Mark Bicknell

Just had a peek on Ebay as I've not been on for ages and it's a wash with some very nice records many of which seem to be the top end prices many 'buy it now' do these records sell or do they just go round in circles? seems like the record moutain is twice as big as it was last year and it was huge then, made me think about selling prices and I will certainly be reviewing mine in the future, the amount of records out there is scary as you only have to look on here in the sales section it's mental, then add Ebay in the mix, record dealers worldwide, sure there are certain records which will always hold their value and some still seem to shock when they come up on auctions but the bigger picture suggests that the £50.00 to £500.00 records are getting a little tuffer to sell and Ebay for example seems to be full of those, there are many other factors which come into play of course, money is tight still for many people which certainly in many cases makes it a buyers market what does concern me as time passes say in 5/10 years time is this mountain of records going to be the size of Everest if it ain't already? as people deside to sell up which of late seems to be a bit of a trend which makes even more records avaiable on the open market. Sure there will always be collectors but to what degree? will some records still command top end four figure sums? or do we just simply do what we do at whatever level and capacity and just enjoy it? at the end of the day it's about the tune or is collecting rare soul records more than that? is it about kudos, owning something that very few have? or is it siimply the desire and passion to own the records at whatever cost? I've stated on here that I no longer have the desire of the chase nor the money to really do it justice, I still however enjoy a good tune which I'm sure is the case for many other people, I've been around long enough to know that a big price tag does not always mean a good record, for me something like The Intentions - Don't Forget That I Love You (Philips) leaves the likes of Antellects - Love Slave (Flodavieur) stone cold, chalk and cheese in the money stakes £50.00 against £3/4.000 but in terms of floating my boat no contest, horses for courses and taste and opinion is varried and rightly so but would some of the big ticket items be so highly desired if they were twenty quid records? value should really not come into it as a good record is a good record simple as, Four Tracks, Royal Esquires, Dream Team etc. good records when they were rare and hard to find and certainly good records when they turned up in quantity not exclusive anymore perhaps but still the same production values and quality, slightly gone off my original point here but all part of the bigger picture. Funny old game this record lark or should I say SOUL lark because that's what it's about really is this beautiful, wonderful, sexy music we call Soul, it may have many styles well certainly within the rare soul scene but the fact is you simply can't beat an artist with a pair of pipes that levels you and leaves you begging for more no matter if the records cost a fiver or five grand it should make no difference and between us I'm bloody sure we can keep this record mountain from getting any bigger well certainly for the time being anyway. Regards - Mark Bicknell.

Has anyone ever seen or had a White Demo or Demo of Scientists Of Soul - Be's That Way Sometimes - Kashe 442 or is it the case like so many of the small label's that there are no Demo's? if there is one out there me want it lol Regards - Mark Bicknell.

Mud - Tiger Feet then everything just went downhill after that lol Regards - Mark Bicknell.

No bickering from me Barry, I just suggested you check the Marie Knight is all. Regards - Mark Bicknell.

Hi Russ, perhaps I'm playing it down a bit to be honest, still got a couple of nice 200 count rainy day boxes upstairs infact sorting a few tunes out for a house party we are going to Saturday, I guess the pressure has gone now to constantly buy new tunes to be at the top of your game when DJ'ing, I have forgotton some of the tunes I've had through my hands over the years, regrets none apart from some of the prices they sold for compared to now lol only records at the end of the day lol now football is far more important and I still spend a fortune on watching Chelsea with my lad oh look Cheryl Williams best that goes in the box for Saturday lol Regards - Mark Bicknell.

Look forward to it Joan, a little birdie told me you are coming, Lukes got a game Saturday morning so should be there around 2/3pm, just upstairs sorting a box out trouble is I've got no buggers left lol Regards - Mark

Not been anywhere Soul wise since April and a couple of do's before that this year so really looking forward to going to friends on Saturday for an allday/allnight house party, plenty to eat and drink, decks set up in the kitchen, several people bring a box of tunes, good company, play what you want and have a ball, just wondering if this is something that others do? or are we just getting old? lol no admission fees, no three/four journey to get there, no politics, tunes still sound as good and we can act and do what we want...playlist's to follow if we have the time lol Regards - Mark Bicknell.

