Frankie Crocker

If only we could turn back the hands of time. Nowadays, with a phone camera, you can snap anything. I can remember being in a house in Homestead, Pennsylvania and every ground floor room was full of 100 count boxes from Chicago pressing plants. I can remember being in a Cincinnati lock-up garage packed floor to ceiling with 100 count boxes and only going through some of the front row. I can remember multiple trips to Skippy White’s basement in Cambridge, Massachusetts and there was tons and tons of quantity there. Sadly though, no photographs. It was only late on, I started taking pictures of record stores in the USA, but even these are now on hard-drives long since chucked out or on disks that can’t be viewed as the latest computer doesn’t have a disk drive.

Don’t recall too many patches stuck on trouser legs! This photo looks a bit like the cast of ‘Soul Boy’ mucking around between takes. Perhaps more disco-wear on show here than normally seen at an All Nighter.

Good topic for a thread. I’ve seen these photos so often, I’m very familiar with them. On closer examination, there’s some with badges that weren’t around in 1975 perhaps? The scene is obviously staged, but this surely couldn’t happen during an All Nighter? Some of the clothing looks spot-on for the 70’s but not exactly All Nighter wear. Can anyone in the photos come forward and enlighten us?

Really sad news. I can remember Gotta See Jane playing on the car radio in 1968. I really liked this song even though I was only about 12 at the time. Indiana Wants Me was also a decent track released a couple of years later. I too, like many others, was smitten by There’s A Ghost In My House when it came out in the 70’s. I can distinctly recall it being played on my first trip to the Casino in March 1974 - it was a stunning tune then and is just as enjoyable when you hear it today. R. Dean Taylor will always be a Motown legend for me.

Just fake news. Somebody alleging they’ve done something, then linking that to a load of utter tosh as there never was any demand for Bee Gees songs on the northern soul scene, let alone at The Casino. Totally laughable. Just who was the faker who wrote this garbage?

You guys are spot on as always. Brothers of Soul just a set-sale record. Appreciations was an inferior copy hence low finishing price. Mel Britt’s figure was pretty staggering but understandable for a truly great record.

Unbelievabubble. What has prompted this question? Surely no self respecting DJ would ever admit to this, even if it was true, but I very much doubt it.

Set Sale item...must have slipped through the net and been included by the work-experience student by mistake.

Has sold for significantly more in the past. Can fetch £1,500 on eBay so would’ve thought £2,000 on John’s auction was achievable. Someone had a bargain here.

Finally the real music lovers come to their senses and realise vinyl is a better format for listening to. The apparent vinyl shortage does not seem to have impacted upon the new issue businesses judging from the proliferation of re-packaged oldies. The growth of vinyl records could stimulate production of record players so that's a positive development.

Agreed. Some UK sellers are living on Planet Zanussi. Maybe the the original owners passed on leaving collections to greedy, grasping offspring who know nowt...

Loadabollocks... Getting sick of dealers relisting records that failed to realise previous stupidly high auction figures. Getting pretty sick of greedy scaredy-cats who want us to buy their stuff with starting bids in excess of $5,000. Memo to USA dealers - price your records right and we’ll buy them in a hurry; rip us off and you’ll lose a loyal high-rolling buyer.

Soooo Soulful. Thanks for posting.

It’s all been said before... Would love to own the Honey Bees - worth every penny. I do own half a dozen of them however, as they are jolly fine tunes and a great addition to any collection.

Totally predictable. And it won’t sell at that price, but it might look good in the ‘shop window’. Makes you wonder what deals are going on ‘under the table’? When one dealer’s records are often another dealer’s ‘auction wins’, sooner or later, punters will spot the unrealistic prices, potential inflation, records not selling and give the whole merry-go-round a big miss.

Thanks for posting as usual. This was virtually a Set Sale evening. Common records in the main, selling for what they should go for. Just the odd rarity in the batch. By following John’s weekly auctions, you do at least have a good idea of the new stock he’s just had in. I guess that once a dealer has committed to having a weekly auction, they have to pad it out with common collectables to maintain interest. Anyone know how many copies of Dream Team have been sold in recent years? You get the impression there are still dozens out there.

Thanks for posting as usual. Your contributions are always well thought through. Picking up on the point you referred to regarding session musicians travelling to Philadelphia. In another recent Soul-Source thread, I said the Peanut Duck recorded at the Virtue Studio, sounded distinctly Detroitish. This got me thinking that footloose musicians maybe travelled from their home city to contribute to recordings in other cities. Although the Detroit session men were kept busy, I suspect an opportunity for them to record elsewhere arose when they were on tour.

Should have bought Dave Charles from Pat Brady for £200 all those years ago. Back then, £200 was a lot to pay for a record; so, I blew £200 on a soul pack of 100 records instead. Huge mistake. With hindsight, I dearly wish I’d bought Dave Charles, but I ain’t gonna blow that sort of dosh on an £800 record.

‘Tis the season to be jolly. Manship’s Mints are very tasty. Better than those After Eight ones. They are called Mint records as they make John a mint hence the saying, ‘well and truly minted’.

Could be, Chalky BUT it’s pure Detroit in sound. Don’t know who the band were but it sounds like Detroit’s best players were in it.

Raw Detroit. A really dirty, Detroit number. Best played to a drunken floor at a Christmas party perhaps. I love this tune; poetry to my ears. If you know the Detroit sound, this is simple, entry-level, Northern Dance Music, but for the connoisseur. Sure, it’s not perfect, but some maestros put it together. The vocal is insane, but so too is dancing the night away when you’re off your trolley.

I’ll take the vinyl boot off you... Keep the styrene one as it plays through perfectly

The Gwen Owens had a nasty skip. Surely that would be off-putting? If the white demo plays without skipping, surely it’s worth waiting for a copy to come up for sale. Guess I’ll stick with the styrene boot bought in 1976.

Maybe? Time will tell... Will look good in the online shop window, but the mark-up won’t tempt many. But, if I was a millionaire and didn’t have a copy of Cecil, I would splash out on a nice mint-unplayed one.

Hi Floyd. This is a really useful piece of information. I am on the mailing list, but do not recall Cecil in the last three years, but there may have been the odd one that I completely forgot about. Popsike reveals four mint copies sold in recent years, but only one clearly sold by paperstax. So, has a load turned up? Who found them and where? I think a lot of record dealers and collectors would be interested in hearing the facts.