Carty

Yes , Read the book the first article alluded to some time back , confirmed many thoughts I had been having for decades .

Not sure how many are around to be honest , mine is a old "emidisc" with Larry Santos one the other side , The label also has the words " Soul Sheff " on either side .

The instrumental version with all the strings etc... " Pretention" ( Released back to back with the vocal on Soul Fox ) was not the Wigan version, this was a lot sparser and was one of the very best instrumenals when the Casino was at its Height . Was introduced as "The Belles Band". I have an old acetate of this , unfortunately the sound quality is quite degraded at the beginning , you never hear much of it now , but this was as big as they come in 74/75.

Not more of this, surely ..

Wayne and Jackie , Great people !

Made up for you mate, ( a little bit envious as well ! ) Great tale !

I am often critical of many average but super rare 45s that seem to be around nowardays and get raved about mainly by individuals who have elevated rarity over quality , However , for me , ( and has been mentioned earlier , its only personal taste after all ) both The Mello Souls and Don Gardener are the absolute Epitome of the kind of sound I love . Both have that rough , raw frantic feel that seem to get right inside me , not been a nighter /scene/ stimulant participant for aeons , but i can imagine with these records , what a mix they would make . Merry Xmas to all x

Dave Withers sold me his copy in 1980 when this album was released , for £25.00 . There were very few copies in circulation at that time , think Dave had paid considerably more for it , however , the Lp track release killed its exclusivity and I was the happy benefactor . Sold it a couple of years later to someone from down South , for a similar amount plus some other stuff then read it was getting plays at the 100 club . . Even today , I feel some attachment to the record and cant help getting a twisted feeling of regret mixed with satisfaction when I see the way it has rocketed in price , regret obviously as I let it go ,and have no chance of getting it back, also the satisfaction of knowing that I once had this and several other very rare and expensive discs through my hands back in the day . Silent Treatment is the one that I think about most though .

Lizard.

Gator, Blue Dolphin ....

Alley Cat , Soul Fox .......

Blue Cat ,Big Bird .....

White Whale , Silver Fox ......

Arctic, Red Bird ........