Porgy & The Monarchs - Discography

Discography

Porgy & The Monarchs
1963 - Stay / Somebody Said (I'd Cry Someday) [Mala 462]
1965 - That Girl / Is It For Real Baby [Musicor MU 1179]
1966 - My Heart Cries For You / Think Twice Before You Walk Away [Musicor MU 1221]
1968 - That's My Girl / The Girl And The Boy [Sylves 123]
1968 - Love Chain / Magic Music Makers [Verve VK 10597]
1968 - That's My Girl / (That) Boy And Girl [Verve VK 10609]

1975 - My Heart Cries For You / Think Twice Before You Walk Away [Musicor MU 1221]
NB mis-pressed with Hey Girl (You're A Dream I've Always Had)

A previously unreleased Musicor track was issued on a Goldmine CD 'Big City Soul Vol.4':

Keep A Hold On Me

Porgy Williams

196? - Porgy Williams - Lonely Man's Hum / Let's Form A Committee [Sylves S-123]
1975 - Porgy Williams - Lonely Man's Hum / Just A Lonely Man's Hum [Sylves PW-100]

I have not (yet) been able to find any  information about Porgy Williams & The Monarchs.  I'll have to dig through my many fanzines to see if I can find anything.  If anyone knows of an article please leave a comment.

That Girl is probably one of the hardest to find Porgy & The Monarchs 45s.  That is because both sides are in-demand items.  Their best known 45 is My Heart Cries For You (also on Musicor) which was a big sound on the NS scene mid 70s.  Teddy Randazzo turned a fairly mediocre middle of the road Carl Sigmun & Percy Faith ballad, recorded by many (Dinah Washington, Guy Mitchell, Dean Martin, Connie Francis etc.), into a stomper. It was resissed in 1975 which was mis-pressed with Hey Girl (It's A Dream I've Always Had, a previously unreleased track, on the flip instead of Think Twice Before You Walk Away as was labelled. Apparently once the error was noticed the 45 was withdrawn.  Hey Girl has since become a sought after item meaning that even the reissue is now fetching almost 3 figures. (£75-£100).

Presumably, as 'My Heart' wasn't a success, they were dropped by Musicor and their next release appeared on Sylves: 'That's My Girl / The Girl And The Boy', followed by 'Love Chain / Magic Music Makers' and then 'That's My Girl / (That) Boy And Girl' (with a slight variation on the title name) on Verve.


Porgy & The Monarchs [1963] - Stay [Mala 462]

Early version of Maurice Williams & The Zodiacs' Stay (JUst A Little Bit Longer)

Porgy & The Monarchs [1963] - Somebody Said (I'd Cry Someday) [Mala 462]

Early 60s soul/Doo wop.

Porgy & The Monarchs [1965] - That Girl [Musicor MU 1179]

This didn't get played until early 80s.

Porgy & The Monarchs [1965] - Is It For Real Baby [Musicor MU 1179]

Superb beat ballad with a nice clip of 'Northern Soul Girl' Levanna McClean dancing to it.

Porgy & The Monarchs [1966] - My Heart Cries For You [Musicor MU 1221]

Their NS classic huge at Wigan Casino mid 70s (first played c 1974).
Oddly, this actually got a release in Italy in 1966/67 with a picture sleeve (but not of them).

Porgy & The Monarchs [1966] -  Think Twice Before You Walk Away [Musicor MU 1221]

This track didn't get a look in mid 70s as it would have been deemed a slowie!  A 'cracking' mid-tempo / crossover sound and perfect for today's scene.

Porgy & The Monarchs [1968] - That's My Girl [Sylves 123]

Another mid-tempo number that didn't get exposure until the early 80s.

Porgy & The Monarchs [1968] - The Girl And The Boy [Sylves 123]

Frantic, almost too fast even for NS dancers.  Strange sounding tune that starts off as if it's going to be a psych/garage tune ... but stomps along with a double-time beat.

Porgy & The Monarchs [1968] - Love Chain [Verve VK 10597]

Clanging chains used as a sound effect on this NS dancer which has a different feel the their previous releases.

Porgy & The Monarchs [1968] - Magic Music Makers [Verve VK 10597]

Sweet soul group harmony.

Porgy & The Monarchs [1975] - Hey Girl (You're A Dream I've Always Had) [Musicor MU 1221]

The 1975 re-issue of My Heart Cries For You was mis-pressed with a previously unreleased track Hey Girl (You're A Dream I've Always Had) instead of Think Twice Before You Walk Away.  The record was withdrawn after the mistake was noticed making this much in-demand and quite rightly so as arguably it is one of their best tracks.  A driving NS dancer.

Porgy & The Monarchs [196?] - Congratulations  [Unreleased Bell Sound Acetate]

This is an unreleased Bell Sound acetate that was a popular sound at Top Of The World Stafford mid 80s.  Not sure when this was cut but sounds mid 60s, possibly an unreleased Mala recording with it being a Bell acetate (as Mala of course was a Bell subsidiary)?

Porgy Williams [196?] - Lonely Man's Hum [Sylves S-123]

One of only 3 releases on Sylves (Chicago) which was distributed by Chess.  The first one was That's My Girl / The Girl And The Boy followed by this in 1968? which was re-recorded and reissued in 1975, which is strange as it was 7 years later.  Perhaps when it was discovered that My Heart Cries For You was in demand and reissued, they decided to try this again?  Would Sylves label be owned by Porgy Williams perhaps?

Porgy Williams [196?] -  Let's Form A Committee [Sylves S-123]

Thanks to Fredrick Beondo who left a comment with a link to this track not previously on YouTube. It also alerted to fix some dead links above.

Porgy Williams [1975] - Lonely Man's Hum  [Sylves PW-100]

The 1975 silver issue is a different (later) cut of the blue issue. It has added strings.  Unfortunately I can't find a sounclip of the vocal side.

Porgy Williams [1975] - Just A Lonely Man's Hum [Sylves PW-100]

This is an instrumental version of Lonely Man's Hum.