Soul Junction Finally Pop The Question
Listen to ‘Don’t Pop The Question’:
http://soundcloud.com/chalkster/oliver-cheatham-dont-pop-the
Listen to ‘Good Guys Don’t Make Good Lovers’:
http://soundcloud.com/chalkster/oliver-cheatham-good-guys-dont
Some of you while listening to your favourite internet radio soul shows over the last couple of years may have heard a great little uptempo 70’s dancer track reputedly by a female artist by name of Pam Jackson (a name purely based on a assumption). At long last the true identity of both the artist and the track has eventually been found, the full story continues below:
The origins of the track came from a un-credited acetate that was won on E-bay by Italian collector Marco Cavenaghi. The acetate contained six tracks with the only information to be found being the name Pam Jackson which had been handwritten on the sleeve. Marco gave a cut of one the tracks to his friend Olindo Di Tizio to play on his radio show. It was Olindo who later passed a cut of the track which by now people were calling ‘Don’t Pop The Question’ to the following UK dj’s Bob Smith, Kevin Oxberry, Steve Plumb and Wayne Arbon, in the vain hope that through greater exposure someone would come forward and recognise the track thus revealing it’s true identity. Chat room discussions also failed to uncover any further evidence. Although a school of thought did arise that a possible candidate could be Detroiter Oliver Cheatham (who was renowned for his falsetto vocals) and that the track could be a previously unissued Magic City release.
In March of this year (2012) during a conversation between myself and Kevin Oxberry (Kevin had previously spoken to me about the track) the subject of the elusive Pam Jackson track was raised again. Kevin stated that he and the other guys had exhausted all their avenues of enquiry and two years on were still none the wiser and had all but given up. At this point I volunteered Soul Junction’s services to track the real artist down. First of all I contacted A.J. Sparks, A.J had been a session drummer at Magic City and had played on most of the sessions but he didn’t recognise the track, this was followed up by talking to Cynthia Girty Of Cynthia And The Imaginations/ Imaginary Three, thus eliminating any remote chance of Pam Jackson being an alias or real name of one of the girls.
My own gut feeling was indeed that the real singer was in fact Oliver Cheatham after comparing the track against his Polydor and Grand Junction releases etc. So next up I called Janet ‘Pixie’ Wright a former session singer at Magic City and a close friend of Oliver’s who still tours as a session singer with him and Jocelyn Brown to this day.
Janet gave me Oliver’s telephone number, now Oliver a regular commuter (between Detroit and France) was actually in Detroit at that very moment. So I gave Oliver a call and explained what was on my mind and then proceeded to play him “Don’t Pop The Question” down the phone. After about 20 seconds in Oliver was singing along and excitedly shouting ‘man that’s my song that’s” Don’t Pop The Question (If You Can’t Take The Answer)” the songs real and full title.
This was the first time Oliver had heard the song in nearly forty years. So after he eventually calmed down I played all the other tracks from the acetate to him. He instantly recognised a second track the beautiful sweet soul ballad “Good Guys Don’t Make Good Lovers”. “Great! We’ve got an A and B side how’s about leasing them to Soul Junction for a 45 release Oliver?” Say’s I, “yes!” Came the reply, “but I need to remember when and where I recorded them?” Say’s Oliver.
A day later Oliver called me to say after much thought he remembered recorded the tracks in circa 1974/75 and that he co -wrote both songs with his cousin Bill Miller and that Bill may well be the songs producer. As a precaution we systematically contacted all the people who Oliver recorded for in and around this time to see if they had any claim on the tracks, one by one they all came back with the answer no! At this point things began to look doubtful and Oliver still hadn’t located the elusive Bill. A month passed before one night out of the blue I eventually received a call from Bill Miller.
Bill a former Vietnam veteran and’ purple heart’ medal holder apologised for not contacting me sooner but his current business commitments involved a lot of travelling throughout the United States. He first off wanted to know how we got hold of the songs (see above) and then he confirmed to me that he was the producer on both tracks. He went on to Explain, that at the time (circa 74/75) nothing was really happening for him and Oliver having just left the Gaslight was considering a solo career, so they both clubbed together and bought some studio time at United Sound Studio’s In Detroit. This being where Bill produced some of their songs on Oliver (as well as some other artists). Bill then later received an invitation to a Producer’s party which the Motown Corporation were hosting to discover new local talent.
