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Robbk

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Posts posted by Robbk

    That was probably the wrong time to be making records in L.A. Robb, especially for a little indie. The New York labels were really doing it in the early to mid 80's and probably had a better base and distribution for black/dance music generally. Also, something else I noticed from that era, is that TONS of L.A. independents never made it out of California and almost never into the UK via the main importers. I also thought decent distribution was patchy for the indies in the 80's. When Prioirty/Ruthless came along in the 90's things got much more accessible and national hits started happening again.......

    Who's got the catalogue these days out of interest...?

    Ian D :D

    Hi Ian,

    We owed a LOT of money, so our largest creditor had first rights to it. We declared bankruptcy, so I didn't really look into who ended up with it (I wasn't going to be affected). I don't know if Terry Brown ended up giving up the master tapes (I assume that he did).

    You're joking - right? :lol: :lol: :lol:

    Richard

    Now YOU'RE joking, right??? :yes:

    Actually, I wasn't. I write, (and draw) Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge stories for Dutch, Danish, and German Walt Disney publications. Some of my stories (5 to be exact) appeared in British Donald Duck Magazine during the early 1990s. Maybe that's why the Disney Comics experiment there failed? :lol:

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    Edited by RobbK

    Strange thing to say,Robbie "Not being into "modern" music, I wouldn't have a clue." ....Airwave..... :huh:

    Ha! Ha! I was very frustrated at Airwave, trying to get Tom to make '60s Soul productions, and watching them turn into "Post Disco" and late '70s style Soul mid-tempos and ballads. The nearest we got to what i like was a few excellent cuts by Don Level and Angela Carol Brown, that sound like they could have come from any era. But those never got pressed on vinyl. They only reached the demo tape stage. If I'd have known anything about "modern Soul"and had any kind of feeling for it, maybe we'd have made more money. :lol:

    I see now what you mean....Through my contacts in the music industry in L.A. (especially as Airwave was involved in the Disco/Dance Club scene) I should have known what Soussan was doing. That was true through mid 1984, until Airwave shut down, due to Tom's cancer incapacitating him. At that time, I knew that Sossan was still in L.A. producing Disco and 'Modern soul". But, after Airwave went down, I had absolutely nothing, whatsoever, to do with current music, living mostly in Holland, and working for Dutch Disney Publications. After Tom died in 1984, I had no contact with any L.A. music industry people. So, I had no idea whether or not Soussan stayed there and continued producing music. My only contact with music-related dealings was a once-a year visit to Rod Shard and Dave Withers, and stopping off at Soul Bowl on the way, and sometimes visiting John Manship.

    I got into the music industry too late for anything but nostalgic oldies projects, like "From The Vaults" at Motown, and providing occasional advisory input on Motown, Detroit and Chicago CD projects.

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    Edited by RobbK

    Could the 'A. Williams' even be a spelling mistake given that Herbie Williams of Pied Piper is credited on the other side 'H. Williams'?

    Just a thought.

    Richard

    You're forgetting that Andre Williams was one of the major producers, songwriters and even performing artists with Sport/Boss/Sir Rah Records. His "Pearl Time" sold more than any of The Dramatics records, and probably took second place to sales of ALL of their releases only to "You Don't have To Say You love Me" by The Four Sonics.

    Ha! Ha! You're kidding, of course! Reggie's singing is SLIGHTLY reminiscent of MOR's Andy Williams.

    But, this singer was Detroit's Reggie Alexander. I've seen his name on several other Detroit records.

    A. Williams is clearly Andre Williams, who worked on many Sport/Boss/Sir Rah productions. He had his OWN release on Sport, "Pearl Time". How could anyone think the "A. Williams" on this record is ANOTHER, different A. Williams? The odds are way too slim.

