Roots Archives Forum

Seems like this Susan Cadogan album is one of the little mysteries of reggae and I have seen several things on the web about it and even a discussion on a pirate radio station about it. I hope this can clear it up.
The story about Sexy Suzy is a falsehood.
It is said it was pressed in JA - not true. It was pressed in the UK as a 'spoiler' because Perry had lost control of his hit masters to Magnet. You can compare the label art to the obscure few 7" which also use that particular Letrasetted Upsetter logo, such as Jimmy Riley's "Give Me A Love", which were all pressed in the UK by Linguaphone, perhaps organised by Perry's chum Winston Edwards of Fay Music fame in 1975. Likewise the Sexy Suzy LP was pressed in the UK.
There were many more than the usually-cited 500 pressed - there was a guy with a record stall in South London who could hardly give the things away at the time, he much have had 500 of them himself and I personally saw copies in bulk in other cities such as Birmingham and Manchester. 2000 seems like it is a more accurate estimate.
The mix is identical to the Trojan album which appeared somewhat belatedly in 1976. How the story about an alternate mix came about is that there IS an alternate mix on tape which 'a famous reggae star' was touting many years ago, saying that this was the same as the Sexy Suzi pressing - a sincere mistake on his part because he had never heard Sexy Suzy. It is not a different mix, sadly for all who have been paying silly money for it on ebay.
It remains an interesting pressing, but offers nothing the Trojan LP doesn't, other than curiosity value.
Hope this clears things up.

... great seeing another truly knowledgable Lee Perry connoiseur join the board ... hope that can give an impulse to much more indepth Upsetter discussion ... (tu)

welcome Suzyfan !

Thanks for the positive comments people, appreciate that. Should have added somethin else. The point about Linguaphone is important because their pressings were design for spoken word (they do those learn a language LPs) and not music. Hence they were quite lo-fi in an audio sense. which is maybe why everyone thinks 'sexy suzy' is a JA pressing as it is hissy and noisy. Alas no. They also pressed some of Fay Music's records. But generally speaking most big record companies avoided their pressings circa 1975-76, altho a lot of the punk bands with their own labels had a try with them cos they were cheap, accepted orders for a few thousand copies when other pressin plants had a minimum of 5-10,000 and quick.
Boring or what?!

suzifan,

Are you aware of the Mad Professor`s Ariwa 12" of Susan Cadogan`s " Hurt So Good " backed with U-Roy and Susan`s " The Hurt Is Good " ( ARI-164 ). Four excellent tracks with Mad Professor`s hand on the desk !

Yes thanks, I know the divine Miss C's works with the Professor - think he is very underrated as a producer because he has been around a very long time and is a constant presence rather than some figure from Yard who just come and go. I think she's a good match for him as she has that kinda smouldering voice and he's good with female singers because he is also a big fan of smooth soul like Philly and that. And they say librarians (like Susan) are all hoity-toity and not hot!
Another reason why M Prof is underrated is because he makes lovers rock. I kno that the snobbery thing is not so strong about it now but all the same, a lot of people dont check it still. Miss Cadogan also is underrated for that reason and also because she dared to have a pop hit, which always causes some kinda reaction against the artist to some extent. It's worth remembering that when the Trojan album finally came out in the 70s, Black Echoes rated it the best album of the year in the review. Maybe it was not, in fact I am sure it can't have been, but it was still a strong set even if we have all heard it a lot since then.
But yes Trev, to return to your point at last, top call, a nice version that.