Robbk

Yes, the name R. McGlothin is spelled out in full. Engraved into the trailer lower left is: 5535 . Straight down and slightly right is: 68 - 3155. L.A. Stomp has opposite positions: 68 - 3156 on lower left, and 5535 on lower right. No stamps or any other engravings.

Thanks a million, Ted. I HAD heard it a few times years ago. And, yes, I like it much, much more than the flip. I guess I'm more of a Popcorn and Lowrider guy than a Northern Soulie!

Bayerisch, eh? Ha! I have to put up with you lot 3 months every year. Ich wohne in Schwabing in München, beim der Uni im Sommer.

I have only L.A.'s Monarch pressing with me now, and my duplicates are in another country. so I can only provide this info: The Cameo Catalogue # is engraved in: straight left: 2-word stamped script masterer company name (like Bell Sound or Sheldon - but I can't make it out) 3/4 inch to the right and down (lower left): C 375-B 1/2 inch to right at bottom: stamped Circle with "R" inside (a Monarch designation) 1 inch to right ((lower right): Delta # 59686 - x The x is only on the "B" side -not on "A". On my Cameos from that period from the same East Coast plant as your issue's font, I have only C - 375 B engraved ( C - 375 A - R) engraved on the other side , and stamped script Bell Sound, and another stamped entry. The latter is hard to read, but it looks like: *2012 but the numbers are on an Italic slant, with *2011 on the A side. So, 2011 and 2012 are pressing plant order numbers from this different plant, analogous to Monarch's Delta numbers. A boot won't have stamped entries.

That "double negative means the opposite of "nobody CAN deny". Therefore, that means EVERYBODY can deny that The Tootsie Rollers' cuts sound 100% like Detroit. But, I am guessing that you really mean that The Tootsie Rollers' cuts sound like they were cut in Detroit. Is that not so? Personally, I think they were cut in Detroit, and like The Martiniques' cuts, were leased to an L.A. label. Or, the former owner of the masters moved to L.A. and released them there, or found a financier there to release them.

I think Me-O was an L.A. label. But, I think The Martiniques' production was Detroit, and am wondering whether The Tootsie Rollers was, as well.

Thanks, Andy.

I'll list those when I get home.

I'm not home now. But when I get home I'll list the runoff markings.

I've got a bone to pick with not only those blokes who chose to place the sped-up version of the so-called "Detroit Prophets" on The Internet, but also those poor tasters who uploaded the lousy, alternate take version of "Suspicion" by The Originals, rather than the better version that we had selected for "From The Vaults #2", and that I sent with Rod S. to The UK for its debut there. Now that sub par version is the ONLY one on The Internet (about 10 different videos). So everyone knows only that not-as-good version.

Yes, the black label is original. I saw many of those when the record was out. It was pressed both on black, and blue. The blue was at Monarch, and one other plant. The black was at a 3rd plant.

I've heard the NS side many times since the end of the '70s. But, I don't remember ever hearing the flip side (which may have been the original "A" side. I tend to like mid tempos and ballads more than the minor-key driven Northern Soul fast sides (i.e. I love "A Lover's Stand" much more than "The Airplane Song"). So, I'd really love to hear "He's A Lucky Guy". Can anyone post a soundfile of it? I couldn't find it on The Internet. Also - is Telma Laverne Telma Hopkins (her maiden name or middle name being Laverne)?

The Martiniques and Tootsie Rollers on Me-O both sound to me like Detroit recordings. There was a long-time Detroit group called The Martiniques on Danceland Records. I think I've seen Thurman Hollis' name, (writer producer on both of my Me-O records) on other Detroit records. And Sandy Hollis (possibly his daughter or wife?) was associated with Detroit's Big Wheel Records (where "T. Hollis" also appears as a writer). H. Hunter also appears on Martiniques on Me-O and Danceland Records, and should be Detroit's Herschel Hunter, who was associated with Detroit's Astra Records, and was the lead singer of Detroit's Moments (Hit, Hit Productions Records). Yet, I've heard many times from Soulies that The Tootsie Rollers was an L.A, record. Both of my Me-Os look like L.A. pressings. And, "H. Hunter" could also be L.A.'s Hank Hunter. Could Me-O have been an L.A. label owned by an ex-Detroiter, releasing Detroit recordings? Or, could it have been a label owned by an L.A. owner who leased 2 Detroit-produced records for his own release? Could this be a situation similar to Doc Records in Pennsylvania releasing 2 L.A. Jobete - produced records received from Ed Cobb, Hal Davis or Marc Gordon?

Similarly the Diane Lewis and Ujima tracks I mentioned are much more punchy for being pitched up a bit I'd have a fit??? Mercy! Why? Do the Popcorn fans slow recordings down, or speed them up? Or BOTH? Do they bastardise thousands of songs just to get them at the exact, perfect tempo for shagging? Those unscrupulous fiends!!!

