Glady's Knight & The Pips

Glady's Knight & The Pips - Bourgie, Bourgie (1980)
Sixties Motown group signed to Columbia Records in 1980 and restored to its familiar quartet form, Gladys Knight & the Pips began releasing new material.

The act enlisted former Motown producers Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson for their first two LPs--About Love (1980) and Touch (1981). During this period, Knight kicked a gambling addiction to the game baccarat.

In 1987, Knight decided to pursue a solo career, and she and the Pips recorded their final LP together, All Our Love (1987), for MCA Records. Its lead single, "Love Overboard", was a successful hit and won a second Grammy for the act as well. After a successful 1988 tour, the Pips retired and Knight began her solo career. Gladys Knight & the Pips were inducted into the Georgia Music Hall of Fame in 1989 and into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996. Glady's now concentrates on Gospel music.

Gerri Taylor

Gerri Taylor - Empy Arms & Bitter Tears (1966)
February 15th 1966 to be exact from The Beat TV show made in Nashville. Her voice is raw and had some appeal on the Northern Soul scene, this single fetching a modest £75.

From Chicago, she recorded one 45 for Constellation Records (a subsidiary of Parrot Records) Come Home, I'm Lonely b/w Empy Arms & Bitter Tears in 1965. If ever there was a 'Northern Soul' label it was Constellation, with other groups like; Dee Clarke, Gene Chandler, Nolan Chance and Mill Evans, to name just a few of there 75 singles & 7 albums.

The Following year she turns up on the Vee-Jay subsidiary Mica Records with I'm Stoppin' Out b/w I'm Satisfied With Your Love. She recorded one more 45, It's Beautiful, for the tiny Cover Up label. None were hits and she did not record again.

Yvonne Vernee

Yvonne Vernee - Just Like You Did Me (1991)
Last copy sold on Ebay $3,200 on SonBert records!
I filmed this at the Torbay Northern Soul Weekender.
This rare Detroit track was at a peak in it's popularity then.

Friends Tony & Mick along with Pep organised this weekender that was not too well attended, but was it one to remember.
Yvonne replaced Suandra Tucker when she left the Elgins in the early 70's. Her married name is Yvonne Allen. There is also an under-dub version at: LiveVideo.com she misses the bridge on the other take but the band helps out - priceless

Tony Middleton

Tony Middleton - Paris Blues (1993)
Cleethorpes Northern Soul Weekender. Tony Middleton was born June 26, 1934. Born and raised in Richmond, Virginia and in the mid-1950s, Middleton moved to New York with his mother. He surpassed others with his skills in various sports and started to box as an amateur in his late 20s.

In 1952 he joined the 5 Willows became their lead singer but became a soloist in 1957. With over 3 songs produced as a soloist, he could not produce a hit song so he moved to Paris, France in 1962 with little hope. With his silky, smooth voice that can become soft or seductive, it drew many fans in Paris, France into him.

He then left Paris, France to come back to New York and try to make another hit. He came with a powerful, 'You Spoil My Reputation'. Afterward, he made recordings with big singers including Smokey Robinson, Della Reese and Nell Carter and many performances. Later on, he joined back the Willows and toured a decade with them. Although, Tony Middleton did not get that hit that he was dreaming of, he made inspirations for other young jazz singers. - Wikipedia

Tavares

Tavares - Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel (1985)
1980's remake version on UK TV. This US group was formed in 1964 in New Bedford, Massachusetts, USA. The line-up consisted of five brothers, Ralph (Born 10 December 1948), Antone "Chubby", Feliciano "Butch", Arthur "Pooch" and Perry Lee "Tiny' Tavares. Originally known as Chubby And The Turnpikes, the group assumed its family's surname in 1969.

Although they lacked a distinctive lead voice or a characteristic sound, Tavares' undemanding blend of light soul and pop resulted in several commercial successes. The brothers" early run of R&B hits culminated in 1975 with "It Only Takes A Minute", a soul chart-topper and a US pop Top 10 entry.

The following year the group scored their sole million-seller in "Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel" before enjoying further success with one of their strongest songs, "Don't Take Away The Music". Both of these singles reached number 4 in the UK where Tavares enjoyed an enduring popularity.

