The first and second releases from Kudo were published by Lane
and West.
Bill Lane's son, David, was able to tell me that his Father
was also involved in the production of some of the Kudo sides.
Lane and West, whom David refers to as Rolo (Robert), were
close friends who held each other in high esteem.
Lane was also the first black dee-jay on radio station WJR.
His show was called "Swingin' down the lane".
The Marv Johnson 45 also included the name James Higgins, who was
a partner of West's in the B&H Distribution company
at 3959 Woodward Avenue. I think it is reasonable to speculate that
the initials B&H stood for Bob and Higgins. David Lane
thinks that Higgins was also an Attorney.
Ray and
Berry Gordy's first release on Rayber was distributed by
B&H as was most of their Tamla product
prior to "Shop around".
It was unusual for someone so new to the industry to be
involved in the more lucrative aspects of recording.
Notes thanks to
David Meikle
DESIGN AND
GRAPHICS BY
LOWELL BOILEAU
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