Gemini - Starfire 1992 lp RARE UNKNOWN Modern Soul Boogie Indie R&B GRAIL NM

$

677

Welcome to our kick off to summer 2026 Modern Soul / Gospel / AOR / Boogie / Indie R&B / Yacht Rock / FM Global Sounds giant lp sale Part 1, a few choice 12" singles also appear, from private presses, to small obscure labels, to some of the rarest on the big labels..... no reissues! WE COMBINE SHIPPING! 

122 records all originals , many have soundclips, which are from the actual record :)

(We have so much on hand, we'll be having a Part II sometime later in the Summer (TBD), and as many top shelf ones in this set, there's just as much fire in "Part II: The Summer Sequel"!) 

This week features a really nice curated slab of rare Modern Soul, Gospel, Boogie, AOR, Yacht Rock FM Global Sounds, Electro, Indie R&B, City Pop, New Jack Swing, Street Soul, 2-Steppers, beginning with a heavy unknown Modern Soul Indie R&B grail 1992 "Gemini -Starfire", an original pressing of 1990 "Ada Dyer - s/t" lp - one of the rarest Motown lp's, a true first press original of hyper rare Gwen McRae "Melody Of Life" 1979 CAT lp, Omega Sunrise 1985 "Run From The Night" AOR Modern Soul Gospel grail on Morada lp, Michael Wycoff "Love Conquers All" 1982 RCA lp, Michael Sterling 1986 "The Artist" private press lp, Hubert Powell and The Gospel Truth 1982 grail Gospel Modern Soul lp on Sweet Rain, the 1985 Oasis "Common Ground" ultra rare grail AOR / Modern Soul Boogie private press, Roland Gresham's 1983 "All My Life"  instrumental spiritual jazz funk Gospel grail lp, to the Art Mapa produced "Val/Becki - Matter Of The Heart" 1986 lp, the 1980 lp Michael Vena - "Stone Ground Will Crumble", the last Maurice Williams 1986 "Create In Me" private press Gospel grail, Fire N' Light "Ready For The Fire" 1985 lp, Numonics 1982 "Rollin'", Anthony White 1976 "Could It Be Magic", Whitney Houston, Babyface, Nolen & Crossley "Ambience" 1982 on Motown, from ABC Peacock, HSE, Gospel Roots, Morada, Sweet Rain to Columbia, A&M, Capitol, Solar, Elektra, so many private presses, there's too many highlights to list, so much curated fire we are going to have a "end of the summer Part 2" -TBD,  12" of Billie Jean 1982 Epic promo with the instrumental flip, Anita Baker all around the alphabet back to Aquarian Dream and so much more :) 

ASSISTIVE NOTE:

To give the best  "map" for this sale, we'll have 27 leading off to give somewhat of a highlight of each area of items, then onto 1) Gospel, to 2) AOR Gospel, 3) Secular AOR, into 4) the biggest part Modern Soul / Boogie / Electro / New Jack Swing / Street Soul / Indie R&B, within each of the four sections, it will tend to be chronological, earliest year listed first, with some exceptions (including multiples by same artist), meaning listed newest will be the tail end, ending earliest is the beginning (if you filter by "ending soonest", you'll get the layout!), we hope this might help :)

**Note on grading: We have been proud to send thousands of records to delighted customers, but there is always room for improvement, we want to continually strive to be as accurate, honest, and detailed as possible. These records that have been collected and loved over the years, coming from a collector, one who listens to the records, enjoys the music, we are only growing more meticulous in our visual aspect of grading the vinyl, while also maintaining a balanced emphasis on the sound quality, utilizing sound clips (we do not manipulate them whatsoever, and we never will!), full front to back recent thorough listenings, and for the covers to use detailed photos, write detailed aspects for the grade, we want people to know exactly what they're getting, as collectors, lovers of music, we promise to always carry ourselves with integrity, we're in the business of delighting people, to treat others as the best experiences we've had as buyers, and all of our items are guaranteed. We won't stop growing, learning, and listening. A very special warm thank you to all our incredible return "customers", we really think of you all as fellow friends in vinyl, and if this is your first time bidding with us, we hope our "record" speaks for itself, ensuring a secure feeling to bid with confidence, thank you all, truly together we make this community one that spreads the love, sharing in this special thing of all of ours :) ***

