Rick Cooper

If anyone remembers Robinsons Records in Manchester they had bins of cheap singles in front of the counter. These were a mixture of UK pop, soul and reggae labels and some US issues. Occasionally these would be topped up from loads more in the basement storage. In 1977 I got to go through the basement where there was thousands more UK reggae singles. Some of the labels I remember were Pyramid, Doctor Bird, Bullet, Blue Beat and quite a few others. The only artists I would be looking for were Roland Alfonso, Busters All Stars and The Soul Brothers as a DJ in Belgium sent me his wants lists with these on. Anything else I'd just flick past. I can't be 100% sure but it seems more than likely that there would be copies of Glenn Miller. A couple from somewhere down south once came up and went through the basement singles as they were collecting reggae. They took a few hundred so there must have been some rare stuff as they told me they had been all over the country buying singles. Did they take Glenn Miller? Martin, do you remember when and where you got your copy of Glen Miller, how much it cost and did you already know it? This is the wants list from the Belgium DJ Luc Heymans. He may have wanted these for playing in the Popcorn clubs but could have just been for his own use.

Like Andy (Billy Jo) I'm trying to figure out how to post eBay auction sales. I used to check Royal Mail's rates, add a little for packing and set this amount, then wrap items, take to the post office and pay there. This time I want to use up some stamps so thought I could offer "free postage" but it looks like eBay will charge me for postage and make me use their post paid printed labels. Yet again it's eBay's way like it or not.

This is a flyer I got in the 70s but only just found again. What Makes Her a Woman was a record I always liked from mid 70s Blackpool Mecca but seems to be overlooked now. At this time Ian and Colin were playing 60s records along with newer type ones like this. Later on, 70s disco records took over which looking back now went too far. There's not much info on Danny Reed but he's described as guitarist, keyboard player, vocalist and songwriter. He toured with artists such as Isley Brothers, Millie Jackson, Otis Clay, and Tyrone Davis. The "forthcoming album" never seems to have been released. Any other info would be welcome. Other record releases are a single - Candy Rose on Smoke Stack in 1989 LPs - Pretender on Smoke Stack in 1988 I've Been Reaching For You on Smoke Stack in 2001 I think the photo on the right is Danny but don't know anything about Larry Hudson. There seems to be a C&W singer called Larry G Hudson. YouTube here- What Makes Her A Woman ~ Danny Reed - YouTube

Yanks and Power Cuts were owned by Global Record Sales and was set up in the first room of the basement of Canada House. I left Global around 76/77 before Yanks was set up but even then there was a huge stock of cheap LPs that they couldn't ever hope to sell to their wholesale customers. They would ship container loads every three to four months from east coast warehouses in the US, primarily American Record Sales in NJ and House of Sounds in Philly. I think it was Ed Balbier's sons, Greg and Brian, that ran Yanks. The records were cheap but they were buying them for very little and the pound/dollar exchange rate was still fairly strong. More here- https://britishrecordshoparchive.org/shops/power-cuts--yanks/

Loads of apples this year, too many probably. Masses of blackberries just over the back fence so we had this pavlova as a treat . Lots of conkers this year after hardly any last year. Bl***y squirrels will be burying them in the garden any time soon.

The list with Billy Davis - Stanky on it was done for northern titles that were only in small quantities and worth more. Sometimes they were mailed out but usually just for buyers at the Manchester site who asked. The other list was around 7 or 8 pages and sent to shops as well as private buyers. This a page from one list. Some nice titles that went big much later and others that don't fetch much now. The price codes are the amounts you list, although I think A was 14p. Number 57 was Bits and Pieces- Keep on Running Away on the multi coloured Nasco issue.

@Dave Moore did a great article on here about the Four Perfections- https://www.soul-source.co.uk/articles/artists/the-four-perfections-the-story-by-dave-moore-r2964/ @Joel E Turner did another great article about the Showstoppers- https://www.soul-source.co.uk/articles/artists/aint-nothin-but-a-house-party-a-chat-with-bruce-weinroth-producer-of-the-show-stoppers-classic-r4806/ As both tracks were recorded at Cameo Parkway does anyone know if they could have been done at the same session i.e. a split session of two tracks for each act. I think I'm Not Strong Enough has a saxophone that sounds a little like Mike Terry, who was on Ain't Nothing But A Houseparty.

Wow, a "follower" in the 1970s! I'm not surprised you don't recall it as it wasn't a record that caused much excitement. I managed to find the lists that Dave K sent me many years ago and found Stanky listed for 75p , not £3 as I thought. Billy Davis is number 73. If the prices seem ridiculously cheap now at the time they were about right. Nobody had much money then and most people bought pressings and re-issues from Selectadisc, originals from Soul Bowl or new US releases from Record Corner. Others spent money on having a good time.

Mal, thanks for that. I met up with some of the group a few years ago and asked them how they picked what to play. They said that they would listen to Radio Luxembourg and then choose the ones that sounded best for their audience. They would buy sheet music or the record and learn from them. Many of the songs were by black US artists but they knew them from the UK cover versions, no returning Liverpudlian sailors involved. Sometimes they'd cover a proper US soul track if it got in the UK charts. Such as Knock on Wood, In The Midnight Hour and Sweet Soul Music. This is a photo of them on stage. I never saw them live as I was too young.

