Avco Embassy Records was started by film producer Joseph E. Levine, who was the head of Avco
Embassy Pictures. Hugo & Luigi (Hugo Peretti and Luigi Creatore, producers/songwriters/performers)
were also part of the label from the beginning. It was tied to Avco Embassy Pictures, a film works
formed in the mid 1960s when Avco bought Embassy Pictures, and used the same logo as the film
company.
The label name remained Avco Embassy throughout 1969-70 and most of 1971, but about October,
1971, the "Embassy" was dropped and the label continued as just Avco Records. Later, about the end of
1975, Hugo and Luigi bought out Levine, and the label name changed to H&L (for Hugo and Luigi),
although the label design remained similar. In any case, Avco Embassy, Avco, and H&L were essentially
the same label, or at least a continuous succession of labels retaining the same artist roster, except for
administrative and legal paperwork. H&L Records went out of business in late 1978, and eventually their
masters were acquired by Amherst Records.
Avco Embassy
Avco Embassy was a very eclectic label that issued 22 albums in their main series, three soundtracks in
their soundtrack series, and one "special products" album. Their output was all over the map: Soul/funk
music, psychedelic, light folksy pop, instrumentals, heavy rock, even oldies. They left us with some very
interesting and collectible albums, particularly the Bead Game album, the Liquid Smoke album, the
Reparata and the Delrons album, and the Soul in the Beginning compilation. As far as album
chart presence, however, they just weren't there. The only Avco Embassy album to reach a chart was
Della Reese's Black Is Beautiful [AVE 33004], which reached #44 on the R&B charts.
They fared slightly better on the singles side. Their fourth single, "Hold Me" by the Baskerville Hounds
[Avco Embassy 4504] made #88 on the national pop charts in October, 1969. The following April, Liquid
Smoke scored #82 on the national charts with their remake of Ben E. King's "I (Who Have Nothing)"
[Avco Embassy 4522], although it did considerably better in some cities. In May, 1970, Glass Bottle
reached #109 with "Love for Living" [Avco Embassy 4527]. That was it for 1969 and 1970 on the charts,
although Avco Embassy released non-charting singles by many other artists, including the Saxophone
Circus, the Ox Bow Incident, Mitchell St. Nicholas, Jimmy Angel, People Tree, the Train, Dave McCoy,
Electric Duck, the Eefrom Zeefrom Mixture, Plum Run, Geoffrey Stevens, Hot Ice, the Yak, Della Reese,
Eric Mercury, Marty Gold, Royce Jones, Heavy Jelly, Allan Nichols, the Easy Riders, Still Hill, Henri
Mancini (from the film Sunflower), Toy Factory, Disciple, Windsor Tunnel, the Changing Scene,
Bead Game, South Amboy Port Authority, Stosh Zikka, Lyn Christopher, Flesh, Ann Margret, Hugo &
Luigi, Rick Curtis, Mitch Ryder, the pastor Brothers, Janet Helm, the Younghearts, Thundermug (a
Canadian band), Marion Black, Jacki & Bobbi, Smokey John Bull, Hooch, Gershon Kingsley, Chocolate
Syrup, the Jive Five, the Third Image, Rosalie Mark, Marc Copage, and Love Potion. Many of these
artists were also worthy of album releases, even though those didn't chart, either. Avco Embassy also
tried a country and western album and single by Louis Armstrong, but the public wasn't buying. In the
summer of 1971, Avco Embassy scored their highest pop hit with a second Glass Bottle single, "Ain't
Got Time Anymore" [Avco Embassy 4575], which reached #36.
Near the end of 1970, Avco Embassy found the Stylistics, a group that would be their mainstay through
the next eight years. The Stylistics (shown at left) were a vocal quintet from Philadelphia consisting of
Russell Thompkins, Jr., Airrion Love, Herbie Murrell, James Dunn, and James Smith. By the time the
group formed in 1968, all the members were veterans of the Philly scene, with Murrell and Dunn having
been in the Monarchs for years and the remaining three coming from the Percussions. They started
recording for the Sebring label in 1969 with "You're A Big Girl Now"/"Let the Junkie Beat the Pusher"
[Sebring 8370]. When the record started becoming popular locally, Avco Embassy signed the group and
reissued the single as Avco Embassy 4555 late in 1970. "You're a Big Girl Now" made #7 on the R&B
charts and inched to #73 as a pop crossover. The May, 1971, followup, "Stop, Look, Listen (To Your
Heart)" [Avco Embassy 4572] did even better, reaching #6 on the R&B charts, but this time cracking the
pop top-40 and establishing the group as a legitimate pop crossover act.
Avco
The changeover to the Avco label from Avco Embassy took place some time about early October, 1971.
Singles by the Stylistics and Glass Bottle that had been issued on Avco Embassy turned up on albums
on the Avco label. It was apparent that the scattergun approach of Avco Embassy had resulted in a lot of
interesting music, but few hits. Those hits tended to have a soul sound, so after the name change, Avco
began concentrating more on signing soul artists.
The next Stylistics record,"You Are Everything" [Avco 4581], released in early October, exploded on the
pop charts, making the top 10, marking the start of nine straight top-25 records for the group. Included in
this string were "Betcha By Golly Wow" [Avco 4591, 2/72, #3], "People Make the World Go Round"
[Avco
4595, 6/72, #25], "I'm Stone in Love with You" [Avco 4603, 10/72, #10], "Break Up to Make Up" [Avco
4611, 2/73, #5], "You'll Never Get to Heaven (If You Break My Heart)" [Avco 4618, 5/73, #23], "Rockin'
Roll Baby" [Avco 4625, 10/73, #14], "You Make Me Feel Brand New" [Avco 4634, 3/74, #2], and "Let's
Put It All Together" [Avco 4640, 7/74, #18]. In addition, all of these made the R&B top-10.
