Roburt

Some Boogaloo 45's were popular with the teens miles away from their home city ......

Of course, payola or appointing a regional rep to act as your promo man wasn't the only way to go for a little local label based off the beaten track. You could always place an ad in a trade paper .............. and hope ...........

This KATZ chart rundown from 1968 features a piccy of Donny (as he had returned to the St Louis stn by then).

I suggested to B&S back around 1970/71 that they should feature a series in the mag on little indie US soul labels. They never really took up the suggestion in any meaningful way .... BUT ... they did do an article on Ston-Roc. Only filled a page in the mag but it contained some (superficial) info on how the label worked plus photos of a couple of their artists (I think Cody was one of them).

As he classier sounds always came out of Chicago, I'd have to nominate the likes of Johnny Pate, Carl Davis and Ted Cooper.

Two good acts down at a Miami Beach club in 72 .... ...... Latimore was featured there a lot in 72.

Two good acts on at Lloyd Price's Turntable Club .........

............. A mid 60's WCHB Detroit ad ......... .... Donny Brooks was on their roster at the time .........

....... More (in Aug 64) from WSID's Fat Daddy ......... with the bottom 10 of WSID's Top 30 added in for good measure

Nella wasn't a breakout, just a record to watch ........ .. and Jerry Williams was there again ...

By February 1967, Donny Brooks had followed Jimmy Bishop to Philadelphia and he too was working as a DJ at radio stn WDAS, so it seems that the LP on Arctic (a August 67 release) may have been to cement Jimmy & Donny's friendship or it may have been 'payment in kind' in return for something that Donny had done for Jimmy. Whatever the case was, Donny was back in St Louis in 1968 in a higher grade job. Anyone know who owned Badfinger Records who released the 2nd Donny 'Soul Finger' Brooks LP (I'd make a guess that Donny himself was involved with the label in some sort of way).

Yes, regional reps did a lot of good for certain record labels. Motown used to hire people with local influence, Weldon McDougal & certain radio DJ's were put on the payroll to help plug / promote the company's releases. Then as Motown's major influence began to fall off a bit, some of those same guys were hired to help out at Philly International.

Already posted this one (in the Boogaloo thread) .... ... but it's worth another airing ..... Lou Courtney was big in Houston, Jimmy Robbins in Atlanta, & Don Gardner in Milwaukee ........

Locals Candy & the Kisses plus Arnold Mitchell were getting attention in Philly .... ... but so were 45's by Gus Jenkins & the Tams. Down in Baltimore, it was mainly 'out of town' artists who were getting a push. These included Little Jerry Williams & his Southern Sound label 45 (about to be picked up by Loma me thinks).

Local guy Kenny Hamber was doing well in Baltimore but why was the Wallace Bothers 45 so big in the city ?? Don't think I've ever heard the Butterflies or Terry & the Tyrants cuts at all !!! Up in Philly, a ska 45 was big but the WDAS DJ's were also getting behind the Carolyn Crawford & Eddie Holland 45's. Local Barbara Mason was showing well which was to be expected but why was Johnny Williams Kent 45 getting so much attention. ............. you tell me ........... October now but we're still in Philly & Baltimore ............. .. can't think why Jimmy Bishop should have helped pick the Tiffanys 45 as one to watch .........

"Funny" by Joe Hinton was also getting most attention up north (Boston, New York, Cleveland) rather than back down south (Houston or even Indiana). Here's a 2nd listing ..... this time Joe's 45 is being championed in Baltimore .... its popularity was spreading right across the country & it entered the national R&B charts in mid August & stayed on the charts for 3 months ....

Lots of times back in the 1960's (not so much later as individual radio DJ's had less scope to playlist tracks themselves) a record (45 or LP track that was then issued on 45) would be broken by just a single DJ (or a team who all worked at the same stn). Their choices would many times be straight forward, a local artist that they perhaps knew / liked with a 45 on a local label (or with a national major label deal) would be selected & with plays would hit the local charts. This success would then spread out across the States. If the artist was unknown, the spread of popularity of their track could be quite slow (it having dropped off the 1st city chart it entered whilst still had to enter a far flung location's charts). But on numerous occasions, an act would become friendly with a DJ from miles away & thus the record of a New York based act could be broken say in Miami; whilst it got no radio plays at all back in their home area (as was the case with the Steinways). Thought it would be a good idea to list a few 'breakout' rundowns & get the 'guys with the goods' to pass along their knowledge as to why say a 45 on a LA indie label should get better attention in Philly (or DC or Miami) than it ever got back in their home city. So here goes, the 1st 'breakout' listing ........ ... it's from August 64 but the question is ..... why was the Vows Tamara 45 getting so much attention in Philly & DC ... I for one have no idea at all, over to you (Robb?) .........

