Bands who you thought were good when you were younger...

[Colin Zeal EFM]

MAD - I'll lend you my copy of The Smiths' singles.

 

Have to agree on Elton. His material from 1970 to about 1983 was quality.

 

SteveP - funny you should say that about Stevie Wonder. Unfortunately I grew up with "I Just Called To Say I Love You", and thought (and still do) it was the worst record ever. However, the 60's and 70's stuff is superb, and I'll be buying his new Greatest Hits album.

[CANV EFM]

who mentioned phil collins.. i cant get that poxy 'follow me and i'll follow you' [censored] out of my head now!

[SteveP]

Then that's that obscure mention in Stan by Eminem, why would a rapper have deeply absorbed 'I can Feel it Coming in The Edge of The Night'...

 

The one song he did that I struggle to get out of my head is the one called 'Alright'.

 

and Canv:

I will follow you, you will follow me

 

Keep on hummin' it CANV!!!

[Chubbhead EFM]

Stevie Wonder is class. I never used to like Smokey Robinson, I always found his voice a bit too high pitched but then we got this Motown compilation CD and I gave some of his songs another listen and realised they are actually amazing. I love Motown music. There's another topic, who is your favourite Motown artist(after Marvin Gaye!)...?

[CANV EFM]

franklin

[ESG]

TRIBUTES TO THE LESS AND WELL KNOWN

 

The rags to riches rise of the Motown Record Corporation seemed to signal yet another version of the American Dream come true.  A young black man, Berry Gordy Jr., who originally set out in the Fifties to make a name for himself in the music business, ended up as founder and president of America's first major black-owned record company, and head of one of the most successful organisations in the U.S.A. Aside from providing us with some of the finest examples of black dance music since the early Sixties, Gordy's stable of labels has always attracted considerable interest from collectors, and several titles featuring the Tamla Motown logo now command three-figure prices. After leaving the army in 1953, the 24-year old Gordy transformed his interest in jazz music into a full-time job when he purchased a small shop, The 3-D Record Mart, in Detroit.  But the business failed to take off and the venture lasted just two years.  By 1955, Gordy had followed the same path as a large percentage of the black male popula-tion, finding employment at the City's Wayne Assembly Plant, owned by the Ford Motor Company.  But with his musical ambitions foremost in his mind, Gordy took the gamble of quitting his day job in 1957 to become a full-time songwriter.  A meeting with top male vocalist Jackie Wilson that year resulted in Wilson recording three Gordy compositions: "Reet Petite", "Lonely Teardrops" and "To Be Loved".  All were successful, Wilson being the number one black artist in the States at that time, aside from Fats Domino, perhaps, with "Reet Petite" alone selling over a quarter of a million copies on its original release.

 

FIVE STARS

 

Gordy's first production was a 1957 release entitled "Ooh Shucks", recorded by the Five Stars (featuring C.P. Spencer and Walter Gaines, who eventually found success as members of the Originals) and issued on the tiny Mark X label.  His next step was to set up a publishing company, Jobete, whose first song was recorded by Herman Griffin, backed by the Rayber Voices, who included Gordy's wife RAYnoma and BERry himself.   Gordy was now composing, producing and licensing his product out to major companies such as United Artists, who had a huge smash with Marv Johnson's "Come To Me" (released on both UA and Tamla) and several other Gordy productions, including the classic "You Got What It Takes". The watershed came in 1958 when Gordy's new proteges, a vocal group called the Miracles, topped the R&B charts with "Got A Job", a thinly disguised rewrite of the recent Silhouettes hit "Get A Job", licensed by Gordy to the New York based End label.  A year later, the Anna label, co-owned by Berry and his sister Gwen, struck gold with the classic "Money (That's What I Want)" by Barrett Strong, a song that has been endlessly covered ever since. This success, and some good advice from Miracles leader Smokey Robinson ("stop messing with the majors") inspired Gordy to set up his own record company.  With an $800 loan from his family, Berry Gordy formed Tamla and Motown inpopular abbreviation of Motor Town, the nickname for Detroit. Tamla's first release was "Come To Me" by Marv Johnson (101), licensed to UA, while the first Motown re-lease was the Satintones' "My Beloved" (1000). "Come To Me" was also the first Tamla Motown production to be issued in the U.K., appearing on the London-American label in May 1959.   This was followed by six more Johnson singles, none of which should be too difficult to locate, but "Come To Me" is a collector's item, now selling for around £70. London released a total of eleven Tamla productions including "The Hunch" by Paul Gayten (HLM 8998), two classic singles by the Miracles, "Shop Around" (HLU 9276) and "Ain't It Baby" (HLU 9366); and the afore-mentioned "Money" by Barrett Strong (HLU 9088), all now highly prized collectors' items. London also released Motown's first EP in the U.K., again titled "Shop Around", featuring both A- and B-sides of the first two Miracles singles. Needless to say, this EP, issued in October 1961 (RE 1295), is a highly prized artefact and currently sells for around £50.