Respect to you Phil, we go back a long way and we both had the same passion very early on for the desire to chase and own nice records, guess I've just lost the passion, still love the music just not that bothered about owning the records anymore he say's with a stone mint Little Richie sat in front of me lol Regards - Mark Bicknell.

I'm glad i'm not involved in the chase for rare records anymore, keeps you poor and for me a pointless exercise as I no longer DJ anymore not to say I don't dabble but tend to buy quirky littlle tunes, fair play and respect to those who still love the chase, sold a stack of records over the past three to four years with no regrets apart from the one's I've dropped bollocks on price wise lol. Regards - Mark Bicknell.

Lavern Baker - Wrapped Tied And Tangled - Brunswick Issue/Stock copy - vinyl perfect nice clean condition, light scratches on lable but nothing major - £150.00 Cheques/Postal Orders/Cash and Pay Pal welcome as a gift to avoid fees, postage £1.70 Sign For Mail £5.50 Special Delivery - contact bicknellmark@aol.com or via PM here. Regards - Mark Bicknell.

I would suggest you check the Marie Knight. Regards - Mark Bicknell.

Morris Chestnut - Too Darn Soulful - Amy Stock/Issue - Iconic Northern Soul record on the dog rare stock/issue copy, has very slight surface noise at the start of record but nothing major, plays nice both sides - £500.00 includes Special Delivery postage insured to the value - Cheques/Postal Orders/Cash and Pay Pal as a gift to avoid fees welcome, contact bicknellmark@aol.com or via PM here.

All records are in nice clean condition unless otherwise stated, cheques/postal orders/cash and Pay Pal as a gift to avoid fees welcome, postage free sent sign for mail, add £5.50 for Special Delivery, contact bicknellmark@aol.com or via PM here. Gordon Keith - Look Ahead - Calumet - £40.00 Dorothy Beery (Berry) - Don't You Give Me Love - Big Three - £75.00 Spyder Turner - I Can't Make It Anymore b/w Don't Hold Back - MGM Demo - £60.00 Joe And Mack - Don't You Worry - One-Derful - £50.00 Sunlovers - You'll Never Make The Grade - Mutt-Jeff Orange Design - £75.00 Bob Brady And The Con Chords - Goodbye Baby - Green Chariot, small drill hole - £50.00 The Cheers - Take Me To Paradise - Okeh - £60.00 Roosevelt Grier - Pizza Pie Man - D-Town - £80.00 Jimmy Burns - I Tried - Minit - £100.00 beautiful copy. Johnny Sayles - I Can't Get Enough (Of Your Love) - St Lawrence - £100.00 The Soul Twins - Quick Change Artist b/w Give Thed Man A Chance - Karen Atco Distributed - £50.00 - 1972 Atco Re- press taken from the same masterplates as the 1967 releases. The Capitols - Don't Say Maybe Baby - Karen - £75.00 Sam Dees - Fragile Handle With Care - Atlantic - £100.00 The Embers - Watch Out Girl - MGM Demo - £200.00 June Jackson - It's Whats Underneath That Counts - Imperial Demo - £75.00 The Jelly Beans - You Don't Mean Me No Good - Eskee Demo - £150.00 Valerie And Nick - I'll Find You - Glover White Demo - two black felt pen crosses on lable, beautiful Demo - £100.00 Patrice Holloway - Stolen Hours - Capitol very slight ring wear, nothing major - £250.00 The Van Dykes - Save My Love For A Rainy Day - Mala Issue - £250.00 dog rare. Blanch Carter - Halos Are For Angles - GSF Issue - £150.00 Sandy Wynns - The Touch Of Venus - Champion - £75.00 The Lovettes - I Need A Guy - Carnival - £75.00 stunning record. Regards - Mark Bicknell.

Time to put this baby to bed well it is almost 6am early start and all that lol best to close it before it turns into the same old same as type of thread, interesting points raised. Regards - Mark Bicknell.

