Brian's Music Musings

A small update to my Tonettes page this week. The record label shot you see to the left is Vince Castro's Bong Bong. Not a hard record to get, at least on the black and rainbow APT label. After All, those were the original colors. The Elegants Little Star was the same way. What makes this a bit more unique is that it is the all black label, which does make it a second press. The Elegants record was also pressed on an all black label. Anyway, I added this to my Tonettes page as another variation. Not super rare as values go, but harder to find then the first press. The ultimate first press is on the Doe label.

I ended up with a copy of Clyde Stacy's So Young. It was issued on the Candlelight label in 1957. You can also find it on the Argyle label which was released in 1959. I have the Robert Wagner version as well. Talk about a difference in presentation! Wagner's is just a basic pop record that doesn't get much play on my turntable. The Stacy record borders on audio porn, especially when you consider the subject matter. Whew! And his record actually charted, though quite briefly. It was also banned from many radio stations playlists. Stacy found himself on several smaller labels including Bullseye, G&H, Len, and the previously mentioned Argyle and Candlelight. I have the tendency to play Baby Shame on my radio show.

Speaking of my radio program, next week I will run my interview with Al Sanchez of the Los Angeles group, The Storytellers. They had one record, but as always with groups that had limited releases, Al is a very interesting person with a varied background. Everybody has a story, and Al with the Storytellers, is no exception.
.
I'm not a huge country fan, but in a pile of country records was Alvadean Coker and the "Cokers" with a country bopper "We're Gonna Bop". Decent record to my ears, it was issued on the Abbott label. She had another record with Jim Reeves on the same label. She was likely on records listed by the Coker Family and Sandy Coker, as well as having another single issue on the Decca label.
.
I seem to be interested in a record label called Stepheny records. It was located in Evanston, Chicago, and issued mostly pop, some novelty, and even a few rock and roll records. They pressed just over 40 different 45's, and the label owner, Norman Fogue, was also involved with the Spinning label. No real R+B or doo wop classics, but an interesting assortment of artists. They were apparently searching for the next big hit, just as all records labels did. I will never run the label, but hope to have a good selection of 45's that were issued.