Agentsmith

thats interesting geoff, you would have thought straight off, it was the other way around, bearing in mind how blatantly it was done in the 60's. of course that dosnt mean that recording artists then, didnt appreciate what black americans were creating, infact i would imagine a good many considered it a privilage but the necessity to find the next hit by companies resulted in a lot of people being taken advantage of, namely the black american music market. by the 70's and having broke through in their own right, black artists were having the hits and whites less so with covers. actually, in this case then, the song may have been handed to connie first with a "suck it and see" policy in mind. it didnt work but a year later ( i havent checked the stylistics discography ) 1972 and with the philly sound establishing itself, it was just right for them. the phraseology of the title though is perplexing....betcha couldnt have sounded right for ms. stevens but "keep growing strong" isnt saying anything either!

had an issue, sold it to nige grice about 3 years ago, i also have a date and radio station stamped copy which i got in a trade with gary holyman about 5 years ago. interesting that john has had at least 2 copies which auctioned for £250...of course richard has been doing his fruit about the tune since i did him a cd copy last year, he told me he'd been all over the states looking for a copy...dont know if he has finally secured one , in the event he played my copy at the tower in november and it got a good response....LOOK,.. its a white artist....SO WHAT?......like so many others played over the years, it has the right quality despite the somewhat twee voice and the involvment of thom bell?....cant argue with one of philly's giants in my opinion. its pretty straight forward, that an established film and tv star with a half decent voice should be looking for one last hurrah on the music front....she was quite successful there afterall, and if you care to notice, she cut the original version ( i presume ) of "SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL" which we all associate with the super rare PLANETARY recording by MARGARET MANDOLPH. TICK - TOCK of course, is the B-side...... the A-side is a version of "BETCHA BY GOLLY WOW" as originally recorded by THE STYLISTICS......funny that the powers that be decided to change the title to "KEEP GROWING STRONG"??????? more than likely the main reason why it flopped, perhaps they considerd the title...TOO BLACK?, NOT SUITABLE FOR A WHITE ARTIST?.... OR WAS IT JUST THE RACIST CARD BEING PLAYED?....guess we'll never know the answer to that one summing up then, you could say they picked the WRONG side to issue,...its obscurity has proved its saviour and the scene has benifited thus, had it been known 40 years ago, we may all have acknowledged it as a club classic!!. just for the record: its release date was 6/3/ 1971 so the record has just celebrated its 40th birthday. you'll note a devout defence of this record on my part, as i said i think its just got it and WOW!, what a fantastic orchestration from thom bell. i know the establishment will dig their heels in about "pop" records...thats nothing new.....its because the scene is so relevant today with multi-faceted playlists making the dance floor, a vibrant place to be and TICK-TOCK deserves its place in any djs set.....OH, AND BECAUSE MR. SEARLING LOVES IT!!

well, having scanned all these posts, i think you have virtually, unanimously, confirmed it amongst yourselves...that mr. rchard domar takes the crown and, i can tell you, i have been regaled of many tales by none other than tim brown, about all aspects of this "howard hughes" recluse!! . ive even been there to buy tunes as well and...ive never had a problem with him, despite his excentricities. ......HOWEVER, i have to relate to a dealer who was much worse...and here's the conundrum...i cant remember his name or what his shop was called but he was the embodiment of alex guiness's scrooge ...perhapes SWOZ, LITTLE SCOTTY or MICK HOLDSWORTH enlighten me and everyone else on just who this character was. all i know is the building was a wooden shack that stood on the cannock road, outside wolverhampton city centre. lps blocked out any view in the front window and the interior was very dimmly lit i actually remember going in there on a saturday afternoon with eddie and he had to bribe the guy with chocolate, ciggy's and all manner of enticements just to look at a box off the shelves, which were absolutely crammed full of single releases. i think when the guy passed away, the entire portfolio was auctioned but cant say for sure....maybe the express & star has something in their archives about that...the building was demolished some time later.

confirmation then, that the u.s. demo is in issue format.....so definitelty came along too late to be revered as a white demo....so did white demo's cease as a format after, say, 1966?. there dosnt appear to be a british demo in existance then?, unless tony or mick smith can provide an answer, but surprised and nice at the same time, to see a solid centre uk copy

an evergreen record that over the decades, has fluctuated in price but by no means, ever been classed as rare...yet in all this time ive never seen either demo format. from a british point of view its first incarnation would have missed out on the black/silver & black/gold livery...so its just a light/dark blue issue with white logo ( based on the original american format ) and with no solid centre. needless to say, the american issue is as standard, but for me the missing link is the demo. i know that some issues, stateside, were also presented as demo's so,...was that a change from the black & white one's we are all familiar with?. i cant remember weather the british issue suffered a horrible reissue in all vinyl format after the first one's had paper labels....so perhaps the bright sparks amongst us can clarify the questions i pose with definitive answers...please?

