The Artistics – I’m Gonna Miss You on the Brunswick 45

I trust everyone has recovered fully from the celebration of the birth of our nation, and if you weren’t celebrating it, I’m hoping you’re recovering from whatever celebration you decided to partake in. It’s now time to get back to business with a Friday edition of FMF. The 4th was a welcoming day off from my daily grind, and I enjoyed myself watching our ghetto rendition of a parade, then strolling the sleepy seaside town of Ocean Grove. The OG is kind of like Twin Peaks, complete with a guy who isn’t a cop but will try to direct traffic, a man who sweeps the streets and has nothing to do with the town (but carries a 2 way radio and talks to “headquarters”), and a variety of displaced people from a closed mental hospital and half way houses walking around in their own world. Did I mention that the summer brings a huge amount of Methodists, who live in tents with air conditioners? No lie, this is the strange truth about this sleepy town. I have managed to turn up a few good records there, but it’s definitely hit or miss.

In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve been on a Soul kick lately, and I thought I’d stay with it to end the week. As I said in a previous post, I’ve gotten a lot of Soul as of late, and since I now have all my Soul 45s in one place and in alphabetical order, ( what I refer to as my Big Box of Soul, not to be confused with F16’s “Daddy’s medicine) I’ll be sprinkling in a lot more of the sweet stuff week to week. While out digging recently, I came across not one, but two records from this band on Brunswick. Now I had gotten a great side recently on this label by The Lost Generation that I put on my Carry Out Soul Mix, and also scored some Barbara Acklin as well. I hadn’t found any records by these guys while digging ( I can’t figure out why), and their side which became a Northern Soul record: “I’m Gonna Miss You”, by The Artistics.

Formed in 1958 in Chicago, they were discovered by Major Lance, who brought them to the Okeh label and signed by producer Carl Davis. They were first recorded as an imitation Motown act, as you know everyone wanted to sound like Berry and his empire (except the family at Stax, they were perfecting their own sound). They put out sides such as “This Heart of Mine” and “Get My Hands on Some Lovin’ “. The original lineup was Robert Dobyne (who was later replaced by Marvin Smith of The El Dorados) Aaron Floyd, Curt Thomas, Laurence Johnson, and Jesse Bolian. Their full length release on Brunswick of the same name as this very single was released in 1966, and coincidentally, this record being reviewed was their biggest hit. I can understand why. Smith left the group in 1967. But alas, as many with many of these great groups, they couldn’t stay successful, changing leads a few more times, and finally calling it quits in 1973.

The song itself is a dream. The great vocal harmonizing and string arrangement in the beginning of the track set the tone for this slice of sweet Soul and it doesn’t disappoint throughout the rest of the track. I mentioned earlier how these guys were signed as a Motown imitation band, and they easily could have passed for for one. They were close to Detroit originally, I mean Chicago is close enough, and came up as the vocal groups were popular. It seems like to me, they modeled their singing style on those groups. They pull it off well. “I’m Gonna Miss You”, on the whole, is a really great example of Soul. This record was a popular on the Northern Soul scene and I can just see a bunch of kids really grooving all night and working it out when this came over the PA. I mean from the time I put the needle on the record after I got it, I just wanted to move. I couldn’t keep nodding my head or stop singing the chorus. I think this a good Friday song, and a little listen as to what I may be spinning tonight at the Asbury Park 45 Sessions. I’m thinking of doing a whole night dedicated to Soul, and calling it the 4th & Kingsley Soul Club. I want to do a full night of Soul, with some modern Soul bands and DJs spinning Soul all night. It’s in it’s infant stages, so we’ll see how that goes. Enjoy your weekend, and if you are in the area (or want to be), we’ll be throwing down once again in Asbury Park here:

Keep Diggin’!