Detroit native Cleveland Horne was a songwriter and vocalist with The Carstairs from the mid 1960's to early 70's. The Carstairs recorded the track, "He Who Picks A Rose" for the Okeh label in the 60's before making a promotional-only record for the De-Lite records subsidiary Red Coach. The record in question was the now legendary classic "It Really Hurts Me Girl."
In the early to mid 1970's Cleveland joined The Fantastic Four, recording four albums with the group. The group had been around since the early 1960's when they originally recorded for the Ric-Tic label in Detroit. They enjoyed renewed success during the disco era with singles on Westbound that were moderately successful, among them "Alvin Stone (The Birth & Death of a Gangster)" and the now classic "I Got to Have Your Love." Dennis Coffey produced "B.Y.O.F. (Bring Your Own Funk)" in 1979, but the group couldn't sustain their previous success.
During the disco era Horne also lent his voice to King Errisson's "L.A. Bound" album and both Mike Theodore Orchestra releases, "Cosmic Wind" and "High On Mad Mountain." His tenure with The Fantastic Four continued with "Working On A Building Of Love" in 1990 for Ian Levine's Motorcity label.
Horne left Detroit for New York in 1980 and the opportunity to write for groups such as Kool and the Gang and sing backup for such stars as Aretha Franklin, Bette Midler and Twinkie Clark of the Clark Sisters.
In New York he managed an apartment building between gigs and the occasional sale of his songs. In addition, Mr. Horne was a pastry chef of some repute and occasionally worked within that field as well. He also was skilled in repairs and renovated several homes damaged by fire, including his own.
Cleveland passed away on the 12th April 2000. Another of the disco era's great voices stilled too soon..........
I was the rarest and most sought-after record in the world for a period in the mid 1970's. I also had the distinction of being the key record in a new movement called 'Modern Soul' which, for a small period of time, divided the Northern Soul scene into two different factions, namely, those who like 60's uptempo stompers and those who were willing to stretch the boundaries and move into the 1970's.
After about 18 months another copy of me turned up in England at the Heavy Steam Machine all-dayer in Hanley, Stoke-On-Trent in 1974 where another DJ called 'DJ Frank' (aka Ian Dewhirst) bought me for £15 of a guy called Dave Rivers who worked at Harlequin Records in Soho, London.
There were now two copies of me in the U.K. and pretty much from that point things really took off and I became the most popular record on the Northern Soul scene and the Modern Soul scene simultaneously. My legendary status was thus assured.
I've been re-issued on some normal Red Coach 7" pressings and several compilation albums over the years. Mix veteran Tom Moulton even did two special 12" mixes of me which were released on a U.K. label called Inferno in the late 1970's.
It has been over the course of the last 33 years that I have finally established myself as the greatest record of all time with thousands of fans across the world.
I hope many more people will discover me and get the same enjoyment that I given other people ever since I was first pressed on vinyl.
See if I'm your favourite record of all time by listening to me playing right now.
You will surely never hear another record as good as me in your entire life!
