Becket

Sorry, but I am one of those peeps that absolutely LOVE TO BITS this 45. Ady used to play this at the 100 club I believe and also Spaghetti Weston has also been playing it more recently. I think Martha Star's stuff on Thelma is great also. Unfortunately Sweet Temptation is a rarity on Charay and very highly prized and priced accordingly. So no real chance of owning it. However, I have a version by Cressa Watson on a compilation album, which is the same; apart from the instrumental break in the middle being missing. Each to their own. Cheers............ Tom. Banbury.

Here are a few to comment about.................. TMG 867. Martin & Finley - It's another Sunday (DEMO only) TMG 523. DEMO's as The Spinners and Detroit Spinners. D.S. has a week or so later date on it. This is also the rarer of the two imho. SS 242. Both sides exist as a Red A demo. What's easy for two was repromoted as the A side a year or so later. Any ORIOLE DEMO I would rate as pretty rare and also pretty desirable. I wonder if anyone has all nineteen ? I know also that the Dutch issues had a few really nice picture sleeves with the same CBA no. Some UK collectors put their UK CBA's in these or repros of them. They look really cool. You cannot get a picture sleeve for all nineteen though..... shame. Fontana demo's exist as white stickered FACTORY SAMPLES I believe. Some mid-sixties Fontana demo's had a yellow SAMPLE stamp on them, I don't know if any of the Motown releases exist like this? Marv Johnson - Come to me and Barrett Strong - Money on London. Each A & B side exists as a single sided orange demo. These are difficult to obtain if they get split up ! No one has ever seen a TMG 525 R/W as yet. I had a stickered Factory Sample with the date stamped on it. Best you can get ??? Also never seen a demo of TMG 755 It's a shame. I was told it was rush released and maybe Factory Sample's exist but no G/W demo. I think there may be a TMG 8xx also that never appeared as a G/W demo? Didn't collect all no's in the 8xx series. Poss a very early 80x. Onion Song G/W demo with black/white paper special promo sleeve. The sleeves get battered on these easily as only paper ! No reason why any R/W or G/W should be more difficult than the others (apart from Northern Collectors holding onto their fave dancer) BUT they are when you need them all. I ended up needing TMG519 Operator R/W demo, so I always rate this as rare {to me} There are some fantastic one-off acetates out there that some peeps have. You all know some of them ie Have mercy on me (Suspicion) , Reconsider , Boy from crosstown etc. One of my faves I heard on Richard Searling's show once was a Four Tops entitled JUST A LITTLE LOVE (before my life is through). Wow, how did this miss getting a release ? Cheers................ Tom. Banbury.

Here are a few to comment about.................. TMG 867.

Have got this completely wrong................. It's........... Dee Dee Sharp : It's a funny situation / There ain't nothing I wouldn't do (cameo Parkway C 382) Cheers.............. Tom.

Hi, all............... Becket here again................... Big UK collector, in his time, was Brian Harrison fron Ashbourne in Staffs. He had the orig (ie only known copy at the time) of Ben E King ICBTNTM . He swapped this with Mick Smith for a big UK Motown Demo that he needed. Brian, myself and Richard Yaxley were THE big UK Motown demo collectors at that time and bought for each other as we found them. Brian also had a copy of Billy Harner INSTRUMENTAL and I am pretty sure swapped it with Richard (Brian being in the area where ALL those INSTR's originated from - there is a story in this on its own that someone may like to tell ?) As Pete Smith has said, his Beatin' Rhythm fanzine featured a lot of RARE UK stuff we sent in to him. I sent in a lot of UK Motown stuff, Eddie Hubbard from Banbury sent in some really nice UK Northern demo stuff. And loads of other peeps also sent in their rare stuff - you got to see ALL the stuff you wanted on British ! I remember clearly Rob Pheasants UK Ember Fork in the road. I have never ever seen another in over 35 years of collecting. I also mentioned some other stuff in my earlier post - what about Dee Dee Sharp's - A most unusual boy (Cameo Parkway) ? I am sure I saw a UK issue of this go on ebay in the last couple of years - I have tried to find it but no luck on Popsike or the like. I wish I had printed it out now and kept it. Anyone know of or got one of these? The Lou Johnson - Unsatisfied (UK Atlantic - Monument mispress demo) is on Popsike. Only the 2nd one Mick Smith has ever seen and went for £350 or so. Never seen a Barbara Mills issue. Loads of white demo's over the years. If the person who has one could post up a scan that would be brill. As for Richard Searling's cracked copy of Billy Harner. I heard the same story of him reversing over his record box - it was the FIRST one in there and took a direct hit ! This thread brings back a lot of memories of searching through record shops like Reddingtons and The Diskery in Birmingham; Portobello Rd in London; trying to get early copies of Record Collector from the distribution warehouse etc etc................ long before the days of ebay ! Cheers..................... Tom. Banbury.

