Good morning, just noticed I now have a badge for 18 years service 😀

Got me thinking whilst I swallow my meds of a thread , not sure if it's been covered before? But probably worth a revisit as we adorn many cobwebs now.

Collectors , people of vast knowledge, those who influenced your habit of collecting records . We often honour those who spin the disc. But what about those unsung heroes who gave you the insight, knowledge to collect,source certain tunes?

I have to mention one guru for sure.

FRANK JACKSON he was instrumental in opening my ears , taught me not be blinkered, to widen my horizon of acceptance of many genres within soul.

A very humerus character who I never actually met but spent many hours listening to his contributions in the form of what we used to call RAs ,which later went onto to be MP3"s ,all within our very insular little forum of groovers.

Each track had an extensive dialogue of history along with his own personal anecdotes. Often funny, a red out and out from the Liverpool area.

He was a one off ! A much valued and respected icon to many I would guess👏 🙌 ✨️

Who was your fountain of knowledge?

Carms aka Annis

Edited Monday at 07:511 day by Anais nin Carms
Spelling

Without a doubt more important in my opinion.

People like John Anderson, Garlic George and the like - Not to mention figures who physically go out of their way to meet the people who made the records and brought things back dwarfs the contribution of any DJ’s playing other people’s discoveries week in week out. Mega props to the Dj’s that do both.

To me finding the fuel that carry’s the scene throughout each decade is cooler than playing an expensive or rare acquisition.

People always put me in to stuff be it mates or older associates who believe in a tune but don’t have a captive audience to share it with which is sort of how the scene has always worked to a degree… One of the best things about it is the willingness to share and depart knowledge that people are willing to share at a moments notice just because they think the tunes are ace!

Edited Monday at 08:471 day by Clee93

Agree the feeders seldom get the praise when the record is eventually played, quite often we hear so and so played it first but rarely hear where so and so got to learn about it.

Also the tape swappers of old helped to put you onto sounds they researched and collected.

I do wonder how many of the "many" players actually do their own research in trying to find something new?

It's too easy to just collect and play what works for someone else?

An obvious one for me was Dave Godin, as a fledgling collector and avid reader of his I wrote to him at Blues and Soul asking for some deep soul recommendations. I received a reply asking me to send a tape which he would fill for me which he duly did. Over the years I bought many of his recommended tunes featured in his column, I think one thing I learned from him was to be open minded not just about what constitutes "soul music" but about life in general.

Another would be a life long friend whose breadth of knowledge across all genres of music has been a constant source of discovery, from us both discovering the joys to be found in Soul music to his love of the Blues, Tex Mex and beyond. He has lived in Spain for many years ,still gigs with various bands playing the music he loves.We chat almost every week on the phone about music, our memories swap new discoveries and relive shared musical memories.

More recently someone known to me on the scene for quite a few years has become a good friend and shown me you can teach an old dog new tricks. His advice on record buying and the tunes he has introduced me to have greatly enhanced the pleasure I get from our music. I'm sure he wouldn't thank me for naming him so I won't.

3 hours ago, Anais nin Carms said:

Good morning, just noticed I now have a badge for 18 years service 😀

Got me thinking whilst I swallow my meds of a thread , not sure if it's been covered before? But probably worth a revisit as we adorn many cobwebs now.

Collectors , people of vast knowledge, those who influenced your habit of collecting records . We often honour those who spin the disc. But what about those unsung heroes who gave you the insight, knowledge to collect,source certain tunes?

I have to mention one guru for sure.

FRANK JACKSON he was instrumental in opening my ears , taught me not be blinkered, to widen my horizon of acceptance of many genres within soul.

A very humerus character who I never actually met but spent many hours listening to his contributions in the form of what we used to call RAs ,which later went onto to be MP3"s ,all within our very insular little forum of groovers.

Each track had an extensive dialogue of history along with his own personal anecdotes. Often funny, a red out and out from the Liverpool area.

He was a one off ! A much valued and respected icon to many I would guess👏 🙌 ✨️

Who was your fountain of knowledge?

Carms aka Annis

I agree with you about Frank Jackson, I was a member of the group you run and he was so knowledgeable. Sadly missed. Another member of the group was Nogsy Newman, he knew his music too.

When I started going to soul nights after a very long absence the late Paul McKay pointed me in the direction of many great tunes that were new to me.

