By DrewJ (195.93.34.9) on Tuesday, August 19, 2003 - 02:55 pm:

Can anyone tell me anything about this disc? Its on a white promotional Gordy label and pressed on red vinyl, both sides have 25 miles on rather than including the original B side. It looks the genuine article to me but I can't find any info about it. Can anyone help?
(I'd include a scan of it but I don't know how, perhaps someone can give me some guidence? :-))

Drew

By David Meikle (81.109.33.162) on Tuesday, August 19, 2003 - 03:35 pm:

Mail me the scan at david@soulfuldetroit.com and I'll upload.

Else look at the "get fancy" section beneath Johnnie Mae's pic.

By Joe Moorehouse (152.163.252.68) on Wednesday, August 20, 2003 - 02:18 pm:

Drew, Motown pressed a lot of red vinyl promo 45s from the mid-60s into the 70s. The mid-60s ones seem to have the stock-copy labels, not white ones, and have the same song both sides. Typically the same songs were also pressed with white promo labels, black vinyl, and the regular A/B sides. Later, they started doing more of the red copies with white labels. Presumably this was a small promotional device to get a little extra attention for certain records, but that's just a guess.

By Drewj (195.93.34.9) on Thursday, August 21, 2003 - 04:16 am:

Thanx Joe, I've mailed the scan to David to put on here so you can see it. It has a drill hole and I assume it came over to the uk as ballast weight, wired together with other 45's like so many singles did. Seems it was common practice to use vinyl as ballast in empty cargo ships returning to the uk with no cargo. I'm not complaining as it broaght us some great music!

Drew

By David Meikle (81.109.33.162) on Thursday, August 21, 2003 - 01:29 pm:

Here's Drew's scan....

By Funkyone D J Dollar BILL (216.221.81.96) on Thursday, August 21, 2003 - 02:08 pm:

Drew said:
It has a drill hole and I assume it came over to the uk as ballast weight, wired together with other 45's like so many singles did. Seems it was common practice to use vinyl as ballast in empty cargo ships returning to the uk with no cargo.
________________________________________________

ROTFLOL That's the best explaination for deletes/cutouts I've ever heard!Your record didn't sell all that well so we're going to use it as ballast!LOL

By DrewJ (195.93.34.9) on Thursday, August 21, 2003 - 02:34 pm:

Its a sad tale, I know, but true! However, I'm not going to complain as it did get alot of great US issued soul music over to us british soul fans! AS it happens, we were well served for british releases of Motown and affiliated labels on the EMI distributed Tamla Motown label, however, many of the lesser known labels did not get picked up for release over here so this was the only way we got to see a great deal of the us only singles. I assume it worked both ways and many british singles ended up in the US in the same way. Can anyone over there confirm this? (by the way, thanx for uploading the scan for me David!)
Drew

By Funkyone D J Dollar BILL (216.221.81.96) on Thursday, August 21, 2003 - 02:39 pm:

If those drill holes were because they were used for ballast then I should have been the captain of the Titanic at one of the stores we used to work at!I think someone has lead you on as to the reason for the drillouts.

By Joe Moorehouse (205.188.209.109) on Thursday, August 21, 2003 - 03:51 pm:

Drew, I don't know who dreamed up that story about drill holes being used to wire 45s together for ballast, but they should get due credit for coming up with a completely cockamamie tale that has assumed the status of legend. People have been repeating it as gospel for decades now, but it's not true. Drill holes were put into records by distributors who wanted a way of identifying discontinued 45s that they sold at a discount and were not for return (when retailers had records they paid full-price for that didn't sell, they could return them for a refund). Sometimes instead of a drill hole you'll see a stamp that says NR (no return), or a smudge of gold paint on ABC-related 45s. LP covers typically had a clipped corner or a small slice in the edge of the cover.

FYI, European records really didn't make it to these shores much until the advent of the punk movement in 1977, and even then, not in particularly large quantities.

By DrewJ (195.93.34.9) on Saturday, August 23, 2003 - 05:15 am:

Well, if it is just an urban legend, I'll take your word for it. I had no reason to disbelieve it though. Shame, as it does appeal to my sense of fun! I'm just an old romantic at heart! I love collecting nice clean copies of my favourite soul tracks on CD but there is something nice about vinyl. I often hold a 30 year old 45 in my hand and wonder what stories it has to tell about its various owners over the years! Ever seen that film about the yellow Rolls Royce! I'm sure many collectors will know exactly where I'm coming from here!

Drew J

By Bong-Man (198.111.56.15) on Saturday, August 23, 2003 - 10:43 am:

Um...I can personally vouch for Mr. Morehouse. He has the 2nd best vinyl collection I've ever seen...and that was over 20 years ago ! lol...I would hate to have move all that stuff Joe.