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William King, Lionel Ritchie, Thomas McClary, Milan Williams, Walter Orange and Ronald La Pread of the were in town last week for a few days and yours EXCITING l.p.s truly went by to see the group The Commodores are from the little town of Tuskegee, 3 Alabama where the guys formed their group An interesting side-note about the

name Commodores is that the guys threw a dictionary up in the air, it landed and then a blindfolded William King picked a word from the EIGHT SIZZLIN SINGLES open page. Believe it or not it came to the word Commodores The guys are especially happy about all the international exposure they have been getting This past year they have been to Japan twice, Philippines and Europe They also received a gold record in Nigeria for "Machine FREDDIE NORTH, "CUSS THE WIND" Gun." The guys now are developing into new grooves especially their latest single "This Is Your Life." A new LP is also out entitled "Movin' On " The guys do most of Mankind 12022 From Upcoming L.P. Mankind 205 their writing on the road, however before they go into the studios they have ev- erything planned ahead of time Eventually they would like to move to L A however, EAST ST. LOUIS GOSPELETTES, they like Tuskegee because it's warm and every year Tuskegee Institute, their alma mater, gets a whole new shipload of "ST'S A JESUS AFFAIR" Nashboro 1018 coeds Al Green made his Las Vegas debut last week at the Sahara and my Las Vegas spy From Nashboro LP 7152 Ricky Roulette says that Al set a new attendance record with his opening Al also re- ceived three standing ovations from the crowd on hand Some of the celebrities and GOSPEL KEYNOTES, guests that were there to honor Al included Keith Knudsen and Jeff “Skunk” Baxter of the Doobie Brothers, who flew in from Massachusetts after a 60 day tour, Jackie, Tito "JESUS YOU'VE BEEN GOOD TO ME" and Dede Jackson, Mrs. Joseph Jackson, Ron Townson, Don Rickies, Juliet Prowse and a number of executives from London Records. Al did all his hits including his Nashboro 1026 From Nashboro LP 7147 latest "Full Of Fire," and two new samplings from his upcoming LP Edwin Starr never stops working He recently returned from eight weeks in S Africa and last SWAN EE QUINTET, "UPS week opened at the Starwood where he vocalized on some of his new material off his AND DOWNS" latest LP for Granite Free To Be Myself." Edwin worked out on "Pain" and "Stay With "25 Creed 5228 From Creed LP 3062 Me He also did his great oldie hits. "War” and Miles." . . . DYNAMIC CORVETTES "KEY TO HAPPINESS" Abet 9461

Kenny Luper "Do The Best You Can" Creed 5230 WORKIN’ OUT - Shown above are the 21st Century movin' on up during a recent ap- LP From Creed 3063 pearance on Don Cornelius' Soul Train The five guys from Chicago currently have an "Testify" LP out on RCA entitled "Ahead Of Our Time." Their next single release will be "Does Your Mama Know About Me?" From left to right are: Pierre Johnson, Fred Williams, Alonzo Martin, Tyrone Moores and Alphonso Smith Gil Scott-Heron came up with a great quote on the city of New York. Gil said Abe Beame should declare war on the United States and after twenty-four hours make an

unconditional surrender and then ask the government for aid . Sister Sledge are in Philadelphia attending school and watching their latest single, "Love Has Found Me," climb up the charts Undisputed Truth freaked out nearly all the people in Tower Records on the Strip Halloween night when the group ran around the store signing Oliver Sain autographs DeLite Records is going to delight a lot of people out there with a new release It's entitled "I Wanna Give You Tomorrow" by Benny Troy. Watch for it "London Express" Sir Sherwood Forest, my man in London said Natalie Cole is knockin' 'em dead in England and the rest of the continent Natalie will be returning to the states soon as Abet 9460 she has a gig in L A at the end of this month Her next single release will be " “Inseparable "Train Ride To Hollywood," the new Bloodstone film was sneaked in From Abet 407 Detroit Halloween night and the group performed before the sneak. Barry Hanker- "Blue Max" son, assistant to Detroit's mayor Coleman Young presented the guys keys to the city "Give Me Your Heart," the guys latest single continues to keep movin' on up the

charts . The Sylvers who have been quiet for a while have a new single release out on Capitol that should make the kids hotter than a pistol “Boogie Fever." is their latest

and this one is going to be a super-monster for these talented youngsters . Bobby Sheen, who used to be the lead singer with Bob B. Soxx and the Blue Jeans has a new single on Chelsea which is dyn-o-mite Entitled "Love Stealing," this one should be Jesse Morrison just as big as "Zip A Dee Doo Dah ” Cash Box offers its deepest condolences on the passing of Oliver Nelson. The man was truly a music man in the highest tradition "Loving You/ Marc Gordon has announced that group members Marilyn McCoo and Billy Davis, Jr. of The Fifth Dimension will depart group after their engagement at the Riviera. The Shakie Puddin" two have been with the group for ten years, but want to branch out in other areas of the entertainment business. The two new replacements are Eloise Laws, Hubert and Abet 9462 Ronnie's sister and Danny Beard, who has appeared in "The Wiz,” and "Pippin." Ronnie Laws looks to have a real monster on his hands with his new single "Always From Abet LP 408 " There This tune is as 'bad' as Grover Washington's "Mr. Magic" and has mucho pop

"The Versatility Of" appeal . Went over to the Dinah Shore show last week to see Muhammad Ali tape the show

Yours truly thought "The Greatest" would sing, however he did not, even though it is rumored that Ali plans to sign a recording deal in the near future Ali however on the All LPs listed available on 8-track tape show announced that he will be starring in a film about his life, from his autobio- graphy Ali was marvelous on Dinah as he displayed his terrific wit, great charm and deep sensitivity on the tube David Ruffin, whose "Walk Away From Love" seems to be one of the hottest records in the country at the moment is in L A now taping ion WOODLAND STREET Soul Train and American Bandstand ... All Platinum is whisking out some new disks this week. They include Chuck Jackson's "Needing You. Wanting You,” Retta Young, NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE 37206 "You Beat Me To The Punch," "Do What You Feel," The Rimshots "Got To Get To Know You," by the Moments and "Disco Shirley" by Shirley & Co. . . . continued on pg. 36

32 November 15, 1975