Melvin Hicks & The Versatiles – The Intruder b/w Clarence Pinckney – Just Outside Of Lonely – Kent Select 7″

‘The Intruder’ has been one of the biggest finds to be played at the 100 Club in the last three years. Writer Billy Terrell found what turned out to be a Vigor label test pressing among his records and submitted the tracks to Kent, who were knocked out by the ballad side, ‘I’m Just Passing Time’, which they have since issued as a Deep Soul single, but it is the dance groove of ‘The Intruder’ that has excited the rare soul world. Uptempo Soul tracks of this quality hardly ever turn up. The imaginative Terrell/Dahrouge song was arranged with full orchestration by Tony Camillo but the deal with Vigor was never finalised. The urgency of the music makes it a dancer’s delight. The flip is a Terrell solo song on another Asbury Park act – Clarence Pinckney, who delivers the superb big ballad with panache.