can anyone remember a guy called james? always had a few boxes of records for sale ,loads of british. What happened to him?

can anyone remember a guy called james? always had a few boxes of records for sale ,loads of british. What happened to him?

I think he bought a house in St Ives.We used to call him the Lone Groover...Always used to sell in the back bar at wigan

can anyone remember a guy called james? always had a few boxes of records for sale ,loads of british. What happened to him?

I think he bought a house in St Ives.We used to call him the Lone Groover...Always used to sell in the back bar at wigan

I think he bought a house in St Ives.We used to call him the Lone Groover...Always used to sell in the back bar at wigan

I think he bought a house in St Ives.We used to call him the Lone Groover...Always used to sell in the back bar at wigan

Was he the one with the strange dancing technique that got caught rustling a sheep on the way home ?

Was he the one with the strange dancing technique that got caught rustling a sheep on the way home ?

I had a strange 'James' experience ...

I lived in Reading and was working in London and whilst walking down Regent Street one afternoon was aware that someone was following me - having already had an unpleasant experience with a weirdo in the underground I was nervous and kept walking faster - but so did the stalker ... I waked faster and so did he ... suddenly I was tapped on the shoulder and a smiley faced James said "Hi! I thought it was you".

Although I didn't actually know him to speak to I did recognise him by his coat and the square packpack he used to have at St Ives.

How he recognised me out of context (business suit etc) and in a crowded street in London I will never know!

We had a brief exchange of pleasantries eg what are you doing here (he was buying records) and then went on our ways ... I don't ever remember seeing him again.

Edited January 13, 200817 yr by Indywoman

James Hill was a sweet guy, often taken for a fool, which he really wasn't. I think of him as an eccentric in the great british sense of the word. he loved his soul & went to great lengths to acquire knowledge & sounds. his dance style was completely off the wall, a series of skips, jumps & hops, rolling around on the floor & the odd enthusiastic air punch, I used to love watching him. he carried his sounds around in a kind of pre-war leather trunk & was a regular visitor to my parents' house. my mother used to rustle him up tea & toast while he went through his dance moves in the dining room. he was extremely plummy & to see him in his first world war army greatcoat & fu-manchu moustache, talking to my mum about the ups & downs of being a 'misunderstood' northern soul fan used to make me smile. is this the james you mean?

if it is, he did try to make contact with my parents about 5 years ago, but sadly left no phone number for me to contact him. if he had, I'd have definitely pointed him in the direction of soul source.

Edited January 13, 200817 yr by macca

James Hill was a sweet guy, often taken for a fool, which he really wasn't. I think of him as an eccentric in the great british sense of the word. he loved his soul & went to great lengths to acquire knowledge & sounds. his dance style was completely off the wall, a series of skips, jumps & hops, rolling around on the floor & the odd enthusiastic air punch, I used to love watching him. he carried his sounds around in a kind of pre-war leather trunk & was a regular visitor to my parents' house. my mother used to rustle him up tea & toast while he went through his dance moves in the dining room. he was extremely plummy & to see him in his first world war army greatcoat & fu-manchu moustache, talking to my mum about the ups & downs of being a 'misunderstood' northern soul fan used to make me smile. is this the james you mean?

if it is, he did try to make contact with my parents about 5 years ago, but sadly left no phone number for me to contact him. if he had, I'd have definitely pointed him in the direction of soul source.

I still have a tape of St. Ives last nighter (EASC) circa 1977 in the oldies room, with him clapping to his own sence of rythm. Sure he was off his box!! The last time I saw him was 1979 @ the alldayers there.

Edited January 15, 200817 yr by martinsbox

I'm sure Mick brought him round our house down Flett Av way back then, scared the shit out of me.

I'm sure Mick brought him round our house down Flett Av way back then, scared the shit out of me.

The bloke was an angel!!!

The bloke was an angel!!!

Top man, always seeing the the funny side of record collecting.

Remember him turning up with aforementioned case of 45s one night, covered in mud..

I Asked what had happened ..

He said he'd walked to the venue(St Ives) and taken a short cut through some fields.. Was middle of winter if i recall right..

I do remember the alleged rustling charges!!!!!

Think he also dealt in rare books.

The scenes poorer without characters like James.

Edited January 15, 200817 yr by Russ Smith

The scenes poorer without characters like James.

But sheep are safer.

He was extremely anti chemistry. his only fuel was his 'soulfood', i.e. richtea biscuits. could never understand why people used to give him short shrift at 6.40am, poor chap...

Top man, always seeing the the funny side of record collecting.

Remember him turning up with aforementioned case of 45s one night, covered in mud..

