SoulAlive said:

I hope that Casablanca/Polygram decides to do something with the two or three albums that Stephanie recorded for them,beginning with 1982's 'Tantalizingly Hot'.

I do know that someone wants to reissue those but politics is keeping it from happening. I hope they eventually stop playing games and release them already!!!

kitbradley said:

Unless it's Michael Jackson or Sade, as a whole, the old school R&B audience do not support their artists like Pop/Rock fans support their old school artists as far as spending bread on their CDs when they are reissued. That's why old school R&B reissues are usually issued in very limited quantities because the labels know that it really is such a small nitche market. With artists like the Beatles or Elvis or Fleetwood Mac, the labels know their reissues are going to sell well so they press them in larger quantities and, as someone stated previously, take greater care in the remastering process and packaging. And like you said, a big problem with the R&B reissues is promotion. That's why whenever I find out about a lot of these reissues from BBR and especially FTG, I always come here and to other boards to let everyone know because the average person who would be interested in these titles dont even know they are being reissued due to very limited promotion!

Has anyone here ever gone to an actual record store and found any of the reissues from FTG or Big Break in stock? I haven't. And trust me, I always look. Back in the day, I used to be able to go to certain record stores and find Japan Imports of old-school R&B CDs but I can't anymore. But, I can always find plenty of reissues for Rock artists in stock.

The local oldies/adult R&B station just play the same songs all of the time. You can literally quit listening to it for a few years and put it on again and the same stuff is playing. The majority is smooth music for buppies like Maze, Luther Vandross, Anita Baker, Whitney Houston, Freddie Jackson, etc. Then it's like 4 or 5 songs for each. The only Isley's they play is the slow jams, no uptempo or funk cuts at all and the only Gap Band song that exists is Outstanding. Prince only has 4 or 5 songs (When Doves Cry, Kiss, Adore, Diamonds And Pearls, I Wanna Be Your Lover). The only newer act that gets played a lot is Jahiem which is just like the rest of their playlist, just with hood lyrics. The only time the station plays something different is on Sunday afternoons.

Big Break Records has just announced that they are coming out with their own remaster of 'What Cha Gonna Do With My Lovin'.For those of you who only want that particular album (but not this set) may wanna wait around for that

SoulAlive said:

Big Break Records has just announced that they are coming out with their own remaster of 'What Cha Gonna Do With My Lovin'.For those of you who only want that particular album (but not this set) may wanna wait around for that

That really sucks! That was the only Stephanie reissue released by Universal Japan that was actually from the master tapes. Give us what's not already out there, damn it!!!

MickyDolenz said:

kitbradley said:

Unless it's Michael Jackson or Sade, as a whole, the old school R&B audience do not support their artists like Pop/Rock fans support their old school artists as far as spending bread on their CDs when they are reissued. That's why old school R&B reissues are usually issued in very limited quantities because the labels know that it really is such a small nitche market. With artists like the Beatles or Elvis or Fleetwood Mac, the labels know their reissues are going to sell well so they press them in larger quantities and, as someone stated previously, take greater care in the remastering process and packaging. And like you said, a big problem with the R&B reissues is promotion. That's why whenever I find out about a lot of these reissues from BBR and especially FTG, I always come here and to other boards to let everyone know because the average person who would be interested in these titles dont even know they are being reissued due to very limited promotion!

Has anyone here ever gone to an actual record store and found any of the reissues from FTG or Big Break in stock? I haven't. And trust me, I always look. Back in the day, I used to be able to go to certain record stores and find Japan Imports of old-school R&B CDs but I can't anymore. But, I can always find plenty of reissues for Rock artists in stock.

The local oldies/adult R&B station just play the same songs all of the time. You can literally quit listening to it for a few years and put it on again and the same stuff is playing. The majority is smooth music for buppies like Maze, Luther Vandross, Anita Baker, Whitney Houston, Freddie Jackson, etc. Then it's like 4 or 5 songs for each. The only Isley's they play is the slow jams, no uptempo or funk cuts at all and the only Gap Band song that exists is Outstanding. Prince only has 4 or 5 songs (When Doves Cry, Kiss, Adore, Diamonds And Pearls, I Wanna Be Your Lover). The only newer act that gets played a lot is Jahiem which is just like the rest of their playlist, just with hood lyrics. The only time the station plays something different is on Sunday afternoons.

Tell me about it. There is one station here in Michigan, WGPR, that actually tries to be different and play album cuts instead of just going with the usual suspects. The other oldies stations are all the same. 100% predictable. I can't bare listening to "Sexual Healing", "Between the Sheets" and "Superfreak" anymore. And don't even get me started how they play Anita Baker and Sade every hour on the hour!!!

