The recent re-issue of the timeless classic 'Cold Fact' by Rodriguez is a dream-come-true for me. Let me explain; I first heard this album in the early 70s and it crept into my heart and soul and is still one of my I was interested to read that Jane S. Piddy was listed as Like Janis on Cold Fact. On the albums in Australia, Jane S. Piddy is the ninth song on the album, with timing listed as 2.38, and Like Janis is the last song on the album with a timing of 3.05. This is on both the LP and the CD. I always wondered why the spoken words, "Thanks for you time...etc" came before the last three songs, I thought it would have made more sense to include these words at the end of the album. Thanks, now I know that this was the way it was supposed to be. Sussex Records operated from Hollywood, and was first distributed by Buddah Records. The first album from Sussex was Cold Fact with catalogue number SXBS 7000. 400 copies were also imported into Australia in 1970 by Festival Records.

Sugarman' was listed at number 34 in "The 100 Greatest Drug Songs Ever!" published in the December 2002 issue of Mojo. Published in 1979, the book definitely bore the marks of its time -- namely a sanitized, white-washed picture of urban America -- but it planted a lasting image in my mind of the collective character that a city can possess. I finished the reader in short time, and was then given a copy of its second volume to round out the last few weeks of the year. Photography By – Clarence Avant, Dennis Coffey, John Samson (2), Mike Theodore, Rayma Rawa, Regan Rodriguez, Sixto Rodriguez, Tim Forster* Summer of 1997. Unusual; I had never heard it before. Incredible; Dylanesque yet more of a soulful/fusion vibe to the sound. Eloquent, groundbreaking lyrics.For many, this album is one magnificent trip, lost in the haze of hippiness, and indeed the album is laced with narcotic references, but as far as talent goes, Cold Fact is a remarkable album perfect for idealists and dreamers. The obsessive Cold Fact was awarded a platinum disc in South Africa on the 9th March 1998, for in excess of 50 000 units of the CD sold. The actual figure is probably far higher. It was in one of those city edges (Northern Phoenix), that I spent the final couple months of my 2nd grade year. Coming into a new school at that point would've been a disorienting experience for any seven-year-old, and I was no different. In this song Rodriguez sings about being set free by "the pig and hose". Could this mean a policeman ("pigs" was hippy slang for cops) and a piece of hose-pipe? The album can be described as a mixture of Folk, Blues and a bit of Funk. Kinda like if the voice and music of James Taylor had a baby with a bit of Van Morrison, just a slice of Dylanesque lyrics and a pint of George Harrison guitar from the Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Album.

In July 2005, Keith Forsyth of Digisol Masters remastered 'Cold Fact' and it was released by PT Music in South Africa. Confusingly the cover and catalogue number are the same as the 2002 re-issue. However, it is the album as a whole, it’s poetic lyrics and the bohemian fueled mystery surrounding it that makes it so appealing to several generations, even years after the artist signed off with the words The absolute form of expression through notes. I am a deep believer in the idea that a music album is nothing more than a complete idea that conveys a certain mood, thought, feeling, and sometimes location. And in my opinion, this album is one of the best examples of this approach. And this has several reasons. This song was not actually written by Rodriguez, but sure sounds like it could have been. It was written by Gary Harvey, Mike Theodore ('Cold Fact' producer) and Dennis Coffey (guitarist on 'Cold Fact'). "Hate Street" actually refers to the famous "Haight/Ashbury" area of San Francisco, the famous Hippie hang-out during the late '60s "Summer Of Love".It turned out that my Dad also wrote the lyrics from the song "Gommorah". He really was amazed that I could find the stuff we talked about two years ago and as I forwarded the links to him, so he could surf through by himself! There were no musicians credited on the original album sleeve, but Rodriguez & Mike Theodore have filled in the gaps... Selected items are only available for delivery via the Royal Mail 48® service and other items are available for delivery using this service for a charge.

An orange circle was added to the CD cover, containing the words "featuring the hits: I Wonder, Sugar Man, Inner City Blues".Blue Goose Music through RCA in Australia released Cold Fact in May 1978 with cat. number BGM 002. It was re-issued in 1986 by BMG Arista (Ariola) with the same number. Altogether now: "silver magic ships, jumpers, coke, sweet mary-jane". And a bag of doughnuts to the first person who can tell us what exactly is a "silver magic ship"? In August 2008, Cold Fact was re-issued on CD in the USA for the first time! Sugarman.org was involved in providing information for this release. The album was re-released in South Africa in the mid-90s with new catalogue numbers: MMTC 1846 (cassette) and MMTCD 1846 (CD). Etched onto the centre of the CD is this inscription: "KVCD 5109, Made in UK".

The original full title was 'Sugar Man On Prentis'. Prentis is a street in Detroit and the guy referenced in the song was known as Volkswagen Frank. Nas An exhausted teacher whose name I can't recall -- but who I can now sympathize with -- must've taken one look at my file, noticed that I had recently been placed in a gifted program, and figured out that I could likely be somewhat self-guided if kept entertained. The quote: "pig and hose to bust our game" from the song "Hate Street Dialogue", refers to the continual harassment of the hippy-subculture by the San Francisco police department on the Haight-Ashbury youth in 1967. "Pig" was the referrel to the POLICE, and "hose" was in reference to the length of "garden-hose" used to beat the citizens into submission [usually in the confines of the police station]. The title was changed in spelling from"Haight Street", to "Hate Street" to further emphasize that feeling of alienation, by both sides of the establishment, at that time.COME GET IT I GOT IT Rodriguez's strange and beguiling 'Sugarman' is an out-and-out paean to a broad smorgasbord of controlled substances and the ache experienced whilst, ahem, waiting for the man. It is imbued with such a post-Vietnam atmosphere of lost innocence that it brings new heights to a certain brand of Californian wistful alienation. Rodriguez, what a dude you were/are!