Roburt

Because of their involvement with other Canadian acts, much of the Tiaras work is well documented in Canadian music circles .... ..... A popular Canadian group in the early '60's was EG Smith & the Express. On January 1st, 1967; rival R & B/soul act Eddie Spencer & The Power (who had formed around 3 months earlier) decided to ditch their frontman Eddie Spencer and guitarist Les Morris and chose the Express's Grant Smith (vocals) and Jim Pauley to replace them. Effectively, members were dropped from each group, just one ‘new’ outfit rising from the ashes. As EG Smith & the Power (soon to become Grant Smith & the Power), the new band quickly established themselves as one of the top R & B acts on Toronto's club circuit. On June 16th, 1967 they played Whitby Arena (Whitby, Ontario) in conjunction with James & Bobby Purify plus Shawne Jackson. They then secured two months live work in the US (summer 1967), but their line-up continued to evolve. Whilst in the US, the band was offered a record deal with MGM (via Tony Orlando). They were soon topping the charts with their only hit -- a remake of the Spencer Davis song "Keep On Running" (released January 1968 - Boo Records in Canada). Their 2nd single featured the Al Rain penned songs "Thinkin' 'Bout You / You Got What I Want". These tracks were recorded in Art Snider's Toronto studio with backing vocals by the Tiaras (Jackie Richardson, Brenda Russell, Colina Phillips and Arlene Trotman). Both songs featured the contributions of guest saxophonist Steve Kennedy. More personnel changes took place but Grant Smith & the Power were soon opening shows in Toronto for the likes of the Hollies and Spanky & Our Gang. They returned to the US to support Janis Joplin, Rare Earth and Traffic but members continued to quit and be replaced. After their return to Canada (summer 1968), Steve Kennedy was asked to formally join them (he walked out on Eric Mercury & the Soul Searchers to do so). The new line-up recorded the tracks that were to form the group’s only album in November 1968 (their earlier singles also making the LP). Canadian web sites state that the Tiaras 3rd Canadian single ("Right On") is by the same group.

It was the Cue Club in Paddington that we all wanted to visit. USAF guys from the bases around London used to frequent the place as well as the usual Brit mods & soul / ska fans.

"Emidisc" was EMI's brand name for their blank acetates. They were made at the EMI plant in Hayes, Middlesex. Emidiscs were used by anyone in the recording industry and the name does not mean that the recording was produced by EMI itself. However, for every NS Emidisc there are 100's of legit Emidisc acetates made (as Pete said) for labels, producers, publishers, acts. They originally date back to around 1962, a bit before NS bootlegging commenced I believe .......... ........... https://www.45cat.com/label/emidisc

No Pete, she only learnt to play the piano in the dark much later on.

Seems that they had a 3rd 45 release ...............

On the net it states that ............... .... The Tiaras members were Jackie Richardson, Brenda Russell, Colina Phillips and Arlene Trotman ..... ............ here's a picture of them that dates back to when their Barry 45 was released in 1968 .... ... all black & no Pat Hervey listed (though she could have sung on the Op-Art 45 as a 'guest' member). Seems that they appeared on a Canadian CTV show "A Go Go '66" (later renamed "It's Happening)" Gigi & the Charmaines were based in Toronto at the same time, so the two outfits probably knew each other.

Another member of the group was Brenda Russell ............ ..... Brenda Russell was born to musical parents,(her father Gus was a one-time member of The Ink Spots. She spent her early years in Canada after moving to Hamilton, Ontario, age 12. As a teenager she began performing in local bands. Brenda was recruited to sing in a Toronto-based girl group called The Tiaras along with Jackie Richardson. The group's ONE single (WRONG), "Where Does All The Time Go" was released on Barry Records in 1968 and sunk without a trace in to obscurity. In her late teens she joined the Toronto production of Hair, during which time she had begun to play the piano.

Both pieces are out of Billboard (the foreign music section).