i believe you'll find both grapevine release and the first bootleg attract decent prices ( between £30-50 dependant on who youre buying off ) this probably reflects the view that there cant be that many originals around...perhaps there are less than the 500 originals of bari track for instance?

never a truer word spoken thats the wonderful aspect of this scene of ours, and sets it apart from all other music cultures, moreso, because the music we love is on the whole written, recorded and produced by artists we know so little about.....5 decades have been spent listening to and researching the records and its an ongoing challenge that in reality, will never end. just like the djs we aspire to who reinvent theirselves to suit the change in playlists, the scene just keeps evolving...the fact it hasnt been allowed to be over commercialized and because it symbolizes a by-gone era, it could never be written off as a passing fad...its the greatest underground movement in contemporary music history and in typical reverse psychology we, the desciples created it, the others.....the artists, producers and writers learned about their forgotten contributions through us and as a consequence have come to believe that what they did really counted for something...even if it was decades later. no other music phenomenon could or has replicated our blueprint and in all honesty, NEVER will.

conservative value please?

sounds very interesting....can you confirm if mike terry's contribution was laid down before he passed away?, was the instrumental a bare outline/unfinished product that is also previously unheard?. obviously its going to attract the attention of detroit collectors if its something genuinely unique so can you post more info asap please?

i know this should probably be in all our yesterdays, but from that perspective the interest in sundays is nothing new. in the 70's and 80's all dayers were both popular and important in furthering the scene's developement and were a perfect alternative to mind and body shattering all-nighters. i remember frequenting birmingham locarno when chris king & terry samson ran it...before that it was a west midland soul club event. i also went to tiffany's newcastle-under-lyme, a mecca venue which was always heaving.by no means are those two isolated cases, infact tiffs ran a successful sundayevening session in the bali hai room, downstairs with soul sam, pep and colin curtis. lots of local pubs put on sunday nights as well, but most of you will be able to recount such incidences. having to contend with getting up for work the next day, was and more than likely, still is the problem, especially when you're shattered from wearing out the dancefloor! . i suppose if you have to put your finger on the precise reason that sunday is being looked at as a more viable proposition, isbecause the calender is so cluttered on fridays and saturdays....claustrofobic even.....step outside of THAT room and sunday is suddenly a breath of fresh air and there's space to put something on. of course its a case then, of how much money there is to go round as every promoter wants his/her hand in your pocket. catch 22 then?, good and bad at the same time?. one thing is for certain as mike stated, sunday is being viewed more seriously and as a result the weekend will be milked even more viciously.

with respect guys,its about the longest consecutive running club night....isnt it funny though......the irony that the clubs we refer to as legends lasted only as long as the blink of an eye....or so it would seem, torch, wheel, cats, va-vas, mecca ....even wigan.....yes, the bricks and mortar were around for a long time,perhaps even, their latter day popularity lead to their demise....the market place now, of course, is significantly bigger and venues generally come and go BECAUSE of the competition and LESS of the former, being shut, demolished etc. i think the difference now is, we dont refer to the venues we attend as legends because the music policies they employ on the whole cater for what the public want ....so we refer to them as GREAT. a large proportion are still very atmospheric which counts for a lot. perhaps it would be possible to compile a list here so a make a definitive statement as to where the scene is right now, its up to the promoters to give up the info,....afterall, we have here, a week by week schedule of whats on, so a list of every venue and how long its been going shouldnt be a hardship?

absolutely right there dave, im struggling however, to think of a club night thats been going continuously for more than 20 years and on reflection, i would say that most of the "stalwarts", for want of better words, have been going for perhaps 16 or 17 at the most and there certainly wont be "hundreds" of them. i know that BRIGHOUSE RITZ is into its 14th year.....im also sure kenny lee will vouch for the length of time GOODYEARS has been run as a soul night under his stewardship and that would have to be roughly the same.......SO COME ON THEN,....WHAT ABOUT THE REST OF THE UK?