Avco scored a couple of additional hits within the first six months of the name change, those being music
veteran Donnie Elbert's remake of a Four Tops song in his unique style, "I Can't Help Myself" [Avco
4587, 2/72, #22/#14 R&B], and the Glass Bottle's final charter, "The Girl Who Loved Me When" [Avco
4584, 12/71, #87]. The Glass Bottle was a quintet from New Jersey with two lead singers, Gary Criss
and Carol Denmark, along with three musicians, Dennis Dees (guitar), Charles Moore (keyboard), and
Jon Melia (drums). Their producer was Dickie Goodman, of novelty break-in fame. After those two hits,
it was over a year before any other Avco group except the Stylistics had any success.
In the Spring of 1973, a vocal trio from Baltimore, the Soft Tones (later, the Softones), broke that
drought. The trio consisted of Marvin Brown, Steve Jackson, and Elton Lynch. Their first single, "I'm
Gonna Prove It" [Avco 4616], reached #44 on the R&B charts. They followed this in July with a remake
of the old Elvis Presley song "Can't Help Fallin' in Love" [Avco 4619], which reached #56 on the R&B
charts. A third single, "The First Day" [Avco 4626], could get them no higher than #69 in January 1975,
and their next try, "Hey There Lonely Girl"/"Extraordinary People" [Avco 4654], didn't chart at all. This is
a
common story, and usually after this type of chart showing, the group is never heard from again, but the
Softones came back in late 1975 with a huge disco hit with "That Old Black Magic" [Avco 4663, #29
R&B/#2 Disco]. Several more singles, however, failed to chart.
In January, 1974, Avco had a left-field hit with Gordon Sinclair's "The Americans (A Canadian's
Opinion)." Sinclair was a Canadian writer and broadcaster who had heard enough of the America-
bashing and decided to write an editorial for radio, which was recorded with background music and
broadcast on CFRB in Toronto on June 5, 1973. It was so well received that it was released on record
here as Avco 4628. It reached #24.
Avco signed two groups with a record of prior success on the charts: The Chambers Brothers and Little
Anthony & the Imperials. The Chambers Brothers responded by placing "Let's Go, Let's Go, Let's Go"
[Avco 4632] on the R&B charts at #76 in March (#106 pop), which was their first and last chart record for
Avco. Little Anthony fared somewhat better the next month with "I'm Falling in Love with You" [Avco
4635, #86/#25 R&B]. Little Anthony, in fact, had been signed in 1973 and this was his second Avco
single. Little Anthony's next single, "I Don't Have to Worry"/"Loneliest House on the Block" [Avco 4645],
failed to chart, but they came right back with "Hold On (Just a Little Bit Longer)" [Avco 4651], which
made #79 on the R&B charts and #106 pop. Their followup again failed to chart, and that was it.
Also in 1974, Avco tried their hand in the country music market, with some limited success. They started
a new singles series (600), and a new album series (CAV-2500) for the country releases. There were 16
singles issued in that Avco 600 country series, but apparently only one LP in the 2500 series. This is
somewhat surprising, since several of the Avco country artists were reasonably big names (e.g., Patti
Page, Bill Phillips, Darrell McCall), and five of the singles charted on the national country charts. Patti
Page made the country charts with "I May Not Be Lovin' You" [Avco 603, 11/74, #70 C&W] and the Hoyt
Axton tune "Less Than A Song" [Avco 613, 7/75, #67 C&W]. Fargo Tanner charted with "Don't Drop It"
[Avco 612, 6/75, #69 C&W]. Mary Kay James hit with "The Crossroad" [Avco 605, 1/75, #57 C&W] and
"I Think I'll Say Goodbye" [Avco 610, 5/75, #76 C&W]. But it was only James that merited an album
release. Other country artists with singles on Avco included Vicki Bird, Jim Alley, and Wild Bill Emerson.
In mid-1974, Avco signed Van McCoy, an artist/songwriter/producer/arranger/orchestra leader who
would prove to be the label's second star. McCoy, a 34-year-old native of Washington, DC, would prove
to be one of the driving forces in the late-1970s disco era. But chart success was not immediate. His
first single for Avco, "Love Is the Answer" [Avco 4639], reached #77 on the R&B charts in late summer,
1974, followed in February, 1975, by "Boogie Down" [Avco 4648], which reached #67 on the R&B charts.
It was the third single that proved the breakout: "The Hustle" [Avco 4653], which blasted to #1 on both
the pop and R&B charts and established the dance of the same name that catalyzed the disco scene.
The dance itself, which was soon being taught in dance classes across the country, became the open
door to the disco scene for the general population. And it was easily the best selling record Avco ever
had.
Surprisingly, McCoy's followup single couldn't reach the top-40 on the pop side. "Change with the Times"
[Avco 4660], another disco offering in the "Hustle" mode, only reached #46, although it was hugely
popular in discos (#6 R&B, #15 Disco).