* After this week's auction, (In no particular order) we have in the auction pipeline:
A "Golden Era" late 60's-Early 70's Rare Groove Funk/Soul lp's
2nd Modern Soul / Gospel / Boogie / AOR, Part "II"
More Deep Funk / Soul, as well as AOR / Power Pop / Rock 45rpm 7"
A few more cooking, not to mention our exciting, anticipated:
Part 4 "Giant Jazz"; jazz funk, spiritual, fusion, electronic, sale lp's

*^(Each are loaded with some of the rarest, high end stuff, plenty that haven't shown up in years, unknown mind-blowers, Grail Pieces, like always, all original editions!)
We'd be honored if you'd consider saving us as a favorite seller :)***

All soundclips used are unedited directly from the item up for sale :). See below for detailed grading!
***Everything is 100% guaranteed! We've sold over 1,500+ records in the past year alone, with 100% positive feedback, bid with confidence :)

Feel free to message any questions!

*Note: Any Item that does not have a soundclip, feel free to message us, and we can make one for you :) 

**Note: for items with multiple players, the title of track is above each player; the player enables scrolling through!**

Soundclip info: A1 "Can't Live Without You", A2 "My Lover", B1 "Dancin' ", B3 "Close Your Eyes" -(2 Stepper Modern Soul Gold!), a2 begins at 1:12, b1 begins at 3:05, b3 begins at 5:00  
Soundclip:  Update your internet browser to latest version in order to play audio clip.

