Robbk

They changed the titles. The only artists we didn't know was "Suspicion". That was taken off a Jobete Music Co, song reference acetate which had no artist listed. We didn't venture a guess as to who it was. We had another in "All I Have Left Are Memories", which turned out to have been sung by Sammy Turner and The Serenaders. But that wasn't a UK concern, as it was a tremendously slow Doo Wop ballad, and so not placed on the tapes I sent to Rod. The backing tracks to "On The Avenue", recorded for Jimmy Ruffin, came off an acetate, mislabeled as "In The Neighborhood", by Jimmy Ruffin. Of course, we now know that both of those songs were just alternate lyrics for the same instrumental song. What a great instrumental track. I like the "In The Neighborhood" lyrics better, but think the "On The Avenue" lyrics fit the music better. We knew that "Sugar's Never Been As Sweet as You" was sung by The Marvelettes. I don't understand why anyone would want to "cover up only" a couple of artists out of 24 songs. That doesn't make any sense.

Yes, Rod, it could have been 1981. That was a long time ago, and I have little in the way of parallel events to reference it. I doubt that my tapedeck was running too fast. I also doubt that the turntable at Motown that I used to record the acetates was running too fast. And half of the unreleased cuts were taken off of tapes. So why would some of those AND some of the acetate recordings BOTH be too fast?

I knew Bob Cattaneo, and he was a big Motown collector, in addition to an serious R&B collector. But, I didn't know that Tom dealt with him. I thought Soussain got some acetates from someone inside Motown, but I didn't think that person was Tom. But, I was living mainly in The Netherlands then (as I still am -well, only 1/2 year now), so I didn't know what Tom was doing a lot of the time. I don't want to speculate on how all those acetates (from The Vaults), plus all the really rare Motown 45s left Motown(Frank Wilson, Andantes, etc.) (many were lifted out of The Motown and Jobete Record Files). But, I had no part in any of that. By the way, I don't live in that flat in L.A. anymore, that I kept for 32 years (spending only about 1/3 of the time there).

I've heard at least 3 versions of that song, with 2 different vocals two different instrumental versions, and the third one a different mix of one of those 2 different instrumentals. The interesting thing is that, in my opinion, Motown chose the weaker of the two versions to release on CD (on "Cellarful of Motown"). The version sitting on You-Tube now, is NOT the version Rod took back to UK in the early 1980s. He took the better one, and I believe it was the better one that was played on The Northern Scene and was booted then. I believe the version on You-Tube is the one released on the legit CD, and was "discovered" when its acetate was auctioned off. I assume that all three master tapes are still in The Vaults, andthat was the source of the CD recording.

I've seen millions of 45 records in the '60s and '70s. I did NOT see ALL the Chess numbers from, say, 1900-1966 on the dark blue. It seems to me that the dark Blue design ended LONG before 1966. It seems to me that 1966 was released first when the Black design was ending, and the yellow/orange design was coming in. There was a VERY long overlap. The yellow//orange design didn't last all that long before the light blue design started. I don't have ANY Dark Blue labels after 1900 But, I DO remember a few selected ones. Maybe they represent one pressing plant's run of a few re-issues as a special order, when they didn't have any of the newer designs handy? And, likely, they hadn't been used by Chess in a couple of years.

Tom DePierro and I "discovered" "Suspicion" first in 1977 on an acetate (Jobete Music reference acetate (different from the one scanned above)) while perusing The Motown Vaults for candidate songs for a proposed Motown vinyl unreleased albums series _"From The Vaults". I had it on tape (1st generation off the acetate) at home (along with many other cuts)). I played them for Rod Shard in 1980. He must have told Dave W. to see if he could get a tape directly from the source, which prompted the latter's trip to Motown's offices. The album project ended up with only the one album (released in 1979), as the first one sold virtually none retail, having no marketing push, and being releases on Motown's budget LP line, "Natural resources". So, we were unable to get the Originals' songs out. The Bosses wanted only the main, popular Motown groups on the first album, for best name recognition. We were lucky to get a Spinners and a Monitors cut on it. "Suspicion", and most of the Motown Vault cuts that were booted in UK and played on The Northern Scene in the early 1980s had already been slated by us for release on the proposed future "From The Vaults" albums.