Other artists on singles released by Avco included Sweet Mama Love, Michael Vincent, Maxine Brown,
the Premiers, Dorothy Moore, R.B. Freeman, Chackachas, Limmie & Family Cookin', the Kimico Band,
Electric Express, Congress Alley, Simon Kenyatta, Ed Boze, the Prolifics, the Tradewinds, Sharon Britt,
George Delarue, the Newark Boys Choir, Vivian Verdree, Black Magic, Vickie Landross, the Endeavors,
and Bobby Thurston.
H&L
Around the end of 1975, Hugo and Luigi bought Avco and changed the name to H&L Records. The first
H&L single was "Bubbling Brown Sugar" by Vivian Reed, taken from the Original Cast LP that was the
first album issued on H&L. All told, H&L issued about 35 singles, 23 albums, and about a half-dozen
disco singles. Whatever magic Avco had for making hits was apparently fading by that time. The next
five albums after Bubbling Brown Sugar were all by either the Stylistics or Van McCoy, and
although all made the charts, they started at below #100 and went down from there. The last chart
album was Van McCoy's "greatest hits" package. In the old industry adage, when a "greatest hits"
package comes out, it means trouble: the artist doesn't have a best selling album and the record
company is trying for some quick cash. Apparently so.
H&L only had two pop chart records from 1976-1978. Both were by Van McCoy, including "Night Walk"
[H&L 4667, #96], and "Party" [H&L 4670, #69]. Even on the R&B charts, the H&L singles could not
register a hit higher than #43. What little success H&L had was for its disco singles, three of which
made the disco top-15: Van McCoy's "Party" made #14 in the summer of 1976, while a disco medley of
his made #14 in October that same year ("Rhythms of the World/Soul Cha Cha/That's the Joint" on H&L
2002). More than a year later, Sandy Mercer's "Play with Me" [H&L 2005] made it to #11 on the disco
charts.
Around the end of 1978, H&L filed for bankruptcy. The masters were purchased by Amherst Records
(the Stylistics' new label) about 1983.
The Avco Embassy label (far left) was blue with a red band around it. It had silver print with the Avco Embassy logo in white at the top. Around the bottom of the label it read, "MANUFACTURED BY AVCO EMBASSY RECORDS CORP., 1301 AVENUE OF THE AMERICAS, NEW YORK, NEW YORK, MADE IN U.S.A." The first Avco label (near left) was similar, except the color was a bluish purple with an orange band, and the fine print at the bottom dropped the word "Embassy". | ||
Promotional copies in the 33000 series (far left) had "Promotional Copy Not For Sale" on three lines just above the "STEREO" on the right side of the label. The 11000 series (near left) had a more reddish purple label. The deejay copies had the note "D.J. Copy Not For Sale" on two lines at the left side of the label just above the record number. The address for the company changed to 1700 Broadway in New York some time between 11006 and 11010. | ||
The early issues in the 69000 series (far left) had yet a different purple color for the label. Most of the 6900 series Avco releases, however, used the orange label shown at near right. A variation on the orange label, used for 69010 and possibly others, had the Avco logo in blue instead of white. | ||
The H&L label (far left), starting with HL-69011, was similar to the orange Avco label, except the H&L logo was at the left of the label instead of at the top. Disco singles (near left) used essentially the same design. When the switch was made from Avco to H&L, the label address at the bottom of the label changed to 532 Sylvan Ave., Englewood Cliffs, N.J. 07632. | ||
The Avco Embassy inner sleeves for their albums (shown far left) were red and purple, with a white Avco Embassy logo. When the label name changed to Avco, the inner sleeves (shown near left) changed to purple and grey, with the Avco logo in white. H&L Records used blank paper inner sleeves for their albums, but a purple and orange sleeve for their disco singles (see above). |
Number - Title - Artist [Release Date] (Chart) Contents | |
Avco Embassy AVE-33000 Main series:
| |
| |
AVE 33001 - Electric Black Man - Eric Mercury [1969] Long Way
Down/Everybody Has The Right To Love/Tears, No Laughter/Life Style/Earthless//Night Lady/Again N'
Again/Hurdy Gurdy Man/You Bring Me To My Knees/Enter My Love/Electric Black Man
| |
AVE 33002 - Saxophone Circus - Saxophone Circus [1969] Performers include Al Cohn,
Buddy Lucas, and 13 others. Produced by Dickie Goodman. The Lion Sleeps Tonight/Isadora's
Theme/(others)
| |
AVE 33003 - Moog Plays the Beatles - Marty Gold & Walter Sear [1970] Eleanor
Rigby/Norwegian Wood/Day Tripper/Yesterday/Get Back/Penny Lane//Lucy in the Sky/Michelle/Hey
Jude/In My Life/Fool on the Hill/Good Night
| |
AVE 33004 - Black Is Beautiful - Della Reese [1970] (4-70, #44R&B) Produced by Hugo
& Luigi. Compared To What/Proud Mary/Get Together/With Pen In Hand/Choice Of Colors/Games
People Play/Cycles/If Everybody In the World Loved Everybody In The World/You Know How Love
Is/Comment
| |
AVE 33005 - Liquid Smoke - Liquid Smoke [1969] I Who Have Nothing/Lookin' For
Tomorrow/Hard To Handle/Reflection/Warm Touch//Shelter Of Your Arms/Set Me Free/It's A Man's
World/Let Me Down Easy
| |
*AVE 33006 - Soul ... in the Beginning - Various Artists [1970] Lien On Your Body
(Mortgage On Your Soul) - Calvin Johnson & Johnny Winter/Down And Out - Calvin Johnson & Johnny
Winter/Trouble In Mind - Clifton Chenier/Be My Chauffer - Clifton Chenier/Please Come Back To Me - T-
Bone Walker/Treat Your Daddy Well - T-Bone Walker/Tell Me Where You Stayed Last Night - Billy
Biser/Mojo Hand - Lightnin' Hopkins/December 7, 1941 - Lightnin' Hopkins
| |
AVE 33007 - Vision of Sunshine - Vision of Sunshine [1970] Male-female "hippie-pop-
psych" music.