MickyDolenz said:

daPrettyman said:

According to the RIAA, all 3 of these albums went gold. She also had one gold single for "Never Knew Love Like This."

e	MILLS, STEPHANIE	WHAT CHA' GONNA DO WITH MY LOVIN'?	December 31, 1969	August 21, 1979	20TH CENTURY	GOLD	ALBUM	SOLO
More	MILLS, STEPHANIE	SWEET SENSATION	December 31, 1969	July 20, 1980	20TH CENTURY	GOLD	ALBUM	SOLO
More	MILLS, STEPHANIE	STEPHANIE	December 31, 1969	September 15, 1981	20TH CENTURY	GOLD	ALBUM	SOLO
ore	MILLS, STEPHANIE	NEVER KNEW LOVE LIKE THIS BEFORE	December 31, 1969	January 16, 1981	20TH CENTURY	GOLD	SINGLE	SOLO

^^^What something sold 30 years ago is irrelevant. The companies are trying to make money now. Remastering costs a lot of money, if it is to be done right. Who has the original tapes? I watched a documentary about the Wattstax DVD reissue a few years ago. The original film reels were found by accident in an unlabeled box in an office or warehouse. Beforehand, no one knew where they were, and the movie was considered lost.

Many of the people that would be interested in Stephanie Mills albums, probably still have the original records. There's not really a potential new audience for her and old R&B acts in general. At least not in the US where it is not really promoted (and usually is only found in hits compilations). R&B acts are not stocked the same as rock in the record stores either. Charlie Wilson made a comment about one of his recent albums and said he went to a record store and the album wasn't even stocked and he felt that this affected his chart position. It might be taken more seriously in other places such as Japan, where even some obscure acts albums can be found on CD. That's why "proper CD's" as you put it are not released in the US. It's not about fancy packaging. The record company is a business, like any other company. The things that are not as likely to sell are not going to get the same attention. It's not just the record companies fault. Old R&B and funk acts are not written about in the media the same as the average classic rock act. I can go to the library and find dozens of books on Elvis Presley, the Stones, and many other rock performers, but hardly any about a soul act, and most of them are just about the music in general or a particular label (ie Motown, Chess, Stax, etc.) and not about any individual soul/R&B/funk act. It's not played as much on the radio on oldies stations. If the music is out of print, and it's not played or written about, how can it build a new audience? If you read comments on some of the songs on Youtube, many younger people often say they heard an old song on a commercial or movie or it was in Grand Theft Auto, so decided to look for the song. The problem with this, is that it's just background music to a video game, like Muzak. Most don't care about the acts or buying their music. I also see comments asking where a particular song can be found, as they can't find a download source.

If you had read my earlier post, you would see that I said that there must have been some problems with the ownership of the masters. Universal owns the rights to the 20th Century Fox music catalog (I hope you know that they were a record label at one point in time). 20th Century folded around 81 or so. Polygram records acquired the masters.

There were are many 20th Century Fox albums and songs that have never been released (especially in the States). A few of their songs have ended up on various compilations, but many of them were totally avoided.

I understand what you are trying to say about the remastering issue, but that's a crock of bs. You have NO CLUE about r&b music or understand a real r&b fan. R&b fans are like any other fans. Sure, a catalog from Stephanie Mills won't be treated with the same respect as Elvis or The Beatles, however, they are NOT on the same level.

Your statement on radio tells me you really have no clue. Every state here in the US has an oldies r&b format. In most cases, the "classic soul" and "urban ac" formats rate in the top 20 in a city. In the major cities in the deep south (New Orleans, Houston, Atlanta, etc.), NYC, and Chicago ALL have "classic soul" and "urban ac" formats that are in the top 5. These stations are where you will find a real r&b fan listening to Luther Vandross, Stephanie Mills, Teddy Pendergrass, Anita Baker, Zapp, Shirley Murdock, etc. You will NOT find them playing a lot of Lionel Richie, Mariah Carey, or some of the other people that YOU may consider r&b.

So, I suggest you do a little research before you start saying that artists like Stephanie Mills don't make money for labels. These types of artists do.

kitbradley said:

MickyDolenz said:

^^^What something sold 30 years ago is irrelevant. The companies are trying to make money now. Remastering costs a lot of money, if it is to be done right. Who has the original tapes? I watched a documentary about the Wattstax DVD reissue a few years ago. The original film reels were found by accident in an unlabeled box in an office or warehouse. Beforehand, no one knew where they were, and the movie was considered lost.