Media Grade:  NM (top copy, peep the soundclips!) 
Sleeve Grade:  NM (still in shrink, "handwritten Demo note" on back, see photos!)
Year / Label / Catalogue #:   1992  /  Starfire Productions (Private Press)  /  SP-6870 (1st press, demo/promo, "mw-135" in deadwax)
Brief Comments: Completely unknown demo, with custom sleeve (from Andre Roca!), "Gemini" was the tentative name for Andre Roca, Tracey Piergross's debut release "Starfire", which had made it to the demo phase. Roca was the producer, multi-instrumentalist, Piergross who had sang in Gospel groups at a young age in the 80's (no known recorded releases), was the vocalist, who could also MC. A kind of New Jack Swing, Boogie, Neo Soul, Modern Soul, Electro Boogie-Funk hybrid, they were clearly drawing off influences of 80's Modern Soul / Boogie / Electro Funk, but also Teddy Riley "Guy" or Keith Sweat style New Jack Swing, and due to the instrumentation (lots of late 80's electronic synths, drum machines), delivery, a Neo Soul type of vibe permeates as well. Roca was from NYC, and Piergross from New Jersey, but recorded down in Miami, where Roca had been working at a studio as an uncredited multi-instrumentalist, arranger, jack of all trades. Andre Roca had been looking for a vocalist to make an album with, through mutual friends, Tracey Piergross was the one! She came to down to Miami, and they worked on the demo, Roca had some connections with MCA, Warner Brothers, a few other major labels, who encouraged him to make a demo recording. Roca & Piergross figured they'd record a complete 6 track mini-album, to give enough breadth, dimension, to showcase. So, 30 copies were pressed up, the majority sent to record labels, some of the influential R&B market DJ's of large cities, they each kept a copy, a couple close friends got the remainder. 
Very nearly they came close to a major label deal, a few representatives even met with them, but apparently there was a dispute between Andre and Tracey, it's hard to parse out, but ultimately it came down to unfulfilled promises, money issues, and suddenly Andre vanished, Tracey went back home, apparently (allegedly!! I cannot confirm or deny) Roca had been unknowingly in business with the Medellin Cartel, who had fronted money to Roca, who decided to pack his bags when it became clear it has a hot situation with them. Eventually the heat died down, the Medellin's had been more or less decapitated (figuratively), but it would be years later. In the meantime, the labels weren't interested in just Tracey, largely they wanted Roca to come be their "in-house" 2nd string producer, produce New Jack Swing, Neo Soul, Contemporary R&B, an A&R at RCA had hopes that Andre Roca would be the next Teddy Riley, maybe even bigger, as a production dynamo, given access to a full studio, equipment, etc. It's not that Tracey was deemed untalented, several labels figured she would be the first, on this breakout "Gemini" album, Andre would simultaneously produce other new vocalists, vocal groups, and Tracey would continue to develop, release her own solo album, as apart of the "Andre Roca sound". There were other issues, Miami was flooded with cocaine, and let's just say that's an easy habit for aspiring artists to attain, but very difficult to let go of, Roca was changing their representative agent too much, meetings were missed, Piergross had family business to attend to, and despite some of the enthusiasm of certain label reps, the sheer amount of talent coming up, meant it was easy to let go of unsigned, unreleased artists, and not give a deal (Roca had said, he made mistakes in switching out their own rep, it led to confusion, one A&R at Elektra said "I don't even know who the hell I'm dealing with" after calling his former agent to a mutual embarrassment.) 
I had got this copy from his first agent, who retired in Florida, near Tampa, this was a few years ago. I had met this gentleman at a record shop, (he still buys CD's), we got into a conversation about Guy, Sade, Teddy Riley, other late 80's, early 90's R&B, he told me if I had time, he and his wife would be happy to have me over for dinner, and that he'd be happy to show me records he didn't mind parting with. He had a fairly extensive collection, already having sold a lot over the years (he had New Image grail 45's, sold long before, even some deadstock Saadia label stuff!), he had known Henry Stone, the Ertegun brothers at Atlantic, apparently in the 80's he even got some distribution deals for Islands (West Indies) musicians, some Heavy Metal, he had an office not too far from the recording studio that Andre Roca worked out of, he told him upfront that his fee would be larger, because it was no money upfront, but Roca fired him over that, the guy believes Roca legitimately didn't remember due to...his habit....and so he just called it quits with them. The guy was originally from Long Island, tons of great stories. Most of the records he was holding onto were classic rock, the big artists (that he didn't have doubles of), at the end of the evening, I had pulled out a copy of Tom Petty's Wildflowers x2 lp, Guy, Guy II, Al. B. Sure!, Oleta Adams, Sade's first two albums, Anita Baker, a couple of private press 80's Boogie / Electro lp's and 12", some Rap 12" singles, a couple of 45's that looked interesting, and this one of course, which is where my odyssey began....I had no idea about it, but it looked cool, in the end he didn't charge much, he mentioned that Gemini was a demo, he had long ago known the artists, and figured I'd like it, thankfully we exchanged contact info, because it was only after getting back home, listening, that I realized this was some insane unknown monster!  
Andre Roca is not the government name of the brother, it was his artist name, I've agreed to keep it at that, he doesn't have any more recordings, and lives a quiet nice family life. 
Certainly heard are styles of Modern Soul, Boogie, New Jack Swing, "City Soul" / "Street Soul", House, Contemporary R&B, the Linn Drum Machine, TR-808, TR-909, Roland Jupiter, a very distinct vibe, basically every track is a banger (see soundclips above!), completely unknown, this one has a special "Custom Cover", a mock-up they utilized, the other copies came in generic white 12" sleeves; a complete one of a kind....
One of the hardest to give up, it's not one anyone is going to see another copy of (unless a retired RCA executive has one lurking in their collection, and decides to sell it). I'd say in 15+ years of digging, I've had my share of really cool finds, stuff that has turned out to be practically one of a kind rare, stuff that's still unknown, grails that are known....This would be in my top 5 finds of all time (so far!), kind of a 5-way tie. 
I've had time to enjoy it, I've been able to make high-quality full rips of it, perhaps with more legwork, I'd have liked to find a way to get it reissued, spare-headed that project, gotten Andre & Tracey long deserved accolades, fame.... Especially now, because the time is ripe, the Soul/Funk/R&B of roughly as early as 1985, to about 2000 (with CD's, as late as 2007 or so), that "Indie R&B" sound, is finally catching on, one of the last eras for diggers has been that late 80's, early 90's time frame, the amount of sheer fire out there right now (we don't seem to have just one "Name" for this era, New Jack Swing is one style within it, "Contemporary R&B" seems unwieldy to describe music going on 40 years old, defeats the purpose of..."Contemporary", and Neo-Soul is another "style"), "City Soul" is a term that Japanese utilize, "Street Soul" seems to somewhat be the UK term, but also have impositions, barriers that don't fully encompass it.....I have tried coining terms, but they end just describing styles "Smooth Glide" -(Imagine like Anita Baker - Rapture 1986 sound, or Teresa "Broken Puzzle" 1987 sound, just as examples), but one suggestion.... "Diamond Soul", it's had time, a lot of influences compacting around it, covering Doo-Wop, Northern Soul, Cinematic "Classic" Soul / Funk of early 70's including Sweet Soul, Deep Funk, Modern Soul / Boogie, Electro /Synth, etc.
Diamond Soul, it precedes "Platinum Soul" of the 2000's giant mega-stars of "Destiny's Child" -(yep, Beyoncé!), R. Kelly in his real famous era, Pharrell and N*E*R*D*, etc.
If it works, "Diamond Soul" to encompass those styles ranging roughly 1985-1998, then I don't need credit coining the term, or it's successor "Platinum Soul", I know these terms are made up, all of them, (deep funk, northern soul, boogie, etc.), they can be nebulous, ambiguous at times, but overall I think they are helpful, as a sort of gateway into a fairly cohesive set of music, the terms themselves aren't the final word, they're more like a rough map, or guidebook, providing some manual of grouping (musical era taxonomy of similar characteristics, as much as "Garage Rock" or "Psychedelic Rock" does), sure it can be used to market, as a marketing term, but the flip is also that it helps provide "definition", focus, to a particular era, a confluence of styles that even co-exist at times (Modern Soul is a fantastic example of this). Does "Diamond Soul" include Guy, Anita Baker, Sade, Blackstreet, the numerous Indie R&B incorporating at times different styles on one album, even one track....Yes. Many styles under one fairly easy to wield term. "Diamond Soul"....smooth, but also very much in the groove, old cats who still got it, young ones coming up and breaking out, keyboards / drum machines (of ever increased sophistication) are the instruments, the jazz touch can be there, and so can the House touch (electronic music beginning it's fuller bloom, exerting more influence on music in general), there can be hip-hop rhyme moments, it can be more downtempo than a bottle of Quaaludes filtered through Portishead, and HI-NRG uptempo to really jam that jelly, it has a wide range, steppers to groovers..... 
This is Diamond Soul.
I sincerely hope this will go to good loving home, and if the winner is interested in teaming up for a reissue, I am happy to share, add my efforts to that!
Peace, and Love y'all :)

