George G

This was a promotional record for Bravura cologne. I remember seeing TV ads for it, the tag line was "for the man who hears a different drummer". It came with a color pic sleeve. I don't think you'll get your 99 cents back in resale......

Well, I know a bit... 1. Stock, er, issue copies of records were pressed on demand. Most labels would print promos and a smaller batch of stock copies for artists that were unproven, either they never had a record out before or had other records but no hits. Promos were sent to different radio stations and media people (such as TV shows that had live acts perform, or booking agents). Radio stations got different 'service' depending on the type of music. If a station was country, most labels would only send them country. Same with 'easy listening' or adult pop stations (Sinatra, Streisand, etc). Stations that were 'top 40' or 'R&B' (that term was still used for stations that were primarly for the African American demographic) got the soul, rock, and 'crossover' country and pop hits (the term 'crossover' was used for records in the country, R&B, or easy listening style that 'crossed over' to the top 40 charts, the predominant (and most profitable) radio market. CBS (Columbia) and RCA seemed to be much more liberal with their promos, pressing and distributing many more per disc than other labels. Radio stations would report back to the companies about which records got played and if there seemed like there was demand in a city or region, stock copies would be pushed to the record stores via the distributor network....or conversely, stores would ask their distributors for records that customers were asking about. If a company saw demand for a title, they would press more stock copies. If there were no demand, then either the initial batch was discarded or cut out, or no stocks were pressed (it is very unusual for a record to have no stock copies pressed, but records such as the Yum Yums on ABC the few stocks that were made were probably cutout and/or sold in bargain packs, making them really rare) It was a very inexact science, but there was just so much money around everybody seemed to make out. 2. Yes, and no. All 'major' labels (Columbia, Epic, Capitol, RCA, Decca, Philips, Mercury, Motown, Tamla, Dot, Kapp, Smash, (US) Fontana, MGM, Atlantic, Atco, Liberty, Chess, Checker, etc) used distributors. Distributors carried a selection of companies just like any store carries brands, but usually not every brand, and they developed a working relationship. Beneath them were the 'major minors' as I call them, labels that had occasional successes but for the most part did not have the money or success rate to gain market shares. Those would be labels like Dore, Chattahoochie, Golden World, etc they would also be handled by distributors, but unlike the majors they did not always get every release into distribution and were generally not as well represented. The vast majority of privately pressed records were never distributed. I come from a background of 60s US garage and 70s underground rock and most of the famous rare 45s were custom pressed and distributed by the band members themselves, often selling at live shows or during breaks in the school day to their classmates! The soul market had a more concentrated scene which included sales at stores and clubs within the Black communities, which by necessity were much tighter knit than the suburban and small town/rural communities that had the garage bands. 3. See #1 4. Privately pressed records as I talked about in item 2 did not have the resources to get sent beyond their communities, that's what we call a local release. I've talked before about studio 'package plans' were a group would pay a flat fee to a studio to make a recording, have the record mastered and pressed in specific quantities (50 - 1000, with 500 being a very common amount). They would get all the records themselves and what they did with them was whatever they could...which was get the records to the local radio station(s) and tell everyone else by word of mouth. All for now... George

Trip is the original. Saxony is a reissue by the original label owner done in the 1990s, I believe you can still buy it from him.

I sure ain't knowledgable on rare soul records (unless they're from Ohio or the Pacific NW)...but is this really as unknown as claimed?

Bobby Williams - I've only got myself to blame Ruby - Feminine Ingenuity (Take 6) less than $30 each, both in nice shape. I've bought other records for less than half market value but these are percentage wise the best

I'm glad I listened to this record...I really like it! just the kind of 'modern' I like.

yes, AFAIK the Diamond Dogs cover never made it to public sale and the only surviving copies were grabbed by RCA employees or others in the business. It's much rarer than the 'drag cover'. The drag cover was in stores (UK press) and sold a few before getting pulled. It's been an iconic collectable for years - since the mid 70s, when I lived in Cleveland at the time Bowie was huge, as big as the Stones or Led Zeppelin, and there were people after the drag cover (as well as the gimmix 'round cover' issue of the same LP from Germany) back then. There's a very good counterfeit made of the drag cover made back then. There's a few other legendary Bowie rarities, the US stock "Can't Help Thinking About Me" on WB, the US stock "All the Madmen/Jeanine" 45 on Mercury (which was not even confirmed to exist until a few years ago when a few copies were found in - not surprisingly - NE Ohio).

There are a handful of records that have almost instant recognition among casual music fans and even the general public - those being the Beatles butcher cover, the Sex Pistols A&M 45, a Robert Johnson 78, and an Elvis Sun record. There may a few more, but those seem to be the ones that if you asked someone about a 'collectable record' that would be what they would relate. For younger people, maybe the 1st Nirvana 45. I remember when I was a kid people used to mention 'Enrico Caruso 78s' as some kind of legendary record....I never met anyone in my 40+ years of record buying and chat that actually WANTED a 'Caruso 78'. I know the butcher cover is not nearly as rare as the Sex Pistols but in the first state format (no pasteover) it was recognized as a collectible as soon as word about the recall got out (within a day or two of the release) and people did indeed buy and hoard them at the time - especially president Alan Livingston and other top Capitol employees. It would be interesting to see what it would be valued today had the pasteovers been all destroyed instead of recycled.

