Everything posted by Garethx
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Top Dj Or Flop Dj ?
That is a potentially interesting point. The best weapon the scene will always have at its disposal in gathering new devotees will be the quality of the music, from whatever era. Simple fact is that I don't think anyone is playing sets comprised of completely brand new discoveries any more. Many currently big records are revivals of underplayed sides from the past, or records that might have gained a degree of notoriety on other scenes. A depth and a breadth of knowledge is vital in keeping ahead of the pack. That knowledge is hard earned and could never be bought with money. I envy anyone joining the scene now. Imagine having forty years of incredible music to discover as a listener. Wanting to collect some of it would be a joy. Wanting to deejay with it after just joining the scene is fraught with pitfalls, if you ask me: should anyone be spending huge swathes of cash on current newies until they've got their hands on a Mel Britt, an Eddie Parker, a Salvadors or a Mikki Farrow? It is this factor which means that it's going to be increasingly difficult for younger deejays to break into the whole thing. It's not that there is a conspiracy against them or that it is a closed shop, it's just that to jump into the race after it's been running for forty years would be financially impossible. I think aspects of this scene are actually very welcoming to new blood. Ask Matt Bolton. If they come in with the right attitude there is definitely a place for younger people.
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Jerry Washington On Glades
I think it should sell pretty quickly at £300 Gareth.
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Underated Dj`s
Hi Joan I take your point, but maybe it's a case of geography rather than frequency of booking. Before Lifeline relocated to Wolverhampton AD was seldom seen south of Manchester. Agreed he is getting more diverse bookings now, and so he should. But you've got to agree that Kitch is under-utilised full stop?
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Top Dj Or Flop Dj ?
This whole topic is a bit of a red herring. I think the original poster was making a point about their own preferences with regards to 'oldies' on the one hand and 'rare newies' on the other. Simple fact is that the best deejays can play to any crowd in any kind of venue and still entertain, but crucially, can do it on their own terms. If they wanted to I'm sure any of the pre-eminent nighter deejays could play the very best set of Northern Oldies that anyone at (insert the name of your local workie) had ever heard. These guys tend to have collections that embrace all of Northern Soul history and would have all the classics of the past as a matter of course. Making the transition the other way round, from local soul evening oldies deejay to upfront 'nighter jock is not such an easy journey.
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Underated Dj`s
I think these two are under-rated and definitely under-booked throughout the country as a whole. There are a couple of major allnighters where the deejay line-up is comprised of those with what I'd call 'nice' records, but they're hardly breaking their own new sounds: in fact at some of these venues the line-ups are interchangeable (each of the deejays could play each others' records and no-one would really notice). Kitch and A. Dyson have always gone that bit further out of their way to try something different, and take musical risks. Their spots display individuality and they're not falling back on records popularised by others over the last decade, which seems to be the bread and butter of the approach at many venues. That's why I singled them out.
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steve g, toby, mr darcy
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Top Dj Or Flop Dj ?
As I said above Chalky: Ion to Rob to Searling, all the same copy until the recent ebay examples. Tony Smith will know more about the various deals, I'm sure.
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Top Dj Or Flop Dj ?
Ian is correct.
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O.v.o And C.r.&.p Venues
edit.
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Top Dj Or Flop Dj ?
My recollection of it was that Rob had it later in the 80s and maybe early into the 90s Terry, but I'm pretty certain that the record was known from a single copy until the next one turned up in the winter of 2005. The next one after that was last summer, I'm guessing. Think both came from either Phoenix, Arizona or somewhere in Nevada. The Sweets connection would make sense but I don't have a definitive answer on that. Great record and was always something of an event when Rob played You Are My Everything. I had both sides on a cassette and had not heard the other side played in a club until the recent copies turned up.
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Jean Plum On Hi 2314
Hi Currently looking for an issue copy of HI 2314 Jean Plum Here I Go Again / I Love Him in best condition possible. TIA for any leads gareth
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Top Dj Or Flop Dj ?
