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10 New Backbeats Albums Coming Up 26/12/11 - Best Ones Yet


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OK, finished copies just arrived and they all look and sound great!

Phew, I only just hit the deadlines and it half killed me but it looks like it was worth it so thanks for everyone's support! All 10 are now in the Amazon Top 10K rankings which might not sound like much but at this time of year is quite a feat for 10 'lil budget albums. I might just have a drink to celebrate now LOL.....

Ian D :D

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OK, finished copies just arrived and they all look and sound great!

Phew, I only just hit the deadlines and it half killed me but it looks like it was worth it so thanks for everyone's support! All 10 are now in the Amazon Top 10K rankings which might not sound like much but at this time of year is quite a feat for 10 'lil budget albums. I might just have a drink to celebrate now LOL.....

Ian D :D

Will be buying some of these and the Philly ones. I notice Anthony White was not on the shortlist of future projects. Is there any chance of his PIR/ Salsoul stuff coming out?. I notice Hey Baby on one of the Philly CD's, but if I am right this is not on his PIR album.

Best regards and thanks for the great albums put out this year.

Steve

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Will be buying some of these and the Philly ones. I notice Anthony White was not on the shortlist of future projects. Is there any chance of his PIR/ Salsoul stuff coming out?. I notice Hey Baby on one of the Philly CD's, but if I am right this is not on his PIR album.

Best regards and thanks for the great albums put out this year.

Steve

The Anthony White P.I.R. album is one of those licensing anomalies. It kinda fell between the cracks when P.I.R. divorced from Columbia/Epic (now Sony) in 1976 and it's never been successfully reconciled. It would appear that some of the tracks fell into the pre 1976 Columbia/Epic controlled P.I.R. controlled repertoire and the rest of the tracks are directly owned by P.I.R. We're actually using 2 or 3 more Anthony White tracks on the forthcoming Philadelphia International 40th Anniversary 10 x CD Box Set, but re-issuing the original album is a bit of licensing headache because, frankly, no one really understands what the full story actually is. When Richard Searling showed Kenny Gamble the original Anthony White album, Kenny studied it for ages but couldn't recall it. However that album came out at a period of transition for P.I.R. and Kenny and Leon were busy trying to extricate themselves from Columbia/Epic whilst trying to maintain the momentum of the company.

Something had to give and I guess that's why the Anthony White album got lost in the shuffle, so I feel a bit sorry for Anthony White. Despite releasing a brilliant album he got caught up in wider politics and never really recovered his career

I found that album in 1976 and couldn't believe that such a great record could somehow slip through the net. And we're still talking about it some 35 years later, so maybe all is not lost!

We're slowly making progress into unlocking the Philly International vaults. A major boost in that quest was Kenny Gamble's recent visit to the UK where he finally experienced first-hand the level of passion that we have for his work. He was absolutely stunned by the degree of passion we have over here and he made that absolutely clear following his visit. We're one step closer. Watch this space!

Ian D :D

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The Anthony White P.I.R. album is one of those licensing anomalies. It kinda fell between the cracks when P.I.R. divorced from Columbia/Epic (now Sony) in 1976 and it's never been successfully reconciled. It would appear that some of the tracks fell into the pre 1976 Columbia/Epic controlled P.I.R. controlled repertoire and the rest of the tracks are directly owned by P.I.R. We're actually using 2 or 3 more Anthony White tracks on the forthcoming Philadelphia International 40th Anniversary 10 x CD Box Set, but re-issuing the original album is a bit of licensing headache because, frankly, no one really understands what the full story actually is. When Richard Searling showed Kenny Gamble the original Anthony White album, Kenny studied it for ages but couldn't recall it. However that album came out at a period of transition for P.I.R. and Kenny and Leon were busy trying to extricate themselves from Columbia/Epic whilst trying to maintain the momentum of the company.

Something had to give and I guess that's why the Anthony White album got lost in the shuffle, so I feel a bit sorry for Anthony White. Despite releasing a brilliant album he got caught up in wider politics and never really recovered his career

I found that album in 1976 and couldn't believe that such a great record could somehow slip through the net. And we're still talking about it some 35 years later, so maybe all is not lost!

We're slowly making progress into unlocking the Philly International vaults. A major boost in that quest was Kenny Gamble's recent visit to the UK where he finally experienced first-hand the level of passion that we have for his work. He was absolutely stunned by the degree of passion we have over here and he made that absolutely clear following his visit. We're one step closer. Watch this space!

