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1. MOJOBA:
SAY YOU WILL
(Robert Johnson-Sam Moseley)
Although Mojoba, as named, was a short lived
group, its members had a long history of wor-
king together. Sam Mosley and Bob Johnson
met in their hometown of New Albany, MS
and formed a band. They initially cut tracks
in Tupelo, MS as Bobby Johnson and the
Messengers which were probably unreleased.
The band went to work clubs in Memphis, and
in the late ‘60s cut some tracks at Hi Records.
Two of the sides were released as crediting
Sam Mosley on Hi subsidiary MOC
You’ve Got
It
/
Charlie Tuttle
, and then two more sides,
Is
It Over
/
Gimme Some Lovin’
were released on Hi
Records proper, strangely crediting David Duke.
Soon after recording at Hi, female singer
Doris Badie joined the band. In 1971, the band
released an entire LP and a single on their
own SABO label under the name Sam and
Bob and the Soulmen. The group continued
to play around Memphis and by the mid-70s
changed their named to Mojoba (the Mosley
Johnson Band). Mojoba got a deal with Poly-
dor Records to release two singles. The first
single,
Keep The Funk A Flowin’
/
Disco Music
,
was released on Polydor 14359 in 1976.
Keep
The Funk A Flowin’
was a relatively generic
sounding disco funk track with Mosley singing
lead and the band on backup. Strangely,
Disco
Music
was an excellent midtempo track that
did not have a stereotypical disco sound.
The group’s second 45,
I Know
/
Say You
Will
, was released on Polydor 14400 in 1977.
I Know
is a decent midtempo southern soul
track, with a
Clean Up Woman
style backing
and Mosley and Johnson doing nice Sam and
Dave style harmonies. However, the flipside
(only available on the rare stock copy of an al-
ready rare single),
Say You Will
, has become a
collectible rare groove classic; the track has a
groovy southern but fragile backing track, with
Mosley singing lead and the band providing
excellent background harmonies.
After the release of the single, Doris Badie had
her own solo single released on Polydor 14401;
it was probably recorded at the same session
with the same band but had additional female
backing singers. Mosley and Johnson continued
to write music and record for Malaco Records
in the ‘80s and worked together until John-
son’s death in 1998.
2. THE REASON WHY:
STEP INSIDE MY WORLD
(Hutch-Warren)
In 1977, Polydor released
So Long Letter (In
A Picture Frame)
/
Step Inside My World
by
a group called The Reason Why on catalog
number 14382. Little is known about the group
and any clues about the record mostly come
from producer Willie Hutch.
The Reason Why single was released during a
small window in Hutch’s career when he was
changing labels; he had just left Motown after
many years and was about to sign with Nor-
man Whitfield’s sub-label of Warner Brothers.
Hutch was not only a prolific artist but a proli-
fic producer and usually produced and wrote
for artists on labels to which he was signed.
The lead singer on The Reason Why single
has a voice very similar to Hutch’s (especial-
ly on the
So Long Letter
side) – many artist
producers tended to favor groups that had
singers with voices similar to theirs, especially
since they knew how to successfully work with
the sound. This similarity probably meant that
The Reason Why was a group that Hutch was
managing / producing (versus contract label
production work for an unknown group) and
was able to place a one-o single of them
on Polydor. Hutch almost exclusively worked
in Los Angeles throughout his career so the
group was likely from LA. Both sides were
written by Hutch and a B. Warren; copyright
records reveal the other writer to be Brian War-
ren, likely a member of The Reason Why. I was
unable to find another recording group that
had a known member Brian Warren; however,
the singing and harmony on the record is tight
enough that the group or at least some mem-
bers probably recorded under a di erent name.
So Long Letter (In A Picture Frame)
is an
excellent slow-to-midtempo sweet soul ballad
about a breakup.
Step Inside My World
is an
excellent mid-to-uptempo disco soul cut only
available on the stock copy of the single. Both
tracks have excellent harmony.
3. CRYSTAL CLEAR:
STAY WITH ME
(Buddy Turner)
Polydor released two singles on Crystal Clear
in 1980: Polydor 2099
You’re So Unreal / Stay
With Me
and Polydor 2145
Oomph In My Life /
Trademark
. Not much is known about Crystal
Clear, except that they were a female group
probably from Philadelphia, given that both
singles were co-produced by Philadelphia
producers. Polydor 2099 was produced by
Doug King and Buddy Turner while 2145 was
produced by Doug King and Morris Bailey.
Although not well known to record collec-
tors, Doug King had a long career producing
records in Philadelphia. In the late ‘70s to
early ‘80s, King produced several female acts,
including Vaneese and Carolyn on Polydor
and Direct Current on TEC. Direct Current
was probably not related to Crystal Clear
as the group had an overlapping career and
consisted of the three Clement sisters; one of
the sides of the Crystal Clear singles credits a
Pearl Scott, who was probably a member.
Stay With Me
is one of the most collectible soul
singles on the Polydor label. The track features
an excellent rare groove / disco backing with
a strong female lead and female backing at
the chorus. The two Crystal Clear singles are
unusual Polydor singles in that the collectible
sides are actually the A-sides. The promotional
versions of both singles are double A-sided,
and are rare enough that they are valuable
even without having alternate songs on the flip.
This Crystal Clear group is not related to the
male band who released a single on A Major
Label (probably from Louisiana); they are
also probably unrelated to the New York area
band (with mostly male vocals) that had a 12”
on Pretty Pearl. Confusingly, there was also a
Euro-disco act called Crystal Grass recording
on Polydor in the mid-’70s.
4. VANEESE & CAROLYN:
GOODBYE SONG
(Vaneese Thomas-Carolyn Mitchell)
Vaneese & Carolyn were Vaneese Ysault Tho-
mas and Carolyn Mitchell. Vaneese Thomas is
from Memphis and is the daughter of the late
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