Numero Group: By The Numbers

(Seasons) Greetings Numerophiles!

Another year in the books and we are no wiser, wealthier, or healthier. Such is the life of running “the world’s greatest reissue label” (Spin Magazine said it, but who can disagree?)—a title we aim to hold onto in 2013 by upping the ante from custom 45 boxes and gold embossed velvet to four alternate LP covers and a playable board game. 2013 marks our tenth year in business, a headboard notch we’ll scratch in elaborate fashion over the coming year. We hope you can join us on this journey.

We’re very aware that the last two titles of 2012 Vinyl Subscriptions have yet to ship. If we had it our way, both Medusa: First Step Beyond LP and Eccentric Soul: The Bandit Label 3LP would be in our warehouse and awaiting placement in a custom mailer. But alas, delays at the manufacturer have made these impossible to ship before the 10th of January. Oddly enough, however, the first three subscription items for 2013 are already in house and will be on your doorstep before the menorah is stowed for 2014. Part One is a mixed bag of soul, garage, hard rock, funk, and gospel, split across ten LPs and six 45s. As always we’ll be offering a bonus 45 and a 15% discount on our entire catalog. On deck:

NUM701 Pretty: Mustache In Your Face+3 2×7″

Recorded in an actual cave in western Missouri, the quartet formerly known as the Fabulous Four emerged from the depths in 1969 with an album’s worth of wasted psychedelia. Helmed by the Electric Prunes’ Michael Quint, the session produced one promo-only 45, bearing the truly un-pretty Squeakie label—a madman’s face in red-on-white, howling out of the spindle hole. The songs blend backwards guitar lines, Flamenco runs, triple tracked  vocals, heavy distortion, handclaps, key vamps, a Stones rip, and extremely absurd lyrical content. “Mustache In Your Face” and its flip have been paired with two other magical numbers, their five business card story, and stuffed into a cherry gatefold sleeve.

NUM702 Wicked Lester: You Are Doomed+3 2×7″

No, not the first incarnation of Kiss, just three wasted kids from Cleveland, Ohio, infatuated with the new wave of british heavy metal. Kick-started in Cleveland in 1979, girls, drugs, sports, and jock rivalry fueled Wicked Lester’s aggressive “fuck the draft” sound. Minted at Boddie in 1981, Wicked Lester’s lone single paired “Here Comes My Girlfriend” with the lovesick, late-Pink Floyd moves of “Say Your Prayers,” recorded on the same ominous day that John Hinckley Jr. shot President Ronald Reagan. We’ve added two unreleased tracks, thrown all four sides into a beautiful gatefold 7” sleeve, and added a couple thousand words about their near-meaningless existence.

NUM703 Cave Dwellers: Run Around+3 2×7″

Recorded in 1967 at Chicago’s Universal Studios and laboriously laden with Buckinghams-style horns and strings, the Cave Dwellers thought they’d locked their first hit down. Given just a few minutes to produce a b-side, the quintet unleashed their primitive and theretofore-unheard power. “Run Around” ended up a punk precursor that took contemporary rock to its tough, angry, and logical conclusions, scorching past anything the radio ran in its day. Intending only to tear off something fast and easy, the Dwellers had achieved one of Chicago garage rock’s most ferocious moments. That original Jim-Ko single has been reproduced alongside two previously unissued rockers and housed in a glorious gatefold sleeve with copious notes and quotes from a confused newsman about the “longhair” invasion.

NUM043 Eccentric Soul: The Dynamic Label 2LP

Born out of the largesse created from Rene & Rene’s Hot 100 Tejano tornado “Angelito,” Dynamic Records was but one of half a dozen labels run by San Antonio music and real estate mogul Abe Epstein. His flag ship group, the Commands, took their AFB circuit-honed chops up to the middle of the charts in 1966 with “No Time For You,” paving the way for 20 other soulful singles over Dynamic’s impressive two and a half year run. Epstein’s open door policy led to a diverse cross section of the population converging inside his studio on General McMullan Drive, as whites, blacks, and Latinos were swapped in and out of groups as needed. That melting pot mentality is well represented by the Tonettes, Little Jr. Jesse & the Tear Drops, Don & the Doves, Willie Cooper & the Webs, Bobby Blackmon & his Soul Express, and Doc & Sal. Compiled here are 28 of Dynamic’s most intriguing sides, representing the first layer of a treasure trove of San Antonio soul we’ll be unleashing over the coming year.<p>

CT-102 Mickey & the Soul Generation: Complete Recordings 3LP

For the tenth anniversary of DJ Shadow’s Cali-Tex records’ reissue of Mickey & the Soul Generation’s complete works, Numero has gone back to the scene of the crime and re-canvased for new leads. Expanded liner notes, a previously unissued ballad, and the first ever vinyl issue of the second CD’s contents are included here, alongside half a dozen previously unpublished photographs of this multi-ethnic funk combo from San Antonio, Texas.

