Just thought I'd start a thread with regards to the Kent Lp's that were issued during the 80's. For me they opened my ears to many new sounds. I discovered them through reading a small article in Jamming magazine. I only bought that, because it had a free single with The Style Council & The Redskins having a track each on it amongst others.

Anyway the first Kent Lp I bought was the second release, For Dancers Also. Country Girl, what a track that was, don't even get me started on the Floorshakers or Footstompers albums!

Back on track now, thought I'd just ask people what were the tracks (& the albums) that they remember the most. The following is one that sticks in my mind and I was reminded off when I saw ZZ Hill's Have Mercy Somebody listed for sale. Anyway it's from ZZ Hill's Dues Paid In Full Lp (Kent 018).

ZZ Hill - You Got What I Need -

C'mon, some of you out there must have their favourites! For all those old timers that bang on about Motown Chartbusters 3 in the 60's, there has to be just as many who remember their Kent albums in the 80's!

Good thread, i was educated on Kent compilations myself and they were so important to me as a young mod growing up in the arse end of Ireland.

Only recently i've dug out the Dyke & The Blazers l.p. "So Sharp" and i've hammered it to death on my turntable.

This was one of the first ones i bought and it's quite a special l.p. but the Kent compilation that gets my vote is "Floorshakers", my first REAL adventure into the world of Northern Soul.

I remember hearing Patti & The Emblems "Gonna Love You A Long Long Time" for the first time and the track just sounded so fresh and new to me.

Also from the same l.p. i heard Dean Parrish "Determination", Earl Grant "Hide Nor Hair" and Willie Hutch "The Duck" for the first time, spine tingling stuff!!!

I collected (and still have) most of them and they still hold pride of place in my collection.

Another amazing l.p. was "Kissing Her & Crying For You" where i first heard "Please Keep Away From Me" by Elbie Parker.

I could ramble on forever about all the tracks from various compilations that turned me on to this music and started me on the road to collecting original 45's but i'll give someone else a chance.

Kent compilations - i wouldn't even be typing this response on this forum without them so that's how relevant i feel they are.

Edited August 9, 201014 yr by soulboy69

I used to digest Kent comps..... Footstompers was me first... Earl Jacksons... Soul self satisfaction was the track that hooked me.

Andy

The Kent compilations have been a revelation since their inception.

The 'For Dancers Only' compilation is still a treasured possession and introduced so many great tunes and artists to my ears; Mary Love, Felice Taylor and ZZ Hill to name a few.

ATB

Greg.

C'mon, some of you out there must have their favourites! For all those old timers that bang on about Motown Chartbusters 3 in the 60's, there has to be just as many who remember their Kent albums in the 80's!

Bought many Kent LP's and CD's over the years. I can remember buying SOUL SUPER BOWL when it first came out for Clyde McPhatter's- Please Give Me One More Chance ,and at that time knew only a handful of tracks but what an album.

The first side is 60's with the Clyde Mcphatter track and others included-Trends-Thanks For A Little Lovin', Buster Jones-Baby Boy, Hesitations- She Won't Come Back,Claudia Green-Skate A Little While and Commands-Hey It's Love.

Side Two is 70's including Lifestyle- Katrina, Little Anthony- Love's The Only Way To Survive, Anacosta- What Kind Of Love, Al Hudson- Spread Love, Lenny Williams- Look Up With Your Mind, Carl Carlton- You Can't Stop A Man In Love and Alicia Meyers- I Fooled You This Time.

More than 25 years on and Adrian Croasdell and his team still continue to put out top quality music.

Steve

For me the stand out tracks heard first on Kent LPs were:

Bobby Williams - Baby I Need Your Love (Sure-Shot)

Carl Carlton - I Can Feel It (Back Beat)

Shirley Lawson - One More Chance (Back Beat)

Felice Taylor - I Can Feel Your Love (Kent)

Fiestas - Think Smart (Old Town)

Wow!

Richard

Edited August 9, 201014 yr by Premium Stuff

The Kent albums were essential in developing my love of soul. In 1985 as a spotty 17yr old with no job i bought "Right Back...." (coz it had the snake on it) and its fair to say it changed my life!

Taf.

I bought that LP and an earlier one or two before I attended my first mod/soul night in Sydney on Xmas Eve 1985 ...and I was 17 too.

