macca

As I said previously, at EASC nights they were sold from the cloakroom (Madeleine!) along with the badges and all the other paraphernalia. They were an important stepping stone I reckon. At the Youth Club (we were 14, 15, 16 years old), most people brought pressings to play, unless it was when Smudge, Paul Donnelly or Gary Spencer came along and they would bring the real deal and you'd be awed just looking at them. When I moved on to Manship's typed lists, and started telephoning my order from work, it became seriously addictive... and look at us now, 30 odd years later :-) Funnily enough, I never bought one single record from Soul Bowl, which is strange given its proximity to where I lived.

Update: Ebay resolution process expires after X days after which you have to contact seller which I tried to do via another Ebay private message, which after the time limit for claims doesn't seem to work anyway. Looking at his details 'unkybeebob' (bob fink according to the paypal address) he's no longer a registered user, surprise, surprise. Well it seems I've been stitched, which after nearly ten years on Ebay and it being the first I suppose it's not half bad. Still rankles though...

I'd say blues aficionados are just as if not more obsessive about their music as rare soul /northern soul aficionados. Original 78 records by largely forgotten artists from a by-gone era can command astronomic sums. In addition to that, stacks of books have been written, academic chairs have been specially created at universities and careers have been revived as a result with the protagonists, Son House, Mississippi John Hurt, Skip James playing to white kids on the college circuit. Seminal rock bands in the UK owed their DNA to these men and women, and people who weren't musicians, like Dave Godin, before he progressed to Soul, would spend hours splitting hairs over whether white artists ploughing the same ground could be considered 'authentic' or not. The R&B Police at work. The only difference I can see is that it's not a dance scene, though arguably some Chicago Blues and R&B does swing, Elmore James, T-Bone Walker, Wynonie Harris spring to mind. There are similarities, but as far as I can see, we like to travel to venues, wear strange clothes (some of us) and get blocked and they don't. Or do they? Pill usage was rife at the Brazenose Street and the Flamingo, ostensibly blues hangouts in the beginning and people also wore 'a uniform'. The northern scene deserves heaps of praise for its longevity, ability to recycle itself, introduce new genres, but let's not get carried away.

I often ask myself that question. the illness strikes from time to time and goes back years, a chronic condition they say...

Yes, I paid him by Paypal on December 10th.

It's in the first chapter of the div's 'everything you needed to know about northern soul but were too afraid to ask' manual. Should be a hanging offence.

Pressings. Ken Cox used to sell shedloads of them at his all-nighters/dayers. The first ones I bought from him in 1975/6 were kenny smith 'lord what's happening to your people', ann d'andrea 'don't stop looking' and edie robin 'there must be a love somewhere'. I liked Kenny Smith, bought Edie Robin 'cos I liked The Sons of Moses and Ann D'Andrea because someone had recommended it. When I got home and played it I was underwhelmed to say the least, though the label looked nice. They must have all been boots, right? I didn't start collecting in earnest till 1977 and by then was definitely sniffing at those who bought pressings, preferring to invest my office boy's wage of 25 quid a week on 'the real deal'. So, I'd have to disagree with Grantdyche in that nobody cared if DJs played original vinyl or not. I seem to remember one DJ getting barred from Cleethorpes for having 'a box full of emidiscs'. An early appearance of the Soul Police or just because the promotor didn't want him to make a pile on the side? Those close to Mary Chapman will know. I do remember the incident being reported in Echoes/B&S at the time.

I think I just may be forced to eat this turd, as they say here, but I'm just wondering where I stand on an Ebay purchase I made back in December. I bought a record listed as NM for over $100 (including shipping). The record arrives just before Christmas, I'd had it sent to my parents' address as I was there over the Christmas period. Up in Edinburgh I was able to listen to it and concluded that it was more VG- than NM, in perfect condition label wise, but worn to feck sonically speaking. I contacted the seller and went into a protracted Ebay PM ping-pong over the grading, with the seller claiming my equipment was suspect etc... In the end he agreed to take it back, but would not pay the return shipping costs. OK I thought, better than nothing. On 7th January once back in Spain I returned it international 'signed for' to the address given and sent another PM informing him of its dispatch along with the tracking number. The weeks passed and every time I checked its progress, Correos (Spanish mail service) and USPS said the same thing 'destination office preparing shipment of item'. About the fourth week, Correos inform me that many parcels had been held up by security restrictions on incoming mail in the US, in force since the 8th of December. The item was finally delivered on the 23rd of February and presumably signed for. I sent another Ebay PM to that effect, informing the geezer that Correos had confirmed its arrival at destination. Since then I haven't heard a thing. Today I sent an email to the address used in his paypal account though I'm not holding my breath. I'm now past the 90 day claim limit. The record was Patti Jo - Make Me Believe In You, a sound I'd been after for ages, and here I am, $100 out of pocket, no record and probably forced to 'eat the turd', so to speak. What do you guys think?

That's all pretty relative. One didn't have to be at Sale Mecca or the Whitchurch All-Dayer to hear the newest of the new (another take on the rarest of the rare?). We in the Peterborough area were fortunate enough to have Kings Lynn a stone's throw away and also DJs/collectors that were on equally good terms with JA. The case of Billy Woods springs to mind. That was first heard simultaneously in the North and East Anglia as one copy actually ended up in Peterborough. Exciting times though!

I'm still waiting for in depth, no holds barred, defamation on the words Crossover Soul. I haven't understood a word.

