Agentsmith

cornerstone of memphis's historic house band, dunn, originally a member of the markey's, replaced steinberg in 63, and became part of the furniture...if there was a genuine answer at the time to jamerson, this would have to be the man...the stax studios reverberated to his consistant sound...god rest your soul brother, amen.

ian, the tributes here are humbling to read, leaving a lump in the throat...it imbues all of our lives with a sobering perspective...that we cannot escape from...the inevitability of death. it hurts nevertheless...grief is a remorseless attribute that we suffer frequently and as we roll on into this millenium it is becoming an all too familiar concept, but in death there should be and, indeed is, a joyous recollection and celebration of life shared so devotedly by yourself and the friends you & helen made. i recall, as an attendee of the catacombs at the behest of my badgering cousin, sharon, casting a gaze on the couple who quite intimately hid theirselves in one of the club's many alcoves, sharing each others company, yet the shining light that is helen, would also embrace the dancefloor publicly, casting her spell...she always stood out from the crowd...but in truth she WAS the crowd and people just gathered to her like a magnet. from the point of view of actually getting to make your aqquaintance, that happened at your first shop in stafford street, in walsall, where i worked. i would walk the short trip every lunchtime to hang around and check out the sounds. i remember one particular occasion where her promotional nous involved me balancing ( ney, juggling ) half a dozen copies of stanley mitchell in various positions, even wedged in the collar of my tee-shirt, and then posing outside the shop for a photograph!!.....fun and mischief would always abound. the shops became the hub of relationships...many lifelong friendships were forged there, and helen was the centrefugal driving force, be it or be it not her intention. as i stated recently, helen was THE FIRST LADY OF NORTHERN SOUL and, it is a testimony to her sincereity, her warmth, her devotion and most importantly...her humanity, that WE as followers of the scene, pay homage to her...every step we took, every breath we made, she oversaw in her motherly way. god, in his infinite wisdom, has shone his light to guide the way to everlasting life...helen is amongst the stars...looking down on you, ian and all of us, letting us know how much we are all loved. with deep affection & sincere regards, rob.h

sure dave will be on the case, bro

just read the herald edict and thats a truly unrehearsed, astonishing piece....couldn't have put it better. i dont profess to being knowledgeable on group line-ups, so realising that its not only his voice that fronts the trammps, but a whole variety of numbers associated, ironically, with the northern scene, is an eye-opener....you certainly live & learn! sheer tenacity handling the lyrics in the manner he did, on disco inferno, bears out to great effect what people are expressing about his vocal range...has to be in the top ten disco records of all-time. all of a sudden it comes to mind that jimmy ellis, for his magnanimous contributions to r & b over 5+ decades sits alongside the greats who have passed by our way. i connect with the volcanoes through to the trammps and am waking up to everything else in between, and all the time jimmy's was the guiding voice...now he's ( to coin a well spun phrase ) "burnin' that mother down" up in heaven city!!. r.i.p. jimmy ellis

WELL DONE DEAR FRIEND, TO QUOTE A WELL WORN PHRASE..."MISTER, YOU'RE A BETTER MAN THAN I"...well, i couldn't have done it!!

im genuinly humbled by this tidal wave of emotion,....what a wonderful humanitarian kind we are, that our icons are held in such high esteem...dobie gray touched all our lives, his music will never die...in our hearts, souls and most importantly.....in our feet....when his music is played........THERE ISNT A FLOOR WE WONT BE OUT ON....

out on the floor drove dancers insane....the incrowd was a mod classic well before as was see you at the gogo and to this the mid 70's added honey you can take it back...all great tunes, easily recognisable, establishing dobie gray as an asset, not just to every djs playbox, but the northern scene in general. he never forgot his roots though and his love of that country style of soul still shone through and kept him in the spotlight for many years after...its comforting that his tunes are still played on radio today proving their endurance and longevity, and distinct appeal to people in all walks of life. r.i.p. dobie gray, a voice silenced only in death but whose memory will prevail.

i love you man,.....you're so reserved

GREAT CLIP!...it certainly wets the appetite, going to be a bit of a wait before we get the finished article but it has to be a 1000 times better than the previous lacklustre offering...the headbutt is a distinct nudge towards commercial establishment interference, and, is even moreso correct right now.....GET THE KNIVES OUT NOW AND STAB THOSE BARSTEWARDS BEFORE THEY DO IT TO US! ...so to speak. i think we're all getting excited at the prospect of for once seeing our "landscape" painted in a true perspective....it has to be about why the scene is here, why it survives and why in those tortueous early days it had to deal with its own growing pains, amidst the media furore and band wagon jumping. set against a 70's backdrop that, almost in its entireity, is a forgettable decade , northern soul has been escapism from run-of-the-mill, mundane life...thats what it was for us of a certain agegroup who had to endure it. so if the film, as we've seen in this trailer is setting out to make the media look as banal as they always have been, then so much the better and....if it brings an accepability of this genuine original music to a wider audience in a way that is both serious, funny and thought provoking, then we will all have reached our goal....a film that does what it says on the tin.

