one or two of the 1962 series, from almost their release time, plus a few months. the few fairly rare ones I bought from Ron Murphy, when he bought out their warehouse stock. I don't have the Spotlight record, because it probably never got out of New York. It wasn't a Detroit record. I'm pretty strong on Midwestern and California labels, as i lived there and traveled on regional record-buying trips. but I only went to the East coast of USA a couple times (looking for records).

Now that I think about it, given that Kari worked for Chess in Chicago, and there was a Senators group on VJ's Falcon/Abner subsidiary, that Sax Kari release may have been a Chicago production, So, Spotlight Records may just have been a New York label, which had some production using some Midwestern artists. As I stated above, most Detroit productions released on Detroit labels went "nowhere" nationally. Lots of artists and their managers went to New York to try to get better exposure.

Kari was born in Chicago, but he and his band were almost constantly on the move on The Chittlin' Circuit for many years. Yes, he recorded a lot in New Orleans, but also in Chicago, Detroit and New York. In the mid to late 1950s, he recorded a fair amount in Detroit, and had several Detroit releases, working a fair amount with Robert West's labels, and having releases on small Detroit labels. He also recorded a fair amount in Chicago (including for Chess).

Can anyone post the story behind the record in a condensed paraphrasing, or posting a portion of the article? Can anyone upload an MP3 of it, or send one through an e-mail or PM?

This particular Spotlight Records may not be the Jukebox operation's record label. It seems to be a New York-based label with a Detroit connection, having Sax Kari and Dave Hamilton and His Peppers from Detroit, and Bob Crewe and Bobby Lewis from New York. It may have been a New york outlet for some Detroit artists through a connection with ownership 9possibly having come, originally from Detroit, or having some connection with Detroit people (similar to Detroit's Embee (Harry Balk and Mihkahnic) connection to New York's Big Top Records, and having their Twirl/Storm Records labels operate out of New York).

Since when was Bob Crewe a "Detroit-based artist". He worked out of New York. Sax Kari was Detroit based. And Dave Hamilton and his Peppers were Detroit based, as well (they backed up New York-based, Bobby Lewis, on Spotlight 397(released in 1957). I think the pressings look like New York pressing plant labels, and Crewe and Lewis were New York based. I think this Spotlight label was located in New York, but had a Detroit connection (component), just as Harry Balk's and Mikahnic's Twirl/Storm Records and their Embee Productions were released as New York labels and New York Productions, but the producers and many of the artists resided in Detroit. There were very few Detroit labels during the 1950s who could break a record nationally.Many of the artists and producers from Detroit went to Chicago and New York to record, and had record companies in those cities release their product.

Yes, asleep! It's there on "Inky Winky Wang Dang Doo" for everyone to read, that Dave Hamilton co-produced it. I don't remember whether or not you listed it among his credits on the Dave H. CDs. But, I take it that you didn't, and are wondering why I didn't catch it? I didn't know about the Bobby Lewis record. It was a New York release, and Lewis was a New York based artist. So, I assume that it was a New York production that Dave and his Peppers recorded while they were on the road on The east Coast. Dave did a LOT of session playing (mainly guitar). Often, he wasn't credited on the record released . I'd surely like to hear that Bobby Lewis record. It was from 1957. Spotlight Corp. was a jukebox manufacturer, who had a budget label to release generic cuts of various music genres, as well as "covers" of big hits by unknown artists, and lesser known artists using false names. I could have bought it in March 2014 on e-Bay for only $2.00 US!!! But, I don't have time to watch auction lists for records.

