Dayo

Always had a soft spot for Kiki Dee - especially her version of this track that Lesley Gore first did. Good poppy soul that never got a spin, to my knowledge.... https://youtu.be/at0qWmlgNoM

Tons of early Motown featured upright bass. My Guy would be a prime example, but as to layering electric and acoustic I've no idea!

The legendary Brian Mathew! What a gentleman and a gentle man. He's always put the music first; never his ego. Gotta love him. And the fact that he's still broadcasting with such credibility on national radio at the age of 87 is nothing short of astonishing. What an achievement. An true inspiration.

Yeah I remember getting Rare Stamps from Woolies too - had forgotten that. What bargains even back in the day.....

Anyone else remember when Woolworths had hundreds and hundreds of Tamla Motown LPs for about 70 pence each? Must have been 1972 or thereabouts. I still have stuff I bought like the Marvelettes Sophisticated Soul and Edwin Starr Soul Master. I can recall loads of Chris Clark Soul Sounds and many more. Wish I could have bought more but pocket money was very thin on the ground back then. What was the story? Did EMI just dump all the recently deleted stuff? I'm sure many other soulies would have been filling their boots as I know it wasn't just in Worcester Woolies....

Oh heck - can I change my mind and have that one?! It was played at my first allnighter too! Va Va 1973. What a classic dancer.

Well I realise they weren't called that at the time, but what should we call them? Tiller Girl kicks?

We know know it's true; it ain't proper Northern soul without a killer sax solo. 10 seconds of musical heaven to take the dancing up a notch and cue the spins, backdrops and Bruce Lee kicks! So what's your favourite? Which one still gives you chills? And, it's not like I'm the Lord of the Thread or anything, but it would be great if you could post with clips and time-codes because it makes threads like this x times more interesting - agree? Here's mine anyway at 1 min 10 secs. It doesn't get better - or does it? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZeTNA5tcME

Dave was a great letter writer...

What used to surprise me back in the day was how many obscure imports found their way over here and turned up in junk shops, market stalls and even joke shops. How the heck does a beat up copy of Landy's Dr Good Soul find its way to a junk shop on the Gloucester Road in Bristol, surrounded by Abba and T.Rex for 10 pence? 40 years later it's still in my collection. That's just one of many.....

About ten years ago I introduced my wife-to-be to NS. I weened her on Dusty, Yvonne Baker and Ray Pollard, but the one that really did it for her was Dana Valery. It's that thunderous bass line which still sounds as good today as it did in '74.

When I started this thread I thought it might push a few buttons, though that wasn't the intention. It's only a bit of fun and an exercise in imagination. I'm certainly not saying that Black is Black should have been played, or even that it's a great record. It's just that if it hadn't been a pop hit it might have been a Torch monster along with The Shakers, Wayne Gibson and so on. As we know, several hundred pop records have been played on the scene over many years, ranging from the sublime (Shane Martin) to the ridiculous (Joe 90) and everything in between. I've certainly learnt a few things too; had no idea Chairman of the Board was played at the Wheel - I guess I should't be surprised though. Some great ideas coming through; Harlem shuffle is an obvious but great choice and I love the thought of Everlasting Love being a super rare monster - especially with that break down and killer snare fills. Can I add a couple more to my own thread? Breakin' down the walls of heartache shouldn't be too controversial - great record! But what about Mason Williams Classical Gas? There's something very Mike Post about that one and the production is superb. (Oh heck - don't tell me, Russ played it?!) Cheers all - have fun!

Now that would have got them frothing at the Torch. Much more powerful than the Robert Knight - ironic really.

Sat here musing to myself and thinking about records that might have been monsters in the scene if they hadn't made the charts. So, here's a little head game: Motown aside because they're all just too obvious, which chart records would have been dance floor classics had they never made the charts and been discovered in a dusty warehouse? And for a bit of fun, at what venue could you imagine them? Here's 3 to start you off: Showstoppers; Ain't nothing but a houseparty. Surely that would have been a monster at the Wheel? (Actually maybe it was?!) Los Bravos; Black is black - would have sat very nicely next to the Shakers etc at the Torch. And what if Mr. Bloe; Groovin with Mr Bloe had been shipped over to Wigan in '73? It's only fun - remember no Motown though! Edit: Or to put it another way; which UK chart record do you wish you'd discoverd as an unknown gem?

Thanks for the replies. That shop on Picton Street sounds amazing - similar in many ways to the one of Christmas steps I mentioned. Actually we had originally gone there to visit the joke shop! They had loads of mint British issues but you couldn't browse - had to know what you wanted and ask, they were all stored in those old brown cardboard boxes that held 25 singles in each. Had one or two little hits in the junk shops on Gloucester Road too. A mint UK demo of Rufus Lumley for 10 pence was one highlight. Also found a very knackered copy of Landy's Dr Good Soul on Moonshot - how the heck did THAT get there?! It's odd I can't remember things I did last week, but finding odd records in very ofdd locations 40 years ago? No problem!

That's great news. I hope Elaine makes a mint!

Does anyone else remember a great little record shop on Christmas Steps in Bristol? Went there a few times around 1971 or 72. I'm pretty sure it was run by an elderly couple and it was really unusual because they had a lot of deleted stuff but it was all stored behind the counter in brown cardboard boxes; one for each label. So you basically had to ask, what have you got on Cameo Parkway? Anything on Oriole or Stateside? They would rummage around and produce the goodies (if you were lucky). It was all 50 pence. My Brother-in-law cleared out a lot of good stuff from there including quite a bit of Motown on Oriole, and an Eddie Holland Jamie, but I still have a few things I snaffled to this day, nothing really rare but lovely to get in mint condition - things like the Jaynetts Sally go round and Dee Dee Sharp Do the Bird. Never heard anyone mention it - was it completely off the radar, or did I dream it?

If you were into rare soul in the early seventies you were part of an elite. In Worcester in my school of 800 odd kids I was the only soul collector in 1971/2. I set about changing that of course! Still by the time I left in '74 there were maybe 4 or 5 of us tops.

I guess I'm at that age where I'm often wondering what happened to old mates and acquaintances. Fond memories of Jimmy Lynn on the Oasis record stall. Used to get the latest pressings there around 1973 but you could almost always find a mid-tempo bargain like Toni Lamarr - Just in the nick of time. There were always loades of copies of SpyderTurner too (surely the greatest Northern track that was never big in the day - just too easy to find) Looked up to guys like Jimmy Lynn in Brum and Maurice Nixon in Worcester. It was amazing they had any time at all for a spotty faced young teen with a mile long wants list, a million questions and very little money!

Well, this is a thing of rare beauty. I think so many of us have a big soft spot for this record because the Stateside issue was one of the first proper Northern records we bought; it was an age before it got deleted. I don't think you can put a price on a one-off like this, but I'd be amazed if it went for less than £20k. Whats a great year it's been for Northern soul, one way and another.

I remember one week at Wigan when everybody went nuts for Cherry People, And Suddenly. Hmmm....

There's definitely someone in the BBC with Northern Soul in their blood - I'm hearing it in all kinds of programmes - time he or she was outed!

Took the mp3 down as admin are right, there may be copyright issues. Truth is, it's library music. There's a whole CD of pastiche Northern tracks available to broadcasters and production companies. Anyone recall the KPM lounge funk stuff that became quite sought after on the rare groove scene? Then you've got the picture. I enjoyed the brass though!

Oh - don't want to mislead anyone; it's not by "Thurston Day" - I simply used the company sound cloud account - Thurston Day Ltd. Took it down from soundcloud and replaced it with an MP3 I do know who it's by, but I'm not saying at the moment.