Here's a few more to chat about....................... Dee Dee Sharp - It's a funny situation (Cameo Parkway) Fork in the road - I can't turn around (Ember) Mr Flood's Party - Compared to what (Ember White Test Press) Mick Smith only ever seen two ! Lou Johnson - Unsatisfied (Demo Mis-press on MONUMENT label) I think this is the title - again Mick only seen a handful. Undisputed Truth - Save my love for a rainy day (Demo Mis-press on PARLOPHONE label) I had this once and have seen one or two more. Kelly Brothers - Crying days are over (Sue) Would kill for one of these ! Popsike shows a couple or so NOT REALLY sure just how rare this is. It has always been desired - especially by me ! Chairmen of the board - Give me just a little more time (INV 501 DEMO) Never ever seen or heard of this on demo. Ran a thread on S/S about this and nobody answered! INV502 Band of gold DEMO does exist. Frankie Valli - The Night (Mowest MW5002 DEMO) again as above. White test press with info sheet only I have seen. Barbara Mills - Queen of fools (Hickory ISSUE) Darrell Banks - Open the door etc (London Demo - hand written credits like Ben E King) There is a difference between outright rarity and just desirability - always good to mention this eg Darrell Banks on London demo. Over the years have seen so many of these and yes always sells and is ultra desirable - not a real rarity IMHO Most major UK labels sent a few hundred or so demo's out - didn't they ? Cheers.................. Tom. Banbury.

Hi all. Great topic this................. Chairmen of the board - Give me just a little more time. Millie Jackson - My man a sweet man. Tami Lynn - Why don't I run away from you. Jerry Butler - Moody Woman. William Bell - Happy. Cheap, cheerful, great all-time dance 45's. Cheers............. Tom. Banbury.

PM'd you.

I also would like a copy. If anyone has an EX or better copy with clean labels of Tony Owens: could you please PM me. Looking to pay £20-30. Cheers............. Tom. Banbury.

Yes, looks pretty cool to me Malc. You might need to cart around an old gramaphone though to play it out and stick the mic in the trumpet ! Cheers........... Tom.

Hi all, Becket here..................... I have a Motown article from Record Collector, circa the 9t's. In this article written by Nick Brown, with additional info from Martin Koppel and Tim Brown, it details the SOUL record label and discography. It clearly lists 35009 All for you / Too many fish in the sea; BUT does say it was withdrawn. It also gives a value of £1500 back then (the value of Frank Wilson in the same article is £8,000) and therefore you would think it exists as MK & TM had input. Has anyone ever, seen, heard of, or got a copy ? J.M. has mentioned that he has never come across one. So what is the general verdict on this; is it as rare as F.W. dare I say ? Cheers........... Tom. Banbury.

Yes indeed Ed: and the other side "the loneliest house on the hill" is also a killer. So peeps, if you don't know these two on a great 7t's AVCO release - check them out. Supa-cheap 45 ! Banbury Crew suspects will ALL be there for this special event (on par with likes of The Dells, Terry Callier and The Originals ?) Cheers............. Tom.

Loved all the home movie clips of the UK Motortown Revue on the tour bus and at the venues. Shame they couldn't have shown a bit more. Also, When I'm Gone - Brenda Holloway [which was played as the run-out / credits] : this was a different version to the one I have on TMG508. Anyone care to comment on this - I suppose many takes took place when recorded in '65 ? You tend to see the same old BBC TV clips over and over again on all these progs. They must have recorded more than just Baby Love & Uptight which always seem to figure {I know..... and one or two more !} All in all I thought this 1 hour show was interesting and held my attention from start to finish - so well done there BBC 4. Cheers.............. Tom. Banbury.

Hi all, Becket here. Would like some sort of sanity check on the above. Heard this off a list a few years back and loved it immediately (seem to remember seller wanted £100 at the time) Found one on GEMM for $10 back then. I saw a copy went on ebay for $800+ not long ago (Popsike) Is this a real rarity peeps? Seems it is from around 1971 out of Ohio ? Anyone ever heard it played out ? Any info gratefully received. Cheers............. Tom. Banbury.