"Whodunit" (1977) was another major release, while "More Than A Woman" (1978), a song from that year's box-office smash, Saturday Night Fever, gave the group their last significant hit. Tavares continued to reach the R&B lists until 1984, but their safe, almost old-fashioned style gradually fell from favour. - Music.us

Linda Griner

Linda Griner - Goodbye Cruel Love (1995)
Live at Nottingham Football Club Northern Soul nite. Introduced by 'Pep'. Soul nite was presented by John Wilkinson (Wilco.)

I filmed this for Linda but my vintage camera/recorder was playing up a bit. The evening before she had appeared at Bretby Soul nite near Burton-on-Trent for Chris Anderton. Chris and his friends championed this track at Bretby throughout the early 90's.

The single was released by Motown as a one off, Smokey Robinson wrote the glorious flip-site 'Envious'. A good friend loaned me an original copy of this single to record envious for Lyn's personal collection and while on loan it was stolen by some one-off guests on my radio show. I ended up having to buy my mate a new washing machine! happy days. www.lindagrinermusic.com

Nancy Wilson

Nancy Wilson - Face It Girl It's Over (1968)
Flip side of Northern classic 'End Of Our Love'. Born February 20, 1937 and is an American singer with seventy-plus albums, and three Grammy Awards so far in her career. She's been labeled a singer of blues, jazz, cabaret and pop; a "consummate actress"; and "the complete entertainer."

The title she prefers, however, is song stylist. She has received many nicknames--"Sweet Nancy, The Baby" and the "Fancy Miss Nancy" are only two of them.

At the Hollywood Bowl, August 29, 2007, Nancy Wilson celebrated her 70th birthday with an all-star event hosted by Arsenio Hall. Ramsey Lewis and his trio performed “To Know Her Is To Love Her”. (Lewis and Wilson have recorded over 150 albums together.) Other appearances were Nnenna Freelon, Regina Carter, Patti Austin, Natalie Cole, James Ingram, and other artists.

Mamie Galore

Mamie Galore - It AIn't Neccessary (1966)
Born Mamie Davis in Erwin, MS, Mamie Galore started singing as a young girl in church. By the end of the 1950s, she was singing with Herman Scott & the Swinging Kings, and later joined the Ike & Tina Turner Revue.

A big (but attractive) woman with a voice to match, she couldn't stay long in the anonymity of the Turner show, and by 1962 she'd moved on. That year, Galore also left the Delta for Chicago, where she was a backup singer for Little Milton; she also recorded for Monk Higgins' St. Lawrence label, which was, conveniently enough, distributed by Chess Records — it was at this time that she changed her name to Mamie Galore, an obvious play on Goldfinger's "Pussy Galore" character name and a perfect publicity ploy in view of her first single, "Secret Agent 36-24-38," itself an attempt to mine the same vein that had yielded the label a hit from Jamo Thomas in "I Spy for the FBI."

Galore's first two singles stiffed, but her third, "It Ain't Necessary," did see some chart success. She was later the beneficiary of a production deal that Higgins signed with Imperial Records that got her releases switched to that much bigger, nationally distributed label, and also resulted in her being paired off with Dee Irwin as a duet.

Galore's recording career had ended by 1970, however, after a string of singles failed to chart. She remained a popular performer in the area surrounding the Mississippi Delta for decades after, however, and never stopped appearing locally. Galore passed away in 2001 - Fred James

Madeline Bell

Madeline Bell - Picture Me Gone (2008)
She sat next to me a Hammersmith Odeon when I went to see Bill Withers once! people kept coming up to her and kissing her. Born 23 July 1942, Newark, New Jersey, USA. The teenage Bell gained singing experience as a member of gospel groups, the most notable of which was the Alex Bradford Singers.

Bell arrived in the UK in 1962 with the cast of Black Nativity, a gospel show, but remained to embark on a solo career. Although early releases veered towards MOR, the singer's mid-60s recordings, including "I Really Got Carried Away", "Picture Me Gone" and "Doin' Things Together With You", were among Britain's strongest home-grown soul singles.

Her version of "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me" reached the US Top 30 in 1968. A respected session vocalist, her powerful tones were also heard on numerous pop releases alongside Doris Troy, Lesley Duncan and Rosetta Hightower.

Bell later secured consistent success as a member of Blue Mink, and forged a lucrative career singing jingles for television advertisements, during which time she released two singles, duetting with Dave Martin on "East Side West Side" and "I'm Not Really Me Without You". In 1991, she appeared in a UK stage production of The Cotton CluBorn Bell is a regular at jazz clubs in her adopted England, performing mainly with her group the Musicians.

Gwen Davis

Gwen Davis - My Man Don't Think I Know (1966)
When this turns up on a single it sells for about £100 UK pounds. Written and produced by the brilliant Alan Orange from New Orleans who wrote the classic (A Certain Girl) was released in 1966, but not even WLAC Radio considerable muscle could push it over the top.

'Hoss' Allen tried to help his colleague (John Richbourg) by booking her on The Beat!!!, but it wasn't meant to be. She never recorded again. It's a shame. She had a great voice - Fred James

Jackie Wilson

Jackie Wilson - Higher & Higher (1967)
Some times a magical moment like this comes along when you just don't expect it!
Born Jack Leroy Wilson, 9 June 1934, Detroit, Michigan, USA, d. 21 January 1984, Mount Holly, New Jersey, USA. When parental pressure thwarted his boxing ambitions, Wilson took to singing in small local clubs. He sang with the Thrillers (a predecessor group to the Royals) and recorded some solo tracks for Dizzy Gillespie's Dee Gee label as Sonny Wilson, before replacing Clyde McPhatter in Billy Ward And The Dominoes.

Wilson joined this notable group in 1953, but embarked on a solo career four years later with Brunswick Records. His first single for that label was the exuberant "Reet Petite", a comparative failure in the USA where it crept to a lowly pop position and missed the R&B lists altogether.

In the UK, however, it soared to number 6, thereby establishing Wilson in the minds of the British pop-purchasing audience. "Reet Petite" had been written by Berry Gordy and Tyran Carlo (Roquel "Billy" Davis), who went on to compose several of Wilson's subsequent releases, including the hits "Lonely Teardrops" (1958), "That's Why (I Love You So)" (1959) and "I'll Be Satisfied" (1959) - more at Wikipedia

Billy Davis

Billy Davis - Watcha Gonna Do (1964)
This blue-eyed soul track was Carol Hedges, the 16-year-old aspiring singer when she was discovered as the result of a talent contest in 1962. Backed up in the competition by Cliff Bennett's support group, the Rebel Rousers, she won the contest and Bennett got her together with producer Joe Meek.

Hedges was recorded by Meek with his resident group, the Tornados, without achieving success. Luckily, a neophyte music talent manager named Robert Stigwood had also seen her and liked what he heard, and he ultimately took her away from Meek. He was impressed with Hedges' singing, a white soul sound similar to (though not as powerful as) Beryl Marsden's work, and also with the fact that her two musical inspirations were Billie Holiday and Sammy Davis Jr..

Stigwood renamed her Billie Davis and teamed her with Mike Sarne, another singer he had under contract, and the two scored a novelty hit in 1962 with "Will I What." For her solo debut, he gave her a song that he had heard on a visit to America. "Tell Him" had been recorded by the Exciters, but Davis' cover, released on English Decca, made the Top Ten in England in early 1963 despite the fact that the American original actually topped the U.K. charts at the same time.

Davis recorded for both English Decca and Pye Records during the early and mid-'60s without ever duplicating "Tell Him"'s success — the closest she came to another hit was in 1968, with "I Want You to Be My Baby." Some of her work was reissued on compilation CDs, including her cover of Burt Bacharach's "The Last One to Be Loved," which appears on Sequel Records' Trains & Boats & Covers. Billie Davis is fondly remembered in England by her early pop/rock success in the pre-Beatles era.

J J Barnes

J.J. Barnes - Our Love (Is In The Pocket) 1991
Live at the Torbay Weekender. I filmed this footage & I also have interview footage with JJ. Excerpt shown here for a while.

James Jay Barnes (b. 30 November 1943, Detroit, Michigan) is an American R&B singer. He has become a favorite artists of British Northern Soul scene and has performed live in England frequently. His voice is very similar in tone and timber to Marvin Gaye, which might explain why he was signed to Motown for a short period without a single track released.

He first recorded in 1960. His early releases including “Just One More Time” and “Please Let Me In”, on such labels as Mickay and Ric-Tic, had relatively little success, but were subsequently picked up as favourites on the English Northern Soul scene. He also covered the Beatles “Day Tripper”, before moving for a short period to Motown Records.

His biggest hit came in 1967 with "Baby Please Come Back Home", which like many of his records he co-wrote. The song reached # 9 on the R&B charts. However, subsequent singles on a variety of labels, including covers of Black Ivory at Today/Perception Records, failed to repeat the success.

Little Milton

Little Milton - Were Gonna Make It (1966)
This guy has made some wonderful Northern soul type arrangements that for some reason have had little impact on the scene in general.

I must admit I was a bit late on picking up his early stuff like in this footage recorded in Nashville for The Beat TV show. In charge of the show was Hoss Allen a big radio DJ at the time on WLAC 50,000 watts on the MW. When Kent UK put out a compilation in the late 80's I was knocked out by it all - wonderful

Milton "Little Milton" Campbell, Jr. (September 7, 1934—August 4, 2005) was a blues and Soul vocalist and guitarist best known for his hits "Grits Ain't Groceries" and "We're Gonna Make It." Most popular in the sixties, he became one of the lesser known greats of the genre, combining traditional lyrical structure with smoother production.

Born in the Mississippi Delta town of Inverness and raised in Greenville by a farmer and local blues musician. By age twelve he had learned the guitar and was a street musician, chiefly influenced by T-Bone Walker and his blues and rock-n-roll contemporaries.

In 1952, while still a teenager playing in local bars, he caught the attention of Ike Turner, who was at that time a talent scout for Sam Phillips' Sun Records. He signed a contract with the iconic label and recorded a number of singles. None of them broke through onto radio or sold well at record stores, however, and Milton left the Sun label by 1955. More at Wikipedia

Fred Hughes

Fred Hughes - Ooh Wee Baby I Love You (1965)
Fred Hughes was an R&B singer from Arkansas. Hughes recorded for Vee-Jay Records in the 1960s before its demise, scoring a hit in 1965 with the singles "Oo Wee Baby, I Love You" (a Top 20 R&B hit and #23 Pop) and "You Can't Take it Away" (another Top 20 R&B hit, #96 pop).

When he signed to Brundwick his single Baby Boy was a monster hit with UK northern soul clowds. His 1971 album 'Baby Boy' didn't do so well and contained poor remake of Ooh We Baby I Love You.

Gene Chandler

Gene Chandler - Nothing Can Stop Me (1966)
When I see the footage that we've got and wonder what must have been lost over the years it makes me kind of sad.

Still enjoy what we have and that's all we can do. Most things that were kept from the early days of TV were made via cine cameras, basically a black and white monitor with a cine camera pointing at it. Video recorders were quite expensive and new tech. There was the odd piece made for cine-jukebox's - the most famous being the Exciters colour footage at the zoo. I've restored the sound on this clip to stereo.

Gene Chandler (born Eugene Dixon, July 6, 1937, Chicago, Illinois) is an American singer. He is esteemed by soul fans as one of the leading exponents of the 1960s Chicago soul scene, along with Curtis Mayfield and Jerry Butler. His signature hit is the #1 Billboard Hot 100 chart song, "Duke of Earl" (1962). Chandler wrote and performed many more songs, and collaborated with many of the greats in the soul and R&B world.

Gatemouth Brown

Gatemouth Brown & The Beat Boys - Midnight Hour/Philly Dog (1966)
Born in Vinton, Louisiana, Brown was raised in Orange, Texas. His professional musical career began in 1945, playing drums in San Antonio, Texas. Tagged with the "Gatemouth" handle by a high school instructor who accused Brown of having a "voice like a gate," Brown has used it to his advantage throughout his illustrious career.

He took note, and his fame took off, during his impromptu fill-in in a 1947 concert by T-Bone Walker in Don Robey's Bronze Peacock Houston nightclub. When Walker became ill, Brown took up his guitar and played "Gatemouth Boogie," to the delight of the audience.
In the 1960s he moved to Nashville, Tennessee to participate in a syndicated R&B television show the Beat!!! , and while he was there recorded several country singles. He struck up a friendship with Roy Clark and made several appearances on the television show Hee Haw. By the late 1960s he had decided to leave the music industry and he moved to New Mexico and became a deputy sheriff.

Francis Nero

Frances Nero - Footsteps Following me (1991)
Frances Nero, at the age of 22, became the first live performance contest winner in Motown Records's history. Topping out 5,000 contestants, she emerged victor in June 1965.

She was awarded $500, a dozen long stemmed red roses, a recording contract for one year and the honor of being the first female artist signed to Motown's Soul label.

The contest was sponsored by WCHB, the soul radio station in Detroit, Michigan; and Motown Records. She also took her place in history as WCHB's first live contest winner.
Nero recorded "Keep On Loving Me" and "Fight Fire With Fire" penned by William Weatherspoon and James Dean, and produced by William "Mickey" Stevenson.
She appeared on Canada's television program, Swinging Time with host Robin Seymour. The record sold 10,000 copies. Nero was a one-hit wonder with "Footsteps Following Me" in 1991

Fantastic Four - Ain't No Soul Left In These Old Shoes

Fantastic Four - Ain't No Soul In These Old Shoes (1991)
Detroit R&B and soul group the Fantastic Four formed in 1965. "Sweet" James Epps, Ralph and Joseph Pruitt, and Wallace Childs were the original members. Childs and Ralph Pruitt later departed, and were replaced by Cleveland Horne and Ernest Newsome.

Their first single on Ric-Tic, "The Whole World Is a Stage," was their lone huge hit, peaking at number 6 on the R&B charts in 1967. The next release, "You Gave Me Something (And Everything's Alright)," reached number 12 that same year. Motown eventually purchased Ric-Tic, and they had another Top 20 R&B hit with "I Love You Madly," which came out in 1968 and was also issued on Soul.

They enjoyed renewed appeal during the disco era with some singles on Westbound that were moderately successful, among them "Alvin Stone (The Birth & Death of a Gangster)" and "I Got to Have Your Love." Dennis Coffey produced "B.Y.O.F. (Bring Your Own Funk)" in 1979, but didn't have much luck with it. the Fantastic Four have remained active, and released "Working on a Building of Love" in 1990 for Britian's Motorcity label. In 2000, however, the Fantastic Four lost one of its long-time members, Cleveland Horne when he suffered a heart attack and died on April 13, 2000. ~ Ron Wynn

COD's

COD's - Michael (1965)
The group were from Chicago. Unfortunately, lead singer and songwriter Robert Brownlee was murdered in 1978 at the age of 35, he also wrote this song a hit for Geno Washington and The Mad Lads.

Ruby Stackhouse accompanies the trio on the song, supplying backing vocals alongside Larry Brownlee, Robert Lewis, and Carl Washington, otherwise known as the C.O.D.'s. "I'm A Good Guy" followed "Michael the Lover" but not far. For unknown reasons, Kellmac then released the C.O.D.'s third single, "I'll Come Running Back to You" b/w "I'm Looking out for Me," twice; the singles have two different catalog numbers, but it made no difference; neither sold.

The fifth single, "It Must Be Love" b/w "She's Fire," dropped in 1967 but faded after a few spins. A sixth and final release, "Coming Back Girl," became the fifth and final flop, ending the C.O.D.'s and Kellmac Records. Brownlee joined Lost Generation and co-wrote soul treasures such as "Sly, Slick & Wicked" (1970) — an influential song that's been remade many times — and inspired some '70s groups to name themselves SSW. Brownlee also collaborated on "Talking the Teenage Language," "You're So Young but You're So True," and "Wait a Minute."

Problems with Brunswick's hierarchy ended Lost Generation's career after four years. Unable to use the name, Brownlee revived the C.O.D.'s, who notched another flop on Magic Touch Records in 1976. Next, Brownlee hooked with Mystique, a group led by Ralph Johnson, who sang with the Impressions from 1973 to '76. Mystique scored a minor hit but never really took off; Mystique disbanded after four Curtom singles (all in 1977).

A talented songwriter, Brownlee has 59 titles registered with BMI, including Lowrell's 1979 hit "Mellow, Mellow Right On," - Allmusic