So, they named the label after "Phlecky". Did the latter run the label, while Johnny was working at his law practise?

Andy, - That acetate is the same title and same Columbia pressing plant code # as the Diane Lewis cut that was released on Golden World-distributed Love Records. It was published by Myto Music, and "acted" like a Golden World subsidiary label. I guess that Ed Wingate and Joanne were, at least co-owners with someone else on Love, if not sole (100%) owners. Does anyone here know why that record was released on Love, and not on Golden World, Ric Tic or Wingate? Could it be that Lewis' manager or another party partly financed it?

I recognise Johnny Jr. The older couple must be Johnny Sr. and Jr's mother. Who is the younger woman. Is that Jackie Day? Doesn't seem to look quite like the photos of her I've seen.

I swapped my copy to Rod Shard. If I remember correctly, the writers on the slow side were the same as on the A (fast) side. But that was almost 30 years ago that I last saw it. So, I can't be sure. Maybe Rod knows who ended up with the record?

Now that I think about it, I've only physically seen the Lee Jennings on the multi-coloured label. I've seen references to a multi-coloured Johnny Hampton, but, I don't even remember seeing a scan of it.

I have only the yellow issue, but I have also seen an alternate label design with a creamy white background, with several coloured circles, one blue, one pink, one light green, one yellow, one red. They were sort of polka dot style, but different sizes, and differing distances from each other, like bubbles coming out of a bubble pipe.

Bump up, as I answered someone's question, but I post in the middle of your night, and by your morning, many new posts bury mine.

Well, many of you who've been in US and Canadian record shops, looking for Soul records, know how the shops were in the '70s. They were much the same in the '50s and '60s. They usually had tables all over the main floor of the shop, with deep boxes in them, to hold vertically stacked LPs. They usually had a long counter where 2-4 people could stand helping customers, and behind that was a wall of record shelving, with vertical compartments for 45s and 78s, in the 1950s, and just 45s, in the 1960s. Often, shops would reserve 30 compartments for their city's main R&B radio station's Top 30 hits, changing the order each week. The single records were rarely out where customers could look them over. That only happened when the store would have special sales. They always had cheap bins for records that were slow-moving (5-4-3-2 for $1.00). Those you could look through. Once in a while they'd sell off a few thousand 45s, cheaply. Then, they'd place them in horizontal stacks of 50-100 atop a few selected flat (non-boxed) tables. The stores had record players to listen to LPs, and you could play 45s on those as well. Sometimes they were just on wall counters, but the fancy ones would have one or two listening booths. Sometimes record companies had their own promotion posters or sales displays (Chess, Atlantic, VJ, King,Modern, Blue Note), where they promoted their companies current releases. Those would usually be near one end or the other of the sales counter. I remember quite a few different Chess and VJ displays. Once in a while artists would make appearances at the bigger, more well-known record shops to promote their new record. They autographed copies of their record that people would buy at the store. I remember seeing adverts for many personal appearances for local artists. In the '50s, these appearances were usually connected with a local radio station, and a DJ would MC the appearance, with the artist singing. Sometimes this was on live radio, other times it was taped.

In High School and during university years I went to parties. Almost every Saturday night someone had a party. They'd usually have most of the Top 30 R&B (WVON) chart 45s (brought by 6-7 people). At first, in high school, I'd bring some of my records, but stopped, because sometimes they got scratched, or there would be arguments over whose records belonged to whom. I never DJed. I was a pretty poor dancer, but, I guess about average for a "White guy". Most of my friends were African Americans. They tried to teach me all the new dance steps. But I just didn't have the rhythm. They were all such great dancers, I was sort of intimidated by the comparison. So, basically I just sort of girated around in my own, unique style (good thing no doctors were around-they'd have hauled me into hospital, thinking I was having epileptical fits!)

