Rick Cooper

Sebastian I don't have any opinion as to if the re-issues are legal or not I'll leave that up to others. Back then most buyers couldn't care either way and wouldn't have bothered checking for certain markings. The labels on the re-issue are clearly different so the record could have been legal or there again may be illegal ,I don't know or care anymore although it really pi**ed me off back then, sorry. Rick

When the light colourded "Cashing In" appeared in the shops it was just another pressing that those who wanted it couldn't care much about it's legitimacy or not. At the time I assumed it was a illegal issue as the legal pressings were usually the major companies e.g Columbia, Mercury etc. The label and record just looked wrong. Around 1978/9 I was at House of Sounds in Philadelphia and they had a huge pile of the original issue of "Cashing In". They were all packed in 200 count boxes with each box having the records in 25 count soft boxes just like they had come straight from the manufacturers. At the time you could hardly give records like this away so even though they only cost a few cents I only got one 25 count box. I was working for Robinson's Records in Manchester (well Salford really) and the record could be bought there for around 75p but didn't sell much. The stock at House of Sounds all had the record number stamped on the outside of the box so I could see that there must have been at least 4000 copies as there was a pallet loaded with them. The first press was distributed by Gulf and Western which I think sold off their record interests in 74 . It's likely that the legal owners of Just Sunshine had the record pressed up for the UK, leaving off the Gulf and Western and making the label as cheap as possible. Or it could have been illegal. I should think all the originals at House of Sounds had been caught up in the sell off of G+W and weren't available to Just Sunshine. Legal stuff may have left them in limbo till the stock sell off could be done. However what we all want to know is what happened to the thousands of copies at H of S , did anyone ship them to the UK or did they disappear in the record Bermuda triangle. Rick

Ady I'll PM you with what I know. Rick

Definitely a Richard Searling discovery. I can still recall him showing me his copy in the usual white card sleeve with his distinctive neat felt pen writing before he started playing it. It may have even been "the best record ever" for a week or so. May have got a play at the Pendulum before Va Va but not sure. The ads he did for Va Va would always include a few exclusives that he would have just got but not gone big. Star-Treks was one of these that never got to be a big floor filler but was highly regarded among collectors. Wasn't booted at the time and always fairly hard to find as no one would want to sell it. It also got plus points for being on Veep which at the time was one of the fashionable labels of the day. Certain labels that had a big record on would result in anything else on the label getting extra scrutiny. Other "in" labels at this time were Port, Uptown, Tower, Compass, Blue Rock and RCA Victor. If Ian Levine had it at the time he didn't play it. Maybe as Richard had got behind it first Ian would not want to play it. Anyway he had hundreds others to play. Never seen it on stock copy, probably went in the crusher. Dusty ? No never heard that one , northern myth? Rick This post was brought to you by "Dave" the home of late and out of date replies...........

Sean If it's worked there should be scans of a CD "The Kinkerstraat Sides" attached but they may not be too legible. Anyway it gives a little info on the Amsterdam and Rotterdam soul scene. I used to deal with some of the shops and DJs in the 70s whilst working at Global Records and later but didn't really ask too much about their clubs .At the time they were about 15 to 20 years older than I was so would be in their 70s and 80s now, so its not likely that much goes on now. The scanned CD was from 1999 and states that some of the clubs were still going then. The music was mainly Southern slow soul from the 60s and 70s. A few titles that I remember are "His Kiss" by Betty Harris, "That's How I Feel" by Soul Clan, "Walking With My New Love" by Gloria Walker and the other side of "I've Got Something Good" Sam And Kitty. They didn't collect labels or focus on particular artists although some artists had a few big records. At Global we got 3 Barbara Lynn tracks pressed by Jamie and 2 Mitty Collier tracks pressed on UK Peachtree.These were at least 1000 copies of each so there must have been a decent demand. The records were played at clubs and parties and I believe the DJs would have duels where each played a track after the other and the winner was the one who had the most crowd reaction at the end of the night. I sold to one of the DJs and whilst he had a wants list he was really keen to find new records to play, just like the UK Northern scene. I've got a 1977 letter from him and he was after tracks by Clarence Reid, Phil Flowers,Donald Height,Baby Ray,Joe Tex and "Baby Baby I Need You"(the other side of Girl Why You Wanna Make Me Blue) by the Temptations. This last one was usual as Motown stuff was hardly ever played. Definitely no Groovin down to the Go Go to Jerk the Monkey. They danced to the records but not to dance records. I went to Amsterdam this year so had a walk down Kinkerstraat (Kinker Street) but couldn't find any sign of Clubs or record shops. It is the multicultural part of Amsterdam and looks like it would have been jumping in the 70s. I'm sure if someone had the time to track some of the people down more info could be found. I can't see the younger Surinam people listening to the same records, they may have considered it music for the old folks and prefered hip hop , rap etc. If any one has any further info on this scene I'd sure it would be of interest . Maybe other people,( Ian D, Tony R,Ady?),sold to the DJs or maybe someone attended one of the clubs. Rick