Ian D :D

Thanks for the excellent and informative reply Ian. I dare say the box set will be a must buy.

Steve

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Interesting read Ian. Do you know why the SAM DEES - The Show Must Go On (Atlantic) has never come out on CD ? Regards, John.

Apparently Sam himself vetoed it according to what I've heard. A lot depends on what was in the original contract. My theory on this is that in the 60's and 70's especially, Warners, Elektra and Atlantic (WEA) were positioning themselves as an alternative to the more corporate Columbia/Epic, Capital, RCA label groups and because of their stance of being an 'artist-friendly' company, their contracts at the time built in a higher level of control to the artists. Quite often, the artist was given to right to approve all releases which meant that before Warners, Elektra or Atlantic could release anything, the artist or their management would have to sign-off the release. This worked beautifully at the time and the WEA labels quickly gained the reputation of being the most artist-friendly label group on the block and their phenomenal growth over the 70's especially was pretty much as a direct result of that image. However, things get more complicated further down the line, i.e. decades AFTER the original contract was signed. What seemed a great idea at the time, lost it's shine 20 or 30 years later when the company had to stick to the original terms of it's contract.

So when Atlantic decided that "The Show Must Go On" was due a CD release, their business affairs people would have contacted Sam or his management and requested permission to re-release the album. Sam would have probably said, "OK. Well give me some money then" and Atlantic would probably say, "Well, you're still unrecouped from the advance we paid you in 1973 but if we re-release on CD then there's a chance we may finally recoup" and then Sam would have laughed and said "Show me the money or no release". Etc, etc, etc. Effectively stalemate.

I've been licensing tracks from Warners for the last 20+ years and I've been amazed at some of the tracks which they turned down, many of which had never sold anything in the first place. So I didn't get it at all. Then I worked for Warners in the late 90's and spent lots of time studying up on their contracts and, sure enough, many of the contracts did in fact require an artist's sign-off before the release could be licensed or re-issued. Obviously, 90% of the artists that were signed were unrecouped, but they'd almost invariably want money to sign off on something, so it always made for a tense renogiation.

By all accounts, Sam is not a pushover. Some say he's from the Chuck Berry school of negotiation - Chuck famously demanded his money in cash in a suitcase from every gig he ever played before he went on stage. So it's my guess that Sam played hardball with Atlantic and they just figured it would be easier to ditch the release and risk the fallout from the global Soul fraternity.

There's really no other logical reason for the album to not be available to today's audiences. It's a masterpiece.

If it had have ever been available, Kent would have got it by now surely.

So it's obviously in legal limbo. If anyone's in touch with Sam please let him know that I'd be delighted to put it out (and I'm probably at the end of a 30 year queue LOL). I could cut a deal with both Sam and Atlantic and keep 'em both happy. This really is like the holy grail for the expanded CD format and it's kinda criminal that it's not available to today's audiences.

OK, that's one of my new years resolutions sorted then! :lol:

Ian D :D

Edited by Ian Dewhirst
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Thanks for the excellent and informative reply Ian. I dare say the box set will be a must buy.

Steve

Absolutely. We just expanded the booklet to 60 pages and we have some BRILLIANT interviews with Kenny Gamble coming up with Richard Searling, Ralph Tee, Robbie Vincent, Andy Peebles and Trevor Nelson which we feel will cover most angles so we'll have some transcripts of those interviews in the booklet for sure.

I think it's fair to say that Kenny had a ball in the UK and probably, for the first time in his life, had the opportunity to examine his career from a fan's perspective instead of his own work-driven perspective. It sounds crazy to us, but Kenny had absolutely no idea how much he is revered in our circles and it genuinly touched him deeply. As he said, he spent the best part of 30 years in recording studios and running a hugely successful business, so he never had time to smell the roses. He might have received a call telling him that "Backstabbers" was a hit in Europe but 30 seconds later he was back to producing another million-seller completely unaware that Philadelphia International was supplying the soundtrack to new global generation that would endure for the next 40 years. Watching Kenny Gamble finally getting to meet his core audience some 40 years later has been the highpoint of this millenium for me. And probably for Kenny too LOL.