| |
AVE 33008 - 1970 Rock and Roll Revolution - Reparata & the Delrons [1970] Quite
good remakes of classic early rock and roll female vocals, all in true stereo. One of the great overlooked
albums of the early 1970s. Lead singer is Lorraine Mazzola, later a backing singer for Barry Manilow.
Produced by Steve and Bill Jerome. Lyrics are included on back cover. Please Love Me
Forever/Lollipop/Eddie My Love/To Know Him Is To Love Him/I Met Him On A Sunday/He's So Fine//Be
My Baby/Angel Baby/Mr. Lee/Every Beat Of My Heart/Maybe/Till
| |
AVE 33009 - Welcome - Bead Game [1970] Boston-based hard rock group featuring
vocalist Jim Hodder. Punchin' Judy/Wax Circus/Amos & Andy/Mora/(others)
| |
AVE 33010 - One Man's Queen Is Another Man's Sweathog - Weight [1970]
Progressive/psychedelic band. All one can say about the cover is that it speaks for itself, I guess. The
Night The Pig Got Loose/Mr. M, Mr N And Mr C/I'm Sure We're
Gonna Die//Overhere Ego/Disillusion/Open Your Gate/The Reason Why We're Here
| |
*AVE 33011 - The Happy Feeling - Happy Feeling [1970] Produced by Norman Petty.
Good Neighbor Day/Happy Feeling/Hey, Little Man/I've Got To Get Away/If There's A Thought/Keep
Pushin'/Let Your Conscience Be Your Guide/London Towne/Sacroiliac Boop/See What I Mean?/Still
Hill/Walk With Me
| |
AVE 33012 - The Glass Bottle - Glass Bottle [1970] Sorry Suzanne/Pretty Thing/Honey
Do/Red River Sal/Velvet//Love For Living/Wonderwheel/The First Time/Make Me A Woman/Boys In The
Band
| |
AVE 33013 - Toy Factory - Toy Factory [1970] New York-based pop band featuring
vocalist George Weiss. What Is Youth/To Live Or Die/Dear Girl/Yesterday's Love/No Rhyme To
Orange//Summertime/When I'm With You/Things/Honey Forever/Little Girl
| |
AVE 33014 - Windsor Tunnel - Windsor Tunnel [1970]
| |
AVE 33015 - Come and See Us as We Are! - Disciple [1970] Pop/psychedelic band
made up of songstress Sandy Crespo (vocals), Jon Oliver (guitar, vocals), Chris Sheppard (bass,
keyboard, vocals), Dennis Lattman (keyboard, vocals), and Al Christopher (drums). Produced by
Michael Earle. Come And See Us As We Are!/Come Along/There Must Be An Answer/Bits Of My
Life/Bustin' Loose/Are We As Us See And Come (Parade) [part of first track backwards]//Better Than
You (Mental Song)/I'll Be Gone/Rescue Me/Never Changing/Got To Get You Into My Life/Come And See
Us
| |
AVE 33016 - The Changing Scene - Changing Scene [1971] Sweet And Sour/Color
California Sunshine Blue/I Can't Get Sunday Out Of My Mind/Learning How To Fly/Mama, Don't You
Wait Up For Me (Wonderwheel)/Real Good Woman//Children Of The Sun/Thursday's Child/Melody Of
Love/It Must Be Love/Sit Down Lorraine
| |
AVE 33017 - Right Now - Della Reese [1971] Billy My Love/Simple Song Of
Freedom/Love Story/Brand New Day (Main Theme From The Landlord)/Something//Daydream
City/Leftover Wine/Why Not Now/Skip A Rope/What Are You Doing The R est Of Your Life
| |
AVE 33018 - The Rick Curtis Affair - Rick Curtis Affair [1970] Soulful Morning/Darlin' I
Will/Carnival Man/Don't You Think It's Time/Odyssey//Seymour's Coming/State Of Mind/You Said It Like
I'll Always Remember/God, I Hate Tomorrows/Got To Fight It
| |
AVE 33019 - Bonanza Guitars: 50 Years of the Greatest Country Music - Al Caiola
[1971] I Walk The Line/Oh, Lonesome Me/Tennessee Waltz/I Love You So Much It Hurts/Mockin' Bird
Hill/Bye, Bye Love/Candy Kisses/Singing The Blues/Folsom Prison Blues/Detour/My Lovin' Guitar/Walk
Right In/12 String Drive/Blueberry Hill/Country Barn Dance/Walk Walk (Blue Banjo)/The World Is
Waiting For The Sunrise//Jealous Heart/Your Cheatin' Heart/Cold, Cold Heart/Tumbling
Tumbleweeds/Happy Strings/Any Time/I Can't Stop Loving You/South/Where The Blue Of The Night
Meets The Gold Of The Day/Cool Water/Goodbye Little Darlin' Goodbye/My Adobe Hacienda/I'm Movin'
On/Wabash Cannon Ball/Crying In The Chapel/Columbus Stockade Blues/Mule Skinner Blues/Down
Yonder
| |
AVE 33020 - Smokey John Bull - Smokey John Bull [1971] He Was A Friend Of
Mine/Worried Man Blues/Shorty George/The Mighty Quinn/Looking For America/Gotta Get Away