Knowing Mickey, I'm sure he had plenty of attachment to what he produced. He just doesn't talking a lot about individual projects of his. That doesn't mean that it was just a way to make money, and he didn't put his heart into it. I can tell that because the Stevenson-Hunter songs have a special "inspired" sound and feeling to them, for me, whereas the songs Ivy Jo wrote solo don't have that for me (despite his being an excellent writer). Mickey was (and still must be) very professional, but, he also put a lot of himself into his productions. How he talks about what he did now, is a personal choice about his way of doing things now (just as it is with everyone), not necessarily reflective of the amount of himself put into the work back then. I've seen disparity in the way things are talked about and remembered by two friends who were both involved in the same work and both had their hearts fully involved. And one enjoys talking about the nth degree of details, and the other hardly talks about it at all. But, I know they both put their heart and soul into it, and both loved it to the same degree. I've had that experience both in my cartooning career and in my junior hockey playing career. It's just a matter of style and degree of desire to delve into old memories. I, myself, enjoy digging up old memories, and exercising my gray matter to confirm that I still have my long-term memory intact. But, that may be partly because I've been living in the past since 1965 (and more so as every year passes). Mickey, on the other hand, is still very active, and living in the present. I'm sure he'd much rather talk about what he'd doing now.

I had the opposite result. I've had Major Lance's "Phyllis" for many years. I often listen to YouTube videos when traveling (which is much of the year-3 mo. in Netherlands, 2 in Denmark, 2.5 in Germany, 2 in Canada and 2.5 in USA). So. I listen to more music from You Tube than any other source. So, currently, I listen mostly to You Tube. Currently, the only Internet uploaded version of that song is off the bootlegged "Mercury R&B Series". THAT version was taken off a 45, played too slowly on a slow turntable (probably 44 RPM), so it is slower than the original 45, (which I have). When I heard the Mercury CD version, I loved it at the slower pace. Major was still a teen when he recorded it, so his falsetto was even higher than his usual, and also, the slower pace more matched Johnny Pate's relaxed mid-tempo pace than the more frenetic Mercury recording. So, an error produced an even better version of a song I loved, doing to it what I would have done had I been the producer and arranger.

I'll say!

That seems like a really weird compilation. What is its theme? What binds those different recordings together? It has a fair amount of Country and City Blues, but also Rock-a-Billy, C&W (Buddy Killen), R&B and Pop (Dee Erwin & Little Eva).

That should read: 1812 Pulaski Road (not Pulanski). Kazimierz Pulaski was a Polish army general, who (like The Marquis de Lafayette) came to The British North American colonies, to help them fight their Revolutionary War of independence. Polish street names are more common in Chicago than most of USA, because from the 1880s through the 1920s, many thousands of Poles immigrated there. Chicago became the city in The World with the 2nd largest (after Warsaw) population of native Poles. In the 1950s, it was the 2nd city in The World in numbers of people of Polish extraction. A large portion of them live in the suburbs now, but Pulaski's Memorial Day (day of his death fighting for The American cause) is still a legal holiday.

It was very uncommon back when it was out. I did see a few copies over the years. But, it's one of the hard-to-get Stax 45s. I wouldn't have called it "rare" back in the day. But, it is probably hard to find now.

Hi Venus, Here's a link to Mike's website: www.chancellorofsoul.com . Hit the "skip flash" button and on Mike's bio page scroll down to "WCOS Radio Program".

How Mickey remembers his career and has forgotten a large portion of the details is pretty standard throughout the industry. I got the same level of answers or lack of them from Robert Bateman, Robert Gordy, Bunky Shepard, Freddie Gorman, and just about everyone else I talked to. Not everyone is Popcorn Wylie. Although, Clay McMurray and Jack Ashford remember a lot of details. On the whole, singers remember a lot more about their own career than producers and arrangers remember about all the sessions on which they worked. So those details I was fretting that I hadn't asked Mickey about when he was our neighbour in the next suite during the early '80s, he probably wouldn't have remembered, anyway. We must realise that record collectors generally have photographic memories and are great with millions of details. They HAVE to be anoracks in their chosen area of interest, to know what to look for. Many of them are probably mild (but functional) Asberger's Syndrome victims (Rainmen). As was stated above, most producers and arrangers work on way too many projects in their working days to remember even a decent portion of them. To them, it was just work. Their own songs they wrote and performed, they would remember.

Berry Gordy didn't go to Eire to find them. They were already a big hit in Toronto, back in early 1966. The song was issued as singles in Canada March 1966 on Arc 1144, and in the US September 1966 on Hanna Barbera 496. This LP came out on Arc in Canada. They were formed to provide a friendly atmosphere for The Abbey Tavern in Dublin, and became their house band. Just an aside - for a couple of years, I worked with Hanna Barbera Feature Animation (in Hollywood, California), while Mike McLean (ex Motown engineer) worked there. He was gone from Motown when I worked there. The song was issued as singles in Canada March 1966 on Arc 1144, and in the US September 1966 on Hanna Barbera 496.

What is it with Mike Boone? EVERY photo I've ever seen of him (over 30-35 or so) he looks like he's concentrating on a vendetta. He looks super serious and even a little angry or mean. And, yet he's one of the nicest guys I know. Anyone else ever listen to his radio show or his singer bios? Ever notice his dead-serious photos?

I really doubt that the VIP Richard Anthony is the raucus "No Good"/"Boston Monkey" guy. The former was French, and sang mostly "torch ballads" in French language. His VIP cuts were sung in English, but they were "sappy" and MOR Pop at best. They are so terrible, that they fight with "Randy The Newspaper Boy" for title as the "worst Motown cuts ever".