Billy got a couple of studio acetates cut to take to the party which featured Oliver singing ‘Don’t Pop The Question’ and ‘Good Guys Don’t Make Good Lovers’ plus two other funk tracks by him. The acetate also feature two tracks by a female artist presumably the mysterious Pam Jackson (Bill has still yet to definitely confirm this). Subsequently Billy was signed by Motown as an arranger, producer and songwriter going on to work with the Commodores as well as the blue-eyed Ohio funk band Wild Cherry of ‘Play That Funky Music White Boy’ fame. Bill lost track of the acetates and now assumes that may have been left behind at United Sound studios when he removed his tapes and were probably sold off when the studio closed down? What ever happened, both copies eventually found their way on to the open market via E-bay.
David Welding
Oliver Cheatham’s “Don’t Pop The Question (If You Can’t Take The Answer)/Good Guys Don’t Make Good Lovers” Soul Junction (SJ518) is due for general release on Monday October 15th 2012. The A-side is the joyous dance track “Don’t Pop The Question (If You Can’t Take The Answer)” which once heard leaves the songs unforgettable hook firmly inside your head. While the B-side is the beautiful sweet soul ballad “Good Guys Don’t Make Good Lovers” which showcases Oliver’s falsetto vocals to perfection and is so reminiscent of his earlier 1970’s Grand Junction and Polydor releases.
For those of you who are not familiar with the songs please take a listen to the sound clips on the Soul Junction website: www.souljunctionrecords.co.uk
Acknowledgements to:
Oliver Cheatham, Bill Miller, Janet Wright, Irene Perkins, Vee Allen, George McGregor, Cynthia Girty, Anthony Jones (aka A.J.Sparks), Marco Cavenaghi, Olindo Di Tizio, Bob Smith (Uptight Records) Kevin Oxberry and Nick Robbins (Sound Mastering Ltd)
Press Release: Oliver Cheatham “Don’t Pop The Question (If You Can’t Take The Answer)/ Good Guys Don’t Make Good Lovers” Soul Junction 518
Release Date: Monday October 15th 2012
Oliver Cheatham will forever be remembered for his timeless 1983 R & B hit “Get Down Saturday Night” on MCA records, which he co-wrote with fellow Detroit musician Kevin McCord. But Oliver’s career began way back in the mid 1960’s when his future brother in law Allen Cocker invited Oliver to join his group The Young Sirs.
The Young Sirs eventually joined Ernest and Barbara Burt’s Magic City label where they recorded the mellifluous “There’s Something The Matter (With Your Heart)” with Oliver now being regarded as the groups lead singer.
Into the 70’s the Young Sirs became The Gaslight who recorded several excellent 45’s for Marvin Higgins’ Grand Junction label. With their “Just Because Of You/It’s Just Like Magic” later being picked up for national distribution by Polydor Records.
Under the guidance of influential Detroit radio DJ and record producer Al Perkins, Oliver firstly became the lead singer of the group Sins Of Satin later re-named Roundtrip and then following a further re-naming just becoming known as Oliver.
Following on from “Get Down Saturday Night” Oliver continued to score chart success with “SOS”, “Celebrate Our Love” followed by two duets with Jocelyn Brown “Turn Out The Lights” and “Mind Buster”. Further chart success came in 2003 when Oliver featured as a guest vocalist on Room 5’s UK No1 hit “Make Luv” which incidentally sampled Oliver’s “Get Down Saturday Night”. Oliver at this juncture was residing in England and had previously recorded a garage version of the old standard “Our Day Will Come” with the London based band, Native Soul.
And so to the present, 2012 will see Oliver return to the fore with the eventual discovery of two great previously unissued 70’s soul tracks found on a once lost and forgotten acetate. The A-side is the joyous dance track “Don’t Pop The Question (If You Can’t Take The Answer)” which once heard leaves the song’s unforgettable hook line firmly in your head. While the B-side is the beautiful sweet soul ballad “Good Guys Don’t Make Good Lovers” which
showcases Oliver’s falsetto vocals and is so reminiscent of his earlier 1970’s Grand Junction and Polydor releases. 2012 will also see Oliver return on a vanity project of his own with the forthcoming “Enjoy” cd album.
For further information please contact John Anderson or Dave Welding
Tel: +44 (0)121 602 8115 E-mail sales@souljunctionrecords.co.uk
