Robbk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBUyxwo7pQQThose all make for not very pleasant listening. But "Happy Ghoul Tide" by Ray Oddis (VIP 45) is truly horrendous! It's flip, "Randy The Newspaper Boy" is actually worse (but less interesting).

Did The Monitors actually record that song??? I've only encountered The Originals' recording of it. Are you sure you didn't mean "by The Originals"?

You didn't miss anything, at least on the original poster's post regarding the rules. He said nothing about having only songs played by DJs at NS do's. It's just "The Worst Record I Ever Heard".

Thanks!

Pretty nice! When was it recorded? Sounds like early to mid '70s. Too bad Ronnie's vocal is covered up by the background singers' chorus in several spots. I would have stepped up the lead vocal track more, or lowered the background vocal track a bit.

Wow!!! Bobby Sanders flipped out!! Went mad! He must have gone to the wrong drug party!! I never knew that! It's bloody awful, but nothing as bad as Jerry Solomon, Mrs. Miller, a few of Dora Hall's cuts, and even many Pop hits, like "Laugh At Me" by Sonny and Cher, or anywhere near as bad as his own MGM cut just above.

Transfusion was a monster Pop hit in the late '50s. I never listened to the White stations, but did hear it in Winnipeg, because Canadian radio was "lily White" back in the late '50s. It's pretty bad and I always hated it. But I can upload 50 songs 100 times worse than that (all by Jerry Solomon), whose absolutely best song, which I uploaded above, is a LOT worse than Nervous Norvus. Mrs. Miller beats this one by a ton, too!

I bought it in 1965, when it was out, in a thrift store for 10¢. Little did I know that it was a "vanity, private press record", like Dora Hall's. This guy kept "singing" and getting his records pressed up through the '70s. His father must have been rich. He had 16 45s and 3 LPs pressed up on his Fountain Records label. The rare LPs are said to sell for over $1,000 (IF any owner is willing to part with them. As horrible as "Sail, Sail" is, it's probably the best of all of his cuts. I didn't want to risk being banned from this forum by posting one of the others. Listening to his records makes one feel glad to have been born remotely normal, and in a downtime like the current pandemic and economic depression, it makes one realise that things could always be a good deal worse.

And well worth the wait!!!

https://jerrysolomon.bandcamp.com/track/sail-sail Clearly, you haven't heard "Sail, Sail" by Solomon!!! Will you send €11, instead? Listen to THIS!!! - IF YOU DARE!!! Click on the link at this post's very top, ABOVE the copy of the post to which I am referring. Sorry for the weird positioning of the audio link:

He was one of my favourite singers. What a smooth voice. Sorry he's gone. But he lived to a decent age. There are not many left of the great R&B singers from The early 1950s, who got me interested in music.

I don't think it was a matter of Chess being frightened by lawsuits from a British company. I think it was a lot more about Chess expanding strongly into international markets (especially Britain and Western Europe), and they wanted to upgrade their narrow former image as a merely an American Blues and R&B label, to an international multi-genre record company; and they wanted to have good relationships with UK and European distributors, where British Decca was already strongly entrenched. This was also a chance to enhance their marketing by alliterating their major label names, by changing the Argo to a name starting with C, to have their vocalised label lineup roll off the tongue: "The Chess, Checker, Cadet (and later, Cadet Concept) Group, which not long after, was introduced into their marketing campaigns, including on their company record sleeves. Argo was too unique, and different a name, with a much more individualised logo (picture of Jason's ship), invoking the idea of The Argosy - an image of the company taking a voyage up the charts from anonymity to World fame. Indeed, during the time of their early black and silver label, it was difficult to make the connection that it was related to the more bland Chess and Checker labels, unless one noticed the Arc Music credits.

I remember seeing the black first, but both were out early in the record's run. Likely they were just different pressing plant issues, with one plant having a back stock of the older black blank labels, and having to use them up first. Black came first on Argo, and later, the brown design.

