Rent Man/ Your Love (Is All I Need)

This is an original 1963 stock copy from the Louise Neal 45 Collection. "Rent Man" is a classic "Mr. Bass Man"-style doo-wop rocker, while the flip is a lovely vocal group ballad. Collector Nerd Alert: Junior was the small Philadelphia label where The Silhouettes first recorded their big hit, "Get A Job" in 1957. They put out a few singles on Junior, to no success until the somewhat larger Ember label bought the rights to some of their Junior recordings, signed the group, and re-released "Get A Job" on Ember. That single topped the charts in early 1958. After that, Junior continued to mine some remaining group recordings by releasing "new" Silhouettes 45s occasionally. The early 1960s Doo-Wop revival, which peaked in 1962-63, probably spurred them to put these tracks out on 45 rpm. Glad they did!

Collector Nerd Alert: Beware of reproductions of this 1963 pressing, which look very similar. The 1963 original has "K 1011" etched into the A trailoff wax, as well as two other "symbols" my poor eyes have a hard time deciphering. One symbol looks like "LRP" with "RP" underlined, followed by what looks like a cursive "HS." The other symbol looks like "∑⎾".

Note: This 45 is among those in the Neal collection that she may have actually played, but no more than once or twice I would guess. The labels have almost no storage wear, but the A side has an "X" inked on it, so the labels grade Near Mint. The vinyl also grades Near Mint, reflecting very light storage wear and a faint, no-impact warp. The audio is very close to Mint on both sides.