Frankie Crocker

In those days, Warrington was in Lancashire. In my books, it still is. I was born in Warrington, and as it says Lancashire on my birth certificate, I consider myself a Lancashire Lad. My father’s family came from Wigan. My grandmother worked at the Trencherfield Mill. My great-uncle died in the Maypole pit disaster at the age of 16. My father worked his rocks off to get to university, enabling me to follow the same path. PM me with details and I’ll help out with your dissertation.

Finally, countdown can begin. Nibblers in the last week pushed the bids to £2.7K then £2.8K, but now tonight’s auction has finished, combatants can really get stuck in.

Someone snagged a bargain here. Rarer version too. Don't you just hate WOL...

Maybe the bootleg spinner bought it in a hurry to ease a guilty conscience?

A calmer night on the bidding front with prices more in line with normality. As Steve points out, quite a few of these are not auction records as they frequently pop up at set-sale. Roscoe and Friends fetched a bit more than usual with both sides appealing.

I hope not as it’s a great record. At a soul night, there could be some punters thinking it’s just a boot, so won’t bother to dance.

Agreed Dave. It’s a war of attrition if there are two or more bidders sniping away at 6.00 p.m. Pity we can’t see videos of the combatants doing battle.

Been a shade over 2.5K for almost a week now, with a fortnight to go. Just waiting for the nibblers to get stuck in - a few low-ball bids from the optimists who reckon they might just be lucky if everyone else drops out. Expect a few big bids in the final week as the contenders duel away. As is often the case, the really serious action is during the last hour, especially the final minute.

There’s an Anthony and the Aqua Lads on eBay right now.

Well pleased that Turley Richards fetched a nice price. Mine cost £25 at the 100 Club about 25 years ago. Back then it was a tape swappers tune, so belated thanks to whoever put me onto it. Now of course a DJ staple with the power to pack any floor. If anyone wants to DJ at a big venue, they have to have this one in the box hence the rabid bidding when it comes up for sale.

Thanks for all the feedback music lovers. I can see it going for 4-5K, well above the level I have it pegged at right now. It is not the rarest of the really big sounds as plenty of copies have surfaced to be snapped up. This record is a real ‘keeper’ so once in a collection, it stays there for a long, long time. My first copy cost $1,700 at the Austin Record Show - I had that exact amount in travellers’ cheques but didn’t mind being cleaned out one little bit.

Nice copy up for auction hitting the 2K mark within 24 hours. Speculation about the finishing price inevitable. Yes, a truly great record that no collection should be without. Sure to go beyond £3,500 which is what I would peg the current value at. So at the insistence of Zan The Man, here’s the new thread to make your predictions.

Cheap at £200. Was stuck at £100 for years. Been on lots of Wants lists in recent times. Not an easy one to pick up, but there have been a few on the open market recently. Set to rise further in value as demand continues to exceed supply.

You must have been a real keeno at Wigan. Summer In The Parks has been easy to find. Pointer Sisters a tough one, but a Demo clinches it. Lou Pride, nigh impossible...like yourself, still waiting but I do have the Wigan boot in the meantime waiting for an upgrade.

Semantics, semantics... It’s knobhead with a silent K. Some may prefer dickhead but why split hairs? We’re talking pratts here. Maybe spoilsports in some walks of life, but out and out morons, tossers, scumbags, etc etc. The original post raises the serious point of why individuals are spoiling soul fans’ nights out, and these low-life deserve to be branded nobheads so the Mods on here don’t have to issue warnings (to the over 50’s) for using the extreme terminology that could apply.

No, they’re the dodgy ones, we know of their flaws and embrace them.🚬💊🍹 The dubious ones are those we are not sure about. They’ve not been seen around. Don’t smell of Brut. Drink large quantities of beer🤮. Possibly incels? They can’t dance for toffee. Act like John Travolta 🕺and think they’re funny. Sometimes act hard ‘cos they have a fresh tattoo. In the bogs, talk about other peoples’ wives and girlfriends instead of matrix numbers and cover-ups. If the security team could stamp a big N for nobhead on their foreheads, it would help monitor their antics as the night wears on.

Sixteen copies on Popsike sold in the last 16 years. That makes it a rare record in my books. In some years, not one copy was auctioned. There will be dozens of collectors who will never own this record. I doubt we will see many copies offered for sale in the future. The chances of anyone buying a top-condition copy anytime soon have just been witnessed at 6.00 p.m. tonight.

Sad to read that committed followers have been put off attending established events. Maybe it’s partly a post-Covid thing with Brits behaving badly? Perhaps the scene is now so mainstream and high-profile, events automatically attract local ‘handbaggers’. When the tribe wore the uniform, you were safe - now anything goes, so the security people can’t spot the divvies like the old-school bouncer could. Promoters should sell advance-tickets, limit numbers, early entry only, hire crack security and tongue in cheek, tell dubious characters they should have filled in a soul music questionnaire online before turning up.

Thanks for posting as always. Not much to say that hasn’t already been said in previous threads... Delegates of Soul price was quite understandable for a brilliant record, and vindicated my ‘rash’ purchase of it for half this sum a few years ago.

Trust yourself. You know the score. Monitor the sales databases eg Popsike, Collectors Frenzy etc then go for a Set Sale on Soul Source. Manship’s auctions indicate maximum global auction figures, so don’t expect to achieve similar prices. Sell direct in the UK, cut out the middleman, maximise returns for your treasured records. Put the cheaper stuff on eBay. There are several trustworthy dealers who will sell on your behalf for a fee, but do you want to lose 10-20% of the transaction value? The market for high-end records is booming, so sit tight and watch your vinyl-investment appreciate.

As always, Ady adds clarity to a scenario that could go pear shaped... I was baffled to see so many people clamouring for the Anniversary single within hours of the event finishing. Once upon a time, Anniversary attendees who did not want the free record, would offer it for sale, often on Soul-Source where the most knowledgable collectors waited to pounce. Back in time, spare copies went for modest sums, with many unwanted copies passed to friends unable to attend the event. This Sunday gone, it was weird to see quite a few desperados putting out feelers for the freebie, even offering silly money for a copy. This, without a copy being offered for sale. What happened to patience? Why must some folk have to have the record instantly? Collecting is an art requiring patience - many of us hardy souls have waited decades for elusive ‘wants’. In due course, spare copies of the freebie may come up for sale - let the availability of them determine the price, but wait until they trickle onto the market before joining the feeding frenzy.

A nice clean polished or varnished wooden floor does the job. Leather soled shoes a must if you take the dancing seriously. These two together are the ideal combination rendering talc not necessary. I’d rather see a sign saying ‘please do not take drinks on the dancefloor’ as spillages make for deadly puddles followed by a sticky mess.

Price should rise much higher still. Superior version of a great sound. Very difficult to find in decent condition. Hugely in-demand. Could even go for double what it stands at now.

Dynamics surely a Set Sale record. Went for the going rate.

Thanks for flagging this up. I don’t have my copy to hand, but I will check it next time I shuffle through the box. I think it’s OK and I would imagine the few I sold on were not marked. My copies came from Skippy White’s in Cambridge MA. I left a load of copies behind. I also left a load of Exits in the basement as this was just before demand shot up. I must have left 100 plus Precisions on Skippy’s label behind too. When the sales assistants in Cheapo’s Records across the street realised what Skippy had, they cleaned him out of the best stuff including a box of goodies I set aside to pick up on the next trip.