Brian's Music Musings

A few posts back, I talked about record values, their worth to you and prices in general. There was a good post by Fred that you should read, if you have not done so yet. There is certainly another aspect that drives this whole hobby, and that is the passion. There are many groups on my website that I have a passion for. You can see them fairly easily when you look at the content and can see that I have most of their records. Groups like the Aquatones, Rosie and the Originals, Gene and Eunice, and the Tonettes. I love the Tonettes/Vince Castro recordings. I have some good documentation and a fair representation of their records. Or do I?

One of the things that has always bugged me about my collection of thier records, is the lack of any Canadian recordings. Most likely for the Tonettes, it would be on the Canadian Sparton label, since ABC (Oh What A Baby) already had an established program in place with them. And it didn't have to be a huge hit already, or an established artist. I believe that it was a decision made quickly, depending on the sales figures available and distributor reports for many regions. And then the question arises, if they pressed it on Sparton, were there 78's and 45's? I have not seen a complete discography for Sparton, which would make these questions easily answered. OK, so I think I have actually answered both of them.. Click this link

Sparton had a pattern of releasing late 78's and records on 78 that were only on 45 in the USA. So, if there is a 78, there must be a 45. That's my theory on this one. I have never seen the Tonettes on Sparton, so it's certainly new to me. Now the search is on for the 45. And to throw another consideration into the mix: The Sparton 78 has the "second" version of the song, per my website info and sound bytes. I don't know that it was released second, but is just a point of reference. Is there also another Sparton pressing with the first and most common version? Ooyyy. Just the time I thought I had a handle on it..........

I had a good interview with Mickey Kipler of the (Rockin) Rebels. I will need to start editing that and plan to air it on my June 16th show. I am scheduling an interview with Russ Hallett of the Russ Hallett trio, and should get that going early next week.