The Best Of Valmor Records The Roomates Cathy Jean Embers Vinyl LP Record VG+

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The Best Of Valmor Records The Roomates Cathy Jean Embers Vinyl LP Record VG+ Vinyl / Jacket Grade per Goldmine Standard: VG+ / VG+; Jacket still in shrink SIDE A1.ROOMATES * GLORY OF LOVE2.ROOMATES * MY KISSES FOR YOUR THOUGHTS3.EMBERS * I WONT CRY ANYMORE4.ROOMATES * ONE SUMMER NIGHT5.CATHY JEAN & ROOMATES * I ONLY WANT YOU6.EMBERS * WHAT A SURPRISE7.ROOMATES * NEVER KNEW8.CATHY JEAN & ROOMATES * MAKE ME SMILE AGAIN9.TWILIGHTS * MY HEART BELONGS TO ONLY YOUSIDE B1.EMBERS * SOLITAIRE2.ROOMATES * COME GO WITH ME3.EMBERS * I WISH I DIDN’T LOVE YOU SO4.PARAMOUNTS & EDDIE SAXON * BLUES NO MORE5.EMBERS * ABIGAIL6.ROOMATES * BAND OF GOLD7.EMBERS * I WAS TOO CAREFUL8.TWILIGHTS * OH BABY LOVE9.CATHY JEAN & ROOMATES * PLEASE LOVE MEFOREVERThe “Valmor” label was the creation of Jody Cameron Malis andher husband Gene, two energetic New York City entrepreneurswho enjoyed some success in the record business with hits byCathy Jean and the Roomates, the Roomates and the Embers in1960 and 1961. Almost all of the slim output on Valmor and itssubsidiary Empress gained at least regional attention; few labelsthen (or now) were as lucky with so few releases. The eighteensongs on this album were all carefully rehearsed and profession-ally recorded; there is a very distinct smooth, almost melancholy,feel to the Valmor group ballads (even those by Cathy Jean, whocouldn’t sing) that set them apart from others of the period.Jody Malis was admirably situated to judge the merits of rockand roll songs in 1959. She occupied the powerful position ofrecord librarian at WMGM radio in New York, and she conscien-tiously auditioned at least the first fifteen seconds of each of thehundreds of 45’s received at the station, looking for the “hook”(or, as she calls it, the “signature”) that would mark the nextbreakout hit. Jody became infatuated with the song “Please LoveMe Forever,” as performed by an obscure black group called theSedates on the MRB label. She recognized the hit potential of thesong, but felt that the Sedates' vocal just didn't have enough punchto make it. Always bursting with creative ideas, Jody had to filethis one for awhile until she found the right vehicle for the song.Gene Malis had been successful in advertising and promotion;they joined forces to begin Finesse Records in the fall of 1959.Their first release received a lot of N.Y.C. play; the Twilights (laterto become the Embers, but not the same group as Willis Sandersand the Embers) were a black group in their mid-20’s from Brook-lyn who did an excellent job on the standard, “My Heart Belongsto Only You.” The Malises were unable to break the record nation-ally, but were quite happy with the reaction to their first effortJody and Gene Malis signed the Roomates (see Relic LP 5041,“Best of the Roomates” for their complete story) in 1960. but theyselected fifteen year-old Cathy Jean Giordano from Brooklyn to dothe lead vocal on their first Valmor release (#007) in the fall of1960 (the name Valmor, by the way, was borrowed from a ThirdAvenue furniture store!). “Please Love Me Forever” was an im-mediate hit; it won WINS dj Murray the K’s “boss record’’ for theweek and started to break out all over the Northeast. It lasted along time on the national charts, and finally reached its apex onthe Top 100 in April, 1961.Jody was painfully aware that Cathy Jean who really wanted tobe an opera singer, was a probable one-shot artist. She tried toget the “Angel Baby,” “Thousand Stars” sound so popular at thetime, and she evidently succeeded. Mrs. Malis noted the abilityof Kathy Young and the Innocents to break two artists at one timewith one hit record, and she adapted this hit-making formula toher own artists. Cathy Jean recorded the voice track on her songsseparately, and the Roomates would overdub the background vocallater. The young team tried again with a remake of the Passions'New York standard "I Only Want You,” the pop cherry “Make MeSmile Again,” and a nice remake of the Youngtones' 1958 Bruns-wick 45 of “O Tell Me” called “Please Tell Me” (the Youngtoneswere the first group managed by the Malises). Cathy and theRoomates did a big summer tour in 1961 for General Artists, butnever again achieved the “Please Love Me Forever” acclaim.