Mossy I do hope your not trying to put words in my mouth old son lol yes I have publically stated pretty much I don't give a shit anymore but deep down I still love the tunes still this thread ain't about me it's about the scene in general and the fact that some venues are finding it hard to survive because of lack of support based on their music policy, the DJ thing for me became less exciting and rather stale so I stepped away from it granted it took me several attempts lol, once off the merry go round the desire and obession to buy and own records has become less important to me, despite the wayI feel, despite selling some of the so called big hitters, despite the politics, attitudes etc. I still want the people involved to enoy it and embrace the original Northern Soul ethic of alway's trying to move it forward musically and the simple fact for me personally was/is that the retro nostalgia thing simply does not float my boat so why be part of something you have little or no interest in. Regards - Mark Bicknell.

The trouble is Phil no matter how hard you try or think you are out of it even by our very comments and thoughts on this forum alone you can never be free of it, I've not been to more than six soul events in the past couple of years but like it or not it's still part of me, if we are true to ourselves once you become involved in this scene at whatever capacity it seems to be with you for life and that goes if you try and break away from it, sell all the records whatever, sometimes I miss it other times I hate it but having made a full on contribution to the scene over the years it's almost impossible to totally break free, I honstley can say that I don't miss going to soul events but pretty much come on hear everyday be it to sell records, nose to see what's going on out there and is one of the reasons I asked the questions here and raised the points I have as I might not be involved anymore but basically I guess I still care for what goes on and what the scene has become and the fundimental true hardcore fact in all this and deeper than owing all the rare trophy records in the world is that in it's basic natural form there is no taking away than it don't get much better than The Poets - She Blew A Good Thing, Ray Pollard - The Drifter, The Ringleaders - Baby What Has Happened To Our Love, The Dells - Make Sure, The Showmen - Our Love Will Grow etc. etc. and a thousand other records that have been the sound track to our lives all of our lives. Regards - Mark Bicknell.

It is according to Keith and bugger me these things are like buses sometimes nothing then two come along at once lol Regards - Mark Bicknell.

Not the only reason but certainly a major factor why I stepped back from DJ'ing was I got fed up of basically playing the same type of records, it became almost a chore rather than enjoyable simply going through the motions as good as The Cashmeres, Bobby Kline, Majestics etc. etc. are/were I felt I was selling myself short as there is often more to DJ's than their playbox, since being out of the DJ loop I have moved many of these records on despite this I could stiill cut the mustard from the collection without the tried and tested floor packing records as if they ain't there you can't play them, depth of collection has to make the DJ rather than 200 well known, big ticket or otherwise 45's which can no matter how good they are become over played and the magic of the tuine lost, in some DJ boxes it seems that many DJ's chase the same records and I certainly in part fell into that trap, as much as I loved these records I find myself in the situation of not really being that bothered about owning them anymore. Regards - Mark Bicknell.

Sorted now thanks to Mr Williams lol one question has anyone got or seen a Carla USA Demo of 'Love Makes The World Go Round'? settled for a Canadian copy from Keith so is it a case of the American Demo being eliusive? Regards - Mark Bicknell.

Rod Shard has just been to visit and he has no bloody idea either lol on a serious note some interesting replies here, was not my intention to make this another oldies v newies thing more to ask why some venues with a more upfront music policy fail to get good numbers in when some of the music played at these venues gets the thumbs up and good press on the scene. Regards - Mark Bicknell.

PM sent on this. Regards - Mark Bicknell.

Wanted Deon Jackson - Love Makes The World Go Round - Carla 2526 and Love Takes A Long Time Growing - Carla 2527 White Demo's in nice clean condition please, contact bicknellmark@aol.com or via PM here. Regards - Mark Bicknell.

I'm currently in the middle of selling a £600.00 record by three montly £200.00 instalments to a really decent bloke, record in my possession until the third and final payment is made, can't see any problem in doing this if both seller and buyer are happy to cut this type of deal, all about trust at the end of the day and about doing someone a good turn if they really want a record. Not sure if I would do this all the time but certainly happy to it this time. Regards - Mark Bicknell.