Part of the United Artists family. Midnight Hour only received one mention in 'Music Week': an article in the issue of the 12th of April 1975 stated that United Artists were launching the label in an attempt to 'capitalize on the interest in old Soul singles' in the hope that it would be possible to 'bridge the gap between what is being played in the clubs and what is being played on air'. The hope seems to have been dashed, as Midnight Hour only ran to four releases. Three of them offered reissues of 'old' Soul tracks; the two sides from Candi Staton had come out in the USA some eighteen months earlier, which stretched the definition of 'old' somewhat. Despite the various dates on the labels, which show the years when the tracks were originally issued, the Midnight Hour singles all date from April to June 1975. Timmy White's 'Mr. Soul Satisfaction' b/w 'I'm Wondering' (UP-35352) originally came out on United Artists in 1972 as UP-35352; it was given a straight reissue on Midnight Hour and kept the same number. The Homer Banks tracks 'Hooked By Love' and '60 Minutes Of Your Love' and Brenton Wood's 'Gimme Little Sign' and 'The Oogum Boogum Song' had all been released in this country previously but not in those particular combinations, while Candi Staton's 'Love Chain' and 'I'm Gonna Hold On' were new to these shores; therefore their Midnight Hour issues were given catalogue numbers from the current United Artists UP-38000 series. Demo copies were marked in the usual UA manner of the time (2). Manufacture and distribution were by EMI, as they were for all UA records at that period. Thanks to Robert Bowes for the first scan and for bringing the label to my attention.
Copyright 2008 Robert Lyons.