1975 m/st "mini-analysis" postscript!

My stock copy of ABKCO 4701 "I Don't Know Why" by the Rolling Stones is wide stereo.

my commercial 45 for the moments song "look at me (i'm in
love)" issued as stang 5060 does not state mono or stereo
on the label but is clearly mono.....hope this helps the
quest....

EdisonLite wrote: <-Barry Manilow-"Mandy" -Tony Orlando & Dawn-"Look In My Eyes Pretty Woman"> It's interesting to see how long Bell held out before releasing stereo singles. (BTW, I always think of "Mandy" as a 1974 single, but I'm guessing if it's here it peaked in early 1975?

Gordon, Bell held out to the
very end issuing mono 45s (except for the singular 1973 Vicki Lawrence
mono/stereo anomoly, discovered on this board some years ago.) Despite
Arista founder Clive Davis' (who acquired the Bell label and then converted
it to Arista, as of 1/1/75) claim that "Mandy" was the first Arista 45, that
statement is patently false. It was actually the 8th-to-last Bell 45 issued
(Bell 45613). I even noted the date I bought the 45 on the generic, red Bell
sleeve: 11-27-74. As for "Look In My Eyes Pretty Woman", it was *the*
very last Bell 45 issued (45620). My date-of-purchase was 12-19-74. So
you're right, Gordon - these two were "released '74/peaked '75" songs.
Probably two reasons for Clive to have "ended Bell" with T.O. & Dawn: 1)
It's always good for a label to "go out on a successful note", I suppose,
and this was the group's immediate follow-up to their Top 10 hit,
"Steppin' Out (Gonna Boogie Tonight)." And, 2) Tony Orlando & Dawn
(Bell's top artist at this time) were not going to be among the acts moving
from Bell to Arista, as they'd signed with Elektra, also beginning on
1/1/75. (Despite this, Davis did sneak out a couple of "from-the-Bell-
vaults" 45s on Arista, one before & one after their 3 1975 Elektra 45s;
both did little or nothing.)
I've also read that Davis said the only groups he "brought with him from
Bell" were Manilow, Melissa Manchester & The Bay City Rollers, but there
were others, such as Suzi Quatro, Gary Glitter, and Robby Benson (the
actor!) Finally, FYI, Arista issued all stereo stock 45s, right from the get-
go.   

Edited by jimct

Thank you VERY much, Jim, for all your tremendous contributions to our 1968-1974 mono/stereo 45 project, which I am very happy to announce is now officially complete! Without your invaluable assistance and that of other very helpful message board members, it would've taken me FAR longer to finish this ambitious task of compiling all these mono/stereo lists.

As I wrapped up the 1974 list, I counted only 17 Top 40 commercial 45 singles issued in mono that year and therefore naturally assumed all stock 45 releases in subsequent years were unanimously issued in stereo (with perhaps a rare mono exception here and there). I must say, I was shocked to learn from Jim's findings that 11 Top 40 commercial 45 singles were still released in mono in 1975, just a slightly less total than in 1974! This also means there was actually a greater total of MONO 45s released in 1975 than the nine total STEREO 45s issued in 1968!

In light of this new information, I've decided to compile a "bonus" 1975 mono/stereo list and will be posting it here on the message board shortly. I'm now assuming (and hoping for the sake of this gigantic project!) that nearly 100% of all commercial 45 releases were in stereo from 1976 going forward. But just to be certain, if anyone is aware of any 1976 Top 40 singles issued in mono please let us know.

Edited by Todd Ireland