“Come Go With Me,” the Roomates’ adequate version of the Del-Vikings’ classic, and “One Summer Night,” their interpretation ofthe Danleers’ ballad, were recorded for an LP compilation called“At the Hop,” released on Valmor in September, 1961. Cathy Jeanhad one side (backed, of course, by the Roomates), and the fourteenagers from Forest Hills, Queens, N.Y. did six tunes of theirown. Featuring the idiosyncratic, highly-stylized lead of baritoneSteve Susskind, the Roomates consisted also of Bob Minsky, bass;Jack Carlson, falsetto and first tenor; and Felix Alvarez, secondtenor. Their major hit “Glory of Love” was first recorded in amemorable evening session on November 25, 1960 (the versionincluded on this album), as were “Band of Gold” and “Never Knew,”here presented also in their original form before remix from thisNovember session, “My Kisses for Your Thoughts,” recorded atRegent Studios in Manhattan on October 16, 1961, was the B-sideof the group's third Valmor release, “My Foolish Heart.”The next big group for Gene and Jody were the Brooklyn-basedEmbers, who had started recording two years earlier as the Twi-lights. Mrs. Malis remembers that Felix of the Roomates met Bobby,the lead of the Embers, and brought the group to Valmor wherethey were chosen to debut the new Empress label Impressed withtheir pure, natural sound, Jody began to look for the right songfor the group. It seemed each Ember could handle lead, so a votewas taken and Bobby won. The first takes in the “Solitaire” sessionwere too clean, so Jody, always looking for that distinctive “signa-ture” that most big hits had, implored Bobby to “move his mouthlike Johnny Mathis but imitate Della Reese!” These instructionsmust have worked because “Solitaire” (or “Since You're Gone” asit was popularly known) became a strong regional hit in early 1961.It was followed by “I Won’t Cry Anymore” and “I Was Too Careful,”released as Empress 104 in October, 1961, and then “Abigail”(backed again with “I Was Too Careful”) in July of 1962. The un-released gem on this album is the Embers’ “Wish I Didn’t Love YouSo” (recorded on September 16, 1961), while their “What a Sur-prise” was completed on October 18, 1962.Although “Abigail” received a lot of airplay, the Embers werenot able to follow up “Solitaire.” They always sound smooth andpolished, but none of their subsequent songs had the distinct hookof the bass “Since you’re gone” opening of “Solitaire.”The Paramounts (possibly the same group who recorded forCarlton and Dot in 1960-61) were a white group who backed EddieSaxon on their best record, “Blues No More.” It received littleairplay, unfortunately, and is easily the most obscure of all theValmor group harmony songs.Although Gene and Jody were quite successful with Valmor-Empress in the brief period that they ran the labels, the businessside of their operation was never fun and they decided to manageand to record the Roomates for other labels (see Relic LP 5041)They administered Canadian American Records in the mid-sixtiesand later Jody wrote and produced over forty children’s albumsfor Peter Pan and Golden Records. Gene and Jody Malis still workas a team — they now publish the authoritative, national toll-freephone directories — but Jody still has her heart set on a Broadwaymusical before she abandons her show business dreams (writtenand produced by her, of coure.) The Malises remember the hecticearly sixties days of their Valmor and Empress labels with fondnessand perspective, and they surely have left their own distinctivesignature on the history of rock and roll.Donn Fileti(thanks to Jody Malis and Paul Heller) lp5736-BE

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Location: Kingsport, Tennessee

End Time: 2025-01-30T12:29:15.000Z

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