Kent LPs ruined my life!

Back then in Oz, there were lots of known records I had no other chance of first hearing, but the previously unissued "It's Torture" would get my no. 1 vote because it totally blew me away.

m

Think Soul Class of 66, A Whole Lot of Soul and Soul Destroyers are my favorite Kent Lp's... that Destroyers Art work is Mental...Ian Clark at his cut and Paste Best!!

All of Soul Class was essential, especially Crampton sisters, Carl Carlton, Sheppherds, and Oretha Barnes... remember borrowing a mates copy in 2nd year so we could play in Music Class, all the other kids bough Thompson Twins, Blondie and Madness... and one guy (Corrie Wright) who was into Madness said it sounded Puffy, that Kid never had any Taste...!! Laughs

Got to know Steve Cesar some years later, He's the Soul Teacher on the sleeve of Soul Class btw.. or Ceasar from Leeds...

Mal.C.

Edited August 10, 201014 yr by Mal.C.

Good thread, i was educated on Kent compilations myself and they were so important to me as a young mod growing up in the arse end of Ireland.

Only recently i've dug out the Dyke & The Blazers l.p. "So Sharp" and i've hammered it to death on my turntable.

This was one of the first ones i bought and it's quite a special l.p. but the Kent compilation that gets my vote is "Floorshakers", my first REAL adventure into the world of Northern Soul.

I remember hearing Patti & The Emblems "Gonna Love You A Long Long Time" for the first time and the track just sounded so fresh and new to me.

Also from the same l.p. i heard Dean Parrish "Determination", Earl Grant "Hide Nor Hair" and Willie Hutch "The Duck" for the first time, spine tingling stuff!!!

I collected (and still have) most of them and they still hold pride of place in my collection.

Another amazing l.p. was "Kissing Her & Crying For You" where i first heard "Please Keep Away From Me" by Elbie Parker.

I could ramble on forever about all the tracks from various compilations that turned me on to this music and started me on the road to collecting original 45's but i'll give someone else a chance.

Kent compilations - i wouldn't even be typing this response on this forum without them so that's how relevant i feel they are.

Unless i`m very much mistaken ......... you have to be Paul Grant?

The cover of the shoes LP is very evocative, takes me right back to the late 70` , i remember Eddie Hubbard & myself having a very very long conversation just about the cover & that's before we chewed the fat on the tracks.

Two of the stand out tracks on that LP for me are " funny how time slips away" Joe Hinton & " jealous kind of fellow" Garland Green

Floorshakers LP was first I bought from HMV in Edinburgh.

Had just started going to a few Soul nights when I picked this up and it was the start of Kent leading the way for me with quality Northern.

In my early days getting into the music used to buy an lp for a particular track or artist I'd heard.

Testament to the quality of the compilation that I always ended up hooked on the whole album.

Best for me were Floorshakers, Footstompers and Torture.

Think Soul Class of 66

Got to know Steve Cesar some years later, He's the Soul Teacher on the sleeve of Soul Class btw.. or Ceasar from Leeds...

Mal.C.

All the years I have owed this LP, and not notice it was Ceasar.

It evens says who it is on the back cover (just checked).

Dave.

I bought that LP and an earlier one or two before I attended my first mod/soul night in Sydney on Xmas Eve 1985 ...and I was 17 too.

Kent LPs ruined my life!

Back then in Oz, there were lots of known records I had no other chance of first hearing, but the previously unissued "It's Torture" would get my no. 1 vote because it totally blew me away.

m

Probably a few yrs after you Maria but that lp or even the cd was my fave Kent album

THE CHARTS -LIVING THE NIGHTLIFE ..Now there's a choon i don't think i've heard played out ,nor have i seen one for sale

A fellow collector from the N.east managed to pick one up in a pile of old 45's listed on ebay ,for next to nothing

Jammy git .....i should go to specsavers ..lol

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Living-Nightlife-Various-Artists/dp/B0000083JJ

In the early to mid 80's when I wasn't going to many venues bar Stafford ..these Kent LP's were my lifeline ...here's what I consider to be a few key tracks of a bundle just pulled from the shelves :