NUM040 Good God! Apocryphal Hymns 2LP

The third entry into our Good God! series abandons funk altogether, instead focusing on the esoteric moments found buried deep on private-issue LPs from the the Me Decade. Featuring four unique album covers pulled straight from the pages of the Century stock jacket catalog, Apocryphal Hymns examines a world buried deep on side 2, those lost moments of experimental praise and devotion recorded as an after thought for a listener who needed no turntable.

N44004 King Bullard Version LP

The fourth release in our trad LP-only Numerophon line gathers highlights from James Bullard’s  BOS label. BOS got its start inside Lester Johnson and Bill Branch’s Way Out concern, running the gospel wing of Cleveland’s largest black-owned record company, and picking up a ton of Way Out’s soulful flavor in the process. This single LP features 14 songs, with liner notes by noted gospel historian John Glassburner.

NUM047 Eccentric Soul: The Forte Label 2LP

A king’s ransom of soul and funk from the City of Fountains (Kansas City for the uninformed), all produced under the watchful eye of TV producer Ellis Taylor. Though the label’s star was James Brown Revue castaway Marva Whitney, Taylor’s 15-year yield included singles by the likes of the Fantastiks, Gene Williams, Lee Harris, the Rayons, the Four Darlings, Everyday People, Sharon Revoal, Louis Chachere, Tony Ashley, the Fabulous Rhythm Makers, and Marva’s brother James Whitney.

The compact disc edition of our 2013 subscription surfs the above edges, but is a bit… well… more compact, and cheaper. Our plan is to issue only six titles in our main line next year, though to be fair, one of them is an elaborate double disc. We’re not quite sure what the final disc of 2013 is going to be, but it will be either an entry into our Buttons or Local Customs series. Of course all six will meet or exceed our standard for packaging, notes, research, and over all quality, plus you get the 15% discount and the bonus 45.

NUM043 Eccentric Soul: The Dynamic Label CD

NUM040 Good God! Apocryphal Hymns CD

NUM047 Eccentric Soul: The Forte Label CD

NUM048 Title TBA CD

Hair, Hobbits, and Hard Rock. Let these 15 hard rock blasterpieces from the private ’70s soundtrack to your next D&D or Magic the Gathering night. Dungeon map and 20 sided die included.<p>

NUM050 Title TBA 2CD+Book

In the late 1970s, a peculiar sound was bubbling up from the land of 10,000 lakes. Not known for its abundance of soul nor a sizable African American population, Minneapolis still harbored a tight-knit community of musicians who, between 1976 and 1984, manipulated the dance music of their coastal contemporaries into a brightly lit, multicolored, energetic fusion, taking R&B’s innate danceability and giving it a glam-rock sheen. The most shakeable moments have been compiled onto two discs, with a hardback book packed with photos and stories from this vibrant scene. Lesser royalty? Perhaps. But the blood here runs purple.

Finally, we’re officially launching our 45 subscription. The Eccentric Soul 45 subscription guarantees two 45s every other month, delivered directly to your door. Content will be a mix of previously unissued material and straight-up rare-as-all-get-out 45s from the soul diaspora. All singles are housed in a glorious duotone sleeve and slide perfectly into the Numero 45 box for easy storage. We’re even tossing in the subscriber-only bonus 45 from the CD and LP subscriptions. The first three singles are as follows:

ES-030 Signs Of The Time “Hurts So Bad” b/w “I Think Of You”
ES-031 Notations “That Girl” b/w “I’m For Real”
ES-032 James Dockery “My Faith In You Is All Gone” b/w “Giving You The Love You Need”

Let’s recap:

2013 Vinyl Subscription (Part 1): $150
2013 CD Subscription: $120
2013 Eccentric Soul 45 Subscription: $75

International subscriptions will ship in blocks of two to keep prices low.

Your patronage, as always, is appreciated. We couldn’t do this without you.