Early 12000 series singles.

[Mr Bill]

Just to fill in the numbers up to 12014 which we're posting as our "debut SOTW" (Single Of The Week)...

12001 - Karma "Funk De Mambo (Dance To The Music)(Pt 1)" / "Funk De Mambo (Dance To The Music) (Pt 2)" (features Horizon Label since this came form thier debut LP on that A&M imprint)


12002 - Pablo Cruise "Whatcha Gonna Do?" / ? (some sources say this is Quincy Jones "Stuff Like That")

12003 - Brothers Johnson "Strawberry Letter 23" / "Get The Funk Outta My Face"


12004 - LTD "We Party Hearty" / "Back In Love Again"


12005 - Preston, Billy "Disco Dancin'" / "Wide Stride"
(Generic A&M 12" single sleeve)

12006 - Badazz "Honk Honk Beep Beep" / "Honk Honk Beep Beep"

(Also released as promo A&M SP 17016)
note: Badazz is Randy "Badazz" Alpert, Herb Alpert's nephew, noted for co-writing Herb Alpert's "comeback" hit song "Rise" with partner Andy Armer. Badazz and Armer later released an A&M album under the name "RandyAndy" which featured a few singles in the SP 12000 series... Randy released another Badazz single called "Buck$" before partnering with Armer.

 

[Mr Bill]

12007 - unknown (some sources give this as Preston, Billy "Disco Dancin'" / "Wide Stride" (SP12005))

12008 - Dickies, The "Paranoid" / "Hideous" + "You Drive Me Ape (You Big Gorilla)" 10" white vinyl


12009 - Raes, The "A Little Lovin' (Keeps the Doctor Away)" (Disco Version) / "A Little Lovin' (Keeps the Doctor Away)" (Radio Version)
(Generic A&M 12" single sleeve)

12010 - unknown

12011 - Brothers Johnson "Ain't We Funkin' Now" (Disco Version) / "Ain't We Funkin' Now (Radio Version)
(Generic A&M 12" single sleeve)

12012 - Bell & James "Livin' It Up (Friday Night)" / "Don't Let The Man Get You"
(Generic A&M 12" single sleeve)

12013 - Krypton "Can You Read My Mind" (Long Version) / "Can You Read My Mind" (Short Version)
(Generic A&M 12" single sleeve)

 

[JH12"fanatic]

Mr. Bill, I can confirm that the catalog number for Pablo Cruise's "Whatcha Gonna Do? is SP-12002. The catalog number for Quincy Jones' "Stuff Like That" is in the 17000 series. Specifically it is SP-17019.

That 12" for LTD's "We Party Hearty/(Every Time I Turn Around) Back In Love Again", that's the first time I've seen a white label pressing of that commercially released single. The first promotional release of that single has the same extended disco version that runs 8:37 and has the same mix on both sides. But the main difference is that it has a different catalog number from the other pressing. The first promo has the catalog number AM-8442 and comes in a non die-cut white sleeve with a custom ID sticker on the front.

One other thing about the commercial release of that LTD 12". Some copies of the single have a solid sleeve without a die cut hole in the center like the majority of copies out there do. I have one of those too.

 

[Mr Bill]

JH,

There does not seem to be a consistency in which sleeve A&M used for their 12" singles. For generic sleeves there's plain black with die-cut hole, plain white with and without die-cut hole. There are two "Disco generics" that I can think of off the top of my head (since I'm at work for a couple hours to cover a Memorial Day event and can't go to my collection at the moment) the canvas looking dancer one and the black with "neon Disco" version. Later (post-disco) there were others as well. One thing I liked about the pre-17xxx promo 8xxx series was the use of printed stickers to give the sleeve a "cover" of sorts. I don't have many of these, but they're interesting.

--Mr Bill

 

[JH12"fanatic]

Mr. Bill, the two 12" sleeves you mentioned are the only ones I recall A&M using from 1978 to 1980. For the majority of their promo only releases they used generic sleeves made of recycled cardboard stock with a white matte covering. And of course some had custom artwork or were just the plain non-die cut variety with a custom sticker pasted on the front.

The only other one I have similiar to the LTD promo is my copy of Cat Stevens' "Was Dog A Doughnut?".