Many of the people that would be interested in Stephanie Mills albums, probably still have the original records. There's not really a potential new audience for her and old R&B acts in general. At least not in the US where it is not really promoted (and usually is only found in hits compilations). R&B acts are not stocked the same as rock in the record stores either. Charlie Wilson made a comment about one of his recent albums and said he went to a record store and the album wasn't even stocked and he felt that this affected his chart position. It might be taken more seriously in other places such as Japan, where even some obscure acts albums can be found on CD. That's why "proper CD's" as you put it are not released in the US. It's not about fancy packaging. The record company is a business, like any other company. The things that are not as likely to sell are not going to get the same attention. It's not just the record companies fault. Old R&B and funk acts are not written about in the media the same as the average classic rock act. I can go to the library and find dozens of books on Elvis Presley, the Stones, and many other rock performers, but hardly any about a soul act, and most of them are just about the music in general or a particular label (ie Motown, Chess, Stax, etc.) and not about any individual soul/R&B/funk act. It's not played as much on the radio on oldies stations. If the music is out of print, and it's not played or written about, how can it build a new audience? If you read comments on some of the songs on Youtube, many younger people often say they heard an old song on a commercial or movie or it was in Grand Theft Auto, so decided to look for the song. The problem with this, is that it's just background music to a video game, like Muzak. Most don't care about the acts or buying their music. I also see comments asking where a particular song can be found, as they can't find a download source.

Unless it's Michael Jackson or Sade, as a whole, the old school R&B audience do not support their artists like Pop/Rock fans support their old school artists as far as spending bread on their CDs when they are reissued. That's why old school R&B reissues are usually issued in very limited quantities because the labels know that it really is such a small nitche market. With artists like the Beatles or Elvis or Fleetwood Mac, the labels know their reissues are going to sell well so they press them in larger quantities and, as someone stated previously, take greater care in the remastering process and packaging. And like you said, a big problem with the R&B reissues is promotion. That's why whenever I find out about a lot of these reissues from BBR and especially FTG, I always come here and to other boards to let everyone know because the average person who would be interested in these titles dont even know they are being reissued due to very limited promotion!

Has anyone here ever gone to an actual record store and found any of the reissues from FTG or Big Break in stock? I haven't. And trust me, I always look. Back in the day, I used to be able to go to certain record stores and find Japan Imports of old-school R&B CDs but I can't anymore. But, I can always find plenty of reissues for Rock artists in stock.

[Edited 8/23/11 17:05pm]

Here in Dallas, we have a couple of cd stores that sell some of the FTG issues. I've also seen a few of the "Vinyl Masters" labels. I'm not sure if they are getting them from a distributor or from a website and reselling them.

MickyDolenz said:

kitbradley said:

Unless it's Michael Jackson or Sade, as a whole, the old school R&B audience do not support their artists like Pop/Rock fans support their old school artists as far as spending bread on their CDs when they are reissued. That's why old school R&B reissues are usually issued in very limited quantities because the labels know that it really is such a small nitche market. With artists like the Beatles or Elvis or Fleetwood Mac, the labels know their reissues are going to sell well so they press them in larger quantities and, as someone stated previously, take greater care in the remastering process and packaging. And like you said, a big problem with the R&B reissues is promotion. That's why whenever I find out about a lot of these reissues from BBR and especially FTG, I always come here and to other boards to let everyone know because the average person who would be interested in these titles dont even know they are being reissued due to very limited promotion!

Has anyone here ever gone to an actual record store and found any of the reissues from FTG or Big Break in stock? I haven't. And trust me, I always look. Back in the day, I used to be able to go to certain record stores and find Japan Imports of old-school R&B CDs but I can't anymore. But, I can always find plenty of reissues for Rock artists in stock.

The local oldies/adult R&B station just play the same songs all of the time. You can literally quit listening to it for a few years and put it on again and the same stuff is playing. The majority is smooth music for buppies like Maze, Luther Vandross, Anita Baker, Whitney Houston, Freddie Jackson, etc. Then it's like 4 or 5 songs for each. The only Isley's they play is the slow jams, no uptempo or funk cuts at all and the only Gap Band song that exists is Outstanding. Prince only has 4 or 5 songs (When Doves Cry, Kiss, Adore, Diamonds And Pearls, I Wanna Be Your Lover). The only newer act that gets played a lot is Jahiem which is just like the rest of their playlist, just with hood lyrics. The only time the station plays something different is on Sunday afternoons.