STAND IN FOR LOVE : It's starting to get to me now - Irma Thomas

PURE SOUL : Doomed by jealousy - Jackie Montre - el

KISSING HER AND CRYING FOR YOU : Don't - Marva Josie

MECCA MAGIC : Thats the way of a woman in love - The Futures

SLOW AND MOODY , BLACK AND BLUESY : I can't stand it - Jimmy Holiday

TEARS IN MY EYES : I ain't myself anymore - Bobby Bland

THE TYRONE DAVIS STORY : You keep me holding on

SOUL SERENADE ; Gotta find a way - Maxine Brown

SOUL CLASS OF ' 66 : Little girl lost - The Shepards [ album bought from Ian Clark at Stafford ]

CLUB SOUL : Two stupid feet - Chuck Jackson

SWEET SOULFUL CHICAGO : You got me walking - Cicero Blake

Great idea for a thread , had forgotten what a huge influence these albums were .........Best ,Eddie

Being on a somewhat limited budget (mature student), buying 45s is quite an expensive habit so the Kent CDs have been a godsend to me. My favourites are the Classiest Rarities collections especially the first one with "Diplomats, Johnny Wyatt, Clifford Curry, Rockmasters etc - then Vol 2 with Jimmy Bo Horne's "I Just Can't Speak" which in my humble opinion is one of the greatest records ever made. Big thanks to Ady and everyone involved in their compilation.

These albums were largely my introduction to good Northern. I remember picking up Floorshakers and Footstompers, then Club Soul 66, From there it was 'grab every Kent album you can afford' and I still have twenty or thirty of the early ones stashed away. The mention of the Dyke & The Blazers album just brought a memory - at a record fair in the late 80s I was at a record fair and a guy had it on the wall for (I think) £25, saying it was the worst selling Kent album up til then. Even then I was surprised that Kents were becoming collectable in their own right.

Other memorable compilations include 'Up All Night', 'Moving On Up' (For steering me away from pure 60s soul) and the first two 'Dancers Only' compilations.

Happy days.

Too many to mention .When I was about 18/19 I loved mainstream soul and longed to dig deeper. These LPs were my way in to the seemingly impenetrable world of rare soul..Quarter of a century on, I am stilll enthralled by the music to which they introduced me. These comps changed and enhanced my life.

The importance of this series to collectors worldwide and the Northern Soul scene en masse, should never be underestimated. This groundbreaking series were being released during the time when the Northern scene was starting to get back on it's feet again, and as previous posts testify they sparked the interest of dare I say the second generation of the scene...and first generation of non-UK based soon to be Soulies?

They spread the word and were well written (!), always well presented with original artwork and usually packed with factual gems for the vinyl hounds...I know I would re-read the sleeve notes again and again, using them a reference points as I started to collect the labels they spot lighted – Scepter, Wand, Musicor, Kapp, Decca, ABC and Revue etc. Funny, I had previously dismissed Revue 45's, as they looked 'too modern' with their loud orange and yellow label design!

I was lucky enough to be working in the record trade during their release period and used to look forward to seeing the Pinnacle rep (Ace/Kent's distributor) on his monthly visit, in order to see what was coming out. New titles would more often than not come out one per month, but sometimes we were treated to two! Naturally, I would always ask for the release sheets and white label test pressings, as and when the rep had finished his monthly cycle of shops. The first two volumes appeared on red and yellow vinyl and the 50th release was on purple vinyl and came with a poster, though in-store promotional material was never forth coming for any release.

There are so many classic tracks that should be mentioned (Ritchie Adams, Earl Jackson, Little Charles etc), and I for one was delighted to finally get to hear some tracks direct from the stylus, having put up with cassette tapes of live recordings for so long - don't forget that Northern Soul LP compilations were very thin on the ground with only the long deleted Grapevine, President, Inferno and Jay Boy titles being found in second hand shops, if you were lucky. It should also be noted that around the same time as Kent, Charly and Soul Supply were also releasing some good stuff too. Let us also recall that CD's were in their infancy and there was little chance of any label investing in a Northern Soul release on that format at that time! The internet also didn't exist! I also found myself moving on my few 7" 45's as I now had the tracks on Kent LPs…something I would never have dreamt of doing in previous years, and I imagine I wasn't the only one doing that, so they also changed the approach to my collecting habits!

