The Yank

As you can see by these 3 articles, Irv Biegel was definitely Detroit based before and during his time at Motown. The 1st article is from 1960 and the last two from 1962. This was all before Motown decided to open up their New York office in 1963-

I would think the Diamond Jim single came out around the same time this came out. The article is from the January 28,1967 issue of Record World-

According to the liner notes of the Kent CD "Bob Crewe's 60's Soul Sounds", Elaine Hill and Lainie Hill are the same person.

A few more for the list- Martha and the Vandellas cut Spanish language versions of "Jimmy Mack" and "I'm Ready For Love". While at ABC, the Four Tops made Italian and Spanish versions of "Keeper Of The Castle".

Besides this, Stevie Wonder did a few of his songs in Italian and Spanish . "A Place In The Sun", "Music Talk", "Travlin' Man", "I'm Wondering", "My Cherie Amour", "Yester-Me, Yester-You, Yesterday" were all released in Italian language versions. "Yester- Me...", "My Cherie Amour", "For Once In My Life" and "A Place In The Sun" were all done in Spanish.

I'd say "Right On, Right On" came out first on Double Soul and then got picked up by Westbound. It's hard to see but on this survey from April 12th the single is at #12 which means it had to be out for awhile and the title of the song has no mention of "... (Sex Machine)"

I'm about 99% sure both labels are Chicago based ( or based in the nearby suburbs).

I don't know if we'll ever find out who the Romanceers were . Pickwick either leased music from legitimate artists or just had some studio group remake the hits of the day. At first glance this album looks like it's from Earth, Wind and Fire until you look closely-

Very sad to hear this ! R.I.P. J.J. !! Here's another one for the Barnesathon-

Aladdin switched from the blue to maroon labels in 1954 around the time of #3260. But at times they ran out of maroon and used whatever labels were available especially in the case of a big hit (Shirley and Lee's "Let The Good Times Roll" and Thurston Harris's "Little Bitty Pretty One" among others). I know I've seen more "Let The Good Times Roll" on the blue label than on the maroon. With Thurston Harris, I've seen maroon, purple and black. The purple was issued when it was a hit but the black label would have been a repress. More info can be found on this web site- www.bigboppa.co.uk

If you have to have it on vinyl there is this unofficial release from the early 80's -

Here's a few pics/ ads from various phases of Jack Gibson's career. An ad from 1961 when he was doing independent promotion, a May, 1963 announcement of his promotion to National Promotion Manager and at a NARA meeting in May, 1964 -

I would think 1963 is more likely. Here's part of an article from the April 6,1963 issue of Billboard-

The well researched liner notes to "The Complete Motown Singles Volume 4- 1964" calls the Kim Weston single "withdrawn" while the Don't Forget The Motor City web site says the single was "released in Europe only".

I'm about 99% sure that Joe "Youngblood" Cobb who worked with Otis Brown is the same person who was a DJ at WVON is Chicago and not related to Van McCoy's former writing partner -

I don't think Gil was ever a Motown employee- he was the General Manager at Arc-Jay-Kay Distributors who handled the Motown,Chisa, Soul and V.I.P. labels. (Record World July 20, 1974) -

According to the Don't Forget The Motor City web site, "Good-By..." was the A side and also the side that received airplay-

Yes- William Despenza is Barry's brother (Record World Dec. 23, 1967) -

It is a possibility- Darlene Love and the Blossoms were the backup singers on "Wish Someone Would Care" and "Breakaway" which was also done at United/ Western Studios. There's no info on the singers on "Think Again" in the CD liner notes.

According to the liner notes to the "Time Is On My Side" CD, "Think Again" and her version of "Long After Tonight Is All Over" were recorded at United/ Western Studios in Hollywood and were produced by Nick DeCaro.

According to the liner notes of an early album (Epic #3294), Roy Hamilton had a brief career as an amateur boxer with a 6 win, 1 loss record. Walter Payton and William "The Fridge" Perry of the Chicago Bears made a Rap single in 1986-

The term "Tamla Motown" was even used in 1962 as this ad from Billboard shows-

I found this early issue of Goldmine- it was a good overview of the state of '70's U.S. record collecting (Doo Wop and Rockabilly were red hot). I thought this want list was interesting-

Johnny is also known to Doo Wop collectors as being a member of the El Dorados and the Kool Gents.

There are 10 of the sets for sale on discogs -