Hi all, Becket here................ UK collectors etc - need your help. Has anyone got the above INV 501 DEMO orig with large black A on rhs of label , date and DEMO RECORD NOT FOR SALE on the 4 pronged centre ? If you have, could you post up a scan / photo of it please. I have never seen an original one of these. I have seen a counterfeit, where someone had stencilled or letre-set a large A onto an issue - but without a date or demo record on centre. It seems INV 501 & 502 Band of Gold are extremely rare demo's in this series. All the rest after these are obtainable and I have seen many of these over the years. I have seen one or two INV 502's DEMO's Orig release of Band of Gold and these have sold for a lot more than later demo's on the label. Anyone know why INV 501 & 502 are so rare as DEMO's ? Cheers............... Tom. Banbury.

Must admit, this is a fave of mine. Would love to be the owner of a real one. I always get Keith Money to play the instrumental B side with those lovely girlies twittering away ! The only way you can hear it. Cheers............... Tom. Banbury.

Hi all; Becket of Banbury here............................... High Society - I can't believe (USA) Ron Keith - Gotta go by what you tell me (A&M) George Jay - Say that you love me (Dynamic) Caesars - La La I love you (Lanie) Supurbs - Only for lovers (Alteen) Ledgends - Fear not (CUR) Charades - Never set me free (MGM) Fifth Avenue Band - One way or the other (Reprise) Mellow Fellows - My baby needs me (Dot) Montclairs - Unwanted love (Paula) Gene Barbour - I need a love (Hit) Dynamics - I wanna know (Bigtop) Greg Perry - Love control (Chess) Jack Hammer - Ode to a discotheque (Polydor) Thee Midniters - Chicano Power (Whittier) Cheers.................. Tom.

OK everyone. Here's the story............................. Replied to a thread on "Look in your box" re: V.o.E.H. (check it out yourselves) "So Rare" got mentioned. I asked about a 45 of this and got....... QUOTE (candiman @ Jan 8 09, 07:57 AM) Bought my copy back in the 70s (77?) for pennies in Cheltenham. Got it home to find it was warped so badly it was just about unplayable. Put it away and pulled it out of the collection again only a couple of years ago to find the warp had all but disappeared. Result - a storage warp in reverse...

Has anyone got a copy of So Rare - V.o.E.H. (Just Sunshine) on a 45 for sale please ? Cheers.......... Tom. Banbury.

Could you provide the "B" side title and the Just Sunshine matrix no. please. Cheers............ Tom.

Hi all. Love the track "so rare". I thought I saw Lenny Dobson play this from a 45 once ? Am I dreaming, or did this come out on a Just Sunshine release. I cannot find anything to prove it did. Please help my head. Cheers............... Tom. Banbury.

John, thanks for the info. Good on yah for playing this out. Just under 4 mins of Crossover Heaven as far as I'm concerned. Brillo group harmonies and just the sort of thing that "floats my boat". Just a shame it's such a rare one: though will never be overplayed! Cheers............. Tom.

Hi all, Becket here. Fantastics - Where there's a will (there's a way) [iMPRESARIO 124]. Just how rare is this? I absolutely love this 45. Sheer class imho. J.M. has one for auction at present. He reckons only a handful surfaced years back and no more since! Is this group the same one that had a couple of outings on SS7 (Me and You + That One) ? Cheers............ Tom. Banbury.

Eddie Hubbard has a very old Rob Marriot tape without a track listing. I can remember years ago; the two of us listening to it to try and identify the tracks. We both commented at the time "that's Butch's cover up!" Obviously neither of us knew who it was back then. Can anyone shed any light on whether Rob had a copy from that time, probably early - mid Eighties ? Cheers........... Tom. Banbury.

I totally agree with you. When I speak with a lot of peeps at Soul Weekenders, they would rather have a DJ for an hour and NOT a live group. I personally try to see as many LIVE acts as I can: they may not be with us for that much longer! I would have loved to have seen Dee Dee Warwick; but sadly that will not now happen. Yes, Gladys Knight, brill! I think, for a Soul Weekender etc, she may be just too expensive? PROMOTERS: please keep doing what your doing with LIVE acts. There are peeps, like me, who appreciate it. Cheers................ Tom. Banbury.