Record Pools

[C6 Vette]

In the last couple years I've been collecting 70's-80's 12" promo singles. Some have been affordable while others have been astronomical. The pricey ones seem to be 1975-1977. My question is back in those years when 12" singles were in their infancy, was it just club DJ's and radio that got these rare gems, or was it any small time mobile DJ? I know by the mid 80's anybody that could put a needle on a record could sign up in a pool. It seems with the scarceness of those early records am I correct in saying that only a few DJ's got their hands on these? Also, I always thought radio recieved 7" promos while the clubs got the 12" promos. But after seeing some titles pressed on a 12" promo, it seems I could be wrong..

[tmob]

From my recollection: In the really early days of the pools, there probably weren't that many mobile DJs to (or club DJs, for that matter) to make it a concern. Once disco really started to take off (around '77-'78), as the pools started to expand and the labels were getting requests for more and more copies, they wanted the pools to qualify their membership. In other words, they needed to know a DJ was consistently playing a particular number of nights per week before they'd provide product. That fact alone knocked out most, if not all, of the mobile DJs.

[Mixmachine]

I can only speak for my experience around the Miami area.

In the mid-70s before the advent of Record pools, club Djs used to drive around the city from one label's Headquarter to another to pick up 7" and the few promo 12" that began to appear in 1975, labels were strict, no double copies, many of this early 12" became collectors items, as they were never released to the retail market or ever repressed again.

I was not a pro DJ yet but used to do the rounds with a few Dj friends back in the day, this was one way I kept up to date with new music, and some times even scored some promo 7" from a friendly label promoter, I remember scoring a copy of "Heaven must be missing an angel" promo 12", at the time it was like if I had won the lotto :icon_razz:



At the time all a Dj needed was a Letter head with a club "manager" signature stating that you were a legitimate club Dj, Mobile Djs were not considered afaik.

This honor method was abused and many legit Djs used to get pissed as they were not properly "served" by any given Label due to limited amount of promos.

As the "Florida Record pool" came into existence, in 1976 or so, there was only enough room for like around 25 Djs or so with legitimate full time club DJ gigs only, there was a long waiting list and AFAIR mobile Djs were not considered either.

Just about all the 12" and 7" distribute through the pools were white label promos or stamped as promos somewhere on the label. Radio many times got copies with a mono side for AM radio.

By '77 though, just about all promo versions were available retail in many specialty record shops, although usually a few weeks later than the record pool promos counterpart.

Later, as distribution of 12" increased, many times the retail copy arrived before the Record pool promo did ...

[Jay Negron]

I remember when the original Record Pool started in NYC.
(99 Prince St.)
I was one of the original members.

Before that we had to go from record company to record company to get promos. Some were by appointment only, some would call you in.
Some were very strict (CBS/Epic) and some would service anybody that would drop by the office. (ABC/Dunhill)

Some companies didn't have the time to screen DJs.
Billy Smith, promo man of 20th Century Records would send his list to any record company that needed it. If you was on "the list" you were safe.
If you wasn't, you didn't get music.

Some record companies wanted a letter from your club manager stamped with the Liquor License Stamp--no stamp, no music.

As disco got larger and more sales, the more product we used to get, the more BS music we used to get.
Almost every DJ I knew was giving their excess BS to a record shop to get double copies of what was good. It wasn't a thing to give up 20 BS 45s to get 5 good ones from the store.

I know once record companies stopped seeing DJs at their office and was servicing exclusively the pools only that many Mobile Jocks got cut off.
After a while they even created their own record pool.

[Jay Negron]

Before 12"s, the record companies had given us some 'For Disco's Only' 7 inch 33 +1/3 speed extended version promos.

Some I remember and still have are:

"It Only Takes A Minute" by Tavares (Capitol)
"Ease On Down The Road" by Consumer Rapport (Atlantic)
"Toronado" Original Cast (Atlantic)
"Hurt So Bad" by The Philly Devotions
"Swearin To God" by Frankie Valli (Private Stock 10 Inch Promo)

Even BEFORE this period record companies used to put those Part 1 Part 2 singles together full version on their promos:
"I'll Alaways Love My Mama" by The Intruders (CBS)
"The Love I Lost" by Harold Melvin & The Bluenotes (CBS)
"Mighty Love" by The Spinners (Atlantic)

[tmob]

We could do a whole thread on those small-hole 7" 33s (or small-hole 7" 45s, for that matter). The first 5 Atlantic Disco Disc releases were in this format...besides the 2 you mentioned, there were Manhattan Transfer's "Clap Your Hands," Barabbas' "Mad Love" and Hot Chocolate's "Disco Queen." Capitol and CBS each did a few...even Warner Bros. got in the act with the Dionne Warwick "Once You Hit the Road" small-hole 7" 33 before moving on to 12"s.