Rick Cooper

Whilst searching through some of my old lists and sales from 76 I found a letter from someone who bought my George Kirby for 80 , that's pence not pounds. So Russ Bowers you certainly got a bargain.

Sixteen years is a long time to correct something, but better late than never. The Googa Mooga Eddie Parker and Al Gardner singles that were around in the mid 70s came from Global Records in Manchester, not from Lorraine Chandler. I found Googa Mooga's address in Paris and wrote to ask if they had any stock left. I think we ordered around 600 Eddie Parker and 200 Al Gardner. They sold fairly quickly but Eddie Parker was past its heyday and Al Gardner was a collectors record. Googa Mooga sent a copy of the other two records they issued but we didn't order any. Other copies must have been found before and after this but if anyone saw them in UK shops around 74/75 they were from Global.

I've posted the story of the Carstairs pink issue on here quite a few years ago but it may be worth repeating with some extra background info even if many people already know most of it. I was working for Global Records in Manchester from 1972 to around 76, some of this is a bit of a blur now but I remember the Carstairs record as it was one of the few times that we outdid Selecta-Disc, Soul Bowl and Record Corner to get a big record first. Global mainly sold to other shops in the UK although some collectors were brave enough to venture down the basement steps to be barely tolerated by the owner Ed Balbier . Ed had millions of deleted singles from his time in the US (at least 4000 Precisions - If This Is Love) but also stocked a wide range of singles issued in the US as golden oldies by the record companies. Most of these were early rock and roll, pop and heavy rock. There was some northern titles available as oldies such as James Carr That's What I Want To Know on Flashback and the Motown Yesteryear series. Also, thanks to Russ , some pop oldies sold as northern eg Brian Hyland, Bobby Goldsboro, Baja Marimba Band and others. I ordered these records by sending orders by post, keeping a carbon copy, to the US record companies who sent them to Global's warehouse in Philly before shipping to the UK. There were a few labels that we didn't , or couldn't , order direct so had to use a company called Price Rite Records in Island Park N.Y. I still have a business card from the owner Larry Sonin so I can be sure about this. As more 70s records were getting played I started ordering them from Price Rite even though I had no idea if they could get them. Some I recall are Oscar Perry titles on Perri Tone, Nasco singles, Earl Connelly, Danny Reed and Triumphs-Strange. All these would be in quantities of 500 to 1000 copies. On one order I simply wrote Red Coach RC 802 x 1000 not expecting to get any. It would usually take 6 or 7 weeks before orders would arrive in the UK with no prior knowledge of which titles Price Rite had got. When the Carstairs arrived these were sold to Global's retail customers throughout the UK. As Global didn't have an exclusive deal with Red Coach all the other UK wholesalers could get hold of the record but Global had a couple of weeks to sell their copies and place another order. It was one of the quickest selling singles Global ever had . Larry at Price Rite never told me anything about how he got the order. I assume he just phoned Red Coach who having already paid for the recording costs and an advance to the Carstairs were only too pleased to press up a thousand. I should think Red Coach would have been aware that the order was for the UK or they might have tried to push it in the US. The record was 100% legitimate and technically the first issue and therefore not a re-issue. I suppose having a long time lag from recording and initial promotion to eventual issue is very unusual. The reason for no pink label Chess distributed copies must be something to do with the distribution deal collapsing unexpectantly. By the time a new distribution deal was done Red Coach must have felt it not worth going with the record for a second time. In my opinion there would have been Chess pink label copies manufactured but with no distribution available these would have to have been destroyed. It would be amazing if whoever was trashing the stock took a copy home and this were to turn up, like the Darrell Banks London issue. I used to have an original white label that I got from Bob Catteneo that had 25c written in red ink on the B side. Anyone got this one?

Not got many but the Sitting In The Park compilation is one of the best CDs on any label. A fitting tribute to Bob Abrahamian, every track great with Cindy and the Playmates a real gem. The Dean Rudland compilations -All Night Long and Extra Added Soul also worth getting. Does anyone know of a UK supplier, except Amazon, for back catalogue Numero CDs. I've looked for some of the above recommended CDs but not found much. The Numero store in the US has some I want at $10 but will shipping and customs push the cost sky high. Any help appreciated.

