Rick Cooper

I remember this as being an Ian Levine discovery, covered up at first I think. This was before Richard Searling worked for RCA. Agree that the other names on the record would make it worth a play. Rick

The following may add a little more to the story. According to Johnny Powers and/or Mike Valvano Joey Delorenzo was a car dealer who wanted to have a record made. Mike Valvanno did a deal with Joey for a car( or discount on a car) and Mike recorded Joey on a track he already had. This would be 73 but the track may have been recorded earlier but after Mike V had moved to Albuquerque so not Detroit. There is supposed to be an unreleased version sung by Mike Valvano, but as a producer he could have just done it to have a finished track for consideration of a later issue or other artist. Joey Delorenzo took the finished copies for his own use to maybe give away or sell at clubs he sang at. So basically..... By day, "Honest" Joe Lorenzo ,Albuquerque's premiere used car salesman, by night JOEY DELORENZO New Mexico's top singing sensation (available for weddings and bar mitzvahs) now appearing at the Nero Motel's Pineapple Lounge. Special offer this week, Monday through Thursday, first 100 in get a free copy of Joey's great new single "Wake Up to the Sunshine Girl" Really? No I made the last bit up. Rick

Ian I'd go along with you on Lillie Bryant, Had one but never seen more than 2 or 3 others. Never heard that the Showstoppers "Gotta Get Close To You" came out on Partytime. After leasing "Ain't Nothing But a Houseparty" from Partytime the owner gave me two white label test pressings of " Gotta..." saying it was never released . Would like to see a scan of it.Maybe someone has been creative with a scanner and printer. Rick

Barry was certainly playing it at the Pendulum early seventies. I eventually managed to do a deal for it, kept it for a few years then swapped it for some records from Steve Vickers. Extreme embarrassment, however, prevents me from saying what I swapped it for, suffice to say Lillie Bryant would now buy the records 100 times over. The Lillie Bryant was in rough condition and as other people have said must be very hard to get in mint condition. Rick

Ritchie Yes , the copies of Mikki Farrow were genuine. About 25 copies in a container load that also had Eddie Spencer, Tobi Lark, Jimmy Soul Clarke and stuff on Miracle. Had Global booted it they would have been nasty, thin and warped, credited to Mikki Barrow . Rick

Records as ships ballast is another NS myth. Why would a shipping company sailing from the richest country in the world sailing to Europe have difficulty filing a ship. In the 70's Global in Manchester shipped containers full of singles and LPs from the US and had to book well in advance to get a ship and pay the going rate. Records were dirt cheap in the US and the dollar exchange rate meant a profit could be made even after shipping costs and selling for under 50 pence. The water damaged Motown LPs mentioned by Mark S (post 23) above got wet in a US warehouse when a fire was put out, I spent about 4 days sorting them in a New Jersey warehouse with Ed Balbier of Global. You should have seen the ones we didn't pick. The drilled holes and cut corners of LP covers were so that taxes and royalties didn't have to be paid and distributors couldn't try to send them back to the record label for full price credit. Rick

Drinks coaster.......... OVO?.............of course...........cheers !!!

Pete Thanks for the "Candy" pic. Now I'll have to find one ...... Rick

Pete Would the same record on a Polygram group release at that time be issued both with a solid middle or a large hole with spider centre. For example "Candy" by The Astors on the red Atlantic re- issue usually has the large hole but I think I've seen it with a solid middle. I'd much prefer a solid middle even if a large hole is as it was made. If they were is the value the same? Rick Could the shop in Manchester with the bar through the centres mentioned by others be Barry's Records in the basement of Hime and Addisons on John Dalton Street. I'm fairly sure they did this for US records but not sure if they did it for UK releases.

Thousands and thousands of Apple label records, millions and millions of pop dross, trillions and trillions of C&W. Rick

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