What Tim Brown had to say .................. Pat Hervey is a white Canadian artist (still alive to this day) often likened to Brenda Lee but who occasionally veered towards black music (apparently she recorded a version of Mitty Collier’s ‘Pain’ that I’ve yet to hear). By the later 60s, she was signed to Stan Klees’ Red Leaf label (which has a Northern sound by the Charmaines on it). Nothing came of her time with the label and this Toronto artist moved to Vancouver in 1969. Before doing this, she did a moonlight session as part of a one-off girl group THE TIARAS with a release on Op-Art which sank out of sight immediately. That Hervey was signed to another label hardly helped matters. And that was that until my one-time apprentice Andy Dyson turned a copy of the Op-Art single up about 8 or 9 years ago, duly reporting to my office with said vinyl for sale. The record was entitled ‘Surprise’ and was coupled with ‘Foolish Girl’. To be honest on the day the tracks seemed a little lightweight and I refused the offer of the disc. Since that time brother Dyson came up 4 more copies — all from the same source and as it happened, a source known to Martin Koppel. No more copies have been located and the record’s Canadian origins will surely ensure that it will remain very rare indeed.

These have to be the people involved with that 45 (which appears to be totally Canadian in origin) ..... ..... Toronto group the Tiaras and Toronto based writer / arranger / producer Al Rain ......

Of course music is of its time. 60's music sounds like 60's music, etc, etc. But why do simple tunes cut in rudimentary studios by guys (gals) with little formal musical education still sound so great all these years later (I can't see much 90's music still finding a big audience in 40+ years time). ......... and it's not just me who thinks this way ...... ...... over 50% of TV ads seem to feature 60's / 70's tracks and if ad men didn't think they would still 'sell product' then they wouldn't still be using them. And if kids today don't like 'old music' why do so many of the tracks they do like listening to start out being built around a classic 60's / 70's soul sample ??

They even got funky down at the Swinger ..............

So about how much did the 45 auction raise in the end ???

No actual example of Sam actually singing Sam yet ............. ... had to put that right ...... & I could just have easily jumped many years & put up "After All" .... But back then, it wasn't just Sam ..... there was Curtis, Smokey, Sam Cooke, H-D-H, Gamble & Huff, the Fame, Quinvy, Stax, Motown gangs + many many more.

Sam Dees back in the 70's ............. ..... not singing or writing this time ........... ... they let him loose in the studio as the producer this time ..... .... C.L. Blast was good but Sam 'improves' him ............ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD6kKJn_OK8

More Sam Dees magic ............ he learnt his skills in soul's golden period & never let go of those prinicpals ......... ... the 'best of the best' who came later were wise enough to make use of his work .........

Whitney wasn't daft ............ her take on the song mimics Sam Dee's original precisely ..... .... though he put a lot more emotion into his delivery....

Of course, not all the 60's soul hits were truely original. Lots of chart cuts featured 're-worded' gospel faves ........... so an already proven song (with a few word changes & a funkier arrangement) became a popular soul track (or pop hit) but many times top records featured new singers on an original song cut in a 'back street' studio out in the sticks. One guy who has real talent (singing / writing wise) is Sam Dees .......... his talent knows little limit. He honed his skills back in the 60's / 70's and held onto all the talent he had developed. His genius was appreciated by the music biz types steering Whitney Houston's career and she cut a number of his songs. One song he wrote that both he (on demo & live) sang and that Whitney turned into a hit album track was "Lover For Life". I had a copy of Sam's demo of this song before I even heard Whitney's take so always loved his original version the best ... but even her version was very good. After the song had become etched in my brain, I actually saw the lyrics written down. The song conveys really strong emotional feeling and yet when you scan the actual lyrics, they are quite simplistic ............. ................................. I hope you realize baby Just what you mean to me Hey you where I run for cover Your loving shelter for me And when I find myself needing some lifting up One night with you and that always is enough How you make being in love A true rare affair So take me I'm your prisoner Will you sentence me to be your lover for life Your lover for life Will you sentence me I want to be your lover for life Your lover for life r+for+life_20146365.html ] I just want to hear you say You'll be my lover, lover for life Capture, there's no getaway You're my lover, my lover for life Under your spell or under my own power It really doesn't matter to me See I fell in love the first time I saw you And I have been falling in love ever since You heard my testimony You've seen my evidence Hey, it's a crime of passion In every sense And justice would decide If you stay here in my world Take me I'm your prisoner Just goes to show, keeping it simple is the best answer lots of the time. Lots of newer guys involved in the biz seem to get too tied into the technology available and fail to stick to bog basic first principles.