If there could be a best "beat ballad" LP how about this one - UK Stateside -"An Album Full Of Soul". Brooks O'Dell, Freeman Brothers, Big Dee Irwin plus great tracks from Clyde McPhatter,Betty Harris, Gladys Knight and Eddie Billups. Got it from Cologne, Germany, near mint condition.It has a price sticker from Cob Record Centre,Porthmadog for 90 pence. Paid twenty times that but still not bad . Anyone know what it goes for? Also anyone know who at EMI in the sixties compiled this ,and others like it. I read somewhere it was Trevor Churchill, but this LP has Dave Godin's taste all over it. Rick

I thought I'd managed to suppress the memory of this nighter but then I had the misfortune to read this and slowly it came back, the concrete floor, the sound system, a vast echoing shed, acts you couldn't hear.....aahhh no more....... Anyway a look through some Blues and Soul magazines for 1974 produced the ad for it and OMG I was a DJ there. So I'd like to offer my sincere apologies to anyone who was there. Now I'll have to have some therapy to try to forget it again. Rick

All great records so far -Jimmy Beaumont tops it for me, two for the price of one. Like this too -Arlene Bailey "Conversation in the Street" , know nothing about her, but arranged by Horrace Ott so got to be good. Freddie Scott tracks on Colpix rate a mention too. Rick

According to Mick Patrick's sleeve notes to the Ace CD "Phil's spectre -A Wall of Soundalikes" , The Wall of Sound - "was the unlikely brainchild of two arch exponents of novelty pop.Reese Francis Clifford and Jan Davis." Clifford was Buzz Clifford who had a hit in 1961 with "Baby Sittin' Boogie", Davis was a songwriter. No info given on the group so could be a bunch of session musicians and singers.Originally released on Hollywood based Big Bird records Rick

Further tales from the Seaview Retirement Home for gentle soul folk........... Many years ago, well around 1974/5, there was a place in Telford called "Oldies Unlimited" owned by Anthony Lewis. He sold hit oldie singles to shops and direct to the public by mail order. I think he advertised in Echoes and Black Music. Soul singles were included in his lists but not rare or northern stuff. Somehow I managed to persuade him to let me look through his stock of mixed UK and US singles, not an easy ask as he was not too keen on youngsters wasting his time for little return. Terry Thomas (Mr Tee of Kidderminster) came with me and we were allowed to go through a room full of boxed singles. There was quite a lot but not so many that we couldn't get through the lot in 4 or 5 hours. There was a lot of early and mid 70s soul singles from the US East coast such as Today, Jay Walking, North Bay and quite a lot of Reggae. Not great stuff but there was enough good titles to keep us happy. I think we got a lot of "You're The Cream of the Crop" by M....? on Bale which was getting plays. Anyway now and again we came across singles on Stone, probably "If this is Love" was the first. Eventually we had around 25 to 30 Stone singles. We split all multiple copies we found and I think I ended up with about 4 of "If this..." the same of "A place" a couple of "Instant Heartbreak" ,3 or 4 Timmy Willis "Mr Soul Satisfaction" and a couple of Eddie Parker "Love You Baby" I also found a "Satisfied" Ben Aiken on Canadian Warner Bros and Billy Butler "I'll Bet You" on Canadian Brunswick. I don't remember what we paid for them but probably less than 30 pence each for a few hundred records. When we paid him we went into his office which had shelves of records but these were some of his own collection and not for sale or even to look at. However from the look of the sleeves he had 2 or 3 hundred Stateside releases as well as London etc. Of course they could have all been RnR or pop, I'll never know now. The records have long gone now but for some reason I have an empty sleeve see photo. Steve, if you want it PM me Rick.

