James Ellis - If You Don't Want My Love

This particular wonderful song was originally released in 1967 by Robert John, one of my favourite blue eyed soul singers, who never seemed to make a bad record. I first heard this song as a youth listening to the Pirate radio station, Radio Caroline, and a very young unknown Kenny Everett used to play it on his show there, the same show that introduced me to all the weird and wonderful Motown obscurities that I came to love. A few years later, the guy who became my new best friend was the legendary Twisted Wheel DJ, Les Cokell and his love of this record made me appreciate it all the more, and subsequently, in Detroit in early 1990, I recorded it with James Ellis, a song that I'd planned all my life to do one day. And it's still magical. James Ellis was the original lead singer of The Satintones. After a couple of years he left and was replaced by Vernon Williams. We got all five members back together, no exceptions. As soon as they all met up again in Detroit, they were rushed onto a TV show to sing together live, before they'd even had proper time to greet each other after the passing of about twenty eight years. So I then decided to make solo records on both James Ellis and Chico Leverette, as well as recording five brand new tracks with The Satintones.