My brother and his mates formed a group, Pete and The Mohawks, around 1963 to 1966. They never had a record out but performed at lots of places around the north west, even opening for Freddie and The Dreamers at Llandudno. This is their playlist from a local gig and a photo of a practice session in 1963. I used to watch them practice which could explain a lot.

Sad to hear this. Pete was a great guy who always had time to chat to youngsters. Contributed to many events and used to post on here regularly. RIP.

secondhandsongs.com lists versions of songs. It has a list for Hello Stranger but doesn't include some mentioned above. I think they rely on people updating their listings for them. Cover versions of Hello Stranger written by Barbara Lewis | SecondHandSongs

First one I got was The Poets -She Blew a Good Thing on Old Soul Records from Spin Inn in Manchester. Over the moon to get this but no idea it was a boot and didn't care. Anyone know anything about Old Soul Records. They looked like US pressings unlike Soul Sounds. There were others on the label: Mickey Lee Lane -Hey Sah-Lo-Ney Jackie Lee -Temptation Walk/Shotgun and the Duck Bobby Freeman - S-W-I-M Bobby Freeman and Poets for sale on Discogs but not the other two.

There were large quantities of legit copies of Come On Train around so yours may have been OK. Discogs lists an unofficial 2nd press but even those could have been a re press by the record label.

This was done by Global Records for some strange reason. No demand for this at the time except as a collectors item on original. Other strange boots done by Global include Marsh Brody- Right Combination and Rose Batiste- That's What He Told Me. A bit more obvious were Duke Browner and Ed Crook. All on look a like labels but thin recycled plastic with terrible sound quality. I think John LaMonte's House of Sounds in Philly may have had something to do with these.

For a few years in my 30s I donated blood plasma at a place in Manchester. I'm not sure if a low blood iron level would matter, I don't remember any testing for this. Donating plasma earned you bonus points for the totals so an easy way to bump up you figures. Who can donate plasma - NHS Blood Donation Looks like I can't do this now but others might be able.

Not just me then. About ten years ago the pre donation iron level test failed a few times. They did the second test which on one occasion was so low that I was told to get a GP blood test. This came back OK and the GP said the donation test is unreliable. Five years ago failed two consecutive tests but asked if I could donate anyway. This was not possible as I may have keeled over although it didn't mean the blood was not useable. If this is the same for lots of over 60s that could be why there's a shortage. Just managed the last badge though. Time for the youngsters to step up.

Tales of his early days in Morocco was fascinating and how he heard soul records and then DJ'd was revealing. After a brief mention of his time in the UK he then skipped a few years to concentrate on his recordings. As with Paul, I'd like to hear more about his exploits finding so many rare records to send over here. Kev tried to get him to talk about this but we got more about Shalamar etc. Hopefully in part two we'll hear more.

No mention yet of the best ever Darrell Banks- Open The Door To Your Heart / Our Love Is In The Pocket Couple of others Jimmy Beaumont- You Got Too Much Going For You/ I Never Loved Her Anyway James Barnett- Keep On Talking/ Take A Good Look

Motown soundtrack to the film - Nothing But a Man- Don't know much about the film. Abbey Lincoln was a jazz singer, having albums issued in the late 50s early 60s. Trailer for the film - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSjgshFzHJE

Laura Lee does a good job on To Win Your Heart but it sounds like the vocal was just hastily made up to get another release. Ric-Tic/Golden World seemed to do this on a few other tracks, probably due to the way they and others recorded backing tracks with no vocalist and then added the lyrics later. Motown did this a lot but usually left space for the words so the instrumentals can be a bit sparse. Another vocal that I've never liked is Ronnie and Robyn- As Long As You Love Me, much prefer the backing track , Sidra's Theme. It sounds like it was always meant to be an instrumental until Sidra's co owner decided his children cut a vocal version.

I'm also a big fan of instrumentals , backing tracks or made as instrumentals. These are some great examples of backing track instrumentals Duke Browner- Crying Over You Luther Ingram - Exus Trek Donni Burdick- Bari Track From the Motown releases any early Supremes tracks with Diana Ross removed sound great.

Thanks for that, it's something I never knew. I tried slowing the speed on YouTube but it sounded nothing like the record at 33rpm. Her vocal was slowed but sounded to be at the same tonal range. The record at 33 sounds like a smooth male vocalist.

Slightly off-topic, which might get me a telling off from our friend Mr W Butcher. By mistake I played the single Mamma I Wish I Stayed At Home by Deniece Chandler at 33rpm.The result was a really nice mid tempo track with a sort of smoochy 1990 feel. Neither the vocal or instruments sounded obviously wrong, the main give away was the line "sixteen year old girl wild as the wind". If I knew how to, I'd put a clip on, could someone else do it.

Re Baltimore , Ed Balbier the owner of Global records mentioned that certain records were popular in Baltimore and Pittsburgh only. Two he picked out were Feathers- Trying To Get To You and Tony Galla when they were selling as Northern soul. Ed operated an indie distribution business in late 50s and 60s so would have an insight into regional playlists. He would have known loads about the US record industry but I , like others, never asked and it's too late now. To us he was just a grumpy old man.