Hi Ian Lovettes "Little Miss Soul" Ed Crook "That's Alright" Marsh Brody "Right Combination" ? "My Mechanical Man" and maybe some others that are even less memorable, if that's posible. Rick

The dark red Duke Browner boots were done by Global Records in Manchester when I worked there in the mid 70s. The middle aged owner of Global ,Ed Balbier, had some crazy ideas about what to bootleg but this was one of his better choices. We had quite a few original copies of the record which sold well at around £4 to £5. I think Richard Searling found these in the US when he worked at Global before me. Balbier noticed that there was a demand for the record but never asked me if I thought it would sell in bulk . I suppose he thought it best to keep his illegal schemes quiet. He took one of the original copies back to Philly and got it pressed up by House of Sounds , the "go-to" place for any dodgy deals. There was probably 1000 copies made but loads were unsalable as they were badly warped. Those that weren't warped sounded terrible. If you look closely at the record in a strong light they often have what looks like loads of tiny scratches. This seemed to be on other House of Sounds boots so I think it could be due to poor quality vinyl, maybe it is the recycled vinyl. I don't know why they couldn't make a better bootleg but that's what you get from a couple of cheapskates. Of course any one who is tempted to buy one should avoid it at all cost. Rick

Pete There's loads of records played over the years that I hate but Suzy's Serenade is definitely NOT one of them. Classic Torch sound that was just right for the time, and my younger knees. Rick

Different title but picture of the group. Rick

Neil Do you have any info on the musicians on "One More Hurt", in particular who is it on sax? Also when and where was it recorded and was there another two songs recorded at the same session? Are there any photos or biog on Miss Black? Rick

Roburt Do you, or anyone else, know what Jalen Amusements would have done with the used records that they are advertising for. Did they re-sell them to the public or were they wanted for the vinyl or shellac to re-use. I thought ex jukebox records were just about unplayable. Also I never came across loads of used 45s in warehouses so where did they go? House of Sounds in Philadelphia was also advertising for used records in the late 60s. Rick

I'm not sure there were many US G.I.s in France in late 60s , they had gone home or were in Vietnam. I was in a small town in France , St Ettienne, in 68 and the record shops had loads of Stax ,Atlantic, Motown,etc releases and not a G.I in sight. Soul music was very popular throughout Europe in the 60s, take a look at the DVDs of the Stax/Volt tour recorded in Paris and Sweden to see the locals struck dumb. Rick

I can't say for sure that Googa Mooga records are bootlegs but anyone who does needs to come up with evidence or shut up, innocent till proven guilty. From my dealings with Googa Mooga, and being the only person on here who has (see post 78),there is no reason to accuse them of being illegal bootlegers. As for not being eligible for playing out this would rule out every contemporary UK or outside US issue. Not wishing to upset the living legend and my hero, Lorraine Chandler, it would not be the first time that the creative people involved in a record were not aware of all releases especially to an insignificant part of the world . Also sometimes people claim to have the ownership of a recording allowing them to lease it to someone outside the US are not the true owners. I had experience of this with William Bell and Brunswick over issuing Purple Haze in the UK.It can be a legal minefield. Rick