The Sex Pistols record is about the worst price barometer you can use. The buyers for this are a completely different group of people from the typical record collector audience. There is no question that prices for rare and great records in their genres is going up. I'm talking about garage, psych, and rockabilly. Rare vocal group/doowop records are also going up. Some the garage and rockabilly prices are up because of club play and DJ demand, but it also seems that newer 'homebody' collectors with money to spend are in it big time. I wouldn't say that soul records are on their way down. I think it depends on the record. Deep and sweet soul seems to be doing OK. The issue is that the records need to be rare and good, those will continue to rise in price. A lot of the standard Northern soul records that are not appealing to people outside of the scene (the more polished 'pop' style ones) will probably continue to drop.

I looked at the Birmingham seller's closed auctions and they are full of scams! Somebody give this crook a 'Brum Beat' to the head!

oops

Well spotted! The second listing steals the pic from the first listing (the one from the US). I can't say for sure that it's a scam but it's 100% the same pic

Sheesh, you guys should attend my class - "Autistic George teaches you everything you ever need to know about record dating..." Both these records are QCA pressings, the blue one from July '77, the yellow one from October '77 - of course those are the pressing dates. Based on the sound I'd say they were cut at the same time, a few months earlier? The sound is pretty disco informed so they couldn't have been that old.

This sold last week for $1800+ - is that a realistic price? I got one for nothing a couple years ago in Ohio. Just found it laying on a pile of records tonight, checked it on eBay, and had a bit of a start!

I think the Karate and Zip records are two different bands. According to my old friend who put together a book about PA bands from the 1960s, the band on Zip only made that record, and he got his info from a band member. I don't know who the Karate band was. That label had an interesting roster - Detroit soul, UK beat bands, studio novelties, and a belly dancer! Skip Drinkwater on Karate also seems to be from Philly.

No mistake....I have this record. It's garage, and very primitive at that. It's certainly not the same group that made the soul 45s. The number listed is the date of recording/mastering (October 21 1967), it's a Rite press, from somewhere in PA. I think the the flip side is "Vikings Theme" or something like that.

That's for sure....I always wondered where they got some of those record listings from - in addition to outright typos that have been carried forth in perpertuum. Anyone have the Untamed 45 on Bell/Amy? or the Blue Rondos 45 on Parkway? I've been looking for these (and about 20 more mysteries listed in S-O-W) for 30 years.....

I did have some info regarding this operation told to me, both by people who did business with them in the 1960s and from more recent researchers. Ian D is pretty much on the mark here. Monarch did work with styrene and vinyl, and there was a mild cost premium for the vinyl. The main office would send work to either plant (there were two seperate plants) depending on what the customer chose. I think that Monarch may have operated one of the pressing plants and the other was under contract. All the plating and metalwork was done by the same people which is why the markings look consistent across the two materials. Ditto for the labels. A couple of people who had records pressed there in the 60s recall having to make the choice between the two materials. The difference probably wasn't a lot, but enough to tip the balance. The 'delta' numbers were assigned by the main office per order so they were used for both materials. - George

To Boba - is Bob Miner(Minor?) still around? I remember him selling records at the old Boston record show. At that time he was rather overweight and would consume a large sub or two at the table, often decked out in Cubs gear. He had a lot of good records though in his uniquely dated sleeves.

I used to eat at Pizzeria Uno occasionally when I lived in Mass. It was tasty and heavy but I'm guessing like Starbucks Coffee is to people here in Seattle, good for what it is but considered a gateway to the better stuff. Crap, now that I'm thinking about it, I wouldn't mind having some of that pizza again.

If you're looking to sell, I'm after a copy, it's my top wanted record! Or if anyone else wants to sell...

I know that while most of the RCA and CBS/Columbia pressings used stamps, it's not a hard and fast rule. The stamp vs etched shows up a lot in regards to 50s/early 60s doowop and rockabilly counterfeits (aka boots). Going into the 1960s, the plants did not not always stamp everything so you have to be more knowledgeable and look for clues like the stamp for the pressing plant location in regards to RCA customs (the I/H/R stamps). Other than RCA or Columbia, the only other plant that seemed to rely on stamped numbers was the plant in Richmond, IN that pressed a lot of the Mercury family 45s (they also did custom pressings like the Vondells on Airtown). I don't know why more operations did not use stamps. I'm guessing it required extra equipment, probably good for the places mentioned that obviously had the highest volume, and not cost effective for smaller runs where it was cheaper to have the person cutting the 'mother' to inscribe by hand (I'm assuming that the stamps were added in the process of making the 'mother').

These records can probably be dated by the dead wax codes. The Wind Hit 45 looks like a Wakefield press and should have 'sjw' or a W mark along with a 4 (or 5 digit if it's from 1968 or later) number. If someone can give me the number I can tell you the month. I have the other 45s in my collection at home (originals, not the Magicians boot) which I will check out later.

Nope, Grady and Brady Sneed were from Oregon (forgot which town - Salem?) the sound is Sloan-Barri style folk rock with close harmonies.

I bought one of the Gwen and Ray 45s from the seller on eBay, they told me they had about 8 copies, but who knows. I had the song on tape from years ago. The copies were 100% original, based on info from this site and also comparing other 45s I have that were done by the same mastering/pressing operations. I play it at our soul nights in Seattle and get a great response....even a round of applause (nothing to do with the rarity or collector fame....just a spontaneous reaction) so I'm happy.