u/Suspicious-Future357

This is one of the few records in my collection that I will put into the sleeve with the "B side" facing the front! Share My Love has got to be one of the best ballads to ever feature a vocal group, in my humble opinion. The "A side" is no slouch either! One of the only doo wop recordings that I can think of that features a harmonica (on both sides, no less!). The Calendars here are the same group as the one on Cyclone (What Are You Gonna Be, If I Could Hold Your Hand). This was released in 1962, but kind of has that almost-soul feel of a few years later. Kind of ahead of its time. This record is quite obtainable, with VG plus copies being about $20. The story to explain how such a good record has such a low price is that some time in the 80s (I think), a large amount of unsold copies were found in a warehouse somewhere, and they were all really nice. I think I paid $30 for my NM copy. If you like this sound, do not hesitate to get a copy!

https://youtu.be/6kEGW1SV3OU : Share My Love

https://youtu.be/sdmK7ZI673M : Stop Driving Me Crazy

Another one that RCA (owners of Groove) never promoted correctly. I am very lucky to have gotten a copy of this! This is another group that is currently unknown. Although Discogs claims that this group is the same as the Sonics group on Harvard, that is dubious. I think that this is the same group that is on X-tra and RKO Unique, but I only have proof that the Groove group is related to the X-tra group through the B side writer, Ben Smith. Smith was a label owner (Teenage, X-tra, Tarx, Tra-x, etc) and musician who was very involved in the NYC vocal group scene. He was also quite a capable writer. The group sounds incredible on As I Live On. Another beautiful record that, sadly, never sold as well as I think it should have.

https://youtu.be/t1eISDUwSds : Bumble Bee

https://youtu.be/\_8c3C7rqpws : As I Live On

This is a record that I knew I had to have when I first heard it. The ballad is quite possibly one of my favorite ballads of all time. Just a darned gorgeous pair of recordings from 1962. Unfortunately, there's no definitive proof of who these guys (and I think I hear a girl in there, too) were. Based on where the label was based, I think they were from Los Angeles, California. I assume that Fines & Herman Pettway and James House were group members, but I'm not sure. Fines Pettway also wrote Most Of The Pretty Young Girls and Do The Beetle for the Upfronts on Lummtone two years after this record was made. My copy is thrashed, but still sounds good enough to play. The odd thing is that the A side track was mastered slow, perhaps by a couple RPMs, compared to the transfers available on YouTube.

https://youtu.be/A4Ag8B4kZl8 : Eight Reasons Why I Love

https://youtu.be/YbN-O9adFaE : Mama Told Me

This record is very near and dear to my heart. The Emeralds were from my area of the US, the western side of Michigan. They originally formed as the Three Cloves, then changed a bit and became the Dell-Tones, neither of which recorded anything to my knowledge. In 1958, the group switched a few more members around and became the Emeralds. Sometime in 1958 or 1959, they got a recording deal with Venus Records, Inc., a tiny label run out of a garage on the south side of Chicago. It appears that the records were distributed locally, with perhaps less than 500 copies of each of their two 45s made. This is the first one, and is not quite as good as the second, in my opinion. But it's still a neat listen, even if it's quite crude. The group was a local sensation, performing at a number of different local venues and on television at least twice. The group stayed together until 1961, when the group semi-officially broke up due to the members going off to college and such. I first learned of this group's existence about two weeks after one of the original members passed away.

https://youtu.be/ejMbZS4pwjY : The Lover

https://youtu.be/27Ti30ozFO0 : Madamoiselle

If you know about Fortune Records from Detroit, you probably know how primitive some of their records sound, especially the more obscure ones. This one is no exception. But it doesn't really detract from the group's sound, which I think is very good. The group was comprised of three brothers and their father, which is quite unique when it comes to a vocal group lineup. The group's other recordings are also very good, with their recording of This Is Really Real being one of my favorite recordings of all time. Darling Be Mine is very long for a record from 1959, clocking in at around 3 minutes and 40 seconds! There is a very long sax break in the middle of it. Bashful Guy is also very good. This is the 1963 (second) pressing of this record, with the original 1959 copies having an orange label.

https://youtu.be/H-pE3Pe52fM : Darling Be Mine

https://youtu.be/qGwB9qzBjBQ : Bashful Guy

Came from a 78 lot from Maryland. This record comes up frequently but always goes for quite high prices.