Now Peep the soundclips ;)    



*Tariffs aren't going to impact used vinyl records / music media, we wish they were never in place at all, so for international buyers, don't worry on that account!
For our record grading, we stand by the merits outlined in the scale below, anything VG or below will have a detailed explanation in brackets next to the grade.
For sleeves, we will mention anytime there is split, or defect not visible in the photos in brackets next to the grade, otherwise we refer to the photos for the merit of the grade. Of course any questions, concerns, are always welcome :) 
Our media grading scale is as follows: [*Quick note, our VPI is still in storage on the other side of the US, we do brush clean many  items carefully, but we have to prioritize, we won't leave anyone stranded with a filthy record, only "filthy" good! We don't factor dust particles into the grading]
NM = Essentially a pristine album, like new, rarely used.
EX = Under bright light if there is any scuffs or mark, which will be inaudible, most collectors and sellers would tend to consider it closer to NM, EX is also the grade others might call VG++ under the same level of conservative scrutiny.
VG+ = More then a small handful of scuffs, light marks, nothing feelable, will have high-gloss, a thoroughly enjoyable copy that may only have tiny moments of barely perceptible surface noise overpowered by the music. Our VG+ will satisfy the vast majority of collectors as a nice keeper copy, as collector's ourselves for nearly two decades, this grade is aimed to be a great keeper. Note if say the record has a light DNAP warp, but otherwise is NM, we will automatically put it to VG+ and detail that. Another scenario is if a copy plays at a solid EX, but visually is VG, the composite grade will be VG+, and detailed as such.
VG = More hairlines, more marks, maybe a few visible scratches, no more then two feelable scratches (which automatically lowers to VG-), there likely will be surface noise, but will play through, still being an enjoyable copy, the audio quality will satisfy most collector's (the golden rule: if it doesn't satisfy us, it won't be VG), if a record is otherwise EX, but has a slight momentary skip, where 99% of the record is EX, we will note that, and put it at VG. Usually will retain a nice gloss.
VG- = More Scratches than VG, surface noise will jump out more, it be overpowered for longer stretches, or compete with the music in places, it will likely play all the way through on most turntables, a copy that you can still get a decent play enjoyment from.
G+ = Lots of scratches, deeper ones, surface noise now mostly overpowers or competes with the music. It may skip in some places. We don't tend to sell G+ copies, unless the rarity is so great, and that will be precisely detailed.
Thrashed = Pretty much a "Theoretical Grade" for us, it be for all intents & purposes virtually unplayable, it would be for display purposes, or perhaps if you needed the cover but not the record. It's "theoretical" because so far we haven't sold or identified anything intended to sell at this bottom level.
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Thank you from EnfieldVinyl, a family business, and the auction venture of EnfieldRecords :)
Kindly,
-Alec :D
&
-Ellie :)