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The 20th volume of our flagship Eccentric Soul series has all the boxes checked: Gun-toting, skip-tracing record producers, child stars, rip-offs, the “World’s Greatest Bail Bondsman,” swindles, soaring falsettos, and a dwindling rust-belt cityscape offering mere glimpses of hope before the record industry escaped for the coasts. Helmed by the O’Jays Bobby Massey, Saru was a creative vortex that pulled Cuyahoga County’s greatest talent in, making a strong case for Cleveland to contend with Detroit, Philly, and Memphis as America’s soul music’s capital. Deluxe compact disc includes 25 obscure and unknown sides from the Out of Sights, the Elements, Pandella Kelly, David Peoples, Sir Stanley, the Ponderosa Twins + 1, Ba-Roz, Bobby Dukes, and of course, the O’Jays.

Numero’s flagship Eccentric Soul series is effectively remapping the American soul diaspora. Each compilation explores, a US city’s smallest time hooks and would-be world beaters tossed into the glutted big-hole record sea of the '60s and ’70s. In this alternate universe are the unforgettable records that could have, should have, and never did. Find their stories here, retold for the first time.