Then there are the unissued Scepter/Wand/Musicor titles, raided from their vaults by 'Harboro' Horace', and I salute him (and others) for doing that...though I suspect it was a pleasure and hardly 'work'!? Maxine Brown's, 'It's Torture', Melba Moore's, 'Magic Touch', Tommy Hunt's, 'The Pretty Part Of You' and Judy Clay's, 'Upset My Heart' instantly spring to mind! Personally, the series really turned me on to the big NYC Soul productions leading to Chuck Jackson material being played in my house every Sunday morning! The Girl Groups were also well presented – the Shirelles', 'Putty In Your Hands' and the Chiffons' 'Keep The Boy Happy', have just crossed my mind.

Shame they ran out of steam…was it a lack of available recordings to use…a dip in sales…or the possible loss of identity as certain titles may have been more suited to a new logo other than Kent…only Ady can answer this.

So, in answer to the thread's question – sorry too many to list, but defo the previously unissued tracks I listed!

Edited August 11, 201014 yr by Anoraks Corner

Shame they ran out of steam...was it a lack of available recordings to use...a dip in sales...or the possible loss of identity as certain titles may have been more suited to a new logo other than Kent...only Ady can answer this.

Thanks Dave, we'll put that in our CV!

Do you mean why did we stop putting girly sounds on the CD comps?

Ady

I remember Dean & Jean - Silly little girl (unreleased), think that was tucked away on a Kent LP, loved it but nobody else seemed to go on about it! Was it ever eventually put out on 45 here?

Edited August 11, 201014 yr by mark w.

Do you mean why did we stop putting girly sounds on the CD comps?

No, it means I would've liked to have seen more Kent LP releases in the series, simple as that

Girly group sounds on CDs...Kent wasn't recognised as their home...they were more an Ace label genre, weren't they?

With regards to my comment about available catalogue - naturally licensing tracks is not always easy/cheap/viable..surely there was still life within the Kapp, Congress and Decca material...why wasn't the MCA deal renewed?

Sales figures - well by the end Northern Soul CD releases were common place and cheap, as were CD players, and record shop shelf space was given over to CD rather than LP, so I can understand vinyl taking a dip.

For reference, towards the tail-end there was confusion with releases with my regular customers...if it was on Kent they'd buy it, period. However, the inclusion of the jazzy/funky albums turned them off and they began to pick and choose or even pass over...leading me to think that maybe these volumes may have sat better on a new logo other than Kent?

In hindsight...and maybe why I wrote what I did...I saw what I consider to be a similar fate happen with two other labels I liked, albeit they were Dance labels - 4th & Broadway and Urban. Both had a great image and sound-identity...people would buy up new releases in safe knowledge that they would get something they liked...then they both diversified with different genre...and they both rapidly lost their supporters and guaranteed sell-in figures.

One thing for certain, long live Kent CDs!!

Edited August 11, 201014 yr by Anoraks Corner

How odd, right next to me I have an mp3 cd I made to play in the car called "Best of the Kent Northern Soul compilations" and it has around 200 tracks on it, that's just the BEST!

Something that makes me chuckle, a subtle Ady one liner, there was an album called SATISFYING OUR SOULS and Ady's first line said "No it's not a sodomites dream"

I also recollect a Kent tape given away with NME (I think), which I lent to a friend never to be seen again (the tape that is)! The only track I can remember was Your Little Sister (can't recollect artist tho') being on it.

I also recollect a Kent tape given away with NME (I think), which I lent to a friend never to be seen again (the tape that is)! The only track I can remember was Your Little Sister (can't recollect artist tho') being on it.

Yes, thats rare...a couple of weeks after they sent the tapes out, some c*nt wrote to NME saying all the tracks were the same and calling people who listened to it "Northern Vikings" and generally being rude about NS and the scene, cue me writing a letter to the NME for the first time in defence of the compilation and Northern Soul, and would you believe it, they actually printed it! Small claim to fame..

This series was so important to the early 80's generation of young Mods and 60's affecionadoes and there are just too many great Kent 'firsts' to mention. 'Pure Soul' I recall haveing a perticulally strong influence on my developing passion for the deep stuff with Bobby Bland's 'Ask Me Bout Nothing...' and Jean Stanbacks 'I Still Love You' still two of my all time top tunes.

　

Bought many Kent LP's and CD's over the years. I can remember buying SOUL SUPER BOWL when it first came out for Clyde McPhatter's- Please Give Me One More Chance ,and at that time knew only a handful of tracks but what an album.