Just noticed that the sleeve notes and design for the Googa Mooga records were by Luc Tabare so I suppose he was the owner. Rick

I can't add anything to the original question on "Sweet Baby" but can add a little to the Googa Mooga mystery. When I was working at Global Records in Manchester I tracked down the Googa Mooga owners as I thought Eddie Parker" Love You Baby" would be a good seller even though it had been pressed (legally?) a few years before. This would be around 1975/6 ish and Wigan was playing it in Mr M's a lot. I don't remember how I found the address for Googa but I think it was in some sort of international Billboard directory so they were still operating as a record label. When I contacted them they said they had stocks of Eddie P and Al Gardner so they didn't re-press the records just for the UK, also the price (surprise surprise) was still for a new record. I ordered 1000 Eddie Parker and (I think) 200 Al Gardner. Global mainly sold to UK shops so Eddie Parker sold well as the shop owners had heard of it but Al Gardner hardly sold at all. The price was about 65 p each , that's pence not pounds. In my opinion the label was legit but they may have leased Love You Baby with some sort of side deal for other titles. They sent a free copy of the other releases but I didn't order any. The address I had for Googa Mooga was E.D.I.M 3 Cite Magenta Paris 10e Phone 010 33 1 202 6896 I don't know what E.D.I.M means , is it box number type thing. I didn't have a name for the owners . As to why the records were issued in France, why not? Soul was, and still, is very popular there. Didn't they have things called discotheques there? Sweet Baby was first played by Ian Levine but it wasn't really a winner for him on the dance floor as the rhythm was too subtle, but was a collectors record and was hard to get on Sepia so Googa Mooga copies are probably more common as other people have said. I think it's a great record but not one I'd jump up for. Rick

In the 1970s, like most people, I would put all my best singles in card sleeves, the poly lined ones with coloured sides. I also put the polydor style middles in the US singles with the top leg pointing up and the lower ones parallel to the title, how sad is that? Over the years I sold most of the records and ended up with 7 or 8 hundred mint sleeves with no records. So one day I decided to get shot of them as I thought no one would ever want them. Before the recycling of today everything got burnt so I chucked them on a bonfire. Well, just like trying to burn a phone book it took ages with a stick to prod them about to catch alight . Loads of Okeh, Tower, Uptown, Veep, Brunswick and many small labels all up in smoke. What a plonker!! Fast forward thirty odd years and ebay sells them and I sometimes buy a 60s pop record just for the sleeve. One thing that avoided the fiery furnace was my small collection of record labels.Sometimes a record was pressed with two or more labels on one side and the top one could be removed . Over the years I collected a few hundred and stuck a lot of them on the inside top of large record box, the rest I still have somewhere. Anyone else got any of these? Records on the Memphis label (post No 4) were quite common in Manchester in the late 70s as Robinson's Records had quite a lot and all had the company sleeve. It seems strange that was common then is now rarely seen. Rick

The attached pages are from Blues and Soul for July 1971 and give a brief description of the first Pendulum venue (not pink more like gray ). Anyone ID the DJ, I think it was the ''Sam'' from the DJ duo Sam and Dave. I think the club started just after the Wheel closed and I first heard about it from an ad in the Manchester Evening News in late 70 or early 71. Most of the crowd were ex Wheelites and I remember the fashion seemed to be for blazers trimmed with coloured braid, one glove and long sideburns .Musically it was the classic UK stuff with some imports ,eg Ric-Tic, Mirwood, Chess. It moved to the MSG building after a while and Barry Tasker was added to the DJ list, or replaced Sam. With Barry's record collection the music shifted to new US discoveries and really took off as the place to be even it wasn't an allnighter.Some of the records I remember the club for are The Gems, Dave Love, the Date trio,Salvadors, James Bounty, this last one I thought was called ''Change Your Ways'' for ages. Richard Searling started DJing later and bought loads of new stuff from his Global Records buying trips. I remember him showing me his copy of ''Tainted Love'' before it got played, it was ,of course , ''the best record ever''.!! Martyn Ellis was another DJ and a main Pendulum character. People say he never found much new stuff but I have a vague recollection that he went to the states and bought some good records back , Earl Jackson?, but I may be wrong. One night I remember some guys coming up from London with a couple of boxes of fantastic records, but you weren't allowed to touch or buy them. I think they wanted to show us northerners how hip they were in London, was it you? Anyone remember Malcolm with his unique dancing style? Anyway it was a great club and is up there with Wheel ,Torch , Cats ,etc . Julian, I never saw you there, much too scruffy for you. Rick