Man/E-Z Rider (Do Me Like You Did Before)//The Gospel Song/I'll Try To Make It Up To You/Georgia
Home/Chances Are Better/Hitchin' To Memphis
| |
AVE 33021 - Gershwin, Alive and Well and Underground - Gershon Kingsley & Leonid
Hambro [1971] Rhapsody In Blue/I Got Rhythm/Porgy & Bess Intro/Summertime/(others)
| |
AVE 33022 - Louis "Country & Western" Armstrong - Louis Armstrong [1971] Miller's
Cave/Almost Persuaded/Running Bear/Get Together/Crystal Chandeliers/You Can Have Her//The easy
Part's Over/Black Cloud/Why Did Mrs. Murphy Leave Town?/Wolverton Mountain/Ramblin' Rose
| |
At this point (approximately October, 1971), label name changes to Avco, deleting "Embassy". Note: Prefix changes from "AVE" to "AV". | |
AV-33023 - The Stylistics - Stylistics [1971] (12-71, #23; #3R&B) Produced by Thom
Bell. Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart)/Point Of No Return/Betcha By Golly, Wow/Country
Living/You're A Big Girl Now//You Are Everything/People Make The World Go Round/Ebony Eyes/If I
Love You
| |
AV-33024 - I Ain't Got Time Anymore - Glass Bottle featuring Gary Criss [1971]
Mastered 11-3-71. Interestingly, Side B of this album mistakenly has the Avco-Embassy master number
prefix, and undoubtedly was scheduled to be an Avco-Embassy release before the name change.
Produced by Bill Ramal and Dickie Goodman. The Girl Who Loved Me When/I Am A Heartbreak/Sweet
September/Follow Me/Marianne//I Ain't Got Time Anymore/Sometimes/I Know Your Crying/I Can't See
The Sun/Because She's Mine Again
| |
Note: Catalog sequence jumps to AV-11004-598, below. | |
Avco Embassy Miscellaneous Issue: | |
AVE 101189 - AVCO Hour of Stars - Various Artists [1971] Artists include Bob Braun,
Bonnie Lou, Cliff Lash, Colleen Sharp, Dave McCoy, Marian Spelman, Nancy Dawn, and the Three Ks.
Recorded live at the 1970 Ohio State Fair.
| |
| |
Avco Embassy AV-11000 series: Note: This series started as Avco Embassy's soundtrack series. After the label name changed to Avco, the 33000 series was discontinued and this series was used for general releases. | |
AVE 0-11001 - Sunflower (Soundtrack) - Henry Mancini [1970] Love Theme From
Sunflower/Amsha's Theme/Ciovanna/The Search/Love In The Sand/New Home in Moscow/Two
Girls/The Retreat/The Invitation/Masha Finds Antonio/The Parting In Milan
| |
AVE-0-11002 - The People Next Door (Soundtrack) - Don Sebesky [1970] Sweet
Medusa/Mama, Don't Wait Up For Me (Wonderwheel)/The Trip/Maxie Leaves Home (Mama, Don't You
Wait Up For Me)/Elliot's Pad/Mama, Don't You Wait Up For Me/Maxie/Echoes Of Sweet Medusa/The
Light Fantastic Trip/Life In Review/End Title: The People Next Door (inc. Mama, Don't You Wait Up For
Me)
| |
AVE-0-11003 - C.C. and Company (Soundtrack) - Lenny Stack [1970] Lenny Takes A
Ride/The Big Race/C.C. Has His Day/Moon Breaks It Up/The Chase/Today/I Can't Turn You
Loose/Today/Touch The Wind/The Duel/Jenny Takes A Ride
| |
At this point, label name changes to Avco, deleting "Embassy". Note: Prefix changes from "AVE-0-" to "AV-" and a price code is added to the end of the catalog number. The price code would continue as a catalog suffix from this point through the changeover to H&L. Main series catalog sequence jumps here from AVE-33024, above. | |
AV-11004-598 - Switched-On Gershwin - Gershon Kingsley & Leonid Hambro [1972]
Probably a renamed resissue of Avco Embassy AVE 33021. Rhapsody In Blue/I Got Rhythm/(6
additional tracks
from Porgy & Bess)
| |
AV 11005-598 - Chakachas - Chakachas [1972]
| |
AV-11006-598 - Round 2: The Stylistics - Stylistics [1972] (11-72, #32; #3R&B) I'm
Stone In Love With You/If You Don't Watch Out/You And Me/It's Too Late/Children Of The Night//You'll
Never Get To Heaven (If You Break My Heart)/Break Up To Make Up/Peek-A-Boo/You're As Right As
Rain/Pieces
| |
AV-11007-598 - Soul Train - Various Artists [1972] Artists include Ruby & the Party
Gang, the Three Degrees, the Continental Four, L.J. Reynolds & Chocolate Syrup, the Kimico Band, the
Stylistics, Donnie Elbert, and others.
