By acooolcat (211.78.28.76 - 211.78.28.76) on Monday, May 06, 2002 - 01:33 pm:

I wonder if the group that recorded on the (Detroit) Oncore label are the same one that recorded the following records. Can anyone offer any comments about the Vida and Nite Owl labels?

Nite Owl 50 c.1962
Please Don't Try To Be Lonely/You're just A little Too Young

Vida 0120 c.1963/4
Far Away At Sea/Massacre

Vida 0123 c.1963/4
I Refuse To Try/My Bernadette

HBR 509 c.1966
Soul Sister/I've Been Trying

Liberty 56013 c. 1968 (Also on SVR)
He Got Soul/Wicks Delight

TIA
Graham

By Joe Moorehouse (152.163.207.198 - 152.163.207.198) on Monday, May 06, 2002 - 02:45 pm:

I believe the HBR and Liberty sides are the same group--Frank Randall, Sherwood Pea, George Early, and Ronald Cooley, according to some notes I've got. They were from Flint, but the HBR 45 (and probably the Liberty one, too, since both were likely produced by John Checkaway with Les Cooley engineering) was recorded at United Sound. Soul Sister was a hit locally.

I've never seen any of the other records you list, and I'd be very surprised if they're the same outfit. Of course, I've been surprised before...

By acooolcat (61.222.95.58 - 61.222.95.58) on Tuesday, May 07, 2002 - 03:30 am:

Hello Joe,
You're probably familiar with the Oncore 45s... I believe their are 2;
Young Girls Beware/Cherry Lips
The Donkey/Tomorrow ..? (forget title!)
A couple of these were written by Tom ...errr..somebody.
I've read an article from one UK fanzine that was provided by Pete Lowrie; actually written by the owner of SVR ("Jack" Checkaway). It's an interesting piece, but he doesn't name The Four Gents. Can you remember where you got those names from?
Thanks, Graham

By Joe Moorehouse (205.188.193.52 - 205.188.193.52) on Tuesday, May 07, 2002 - 05:19 pm:

Hi Graham.

The identity of the Four Gents also comes via Checkaway, I think from liner notes he wrote for an old SVR comp.

By acooolcat (61.222.95.58 - 61.222.95.58) on Wednesday, May 08, 2002 - 03:22 am:

Thanks Joe, I'm pretty sure they're a different group to the one on Oncore. The guy who wrote and sang in that line-up was Thomas Kemp.
Graham

By john lester (213.122.196.95 - 213.122.196.95) on Wednesday, May 08, 2002 - 07:48 am:

Thomas Kemp and my brain flickers

writer of Take Some Time Out For Love - Isleys!!

By acooolcat (61.222.95.58 - 61.222.95.58) on Wednesday, May 08, 2002 - 10:39 am:

Thanks John - I wonder where Tom is now?
Graham

By Joe Moorehouse (205.188.193.23 - 205.188.193.23) on Wednesday, May 08, 2002 - 12:04 pm:

They may well be a different group. One reason I thought they were probably the same--apart from the fact that they have the same name and recorded in the same town a couple of years apart--is that they are listed as the same group in the Soul Harmony Singles book (Beckman, Hunt, and Kline). While this kind of info is by no means definitive, the authors were generally pretty careful in their research. But they don't list personnel (as they do for many other groups) so it's likely they were making an assumption rather than operating on fact. Of course, it's also possible that there were some personnel changes between the Oncore records and the SVR stuff, but part of the group remained the same. This does seem like something we ought to be able to get a firm answer on, though, if we can just find the right person to ask.

By acooolcat (61.222.95.58 - 61.222.95.58) on Wednesday, May 08, 2002 - 02:02 pm:

Joe, I'm on the case and have a few phone calls to make.
I'll keep you posted.
Graham

By john lester (213.122.201.46 - 213.122.201.46) on Wednesday, May 08, 2002 - 09:32 pm:

Graham

Your phone bill in Taiwan must be in the region of some of those ZTSC numbers!!

By acooolcat (61.222.95.58 - 61.222.95.58) on Thursday, May 09, 2002 - 03:27 am:

Joe - you're right. I called Sherwood Pea this morning and he said he didn't know anything about the Oncore releases, or the others that I've listed, so they must be different sets of Four Gents. Sherwood says he's still playing with Frank Randall and we agreed to meet when I go over to Detroit in September. It would be nice to talk to you too.
Best wishes, Graham

By rroberson (67.34.229.224 - 67.34.229.224) on Thursday, May 09, 2002 - 03:46 am:

Does anybody know what happened to the "Real" stars of Motown; Holland,Dozier,Holland!