    Was thinking not disimilar things myself,because despite his awful shady past,and I am not lessening it - he rose far above all that and had a tremendous influence of the US music scene,ie disco.He was a very charismatic and talented person with a natural "gift" for music and his northern soul part,came through on the many productions.I enjoyed reading Patti Brooks interview.He tried to keep the whole thing exciting to a pounding beat and each singer he chose sang soulfully.That he did influence the northern scene is undeniable.A fascinating character described by Ian D as a "chameleon".Strange how he seems to have just...disappeared.

    Did'nt someone on here say his wife was called "Sabrina"?

    That rings a bell. But too many years have gone by for me to be sure.

    was he married when he was in LA? If so, anyone know the name of his wife?

    Yes, he was still married when in L.A. (at least as late as 1982, when i last saw him. But, I don't remember her name. But how many Soussans would be living in Beverly Hills? It would probably be easy enough to track her down.

    I have a USA phone number for him from around 2000 - starts 001 310 ( does this tell you where it is in the States?)

    That tells me that he was still living in Beverly Hills in 2000. I wonder if he was still producing music? Not being into "modern" music, I wouldn't have a clue.

    hey rob if you know his social security number i can find out if he's dead

    Would he have needed to get a US Social security number to live in USA as a resident alien, if he ran a business, rather than working for someone else? I rather think that he remained a French citizen, and has, instead, a residency card and an employer tax number for his entrepeneurship. maybe he eventually became a US citizen. But, I haven't heard of him doing anything in L.A. since the early 1980s. Of course, I was out of the loop since Airwave folded in 1984, and I started spending most of my time in Europe. I wonder if he moved back to Paris years ago?

    I had them all with the exeception of Bill Dennis.

    I let The Counts go this summer though, so now I'm two short :(

    Some of them are crap through

    Ha! HA! I think that's quite an understatement. Several are really very, very good. But quite a few of the other cuts are "drek" (as we say in Holland). They are "worshipped" because of their rarity.

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    Edited by RobbK

    Simone Soussain (Soussan) (AKA Michael Saint Simon) seems likely to be of Middle Eastern descent. He may have been of Moroccan origin. But, I have no doubt that he was a French citizen, and lived in Paris for many years before moving to The U.K. He may be of mixed French Colonial (Morocco) and Arab Moroccan blood. As I remember, he had moved to Paris, then to London, (then, possibly elsewhere in England?), then went to USA in the mid 1970s. I met him in Los Angeles in 1976 or 1977. He was producing new records there, and also running his Soul Galore label, re-releasing Northern Soul cuts. He was there straight through into the early 1980s. He lived in Beverly Hills, with his wife. I visited him there. He had dealings with us at Airwave Records. I believe he ended up keeping (my business partner) Tom DePierro's copy of "Do I Love You" by Frank Wilson. Tom told me that he let Soussan tape it, and when he (Tom) returned to the recording room , Soussan was gone, and so was the record (along with a copy of The Andantes on VIP, and a few other NS-related records (possibly some Motown acetates?). I don't know if THAT is what happened, or that Tom sold him those records. But they had been in our company's record room, and I never saw them again. Tom (and, more importantly, Airwave Records needed money at the time (that was in 1982, just before we re-organised financially, into Airwave International Records). I don't know any more than anyone else about what really happened.

    Soussain being a Jew would come as no surprise to me. Now that I think about it, I believe that I had heard that he was born a Moroccan Jew. However, his becoming an observant, practising, Orthodox Jew, would shock me, given his former moral standards and lifestyle.

    mines like the Popsike one but has a black star on the IH side (middle right under the W4K....)...would this indicate the Plug side..(demo)?

    I always thought so (at least in theory). But sometimes it was the weaker side. In the case of Brunswick, (and Decca and Coral Records for awhile), the added diamond was invariably on the weaker side (so, for those companies, the extra mark seemed to mean the NON-plug side!).

    One of my favourite songs ever. Heard the Jeff Lynn cover a few weeks ago.............soon as I heard it I thought "who the hell is this!!!"...............no passion and feeling whatsoever, worst cover I've ever heard

    THAT IS UNTIL YOU MENTIONED THE TEMPREES, lol.......................they should be hung, drawn and quartered IMO!!!! :(

    Jahmene Douglas.................pretty damn good though..............very soulful!!! :thumbup:

    I like Mary Wells' version. So do Popcorn fans.

