Agentsmith

this could distinctly be a polished professional job, especially as the producer appears to have the necessary credentials, age, experience e.t.c. once again opinion will be swayed only with the final finished product...when it hits the screens, and in the case of some of the glitterati amongst us, the exclusive first showing, so,, before there's any disquiet or hell's kitchen-style knife sharpening at the prospect of another commercial foray into scene belittling....lets just get on with our soulful lives as normal, doing what we've always done for the last 4+ decades....enjoying our gigs, dancing and buying those little black vinyl thingy's....and whatever comes afterwards, we'll just take it in our stride....cool,calm & collected!

december 9th.....and it just so happens to be my birthday as well......old fooker!! :D

yes, and the good lady & myself will be on the door to greet you all!, this is a fabulous venue with a truely great dancefloor and quite appropriately its in the hands of the master promoter so, beware the lockout signs if you value a good night's dancin'....hopefully ricardo will have raided his "garage" for some of those "one-off" cover-ups that have been gathering dust!!

id imagine soussan would have supplied advance copies ( acetates ) of the instrumental to the top djs of the time and then decided to boot them as a double a-side once they were big tunes, disregarding the genuine b-side in preference to the urgent need for stompers. as weve grown older and wiser, weve come to appreciate the finer things and b-sides such as this are distinctly more receptive to the ear...and we can actually dance to them.

ask uncle ted about strange, worth considerably more than WNAU,...nice tune though.....young timothy even borrowed my LP VERSION of strange because the professor didnt even know it existed and he dosnt have a copy of the sonja recording anyway..see you cant own everything can you?.....oh, and i still haven't heard uncle ted's gem

bought one from you last years i think pete, the original has obviously gained greater value since the acceptance of the b-side, relevant to the crossover scene. tim offered me an original last year for £900...an established price id say. with regards to its history, its always been classed as a stormer and at this period in time where djs are searching out oldies that have just been quite accidently forgotten, the sweets fit right in that catagory. the instrumental is unique, regardless of it being on the b-side of the boot, simply because it dosnt exist in an original vinyl format...soussan being in the fortunate position of stumbling across the backing track, i guess in a demo format ( not vinyl ) whilst on his forays on the west coast. i think that this strange quirk of fate actually justifies playing the instrumental regardless of the fact it is, to all intents and purposes, a bootleg, and as with so many of the early, solid vinyl pressings, they have, in time, disappeared into people's collections....just like the originals many couldnt afford to buy....a case which still applies today...i dont think too many can argue vociferously about the case for playing certain things, for instance,...mel britt, billy woods, rufus wood....like you're just going to go out and buy any of these rareities tomorrow without spending a small fortune....yeah right, so the bootlegs have become sought after.....£50 - £100....the tamangoes was bootlegged TWICE!, in vinyl, styrene and LEGITIMATELY on grapevine, yet all three command prices not to be sniffed at,...well, getting your hands on a genuine WASHPAN would certain break most people's bank balances. so, in the case of THE SWEETS, its time to be spun again, long overdue....instrumental played at the tower? ( not cheating )....watch and listen!.

just been browsing the u.k. sue discography ( please dont start yawning, you authoritarians ).....couldn't believe my eyes....gerri hall - "who can i run to" & joe matthews - "sorry aint good enough" with official release dates and catalogue numbers....is this true, do they extist or were they scheduled but never released?. bearing in mind what a hotline copy auctions for, a u.k. issue would be a true holy grail in every sense of the word.

second single?...get the soundclip up here please.

ian, you're spot on, i remember tim relating this story to me last year,...in his own record room.....IN HIS OWN HOUSE, FOR FOOKS SAKE!! ...you know, our beloved mp's are about to trot out the old hanging pony again......well, if it ever comes about, it should apply to these lowlife's

spot on,...cctv is best bet then, so its about checking out who owns what, if its privately installed or council and if they're willing to examine footage for evidence....this barsteward thinks theyve got clean away....in this day & age??, they're having a giraffe!!,...til their collar gets felt and they wake up on life support...so everyone needs to be sharp as a tack now, no matter which end of the country we're in.

still nothing heard on this yet?....i can only summise that with it being the smoke, madam jojo's being in soho, and even at 3am there's a probability its some opportunist who dosnt realise what was in the bag, just picked it up...if it is someone from within the club at the time,perhaps most people there would know or recognise each other...did they have to produce some sort of membership or sign in/stamp on their hands...any cctv inside or out?. so its look out for internet & paper ads, check your texts/emails for anything that sound suspicious, pawn/secondhand shops need checking out, and like as been said here already, all record dealers, weather shops or websites, should be informed. was the bag a name brand and did it have any distinctive marks on it or badges for instance that would give it away. most of this is what the cops would ask anyway, but so long as the scene is keeping its eyes wide open and its ears to the ground, there's as good a chance as any that it will be hard for this/these scum to move anything without it being noticed.

