Zero to 180 – Three Minute Magic

Discoveries of a Pop Music Archaeologist

Category: Starday-King

Bud Hobgood
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Bud Hobgood – A Life In Music

From Wax of Stacks — David Bottoms‘ expansive history of Cincinnati’s record labels including, most prominently, King — we learn that recording engineer Lee Hazen generously provided the author a copy of an audio recording of a meeting that had been convened at King Records‘ Cincinnati headquarters by its founder/owner,

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60s/70s rock +/- pop
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Smokey And His Sister: Goodbye Cincinnati

The City of Cincinnati might want to consider a lawsuit – what is the statute of limitations on liner notes from an album released 54 years ago? I understand that Hal Halverstadt was merely playing up the difference between “small town” provincialism and “big city” sophistication for dramatic emphasis, but

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Henry Glover
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King Records Trivia: Maxi-Tweets

Fun Facts & Trivia —  Top Tweets from King Records Month 2018 As with the previous piece (“King’s Jazz Legacy“), it seems silly to keep all this rich history from last year’s King 75th Anniversary tucked away in a file attachment.  One year later, it has become increasingly obvious that

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Afro-Cuban +/- Latin jazz
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Lord Thunder: Final Deluxe 45?

Browsing DeLuxe releases in chronological order in Discog’s database, Lord Thunder‘s “Thunder” from 1975 appears to be the last gasp of Starday-King: “Thunder” Lord Thunder (1975) But wait:  1975 sounds much too late in the post-Syd Nathan saga for a new production to come out of the Starday-King studios, especially

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"Hey Little Girl"
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Boot: King Hard Rock ’72

Michel Ruppli’s 2-volume King Labels recording session discography indicates that Boot, a “hard rock” outfit, had released their debut album on People, a James Brown-owned subsidiary of Starday-King Records.  But alas, this turns out not to be true, as Boot’s first album was, in fact, issued on Starday-King subsidiary Agape.

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"Flyin' Machine"
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Wild Goose: King Hard Rock ’71?

Zero to 180’s sprawling overview of King Records‘ rare and unissued recordings made reference to Wild Goose‘s “surprisingly adventurous ‘Flyin’ Machine‘ which features trippy sounds at the opening and closing, as well as harmony guitar lines during the middle instrumental break” — thank you to the YouTube contributor who uploaded a

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"Hey People"
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Coldwater Army on S-K’s Agape

Billboard posted this glowing review of Coldwater Army‘s debut album on Agape, a subsidiary label of Starday-King, in their July 10, 1971 edition: This is quite an extraordinary first record for a group.  It features some of the tightest arrangements heard in a while and vocals that flow well with the

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Bobby Smith
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Bobby Smith’s King Productions 1966-1973

– This piece updated with new content in 2024 – LINK to companion piece – Bobby’s Smith King Productions 1963-1965 Bobby Smith, we now know, had been commissioned by Syd Nathan to build a recording studio in Macon, Georgia, the adopted hometown of King Records’ biggest star, James Brown.  Thomas Goodwin

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"Boogie King"
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Merle Kilgore on Starday-King

Former Starday recording artist Merle Kilgore would have an unsuccessful stint at Columbia/Epic in the mid-1960s before rejoining the fold at the newly-expanded Starday-King (the King label having consolidated with Starday upon the death of its founder/owner Syd Nathan in 1968).  Starday historian emeritus Nathan D. Gibson interviewed Kilgore for 2011’s superb

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"Going Back to Alabama"
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Mickey Murray LP II: Released?

Soul singer Mickey Murray recorded only two full-length albums over the course of his career — one for SSS International, 1967’s Shout Bamalama & Super Soul Songs  (the label’s first hit for Shelby Singleton), and the other, entitled People are Together, for King subsidiary Federal Records in 1970.  People Are Together

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