Amsterdam Russ

Thanks. It does look like a word, doesn't it - and it's definitely not done in the Greek Cyrillic alphabet. Spent half an hour online trying to see if I could identify the script/language and wonder if it's Arabic, in which case the word reads from right to left. See attached image of the Arabic alphabet - it is possible to make out several, but not all of the characters. No idea what it means though and I could just be completely wrong - it really might just be a squiggle after all. Any Arabic speakers here? If it really is a word, you have the puzzle of why a record made in Greece has Arabic (or whatever language it is) on the sleeve...

Am looking for a copy of the Barry 'Barefoot' Beefus EP on French WB. Vinyl and picture sleeve in Ex condition, please. The copy is for someone involved in the writing/recording of the tracks. Until just recently they were not aware that this French EP existed and would very much like a copy for themselves. I'm a bit reluctant to let go of mine. However, I will if I can't find one in the near future. If you don't have one but know where a copy is available for sale that would be very helpful in making someone directly connected to these songs extremely happy. Thanks for reading...

Also released on UK Action. Love that luscious ballad on the flip "Can't get over you".

Interesting. According to the 'About' page...

A photo of Eddie Holman taken at that self-same event (I'm pretty sure). With Eddie is Kev Griffin. This would have been one of my first ever all nighters.

Not quite thrown away... I had a duplicate of The Soul Shakers 'I'm getting weaker' and couldn't find it anywhere when I came to sell it. I gave it up for lost, but it turned up about two years later. Seems I'd not taken it out of its packaging and had dumped it in a box full of empty mailers that I'd kept.

Possibly they slipped under the radar. Or, as I suggested, they were seen as harmless. You could always point them out to the legal owners of the Stax catalogue and see if they would like to comment...

As I understand it, one of the greatest considerations for judges in cases of copyright infringement is intent. What was the purpose of the infringement? Was it with a view to making money - and how much? The greater the intent to make money, the greater the likelihood that any decision will go against the infringer. Another consideration is the degree to which the infringement impacts upon the copyright holder. The bigger the scale of the infringement, the greater the impact is likely to be. Launching a record label called Mootown and using the Motown typeface, or one sufficiently close to it so as to make people think that it is indeed connected to Motown, will just land you in a lot of hot water. More so as the word is trademarked and thus has even more legal protection surrounding it. Using (as per the image above) the Stax finger click image on an actual, commercial record label would also have the legal forces bearing down on you. It is instantly recognisable as belonging to Stax. Using such a design on a flyer though, is probably of such insignificance that no one would care. Further, it might be possible to argue that the use of the logo was in fact aiding the Stax name and encouraging sales by promoting awareness of the music among those with a high purchasing intent! But... usual disclaimers apply: I am not a lawyer and any comment is merely uninformed opinion.

First heard it on one of Pat Brady's early cassettes and to this day it remains a firm favourite. Never tire of hearing it...

Ok - got a scan from Pete. I'm presuming the vertical line on the right is a mark on the scanner.

Happy to scan it for you, Pete.

Oops - my answers posted already!

Only touched the tip of the iceberg, of course, bur what can you do in just a week?

Hmm... yes, please...

It does... it does indeed Flynn-san. And I want one... I have a different pic to this standard one of Mr Redmond in my files - a pre-Loma one. Will see if I can dig it out later. I'm in the process of putting together an image gallery of Loma-related items. If anyone's interested they can find it here: https://www.lomarecords.com/loma-gallery.html There's more to come when I get the time...