My friend, you should really listen to other statioins across the country. V103 in Chicago is probably one of the best Urban AC stations in the country. They don't play the same-old stuff. Sounds like the station in your town is being programmed by someone that doesn't know what they are doing.

daPrettyman said:

I understand what you are trying to say about the remastering issue, but that's a crock of bs. You have NO CLUE about r&b music or understand a real r&b fan. R&b fans are like any other fans. Sure, a catalog from Stephanie Mills won't be treated with the same respect as Elvis or The Beatles, however, they are NOT on the same level.

Your statement on radio tells me you really have no clue. Every state here in the US has an oldies r&b format. In most cases, the "classic soul" and "urban ac" formats rate in the top 20 in a city. In the major cities in the deep south (New Orleans, Houston, Atlanta, etc.), NYC, and Chicago ALL have "classic soul" and "urban ac" formats that are in the top 5. These stations are where you will find a real r&b fan listening to Luther Vandross, Stephanie Mills, Teddy Pendergrass, Anita Baker, Zapp, Shirley Murdock, etc. You will NOT find them playing a lot of Lionel Richie, Mariah Carey, or some of the other people that YOU may consider r&b.

So, I suggest you do a little research before you start saying that artists like Stephanie Mills don't make money for labels. These types of artists do.

You must not look at my threads. I have Johnnie Taylor, Clarence Carter, Johnny Guitar Watson, the Lovelites, Softtones, Joe Simon, etc. The stuff the stations don't play. Luther Vandross & Anita Baker is not R&B to me, they're no different than Lionel Richie, Whitney Houston, or Kenny G. The stuff Luther did when he was singing for other bands is R&B, but his solo music isn't. Those oldie R&B stations are basically adult contemporary stations for blacks. They don't have much variety of R&B, soul, and funk, just that 1980's crossover music and slow jams. Nothing wrong with that, but it's all slow/midtempo music. Where is the Bar-Kays, D-Train, Dramatics, Black Ivory, Brass Construction, James Brown, Midnight Star, Donna Summer, LTD, Cheryl Lynn, Rufus, and so on. It was played when it was originally released. But now they choose to ignore it and just play the soft music and "neo soul". No Fight The Power or The Pride, but constant playing of Between The Sheets, Cooling Me Out and "Mr. Biggs" stuff.

[Edited 8/24/11 8:49am]

daPrettyman said:

My friend, you should really listen to other statioins across the country. V103 in Chicago is probably one of the best Urban AC stations in the country. They don't play the same-old stuff. Sounds like the station in your town is being programmed by someone that doesn't know what they are doing.

Yeah, they're called Clear Channel. I don't listen to the radio anyway. I only hear it at work or if I'm in a car with someone.

MickyDolenz said:

daPrettyman said:

My friend, you should really listen to other statioins across the country. V103 in Chicago is probably one of the best Urban AC stations in the country. They don't play the same-old stuff. Sounds like the station in your town is being programmed by someone that doesn't know what they are doing.

Yeah, they're called Clear Channel. I don't listen to the radio anyway. I only hear it at work or if I'm in a car with someone.

But the crazy thing is that Clear Channel owns V103 in Chicago and their playlist is not the norm. They play more mid-tempo to slow music during the standard midday, however, to break the monotany, they do a mid-day mix where they play just about anything. They play things that were big in Chicago with the steppers like this:

They also do a Saturday show with Herb Kent. He's probably in his late 70s and he was around in the 50s, 60s and 70s in radio. He tells stories of the artists and the history of the artists. His show is on every Saturday and Sunday. I listen on a regular basis when I have to work on the weekends. They play some damn good stuff.

Also, check out KJLH in LA. They break the mold of an oldies station also. They don't dig as deep as V103, but their playlist ranges from Stevie Wonder (the owner) and Sam Cooke to Drake and Lloyd.

daPrettyman said:

They also do a Saturday show with Herb Kent. He's probably in his late 70s and he was around in the 50s, 60s and 70s in radio. He tells stories of the artists and the history of the artists. His show is on every Saturday and Sunday. I listen on a regular basis when I have to work on the weekends. They play some damn good stuff.

Also, check out KJLH in LA. They break the mold of an oldies station also. They don't dig as deep as V103, but their playlist ranges from Stevie Wonder (the owner) and Sam Cooke to Drake and Lloyd.

There is another local low powered station on AM, that that plays soul, funk, R&B, blues, even zydeco. They've never been owned by a conglomerate. But midday (on weekdays), they don't play music and has an advice call in show called Confessions. Sometimes they even play a particular performer for 1 or 2 hours straight.