I missed that one but it's loads better than his usual selections which range from cringeworthy to dire. Paul O'Grady always plays a northern track on his Sunday radio show which is usually fairly reasonable but a bit predictable.

No comment on the price but this review of Chuck Cockerham from Blues and Soul is quite interesting. In 1968/9 they had started reviewing some new US releases on Amy/Mala/Bell. I think this was because EMI had set up the UK Bell label instead of issuing the label's output on Stateside. They had issued quite a few singles as well as the two volumes of Bell's Cellar Full of Soul LPs so were trying to push Bell as a distinct sound. Even though B&S reviewed the records I don't think they were available outside London, or more specifically the Soul City shop. As a teenager then, I think I would have had a similar opinion of Chuck C as the reviewer. The record was way ahead of it's time but is now rightly recognised. The record is the last review on the right side.

I found this picture for the Garrard rc 80. The big column shown here is the same as the one I remember on my dad's turntable and like the US RCA one. They didn't seem to catch on here so we got stuck with the old system that had a habit of dropping 2 or 3 singles at a time. https://www.vinylengine.com/library/garrard/rc80.shtml

My reading of the RCA advert is that the 45 disc had the large hole specifically for the RCA invented automatic record changer. The problem of damage and wear to previous 78s was solved by "non-breakable vinyl plastic". I can't see a large hole reducing friction providing the holes were always accurate and a consistent diameter. The old small hole wouldn't have any friction as the spindle turned with the turntable. I've had a few UK discs that were a very tight fit on the spindle but played fine. I suppose removing a tight fit record could lead to damage on the brittle edge of a 78 but vinyl has a lot more give.

Hi Pete, After a quick search it seems the record player my dad had was a Garrard Type A from the late 50s early 60s. A YT video shows one in use but, although the commentary mentions the 45 stacking adaptor it doesn't show one. It looks like the one in 45cellar photo but , as you say, was a cream colour. It seems odd that a UK company would make a turntable that could only use large holes 45s for multiple plays. Maybe the industry thought large holes would become the norm here. The turntable could also play at 78, 45, 33 and 16 and stack 10 inch as well as 12 inch LPs so it looks like they were trying to cover all bases. Thanks to @The Yank for helping with the large holes question. Is there any info or photos from when 7 inch 45s were first introduced in the US and why the large hole was introduced?

As Simon T has already said I understood the large hole was mainly because of the jukeboxes. Trying to get the small hole of a record onto a spindle was probably too hard for the selection system, easier to have large hole and a bevelled dome. In the mid 1960s my dad had a Garrard turntable that instead of the Dansette type 45 stacking system had a large hole stack adaptor that could be fitted in the small centre hole of the turntable. It wasn't much use as he only played LPs and I didn't have any US singles. He got rid of the turntable just as it would have been useful, I've never seen another one.

From very early on when deleted US records started being imported in bulk (1969 /70) Ric-Tic and associated labels were fairly common, with a few exceptions . Everyone owned All Turned On, Backstreet, Real Humdinger, Festival Time etc. Blues and Soul were selling them via their Contempo mail order, Selecta Disc and Global had loads. As you say, during the mid to late 70s Ric-Tic (and Golden World) were everywhere but Ric-Tic mania had been cured by then and most titles were hard to shift at 50p. There were a few exceptions, I don't think Fantastic Four- Can't Stop Looking For My Baby, was ever common. I thought it was Soul Bowl that found a massive hoard around 74-76 but in Keith Rylatt's Groovesville USA book it seems it was Martin Koppel who bought a load from Coachman. These weren't bootlegs just surplus stock that hadn't sold. It seems Ed Wingate ,who had other successful businesses, was happy to press thousands of every release. Labels liked to boast how many singles they had shipped, often many came back unsold. There may have been benefits to pressing surplus stock, others may like to say why. As David Wapples has already said above the two Ric-Tic boots in the 70s were Rose Battiste and Laura Lee. These were done by Global Records. You can tell these blindfold, nasty, thin and warped. Duke Browner was also done at the same time and just as obvious. As to scratched or stamped, both are legit on styrene . Golden World and Wingate also have some stamped and scratched numbers on their releases, why would anyone boot the Reflections.

Scissors????