 

LICENSEES

 

In November 1961, Fontana took over as licensees for Motown product in the U.K. and in a short-lived deal (November'61 to March '62), released four highly collectable 45s.  The Marvelettes' "Please Mr. Postman" (H 355) was a U.S. smash and sold quite well in the U.K., but the follow-up, "Twisting Postman" (H 386), flopped and copies now sell for up to £65.  The Miracles' superb "What's So Good About Goodbye" (H 384) went the same way and now fetches around £80, while the last Motown-Fontana release, "Jamie" by Eddie Holland (H387) has become one of the rarest singles ever released in Britain.  Although the song finds Eddie singing in a style derivative of Jackie Wilson and is, to be truthful, simply average, supply and demand has meant that a Mint unplayed copy of "Jamie" would now cost you somewhere in the region of £180! With Fontana declining the option to release more Motown product in the U.K., the license went, somewhat surprisingly, to the London-based independent Oriole Records, who publicised their Motown releases (spectacularly unsuccessfully) with an half hour show on Radio Luxembourg. Every Motown release on the Oriole label is highly collectable, as none sold particularly well.  You'll find some of the rarest of all Sixties single releases here, and if you were to find a demo copy of, say, Mike and the Modifiers, you could demand a price somewhat akin to a pools win.

 

The commonest Oriole releases are "Do You Love Me" by the Contours (CBA 1763) and "Fingertips" by Little Stevie Wonder (CBA 1853), which you should be able to find for under £20.  Mary Wells gained four single releases on Oriole - all very collectable -with "You Beat Me To The Punch" (CBA 1762) being the first and perhaps the best.  The Contours nearly hit with "Do You Love Me" but their other two singles, "Shake Sherry" (CBA 1799) and "Don't Let Her Be Your Baby" (CBA 1831) failed dismally, with the latter now commanding an £50 price tag.  Incidentally, "Don't Let Her Be Your Baby" was covered by U.K. group the Boomerang on Fontana, a collectable record in itself.

 

MARVELETTES

 

The Marvelettes, a fine three-piece girl group, released two singles on Oriole: "Beechwood 4-5789" (CBA 1764), a smash hit in the States but a non-starter in the U.K., and the ultra-rare "Locking Up My Heart (CBA 1817) which can now sell for anything up to £300.  Eddie Holland gained his second and final U.K. release with "If It's Love (It's Alright)" (CBA 1808) - another incredibly rare disc which can sell for £300.  Is there any other U.K. artist whose only two singles can sell for £600 the pair?

 

Marvin Gaye, a superstar in later years,had two releases on the label, although by comparison with the majority of the Oriole releases these can be bought relatively cheaply, with "Stubborn Kind Of Fellow" (CBA 1803) a snip at around £45 (though this did actually sell quite well) and "Pride And Joy' (CBA 1846) not far behind at around £75.  Of the remaining releases, the Miracles had two classics, "You Really Got A Hold On Me" (CBA 1795) and 'Mickey's Monkey" (CBA 1863), while Martha and the Vandellas made their U.K. debut with "I'll Have To Let Him Go' (CBA 1817), yet another super rarity with a price tag of around £300, and "Come And Get These Memories" (CBA 1819), worth about £95. Now we come to the two rarest soul singles ever released in the U.K. The Valadiers were the first white group to record for Motown, releasing "Because I Love Her" on U.S. Gordy 7003 in May 1962.  Their second release, 'I Found A Girl", was issued here on Oriole 1809 in March 1963 and has become one of the most sought-after records of the Sixties.  An unplayed copy would easily fetch £400.  The rarest Motown single of them all however must be "I Found Myself A Brand New Baby" by Mike and the Modifiers (CBA 1775).  Recorded for U.S. Gordy (7014), this was the group's only recording and one wonders why or how it was ever deemed suitable for issue in the U.K.

This single sold zero on release, and £400 would be the minimum asking price, with a demo worth in excess of £600!

 

STATESIDE

 

1963 saw Motown move to EMI's new Stateside label, where 45 singles were issued between October 1963 and March 1965.  Practically all of these releases have a value of £5 or more, with only the Supremes' "Baby Love" and "Where Did Our Love Go" (327) and Mary Wells' "My Guy" (288) being easy to pick up.  But there are some gems: Carolyn Crawford cut several excellent sides for U.S. Motown but only one single saw the light of day in the U.K., the superb double-sider "When Someone's Good To You"/"My Heart" (384) which has been known to fetch £80.  One of the more obscure Motown releases, Tony Martin's "Talking to your picture" (384) and Earl Van Dyke's in-demand "Soul Stomp" (357) now sell for over £50 apiece, and while the remainder of Stateside Motown releases can sell for anything between £10 and £50, it's worth remembering that a lot of copies of certain singles were sold, especially those by Marvin Gaye, Martha and the Vandellas, the Velvelettes, the Marvelettes and the Miracles.  The problem is finding copies in excellent condition. Demo copies of Stateside releases are always in demand and usually represent the highpoint of many U.K. soul collections.  They are clearly identifiable, featuring all-white labels with a large red A on the top side, and will usually fetch double the price of an issue.  Mary Wells' Stateside 242 release exists as a double-sided demo in that the original A-side, "You Lost The Sweetest Boy", was relegated to B-side status when the record was reissued a year or so later, and "What's Easy For Two" became the A-side. So per-haps we can safely say that Stateside issued 46 singles, not 45! March 1965 saw the formation of the Tamla Motown label, issued through EMI, which catered exclusively for product from Gordy's now plentiful stable of labels, including the original Tamla and Motown labels, plus subsidiaries such as Gordy, Soul and VIP.  The label used the prefix TMG and began at 501 with the Supremes' "Stop In The Name Of Love", which proved to be a winning start.  The rest, as they say, is history, with the label hitting the heights through artists like Marvin Gaye, the Four Tops, the Temptations and Jr.- Walker, but along the way there were many lesser-known artists whose records appeared in the UK, and it was the unsung hero Earl Van Dyke who led