| |
AV 11008-598 - The Ruling Class (Soundtrack) - John Cameron [1972]
| |
AV-11009-598 - Congress Alley - Congress Alley [1973]
| |
AV-11010-598 - Rockin' Roll Baby - Stylistics [1973] (11-73, #66; #5R&B) Only For The
Children/Could This Be The End/Let Them Work It Out/Make It Last/Pay Back Is A Dog//Love Comes
Easy/There's No Reason/Rockin' Roll Baby/You Make Me Feel Brand New ((Featuring Airrion Love &
Russell Thompkins Jr.)/I Won't Give You Up
| |
AV-11011-598 - Softones - Softones [1973] The First Day/Everybody But Me/Can't Help
Falling In Love/Extra-Ordinary People/I'm Gonna Prove It/Why, Why, Baby/And I Remember Your
Face/Never Let A Woman Like That Go By/My Dream
| |
AV-11012-598 - On a New Street - Little Anthony & the Imperials [1973] Side 1 produced
by Thom Bell; Side 2 produced by Teddy Randazzo. I'm Falling In Love With You/Lazy Susan/The
Loneliest House On The Block/I Don't Have Time To Worry/La La La At The End//That's What Love Is
All About/What Good Am I Without You/Sooner Or Later/Loving You Won't Hurt As Much
Tomorrow/Heartaches Never Entered My Mind/Easier Said Than Done
| |
AV 11013-598 - Unbonded - Chambers Brothers [1973] (2-74, #44R&B)
Reflections/Let's Go, Let's Go, Let's Go/The Weight/1-2-3/If Loving You Is Wrong, I Don't Want To Be
Right//Good Vibrations/Gypsy Woman/I (Who Have Nothing)/Do You Believe In Magic/Looking Back
| |
AV-11014-598 - The Day
of the Dolphin (Soundtrack) - Georges Delerue [1973] Reissued later on the H&L label
outside the US with a different cover (shown at right). Eye Of The Dolphin-The Red Ball/Theme From
The Day Of The Dolphin/Reunion/Finding The Flag/Circles And Squares/Whirlpool!/Dolphin
Hunt-They're Sneaking Up On Us/Nocturne/The Chase/Return To The Island-Goodbye/Dummy
Mine-Mr. Stone In Alpha House/Farewell/End Title/Theme From The Day Of The Dolphin
| |
AV-11015-598 to AV-11023-598 - [unknown, possibly unissued] | |
AV-11024-598 - Across the Water - Vicky Leandros [1975] Across The Water/Rock N'
Rollin' Star/You Make Me Feel Brand New/Drive On Ride On/More Than That (I'm Losing You)//Papa's
Knee/You Know Just What I'd Do/Singing Our Own Love Song/If I Can't Be Your Woman/The Song of
Longing
| |
| |
Avco CAV-2500 Country series: Note: This album series corresponded to the 600 single series. | |
CAV-2501-598 - Sweet Lovin' Time - Mary Kay James [1975] It Amazes Me (Sweet
Lovin' Time)/Someday My Ship Will Sail/Before I'm Fool Enough/I Know One/The Crossroad//Which
Way Do We Go/Wrong Road Again/I Think I'll Say Goodbye/I'll Be Losing You A Long, Long Time/I'm
Not That Good At Goodbye
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Avco AV-69000 series: Note: This series replaced the 11000 series when the price of albums went from $5.98 to $6.98. Also for this series, the label reversed colors, from a purple label with an orange band, to an orange label with a purple band, although AV-69001 was pressed with the old label. The orange with purple band design carried over to the H&L label. | |
AV-69001-698 - Let's Put It All Together - Stylistics [1974] (5-74, #14; #4R&B) Let's Put
It All Together/I Got A Letter/We Can Make It Happen Again (Featuring Airrion Love & Russell
Thompkins Jr.)/Keeping My Fingers Crossed/You Make Me Feel Brand New (Featuring Airrion Love &
Russell Thompkins Jr.)//I Got Time On My Hands/Doin' The Streets (Featuring Airrion Love & Russell
Thompkins Jr.)/I Take It Out On You/Love Is The Answer (Vocal)/Love Is The Answer (Instrumental)
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AV-69002-698 - Love Is the Answer - Van McCoy & the Soul City Symphony [1974] Love
Is The Answer/Touch Me In The Morning/Back Stabbers/Proud Mary/You Are The Sunshine Of My
Life//African Symphony (1st Mvt.)/Ain't No Mountain High Enough/Boogie Down/A Rainy Night In
Georgia/Funky Feet
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AV-69003-698 - Right Move - Chambers Brothers [1975] Medley: Crazy Bout The
Ladies/Pretty Girls Everywhere/Stop The Train/Miss Lady Brown/Lotta Fine Mama//Smack Dab In The
Middle/Stealin' Watermelons (Somethin' You Got)/Who Wants To Listen/We'll Sing Together
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AV-69004-698 - Heavy - Stylistics [1974] (11-74, #43; #8R&B) The Miracle (Featuring
Airrion Love & Russell Thompkins Jr.)/She Did A Number On Me (Featuring Herb Murrell)/Star On A TV
Show/Heavy Fallin' Out//What's Happenin', Baby?/Go Now (Featuring Airrion Love)/Don't Put It Down Til
You Been There/Hey Girl, Come And Get It/From The Mountain
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AV-69005-698 - The Best of
the Sylistics - Stylistics [1975] (2-75, #41; #13R&B) Reissued in 1976 as H&L
HL-69005-698 (shown at right). You Make Me Feel Brand New (Featuring Airrion Love & Russell
Thompkins Jr.)/Betcha By Golloy, Wow/Rockin' Roll Baby/Break Up To Make Up/You're A Big Girl
Now//I'm Stone In Love With You/Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart)/Let's Put It All Together/You Are
