Roburt

I'm a soul fan, not a NS fan … so I always include ALL the soul 45's that get released / reviewed. I did know what you meant BUT being a Yorkshireman, had to try to wind you up.

You missed just about the best 2 soul 45's reviewed that week -- the Impressions & the Otis Clay.

Shufflin Shufflin, I like modern soul & so think I'm more likely to appreciate more newer releases than a 'dyed in the wool' 60's fan … but if you actually believe that these days we regularly get up to 30 good new US soul 45's release per fortnight (the reviews above are for new US 45's in July 66), then I would have to take issue with you.

Seems the reviewer liked the Charades 45, as he'd already given it his attention a few days earlier … one of the other 45's he looked at …

Lots of folk complain that there isn't the quality of decent new soul 45 releases these days … I'd agree ... BUT things weren't always so great back in (even) the 60's … to illustrate this, here's a list of mag singles reviews from a 2/3 week period back in July 1966 … I'm sure you'll agree, there's not much of interest to us here …

A more recent outing … a classy dancer with an ol skool vibe …

The 80's are viewed by many as a 'soul wasteland' … lots of substandard output … BUT … if you lived in the Yorks / Notts / Derbys area you could tune in every Saturday evening to Searling's 'SOUL SAUCE' on Radio Hallam. Richard would find quality new releases to play every week (not all dance tempo) and he kept Modern Soul lovers in the loop for quite a few years (till forced out from Hallam & immediately getting a new show on Red Rose). The brains getting weaker by the week these days but he certainly introduced us to goodies from the likes of Zingara, Revelation (a UK 45 release), Chuck Cissel, Peabo Bryson, Keni Burke, Anita Baker, Arthur Adams, Johnny Taylor, L.T.D, Al Johnson (with Jean Carne) and many more. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ogfXFiMSDtU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5UmhvvlFkM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyCRm_eqIsw

By the time WCKO was going strong, most radio stns had dropped their old 'local label plays' policy (some TK and Alston stuff was still played, the more popular artists at least) .... but the chart below featured one local obscurity … AND .. the label was based just up the road from Souls Place …. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZdJHRDu5Rc

Souls Place was a club located at NW 2nd Ave & 36th St in Miami. Both those were busy roads (N-S & E-W), so that particular x-road was a good place to be located. ALSO it's just to the east of the (then) new I-95 freeway and south of the I-195 freeway. So that junction survived the mass demolition that occurred when the new freeway system was blasted thru Miami. Lots of the old black clubs were swept away when the freeways were constructed, but Souls Place survived. As an established venue for local blacks, it must have prospered when other venues were shut & the buildings demolished. WCKO / WRBD was located in Ft Lauderdale to the north of this area, but the old main US highway (route 1 - which goes all the way to New York) is just east of where Souls Place was & so it was an easy place to reach. As I said above, WCKO radio stn was based out of (Pompano Beach in) Fort Lauderdale, it grew out of stn WRBD which had been going strong from the early 60's till 1972. So it's likely the WRBD / WCKO DJ's would head south after their radio shift to meet up with other Miami black radio DJ's & local celebs at Souls Place (36th St -- route 27 -- was the main route to Miami Beach). No doubt, Ian Levine would know a lot more than me about those times as my personal knowledge is from more recent times (+ research I've done about the Miami soul scene in the 60's / 70's). The X-Rds where Souls Place was located (recent pic) ...

I really enjoyed 'Blues Night: 3. Chicago Blues' which I'd seen before. In fact I lifted a still from the show & used it in the old thread 'Why Did 60's Soul Strongholds Implode in 70s ?' ………

So, if the King Sound Interpreters two singles were indeed made at Kay Banks Nth Carolina plant, the 2nd one must have been among the last records to be mastered & pressed there as that facility was closed at the end of 67 or very early in 68. Anyone know where their Nth Carolina plant was located ?

The Island Club and Soul's Place were mid 60's clubs in Overtown, the casino billboard is for a 2019 show.

The group had their 45s pressed up by an 'old-time' studio / pressing plant outfit all the way across in Minneapolis .. Kay Bank … that seems strange as they had all the Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Nth Carolina & Tennessee plants much closer to hand. It's not as if Kay Bank were soul specialists, they cut / pressed just about anything. Kay Bank had been set up way back in 1946 and the original owner sold out in 68 … mind you, it seems Kay Bank also had a pressing plant in Nth Carolina in the mid 60's, so maybe that's where the King Sound Interpreters singles were made.