    Very nice sound! I missed a lot by not testing '70s records! I don't remember hearing this on Nederland Drie's "The Soul Show". Still, I don't think I'd pay $5-6.000 for it. I'll settle for an MP3. I bet there are a LOT more '70s cuts I'd like. I've probably only heard maybe one or two thousand '70s songs, while probably hearing several hundred thousand '60s songs.

    Robb, Those 1972 Gwen Owens tracks were cut at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio for Clayton Ivey and Terry Woodford (Motown South).

    Two eventually came out on Casablanca ("You Better Watch Out", etc) with two of the others (with Gwen's vocals removed) escaping as instros on the 'Motown Magic Disco Machine' LPs (at least so I believe), so that only 1 track has completely remained in the vaults.

    Motown cut records at Muscle Shoals in 1972??? Wal - I'll be a blue-nosed gopher. If I hadn't up 'n moved residence to Den Haag, i might'a knowed that! Pobably too "modern-sounding" for me in any case. Early 1972 Detroit-recorded cuts with The Funk Brothers was probably "The Last of the Summer Wine" for me.

    Were the Precisions' Laurie distributed records released with the distinctive multi coloured logo Laurie paper sleeves ?

    I believe that ALL the Drew releases were distributed nationally by Laurie. But, sometimes they were sold in thin blank white and blank manila-coloured sleeves, and other times they were sold in the Laurie Records company sleeves. I don't remember any MULTI-COLOURED Laurie sleeves. All those I remember, and still have, were only ONE colour (powder blue)-with the logo formed as a snapping finger. I've never seen any other Laurie sleeve.

    If I remember correctly, the music industry newspaper adverts stated (roughly): that "a new record label, Drew Records, is being formed as a subsidiary to owner, Sidra Records, specifically to handle releases by The Precisions. Sidra has signed an agreement with New York's Laurie Records, to distribute the new label, nationally."

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    Edited by RobbK

    Still no Edward Earling??? Only 2 Pronouns, and NO Sons of Zion!!!! Oh well, nice to see so many Creations, Freddie Gorman and Hattie Littles. And a bunch of Mike and The Modifiers! What about that so-called "enough Linda Griner cuts to fill an album" ? How come they still haven't seen the light of day? And what about those 1972 cuts by Gwen Owens? We should still have lots of nice surprises coming our way over the next several years (if the Motown gods are kind.

    Don't think anyone disagrees Robb but as a buyer and if I didn't know the difference I wouldn't always take an ebay sellers word for it unless I knew them to be trustworthy, I would take the trouble to find out for myself using other resources.

    I also think no one would disagree with your point. I've seen some unbelievable frauds on e-Bay in the last several years. People selling artwork looking absolutely nothing like the artwork of the famous artist purported to be the creator of the auction item. The fraudulent purpetrators are getting bolder, and seemingly more ignorant and stupid, to boot. They are laughing in the face of the public. They should be made to pay large monetary fines (and threatened with jail sentences for repeat offences). I don't care if it is the buyer's responsibility to check out what he is buying. It is the seller's responsibility to reveal just what he is selling (especially when the prospective purchaser can't examine it physically). Misrepresentation is fraud, and a misdemeanor (unless the monetary amount is over a given threshold, and then it becomes a felony). I realise that a problem occurs because we are not allowed to sell an "unauthorised" pressing (bootleg) on e-Bay. But that problem is solved by calling it a "re-pressing". If the seller knows that the record he is selling was pressed in the mid-to-late 1970s, rather than 1966, when the original was issued, it is up to him to reveal that to potential bidders. That should be required. I resent that we have to e-mail the seller to ask what is stamped or etched in in the groove trail, when the seller is trying to get 10 to 20 times the value of the boot from an unsuspecting novice collector, who wouldn't buy it if he were to know the truth about the pressing.

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