Sunnysoul

Apologies, I'm fully aware that this is not the WANTS section but if anyone has a copy of the Goldmine Double CD "Soulful Kind of Seventies" to sell at a cheap ( by any standards ) price , please PM me . Cheers

Taking Chalky's lead, I looked into this a little further, especially the comments on the youtube clip that the Bobby Kline in question is an African-American who lives/lived in Orange New Jersey ... and I found this fairly compelling piece on a doo-wop group called the Melo Gents whose lead vocalist was Bobby "Klein" hailing from East Orange New Jersey ... the same piece later makes reference to Bobby "Kline" ... and there is a photo of the Melo Gents who all look African-American to these eyes .... draw your own inclusions but maybe our hero was indeed a brother ... The Melo Gents The Melo Gents (Newark NJ.) Personnel: Bobby Klein (Lead) Larry Holley (Second Tenor) Sandy Holley (Tenor) Steve Barnhart (Bass) Junie green (Baritone) Discography : 1959 - Baby Be Mine / Git Off My Back (Warner Bros. 5056) Biography : The Melo Gents all hailed from Orange and East Orange, New Jersey. Larry and Sandy lived on State Street East Orange, Steve Barnhart lived on Snyder St., Orange, NJ Junnie green lived on Park St., Orange, NJ and Bobby Kleine lived on Park Street as well just off of Springdale Avenue. The Group recorded "Git Off My Back" and "Baby Be Mine" written by group members Bobby Kline and Steve Barnhardt. The single was recorded by Warner Bros). The Melo Gents also recorded many other songs but they were unreleased. Their manager's name was Joe Seneca, he was in the music industry pretty much at that time but he never paid is $.10. The Melo Gents travel to Canada all over the New York in the New England states different provinces around Canada with the 5 Satins and the late Bill Baker.

Yes, I've read the quote above from a person who says Bobby Kline lived up the road and all that ... but ... has anyone actually got a photo of the man himself ? The soul scene has made this mistake before ... thinking that their hero was one colour when in fact he or she was another colour ... Just sayin' ...

No, not your bad luck .... I have a copy that does the same ... skips in several places ...

One notable omission regarding the rarest UK soul singles list: was John Andrews (Parlophone ) "unknown" at the time of that article ? Or not even remotely considered as "rare"?

If anyone is wondering , the Susan Phillips LP really does exist and was released back in the day, as was definitively established in another thread on the Gloria Barnes LP ... ...

Haven't seen the current edition of Record Collector but does it give you any more information on the northern and rare soul scene that you couldnt otherwise get (for free!) on forums such as Soul Source , Rare Soul Talk (Facebook) or specialist soul publications produced BY people on the soul scene FOR people on the soul scene? Isn't Record Collector a generalist record collector publication aimed at generalist record collectors ? People who dip their toes from time to time into rare soul or punk or metal or freakbeat or whatever? If you've been into northern/rare soul for a little while then an article in Record Collector is unlikely to tell you anything you don't already know or couldn't otherwise get from specialist soul publications or forums. It was different 25 or 35 years ago when the internet didn't exist or was in its infancy. An interview in Record Collector with Richard Searling or Ian Levine for example might have been a big deal ... but now all you have to do is look at specialist soul forums or just google a particular subject and away you go ...

No, and to be frank, the sooner it is forgotten, the better.

Mal , the handful of Charm City records were all released in or around '79 ... therefore unlikley to be an Ian Levine / Mecca one would think ...

bump .... I know someone out there has one to offload ....

Wanted please Bo Jr - Coffee Pot. Thanks

Very intereresting. The reference I usually go to for US & UK chart placings (pop & soul) is this site https://www.musicvf.com/songs.php?page=artist&artist=Curtis+Mayfield&tab=songaswriterchartstab which I believe is based on the Billboard charts .

This is a record that's always had a life of its own. But was it really played as a new release on the northern scene ? The major northern clubs in 1972 were Torch , Up The Junction , Catacombs & Mecca (until it closed that year) but you never see Move On Up listed in their top sounds at the time. It wasn't like Archie Bell & the Drells, Tams and Robert Knight whose initial impetus for UK chart sucess came from the (at that time) underground northern scene , was it ?. And as for it being a "minor hit", Move On Up reached the number 12 position on the UK charts in July 1972 which surely makes it a fairly major hit by any standard , doesn't it ? Didn't Move On Up only really become associated with the northern scene from the late 70s on ? With added momentum from the mod revival of 78/79 when old soul hits were being revived and re-released by record companies in the UK (e.g. Green Onions ) ? Was Move On Up played at Wigan in Mr Ms late 70's ? In the US it was never a hit single ... at any time. It didn't even make the US RnB charts. As for a promo release in the US two years later in 1974 ? Highly unlikely in light of the fact that Curtom moved it's distribution from Buddah to Warner Bros in 1974. A promo 7" release in 1974 would have featured "distributed by Warner Bros etc" at the base of the label but all copies of the US Move On Up promo still bear the "exclusively distributed by Buddah " legend.

I usually try and buy all new releases that don't try to sound like a 60s soul record ...

Did Fred Smith ever own the rights to the label or the recordings ? Randy Wood founded the label didn't he ? Until several years later when his various enterprises failed and he filed for bankruptcy in the early 70s . Did Fred Smith ever have a commercial stake in the ownership of the label ? Who was doing the licensing to President in the UK in the early 70s ?

The label was Solid Hit .... so surely the "balloons" people are referring to are in fact meant to represent bullet holes ... wouldn't you say ?! 🙂

NIce one Tim ... bet Sammy Lowe also has some of his own stories to tell ...

Still looking !!!!!!!!!!!!!

You mean Kenny smith the "blue-eyed soul singer" ?!

Someone have this to sell please.

Not doubting you for a minute ... but I am curious where you obtained that information ?

I'm intrigued ! Could you please describe what an "average collector" looks and sounds like ?!

Not to my knowledge . The link given above is to The Face Radio.