Numero Group releases No-Hitter trading card series

Chicago’s Numero Group is releasing a series of No-Hitter trading cards featuring various artists from label’s catalog.

This is great news for those of us who never had any interest in baseball cards (or sports in general), but always longed to join in the school yard swap meets every day during recess. We can finally join in the collecting fervor by searching for that elusive Man Child Singers card, or trading a friend a duplicate Helene Smith card for his Jack & the Mods. Hey, no backsies!

The Numero Group has a long-standing tradition of spotlighting little-known artists from all corners of the music world, including soul, funk, gospel and rock. Tom Lunt, Rob Sevier and Ken Shipley, three self-proclaimed “record obsessives,” started the label in 2003 to reissue their favorite records that had undeservedly been banished to storage rooms and obscurity.

The No-Hitter cards were originally conceived as both a catalogue checklist and a trading commodity. One of the randomly chosen cards is included in the packaging of every new Numero Group CD or LP.But after label execs viewed the cards’ vintage color photos in all of their glossy glory, they decided to also offer a limited number of complete sets for sale on the label’s website for the bargain price of $7.

All 90 artists featured in the No-Hitter series are listed below. Let the collecting begin!

1 - Bill Moss
2 - Arrow Brown
3 - Willie Clarke
4 - Mike Lenaburg
5 - Frank Penn
6 - Jeremiah Yisrael
7 - Altyrone Deno Brown
8 - Promise
9 - Eight Minutes
10 - Jack & the Mods
11 - Man Child Singers
12 - Jr. & His Soulettes
13 - Step By Step
14 - Linda Balentine
15 - Fern Jones
16 - Nadia Cattouse
17 - Helene Smith
18 - Becky Severson
19 - Judy Kelly
20 - Shira Small
21 - Jennie Pearl
22 - Caroline Peyton
23 - Mary Perrin
24 - Mae Young
25 - Ms. Tyree "Sugar" Jones
26 - Catherine Howe
27 - Velma Perkins
28 - Jackie Stoudemire
29 - Missy Dee
30 - Eula Cooper
31 - Marion Black
32 - Randy Winburn
33 - Tommy Rock
34 - Lord Rhaburn
35 - Edd Henry
36 - Trevor Dandy
37 - Small Paul
38 - Stormy
39 - Nate Evans
40 - Renaldo Domino
41 - Elvin Spencer
42 - Ozzie Hall
43 - Jesus Acosta
44 - Eddie Ray
45 - Clarence Reid
46 - Dwayne Cannan
47 - Them Two
48 - Bob & Fred
49 - Chuck & Mac
50 - Frank Williams & the Rocketeers
51 - Michael Liggins & the Super Souls
52 - Jay Mitchell & the Mitchellites
53 - Arnie Love & the Lovettes
54 - Four Mints
55 - Speedies
56 - Kids
57 - Trend
58 - Colors
59 - The Web
60 - Harmonettes
61 - Professionals
62 - Moovers
63 - Manhattens
64 - Performers
65 - Sleepwalkers
66 - Triumphs
67 - Shackleford Singers
68 - Universal Jubileers
69 - Soulsations
70 - Dynamic Tints
71 - Mystiques
72 - Notations
73 - Pieces of Peace
74 - Radiants
75 - Kaldirons
76 - Mustangs
77 - Willpower
78 - Esquires LTD
79 - Royal Esquires
80 - Soul Partners
81 - OFS Unlimited
82 - The Rising Sun
83 - Young Divines
84 - Four Tracks
85 - Johnny Lunchbreak
86 - Boscoe
87 - Wee
88 - Antena
89 - Majestic Arrows
90 - Essence