the Motown house band which taped the backing tracks for countless recording sessions.

 

"All For You" (506) was an organ-dominated instrumental which proved very popular with the mods, and now sells for around £50.  The Hit Pack, a male vocal group from the Soul label, had one U.K. release titled "Never Say No To Your Baby" (513).  This was a very poor recording, and deservedly flopped, but it's since become a collector's item among completists and can currently fetch around £45.  The Detroit Spinners"'Sweet Thing" (514) is a rarity in itself, but look out for copies crediting the disc to 'the

Spinners', as this was a very limited issue.  Another of Motown's 'backroom boys', Choker Campbell, had only  one single release in the U.K., an instrumental version of the Miracles' "Mickey's Monkey" (517) which is another very rare release.  Incidentally, both Earl Van Dyke and Choker Campbell also had LPs released in the U.K. on Tamla Motown.

 

'NOT FOR SALE'

 

Marv Johnson's 525 release, "Why Do You Want To Let Me Go", holds the unique distinction of being the only Tamla Motown single never to have appeared as a demo.  It seems that all copies issued to radio stations and reviewers had a 'Not For Sale' sticker, as opposed to the familiar red-and-white demos. If a red-and-white demo of this 45 ever turns up, the value would certainly be around £200. Although no-one knows quite why, the run of singles from TMG 530 to TMG 540 are all extremely difficult to come by in  any form.  Of these, Billy Eckstine may have been somewhat out of place alongside the likes of Marvin Gaye and Shorty Long, but the appearance of Dorsey Burnette's country single on TMG 543 takes some real explaining!  The Lewis Sisters on TMG 536 were two white schoolteachers, but on listening to their  "You Need Me" single, you'd be hard pushed to guess that their skin colour was anything but black. "You Need Me" is a haunting beat ballad, recorded originally but never released by Brenda Holloway, and is now deservedly acclaimed as a classic. For the last 15 years, the most in-demand single on the Tamla Motown label has been Barbara McNair's "You're Gonna Love My Baby" (544) which became popular on the Northern Soul scene via regular plays at the Wigan Casino. The record is a true masterpiece of soul music, a beat ballad extraordinaire with an unsurpassable vocal performance from a lady better known for her acting rather than singing.  This is by far the rarest and most collectable release on U.K. Tamla Motown, with an unplayed copy now worth around £150.

 

Other items to look out for include any of Brenda Holloway's excellent singles, especially "Hurt A Little Everyday" (TMG 581) which mistakenly credits the artist as Brenda Holiday on demo copies; the Originals'

furious-paced version of "Goodnight Irene" (TMG 592); and Junior Walker's rave-up instrumental "Tune Up", currently a huge revived sound on the Northern Soul scene.  All of the TMG 500 series are valuable, and again, demo copies are worth double and, in some cases treble, the price of the regular issues.  During the TMG 580 numbers, the label design of the demos changed to green with a white A; these are less desirable than their red-and-white counterparts. The TMG 600 series offered a considerably smaller number of rarities, but look out for Chris Clark, Brenda Holloway, the Miracles' "More Love" (which changed B-sides soon after release), Barbara Randolph and Rita Wright.  Of the later releases, Blinky and Edwin Starr's "Oh How Happy" only appeared in demo form on TMG 720 and is now valued valued at £100+.  Frank Wilson's "Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)' (TMG 1170) is well worth looking out for, especially as only one original American copy, on the U.S. Soul label, is known to exist.  This original has a value of £5000!

 

While Tamla Motown is the best-known of all the U.S. black record companies, scoring hits consistently since the early Sixties, we've shown that the label still offers tremendous scope for collectors, with so many of the lesser-known releases flopping, only to find new favour with soul fans in later years.  And as should be clear by now, soul collectors have particular penchant for demo copies, so if you manage to pick up ared-and-white label copy with a big A across it, snap it up!

 

[R Zimmerman]

Now if you had posted each of those individually then our posting count with have piled up.

[SAINTS64MAD]

Nice one Colin. Bring it to the hayes game please.

[EFM The Firm, The Voice]

The Maverettes are great. A top album to buy is a 4 CD box set covering all the Mod records in the 60's (many people think Mod is just The Who but it's so diverse, the album is probably one of the best I've got). You get to alos hear Tina Turner when she was with Ike, they were simply the best then (however his constant abuse meant they parted)