sad as it is, this scenario is becoming all too frequent, marv's profound contribution to the success of motown is well documented. i am sure that all concerned with the company will be deeply affected by his passing and we as lovers of the music he was part of, can only offer up our deepest sympathies to his immediate family...he will be remembered

i can assure you, when i first heard it some 10 years ago at notre dame, i was completely gobsmacked!....you should ask nick brown about it, he did the original...i simply went into a recording studio with it fresh in mind, told the tec how the two tunes should be spliced and he mixed it down. it rounds up to something like 5 minutes...i had 3 copies cut, gave one to kenny onions and one to neil....cant for the life of me remember what happened to the other....believe me, it sounds BRILLIANT and it certainly WONT drive you off the dancefloor, even at 5 mins long....so perhaps neil might consider doing a limited run of it just to prove a point.

ive read all the quotes on this continuing saga and decided to chime in on this one in particular, but just in brief. just like our formost iconic dj's, the scene does not revive, it simply reinvents to suit the next generation. our scene and our music is durability accentuated. one thing it could never be tagged with is an andy warhol " fifteen minutes of fame" rebuke. a "wearing our hearts on our sleeves" celluloid celebratory acknowledgment of our all-consuming love for northern soul, surely is worth the effort, especially in the hands of a true soulie who wants to tell the story without so much as a stereotypical commercial distraction....the trap that has been fallen into before. this has to be a statement, akin to a stone carved monument,...a defining moment that from a visionary's point of view, we have never come close to fulfilling without unwelcome intervention from an unknowledgeable media and its other subsidiaries. im probably like a good many others who do not know elaine personally, but reading the dialogue here, has alone, convinced me of her positivity. i remember, like a good many of you out there, the hype and furore that encompassed the release of the award winning documentary about the funk brothers and the triumphalism of finally achieving the recognition they deserved as much as the indebtedness, owed to them by their begrudging employer's motown....without them, there would have been no story and remember,....the foundation stones of our scene were built on the sounds coming out of detroit....the initial backbone of what morphed into northern soul. that documentary is like an eleventh commandment, set in stone, where the roots of our musical heritage came from..... so now is the time for a twelfth and, be it not a documentary, its by the people, for the people, the most important belief anyone should possess in telling our story the right way. i truely believe we can have before us a film we will watch and relate to, over and over for the rest of our natural lives.

hi neil, just a thought, but didn't you consider putting that remix i gave you, onto vinyl. nick brown was responsible for that, a good ten years ago. remember i did you a cd?

yes mate, im afraid richard must have been having a brain storm and it threw me!...not difficlt these days despite the deference to go to vinyl, which is understandable right now, i believe its just a matter of time before ady twists lou's arm...preferably by the time of the tower...maximum exposure there, and it will be heavily featured on virtually every internet or radio show you can imagine...for all i know its happening right now...i know for sure kev & richard will be featuring it before the months end

had an email from richard searling yesterday, he has been in touch with lou and apparently he told him it wasnt the same gloria jones, i suggested comparing pictures but lou surely wouldnt have made a statement like that if he didnt believe it was true himself, so we have to reserve judgement?

sorry benj, crossed wires, yes and cant you just tell its mono.....and,.....ITS NOT EVEN "THE" GLORIA JONES,...HOW ABOUT THAT FOR A REVELATION?

recieved cd today and listened to the tracks several times already, absolutely brilliant and affirmative that these original versions came to light amidst 40 years of what we worshipped as anthems, we learn something new every day!

i disagree, whilst it may not be a stereo mix, its the same full length version with the extra lyrics that extend the song to almost 2.55

mick, that extra minute you mention will be identicle to the 99 joe boy issue of rita & the tiara's rob

correct malc, as its refered to in the music industry: a standard,,,,an absolute myriad of covers ensued but benny spellmans reading is the proverbial yardstick.

we wake up again to find we have lost another uniquely articulate and talented musician, who, at one time or another, has influenced our lives through his provocative and justified statements. we found great pleasure in dancing to these tracks, most iconic of all being the bottle, yet we gained a profound understanding of the lyrics he put down and as a consequence, realized a greater overview of our world socially and politically. gil scott heron's output is rightly, critically acclaimed...in our lifetime's and generations to come, his contribution will be a yardstick by which other young, enthusiastic, talented musicians aspirations will be measured....its already happening and will continue to do so. be at peace brother.

och, yer killin' me greavsie

actually tony might just want to tell us about it as IT IS scheduled for release via kent!

tony, with regards to patrice holloway, is there stuff in the can that NO-ONE is aware of then? ive always thought what weve recieved via chris king/ c.f.o.m. is the sum total of her output and surely everything she did for capitol is known....despite that, nice she recieves some posthumous recognition for her efforts. is all of the previous gn output out of circulation now?, thats why i said i would like to see it done properly on a universal " anthology, reminiscent of other artists they have covered in the last 6 years. the spinners also would be a good one, and again, thats despite numerous comps over the decades....to have a completist one on motown that really says it all. in all honesty tony, anything that comes out must be applauded and more importantly BOUGHT, to show how much the motown loving public/anoraks appreciate yours and their efforts :hatsoff2:

appologies tony, im waiting for my 2 year check-up! , have universal given you any idea what THEY may have in the pipeline in the near future....i wouldnt imagine for one minute every avenue of exploration has been exhausted as both they and hipo still keep turning things up.....its been a while since we had an anthology and ive wondered for some time if we will ever see a complete gladis knight & the pips. anyway, good luck with what youre doing and i'll most certainly buy the contours, even if its just for the jerry-o backing track.