Brian's Music Musings

Fred had a good comment on last week's post about the Orchid label. There is the (G-601) at the bottom of the label, and it does have a Gone label feel, at least for the first few issues on the label. Here is my response to Fred, though I am still looking for more information:

There were at least 4 Orchid labels that were different. Cities included Hollywood, Chicago, Baltimore, Detroit, and apparently New York. The label that is shown, is actually distributed by Gone, though no mention of that is on the label. There are at least 5 issues on the short lived label, 5001-5005. That includes the Rockin Ronald and the Rebels that was also pressed on end. The dead wax on Orchid label is the same as Gone, which makes me first believe that Gone could very easily be the first issue, but I can't come up with a good reason why.

Could Gone have used Orchid as a label to test records and then issue them on Gone or an associated label if they showed promise? I was unable to find "Inga" or Anne DeMarco who each had an Orchid release, on the Gone label. Jimmy Pemberton's Orchid release was also on Mark X, which was also associated with Gone. Jimmy Pemberton? He was associated with the Orchid label that Vince Castro was on. The logo and numbering system changed, but I now believe they could very well be the same label. Here is why. The Castro record number is 660, which then fits in with the dead wax numbers Gone was using at that point in time. And that number is skipped on the Gone discography/master numbers.

What I can't understand is why Gone would have the Orchid label to reissue records that for the most part never sold much. So I am leaning towards Orchid being first.

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I added the Story Tellers page, as promised on last weeks entry. You can view it HERE.

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I do collect Christmas records, and for that matter, Halloween related novelties. Though certainly not "rare", I found a 78 of the Nic Nacs on a RPM 78 called Gonna Have A Merry Xmas - 313. I knew about the record, but just finally got around to buying it. The group is mostly the Robins, with Mickey Champion as the voice that is similar to Little Esther. What I didn't realize is that it was issued twice, and the second time was the following Christmas season (1951), and on a different RPM record number of 342. I suppose I need to find that one now. Just for reference, The flip, Found Me A Sugar Daddy, was also issued without the Xmas flip, at the beginning of 1951 as RPM 316. They paired it with You Didn't Want My Love.

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My next project involves another group that released just one record, though actually recorded more than that. They are from New York and called the Impaks. I am working on an interview and web page at the moment, and should have that one on-line in October.