If there was already a commercial press run at the pressing plant, and the lot was not yet sent to a distributor, Motown would have ordered the pressing plant to have the records melted down. The pressing plants' record plastic suppliers often picked up unwanted/unsellable records at the distributors. So, if The Andantes' record DID get to Detroit distributors, and Gordy ordered the record cancelled, they'd have ordered the plastic company to pick all the pressed Andantes' records with their next general pickup of unwanted records from those distributors. If The Andantes' record boxes were marked for melt down (plastic company pick-up), you can bet that workers at the distributorship would have lifted several, given that they were a Motown product (ESPECIALLY because the plastic companies would NOT count how many were in each box). But, some workers would have "lifted" one here or there as soon as those boxes arrived at the distributor. I think that is how ALL the extra non-inside Motown copies remained safe from meltdown. I don't think any copies got to record shops, and very, very few, if any got to DJs. No white DJ copies were pressed, and (to my knowledge) no yellow issues were found with any promotor stamp (like Gil Bogos, or any of the others Motown used) to provide to DJs. It was not played in Chicago. After Toledo and Cleveland, Chicago was always first to receive Motown product, back in the early/mid '60s. But I've asked Ron Murphy, Carl Pellagrino, Spyder Turner, Kris Peterson, Clay MacMurray, Stu Bass, The Count, Ray Monette, Dennis Coffey, and other Detroiters who were around then. They said they never heard The Andantes' record played on the radio in 1964, and never saw it sold commercially in a shop in Detroit. I was listening to Detroit's Soul radio stations in 1964. I didn't hear it played. The talk around, including on the inside of Motown, was that Berry called the record back (e.g. cancelled the issue and had any pressed up records destroyed, except the company file copies (and maybe personal copies of the group?)). We need Louvain Demps to tell us exactly what happened. But, I believe what I've stated here is what she told us. I can't remember from what sources I've heard what, but I seem to remember hearing that Berry told The Andantes that he needed them more to sing backup in the studio, and that he decided that they were too valuable to let them go on the road to promote their own records, so he had decided to NOT issue their record after all, but to make it worth their while, he would raise their salaries. Let's ask Louvain for her view on what happened.

Thanks Andy. I've replied.

You're right, Bob. The background tracks are identical. The difference is only the girl group backing Big Maybelle.

Yes, using SOME of the Chuck Jackson backing track. It is a different mix.

It's their own fault for going in for fads! I've been wearing the same type of clothes since 1951 - blue jeans, T-shirts and a baseball cap (same at 6 years old as at 68. I only worked on a "white collar" job for an employer for ONE year of my life. So, I only wore a suit for 1 year. I bought it in 1972. I still wear it for weddings and funerals.

I was around in 1964, collecting records (and collecting ALL Motown releases). And I knew several others like me in Chicago, Detroit, Los Angeles and San Francisco (and there were others in the other major cities), who did the same. I had friends working at distributorships (and a couple record shops) in Chicago, that would pull one of each new Motown release for me. So I KNOW that The Andantes record NEVER got to Chicago distributors. It probably only got to its main Detroit distributor before it was recalled. It must have gotten there, because more copies of the record (at least 9 or 10) have turned up than the pressing plant 6 test copies (used for Motown official copies). I KNOW that there were at least a couple collectors that worked for Detroit's distributors who would have grabbed some copies of any Motown record which was "pulled back" and slated for destruction. The fact that The Andantes had never had a hit had no bearing. By 1964, many collectors bought ALL Motown releases. And those were the very type of people who worked in record stores and record distributorships.

Ha! Ha! It turns out I had both records all along, but just didn't remember (I hate being old!). She recorded it in 1964, for Scepter Records. It's on Scepter 1288: And the writers were, indeed, Chuck Jackson and Luther Dixon, as shown on both records.

AHA! I THOUGHT such a recording couldn't possibly have come out in 1957. So, the photo on the video was matched with a later recording by Big Maybelle of Chuck Jackson's song, which Big Maybelle recorded for Scepter Records, whom she was with during the early '60s! Yet another extreme coincidence of an artist singing 2 completely different songs sharing the same title. I've been a storywriter for both Dutch and Danish Disney Publications since 1984, and over a long career, it is possible to forget one has used a given title before. I found, when submitting a story, that I had used the same tittle 27 years before, for a completely different story, with different characters. I doubt that Big Maybelle forgot that she had sung a song for Savoy with the same title only 7 years before. And, I'm sure that she had wanted to sing Chuck Jackson's song (she did a nice job on it).

Funny, I have most of the Savoys from that period. But I've never seen nor heard that one before. I thought that Savoy's 1500 series was later than 1957. I thought it was 1959. I never knew that Big Maybelle recorded that before Chuck Jackson. I'm sure that it WAS recorded before Jackson's 1961 version. But 1957 sounds much too early for the recording on that record (especially those strings). "There Goes My Baby" by The Drifters in 1959, was SO very much of a novelty having strings, I just can't believe this was out in 1957. IF it was, it was too far ahead of it's time. Which is why it never made the radio in most big city markets (maybe it got airplay in NY Metro area?). I'd like confirmation on the release date and its charting history (if it exists).