Wow! I had no idea The Bee Jays on Prime was recorded or mastered in Chicago. I had thought that little Detroit label would have done it locally.

Sorry. Had I simply turned over the store stocker, I'd have seen that there was a gap of 29 press code numbers in legit pressings, and that wouldn't have come into question for the "Audio Art" WDJ.

Yes! Maybe RCA (Eastern Pennsylvania). So, someone had those pressed up in the mid-late '70s, and then hand etched in all those Delta numbers, to make people believe they are legit WDJs from the '60s.

Now that you mention it, I've NEVER seen that print font on a Monarch record, and ALL of their pressings were on Styrene in 1965-66, as far as I remember. And the "Audio Art", and the different label layout still bothers me. More surprising yet, my original store stock issue has 58250 as its Delta number. Why would they have pressed a run of store stocks and THEN, 29 jobs AFTER THAT (ostensibly 3-6 days after), press up a run of white DJs for that same release? One would think that they had printed up enough DJ copies first, several weeks ahead. Maybe that's a boot after all.

Wow! Having a record company's playing cards would be great! Here's a record shipping bag design One-Der-Ful Records used: By rob_k at 2009-06-17

Yes, "Twine Time" was on both designs. So, the second was a re-issue.

Good! Then, we now can say, for sure, that it's the genuine article.

The print on The Audio Art WDJ makes me believe that it's an authentic issue. But I never saw "Audio Art" on that record's WDJ. I'd feel better about its authenticity if I could confirm that the Monarch number places it in the mid '60s, rather than the early '70s (which would make it a boot. Simon Soussan was getting records pressed up at Monarch around '74-'77. Can you please tell me the Monarch pressing #? It should be somewhere in the low 60,000s to have been pressed in the mid-sixties, when it was released. The Remarkables' follow-up, "I Can't Give Up On Losing You" had a Monarch code of 61230. They didn't have a Monarch stamp on the original store stock issue (at least on my 2 copies). They have only 7000 as the pressing number. They weren't pressed at Monarch. I don't know whether or not that release had any pressing done at Monarch. IF you look at your WDJ, and the Monarch code # is in the 90,000s or 100,000s then we will KNOW it is a bootleg.

I got mine for 10¢ at a store close-out in 1967. Herman Griffith's Record Shop, on Adams and West Blvd. in Los Angeles. Griffith was a DJ on Soul music station, KGFJ, and a songwriter and producer with L.A.'s Joker Records. There were 1,000s of 45s at 10¢ each. They had started at 50¢, and reduced to 25¢ before becoming 10 for a Dollar. To think of what I left on those tables makes me sick (even though I bought hundreds).

Looking back at my Mar-V-Lus records, I see that the explosion design was first. Mar-V-Lus started in 1963. One-Der-Ful had already been going from late 1962. All my early One-Der-Ful releases were pressed at Columbia Midwest, and have a "rainbow" design. The design changeover seems to occur in spring 1963. I thought that the style of the later One-Der-Ful label was analagous to the "explosion" design on Mar-V-Lus. And they seemed to be out at the same time. But, I had it reversed. One-Der Ful had started their changed design before Mar-V-Lus started, and Mar-V-Lus changed design later in that same year (1963), while One-Der-Ful didn't change. M-Pac also started in 1963, and my earliest are also Columbia pressings, with a fancy script, and after that a style similar to the later one, but with all yellow colour (maybe just a peculiarity of one pressing plant?), and then, finally, for most of the run, the yellow BG with the white "eye-slit' logo (similar to One-Der-Ful's). So, Mar-V-Lus had a label design change that the other two labels did not. Midas, Toddlin' Town and Halo all seem to have been subsidiaries (at least partly-owned by The Leaners), and Kell-Mac was distributed by them. But their unrelated label design changes occurred at different times.