The first side is 60's with the Clyde Mcphatter track and others included-Trends-Thanks For A Little Lovin', Buster Jones-Baby Boy, Hesitations- She Won't Come Back,Claudia Green-Skate A Little While and Commands-Hey It's Love.

Side Two is 70's including Lifestyle- Katrina, Little Anthony- Love's The Only Way To Survive, Anacosta- What Kind Of Love, Al Hudson- Spread Love, Lenny Williams- Look Up With Your Mind, Carl Carlton- You Can't Stop A Man In Love and Alicia Meyers- I Fooled You This Time.

More than 25 years on and Adrian Croasdell and his team still continue to put out top quality music.

Steve

I bought that album especially to get Please give me one more chance.

But when i heard for the first time on the album Katrina By Lifestyle it totally blew me away.

The whole album actually turned out to be really good value for money.

Stu.

Unless i`m very much mistaken ......... you have to be Paul Grant?

The cover of the shoes LP is very evocative, takes me right back to the late 70` , i remember Eddie Hubbard & myself having a very very long conversation just about the cover & that's before we chewed the fat on the tracks.

Two of the stand out tracks on that LP for me are " funny how time slips away" Joe Hinton & " jealous kind of fellow" Garland Green

Ah, Joe Hinton.

Brian Walker used that as the ender all those years ago at the Piccadilly.

And somebody (tommy) very kindly gave me a Vocalion Demo of it

Tony

for me it was the chance to drop the needle on some of those unissued things at home...........

chuck carter i'm a lover

chancellors never loved her

thanks ady

Unless i`m very much mistaken ......... you have to be Paul Grant?

Alright mate, where the f*** have you been for the last couple of years???

Back on topic, the sleeve notes have always been (and still are) so entertaining and informative.

So many tunes, Ady i salute you.

"No No No No No"...Yes! The Platters - Not My Girl, "Pure Soul" for The Saints - Mirror On The Wall, "Black Music is Our Business" for Drifting / Why Would You Blow It - Claude 'Baby' Huey and Billy Keen - I Finally Got Wise, "Torture" for It's Torture and Porgy&The Monarchs - Hey Girl let's not forget "Sophisticated Sounds", "Pure Soul" and "Cry, Cry, Crying".

Ady should be very proud of the Kent LP set!

If you ask people in Europe how they got into Soul Music they will normally answer "Kent LP's"

They were a big influnce on me when I first started to buy them as a 14 year old. My fave Lps came out a few years later as I started to appreciate a wider range of sounds. Brainstormers and Winner Takes All were hammered relentlessly in my bedroom. I hadn't heard Two People "Stop Leave My Heart Alone" until I bought Brainstormers and it remains one of my all time faves.

Lindy Stevens- Pennygold and Patti and the emblems- love you a long long from floorshakers, were huge favourites for me in 83.

My first Kent album, and it led to a lifelong love affair with soul music and dancing for which I am eternally grateful.

2001 records in Ayr was a great wee record shop and the owner was used to us young mods coming in looking for mod stuff. He started stocking the kent LPs from the earliest ones, after we asked about them. Within a few months they had their own section as they were so popular.

So many great memories of listening to kent LPs, in after parties up and down the country, with some of the best people I've known.

All brilliant albums, but the earliest ones are pretty much ingrained for me, in the correct track order too.

I'm a bit older than most who've posted on this thread (being on the wrong side of 75) ... so though Kent comps introduced me to lots of great tracks ...

my real 'soul' education came much earlier, via Sue label compilations and the brilliant 'BELL'S CELLAR OF SOUL' volumes.

Mind you, that there Ady has put out the odd decent record over the last 45+ years.

For me the Kent albums were a goldmine of unissued stuff I loved all those oldies too. But it was things like Its Torture, I want a guarantee, Magic Touch, Chuck Carter Hey Girl He's a Lover that were just fantastic to hear for the first time. Me and a friend hoovered up as many as we could get our hands on especially from King Bee in Manchester. I think the last I recall buying was the Dore album on vinyl. Then I moved on to the CDs albums.

Highlights being Up Town Down South, LA Happening, Old Town/Barry, Carnival and the Northern Soul Spectrum collection.

Great thread btw

Dave

Edited May 31May 31 by washlively