I Asked what had happened ..

He said he'd walked to the venue(St Ives) and taken a short cut through some fields.. Was middle of winter if i recall right..

I do remember the alleged rustling charges!!!!!

Think he also dealt in rare books.

The scenes poorer without characters like James.

Kin ell ! I remember that night he was muddy

But sheep are safer.

James use to live at Abbotts Ripton just outside Huntingdon - he once left two cases of records at Huntingdon station they contacted him after about 5 weeks but no reply came back - both record box's / cases went down London - as excess needed to be paid, they were never picked up.

I saw James come off a train with a hndfull of records - He had a British Demo Yellow London - Bill Blacks Combo - Little Queenie - I paid £3 for it - he still made £2 he was happy so was I - that was around 79.

I aslo remember James getting through to the last 4 at the Wirrina dancing comp - yes they were taking the piss - but what the hell. - James looked like he was off his head - he never touched it - The sheep bit was his dad got busted rustling sheep - basically nicking them - I think thats where the sheep shagging bit comes from ??

They, he & his dad, used to live in the gatehouse, right on the railway line at Abbotts Ripton. We went there to pick him up once. It was very weird, 'cos there was a tailor's dummy in the front room window, dressed in a complete 19th century hussar's uniform. We learned later that his dad was heavily into militaria. I wonder where he is now? he told me that james hill wasn't his real name, but was given to him to 'throw the dogs off the scent'. He came from a very well to do family & could may well have been the result of some fumbling in the scullery. Interesting character all the same...

They, he & his dad, used to live in the gatehouse, right on the railway line at Abbotts Ripton. We went there to pick him up once. It was very weird, 'cos there was a tailor's dummy in the front room window, dressed in a complete 19th century hussar's uniform. We learned later that his dad was heavily into militaria. I wonder where he is now? he told me that james hill wasn't his real name, but was given to him to 'throw the dogs off the scent'. He came from a very well to do family & could may well have been the result of some fumbling in the scullery. Interesting character all the same...

Great story.We must find this guy and give him a bit of a party at ST IVES

Indeed it was James and it was the guy I mentioned in the St Ives forum previously.

Very misunderstood guy I guess but when you're only 16 (as I was) you don't take to people like James. Now of course that we've all grown up.........??

I think I said on a previous thread that my parents had received a phone call out of the blue about 5 years ago but

he didn't leave a number or an address. I've tried googling him, but haven't been able to throw anything up.

I'm sure he'd be touched by the st.ives party idea. as mick says, we were young guns & people like james were fair game, sadly. I used to put him on myself from time to time, but never in a really cruel way. I think he valued the fact that he was welcomed not only into my family home, but also into me old mucker mark draycott's. When I think of james I think of the brown singlet, the fu manchu moustache, the WWI army greatcoat & that plumby oxbridge accent. "macky, do you think tony dellar would mind awfully if I asked him to play joe hicks again?" He used to literally lose the plot to linda jones 'I just can't live my life', so the man evidently had taste. yvonne vernee & nancy wilson were other records that 'got to him' in a big way. I'd call his dance style expressive in an unorthodox way.

I think I said on a previous thread that my parents had received a phone call out of the blue about 5 years ago but

he didn't leave a number or an address. I've tried googling him, but haven't been able to throw anything up.

I'm sure he'd be touched by the st.ives party idea. as mick says, we were young guns & people like james were fair game, sadly. I used to put him on myself from time to time, but never in a really cruel way. I think he valued the fact that he was welcomed not only into my family home, but also into me old mucker mark draycott's. When I think of james I think of the brown singlet, the fu manchu moustache, the WWI army greatcoat & that plumby oxbridge accent. "macky, do you think tony dellar would mind awfully if I asked him to play joe hicks again?" He used to literally lose the plot to linda jones 'I just can't live my life', so the man evidently had taste. yvonne vernee & nancy wilson were other records that 'got to him' in a big way. I'd call his dance style expressive in an unorthodox way.

Too true mate ,certainly unorthodox

can anyone remember a guy called james? always had a few boxes of records for sale ,loads of british. What happened to him?

Hi

Most people who went to St. Ives and indeed later, The Wirina and The Fleet can remember the bloke called JAMES. Sheep rustler I believe!!

I do remember him being a little frantic with his arm and leg movements whilst dancing. If you listen to the attatched music bit, you should just about hear him in full throws at the very last E.A.S.C. all-nighter at St. Ives in 1977 (oldies room d.j.'s Hammy & Rug). He is of cource accompanied by H.B.Barnum.

james___st_ives.MP3