I don't want this topic to instantly descend into a era based slagging match and I certainly don't want to piss off MS fans with the thread title (after all I'm a big MS fan myself) .... but just why has the soul music laid down in studios over 30 years ago stood the test of time so well. Back then, most people involved (singers, musicians, songwriters, producers) had no formal musical training,the instruments used (many times) were cheap & rudimentary. Studios were housed in make-shift buildings and utilised simplistic, beat-up recording equipment. Song writers were (lots of the time) people who the school system had failed, who had trouble with skills such as spelling and stringing sentences together. Yet, the music that resulted when all those folk got together was little short of magical (much of the time). Back then, the singers had dedication and would practise on street corners & in friend's basements for hours on end to hone their vocal skills. Even when there seemed little prospect of an outfit progressing to getting real bookings & eventually making it into a recording studio, they would still practise for hours. Young musicians would be inspired by the likes of the Funk Brothers or the Chess, Stax or Fame studio band members and be inspired to try to play as well as their heroes. Producers / arrangers would spend hours going over parts of a song to improve it's form, they would then lift those in the studio with them to produce their very best efforts. Producers would also develop ties with local music schools to gain access to whole string / brass sections that ordinarily they couldn't hope to have the money to hire. These players would add their efforts to trcks for little financial gain but in the knowledge that they were improving their skills, learning new tricks and had something good to add to their CV's. Move on 20 years, and their were 32 track studios just about everywhere. 100's of formally educated people were gaining qualifications from music schools and the range of new musical developments (keyboards, etc.) was continuing to appear. Recorded sounds could be slowed down, speeded up, or replayed backwards. Computers were beginning to appear in studios. The industry was making money hand over fist and so investment in new facilities was exploding. Move forward to today and lots of the creative spark seems to have gone out of the musical side of recording. Loads of effort goes into the technology utilised & what use it is put to .... but something (most times) does seem to be sadly lacking in the final product. Singers who can't sing live end up with massive hits; X Factor shows rule the roost and 'music biz svengalis' make all the decisions on who cuts what and where. Many times, to end up with a new hit, the studio crew just sample a hook from an old 60's / 70's track and loop it many times to create a 'new tune'. Everything today is set up (apart from cost cutting corner cutting processes) to make new music be better than the old stuff ............. but very rarely is it actually better or even as good. WHY ?????

Music Merchant mama hits Miami ............. ...... & she's a human bean ?!?!

Couldn't take any other version of SITP over Billy Stewarts or of GN over Bessie Banks effort ......... but I much prefer Georgie Fame's take on "Point of No Return" over Gene McDaniels original.

Over 30 years ago now & the memory's faded. Can't recall his name but he was around 30 years old (& a nice guy). His house was up a side street, straight off the main Worksop to Mansfield main road in Mansfield Woodhouse (Marples Ave).

Yep, the self same label. They struck a deal with New York based Half Moon Records (958 Atlantic Ave Brooklyn, N.Y. 11238) and put out about a dozen soul 7" / 12" singles. Many of them found favour with UK MS fans & RSearling played a number of them when he had his soul show on Sheffield's Radio Hallam (1981). I visited the guys house to pick up a few copies of each of their soul releases. He wasn't long back from the Far East & had an Asian wife. He had no idea how to promote his soul releases, so I got him to send a copy of each to RS @ Radio Hallam. Richard spun them on his radio show & sales levels picked up instantly. The only mistake he made was putting the same Rainbows Valley track on both sides of the UK 12" (voc + inst) instead of releasing the tuva side of the group's US single.

............. info from Jesse Boyce ............ about his early work with Moses Dillard ..... The Dynamic Showmen; the band was founded by Moses Dillard, Leo Adams, and Jesse Boyce. As the first keyboard and organ player and the second original bass player (taught by Moses Dillard) for the Showmen. I was replacement bassist but was pretty clueless about the business at age fifteen. It was all about the music and the dream of being successful. We were all still in high school and just happy to be accepted. For the record, I wrote most of the songs attributed to Moses Dillard ................ Pretty As a Picture; Go Away Baby; Soul Symphony - (Jesse Boyce-Piano); I Feel It Coming - (Bobby Marchan); Punchinella - (Peabo Bryson), I'll Pay The Price, and Bring Your Dreams to Me - (Peabo Bryson) It was not until after I left the band and then returned to join Moses in Pensacola, Florida (where I met Poppa Don) that I realized that I had not been given credit for my music nor did I get paid. But I stayed with Poppa Don because he educated me as a writer and he treated me with fairness and respect. We cut a lot of hit records together.

A Jock Mitchell 45 back in January 1966 ..... PLUS 2 versions of "Love Makes the World Go Round" wish I could find a copy of the Leon Jackson version