You And Me - Penny & The Quarters

Toog's Tune of the Day # 13 - December 28, 2024

Hi Folks! I got in late today, Im so incredibly sorry. Ive got tears and snot running down my face and I’m tearing my hair out. If only you could see me.

Today Im sharing a song from the Columbus soul scene with a lovely and mysterious origin story. It doesn’t feel like mine to tell so I’m going to let someone else tell it.

“Sometime in 2005, a lone box of master tapes escaped an estate sale and made its way through a network of collectors, record dealers, and "junkers" into the hands of leading Ohio soul expert Dante Carfagna, who linked them to Columbus, Ohio's mysterious Prix label. A bit of research turned up Prix proprietor George Beter, who identified most of the unlabeled material. All it took was an endless series of phone calls and letters and two fields trips in Columbus.”

“But one complete mystery wended its way onto our final Prix compilation. "You and Me." a simple but irrepressible demo credited only to Penny & the Quarters, was found tacked onto a mixed studio reel. Our survey of every willing lifer left on the Columbus soul scene, including retired DJs, producers, and important local artists, produced not so much as a glimmer of recognition at the name Penny & the Quarters. Though we loved the song from the first play, it may've ended up a bit buried on our original compilation, as #18 of 19 tracks.”

From Penny & The Quarters’ Spotify bio

The coolest part about this story is that once you read it, the song sounds different.

—

In 2010, thanks to a recommendation from Ryan Gosling, You And Me was featured in Derek Cianfrance’s film Blue Valentine. Penny & The Quarters traveled from a box in a garage into the mainstream.

There is something sad and beautiful about the idea of a ‘lost’ band. The members of Penny & The Quarters - Nannie "Penny" Coulter (Sharpe), and her three brothers, Johnny, Donald and William - do not reside themselves in the cultural memory, but their creations do.

How many others like them exist?

I’ll be back on track tomorrow. Love you all.

TOOG OUT.