Ton of Dynamite also has Latin blood coursing through its veins, in case anyone hadn't noticed, same goes for Ellipsis. I'd love to see the reaction if Lynn Collins, Marva Whitney and Laura Lee were told they weren't really Soul singers.

On new year's eve I attended the Motherfunk night in Edinburgh, a fabulous venue though the name escapes me right now. Fryer of the Funk forum and one of his buddies were spinning some tremendous stuff. The closest we got to recogniseable non-funk (to me) was Move On Up and David Ruffin's I Want You back. I have to say I was excited by some of the more obscurer stuff I heard, so no, I wouldn't mind hearing some of this stuff out, but then again over here you hear a very wide range of stuff of an evening and more's the better, in my opinion.

I was amazed in the late 80's and early 90s of people introduced to Soul through those Levis ad campaigns. I used to find it sad when you mentioned Ben E King and someone would say 'oh' the geezer stripping off in the laundrette'.. Same with Ain't No Mountain High Enough by Marvin & Tammi, which was used by Telefonica here. You should see the reaction when it's played in the pubs & clubs here. It's kind of depressing but encouraging at the same time. I wonder if Don Thomas was around to receive royalties...

I think the record is actually 'claimed' by several scenes. do get a 'buzz' watching the commerical though. :-)

In 1979, at a st.ives all dayer, I bought john vincent's red labelled emidisc of yvonne vernee. on the flip was 'the gems - you're putting me on'. that was a good two years after both records were big plays. I'm still an yvonne vernee nut. the burning bush thing. well, yet another time and place record. I'd be lying if I said it didn't get me up on the floor back then.

I have extremely fond memories of this record. 1976. excitement, the tingling scalp etc. the floor reaction to it was monumental, and as Pete says, a great record to dance to, so much so that I used to watch a particular lass dance to it from the balcony at st.ives and get mesmerised in the process. marvellous. so which is the better vocal then? the youtube track posted by 'banyera' identifies it as by 'the great jenny hann'. if that's true it's a stronger vocal (in my opinion) than the one in the clip directly under it, which must be the ellie hope version? Don't we just love these conundrums. M p.s. Malc and Sonbert might not like it, but it's as Northern as David & the Giants in my book...

I don't believe in the geographical limitations you speak of Martin. People were already travelling to non-northern venues in the mid to late 70s, so how could London be too far south? The 100 Club Street has been cutting edge since its inception and being small certainly didn't exactly hold back the Twisted Wheel, Va-Vas, Blackpool Mecca (admittedly not an All Nighter), Cleethorpes Pier etc, etc. So, with all due respect, size, on this occasion, is not important.

I sent a record back to a dealer in connecticut on 7th jan and my tracking number has been saying it's still in transit. when I checked again today, a little notice popped up that said the USPS have a backlog due to security checks introduced on december 8th. conversely, stuff coming from the states has been arriving no problem. funny old world.

I usually say it's a offshoot of Jainism without the surgical mask and insect broom. they usually leave me alone then...

Superb idea and gesture. If we all pulled together, I'm sure he could have something truly fitting in the way of a lasting memorial. I was only listening to the mancha-barnes disc on new year's eve... :-( M p.s. Who's behind this connoisseur collection label that released the steve mancha detroit soulman compilation? If I/we bought this, would his estate stand to receive anything in the way of royalties?

I like the term 'baggage'. Refreshingly free of political baggage could well describe the European scene, which eventually will become factionalised, it's human nature. I know people who wrote impassioned letters to Blues & Soul and Echoes over the 'issues' of the day. All politics, then and now.

isn't it about different 'political ideologies'? the scene has been divided into factions since the mid 70s when one collective chose to play and dance to contemporary black american music and those who preferred to stick with the type of music they enjoyed prior to to this divergence, whether it was bonafide uptempo 60s soul or white pop stompers. the levine must go campaign was politics. there are still people who believe that anything recorded after december 31st 1969 is worthy of derision and others that believe that stuff recorded before that date is quaintly primitive & are proud for having 'moved on'. with the early 80s we saw another divergence with midtempo and beat ballads coming to the fore. I can't say I was mightily impressed when the tempo began to slow down and stuff like doug banks, kurt harris and gene mcdaniels were first played. I would skulk off to the record bar. I was being 'political' I guess. :-) then there are those that keep the OVO ethos alive, branding those who use boots, reissues, cds as heretics and cheapskates.. It's all ideological positioning really and anybody who offers an opinion on here regarding such stuff is being 'political'. look at the debate on the nina simone remix.

True, they use UKMail and XDP both of whom use the downstream access that Jules spoke about. If I understand it right, they (UKM or XDP) would take the parcel from Wellingboro to Edinburgh for the Edinburgh people to deliver. It had been sitting in the Edinburgh sorting office since January 2nd. I rest my case m'lud.

I ordered 3 bottles of wine online on January 1st from a company in Wellingborough to go up to Edinburgh. They arrived yesterday. The company 'Flavours of Spain' (excellent, by the way) were hugely apologetic and spoke of 'countrywide transport and communications chaos'.

You lucky buggers... again. That version of Didn't It Rain? on the wet railway platform is simply wonderful. She also looks regal in that coat as she arrives in the buggy. Those early 60's audiences were so lucky. Imagine getting Skip James, Bukka White, Sleepy John Estes, Son House and Mississippi John Hurt all on the same bill! I envy those like I envy those who went to the wheel and the torch.