Yes Geoff , I had so many tapes from Nogsy too 😀 also Phil out in Canada. I think Martyn (Bird) still does them on CD.

Cookie (Kim Cook) made me some fabulous ones. Male groups.

Trying to recall our music contributors, Frank , yourself, Nogsy, Mike Humphreys, Kev.

We eagerly waited for the sounds that landed in their houses in the week or lay on shelves for years that needed dusting off.

I loved the surprise plays ,things you would never have heard on the floor at that time.

Quite often listening to tunes in the car before reaching a venue where far better than played at the do.

Howard Earnshaw has to be given a mention. His dedication publicising tunes in the mag. Soul up North

I'm another one who was around & seeking knowledge on soul facts from 1965. The likes of Dave Godin was up there from the day I bought my 1st copy of B&S (around #14 - 1968/69). But the mainstream mags also had folk who championed soul music -- Tony Hall had a great column in Record Mirror. That mag also published a weekly UK R&B chart that kept us informed on new 45 / LP sales, some of which we hadn't been aware of.

A short while later, the likes of Steve Mercer (a mate & club DJ from Hull) would buy import 45's & let me know about the good stuff he got (Soul Clock, Original Sound, Stax label stuff). Obviously going to clubs opened our ears to lots of new sounds too, though back in 66 / 67 just about everything played had gained a UK release -- chasing US import soul 45's was a brand new thing for us. In fact, initially we'd try to get hold of a US copy of a 45 we knew that had gained UK release but was now impossible to find a copy of on the UK version (top club anthem cuts).

>>>> On a related topic --- the guys who were on the scene as far back as say 1966 are now leaving us at an ever quickening pace. Even guys who only got the bug in Torch / Casino days are passing, so the older crowd is really being thinned out at an alarming rate. We'll lose a lot of knowledge if we can't get them to post up what they recall about their early club & crate digging adventures. . . . . . AN INSTANCE OF THIS ... I recently started a thread about the Fabulous Temptations ( Velours / Fantastics) and their earliest UK gigs. Their 1st UK appearance was @ the Place, Hanley at the end of August 67. I asked if any punter who was there (or at one of the group's following shows in Dunstable, Boston, Leicester, Sheffield, London) could post up what they recalled about the event ... SO FAR, there have been no replies from any soulie who attended any of those shows.

We're losing knowledge too quickly at the moment & once these guys have left us (without documenting their memories), then the info will be gone forever.

BACK TO THE TOPIC ITSELF TO END ... a typical Record Mirror UK R&B chart from back then ...

John powney was always happy to help me with any queries or information he could give and was a good source for records

My favourite fountains of knowledge were the collector/dealers in the allnighter record sellers rooms. Collectors who did cassette tape swops were a great source of knowledge about the lesser known sounds. Also record dealers and top collectors who would sell cassettes of future top allnighter sounds.

Edited Monday at 20:451 day by Solidsoul

6 hours ago, Roburt said:

I'm another one who was around & seeking knowledge on soul facts from 1965. The likes of Dave Godin was up there from the day I bought my 1st copy of B&S (around #14 - 1968/69). But the mainstream mags also had folk who championed soul music -- Tony Hall had a great column in Record Mirror. That mag also published a weekly UK R&B chart that kept us informed on new 45 / LP sales, some of which we hadn't been aware of.

A short while later, the likes of Steve Mercer (a mate & club DJ from Hull) would buy import 45's & let me know about the good stuff he got (Soul Clock, Original Sound, Stax label stuff). Obviously going to clubs opened our ears to lots of new sounds too, though back in 66 / 67 just about everything played had gained a UK release -- chasing US import soul 45's was a brand new thing for us. In fact, initially we'd try to get hold of a US copy of a 45 we knew that had gained UK release but was now impossible to find a copy of on the UK version (top club anthem cuts).

>>>> On a related topic --- the guys who were on the scene as far back as say 1966 are now leaving us at an ever quickening pace. Even guys who only got the bug in Torch / Casino days are passing, so the older crowd is really being thinned out at an alarming rate. We'll lose a lot of knowledge if we can't get them to post up what they recall about their early club & crate digging adventures. . . . . . AN INSTANCE OF THIS ... I recently started a thread about the Fabulous Temptations ( Velours / Fantastics) and their earliest UK gigs. Their 1st UK appearance was @ the Place, Hanley at the end of August 67. I asked if any punter who was there (or at one of the group's following shows in Dunstable, Boston, Leicester, Sheffield, London) could post up what they recalled about the event ... SO FAR, there have been no replies from any soulie who attended any of those shows.