Everything/People Make The World Go Round
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AV-69006-698 - Disco Baby - Van McCoy & the Soul City Symphony [1975] (4-75, #12;
#1R&B) Disco Baby/Fire/The Hustle/Get Dancin'/Doctor's Orders//Turn This Mother Out/Shakey
Ground/Spanish Boogie/Pick Up The Pieces/Hey Girl, Come And Get It
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AV-69007-698 - Hold On - Little Anthony & Imperials [scheduled 1975; possibly
unissued]
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AV-69008-698 - Thank You Baby - Stylistics [1975] (6-75, #72; #9R&B) Thank You Baby
(Featuring Russell Thompkins Jr. & Airrion Love)/Can't Give You Anything (But My Love)/What Goes
Around Comes Around (Featuring Russell Thompkins Jr. & Airrion Love)/I'd Rather Be Hurt By You
(Than Be Loved By Anybody Else)/Disco Baby (Featuring Herb Murrell)//Tears And Souvenirs/Honky
Tonk Cafe/I'm Gonna Win (Russell Thompkins Jr.)/Stay (Featuring Russell Thompkins Jr. & Airrion
Love)/Sing Baby Sing
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AV-69009-698 - The Disco Kid - Van McCoy [1975] (10-75, #80; #41R&B) The Disco
Kid/I'm Gonna Love You/Change With The Times/Love Child/The Walk//Earthquake/Words Spoken
Soflty At Midnight/Roll With The Punches/Keep On Hustlin'/Good Night, Baby
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AV-69010-698 - You Are Beautiful - Stylistics [1975] (11-75, #99; #12R&B) (Also issued
as AV-69010-V.) Funky Weekend (Featuring Russell Thompkins Jr. & Airrion Love)/Jenny/That Don't
Shake/Na-Na Is The Saddest Word/Michael Or Me//The Day The Clown Came To Town/You Are
Beautiful (Featuring Russell Thompkins Jr. & Airrion Love)/To Save My Rock N' Roll Soul/If You Are
There/You Just Can't Help It
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At this point, label name changes to H&L. Note: Catalog sequence continues from above. | |
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HL-69011-698 - Bubbling Brown Sugar (Original Cast) - Various Artists [1976] Artists
include Avon Long, Josephine Premice, Vivian Reed, Ethel Beatty, and Joseph Attles. Stompin' At The
Savoy/Bubbling Brown Sugar/Nobody/His Eye Is On The Sparrow-Swing Low Sweet
Chariot/Sophisticated Lady/Stormy Monday Blues/In Honeysuckle Time, When Emaline Said She'd Be
Mine/Sweet Georgia Brown/Honeysuckle Rose/I Got It Bad/Harlem Makes Me Feel/There'll Be Some
Changes Made/God Bless The Child/It Don't Mean A Thing (Finale)
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HL-69012-698 - The Real McCoy - Van McCoy [1976] (5-76, #106; #22R&B) Jet
Setting/Love At First Sight/(To Each His Own) That's My Philosophy/Night Walk//Sweet, Sweet
Rhythm/Theme From Star Trek/Party/African Symphony
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HL-69013-698 - Fabulous - Stylistics [1976] (6-76, #117; #32R&B) Because I Love You
Girl/Can t Help Falling In Love/Maybe It's Because You're Lonely (Featuring Russell Thompkins Jr. &
Airrion Love)/You Are/It's So Good//Sixteen Bars/Baby, Don't Change Your Mind/I Will Love You
Always/Starvin' For Love/You Ought To Be With Me (Featuring Airrion Love)
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HL-69014-698 - Rhythms of the World - Van McCoy [1976] (10-76, #202; #44R&B)
Rhythms Of The World/That's The Joint/Soul Cha Cha//The Shuffle/Oriental Boogie/Indian
Warpath/Swahili Boogie
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HL-69015-698 - Once Upon a Juke Box - Stylistics [1976] (1-77, #209; #45R&B) The
Great Pretender/I Got It Bad And That Ain't Good/Only You (And You Alone)/Don't Get Around Much
Anymore/My Funny Valentine//Don't Worry Bout Me/Unchained Melody (Featuring Russell Thompkins
Jr . & Airrion Love)/Satin Doll/After The Lights Go Down/Send For Me
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HL-69016-698 - The Hustle and Best Of Van McCoy - Van McCoy [1976] (1-77, #193)
The Hustle/Change With The Times/Party/Disco Baby/Theme From Star Trek//Love Is The Answer/Hey
Girl, Come And Get It/The Disco Kid/Soul Cha Cha
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HL-69017-698 - Brown Sugar - Vivian Reed [1977] Oo Baby What You Do To Me/There
Was You/Baby You're A Good Thing/Solid Rock//Brown Sugar/River Of Love/Yours Until
Tomorrow/Hello, It's So Nice To See You Again/Mighty Lover
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HL-69018-698 - Black Magic - Softones [1977] Call It Love/Go On With The
Show/Laundromat/(Where Do I Begin) Love Story//That Old Black Magic/Maybe Tomorrow/Bulldog (Dog
Power Song)/Love Child
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HL-69019-698 - Sun and Soul - Stylistics [1977] Shame And Scandal In The Family/I'm
Coming Home (Featuring Russell Thompkins Jr. & Airrion Love)/So What/Put A Little Love Away
(Featuring Airrion Love)/Our Love Will Never Die//I Plead Guilty/$7,000 And You/My Love, Come Live
With Me (Featuring Russell Thompkins Jr. & Airrion Love)/I Run To You/I'm Sorry (Featuring Russell
Thompkins Jr.)