Griffin was trying to be Mary's manager (agent and advisor) again, like he had been both before, and while they were married. And, he didn't like the influence Robert West had on her, as her advisor. Griffin had advised Mary to threaten to leave Motown, unless they'd come up with a much larger contract, and pay her all the money she'd earn from them, instead of them only giving her an allowance, and "managing" it for her. Of course, Berry Gordy didn't go for that. So, she left. And now, Griffin thought, she was on the verge of becoming a mega star with 20th Century Fox, and their big media empire. Reportedly, West told Griffin to get out of Mary's life, once and for all. Apparently, that was too much for the jealous Griffin to take from West, who Griffin saw as being the only thing in his way from getting back in Mary's good graces as her advisor, and getting in on her coming gravy train. But, the jealousy clouded his mind enough to make him do something very stupid. Luckily, for him and West, he wasn't a good shot, and West recovered, and Griffin had a long career in music after that.

Griffin shot Robert West AFTER he and Mary were divorced. He also advised Mary to leave Motown after they were divorced.

Herman Griffin. The one who lived in Detroit, worked at Motown, and met Mary when she was a late teen. Griffith was a D.J. in L.A., and worked for L.A. Jobete Music, and Joker Records.

I don't understand your referring us to this book citation. L.A. DJ Herman Griffith has nothing at all to do with Cincinnati's and Detroit's Herman Griffin. And, as far as I know, Mary Wells had nothing to do with Connie Cark.

Yes, she's DEFINITELY not Connie.

I thought I remembered him passing on. You see, you've got to ask even ME your questions right now, before I get more senile!

Couldn't hurt to contact him. Does he interview old producers and artists from the '60s? Is there an L.A. person who does what Bob A. did in Chicago? Someone I could have asked about Connie was KGFJ DJ Herman Griffith, who was a producer and part owner of Joker Records. But, I believe he died some years ago. Why do we wait so long to ask these questions, until no one is around to answer them? My experience has been that even people who were involved in the recording sessions of these 45s don't remember any details 20-30-40 or 50 years later, of these one-off 45s by one-off artists. I found that true with Mike McLean, Robert Bateman, The Holland Brothers, and so many others. Unless the people in question were around the studios or company offices regularly, AND, the person being asked was friendly with them, and they had at least several close working or personal dealings with them, they became just a name they remember from the past, about which they can remember nothing else. Like so many of them said, "I can't even remember working on that session. We did so many. It was just 'work' to us." Unless we get lucky, and actually find someone who knew Connie personally, outside the business, as well as in, we're not likely to find anyone who knows anything about her, including if she also sang under another name.

Duplicate post.

I must have been having a "senior moment" when I asked that question. I now remember seeing several small and tiny L.A. indie labels with Cyril Roberts' name as a songwriter or producer on records from the early and mid 1960s. Unfortunately, I can't remember the specific labels or groups or singers.

There is a reason for that. The ballad side was the "A" side from the '40s through most of the '50s. The harmony groups specialised in love song ballads(the serious stuff); and, at first, the faster (jump blues sides were considered "novelty" (frivolous-less important). The battle of the bands always featured ballads until the very late '50s, because they were the top-notch performances which the groups practised much, much more. Of course, the ballads are better for slow dancing, which was a lot better for couples who wanted to touch each other (which was what sex-starved teens wanted most to do). In the 1960s it started being about half and half fast and slow as the groups started singing fast sweet songs, and novelty songs died out except for The Olympics and Contours, and fast dance songs written to do the new fast dances to. In the late '60s the fast sides started taking over for many groups, but there were still ballad singers who may have had 2 slow sides, but even when they sang fast songs, the slow side was usually the "A" side.

I think she was an Ikette after she recorded for Frank Wilson. And I'm guessing that she was a background singer both before and after she was an Ikette, given that she didn't have enough of a solo and group member career to earn a steady living.

What's the story on this recording? Why do you think it can help id the vocalist? - because the instrumental is out of the way? I guess we can hear more easily that this person is definitely NOT Chris Clark. Do we know that THIS singer IS Connie Clark?