It's 'horses for courses' of course ... Being that bit older than many on here, most of my niter faves are referred to by many as 'youth club sounds' … AND of course … being that bit older, many of the Casino faves mean little or nothing to me.

We winter in Florida and recently took a trip along the I-95 thru Overtown … not too surprised to see it clings onto it's black heritage still … PLUS an interesting article that deals with the subject of 60's / 70's Miami soul ... https://www.standardhotels.com/culture/florida-miami-soul-history-overtown-johnnys-records

Well Buddy Killen was doing soul missionary work up in Nashville with Joe Tex and his other black artists, so Chips should have felt at home. Mind you, he soon returned to Memphis, so Nashville can't have been to his liking.

It didn't specify which cities it was hot in … BUT Jerry O's 45 was doing well back then …

In 1963, Chubby Checker was in Ireland doing missionary work (showin em how to really dance) !!

Good job they cut the tracks when they did then as he was out the door not too long afterwards & off working in Nashville.

Seems the band Detroit contained ex members of the Detroit Wheels, so Mitch must have been trying to catch some of the teaming's old glory in 70 / 71. Musically though times had changed and the outfit never really broke through. Mitch split from them a couple of years later and they kept going, with Rusty Day on lead vocals. Rusty Day was another singer with an interesting history as he'd been in Amboy Dukes (the US band who used that name), then in supposed supergroup Cactus (having been picked as lead singer when Rod Stewart joined the Faces instead of Cactus). By 1973 (after Cactus had broken up), he was fronting Detroit. There's a bootleg album out there (attributed to Lynard Skynyard) of Rusty singing with Detroit and this was cut in the Driftwood Lounge of the 20 Grand Club (Detroit of course) ….. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0DfDWIQFF0

Seems that by early 67, Mitch Ryder was far from happy with the tracks Bob Crewe was getting him to record …. he broke free from Crewe (having to loose the Detroit Wheels along the way) and started performing live with a new backing band. Seems he was still tied to Crewe & New Voice / Dynovoice Records as he cut more stuff with the teaming right thru till late 68 (unless Crewe had quite a bit of material in the can in late 67 / early 68). By 69, he'd switched to the distributing label (DOT) and was recording with the Stax crew down in Memphis. 1970 saw him rebadge himself & his band as Detroit featuring Mitch Ryder and cutting for Paramount. Mitch never really got back the commercial success he'd enjoyed with his early Bob Crewe outings though, but he toured the US performing live for a good length of time. This article captures the anger he felt towards Crewe after their initial period together … https://baltimorejam.wordpress.com/2015/03/14/the-mitch-ryder-show-courtesy-of-george-shuba/

More about Hot Rod … https://www.bluesaccess.com/No_29/rooster.html

The Vibrations toured the UK a couple of times in the 60's. They would always inspire Brit dancers with their stage moves …. (watch the vid from about 3m 30 secs in) ……

70's soul dancing (US style) …

So "Gonna Find The Right Boy" made some noise in Baltimore, got local radio plays and charted on WWIN. From the mag info, it seems Hot Rod was pushing Audrey's track from the date of it's release. Hot Rod had been an ever-present on Baltimore radio since 1951. He was the MC on many big shows staged at Baltimore's Royal Theatre and at Carr's Beach. Richie Barrett is listed as the tracks producer with Leon Huff writing the song. Richie did quite a bit of work with Swan (mainly 3 Degrees or 3 Degrees members cuts) on which he'd also worked with Leon Huff before Audrey's track. Norman 'General' Johnson also worked with Richie on 3 Degrees related tracks for Swan. In addition to these cuts, Richie & Leon had also co-operated on earlier Swan cuts by the likes of (Norman Johnson &) the Showmen and Locomotions. Richie had also worked with Norman Johnson on Eddie Carlton's Swan cuts. Obviously Richie Barrett was the 'elder statesman' in all these collaborations (he'd been involved in the recording biz since the mid 50's and had recorded himself since around 1958, cutting the Beatles fave "Some Other Guy" with Leiber - Stoller in 62). It would be great to learn something about the dynamics of the studio process on tracks like Audrey's outing.