I'm with @cover-up here that most of the discs put up above are acetates aka EMI disc and not strictly test pressings, especially the ones that say acetate. A test pressing is a pressing done from the stampers that will make the finished records that will go for sale to the public. They are done before all the discs are made so any faults are identified before a few thousand records are made. The possible faults are jumps, skips, wrong track or A/B reversal. There are a few well known discs that weren't checked properly , Gwen Owens and Cool Off and the Billy Harner What About The Music instrumental. The record will have exactly the same run out markings as the issue copies. Usually a test pressing will have a white label or as US Atlantic just have a label that is printed "Test Pressing" Every issued disc , even now, will have had a test pressing, although some may have had a finished label. The pressing for these could have been halted and that disc played straight away and the finished run then completed. My test pressings (above) were done in London and posted to us for checking. The proper labels weren't at the pressing plant until the final run went to press. An acetate is cut on a lathe from the tape one at a time usually at a studio (e.g Virtue). They don't have numbers on the run out but if the record has had a number allocated it could go on the label info. The UK acetates of US records will have already been approved for issue so have a catalogue number. US acetates tend not to have any numbers as they might never get issued , again like the Virtue discs. They were done so a recording could be played to anyone almost straight after the session. The UK acetates were probably done to play to the label head, sales team, marketing, radio DJs or journalists. Acetates are no longer done as digital files have replaced them. This is an acetate of Eddie Carlton -It Will Be Done- instrumental that I had done . The image here is one side that the engineer stopped after a few seconds and then started again. He then did another one which he put the stick- on label after he had typed the info on . The false start can just be seen as a few close grooves before a gap and then the rest of the recording. The test pressing is one of the ones I posted before, CRM 5001. Anyway test pressing or acetate they are all just as interesting so let's see some more.

Hi Julian About ten years ago I got what looked like a test pressing (white label with no info) of a Factory label EP. There are quite a lot of Factory Records collectors so I put it on eBay with a low starting price. I got no bids or watchers and only a couple of views, so it looked like test pressings aren't that sought after unless Factory did white labels in large numbers. The pressing plant would only do a few copies as a test , so they should be very rare. I'd think the only valuable ones would be of withdrawn singles such as Sex Pistols, Led Zeppelin, Darrell Banks. These are a few I have , I don't think they would be worth much. To most people they are nothing more than a record without a proper label.

Steve A time and place record but I like it more than I used to. Definitely a big record at the time so must be on the CD.

Steve A time and place record but I like it more than I used to. Definitely a big record at the time so must be on the CD.

Well, I got that completely wrong, shouldn't judge a CD by it's cover. Got the CD for Christmas and it's really good, even Ben Zine sounds alright mixed in with the others. The Hattie Winston and Lonnie Youngblood tracks are excellent choices. @Ady Croasdell helped compile it and did the sleeve notes so apologies to Ady for my comments. At only twenty tracks it could have had a few more but maybe they have saved them for volume 2 (and 3?).

Well, I got that completely wrong, shouldn't judge a CD by it's cover. Got the CD for Christmas and it's really good, even Ben Zine sounds alright mixed in with the others. The Hattie Winston and Lonnie Youngblood tracks are excellent choices. @Ady Croasdell helped compile it and did the sleeve notes so apologies to Ady for my comments. At only twenty tracks it could have had a few more but maybe they have saved them for volume 2 (and 3?).

I used to give this a spin at the Leeds Central around Christmas time, usually went down well with most people.

The above is from Mick Patrick's booklet to the excellent Ace CD The Bert Berns Story Vol 2, which explains the similarities between Mojo Mama and 25 Miles. Berns and Wexler wrote Mojo Mama aka 32 Miles Out Of Waycross then Edwin Starr wrote 25 Miles which, by coincidence sounds similar, so Berns and Wexler got writer credits, and a cut of royalties.

