Spiral Starecase / Moments

OUTTA SIGHT stomp into 2104 with a Northern Soul double-delight courtesy of Sony Music and BMG. First on the deck are Pat Upton’s California one-hit wonders Spiral Starecase. The band, from Sacramento, were formed in 1964 as The Fydallions and were signed to Columbia in ’68 by A&R man Gary Usher. It was Usher who pushed for the name change to the Spiral Starecase, after the film but with a deliberate misspelling. Usher also produced their first singles: an upbeat cover of the Drifters soul workout “Baby What I Mean” and “I’ll Run” coupled with “Inside, Outside, Upside Down”, a Mod/Soul collectable by Al Torino. But, it was Upton’s own composition “More Today Than Yesterday” that propelled the band to #12 in the Billboard Hot 100, selling over one million copies and scoring a gold disc. An album of the same name followed plus a couple more singles but they were unable to repeat their earlier success and within 18 months they disbanded. Next we feature two all-time Northern Soul classics from the New Jersey trio, The Moments, aka Harry Ray, Al Goodman and William Brown. The top-side, “I’ve Got The Need” is an original album-only cut taken from their 1975 Sharp LP on Joe and Sylvia Robinsons Stang label. The song, a massive Blackpool Mecca spin at the time of release, also enjoyed popularity at Wigan Casino by Chuck Jackson and Cleethorpes by Spooky & Sue. The flip side is no slouch either. “Nine Times” from 1976 is a true club-classic with its unforgettable “telephone” intro calling you onto the dance floor. Both sides remain floor fillers today and are available for the first time back-to-back. contact [email protected]