Mickey Finn

And another for me

That's a great observation, spot on. Recently a lot of the Outta Sight comps have been available cheap as chips (except those that disappeared fast and now are as cheap as caviar). Lots of good stuff on those, and some good notes too.

From a marketing perspective there's solid logic in not discounting even older stock - given the work that's gone into producing not only well remastered sound but also consistently informative illustrated liner notes on high quality paper, the customer understands that this is a quality purchase, built to last. Hmmm, those Dave Hamilton comps look tasty ...

Well ... I don't often come across Kent cds that are discounted, for example. Brand new they are usually fetching 13-14 quid for singles, whereas I often find those coming out via Cherry Red for much less, anything between 8 and 11 quid. But whereas Cherry Red releases (at least those on the labels that interest me) seem to have dried up a fair bit the Kents keep on coming. I'm buying most of their new releases and playing catch up with a lot of back catalogue. The new Thom Bell comp is next in line, along with the GWP collections, for example. For doubles, depending on the content, I'd normally go as high as 22, unless it was something extra special. The Cherry Red releases vary in the quality of the info attached - BBR, Soulmusic.com and Shout have all been consistently good for those of us with trainspotting tendencies, although in recent times Soulmusic has been cutting a few corners - for understandable reasons, but when your main market is serious collectors, you have to be careful not to cut too far. US reissue specialist Wounded Bird offers well remastered albums with original artwork and recording details but nothing more for a discount price, normally around a tenner GBP. Many of their reissues quickly sell out and end up going for stupid money. The Jamie/Guyden reissues and comps offer a similar type of package although in my experience tend to be more standard priced. And then there are labels like Numero (upper end of the price spectrum but backed with well-researched notes), Now Again, Light in the Attic and AOTN all digging up some wonderful rare or previously unreleased stuff. For AOTN, I'd like to see some more detail on the releases (e.g., Billy Bruner). Would be nice also to see some more cd releases from Soul Junction, which until now have been standard priced.

Yes, I found my copies years ago in bargain bins, and in reasonable nick. Discogs has some cheap copies available, especially of the first LP. Considering the interest in the revived "Don't wanna be a fool" over the last couple of years and the fact that Luther remains more widely popular, a reissue would be almost guaranteed to generate above average returns, especially if it was a twofer and promoted properly.

Yes, I've read that Luther himself blocked reissue of these. According to someone online, he was holding out for big bucks (see comment at bottom of link): https://luthervandrossearlyyears.wordpress.com/2011/07/06/luther-1976-cotillion-records/ Some years back Aretha was reported to have licensed those Atlantic albums for reissue on her own Aretha Records via Universal, but nothing seems to have come of that since. The story was she was holding out for money. Perhaps her estate will get things moving - hopefully also Luther's. There are various O.C. Smith albums I'd love to see reissued, including especially "Love changes". That one would probably require the cooperation of Universal, which acquired Motown which originally bought the rights from South Bay in a deal that went sour and saw Motown burying the album soon after reissuing it as a Motown release.

Add to those the Four Tops ABC albums, Luther's Cotillion albums, Aretha's last 5 Atlantic albums and a long list of one-offs and relative obscurities, many of which haven't even seen reissue in Japan. Lots of good material for any brave reissuers out there!

The compilations and reissues are almost always the highest quality in terms of packaging and content - full marks to Kent and associated labels in particular.

Jay Player has been on legit cd at least twice via Boogie Times out of France (and now out of print) and this out of Holland, very much in print: https://www.discogs.com/Various-Nighttime-Lovers-Volume-28/release/11992927 That and the following 2 volumes of the Nighttime Lovers series are particularly strong on the modern soul content, as they are compiled by Thierry Boulanger. Rideout also appeared on a Boogie Times comp, but these are so out of print that it's good to have them available again. The track that caught my eye for Under the Influence 8 is this, originally on AVI Records:

Back to Stuart's article - his experience at Channel 4 gives him better insight than most about what sort of things go on in the UK television industry. One thing that stands out is that a lot of the comedy shows now suddenly being withdrawn were made by and for people who thought they were light years ahead of Benny Hill or Bernard Manning, whose public reputations were already low.

That's a pity because I think it's quite clear. It might be worth reading Stuart's "Soul Trilogy" to get a better measure of where he's coming from with this. You'll certainly learn a lot more along the way.

In 1983 Motown celebrated its 25 years a year early. This track appears on an otherwise quite good Temptations album, which has one side produced by Norman Whitfield. However this was produced by Berry Gordy himself:

Years ago I found this in a bargain bin: It quickly made its way to another kind of bin.

What a wonderful tribute to another human being. I'm sorry not to have met either of you but I wish I had. Stay well and cherish his spirit which lives on through you and everyone who knew him.

Done a bit of digging - Cairo Records seems to be an imprint of Portland, Oregon based Mississippi Records, although I can't find anything on the Mississippi site that would confirm this: https://mississippirecords.net/ There are various references to the link on other sites. For example: https://www.monorailmusic.com/album/7817dd8a-7634-11e8-9211-22000b754a1f/All_Of_This_Goes_Too_Cairo_Records_American_Soul_M.html It also claims there's an 8-page booklet of liner notes that comes with the album, so that might lower the chances of any bootleggery. This page claims there's a 20 page booklet for another in the series: https://www.meditations.jp/index.php?main_page=product_music_info&cPath=10&products_id=22804&language=en Might be worth checking with a dealer who's stocked these for more info.

How about this for a tribute ...

Just came across this while doing some background on the David Rhodes "Hung up in mid-air" record. Sometime musical collaborator of Ian Levine, producer/writer/arranger/musician Danny Leake passed away on 27 April. A quick look at his track record will reveal the sort of pedigree he had and contribution he made: https://www.discogs.com/artist/366574-Danny-Leake He's probably most known by folks on here for his work with Ian Levine. There's an obituary here: https://www.prosoundnetwork.com/live/danny-leake-legendary-studio-live-engineer-dead-at-69 Another one gone too young.

It was co-authored by Rhodes with producer Danny Leake, who became a key collaborator of Levine's soon after. Quite possible that Levine was more of an observer at this point but learning fast re the whole recording process. Good record imho.

Sorry to learn this. He had a terrific voice but recorded mostly in musical areas usually outside my interest, which was a shame but there you go. He seems to have had a good career in the business which is more than can be said for many equally talented people loved on here. Maybe now is a good time to do some digging and see what I've missed.

Reissued on a Goldmine 7 in 1999, a few copies still about: Also begins this compilation cd:

Al Jarreau in 1976:

This spine-tingling performance by Phyllis Hyman looks like it was recorded in the early 80s:

A great performance by Nancy Wilson, backed by the Crusaders in 1987: