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Soul 7
Soul 7 - the rare soul label
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Here we have two sides of a stone cold classic Northern Soul crossover. A Eugene Record/Barbara Acklin penned tune "Suddenly" and on the flip a Van McCoy number "It Hurts Me More" both performed by the mighty Tony Drake with the Chi-Lites providing back-up.
After great reviews but no chart success at the Musicor label Drake found himself in Chicago making a fresh start. He signed to a new contract with Brunswick where he acquired a mentor and best friend in the legendary Jackie Wilson. With such expert assistance and the presence and moral support of Wilson, the recording session ended far ahead of schedule. A generous Drake gave the nod to Brunswick promotion man Gus Redman when asked if the extra time could be used to play around with a newly-signed, young group called The Lost Generation. Their resulting single, "The Sly, the Slick and the Wicked" (as featured on SOUL7.029) became an instant hit, lingering for thirteen weeks on Billboard‘s soul chart. With the record company narrowly focusing on its newfound priority, Brunswick's other artists, including Drake and The Chi-Lites, suffered from a total lack of support and promotion. Despite some airplay of both sides, Tony Drake's second single went away almost as suddenly as The Lost Generation appeared. Here to put things right as usual we present both sides direct from the master tapes for the first time since it was pressed and forgotten about.
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Girl group The Demures recorded this gem of a record for Brunswick in 1965. Although not commercially successful the recording not only turned out to be a fantastic record but a huge spin on the northern soul scene in the UK. Rarity and demand has driven the price of this coveted rarity well into four figures.Sometimes it’s not always about crazy rarity, just 100% quality – flip it over and that’s what we have right here! Chicago soul vocal group The Lost Generation had their biggest hit with "The Sly, Slick and the Wicked," a mellow ballad that hit number 14 R&B and number 30 pop in the summer of 1970. This perfectly executed beat ballad with fantastic psychedelic echoes is perfect in every way – and this new remastered version from the tapes sounds even better than the original. | |||
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Another couple of gems from the Barbara Lynn repertoire. Barbara is known and loved on many scenes for her boundary-crossing “I’m a Good Woman” which we released on Fryers some time ago. Side A is a huge modern soul spin with dense production on the intro and a chorus that’s broken up by a sparse open verse making for effective dancefloor teasing. Originals are notoriously difficult to locate these days and reach upwards of $500. And if you think you can manage with the reissue of a few years back, forget it, they’re all off centre! Ours is done great, straight from the tapes and pressed in the USA. Side B is criminally underplayed probably due to the huge “I’m a Good Woman” overshadowing it. Clean and sharp and straight to the point like cold water in your face a 6am. Cracking drums, guitar and a killer vocal is all you need IF you have the talent. This alternate taken right from the master tapes is even more direct than the original and sounds as if it was recorded yesterday, MASSIVE! | |||
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The mighty Musicor label was formed in 1960 by Aaron Schroeder, an accomplished songwriter who had worked as a staff songwriter for Hill and Range, where he had penned several huge hits for Elvis Presley. Shroeder reportedly owned half of the record label, with United Artists owning the other half. Now known to many for its larger names such as Gene Pitney or perhaps SOUL for its legendary “Burning Spear” funk anthem, the label is awash with obscure and wonderful soul, latin and popcorn recordings. Two of these grade A obscurities are presented here.The Audrey Freeman is a Radcliffe/Halley-produced mid-tempo banger! Perfect for northern or popcorn dance-floors it has remained under the radar due to its rarity. “Three Rooms” was also covered by H.B. Barnum as "Three Room Flat" on Imperial records later in 1964 as well as Cliff Benett & The Rebel Rousers in 1965. Staying firmly in the mid ‘60s we then have the mighty Sammy Ambrose - “Welcome to Dreamsvillle” - a northern soul anthem that’s straight out a David Lynch soundtrack. This 45 was actually issued in the UK in the late 60s on Stateside but even this issue would set you back £200+ such is the demand. | |||
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Another Super Soul rarity - out now on SOUL7!!! And as usual this SOUL7 reissue is FULLY LICENSED and restored from the ORIGINAL MASTER TAPES so it SOUNDS GREAT – unlike what you get from SHODDY BOOTLEGS! And in keeping with the spirit of collecting the pressing run is limited to ONLY 500 COPIES worldwide!INFO Following on from our successful re-release of the super rare ‘Flatfoot Hustlin’ LP, the Sidewinders are back due to popular demand – this time on 45! To satisfy the DJs we’ve taken the best two tunes from the album and slapped em back to back on the best and most popular musical format ever created. Why lug a bulky LP around just to play one song? Side 1 gives us a soulful dancer with a lean, funky edge ‘I Like Your Stuff’, just aching to be played to a full dancefloor! Side 2 has more of an aggressive street funk appeal with the ferocious title track from the album, again few records deserve to be on 45 more than these, and we’re surprised they weren’t released like this in the first place! As always we’re happy to put things right, so here are two cuts just for the DJs on their format of choice. | |||
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Two seductive slices of pure soul, for the first time on 7” vinyl - out now on SOUL7!!! And as usual all our 45s FULLY LICENSED and restored from the ORIGINAL MASTER TAPES so they SOUND GREAT – unlike what you get from SHODDY BOOTLEGS! Important note - ONLY 500 COPIES worldwide!!!Described by some as a genius and by others as crazy, Norman Whiteside is probably best appraised by those who don’t know him by his numerous contributions to sweet, soulful music, moreover the album ‘You Can Fly on My Aeroplane’ which appeared in small numbers on the short-lived Wee label out of Ohio in 1977. Here are two cuts taken from that LP, with each version of these songs appearing on 7” vinyl for the very first time - see SOUL7.020 below for two more. | |||
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As per the above Wee 45, here are the songs 'I Luv You' and 'I Want to Show You' appearing here for the very first time on 7" vinyl.
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Super soul brother Clarence Reid has covered so much ground and become known for so many different things in his long and diverse career, it’s hard to pin him down for one thing. He’s launched the long-standing careers of fellow musicians, penned countless hit soul, funk and disco numbers, carved a profitable side-line as his foul-mouthed alter ego Blowfly and remains a colourful character to this day. Through all of that, however, it’s fair to say Reid isn’t generally associated with straight ahead Northern stompers, but that’s exactly what we have here, and what a great piece of mid-‘60s dance floor soul perfection it is!
Recorded in his home town of Miami and picked up for wider distribution by Wand, ’I’m Your Yes Man’ failed to move in any significant numbers and hence is today one of the rarest titles on the label, and as such a highly prized spin on the Northern Soul scene. A record of this calibre can only be held back for so long though, and though it has taken nearly 40 years, we’re glad to finally give this lesser known highlight from Clarence Reid’s lengthy back catalogue another airing on our Soul 7 imprint… | |||
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Ever since we first reissued this uptempo modern soul anthem on Ian Wrights Sister Funk 2 album. demand and interest in the original 7 record has soared. Who has a copy and where can I get one? asked the collectors and DJs alas, with no answer. That is, UNTIL NOW!!!
As usual this SOUL45 reissue is FULLY LICENSED and restored from the ORIGINAL MASTER TAPES so it SOUNDS GREAT unlike what you get from SHODDY BOOTLEGS! And in keeping with the spirit of collecting the pressing run is limited to ONLY 500 COPIES worldwide!Recorded and released in Detroit in the late 70s, this is a record with the Motor City wired into its DNA, with erstwhile Motown / Shadybrook employee Victor Hall manning the boards. Since the release of Sister Funk 2, demand for this assured piece of femme vox disco infused modern soul has not let up - yet no further copies of the incredibly scarce original 45 have materialised. Ripe for a reissue then, and our Soul 7 the perfect outlet as we continue to offer the highest-grade Soul music in existence! | |||
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Another gem of a '70s soul tune with true dancefloor pedigree in the modern room. And another cracking rarity too!From the far reaches of Buffalo, upstate New York, on the incongruously named Cross-eyed Bear label, this 2 sided gem of funky '70s soul was perhaps destined to be an obscurity. Not that you would think that on listening to it, the slick production and smart arrangements rival any major release of the day. This isn't so surprising when you discover that the production duties were actually handled by the team behind high-selling Jazz Fusion outfit Spyro Gyra! Thankfully aside from sound quality, this shares no resemblance to those pop fusion-ites, and instead St. Clair and her band deliver 2 sides of delicious groovy soul, perfect for the broader Soul dance-floors of today. The warm bass, crisp drums and sweet Rhodes are bound to sound huge on any decent system too! Small wonder that the original has been fetching large sums recently. | |||
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Kicking off a trio of 45s handpicked from the legendary Wand back catalogue we’re proud to present Milwaukee born Betty Moorer’s sassy, Latin influenced ‘Speed Up’ a record that never fails to please the crowd. Listen carefully and you can hear the Esquires keeping it in the family and providing backing vocals – two of Betty’s brothers were in the group. Flip it over for a low slung cover of ‘It’s My Thing’ and you’ve got a winning pair!
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Patti Jo’s vocals effortlessly compliment Curtis Mayfield’s hypnotic funky soul production on the faultless ‘Make Me Believe In You’. Hard to believe that this little known singer was just sixteen years old when Mayfield chose her to take vocal duties on this, the second and final release the pair would work on. The Masqueraders’ career stretches over thirty years and includes a wealth of underground soul classics, none more so than their 1968 offering which would be their second and last for the Wand imprint. It’s a powerhouse of a record that kicks up a cloud of talc in a darkened corner and emerges asking the question, ‘Do You Love Me Baby’? Yes, we certainly do!
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For our third offering we've chosen one of the biggest Northern anthems of all time, the unrelenting wall of sound that is Ivories "˜Please Stay". From the first beat to the last pleading vocal this nailed on northern soul stormer has it all. Initially released on the Despenza label as The Ivorys the girls must have thought they were about to hit the big time when the New York logo came knocking. First played in the 1970's at the Cleethorpes Allnighter the Wand release is impossibly rare after it was withdrawn from release at the time. Collectors jostle to obtain the few copies known to exist on the National release, in one instance paying in excess of $3000 for a copy. Now you can own it remastered to perfection on a shiny 7'; single, just the way it's meant to be for a fraction of that sum.
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Another modern soul rarity out now on SOUL7!!! This little beauty was recorded in upstate New York in 1973 and is just the ticket for an neat uptempo shuffle in the modern room.
When 4 close friends – Dean, Brian, Shelly and Vince - got together in the small town of Rome in upstate New York to form a band, little did they know that the music they made would still be raising dancefloor dust over 30 years later! Self-funded and pressed in only 500 copies back in 1973, the 45 featuring the catchy ‘Give Me One More Chance’ was sold from the very bandstands they performed from while gigging up and down the East Coast. The record was made just as much as a ‘thank you’ to fans as well as a shout to the bigger record companies in the hope of making it big. Another single did appear later, but with zero distribution and little knowledge about the workings of the record biz meant the lucrative recording contract they hoped for failed to appear. Dean and Vincent still perform to this day, as the duo act D.V.D. the Band. | |||
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Another total quality double sider, this time recorded by Claude
Huey and taken from the Fantasy-owned Galaxy label out of
San Francisco. ‘Why Would You Blow It’ has been in major
demand for some time, not surprising given the easy, laid-back
dancefloor appeal - it’s a mid-tempo Northern mover sure to
put a smile on the face of every dancer in the room. The flip
side ‘Why Did Our Love Go’ meanwhile, is held in equal esteem
amongst aficionados of Heartbreak soul. A deep-soul ballad of
the down and out, no-hope variety, the song contrasts
beautifully with the breezy feel of ‘…Blow It’.
The original 45 is a pretty tough one to find, and even then
there is major interest and competition, given the broad appeal
of ‘Why Would You Blow It’, a song which would sound at home
in a Northern, Crossover and perhaps even a Funk set. The
price and demand is only going to rise, making this a very
timely reissue indeed. | |||
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Big Tune!!! Top drawer modern soul with an irresistible thumpin' beat that’s RARE RARE RARE, now out on our SOUL7 label for all to hear! Another quality double sider and with Billy Byrd’s throaty vocals appearing on two class songs. Produced by Georgia native Calvin Arnold, known for his funk output, perhaps it was his influence that gave this record such a solid, intense rhythm? Yes it’s the beat that really counts, few records of this nature have such an incessant, heavy groove that has so much appeal to the dance floor. Back in the ‘70s when it was first released the record went nowhere, and it’s remained extremely scarce ever since. Why such low sales? Was ‘Lost on the Crowd’ ahead of its time? We certainly think so, and NOW is the time to put that right!
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Another Super Soul rarity - out now on SOUL7!!! And as usual this SOUL7 reissue is FULLY LICENSED and restored from the ORIGINAL MASTER TAPES so it SOUNDS GREAT – unlike what you get from SHODDY BOOTLEGS! And in keeping with the spirit of collecting the pressing run is limited to ONLY 500 COPIES worldwide!INFO Record maths is simple: good + rare = high price. The Ellipsis 45 is a classic example. When we issued this most amazing of modern soul 45s as a Soul Spectrum 12” few years back we knew this simple equation would make our reissue very welcome and hugely popular. Not only has it been huge on the Northern Scene, but funk and disco heads have been tapping their feet and practicing their pirouettes to its infectious rhythm and charming melody for a few years too. But now that the 12” is long gone, and demand is still there, it’s time this amazing 45 was revisited on its original format – the 7” vinyl 45. | |||