Think the Sandi Golden played by Ion, Searling and Rob Marriot was the same copy but can't be 100% sure. The two recent copies were both ebay auctions and both practically minters if memory serves. I can't remember RM spinning When We're All Alone which is maybe the preferred side these days: a version of The Sweets on Soul Town and, for me, the better use of the backing track: sultry femme soul.
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Underated Dj`s
Alan Patterson was top notch at Soul Revolution last week and drew high praise from all quarters. Fraser is always a marvel in the deep room at Yarmouth. Remind me who this Jock O'Connor guy is?
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Manships / This Sounds Like
Well seeing as the band is called Six Toe and the logotype has an 'e' rather than a 'c' I think it's definitely the Toe label. I'm pretty convinced this is a boot: a rare boot maybe, but a boot nonetheless. Maybe one for the Dutch collectors of southern soul in the 1970s? Pure speculation on the latter point: I would be interested to know what genre the other side is in.
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Summits On Dontee
Recent price increase has been sharp and dramatic. I would have said £300, but a mate recently bought one for £600: and that seems to be the established price. Yet another classy group soul record on the label.
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Manships / This Sounds Like
Hi Rich this label is TOE rather than TOC.
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Robert Dobyne - Can't Get Along Without You
The Robert Dobyne 45 was released with two title variations: "Can't Get Along Without You" and "I Can't Get Along Without You". I have copies of both. Funny old record: the backing track and song are absolutely wonderful, but the weedy, double-tracked vocals are a bit of a stumbling block for me. This can't be the former member of The Artistics of the same name, can it, as this fellow sounds 100% caucasian. The Maxine Brown version on Commonwealth is one of the great cheapies: a masterpiece, really.
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Underated Dj`s
Thanks for the kind words, Reg, but I think my sometimes abrasive personality had led to me falling out with practically everyone who runs a rare soul night in the UK and much of continental Europe. Currently taking bookings for 2009 in the former Soviet Republics and maybe leftist Latin America...
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Manships / This Sounds Like
My guess is that the 'Toe' label is some kind of bootleg: two completely unconnected records back to back (the credits on the Six Toe side suggest Detroit and Atlanta connections). I couldn't speculate when it was made or which market it would have been aimed at.
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Underated Dj`s
Both Kitch and Andy Dyson are severely under-heard throughout the country as a whole.
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O.v.o And C.r.&.p Venues
A great post, Sean, and sums up what I and and maybe a lot of others feel about the way things are at the moment. I would add that I still go to the odd 'upfront' Northern 'nighter because there are a few deejays who still try very hard to programme good, underplayed soul music on that scene. The dogma, rhetoric and one-upmanship will probably always be a part of that perhaps, but I would hate to think that I was throwing the baby out with the bath water and missing out on great music I hadn't heard before by turning my back on the scene completely.
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O.v.o And C.r.&.p Venues
Hi Sean Do you not agree with me that it's slightly perverse to get a carver done of a track that's already in the public domain via CD, usually with nice artwork, tortuously researched sleevenotes and every i dotted and t crossed legally? The old chestnut of "Northern venues don't have CD players" doesn't really wash when you can buy a second-hand Sony Discman for less than the price of a pint and plug it into the decks. As I state above the pre-release status of such tracks is a different matter: in that case a carver given by the record company to a select band of deejays to raise the profile of a track is a legitimate marketing tool used by the owners of the music.
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O.v.o And C.r.&.p Venues
I should state that before the CD is released a carver of such tracks given to deejays is a perfectly legitimate promotional tool for the record company involved.
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O.v.o And C.r.&.p Venues
Play the CD. Doing a carver of a CD-only 'unreleased' track is perverse and more than a touch embarrassing if you ask me: like pretending you've got an authentic studio disc of it: the adult equivalent of singing into a hairbrush in front of your bedroom mirror. Wasn't it Levine who introduced the idea of making acetates of LP-only tracks at the Mecca with Willie Hutch Lucky To be Loved on RCA?
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Hy Tones Ebay
I think the seller has just forgot to edit an existing listing using the 'sell an item like this one' menu option. They've used the scan that was posted on here. So probably a legitimate sale, but a very sloppy listing which may harm their chances of selling the item for a reasonable price. As Roy Keane is fond of saying: "Fail to prepare: prepare to fail."