Sunnysoul

Should also mention that Syl Johnson appeared in Melbourne 8 months ago and he brought down the house down - and he's such an accommodating guy that he could easily be persuaded to do his 6Ts northern stuff if a UK promoter were to ask him nicely .... somebody really ought to bring him out ....

The Reverend Al Green has still got it at 63 years of age - we lucky people here Down Under in Oz just last Saturday night witnessed him headlining a free (yes FREE !) open air concert in the heart of Sydney's business district in front of 100,000 (yes 100,000 !) people with his own 14 piece US band !!!! And as a fabulous unexpected surprise he also performed his Detroit recorded 6T's hit "Back Up Train" and his northern fave the stompin' "Dont Leave Me" .

Whatever happened to Volume 2 ???

To even mention the words "soul" and "Jimmy Barnes" in the same sentence is an absolute insult and offence to the the great tradition of soul music. Jimmy Barnes is an appalling performing artist - if one can even call him that - and an embarassment to both Australian music and music in general.

https://www.youtube.c...h?v=bkMXnk16kiE If Elton's "Philadelphia Freedom" were a rare record and the artist named as The Sons of Robin Stone or The Soul Survivors, then it would have been a northern monster for sure ... As you can see the kids on Soul Train loved it ...

You really should get out more Ian .... as a matter of fact, all this talk of Cissy Houston reminds me of the rather nifty version of "Just Walk In My Shoes" that Cissy's Sweet Inspirations recorded on one of their Atlantic LPs ...

"SONNY KNIGHT QUARTETTE- Let's get it on/pt 2 AURA USA DEMO EX+ (Sublime mod jazz version of Marvin's track) 20" The Sonny Knight record has absolutely nothing to do with Marvin Gaye's classic hit record which was issued almost 10 years after Sonny's !!!!!!!!!!!!

Paul, do me a favour and stick a Frank Wilson on Soul in your avatar, maybe I'll get lucky here in Sydney town ....

Looks like you played it out twice before Ken ...

Have a listen to the great cross - over flip to the Bottle, a monster in waiting ... "Back Home"

Yeah, me, Kenny boy, born and bred in Australia. I started DJing Northern and Motown to packed floors at the Lismore Hotel in Pitt Street, Sydney back in 1979/80 and, from that point on, a poor humble Aussie like me was basically running the show in Sydney. By the mid 80's we had nights attracting 200-300 people every week and then - after spending a couple of months travelling through the UK attending allnighters in 1984 - I took the plunge and promoted the first ever Northern Soul allnighters in Australia in 1989 which carried on into the 90's. The crowd during this 20 year period would have been about a 50% - 50% mix of real Aussies and people from the UK ... who were often travelling backpackers who used to express to me their utter disbelief that they would ever hear Northern Soul outside the UK !!! By that time, Maria and Alex - two absolutely wonderful Aussie females no less - began to get heavily involved with their own excellent events in Sydney. Alex and I also had weekly radio shows that spread the northern soul gospel. So (except for the ground breaking efforts of the legendary Nigel Loveless in Perth during the 70's and later Vince Peach in Melbourne) it would be fair to say that there would have been NO Northern Soul scene at all in Australia during the 80's and 90's had it not been for 3 Aussies and a loyal crew of local Aussie soul punters !!! It was really only by the mid to late 90's with a huge new wave of migration from the UK to Oz - and by which time the Australian National Weekenders were up and running - that expats from the UK living in Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane and Melbourne began to start up their own scenes and the numbers of expats on the Aussie scene became much greater.

Rob, do you have any inormation on the Just Brothers and their 12" disco soul release from the late 70's ... one of the most sought after of all 12" discs according to many hardened collectors that I've spoken to. One would assume that is the same act as the Just Brothers of Sliced Tomatoes ...

Inner Life "I Picked A Winner" !!!!!!!

I have the Bennito Sextet on a US Tico 45 !!! Very hard piece !

My personal choice for one of the greatest ever LP only soul dancers: Jerry Butler "Stop Stepping On My Dreams". Did actually appear on a US promotional only Mercury 6 track 7" promo EP but sadly in much abbreviated form !!!

Is Terry Callier "Dont Want To See Myself" in 7" format ??? I thought it has never appeared in anything other than 12" format?

Ady don't forget the stomping version by Graham Central Station on WB.

I always felt that Chris Bartley represented the vocalist that Van McCoy always wanted to be but could not quite achieve as Van decided to concentrate on his writing and production career ... Also can anyone confirm whether Chris Bartley's vocals appear on any of the tracks on Van McCoy's Dancin LP ?

Yep, I did notice the mis-spelt title Paul ... where is Mr D when we need him ...

Can't seem to find my Salsoul 45 discography. Was this issued as a 45 in the US or UK - or anywhere in the world for that matter - around the time of release of their Gold Mine LP "Delusions" in 1977 ? Was it spun at the Mecca or Casino at that time (1977) ? Or at any later time on the Northern scene ? Have this on a 1983 Dutch Rams Horn 45 edit (at 3.39 mins) with a neat Picture Sleeve of the girls. Did any other country release it at that time on a seven ?

The Australian demos & issues both had Dog Eat Dog as the flip !!! And the super rare Aussie EP of Archie Bell & the Drells had Tighten Up Parts 1 & 2 on Side 1 of the EP, the only appearance I suspect anywhere in the world of both parts on one side ...

Sean, you know this is usually where I chime in with my worthless info on Aussie label releases .... ! Sam & Dave : Soothe Me / Can't Stand Up For Falling Down was also released on a nice looking Aussie Green & White Atlantic 45, release number AK 1874 . Funnily though I have a sneaking suspicion that they stuck the studio version of Soothe Me on the Aussie one, I'll have to dig my copy out and report back to you !

Could someone explain how you revive something (ie the soul scene) that is already alive and relatively/reasonably healthy .... not in perfect health of course, but still alive and kicking nevertheless ...

If anyone is interested to see what Freddie Chavez looks like and his background, check out his website ! Here it is: https://www.freddiechavez.com/index.htm

Excellent version of "Bless You" done by Sonny Charles on A & M in '71