The soulful detroit hall of fame for obscure artist

[arr&bee]

Read the title-o-b-s-c-u-r-e..let's have some fun-this is for those little remembered artist,it came be from any category[jazz-soul-r&b-gospel-doo-wop] anyone can name anyone they want as long as they're little known,one rule-just put a song they recorded next to the name....r&b-the volumes[i love you]..the vontastics[you can work it out]..the ebsolons[mad at the world]...jazz-udc ensemble[in the lion's den]...doo-wop-the spiders[i didn't want to do it].

[Soul Sister]

Here are some of the best obscure Artists:

Timothy Wilson
Derek Martin
Joe Valentine
Leon Haywood
Bobby Lee
Jimmy Norman
George Kerr

Vivian Reed
Irene Reid
Thelma Jones
Laura Lee
Theola Kilgore
Mitty Collier
Dorothy Moore

The Reaistics / aka The Sensations
Skip Mahoney & The Casuals
The Masqueraders
The Topnotes
The Lovelites

Just to name a few........... there are plenty more "obscure" groups.
These are some of the best of the best!!


S.S.
***

[Jerry Oz]

Soul_sister, this would be more interesting if it were not just a "drop the name thread". The groups that you listed are obscure, but what songs do YOU remember them for? We have a lot of threads that sputter out because there's not recollection or discussion and if like to hear more about why you listed Timothy Wilson, for example. Look at robb_k's posts for an example; he's typically very expansive in his answers.

I'm from a different generation, si most of my references would be from the '80s. The first one who comes to mind actually has one monster album with no significant follow up. Karyn White had his with "Superwoman" and "The Way You Love Me" on her first major label release. Both songs charted high before she married her producer [[I think it was Terry Lewis) and disappeared from prominence.

[arr&bee]

Hey jerry,great point and you can add anything you like pertaining to any group you choose.

[Soul Sister]

Jerry,
I don't need to look at Robb's answers I knew Robb years before you came here, I don't have time for expansive answers but here's some songs from my top favs:

Timothy Wilson has a beautiful voice and intonation, still does, today he also sings with The Teenagers.

TIMOTHY WILSON
Baby Baby Please
Say It Again
Queen of Hearts
Just Another Guy

DEREK MARTIN
You Better Go
You Blew It Baby
I Won't Cry Anymore
Your Daddy Wants His Baby Back

JOE VALENTINE
I Can't Stand For You To Leave

LEON HAYWOOD
It's Got To Be Mellow

EDDIE HOLMAN
This Can't Be True

Gotta jet>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
S.S.
***

[Jerry Oz]

Jerry,
I don't need to look at Robb's answers I knew Robb years before you came here, I don't have time for expansive answers but here's some songs from my top favs:

Timothy Wilson has a beautiful voice and intonation, still does, today he also sings with The Teenagers.

TIMOTHY WILSON
Baby Baby Please
Say It Again
Queen of Hearts
Just Another Guy

DEREK MARTIN
You Better Go
You Blew It Baby
I Won't Cry Anymore
Your Daddy Wants His Baby Back

JOE VALENTINE
I Can't Stand For You To Leave

LEON HAYWOOD
It's Got To Be Mellow

EDDIE HOLMAN
This Can't Be True

Gotta jet>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
S.S.
***

Beautiful! It's just that if an artist is "obscure", it's likely that few will remember them without a reminder of their flirtation with success.

[marv2]

Here are some of the best obscure Artists:

Timothy Wilson
Derek Martin
Joe Valentine
Leon Haywood
Bobby Lee
Jimmy Norman
George Kerr

Vivian Reed
Irene Reid
Thelma Jones
Laura Lee
Theola Kilgore
Mitty Collier
Dorothy Moore

The Reaistics / aka The Sensations
Skip Mahoney & The Casuals
The Masqueraders
The Topnotes
The Lovelites

Just to name a few........... there are plenty more "obscure" groups.
These are some of the best of the best!!


S.S.
***

Sister, I was going to say The Masqueraders - Travelin'
Man.

[westgrandboulevard]

Jerry,

A coincidence you mentioned Karyn White.

She celebrates her 50th birthday, today.......

[Soul Sister]

Gotcha Jerry, I can expand more just that this week is a busy one for me.

Love lots of things by The Masqueraders< marv2. Travel.in` is one of them.
One More Chance
I am Just An Average Guy
I Ain't Got To Love Nobody Else

S.S.
***

[marv2]

Flaming Ember - Westbound #9
Motherlode - When I Die
Carolyn Crawford - My Smile is Just a Frown
Chuck Cissel - Cisselin' Hot
Ortheia Barnes - I'VE NEVER LOVED NOBODY
Gino Washington - Til The End Of Time
Hattie Littles - Here You Come
LOVELITES - My Conscience
Elusion - All Toys Break

[Methuselah2]

The C.O.D.'s/MICHAEL [[THE LOVER)

Angela Bofill/UNDER THE MOON AND OVER THE SKY

The Magnificent Men/PEACE OF MIND

Phyllis Nelson/I LIKE YOU

[marv2]

The Keane Brothers - "Sherry"

[robb_k]

The Masqueraders, Patti and The Lovelights, Mitty Collier, The Volumes, Eddie Holman, Mitty Collier are not "obscure" to me. They all had US National hits, and most of them were played in Britain and Europe.

