Jerry Hipkiss

One of the most memorable figures (literally!) from my early years of travelling!

Nice post, and as several people have said, there was always someone who'd look out for you if you were a new face at a big venue - although I knew a lot of the Chelt/Glos crew already it could have been quite intimidating, luckily a couple of Gloucester girls took me and my mate under their wings, can never remember who they were though!

He he...Dennis Lee was telling me some hair raising stories in that vein on Friday night...just as well I was only in it for the music!! ...Back on topic and back in 72 I was avidly reading all about the Torch but DJing locally so hadn't started travelling - that came about at the end of the Torch but at least it meant that I saw Sam and Dave and the Detroit Emeralds, had a whale of a time and got even more hooked on Northern Soul!

Oh yes Malc, I'd almost forgotten that classic line!

a proper Sweets on Soultown?

No way did I have a stage name pop pickers! ...in Cheltenham we liked even our commercial dj's to be down to earth, I well remember one out of towner coming in to cover for one night and wearing tight leather trousers to impress da ladeez - suffice to say he didn't and never came back!

He he...yes, me...I remember being told by one club manager "you'd be a good dj if you stopped playing all that soul stuff" - and here I am still doing it thirty odd years later. Will I never learn?

have to agree, prob 50 tops!

Have I lived a sheltered life? Never seen a plain yellow One-der-ful like that, got the usual design, what's the story behind it?

Never noticed before that that copy has GENO as the spelling!

The version Des is playing is a real oddity (to me anyway) - it's not MLL but it IS on Swan - at first listen it sounds the same but I seem to recall hearing a couple of phrasing differences. I won't name the artist just in case, sure Des will!

Thanks mate, memory isn't totally shot then!

Sure it came out on Duke 68/9-ish, blue top half, white bottom half on the label - trouble is I'm at work and can't check...

Noone's mentioned the Magicians unissued vocal yet - or does that not count as it couldn't fail?

This is one of the most frustrating ones - mine has the 1 scratched in, matt label, bought in late '76 before that awful speeded up boot appeared, and it took me almost the entire niter to prise it from the seller. I certainly wasn't aware at the time of an Uptown boot, never been convinced since and wonder if it was just another run done at a smaller pressing plant?

This is one of the most frustrating ones - mine has the 1 scratched in, matt label, bought in late '76 before that awful speeded up boot appeared, and it took me almost the entire niter to prise it from the seller. I certainly wasn't aware at the time of an Uptown boot, never been convinced since and wonder if it was just another run done at a smaller pressing plant?

Yes, three or four as I recall, still got them somewhere!

Pity you didn't do the proof-reading as well matey ...fun innocent days - that mag must have made no sense to people who didn't go to Yate!

Got that coach several times, great fun, remember Mad Val only too well, , what a character - recall getting the train back from Brum one morning and getting paranoid about MickeyB's sister Mo sticking her head out of the carriage window going through those tunnels!

Might have to dig my UK issue out later to refresh my memory!

Possibly after Atlantic broke the news to Jim Stewart that they, not Stax, owned all the masters? There's reference to that event in Peter Guralnicks book on Southern Soul. Must admit I've never seen these green 'uns before!

Would soul snobs insist on using balsamic vinegar?

I've always regretted not getting Bobby Kline off Ian in 1980 when he was listing it for 8 pounds!

Yes, and I ended up with Tee Fletcher...Gloucester YMCA tune!

Doubtful - there's a buzzing at the start which makes it pretty certain that it was dubbed from the Daran copy