2007 press release ........ Six broadcasters have been elected to the St. Louis Radio Hall of Fame ...... The following members of the St. Louis Radio Hall of Fame were recognized for their contributions to St. Louis radio and achievements in the field of broadcasting ... ..... Donny Brooks, or "Soul Finger," best known as a DJ on KATZ, where he also served as a music director and program director in the '60s and '70s;

I'd say vanity probably has a lot to do with it ... .... though as there are other 'Donny Brooks' albums, the vanity may mainly have been his ... ........... TRACK LISTING for this Badfinger Records LP ............ A1 Temptations, The - The Way You Do The Things You Do A2 Kool & The Gang - Kool & The Gang A3 Tyrone Davis - Turn Back The Hands Of Time A4 Tommy James & The Shondells - Crystal Blue Persuasion A5 Aretha Franklin - Respect A6 Mary Wells - Dear Lover A7 Gladys Knight And The Pips - Every Beat Of My Heart A8 Dyke & The Blazers - Funky Broadway B1 James Brown - Papa's Got A Brand New Bag B2 Frankie & The Spindles - Count To Ten B3 Jackie Wilson - Whispers B4 Jerry Butler - Never Gonna Give You Up B5 Barbara Mason - Oh How It Hurts B6 Gene Chandler - God Bless Our Love B7 Five Stairsteps - Ooh Child B8 THE GREEN BERETS - Lord Send Me Somebody C1 Fantastic Four - The Whole World Is A Stage C2 Knight Brothers - Temptation's About To Get Me C3 Natural Four, The - Why Should We Stop Now C4 Manhattans - If My Heart Could Speak C5 O'Jays, The - Look Over Your Shoulder C6 Bobby Freeman - You Just Don't Understand Me C7 Impressions, The - It's All Over D1 Miracles, The - Bad Girl D2 Delfonics, The - Somebody Loves You D3 Luther Ingram - Ain't That Lovin' You For More Reasons Than One D4 Sam & Dave - When Something's Wrong With My Baby D5 Mad Lads, The - Whatever Hurts You D6 Royalettes, The - Gonna Take A Miracle D7 Dells, The - Stay In My Corner

Benny Latimore + the local Freddie Scott secured some gigs on Miami Beach themselves ... ......... a Wreck Bar show (at Castaways Hotel) in April 1972 ......... Latimore would secure his 1st big National hit about 15 months later, so I'd guess he soon gave up accepting shows such as these.

Nina Simone obviously provided her own support act for these 1969 NY club shows ....

PLUS, I've obviously got too much time on my hands .... .... well, if I keep busy on the computer, the wife finds less jobs for me to do around the house !! Actually, I'm working on a book & I come across all sorts of stuff when I'm looking for info relevant to my project.

I agree, but Boogaloo Joe is a lot funkier a name for a jazz / soulman than Ivan !!!.

During the 1960s, radio station KATZ in St. Louis was one of the top black music stations in the US. One of the top guys who worked for the station was Donn Brooks ...... Donny's Bio .... Donny 'Soul Finger' Brooks hit the St. Louis market in 1962, taking a short-lived job at WBBR in East St. Louis. He moved on to KATZ the following year and became a star DJ there. His young, energetic approach to his shows made him extremely popular and job offers from other markets were soon coming in. He checked some of these out but by 1968 he was back in St. Louis. He had moved up through the ranks and now held down the additional duties of music director and program director at KATZ. Donny left St. Louis again in 1973 but returned to KKSS in 1975. So Donny Brooks was a top radio DJ who had arrived at KATZ when Jimmy Bishop was still one of the station's top DJ's. Bishop had soon moved on to work for WHAT in Philly, but he must have become friendly with Donny Brooks before his move to the East Coast. So I guess there was some logic in Bishop allowing Brooks to compile an album for release on Bishop's Arctic label ........... Donnie Brooks -- 'Soul Finger' Presents 20 Great Oldies: Various Artists Arctic ALPS-1003 (19/08/1967) ....... TRACKS: ......... Introduction by Donnie Brooks ......... Oh No Not My Baby - Maxine Brown / I Spy - Jamo Thomas / Ain't It Baby - Kenny Gamble / A Message to My Baby - Billy Harner / Is It Me? - Barbara Mason / I Can't Stand It - Soul Sisters / The Pain Gets A Little Deeper - Darrow Fletcher / I Don't Want To Lose You - Steve Mancha / Hallelujah - Inventions / I Know (You Don't Love Me No More) - Barbara George / Do The 45 - The Sharpees / It's Been So Long - The Twinights / My Judgement Day - Darrow Fletcher / The Philly Freeze - Alvin Cash & Registers / Who Do You Love? - Sapphires / Sad Feelings - Cicero Blake / Gonna Be Strong - Intruders / Watch Your Step - Brooks O'Dell / Every Beat of My Heart - Du-Ettes / Storm Warning - Volcanoes So the LP (no doubt with licensing of the tracks being co-ordinated by Jimmy Bishop himself) included Philly tracks from Arctic & other local labels but also tracks from St Louis / Chicago area artists plus a few out of New York & Detroit. Bishop must have found it easy to 'license' in the outside tracks as he was an influential DJ and so record companies would be keen to help him out on a project such as this. ...... BUT ... what would the commercial logic behind such an LP be. It probably had ready markets in St Louis & Philly but I can't see it selling too many copies elsewhere across the States. After all, most record buyers from outside of St Louis would have had no idea who Donnie Brooks was.

Jay Wiggins "Forgive then Forest" (Forget really) hit the WEBB charts in January 1964 and peaked on the stns listing at No.2 on Feb 14th. So I guess the initial release of the 45 (the tracks on which must have been cut in mid to late 63) would have been around New Years 64 (unless little indie labels ignored the major's policy of not releasing new 45's after mid December time).