So things are rolling along beautifully with P.I.R. right now. The box set will obviously be a 'must own' and will sit beautifully on anyone's shelves. And then....who knows? :glare:

Things are beginning to roll. Moulton just unearthed a hitherto unknown 70's recording of The Trammps "Trammp's Disco Theme" with an unheard alternative vocal to "Zing Went The Strings Of My Heart" which is awe-inspiring. However he also says the reality of remixing these tunes is emotionally draining and I completely understand what he means. Proper records!

All good Scunnyjack. :thumbup:

Emotionally draining but a good way to end the year!

Ian D :D

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Ian

Fascinating info on the non release of the Sam Dees Atlantic album, and cleared up a question I've been thinking of posting for ages.

Whilst the disgruntled/exploited artist always gets the sympathy it was Atlantic who put the money up, and lost it, so it seems reasonable to expect them to want to get a belated return. Anyway Warners probably couldn't care too much about one album but I'd love to have the album on CD.

One question though, as Sam Dees is the main songwriter on the album would he get money from publishing if the CD came out? Warners couldn't deduct that from past costs, could they?

Nice Backbeats CDs by the way, orders placed .

Rick

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Ian

Fascinating info on the non release of the Sam Dees Atlantic album, and cleared up a question I've been thinking of posting for ages.

Whilst the disgruntled/exploited artist always gets the sympathy it was Atlantic who put the money up, and lost it, so it seems reasonable to expect them to want to get a belated return. Anyway Warners probably couldn't care too much about one album but I'd love to have the album on CD.

One question though, as Sam Dees is the main songwriter on the album would he get money from publishing if the CD came out? Warners couldn't deduct that from past costs, could they?

Nice Backbeats CDs by the way, orders placed .

Rick

Hi Rick,

Like I said, according to legend Sam plays hardball. My guess is that Atlantic business affairs probably quickly hit a brick wall and simply concluded that this would be a problematic deal to conclude, so probably lost interest pretty quickly.

I'm pretty sure Paul Mooney on here could give a more detailed explanation as I'm sure he has publishing connections with Sam. In fact Paul has something of mini bonanza coming up as he has loads of publishing on this set of Backbeats!

Ian D :D

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Bada Boom! All 10 Backbeats and "Philadelphia International:The Re-Edits" are now are in the Amazon Soul/RnB Top 20!

No.3 HURTXCD111 Philadelphia International: The Re-Edits

No.5 BACKB026 Backbeats -2 Steps To Soul Heaven - More 70s & 80s Steppers

No.6 BACKB024 Backbeats - Phillybusters - Underground Philly Dance Floor Gems

No.7 BACKB027 Backbeats - They Call It Crossover - More Mid-Tempo Soul

No.8 BACKB023 Backbeats - Smooth Grooves - Sophisticated 80s Philly Soul

No.9 BACKB021 Backbeats - Soul A La Mode - 1970s Modern Soul

No.11 BACKB029 Backbeats - Lost In Time -More Northern Soul Treasures

No.12 BACKB030 Backbeats - The Pain Goes Deep - More Deep Soul Gems

No.16 BACKB025 Backbeats - Busting Out - Ghetto Grooves from Dusty Cellars

No.17 BACKB028 Backbeats - Mod Life Crisis - 60s Mod Anthems

No.19 BACKB022 Backbeats - What's The Word? - Socially Conscious Soul Music

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=amb_link_19349665_33?ie=UTF8&rh=n%3A754576%2Cp_69%3A0x-90y&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=left-1&pf_rd_r=0SWT9EMJH9CMMRE84R02&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=205283627&pf_rd_i=297457#/ref=sr_pg_1?rh=n%3A229816%2Cn%3A%21520920%2Cn%3A754576%2Cp_69%3A0x-90y&ie=UTF8&qid=1323942283

Happy Xmas to all!

Ian D :D

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Ian did ya get that CD? Iv'e pm'd ya mate but not heard back

steve

Hi Steve,

Yep got the CD mate. I'm going to listen to it today in fact. I would have called you last week but for the fact that I'm kinda overwhelmed with stuff at the moment what with 14 albums all due to come out over the next 8 weeks! I actually finished work @ 1.30am this morning after I got off the phone with Tom Moulton who's finishing off the Philadelphia International remixes album, which frankly, is the greatest album I've heard in my life! An absolute mind-blower. So will deffo call next week mate!