thats correct, laura lee herself told kev roberts the story, she recorded it before darrell banks.

by the way girl, how are you these days, most recently had a chat at stoke after a long time, hope youre looking after yourself?....hope we'll see you at lowton in december or dunkenhalgh in october. atb may & rob

thats fookin' shite isnt it?....remember eddie from donkey's back at ilford palais....they should take a leaf out of saudi's book and chop the barsteward's hands off in retribution

geese lad...is it really that predictable?, i find it totally refreshing that the broadsheets are treating it with respect unlike 74/75...thank god it isnt being courted by TNOTW.....i would have demanded a hacking investigation ( come to think of it,...perhaps IT WAS THEM in 74/75....quick, where's me lawyer??!!

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

a few bits for sale.... jean battle - ive got to come in - clintone ( written & produced by sam dees ) xol ex £80 tommy tucker - thats how much - festival ( red issue, number before flirtations ) ex £50 tamiko jones - cross my heart - metromedia ( brazilian, in company sleeve george soule - terry woodford composition) sol ex £35 pieces of eight - come back girl - a&m (d) blue eyed soul stormer ex £50 gayle adams - baby i need your loving - prelude ( great 80's cover of the tops classic) ex £40 inferno orch.b/w the showstoppers - im not strong enough/got to get closer to my love - inferno (d) (wigan anthem plus unissued stormer - a side has slight click at start ) vg £20 brenda holloway - im so happy - studio blank ( version of phillip mitchell, levine production ) ex £ 20 albert jones - up to the sun - bumpshop ( probably rarest on label & his hardest recording to get great detroit ) ex £200 interested?....cheques please!...contact robhaigh2011@hotmail.co.uk

monday 1st august, bbc radio 2 broadcasts a two part program about aretha, its on at 10.30pm, hosted by paul sexton. its part of the new "summer of soul" season....got to be worth a listen?

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?

PLAYLIST PLEASE?

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

love the film clips....its like a good many of us have been nuturing a field of crops with tender loving care and only now are we seeing the fruits of our labour, weve cogitated for at least two decades now, as to where new blood is coming from to supplement the scene but it appears our misgivings were premature. i cant speak for the rest of the u.k.,.....only you brothers & sisters on soulsource can reflect your present day experiences but i, and kev roberts and every other attendee at stoke had an unobstructed view of the young generation coming into bloom, be they attracted to the mod aspect of the scene or having emerged from under the wings of their guiding light...their parents...there is wholehearted approval, there were many nodding heads. the scene wont shrink and hasnt, its now a global blueprint, atrademark with REAL creedence, a distinct way of escaping the computer generated world of brainwashing pop that cannot possibly pay homage to its roots, its so far gone down the road to oblivion....generations of youngsters instead want indepth knowledge of what has made us, the OLDER PEOPLE, tick and they have learned to understand what this musical phenomenon is about and why it endures....and suddenly its their world, its for real, the music has lyrics they can identify with and they can get off on it without the realliance of the old enemy, drugs, that precipitate the futility of everything else around them .........TO QUOTE THE WHO......"THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT"

i agree in principle pete, i summise that its about being in the right place at the right time to pick copies up at reasonable prices and in a lot of cases perhaps people who, unknown to the vast majority, have copies dont bother to make theirselves known and thus, dont advertise because they genuinly believe no one will be interested in buying. ther are probably thousands out there who would be prepared to sell stuff, but dont know where to place it, worry about not getting their money, dont know who to trust, not sure about true valuations and so on, and so forth......a large proportion go to john's sight....because its there....... and misinterpret its the be all and end all.....the purists know otherwise, thats not knocking john...as a dealer yourself pete, even you know you all have different valuations of records and quite often they're wide of the mark. it just depends who's looking at who's site at a particular moment in time. i probably do what a lot of others do and spend a lot of time looking at soulsource because its the best way to check everyone's sales...its in essence a comparison site....without being one!....i actually consider yourself and henry atkinson, two of the fairest dealers around...the catch is if you happen to have someting i want...its already gone ( well, when i look it usually has! )....the early bird catches the worm as they say....guess there are some collectors who are up before the milkmen & burglars!!!