Here's a pretty good pair of uptempo songs by a group that I feel doesn't get much credit when it comes to the so-called "kiddie-lead" sub-genre of doo wop. Paul Himmelstein, the lead, sounds like an older version of Frankie Lymon. The group was from the Bronx, NYC. Vik was a subsidiary label of RCA Victor, and RCA Victor's sublabels were somewhat notorious for less-than-stellar promotion, as they were basically created for tax write-off purposes. The El Venos record I posted earlier? That was on Groove, another RCA subsidiary. Most copies of this record just have the A side title as One, Two, I Love You without the subtext Ten Again, this one is kind of an interesting copy.

https://youtu.be/IUE-IGnkSmo : Both sides.

https://youtu.be/z56hk8qhDHQ : A bonus, this is the Heartbreakers' live version of Come Back My Love, done at the famous Apollo Theater sometime in 1957. One of my favorite semi-acapella doo wop recordings of all time.

Ended up with 4 wheat pennies (1919, 1936, 1937, and 1944), a 1947-S nickel, a small pile of clad, three surface marbles, a clock gear, a Michigan dog license, a neat brooch, a gold-filled ring, a 1964-D Roosevelt dime, and an 1889 IHP. This was all hunting sidewalk tearouts.

This one is beloved, but surprisingly hard to come across. This is a true first press from 1957: "Unbreakable" to the left of the spindle hole and no Kaybank code at the bottom of the label. There is also the familiar trident mark in the runout associated with records that were cut at Mastertone Recording Studios in New York. The group was from Manhattan in NYC, and also cut records as the Emersons on Newport, Cub, and United Artists.

https://youtu.be/CUNBjmWcp7Y : Take Me As I Am

https://youtu.be/SXiDft301jk : You Broke My Heart

A rare record where I cannot really pick which side is my favorite! Both the uptempo side and the slower side are incredible. I love how both songs start out with only vocals and percussion, and then the rest of the orchestra comes in. The El Venos were from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and this record was originally released in 1957. This particular record was pressed in 1964 (the later Groove labels are the sign of the later pressing). I wish Groove had pressed more doo wop songs with this label. I like it better than their earlier style labels that are much more bland.

Before the Miracles recorded for Berry Gordy's Motown in Detroit, they released a few records on George Goldner's End label in NYC. Note the writers on the sides: Berry Gordy, William "Smokey" Robinson, and the mysterious T. Tonatto, who I have not been able to figure out a full name for. This particular record was originally released in 1960, but the multi-colored labels indicate that it's a second pressing from 1961, made to cash in on the success of the Miracles' song Shop Around. Originals bear the catalog number E-1029, while later pressings bear the catalog number E-1084. The uptempo A side is very good, but I prefer the B side.

Note the AU H2O 64 Inc. production company on the B side label. That was related to Anthony Hilder, who was a major supporter of Barry Goldwater (Au H2O being a common expression of Barry's last name). Please Be My Love Tonight is really a great song, especially toward the end with the speaking part.

You're An Angel has to be one of the smoothest ballads in all of vocal group harmony. This is a second pressing with the red labels. The original 1st pressings have blue labels and are quite expensive. Originally recorded and released in 1956.

Always enjoyed both sides of this record. Found this one in an antique shop for $4. I think it's NM- condition, barely any surface noise.

Got this one in a record lot recently. I'm So In Love is definitely THE side here. Utterly killer ballad with a female lead. Group and label were from Philadelphia, Penna.

Bought this a little while back. While both of these songs were available on an LP and an EP, the 45 is extremely rare. This is the first original copy of this to show up in probably 50 years. Rare records are still out there, you just have to know where to look!