Phil Spector - Part C - "Rare & Unreleased Philles Plus"

[Philles/Motown Gary]

LOTS of good stuff here Gary ! I can't wait to review these and listen to them!

I'm suspicious of this payola excuse as to why some of these records failed. Surely the network of stations across the country weren't so organized that they would refuse to play certain records in unison. All of them agreed to be in cahoots? I could see maybe LA having a stronghold over Spector , but you mean to tell me a program director in Atlanta or Boston is sitting there with his hand out waiting to be payed before putting in rotation a record that sounds like a hit for his radio station which is competing for ratings ?
I thought the payola scandal was something from the late fifties?? It wasn't resolved?
Or in other words , in the mid-sixties , all the labels still , Motown included, were being held ransom to get airplay?
And everybody but Phil Spector was going along with it?
Is there evidence of this ?? Curious.

Anyway , as soon as time permits , I'll be putting on my headsets to hear these recordings !! Thanks!

You're very welcome, Boogie! And thank YOU!
I'm anxious to hear if you like the Philles rare and unreleased stuff.

You raise a good point. I only know what I've read in the Phil Spector books over the years. It does seem odd that DJ's nation-wide would have participated in an organized ban against Phil and Philles. You have to understand that a lot of people in the record industry were against Phil. Word had traveled fast that Phil had done people in the music industry wrong over the years and it was catching up with him. [[To be fair, people like music publisher Aaron Schroeder had done Phil wrong as well, i.e., promising Phil an exclusive on "He's A Rebel" when, truth be known, he had also offered it to producer Snuff Garrett at Liberty Records who simultaneously released a version of "He's A Rebel" on Vicki Carr.) Just before forming Philles, Phil had worked at Liberty as a staff writer. Once Philles became a reality, Phil fled Liberty before his contract was satisfied and, in the process, stole Liberty's latest girl-group -- The Crystal's -- along with him. The music business was a dog-eat-dog world. Phil made sure he wouldn't be done wrong again by crapping on others before they crapped on him.
I honestly believe that Phil just wanted to make great records and to be loved and respected for it, all the while being criticized by critics and reviewers who were jealous that he had become successful by playing by his own rules and not caving in to rewarding disc jockeys to play his music. As successful as Philles Records was, it was a constant battle and up-hill climb which Phil had grown tired of. Between the hatred shown toward him in a music world which he loved and had contributed so richly to, his records being rejected by AM radio, and his Philles artists who constantly bitched and complained, Phil felt defeated and was more than ready to wash his hands of Philles, which he finally did in 1967 after the failure of "River Deep" became the last straw.

According to the books, Payola [[which could be in the form of money, drugs, prostitutes, etc.) was still secretly alive and well in the '60s. Even Motown was accused if it, although it was never proven.