One and Done Albums Question.

rockdoctor

Well-Known Member
Other than Michel Colombier's Wings, I have never seen any of these particular albums here in the eastern USA. The copy of Wings that I have is a cutout so it was most likely in a cutout batch that the record store owner bought as a lot. Could many of these have just been west coast releases and when they did not do much of anything in sales that were not sent to the east coast distributors? Just a thought.
 
I wasn't old enough to be a regular record buyer when many of these titles came out, so I don't know what the situation was back when many of these were released in the 60s up through the mid 70s. And by that point, I was listening to so many other things, I didn't keep track of what A&M was doing. (I knew some favorites were on A&M, but never had the time to explore beyond that.) I agree it could be regional--distributors and retailers knew what sold in their particular areas, and that was also influenced by what radio was playing (both Top 40 radio and AOR stations).
 
Very near my parent's house, there was a shopping center that had things like a movie theater, a bank, a couple of restaurants, a bowling alley, a Radio Shack, and a record store. The record store was named Canso Record Distributors, and I believe they claimed to be some sort of regional distributors for all sorts of records. I know that they always had new releases on release day and I could count on finding what I wanted there. Prices were average, not too high, not too low.

It was there that I found and purchased many of the records that I wanted that still inhabit my collection. I remember for sure finding both the BOSSA RIO and the subsequent Blue Thumb ALEGRIA! there. Most of the Herb Alpert albums came from there, particularly the later ones. I'm pretty sure that the Roger Nichols album was there too, but not knowing anything about it, I never bought it. Ike and Tina were far from my style, so I don't know if they had that one or not. A couple of these other recent ones were also not on my radar, so I can't say.
 
Distribution was a major factor when I first started collecting "other A&M records you will enjoy" around 1965-66. The popular TJB, Brasil 66, BMB titles were easy to find in the small town department stores I frequented on weekends. One of my neighbor's Dad was manager of the local Singer Sewing outlet. When the televised TJB special (sponsored by Singer) ran in 1967 the store had quite a remarkable window display. The MILLION DOLLAR SAMPLER was in the center, surrounded by some A&M albums which had been released earlier but up until then were not distributed locally. Among them the first We Five album, Canadian Sweethearts and Lucille Starr.

Years of combing the racks without spotting other titles lead me to join some record clubs (buy 1 album a year and get several freebies). That's where I found the Merchants of Dream, Wozard of Iz and Electronic Hair Pieces. A young guy opened a small record store (which evolved into our town's first Radio Shack). He had the huge Schwann catalogs, from which obscure titles could be special ordered. Finding a Melvin Van Peebles LP in the racks was unheard of.

Finally around 1980 I sent a want list to Discontinued Records of Burbank CA. They located the George McCurn and Dave Lewis albums, neither of which I'd ever seen down south or along the east coast. Turns out the Lewis album was quite popular in the pacific northwest and virtually unknown elsewhere. Little wonder I couldn't find it back east.

Nearly every department store had its own unique record department. Only the local independent and Woolworth's had Schwann catalogs for special orders. Woolworth's was the only place I found A&M-CTI titles in the racks.

There were some nice record haunts around the U.Va. campus in Charlottesville with obscure A&M items in the racks. Mincer's Pipe Store and the huge basement of Chancellor's Drug Store stand out most in my memory. Nearer home were some independent shops with a few used LPs and lots of white label promos acquired from radio stations.

I used to win obscure promos as prizes from the stations for being the first to call and identify the song being played (but that's a whole other story).

JB
 
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Distribution was a major factor when I first started collecting "other A&M records you will enjoy" around 1965-66. The popular TJB, Brasil 66, BMB titles were easy to find in the small town department stores I frequented on weekends. One of my neighbor's Dad was manager of the local Singer Sewing outlet. When the televised TJB special (sponsored by Singer) ran in 1967 the store had quite a remarkable window display. The MILLION DOLLAR SAMPLER was in the center, surrounded by some A&M albums which had been released earlier but up until then were not distributed locally. Among them the first We Five album, Canadian Sweethearts and Lucille Starr.

Years of combing the racks without spotting other titles lead me to join some record clubs (buy 1 album a year and get several freebies). That's where I found the Merchants of Dream, Wozard of Iz and Electronic Hair Pieces. A young guy opened a small record store (which evolved into our town's first Radio Shack). He had the huge Schwann catalogs, from which obscure titles could be special ordered. Finding a Melvin Van Peebles LP in the racks was unheard of.

Finally around 1980 I sent a want list to Discontinued Records of Burbank CA. They located the George McCurn and Dave Lewis albums, neither of which I'd ever seen down south or along the east coast. Turns out the Lewis album was quite popular in the pacific northwest and virtually unknown elsewhere. Little wonder I couldn't find it back east.

Nearly every department store had its own unique record department. Only the local independent and Woolworth's had Schwann catalogs for special orders. Woolworth's was the only place I found A&M-CTI titles in the racks.

There were some nice record haunts around the U.Va. campus in Charlottesville with obscure A&M items in the racks. Mincer's Pipe Store and the huge basement of Chancellor's Drug Store stand out most in my memory. Nearer home were some independent shops with a few used LPs and lots of white label promos acquired from radio stations.

I used to win obscure promos as prizes from the stations for being the first to call and identify the song being played (but that's a whole other story).

JB
I do not know if Discontinued Records is still in business but I also had written to them for a few items. Their minimum price for anything was $15.00.
When Crystal Illusions, Warm and Nancy and Lee all disappeared, I had written to DR about them. The prices for those were in the $25-$30 range.
Later on, a company called Square Deal Records made an appearance. They had a lot of hard to find records available at much better prices. I think they are gone.
 
There was a chain of discount stores in California called White Front. Their record department sold $4.98 list LPs for $2.69, but unlike most other stores, they had cutouts, selling for $1.99. That’s where I found TELL IT LIKE IT IS, WHEN IT WAS DONE and BETWIXT AND BETWEEN in 1971.

 
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