To me, groups like The Royal Ravens [["Grand Spanish Lady"), The Leaping Flames [["It's Been So Long"), The Dramatics [[first Detroit group-NOT Ron Banks' group, but Harry Gates' group) [["Toy Soldier"), and single artists like James Washington Lee [[AKA Morris Chestnut) [["I Need Somebody"), Liitle Nicky Soul [["I Wanted To Tell You"), Jimmy Mack [["My World Is On Fire") are "obscure".

[Methuselah2]

'Obscure' is one of those difficult terms to apply simply because, as it seems to me, it's inherently subjective and relative. As Robb mentioned ". . . are not 'obscure' to me," that's it in a nutshell.

In my earlier post above, none of the names I mentioned are obscure to me and, I assume, not obscure at all to many SDF members. But if I was to throw those names out to the people I come into contact with in the course of the week, I'd be very surprised if they knew who I was talking about. And if by chance they did, I think they'd be hard pressed to come up with one title of a recording. But this is all a presumption on my part, and I could well be wrong.

One thing seems certain: This is an interesting and thoughtful thread and I'm glad that Arr&bee came up with it. It's given me some music that I'll be checking out. Thanks Arr&bee.

[Methuselah2]

The Sherrys/POP POP POP-PIE; SLOP TIME

The Kalin Twins/WHEN

The Darnells*/TOO HURT TO CRY, TOO MUCH IN LOVE TO SAY GOODBYE

_________________
* Even more than just obscure.

[Methuselah2]

Arr&bee/DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS HAS BEEN FRYING IN

[[a.k.a. "Love theme from GREASOGANY")

You did say 'fun', didn't 'cha?!

[Soul Sister]

LOL.................I know what you mean Robb, of course they are not obscure to me either or anyone 'who knows them' but to the generally masses they are. In the 60's I heard them on rare occasion on black radio, found them more in local hood bars on the jukeboxes.
* But I think R&B is referring to them not getting much "airplay" therefore are obscure to most people.

Robb, you do know the rarest of obscure artists. I've known you from SDF since around 2002, almost 14 years so I know you know and like very rare records most never heard of, very rarest of the rare.
I probably have lots that no one has ever heard of or few are hip too. I will list some when I have time to move [[not soon) a lot of stuff out of the way in my garage to access them. Though they are not my favorites, I listed my favorites that are pretty much unknown to the general public who are quality voices, in particular Tim, Derek, & Eddie.

S.S.
***

[arr&bee]

This is great stuff gang,this is exactly what i wanted to convey,yes some of these artist had a moment in the sun but many are forgotten today.

[arr&bee]

Sam&bill[fly me to the moon]...the fawns[is it too early].

[marv2]

Natural Four - Can This Be Real

[marv2]

Stargard - Which Way Is Up?
Stargard - What You Waiting For?

[robb_k]

LOL.................I know what you mean Robb, of course they are not obscure to me either or anyone 'who knows them' but to the generally masses they are. In the 60's I heard them on rare occasion on black radio, found them more in local hood bars on the jukeboxes.
* But I think R&B is referring to them not getting much "airplay" therefore are obscure to most people.

Robb, you do know the rarest of obscure artists. I've known you from SDF since around 2002, almost 14 years so I know you know and like very rare records most never heard of, very rarest of the rare.
I probably have lots that no one has ever heard of or few are hip too. I will list some when I have time to move [[not soon) a lot of stuff out of the way in my garage to access them. Though they are not my favorites, I listed my favorites that are pretty much unknown to the general public who are quality voices, in particular Tim, Derek, & Eddie.
S.S.
***

ALL of those songs I listed as "not obscure to me" were national hits, and, thus, got "lots of airplay". I guess the posters on this thread define "obscure" to mean any record that sold less than a million copies, and wasn't on the highest DJ play rotation. "When" by The Kalin Twins and "Pop-Pop-Pie" by The Sherrys were also hits. To me. "obscure" means records that were not national or regional hits. or never got up to # 30 in the Pop or Soul charts. I think that's a pretty reasonable definition.

If you talk about what's obscure to the masses today, ALL '60s songs are obscure, including those of The Beatles. Most of the people I meet in The US today, don't even know that time went back as far as 1960, or that Washington, D.C. is the capital of their country, or what a capital is, or what a capitol is, or how the government of their country works, or the difference between two, too and to, or that "where" is not "were".

