RichyP
07-07-2017, 03:53 PM
Rapidly approaching my three score and ten now, and inspired by some of the posts on this forum, i've been reminiscing about my love of motown.
I recall my old Dansette autochanger, and the clunk as the 45 dropped onto the playing deck. With that in mind it got me thinking about the best places I had heard motown tracks, along the lines of BG's" if it doesn't sound great on a car radio then it won't be a hit"
Around 1967 I had a two part daily commute, with a 25 minute interval, a time which I spent in a small rundown [[clean) cafe. Now indulge me while I describe it. It was about 25 feet deep by about 15 feet wide the frontage consisted of a half glazed door, and the remainder was a complete pane of glass save for 2 feet at the bottom. It must have been a hundred years old, the floor was like walking across a firm mattress the walls were covered in that at the time fashionable pegboard, and the ceiling was plasterboard/sheetrock? All was painted [[monthly) in sky blue and pale yellow distemper, a porous precursor to vinyl emulsion. On the counter was a water heater/Boiler which was frequently refilled using a 2 gallon bucket, each time the lid was opened, a cloud of steam rose up and hung a few inches just below the entire ceiling. the furniture was that typically sixties formica table tops and vinyl cushioned steel tubuler chairs. I think all of the above added to the accoustics
Now to the point, the juke box, a big heavy bow fronted Rock Ola I think, sat back to the window facing into the cafe tilted slightly downward. I only recall it having three motown singles which just filled my allotted time, and I always played them, they were the 4Tops "you can't be happy until you love some one" the 4 tops "Mame" and the Temptations "I could never Love another etc"
Now, I had these singles at home, but they never sounded anywhere near as good on my trusty Dansette, as they did in that Cafe.
I think if motown had re-engineered some tracks in this cafe they would have been even bigger hits
Anyone else got a favourite place and or story
I recall my old Dansette autochanger, and the clunk as the 45 dropped onto the playing deck. With that in mind it got me thinking about the best places I had heard motown tracks, along the lines of BG's" if it doesn't sound great on a car radio then it won't be a hit"
Around 1967 I had a two part daily commute, with a 25 minute interval, a time which I spent in a small rundown [[clean) cafe. Now indulge me while I describe it. It was about 25 feet deep by about 15 feet wide the frontage consisted of a half glazed door, and the remainder was a complete pane of glass save for 2 feet at the bottom. It must have been a hundred years old, the floor was like walking across a firm mattress the walls were covered in that at the time fashionable pegboard, and the ceiling was plasterboard/sheetrock? All was painted [[monthly) in sky blue and pale yellow distemper, a porous precursor to vinyl emulsion. On the counter was a water heater/Boiler which was frequently refilled using a 2 gallon bucket, each time the lid was opened, a cloud of steam rose up and hung a few inches just below the entire ceiling. the furniture was that typically sixties formica table tops and vinyl cushioned steel tubuler chairs. I think all of the above added to the accoustics
Now to the point, the juke box, a big heavy bow fronted Rock Ola I think, sat back to the window facing into the cafe tilted slightly downward. I only recall it having three motown singles which just filled my allotted time, and I always played them, they were the 4Tops "you can't be happy until you love some one" the 4 tops "Mame" and the Temptations "I could never Love another etc"
Now, I had these singles at home, but they never sounded anywhere near as good on my trusty Dansette, as they did in that Cafe.
I think if motown had re-engineered some tracks in this cafe they would have been even bigger hits
Anyone else got a favourite place and or story