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.

pray tell sir adey, are we in for a glut of motown via your good self that universal were NOT considering releasing theirselves then?...sounds like a strange kettle of fish to me....not that im complaining about kent doing it....perhaps they think marketing through your outlet is a better proposition for sales, bearing in mind the influence you wield!.

absolute total agreement there, a roller-coaster tune for a roller-coaster action sequence in a restaurant of all places!,....uma thurman testifing to the fact there was "nobody but her", could watch that over and over again. this, on the other hand is a spectacularly tight co-ordination ad. nike rebrand theirselves time and again and its quite obvious that the american conglomerate have, within their ranks, intelligent people who have grown up with musical roots...yes this tune already has a media history and was spawned amongst the mid-sixties west coast, garage and psyche output that contributed largely to tribute albums years later, namely, pebbles, nuggets and the chocolate soup comps. the human beanz were just lucky enough to post a chart hit courtesy of capitol records and then an extraordinary thing happened in the early 70's...the unerringly fast pace was found to be condusive to and subsequently picked up and adopted by the new "northern" soul scene.....and now it appears to be driving the scene's appeal to greater heights.

loads of people took pics there.......would be nice to a see a representative selection in soulsource gallery........JUST TO JOG PEOPLE'S MEMORIES.....can we get it together brothers and sisiters?......oh, and dont forget you can all still view the very last all-nighter playlist on dave rimmer's SOULFULKINDAMUSIC

somebody please post the paper's story if you can, so people can get the gist of whats happened. it might be a rural county venue but it was loved and cherished with a reverence by all walks of life over 4 decades. the lea manor had as much popularity as the cats, connaught, ship & rainbow, laffayette, 2001 or octopus and thats despite its obvious non-conformity to the northern soul scene, fledgling as it was at the time. infact it catered for all types of disco and bands, usually of the rock substance, but a good many of wolverhampton's well known djs, cut their teeth there. i suppose its only now, in the aftermath of its demise and impending demolition that it will dawn on a good many people from far and wide, how big a part it played in their "growing up". i for one, simply cant envisage an old people's home on the sight of what, with all due respect, should be deemed a sight of historical musical importance. there's no doubt it should have never been allowed to get to the sad and sorry state of affairs we view now. i feel for everyone who has such fond memories of tait, lynn and martin's monthly soiree that proved to be so educational in the manner of t.o.t.w, whose mantle, i personally believed, it took up. the manor was a torch of hope in a steadfast world of staple oldies nights. the playlist was in everyway, reminiscent of what i later witnessed at t.s.o.p., terry & lynne davies employed the tactics of giving everybody "a go" behind the decks, so at the manor, the turnover of djs was phenomenal...it wasnt necessarily about reputations....it was more of "whats in your box" and indeed, a lot of tunes were broken there.......shades of t.o.t.w. again me thinks?. so the lea manor hotel now enters the annals of "our musics" history. my personal rhetoric may be deemed as selfish when i say that the northern soul scene really gave the venue its identity back, but thats what i and many of you will take as our abiding memory, whilst in all honesty and truth, the reality is, it has been the soundtrack and springboard for generatoins who were just looking for a good time.....lea manor was there to fulfill that pledge.

released on u.k. westbound

i think this is gonna turn out to be just like issues of tobi legend, few and far between compared to the demo's. strangely, i had one of these out of a collection about 6 or 7 years ago and sold it in virtually mint condition about 2 years ago.....one of a million thats been tried but perhaps never quite appreciated enough for it to go big......until now...yes?.....is that what you're all infering?....of course, thats what its all about isnt it?, consistantly plugging these things. a bit gobsmacked at the price though, probably let mine go for about £40 ( even mick smith would be laughing at the ridiculous amount paid, in his books always a cheap record, but thats mick for you...the collectors best friend!)

saw it kev, what a pathetic cobbled effort and in the name of what?....was it an anniversary of that guys personal memory of the tour....how did they get to hear about him? if they had filmed it 2 weeks earlier, they could have interviewed tim brown as he was in bristol promoting his book about the city's zoo....it might have been more interesting....as for the dumb blonde posing like,...a dumb blonde,...well couldnt even dance or sing like chris clark let alone lace her boots!......SOMEBODY BLOODY WELL WAKE THE BEEB UP.......THE 50TH ANNIVERSARY WAS IN 2009. as for the uk tour its well, and better documented elsewhere, typical ONESHOW presenters, devoid of any knowledge and not even a motown historian in sight!!.