Would happily oblige, but keep getting the following message when clicking on 'Add Refosoul clip'... >>>You are not authorized to access this page.<<<

No, the LP comes from 1973, and Loma shut its doors in '69. I have both issue and promo copies of Delilah Kennebreuw, but just the promo of The Soul Shakers. Would love an issue though... As for Larry Laster, I personally think that the issue is harder to find that the promo. I see Pat Brady has one up for auction at present, which shows that it's demand that keeps the price higher than it should be. I have two issues, so maybe that just proves I'm wrong on those being harder to locate. Either way, it's not a tough one to find. Many of the promos are much easier to find than the issues. This is particularly true for the non-soul stuff. It's not easy to find issues of Limey & The Yanks (2059), the second Belfast Gipsies release (2060), The Poor (2062), Kim Fowley (2064), or Butch Engle & The Styx (2065). As for Redd Foxx, he is far and away the most successful act to come out on Loma and had four out of the seven LP's the label put out. His LP's have been reissued umpteen times over the years, in later years on WB, such was their demand. Look on eBay and you'll see loads of copies, all going for a couple of quid. I agree that WB probably did want to keep Redd Foxx at arms length, and that is why he came out on Loma. Bill Cosby was with WB at the time, and was very successful, so at first glance you would have thought it natural for Fox to be on the same label.

The John Wonderling 45 comes up on Gemm/eBay a couple of times a year. Probably seen three in the last 18 months. 'Man of Straw' also featured on his 1973 Lp 'Daybreaks'. Earlier this year I was contacted by Carey Allane, aka Carey Budnick, one of the co-writers, who was complaining quite bitterly that he'd never received a penny in royalties from the song. For anyone that's interested, there are short soundclips of both sides on my site: Loma 2106: John Wonderling Thanks for putting together the 'Top 10' list, Kris. I'm not surprised to see Larry Laster at the top of that list, yet it amazes me that people pay so much for it. It pops up on eBay almost weekly and is by no means 'rare'. Likewise Loma 2091 - Linda Jones. James Cotton's 45 is much harder to find than either, but when it comes up for sale it's price never reflects its obscurity. As for The Soul Shakers - I'm getting weaker - well, there's another one that's always readily available as a promo, but sooo much harder to find as an issue. Much the same story with Delilah Kennebruew.

Putting aside the Bob and Earl 45, which may or may not exist on Loma, what's the rarest or hardest to find from the label?

Must admit I've not seen one yet. I think possibly the promos tell us whether the earlier of the 1968 releases in this transition phase came in both yellow and green labels. If it's a new style Warner-7 label promo, then you can find issues on both yellow and green labels. If it's an old style Loma label promo, then you won't find it on a green label, only yellow. Loma 2088 (The Realistics - Brenda Brenda) comes on an old style Loma label, and I've never seen a Warner-7 version of it. The same goes for Loma 2089 - Bobby Reed. As the scans here show, Linda Jones - Loma 2091 - comes on a Warner-7 promo, and is available on both the yellow and green labels. That's all assumption on my part though, and I expect it's completely wrong. Of Loma 2087 - The Implements - I've only seen one green label copy, and that looked as if it had been stuck on badly, much as you would expect with a shoddy bootleg. Promos are on the old style label?? If anyone has copies of Loma 2088 and 2089 - issue or promo - on the Warner-7 label, I'd love to see scans of them.

The apocryphal story goes that Mike Maitland (then president of WB) looked out of the window and saw a sign for a street named Loma. Nice, but somewhat corny and not necessarily true. Press notices at the time more accurately report that it comes from a name WB had cleared for copyright and thus intended to use commercially. That name was Eloma.

The Loma label changed to reflect the sale of Warner Bros (film & music) to the Seven Arts organisation for $32 million. Initially a production company, Seven Arts moved into ownership & equity arrangements and that's where they got their money from. That was in late '66. Jack Warner hung on until the summer of 67 before giving up his position with the organisation. The changes within the organisation take, I guess, months to filter down to all levels and it's not until the start of the following year, 1968, that we see the traditional yellow Loma labels being put out with the 'new' green label. The first Loma release that I've come across that is available on both yellow and green labels is Loma 2087 - from January 1968.

20,000 items over 10 years stolen by US Postie Could be some of yours in there...

Ah, sorry - the Speedlimit/Cutlass acetate...