Ian D :D

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Hi Steve,

Yep got the CD mate. I'm going to listen to it today in fact. I would have called you last week but for the fact that I'm kinda overwhelmed with stuff at the moment what with 14 albums all due to come out over the next 8 weeks! I actually finished work @ 1.30am this morning after I got off the phone with Tom Moulton who's finishing off the Philadelphia International remixes album, which frankly, is the greatest album I've heard in my life! An absolute mind-blower. So will deffo call next week mate!

Ian D :D

no probs Ian, really pleased for ya mate, sounds like your hard work is really gonna pay off with the Philly stuff, really hope you finally get access to the vaults, know what it would mean to ya! :thumbup:

steve

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backbeats_deal.jpg

Instock at Soul Brother now. Can't fall off at 5 for £30.

Click the image above or here to check out the feature page on Soul Brother site. All releases have clips. Get that last minute Xmas want sorted :thumbsup:

Brilliant stuff Jason. They look fantastic mate. I wish I could get 'em racked like that everywhere! They should sell well @ Blackpool too! :thumbup:

Compliments of the season to Laurence, Malcolm, Alex and Johnny too! Hope you sell a shedload LOL!

Ian D :D

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very dissapointed only 2 of them in cov hmv ! And the soul section is the smallest genre.

Ah, this why I'm saying look in the 2 for £10 Sale racks at the front of the store Toad. For some reason HMV don't always rack 'em in the specialist sections (and that's if they even have 'em anymore). I drove myself mad trying to find the first 10 Backbeats in HMV when they came out 'cos HMV were racking 'em in the areas that no Soul fan would look, namely the 2 for £10 sections at the front of store! The only way I could get these into HMV was via the regular HMV sales campaigns (this is due to the low Dealer Price on Backbeats).

So they'll be in there but probably not where you'd expect to see 'em ho hum...... :sleep3:

Just a small part of a bigger set of problems for CD retailing at the moment so it's not like I can necessarily make an issue about it I'm afraid. I'm kinda happy that they're supporting the series at all to be honest!

So next time you're in there, can you check the sales racks mate? All 10 were scaled out to every store, so they should be in there somewhere hopefully. :wink:

Ian D :D

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ian there wasnt a sale section? The same with the tom moulton cds took ages to have them in stock. Oh well it serves me right that i live in a soulless area (lol) will look again tomorrow or travel miles to a local record shop

I mean the racks at the front that usually have lots of crap in @ 2 for £10. Their sale was meant to kick off today in all stores. Damn. That means I'll have to submerge from my pit tomorrow and venture out LOL.....

If anyone else has been near an HMV today, then please gimme a shout! :thumbup:

Ian D :D

Edited by Ian Dewhirst
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ian same as toad in stoke could,nt find em anywhere in the store and staff did,nt seem to know what i was talking about well the i spoke to did,nt

but i,ll keep looking

regards

dave lucas

Thanks Dave. I'll check how many stores they scaled 'em to. Bloody typical but it is Boxing Day so maybe some stores need a bit of time to impliment stuff. Who knows? But looks like I'll be on the phone tomorrow LOL....

Ian D :D

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Guest ScooterNik

Nor in Scunthorpe or Grimsby HMVs Ian, went out looking especially for the ones I mentioned to you... No sign :(

A whole load of crap punk reworkings I'd not seen before (John Cooper Clarke doing "Should I Stay Or Should I Go"? Please Lord, say it's not so....) but no new soul.

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Nor in Scunthorpe or Grimsby HMVs Ian, went out looking especially for the ones I mentioned to you... No sign :(

Can't make it out Nik. All of the albums are in HMV's best-sellers so go figure!

https://hmv.com/hmvweb/navigate.do?ctx=-1;1;59;-1;5&pGroupID=1&pSubGroupID=5&pGenreID=59&pTertiaryID=17

How these guys work these days is kinda beyond me though......plus there's lots of strange stuff going on so who knows what the score is? :g:

Thanks for the detective work though Nik. :thumbup:

Ian D :D

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Mine arrived this morning great stuff.

Another case of postcode lottery. Mine are still awaiting dispatch according to Amazon.

Not coming on Friday ( at the Scunny allnighter ) so happy new year to yourself, family and all at Hull Soul Club.

Same to Ian and look forward to more great releases in the new year.