So, I'm not convinced using what would be familiar to TODAY'S masses would be reasonable to use as a meaningful measure, especially given that probably 4/5 of the people weren't even born back then, and would need to be music history buffs, or have been introduced to that old music by very influential older family members.

If you are talking about people who were of a reasonable radio listening and party-going age during the early 1960s, most of those songs listed are not obscure.

[Methuselah2]

Robb - I agree with you that WHEN and POP POP POP-PIE--two of the entries I added to the thread--were hits. But Arr&bee's criteria regarding obscurity seemed directed specifically at the artists rather than the songs, although songs were also to be given to exemplify the artists. Hence, for me, The Kalin Twins and The Sherrys, well-known for a time, now made the list for what I perceive as their present obscurity. However, one could certainly argue that they're not obscure today and be able to prove it within their point of view. And you might well be right that Arr&bee's intent was for those artists that never escaped the cloak of obscurity. Your listing would surely fit that bill to my knowledge--I wasn't familiar with a single one.

[Methuselah2]

Gerry Granahan/NO CHEMISE, PLEASE

John Zacherle/DINNER WITH DRAC

[Methuselah2]

And one of my favorites:

Frankie & the Classicals/WHAT SHALL I DO:

http://youtu.be/yFleKvPDK20

[arr&bee]

robb - i agree with you that when and pop pop pop-pie--two of the entries i added to the thread--were hits. But arr&bee's criteria regarding obscurity seemed directed specifically at the artists rather than the songs, although songs were also to be given to exemplify the artists. Hence, for me, the kalin twins and the sherrys, well-known for a time, now made the list for what i perceive as their present obscurity. However, one could certainly argue that they're not obscure today and be able to prove it within their point of view. And you might well be right that arr&bee's intent was for those artists that never escaped the cloak of obscurity. Your listing would surely fit that bill to my knowledge--i wasn't familiar with a single one.

thanks meth,my intent exactly.

[Soul Sister]

Whatever floats your boat, lol, it ain't that serious Robb, it's all subjective.
Most "obscure" records sound like crap, few are really worthy for my personal listening pleasure though they may be to you or others, like a lot of the Northern Soul stuff I would never buy.

Most of the stuff I prefer are from the many artists I know personally.
In old age the people you know are the people you connect with best and keep in touch with through the years to today. Those artist will always be my favorites, their records are seeped in personal memories of the soundtrack of my life and our connections.

To each his own .

S.S.
***

[Jerry Oz]

To me, "obscure" would describe those artists that had big songs that few remember them for. I know that "Stuck In The Middle With You" isn't a soul song, but I'd suggest that Stealers Wheel is an obscure act because most don't know they did that song and fewer would know another song that they released. A lot of obscure artists had regional hits that may have charted nationally for a short time. The list is endless.

[luke]

My one and only jimmy boy. The Girlfriends
These things will keep me loving you. Velvelettes
Love in them there hills. Vibrations

[marv2]

Five Special - "Why Leave Us Alone"

[soulster]

Well, i'm about the same age as Jerry, but my picks will come from the 60s, 70s, and 80s because that's when I was alive.

I don't have much time - gotta party again tonight - but here's a couple:

Skate Now - Lou Courtney [[1966) This song capitalized on the rollerskating craze which lasted until the early 80s. I don't know why it wasn't a bigger hit, but it's a nice little slab of soul.

Stand By Me - "Spyder" Turner [[1966) It pisses me off that the mono single version is still not available on CD. There have been opportunities, but the CD producers apparently didn't know there was a major difference between it and the stereo version.

[arr&bee]

The diplomats[here's a heart-great d.c.group who came and went quietly]..della humphies[don't make the good girls go bad-i think she was thirteen when she hit with this gem,by the time she was fourteen it was..della who?]

[marv2]

Val Young, one of Rick James protege's aka the Marilyn Monroe of the Ghetto. LOL!

[arr&bee]

Actually not bad,i've never heard this one til now her voice ain't bad although she takes a bad picture[maybe it's the wig]..keep em comin if you got em.

[roger]

Well yes .. "obscure" is certainly subjective and some of the acts mentioned previously in this thread have had major hits so to me they are most certainly not obscure, though it could be argued that people remember the songs and not the artists [[as has already been pointed out).

One group that treads the thin line between being "obscure" and "well known" would be STATUS IV. Their "You Ain't Really Down" was one of my favourite songs of 1983, it was a minor hit on Billboard's Dance/Disco chart [[#48) and it even made a brief appearance at the bottom of the UK national charts that year [[it peaked at #56) and I even heard it played on the radio yesterday .. and yet I know nothing of them apart from the fact that they were [[probably) from New York. I'm certain there was a follow up but I can't think of how it went.


Roger

[marv2]

Actually not bad,i've never heard this one til now her voice ain't bad although she takes a bad picture[maybe it's the wig]..keep em comin if you got em.

I first saw Val perform live on local Philly TV show "Dancin' On the Air" in early 1986 and she was HOT!