UPFRONT
A short-lived label
devoted to 'Funky' and 'Rhythm & Blues' material, according to the Press
release for the Freddie Scott single pictured above, 'The Great If' b/w 'Deep In
The Night' (UP-1; 9/72). That single was one of only two to appear on Upfront,
the other being 'Lean On Me' b/w 'Please Come Home' by Root & Jenny Jackson (UP-2). Both were
issued in 1972, and both seem to have been in a
Soul vein. The Jackson's single had previously been released on Milton Samuels's, 'Beacon' label
in 1969 (BEA-110), and Beacon had an 'Up Front'
subsidiary in 1969-70; add to that the fact that the man in charge
of Upfront, Colin Edwards, produced singles on Beacon, and a 'Beacon/Up Front/Upfront' link looks highly
likely. Beacon seems to have been dormant for much of 1972; was
Upfront a temporary replacement for it, a revival and re-branding of
Up Front? Be that as it may. Numbering of Upfront singles was in the
UP-0s, as opposed to the UPF-0s of Up Front, and
promo copies were marked with a medium-sized black 'A' (2). Neither of the singles
is all that commonly found. The Original Cast album of 'Inner City', from
which both of the Freddie Scott sides were taken, had come out on RCA in 1971, which
complicates the picture still further. Pressing of the Scott single appears
to have been by British Homophone.
Address in 1972:
98, Seymour Place, London W1.
Copyright 2008 Robert Lyons.