Having just listened to SAN FRANCISCO TKO'S - MAKE UP YOUR MIND is the singer (I believe her name is Penny Lewis) the same vocalist as the one on RIPPLE BLAST SINGERS - SADIE SADIE. Sounds pretty close to me and even the arrangement and instrumentation of the backing has a few similarities. Whadya think whadya know ?

Could well be - what a fantastic voice.

Yep Princella Penny Lewis.

Mind you if you're gonna ask about it let's have a proper scan not a bootleg!

Surely it's a guy singing "Sadie Sadie"?

Yep Princella Penny Lewis.

Mind you if you're gonna ask about it let's have a proper scan not a bootleg!

If that's her real name, maybe she is PRINCE ELLA as in Prince Ella & Sidney Jones (Baby, Sugar I Love You)???

Surely it's a guy singing "Sadie Sadie"?

No it's a woman, same as on the TKO's, very very deep voice but listen to the lyrics

This is wonderful! I've always been curious if it was a male or female on BOTH of these sublime records. But never heard the similarities until now. Very cool, thanks Ady!

Not disputing Ady at all but some say it's Dorothy Morrison, ex Edwin Hawkins Singers and wife of TKOs founder Herman Henry. Of course folks my just be putting 2 & 2 together and getting it wrong. She may or may not have sang with the group.

Also read somewhere that Penny Lewis got out of it on drugs and disappeared

Also just found this interesting scan on a SoulStrut thread

Song for Dorothy Morrison ... SF TKO's

Edited January 28, 201312 yr by Dave Turner

No it's a woman, same as on the TKO's, very very deep voice but listen to the lyrics

I might ofcourse be wrong, and it seems like Ady confirmed above that it is the same vocalist on both tracks. But I personally doubt it.

I have listened to the lyrics and unless the lyrics are about gay marriage and lesbian love it makes no sense that it is a woman singing the Ripple Blast Singers version.

The lyrics have been changed quite a bit compared to the Barbra Streisand version.

Could well be the same person - don't want to throw a spanner in the theory, but isn't the the address on "Sadie Sadie" New Jersey, whereas isn't the other from the West Coast - doesn't disprove the theory, but doesn't help either.

Des

I'll run it by Alec Palao who met the group a few times. Thanks for the input.

Soul-Slider, which group is that pictured?

Soul-Slider, which group is that pictured?

Sorry to butt in but that's the SF TKO's

On a slightly different tack, the cover of the Ripple Blast LP would surely qualify as one of the worst designs ever, but could the gal with orange dreds be the singer in question ???

Frosty

Soul-Slider, which group is that pictured?

As Dave say's, yes, the San Francisco TKOs, as you can see, female singer. I have a couple more photos of them, group shots but NO female is present on those.

I'm with Sebastian on this. Surely the Ripple Blast Singers vocalist on this is a male. One with a naggingly familiar voice too.

I'm with Sebastian on this. Surely the Ripple Blast Singers vocalist on this is a male. One with a naggingly familiar voice too.

Yeah it is a male, definitely. But a male with a similar voice to SFTKO's singer.

I might ofcourse be wrong, and it seems like Ady confirmed above that it is the same vocalist on both tracks. But I personally doubt it.

I have listened to the lyrics and unless the lyrics are about gay marriage and lesbian love it makes no sense that it is a woman singing the Ripple Blast Singers version.

The lyrics have been changed quite a bit compared to the Barbra Streisand version.

I know I started this topic but I am having doubts now. To be honest I always thought the Ripple Blast was a male vocal and also thought SF TKO's was male as well until I saw an old thread on here. Like Sebastian I have checked out other female versions of this and both Streisand and Diana Ross sing this in the first person, i.e. they are Sadie and they are the ones that got married, stayed in bed and procrastinated over Orange juice or prune. The Ripple Blast singer talks about Her having a silver wedding band and then we got married. So for my money female on SF TKO's (unless Jane is a bloke) and Male on Ripples - nuff said.

I have got 4 different LP's by the Ripple Blast singers - on my way to the record room now to check out what they sound like - it's been a while since I last played them.

frosty

The Ripple Blast Singers used a number of vocalists to produce covers of contemporary pop hits on budget labels, to be sold at stores like Woolworths, much like the Top of the Pops albums over here. This particular vocalist may appear on one or more of their albums, but then again might not.

Alec reckons it's a different Penny Lewis on Ripple Blast. Dorothy Morrison was married to Herman Henry the group leader of the TKOs but never sang with them.

If that's her real name, maybe she is PRINCE ELLA as in Prince Ella & Sidney Jones (Baby, Sugar I Love You)???

Doesn't sound like her Pete and she was LA whereas TKOs were Bay Area. Not sure about Prince Ella Johnson on Merging as I ain't heard it but that's more likely to be the same as Prince as also LA.

Lifted from 1971 editions of Billboard mag .............

Just noticed that Doc Bagby (there was a thread on a single by him on here recently) had an LP full of Drifters covers released on the Power label (which put out all the Ripple Blast Singers albums).

I doesn't sell for much; so guess no one wants late 60's jazzy combo organ led instro versions of Drifters hits.

The Ripple Blast Band had an LP of instrumentals out on Power around 1968.

Seems that Power Records couldn't be bothered to get new photos taken as the album cover just shows 3 people who I would guess were the singers with the band ..........

Daft thing was back then ........... Billboard was still printing tips for the version of the Wally Cox 45 on Wand in mid January 71 just a few (4) weeks before they said Wally had signed with Golden State as a producer & his existing track was being licensed out to Kent Records.

Daft thing was back then ........... Billboard was still printing tips for the version of the Wally Cox 45 on Wand in mid January 71 just a few (4) weeks before they said Wally had signed with Golden State as a producer & his existing track was being licensed out to Kent Records.

Two very different versions of 'This Man'. The Wand came out first in Dec 1970 and the GSR version which was unissued until UK Kent got it in the 80s was scheduled for US Kent in July 1971

Have found (so far) that James Aaron was lead vocals and Herman Henry played tenor saxophone. Ted Wysinger played guitar (a member of the Uptights Band (Devil's On The Run / Mirrors Don't Ever Lie) and Freddie & The Stone Souls)