the subject seems to be going off tangent...ever so slightly people!,...to my mind everybody must have been scratching their heads long and hard but to no avail. i broached the subject with tim brown and other than the fact that soussan discovered and subsequently bootlegged it under an alias, even he agreed that the little matter of who was resposible for uncovering it, is a complete mystery. i remember purchasing an aquamarine blue solid chunky vinyl pressing from max millward in 74, the very year of its discovery and instant fame on the northern scene so,....it appears this will run and run, perhaps in the olng run it may turn out to be ( for want of better words ) the lord lucan of northern soul...we'll never find out the truth!.

plenty of white demo's about but has anyone ever seen or owned a v.i.p. coloured issue?. released 1965, the canadian's first effort at chart success in his own right ( he had already been taken under the songwriting wing of HDH), it flopped as did 67's there's a ghost in my house. definitely the rarer of the two, it appears devoid of a well distributed issue, probably because from the point of view of the lyrics, it posed a contentious issue to middle aged americans, who still viewed "juveniles" as unruly and needing to be put in their place, hence the rebellious statement taylor was making.....ironically, it predated the summer of free love and the hippy culture by two years.

bloody hell ian, when was the last time you went to the ritz?!........for those who cant remember,..NO RAISED DANCEFLOOR,....SORRY TO SPOIL THE MEMORIES!, DEFINITELY QUALITY DECKS AND YES, DESPITE NO "RAISE" THE FLOOR STILL BOUNCES......IN WHICH CASE, I HAVE TO ASK....BUT PLEASE TELL ME......EXACTLY HOW MANY OF YOU WENT TO THE RITZ IN THE LAST DECADE?......HOW MANY OF YOU MISSED OUT ON THE "LEGENDARY" ALL-NIGHTERS INCLUDING THE WORLDS GREATEST "RAREST OF THE RARE" EVENT EVERY MAY-DAY BANK-HOLIDAY??. credit to neil for getting this together, but i have to say, ive known this to be on the cards for quite a while....just a case of waiting for the date....... WOW!, WHAT A WEEKEND THIS WILL BE ( YES, IM IN TOTAL AGREEANCE ) to see mr.searling behind the decks again at the venue that hosted his 50th and a magical appearance by THE ORIGINALS as part of his celebrations......without doubt MY FAVOURITE VENUE OF ALL-TIME, knowing that this place still existed and having waited 5 years for someone else to take up the mantle, justice has been done putting it back on the calender of "must visit" events......my one gripe.......pity the queue isnt at 10PM,..NOT 11AM....but then again.....it may be the first successful all-dayer....IN YEARS!!

here, here....clearly in agreeance with you both and HE IS in my TOP 3 DJS OF ALL TIME...this truely is a case of BY THE PEOPLE, FOR THE PEOPLE. richard is the instigator of putting right, years of wrong and injustice....even if by his standards its just a small modicom, a scratch on the surface....ITS A START!. the benefactors will be the artists/writers/producers/musicians and, in relevant cases, immediate surviving family members. richard hoists the flag yet again to let everyone know that he's still in there, punching his weight on behalf of the scene that gave him so much, and that he wants to give back to. northern soul gave him his big break and he in turn, aspired to new heights taking a grateful scene and adoring soul clan with him. the epitome of sound has proved so popular as to warrant issue before....before that it was a case of buy a boot or fork out for an original. as in most cases these days and with vinyl production been in the doldrums, ney almost extinct, anything of an independant nature, quickly sells out and/or deletes or the lease expires....its certainly been a number of years since tim/kev issued it on goldmine 7s so now the opportunity presents itself but in a manner and a reason that befits. a descriptive picturesleeve and the revenue being distributed to the right people....ISNT THAT IMPORTANT? NOW QUOTE ME IF IM WRONG, but the original goldmine issue first came out in 96/97 and i dont recall a second press due to demand, so....if im correct this is infact long overdue for a re-issue. WHEN i spoke to richard at the tower, i asked him......"you didnt honestly sell all your tunes, did you?" the reply: "of course not, theyre all still at home" THAT SPEAKS VOLUMES OF THE MAN, a man still very much in love and engrossed with the scene and,....with all those forgotten,MYSTICAL, LEGENDARY COVER-UPS AND ONE-OFFS S, still in his posession, he could switch back on......JUST LIKE THAT and no-one would hold a candle to him. RICHARD IS A TRUE GENIUS AND GO-AHEAD IS A MASTERSTROKE, so put aside the fanatical-anorakish mud slinging and show solidarity for what could turn out to be the best record collecting outlet for decades.