We're losing knowledge too quickly at the moment & once these guys have left us (without documenting their memories), then the info will be gone forever.

BACK TO THE TOPIC ITSELF TO END ... a typical Record Mirror UK R&B chart from back then ...

I'll ask around about the place gig at a local get together called beer and records, perhaps some of nick Marshalls older friends might know . There's also a guy called Chris who was a DJ the late 60's who's a regular attendee.

I guess many of the Mancs posting here will remember Spin Inn. Get My B & S and listen to 'the older (not too much)' guys talking to Gary about the 'latest'.

On 10/11/2025 at 08:49, Anais nin Carms said:

his contributions in the form of what we used to call RAs ,which later went onto to be MP3"s ,all within our very insular little forum of groovers.

Those RealAudio email groups from 20 years ago were a goldmine in the pre-YouTube days for finding out about good stuff. I remember being in many of them, KTFaudio and Carms R&B (ofcourse!) to name a few, and they were hugely influential in my buying/listening habits.

Indeed they were , enjoyed being educated and inspired along side you Seb. It was a fabulous journey. They were a godsend to those collecting.

It's sad to see the passing of many of those older "educators" now.

LIFTED FROM AN OLD POST ON HERE ... ... LEVINE >> I was in Miami and I heard a record on a radio station by the Carstairs .... a new record, It Really Hurts Me Girl, and it blew my mind .... Not as modern as the Philly disco stuff, but just a bit modern, a bit dangerous for the northern soul scene. Anyway, I tried to buy this record, but couldn't find it. No one had heard of it. I went to the radio station ... I bugged the radio station; said I'd give them anything they wanted. They refused because they liked it as well. So I was f*cked. . . . Back in England I found this dealer called John Anderson who'd moved from Scotland to Kings Lynn. I told him I wanted this Carstairs record and he'd just had a shipment in from America of 100,000 demo records from radio stations. We went through this collection, me, Andy Hanley, and Bernie Golding, and we found three copies of the Carstairs record. Went back to Blackpool, played the record and changed the whole scene. Blackpool Mecca suddenly became the home of this new northern soul sound.

-------------------------------------

So the actions of a DJ and a UK record dealer led to a change in the scene that moved it on to new levels ... I guess his had an earlier equivalent when DJ's / punters expanded their horizons around 1967 / 68 by not just chasing import 45's that had first gained a UK release but went after singles on labels (known or obscure) that featured totally unknown tracks or artists. I remember I morphed from just chasing US copies of known UK released cuts to bidding on 'unknown stuff' that was listed on the mailed out soul 45 auction lists back then. Who was the 1st UK punter to begin this type of chase is now most probably lost to us (I won't have been anywhere near the first). I'd love to find out more on this topic though.

There's an interesting video up on YOUTUBE where Sheffield's Mike Ward is interviewed & he relates how he used to get shipments of soul 45's from various US sources that meant he had lots of unknown stuff coming to him around 1967 (or sometime close to that).

Edited 12 hours ago12 hr by Roburt

I'd say Sandy Mountain, Sinfonia Records in Blackpool was a very big influence on us young Soulies back in the early 70s in Blackpool / Fleetwood , He used to purchase the soul packs from John Anderson then split them into bags for the regulars . I'm sure he went to the same school as Ian Levine . He quite often would have the records that Levine was playing at the time , through John & would say as he handed you the bag , " don't tell Levine where you got it from" 😂, Ila Vann ,Y M M T W , Carstairs, I R H M G , on issues , Dena Barnes ,I Y E W O O M L , probably the first boot , but who cared for 85p , & hundreds more , used to invite us round to his place on a Sunday night to listen to Andy Peebles on Piccadilly Radio & when ever he played the odd rare one " I've got one of these in the shop , if you want a copy " .

His enthusiasm for the music was definitely genuine, & he new his stuff where & when a particular tune was first played, frantic at times with the amount of turnover of new releases & 60s stock but it was all Northern Soul to us , we didn't catagarise or put in a different box , we just put them in the play box .

Edited 9 hours ago9 hr by Happy Feet