Steve

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Another case of postcode lottery. Mine are still awaiting dispatch according to Amazon.

Not coming on Friday ( at the Scunny allnighter ) so happy new year to yourself, family and all at Hull Soul Club.

Same to Ian and look forward to more great releases in the new year.

Steve

Hi Steve ordered mine trough Amazon end of November & cheaper than first quoted.

Have a good allnighter & will catch up in the new year.

Happy New Year to you all

Daryl

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Guest ScooterNik

Can't make it out Nik. All of the albums are in HMV's best-sellers so go figure!

https://hmv.com/hmvwe...&pTertiaryID=17

How these guys work these days is kinda beyond me though......plus there's lots of strange stuff going on so who knows what the score is? :g:

Thanks for the detective work though Nik. :thumbup:

Ian D :D

No thanks needed, thinking of my pay packet too LOL

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Just bought 4 from HMV Maidstone Ian, in what seems an ever diminishing music section there. They had 8 of them in stock.

Hi Dave,

Good. I think they're slowly coming into the racks now. I did investigate yesterday and was told that they should be racked everywhere 'in the next couple of days or so' whatever that means LOL. Never easy at this time of year but hopefully the message is getting through now.....

Amazon sales are pretty spectacular so they're looking good now! :thumbup:

Hope ya like 'em after all that LOL...

Ian D :D

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OK, the moment of truth with the first week of sales and I'm delighted to see all 10 Backbeats albums hit the Top 1000 on the Amazon rankings which is a great achievement considering that these are all budget 'specialist' CD's. Plus at this time of year all the big-hitters are selling, all the TV/Supermarket comps and virtually everything else is discounted or in sales campaigns, so for these to get in the Top 1000 sellers in the internet's biggest account is brilliant to see!

Also all 10 are in the Top 75 Amazon Main Soul/RnB chart against all the Soul/RnB (and a lot of Pop) big hitters.

Amazon Soul/RnB Chart & Overall Amazon Rankings

BACKB027 Backbeats - They Call It Crossover - More Mid-Tempo Soul No.19 No. 281

BACKB021 Backbeats - Soul A La Mode - 1970s Modern Soul No.30 No. 487

BACKB030 Backbeats - The Pain Goes Deep - More Deep Soul Gems No.34 No. 541

BACKB026 Backbeats - 2 Steps To Soul Heaven - More 70s & 80s Steppers No.35 No. 547

BACKB024 Backbeats - Phillybusters - Underground Philly Dance Floor Gems No.37 No. 553

BACKB029 Backbeats - Lost In Time -More Northern Soul Treasures No.41 No. 594

BACKB023 Backbeats - Smooth Grooves - Sophisticated 80s Philly Soul No.47 No. 633

BACKB028 Backbeats - Mod Life Crisis - 60s Mod Anthems No.50 No. 722

BACKB025 Backbeats - Busting Out - Ghetto Grooves from Dusty Cellars No.58 No. 831

BACKB022 Backbeats - What's The Word? - Socially Conscious Soul Music No.65 No. 938

I think we can confidently expect the Backbeats Artists series to launch in early Summer now! Thanks to everyone for great support!

Happy New Year to all!

Ian D :D

Edited by Ian Dewhirst
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Guest Ollie Lailey

Great value compilations Ian. Have been enjoying "They Call It Crossover" in the car since it arrived last week. Will be buying some more soon. Nice work!

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Great value compilations Ian. Have been enjoying "They Call It Crossover" in the car since it arrived last week. Will be buying some more soon. Nice work!

Thanks Ollie! As per usual, Sean's "They Call It Crossover" is leading the pack, selling incredibly and is top of all the key charts for Series 3 so far. However my 'Soul A La Mode' is tracking very closely followed by 6 others from Series 3 which are sniping at our heels LOL. It'll be interesting to see whether any of these get near to "Soul Steppin'" from Series 1 which is the No.1 all-time Backbeats best-seller. However the Dean Rudland compiled "Crate Diggin' Fever" is still selling at such an incredible rate some 16 months down the line and unfortunately looks to dethrone my crown in the next couple of weeks. (Note to self: remember to ask Dean why is this selling at such an incredible rate so far down the line?). 500 copies sold in the 8 weeks up to the end of 2011 alone.......can "Soul Steppin' hold it off.....?

Fascinating stuff watching how these titles move......

Ian D :D

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