I only know the song because of "Soul Train". I also have it on a Soul Train Adam VIII compilation album called "Soul Train The Hits That Made It Happen". It was around this time that a lot of old-time soul fans drifted away from the music, but it was also the time a lot of new fans cam to it. And, some, like me, never strayed.
No familiarity with this one. If I ever heard it, it floated on past. Listenable but unremarkable. That old-school Wand label design is cool, though. Scepter had a ton of subsidiary labels over the years. That "Arranged by Tom-Tom" credit piqued my interest so I hit Google. Turns out it was Thomas Washington, who also arranged "Oh Girl" and "Turn Back the Hands of Time".
Hadn't realized it was pressed on the older label. Did the change-over to the newer style label happen just after this was released?
Yep. I love the backing on "I Found A Love". Another early single I have by the Ohio Players is "Trespassin' on the Compass label from 1968. I started listening to the band back around 1971 and bought their "Pain" album on Westbound in 1972. "Funky Worm" I remember got some play on the pop charts....but I recall being (pleasantly) surprised when they crossed over big time later in the 70s.
I listened to AT40 religiously but have absolutely no memory of ever hearing this one. Not even a hint of recognition and I find that rather disturbing. This rarely happens unless a song just barely grazed the Top 40 and yet this one almost got into the Top 20! Curious. Yeah, let's just leave this be for now.
Tom Tom Washington arranged a ton of great records...I think he was based in Chicago. Here's one of his earlier records that I loved as a kid, the Esquires "Get On Up":
It is possible that the song just wasn't popular in your area. My local radio station didn't play it, either. Yup. There will be lots of discussion about this artist later on both thart threads.
I love that song! It's one of my absolute favorites from 1967. BTW, can I assume Tom Tom washington is also the same Tom Tom 84 that worked with Earth, Wind & Fire during their hit years?
Get On Up is great! We used to sing this as kids and I particularly loved doing the lower register "Get on ups". Ah, memories.
It's the groove. Plus the recurring hook: "Leavin' me...can't be." The lead singer is not happy that his woman is leavin' him, but it's not the story, it's the telling. They could be singing about Pepto-Bismol and it would still sound pretty smooth.
Wand Records had already switched over to that brown marble background by 1973. My copy of this 45 has the brown design. However, they might have had some older blanks laying around when they ran out of new ones. Especially for a record as hot as "Leaving Me." Chess and Motown used to reuse their old label designs, too.
Columbia - which pressed that copy - drifted between this and the newer design (with 'Wand' set in Charter Oak - look it up on Google) since 1971; I saw a copy of a Ralfi Pagan single - a cover of Bread's "Make It With You" - on the Wand / Fania label, and the later design that ultimately replaced the '60's layout.
I became familiar with "Leaving Me" due to its having been certified gold by the RIAA, and the section in Ronald Zalkind's book Contemporary Music Almanac 1980-81 which dealt with RIAA Gold Record Awards issued up to 1979. 'Tis also how and why I became familiar with such songs as "Trapped By A Thing Called Love." Evidently these records moved enough to have warranted such certifications.
And, this is why I keep telling the forumites that the R&B charts matter. The many R&B records that charted well, and were certified, were right up there in popularity and importance along with Edgar Winter, Beatles, Kiss, whoever. There was so much crossover that it can't be ignored.
And for what it's worth, remember James Brown's chart-topper from the year before, "Get On The Good Foot"? I don't know if this was mentioned before, but given where he went, it would be his first single to be certified gold.
Yeah, I brought that up. I always heard it was because King just didn't bother having their big sellers certified, but naturally Polydor did.
I agree 100 per cent. I was one of those who followed both the R&B/Soul charts and the Pop charts with equal fervor.
The Dramatics are enjoying their 3rd and final Top 10 hit on Volt with this nugget of Low Rider gold. They'll be making a big comeback on ABC in a couple years.
I'll probably post a new #1 tonight. Since some of you claim to not see this thread, I will try to keep posting to keep in up there so you can see it.
Next: I'm Gonna Love You Just A Little More Baby - Barry White As with "Pillow Talk" by Sylvia, from the first lines of the song, you knew this was something new and different, and something that the kids probably shouldn't be listening to, and something you would play in the bedroom while doing the nasty. This song was the first major salvo of Barry White's brand of baby-makin' music. I or don't remember hearing this record on my local top 40 radio station in 1973, but i'm sure there were stations around the country that omitted the spoken intro. I heard it, like so many other soul records during this period, on Soul Train. And, I had it on that K-Tel comp "Super Bad Is Back" in it's glorious K-tel hyper-edited form. This isn't my favorite Barry White song. That one is due in a few weeks. This thread has come a long way since I revived it last year (or was it two years ago?). We're now into the era of top 40 that I was close to adolescence. I was in scouts, taking martial arts, and had begun studying the drums in school band.
Truthfully, I did not cotton to Barry White for most of his chart life. There were only two songs I actually liked in real time, one in '75 and the other in '77. I don't recall what it was about his solo music that I didn't connect with the way I did with his Love Unlimited stuff but these days I find a lot to like, particularly the music and sound itself. And I'm surprised at myself for not noticing the similarities between this tune and Madonna's Justify My Love. Gonna have to delve into his catalog and hear what I've been missing.