The only copy of ''When you're Lonesome'' I've ever had I got in Miami in 1977 from a small record shop owned by a very grumpy old man who used to distribute records in Chicago in the 60s. He had a load of old stock of labels such as Chess, St Lawrence, Constellation etc. We got multiple copies of Landslide(demo), Butch Baker ''Batman...'' Nolan Chance, Holly Maxwell but only one (issue) copy of LJR even though it was the first record we found. At the time I considered it the rarest and most valuable find from that haul. Ian Levine had played it a bit years before and it was still very rare. At the time I was selling stuff to collectors in Japan and Holland so took records they would like. One from the same shop was Syl Johnson ''Do you know what love is'', I took about 25 to 30 copies and left loads more. I advertised this and others in ''Hot Buttered Soul'' and every copy went to Japan for about £1 each (is it about £200 now?). Anyway the point is UK collectors weren't the only ones buying up 60s records then, so the stocks Rob K saw in the late 60s could now be in Japan or Holland. If the flip of ''Lonesome'' is a mid tempo Chicago hard soul (Otis Clay, Syl Johnson etc) or deep soul ballad (James Carr, Don Varner etc) that could explain it. Or they could be landfill. Rick

Boba and Peggy Yes , the story was not about how record dealings works but an insight into Soussan. He'd rip you off, laugh about it in your face and then you'd fall for his charm and get done again, and again and again................... Rick

As I wasn't on Soul Source when this thread started I've only just had a look through it, but ,wow , it makes a fantastic read ,especially Ian's adventures in LA. I remember Soussan from his early days in Leeds when he would hang about in Jumbo Records. He would ask about what records I had to sell or wanted to buy. One record I really wanted at the time was ''Sweet and Easy'' by Van McCoy, which he said he had for sale or swaps. He said if I went round to his flat with some swaps that day he would do a deal. At his flat he went into a back room and got a copy of S+E but would not let me see his record stocks. Five minutes later I left with the record and gave him some money plus a mint UK Columbia demo of Major Lance ''Investigate'. Two days later ''Sweet and Easy'' was listed in Selectadiscs Black Echoes ad for 90 pence, a fact that Soussan definitely knew. Rip-off number one. One weekend I had gone to Manchester and got a copy of Johnny Sayles ''I Can't get Enough'' from Global Records for £1.25 before I'd heard it played anywhere. Back in Leeds I was in Jumbo when the shop was operating at the back of an electrical shop and Soussan was there. I must have mentioned the record and the fact that I wasn't that keen on it ( its a record that definitely sounds better loud) so Soussan offered to buy it for £1 . The next day I took it in and handed over the record upon which he took great pleasure in telling me he was selling it at Blackpool for £8. I think Julian B was there but probably won't remember but I'll never forget it. Rip-off number two I next dealt with him when he was in LA in 1973/4 and bought a few records from him and attached is a letter from him just as he started sending stuff over. Unfortunately the ink has faded so may be hard to read. I mentioned his previous dodgy deals and he flatly denies any wrong doing. This seems to be his way, deny everything and charm his way out of any problem. I got a few good records from him but his specialty was taking the money for one title but sending something else. I've got some other lists from him but these are on loan at present. These include his famous made up titles and instrumentals and frequent boasts about how great he is . I'll put them up when I can. Rick