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HL-69020-698 - Blue Water - Steve Blue Water [1977] Native American band. One Step
Forward, Two Steps Back/If I Were You (And You Were Me)/The Door To Your Room/Remember/When
I'm Loving You//I'm Still Shaking Yet/I'll Never Find Another You, Babe/Lady Of My Life/Silently/As Long
As We Danced To The Music
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HL-69021-698 - That's All! - Ingram [1977] Family soul group from New Jersey, including
Norman Ingram, Jimmy Ingram, Barbara Ingram, Billy Ingram, John Ingram, Timmy Ingram, Francis
Ingram, Edith Ingram, and Virginia Ingram. Intro/Everybody Get On Up And Get Down (Easy
Dancing)/Get Your Stuff Off/I Don't Want To Be Alone/That's All/Would You Be Surprised//Music Has
The Power/I Just Wanna Testify/Mi Sabrina Tequana (My Sister's Daughter)/Stylin' Profylin'/Dedication
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HL-69022-698 - Van McCoy and His Magnificent Movie Machine - Van McCoy [1977]
Medley I: Moon River-Over The Rainbow-Gone With The Wind-Somewhere//Medley II: Love Theme
From "A Star Is Born" (Evergreen)-Mahogany (Do You Know Where You're Going To)/Medley III: Theme
From Shaft-Lara's Theme From "Doctor Zhivago"-The Magnificent Seven
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HL-69023-698 - Wilbur Bascomb & Future Dreams - Wilbur Bascomb & Future Dreams
[1977] Kings Of The Funky People/Chariots Of The Gods/Music Is The Answer//Come Spend A Day
With Me/Out Of Body Experience/Devil's Triangle
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HL-69024-698 - Z for Zafra - Zafra [1977] Now That I Found You/(others)
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HL-69025-698 - Monsters - Monsters [1977] "Famous monsters" playing disco music.
Transylvania Disco Hustle/(others)
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HL-69026-698 - Patti Rice - Patti Rice [1978] Country singer.
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Hl-69027-698 - Sassafras - Sassafras [1978] Female disco trio. Are You Ready/(others)
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HL-69028-698 - Milt Matthews - Milt Matthews [1978] Do Drop In/Wait Stop That
Train/Me And You And Love/Trust Me//Do What You Really Feel/Oh I Can't Believe You're Gone/I Ain't
Got No Love/This Is My Song/After Love What
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HL-69029-698 - Brand New Day - Softones [1978] Street Music/Let Me Have A
Turn/Silly Billy/That's What Love Can Do/I Played T he Fool//I Won't Let You Down This Time/Get Cha
Tails Up/I Got Time On My Hands/Sweet Dreamer/I'm Gonna Make The Score
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HL-69030-698 - Hey Love, Come and Get It! - Sandy Mercer [1978] You Are My
Love/Everything's Gonna Be Alright/Play With Me/Here Comes Love/You're Out On A Limb, Jim//Hey
Love, Come And Get It/(I'm) Hurtin' Deep Down Inside/(There's) Only One Man/True Or False/Comfort
Me
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HL-69031-698 - Music of the Beatles Goes Disco - Average Disco Band [1978]
Help!/Back In The U.S.S.R./Michelle/A Hard Day's Night//I Want You (She's So Heavy)/When I'm
Sixty-Four/Eleanor Rigby/Ob-La-Di, Ob -La-Da
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HL-69032-698 - Wonder Woman - Stylistics [1978] Give A Little Love/That Same Old
Feeling/Fool Of The Year/Green Grass-Shade Trees/Wonder Woman//A Good Thing Goin' On/I Think
About You/Lucky Me/A Rock And A Hard Place/One Way Trip To Paradise
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HL-69033-698 - Stranded in a Latin Disco - Average Disco Band [1978] Tico
Tico/Feelings/Love Is the Answer/Another Star/Grease/Hey Girl Come and Get It/Copacabana
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HL-69034-698 - Timothy Wilson - Timothy Wilson [1978] Sugarland Express/It's Love
Baby/Keep It Up Don't Let It Go Down/Gotta Fall In Love Again//(Wear Your) Red Dress (Tight)/Follow
Me/Who Babe/We Just Can't Help
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RELATED ALBUMS: | |
H&L 9109-010 (UK) - The Best of the Stylistics, Volume 2 - Stylistics [1977] English
pressing. You'll Never Get To Heaven (If You Break My Heart)/Hey Girl, Come And Get It/Sixteen
bars/The Miracle/You Are Beautiful//Sing Baby Sing/Star On A TV Show/Na-Na Is The Saddest
Word/Thank You Baby/Funky Weekend
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H&L 9198-023 (UK) - Black Satin - Stylistics [1979] English pressing, distributed by
Phonogram. Could This Be the End/Country Living/Doin' the Streets/I Won't Give Up/It's Too
Late/Keeping My Fingers Crossed/Let Them Work It Out/Love Comes Easy/Make It Last/Only for the
Children/Payback Is a Dog/Point of No Return/Satin Doll/There's No Reason/You'll Never Get to
Heaven/You're as Right as Rain
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