Having met both authors my impression is that they were not trying to jump on the bandwagon or make money from the scene. As academics part of their remit is to produce books in line with their area of study by extensive research of archive material and interviewing people who were there. Keith Gildart posted on Soul Source three or four years ago requesting old magazines and help with his research . Along with others, I lent him some magazines and spoke to him about my early days. If the book doesn't reflect everyone's experience it won't be down to the authors. Keith has published many other studies of social history , which I very much doubt have made any profit for the publishers. I can't comment on the contents of the book yet but just looking at the references and notes to the sample text it's obvious how much reading and study has been done to produce it. Whilst I've enjoyed some of the books of recollections from people who were around back then they are just their own experience. Maybe this new book, despite it's terrible title and cover photo, will be a more truthful account, even if we don't like it. As to the price, this is about normal for this type of book that will never sell in large numbers. Most copies will be bought by university departments and libraries in large towns. The print run is probably quite small making cost per book high compered to large runs of paperbacks. I've bought books on other stuff I collect for similar cost and have never lost out by seeing loads of the same title going cheap. A few seem to be priced at ten times what I paid for them, however I doubt they actually sell for these prices. Maybe this book could be a shrewd investment.

Having met both authors my impression is that they were not trying to jump on the bandwagon or make money from the scene. As academics part of their remit is to produce books in line with their area of study by extensive research of archive material and interviewing people who were there. Keith Gildart posted on Soul Source three or four years ago requesting old magazines and help with his research . Along with others, I lent him some magazines and spoke to him about my early days. If the book doesn't reflect everyone's experience it won't be down to the authors. Keith has published many other studies of social history , which I very much doubt have made any profit for the publishers. I can't comment on the contents of the book yet but just looking at the references and notes to the sample text it's obvious how much reading and study has been done to produce it. Whilst I've enjoyed some of the books of recollections from people who were around back then they are just their own experience. Maybe this new book, despite it's terrible title and cover photo, will be a more truthful account, even if we don't like it. As to the price, this is about normal for this type of book that will never sell in large numbers. Most copies will be bought by university departments and libraries in large towns. The print run is probably quite small making cost per book high compered to large runs of paperbacks. I've bought books on other stuff I collect for similar cost and have never lost out by seeing loads of the same title going cheap. A few seem to be priced at ten times what I paid for them, however I doubt they actually sell for these prices. Maybe this book could be a shrewd investment.

Google Image search shows these guys were a group called Phoenix City Smash. An interesting forum site gives loads of information about them and Ralph's Records https://www.manchesterbeat.com/index.php/groups1/phoenix-city-smash https://www.manchesterbeat.com/index.php/shops/record-shops/ralph-s-records-corporation-street-near-victoria-station Rick

As a youngster I'd heard of Zan as someone who you would try to avoid, especially if you had anything he wanted. Later on I bumped into him a few times and found him to be a bit intimidating but nothing like his reputation. I don't remember him working in Ralph's on Underbank in Stockport but he did hang around the shop quite a lot. The guy who was usually behind the counter at Ralph's was Carl but other people helped out on a casual basis. Who was "Ralph" as I never knew anyone at the Stockport or Manchester shops called Ralph . More info on Ralph's here- https://www.britishrecordshoparchive.org/ralphrsquos-records.html

I remember Spinn Inn very well, but not quite that well as I thought it was in the middle of a long line of shops and offices down three or four steps to the right of a basement door to a night club. It was the first call on a Saturday morning visit to Manchester record shops. It was a very small shop with not enough room for a back drop but had a great selection of records. Some of the first records I got there were UK issues that were still available from the major companies such as Tommy Neal, Bud Harper, Jackie Lee and Jerry O. Later on they had all of the first US re issues ( boots) . I've heard about the copies of Earl Jackson sold at Spinn Inn but never had it confirmed by anyone who had actually got a copy. @earlvandykes6 did you know the record before buying it. The credits on the record look so good that even without playing it , it looked a good bet. I'd think Martyn Ellis knew it was a great dancer but maybe didn't know how rare it turned out to be and he probably only paid less than 25cents (10p) for it. He didn't sell his copies of Roy Hamilton's Cracking Up cheap as he wouldn't budge on the £5 he charged me. A bit further along Cross Street was Global Records first Manchester location and then round the corner on John Dalton Street was Hime and Addison's, that had a basement record department. The link below is for a web site of UK record shops. The entry for Spinn Inn has a quote that is for a different shop but the photo just about looks how I remember it. The bag has remarkably survived all these years. https://www.britishrecordshoparchive.org/spin-inn-disc-centre.html Rick