Ady Croasdell

Thanks everybody, it was the Wax Poetics I got told about I'll give your broadcast a listen Bob. That may not be right Jaco but if I can get hold of the Mizells they will be able to tell me who else was involved. Do you know who has the acetate now Soulman 1964? You possibly? Cheers Ady

Shit, thanks for that Ian. Apparently miserable Phil the owner has been taken very ill and that sounds like the end of it. The shop was two floors of second hand LPs, often brand new review copies at knock down prices or US imports from some sharp dealing. I remember he had lots of copies of Millie Jackson's Caught Up which I loved so much I would buy spares of to give to friends, particularly good looking female ones. I got the job on the market stall outside by virtue of downing a pint in one very quickly; my 2.2 from UCL counted for nothing. On my first day it poured down the whole time and I'd sold sod all with half an hour to go and was worrying that I wasn't up to the job. I was saved by two charming pros who must have just pushed a wealthy punter off and decided to spend some of their money on a load of old singles. I never saw them again or indeed ever knowingly served a brass again. The singles stall was run by two separate charachters John Thorpe a long time blues fan who once ran a shop called The Sky Is Crying. His partner was Graham Stapleton, now a headmaster and brother-in-law to Cat Stevens. He comes down the 100 Club for any live acts or the Xmas party and is involved in Roger Stewart's shop Off Broadway. I met Ian Clark, Jim Eddleston, Denbo, Ian Levine, Frank Jackson, Ian 'Frank' Dewhirst, Nij Flood, Malcolm Baumgart, Mick Patrick, Pete Wid, Roger Stewart and Tony Rounce who eventually took over from me. It really was the social hub of London's small Northern exiles and local afficianados and along with Dave Burton's Harlequin records 100 yards away, we had a great thing going. There weren't many Northern nights at all probably one every two months in very odd places but we loved all sorts of soul and went down Kings Road in army greens and plastic see through sandals dancing to Wicki Wacky and Tom The Peeper. Tony and I could write a book a piece on the place but we're trying to work so I'll try and keep it to this for the time being. If anyone's got any photos, whack 'em up, I've only got a couple of poor ones. Too many records to mention but the one I remember best was a geezer bringing down a bunch of promos and one was Jimmy Thomas The Beautiful Night promo when it was about the biggest sound in the country. he noticed our eyes pop and said "Is that a good one", "Yes we're giving you a pound on that and 10p on the others". Next day he came down with a box of 25. We only sold them at about £4 each and we made lots of Northern friends with those.

That I got out of Bleeker bob's in NYC before we knew who it was and sold to Keb for future stardom. Also someone told me the label was owned by a multi millionaire business family; does anyone remember the details?

Sorry Mike, I'm jetlagged from British Summertime!

I hope that wouldn't have been me Mike, I'm notorious for being a bit dozy so if it was it wouldn't have been intentional; any info from any source is very welcome and in theory i would thank the first poster first. Nice call on Sebastian Ian, he's helped me out of a few tight spots and when I've screwed up he spares my feelings as best as he can. Marc Forrest knows his onions too. (let's hope that phrase confuses a few of them Urpeens!)

And of course it's not just the fonts of knowledge. I'm always appealing for stuff and getting replies from all sorts of collectors with very different types of collections. Sometimes it's the oddest little thing that you need and the big time brains ain't got it but a crofter in the Outer Hebrides has it stashed under his hassocks or can remember an article concerning the subject from a tiny fanzine in 1974.

Tony knows a ridiculous amount of stuff, having him 5 yards across the room from me at work saves me hours on the reference books. Boba's a great source of info and Robb K off Soul Talk is a seriously knowledgeable chap too, it'd be nice to get him on here too. Same goes for Mr Dyson he's brilliant on the super obscure stuff it's a shame he's so busy. Weingarden knows a fair bit and of course Dave Moore from the great Hitsville org. I concur with all the rest and I'll think of more soon. Whitfield knows a lot about women of the world.

As it 'appens, Peter Gibbon who sits next to me at work has got one so panic over. Maybe I should have asked him first! Thanks

He was quite a character and big friends with Herbert Hunter and of course Bob Holmes who died a few years back. He was more the R&B end while Bob was the soul side. Ace put out a lot of his R&B too.

That's the one, i need to hear it to see if it's the same recording. Cheers Hippo. Ady

Longy,s sorted me for the Ebb 45 anybody know anything about the Duo Disc at all? Ady

Pic and Bill's in the pipeline and Arnie's running for President.

Where are those label collecting boffs when you need them?

And I'm working on the Darrow.

Or does anyone know if it came out on Duo Disc?

I think I'm OK for the Mira now. Ady

Could anyone either lend me it or send me a CD reference and a scan please. Ace CDs in return as a thank you. Ta Ady

With Butch, Mick Smith, Keith Money Mick H and moi.

Could be, Ty remarried.

No problem Dave, the Towana on S H is Ty's daughter but that is not her as T & The Total D as she would have been about 10 then, it's her Mum using her name as a tribute. I must admit that we haven't included Catch Action as it would have stuck out like a sore thumb as it is very different to the rest of the stuff. We were going to include everything but found the great new unissueds at the end and dropped Catch Action to get them in. Sorry if you really wanted that on CD but something had to go. Cheers Ady

Dead right, but This Couldn't Be Me and No More Tears was originally recorded as by the Tonettes and then issued as by the Sweethearts, same recordings.

The Tonettes on Modern became the Sweethearts on Modern and Kent. I haven't heard them as the Tonettes so perhaps you could put up a scan and something in Refosoul when it turns up. Was Gloria Scott LA too, if so they're probably the same. Cheers Ady

There seems to be a thousand variations and I'm trying to work them all out but please tell me of any more either on here or pm, I'm bound to miss a few. Ta Ady

Any chance of a loan for our research purposes please. PM me if you can help. Thanks Ady