Frankie Crocker

Very puzzling. My two bids were cancelled without explanation. I tried contacting them about some eBay wins a month ago and got no response to about ten messages. I will be surprised if you get to the bottom of this. Their Wade Flemons was mint whilst Carolina’s is of a lower grade.

And here was I thinking, lucky me, I now own Berry’s copy of Camel Walk... When I won one of the batch, not too expensively I add, it came with a certificate of prior ownership so I did wonder how it came to be on the market. Now I know. Some of the copies that came up for sale later on were water damaged or scuffed I think. It is not one of the best sounds amongst the stable of labels but it sits nicely in the Motown related section of the collection. I wonder if Berry gave the release the Frank Wilson treatment and pulled all spare copies from circulation?

Interesting the word ‘revival’ crops up in a few of these posts. The 100 Club was in full swing in 1990, the year I started going. The London scene was buzzing with a hard core of Wigan, and especially Stafford, devotees. The 100 Club thrived throughout the 90’s, losing some familiar faces of long distance travellers, but picking up plenty of younger followers. The popularity of the 100 Club certainly encouraged Ady to promote Cleethorpes, tapping into a Northern market that saw decent minor venues come and go. As to the revival per se; was it Keele or perhaps the Kings Hall that were at the root of the upsurge in small, but widespread venues catering to new and old faces preferring oldies in the main? If we are talking about the current revival, it surely must have been the mid to late 90’s and not 1991 as Kev Roberts suggested. Indeed Cleethorpes may have been the catalyst, and the TV programmes that followed, the signal for people to join in the nationwide revival.

Only fake DJ’s play fake records in public. Quality events run by reputable promoters and fronted by top DJ’s or serious collectors steer well clear of bootlegs. There are two big problems. Firstly, artists are cheated of their royalty payments. Secondly, record buyers are conned into parting with funds for goods not described accurately. eBay contribute to the problems by allowing fake goods to be sold on their platform - until they clean up their act, the trade in fake goods will continue.

OK, so they both play. Does Tim blu-tac a penny on the arm when he plays his?

So, is the one that also suffered under a hot light and is now unplayable? Not had a response to my earlier question - is one of the two known copies actually unplayable? If so, the owner of the ‘Kenny Woz ‘Ere’ copy is the only person on the planet in a position to spin an original US copy. The UK release therefore becomes most acceptable for spins at Oldies Nights, Soul Nights, Weekenders in the Med., wedding receptions and funerals but NOT crappy adverts, trashy dance shows and elevators etc.

I think I’ll stick with my Eddie Foster bootleg now as there’s no chance of upgrading to an original copy...

I think the approach at Motown was to fast-track the acts through the studio and have a weekly ‘group’ meeting about what went to the pressing plant on the basis of sales potential. Berry Gordy had the final say more often than not. Ultimately, only the ‘best of the best’ tracks made the cut as Berry was seeking mass appeal and chart success. That said, plenty of really good sounds were left in the can as we well know.

But if a producer/arranger like Frank Wilson went and cut a record without your approval, and this attempt to become a performing artist fell short of the exacting standards at Motown, you might be so hopping mad, you would order all copies of the track to be destroyed if you were the label owner.

I thought Simon Soussan ‘borrowed’ the Motown file copy? Berry Gordy ordered all copies to be destoyed so he would be unlikely to keep one. Is the copy in Todmorden playable or too warped... I can’t recall the rumours on this one?

He obviousy puts the mint records aside throughout the year. Santa tells John to make sure the well behaved record collectors wake up on Christmas morning with a nice surprise at the foot of the bed. Some record collectors have been known to write letters to Santa asking for their mint presents to be placed delicately under a tree rather than upon a bed. The question I have though, is Santa actually John?

Harsh words Chalky. Your comments are misleading and far from the truth. The people attending the Blackpool Weekender are dedicated soulies, not the hangers-on you get at a Saturday night pub event. The dance floor is rammed with a young, yes young crowd, dancing as per the rule book, not like the pissed local hippies at a pre Wigan disco. The crowd are well turned out in smart, casual gear. Some of the folk have travelled from The States, and I bet there are other devotees from Europe too. Pretty much everyone there is a dedicated, dyed in the wool, hugely committed Northern Soul fan. The clips confirm the scene is in good health and in safe hands with a new generation of keen, young devotees flying the flag. Yes, we can all express doubts about dancing contests, but this one was not skewed by the more acrobatic as is usually the case (especially when the cameras are rolling). The topic of ‘divs’ has been discussed at length on Soul Source - nobody fitting these descriptions is evident in the clips on You Tube or the One Show. Thanks again to Ralph for posting his clips and yar-boo-sucks to the person who told him to stop videoing the event.

Makes you wonder why some venues don’t provide a communal box for desparate DJ’s to dip into. Stick in Nolan Porter, Charles Sheffield, Ruby Andrews, Earl Grant, Brown Sugar, Wade Flemons, Barbara Lynn and a few dozen more then this should save DJ’s humping around stacks of common ‘floor-fillers’.

Ah ha, but he confessed he was right into Northern as a youth so I eagerly await further details of his favourite tunes and a dance-step demo... Yet another celeb claims they mingled with the chosen few. Come on John, show us your patches...

Thanks for posting Mike. An enjoyable little snippet. Always good to see Richard in his role of elder statesman. I just hope Strictly does not make a bigger thing of the Northern Dance cult as the programme continues to pervade popular culture.

Not seen a MINT copy for sale for many, many years so you may have to wait a very long time! Even VG+ copies are very scarce and command four figure outlays at auction. Great record with a double-A side - good luck in your search.

Not just about the numbers... How many you can carry and the weight of the flight case enter the equation. 120 records in a two-channel case are fine for a couple of DJ spots. But if you DJ regularly or do two venues in an evening, you keep one larger case to avoid shuffling things around. No need for bodyguards when you carry a flightcase with a strong handle... On a security note, a case large enough to be seen and one that nobody can run off with, can be a wise choice.

Looks like a proper original. Has not been booted to the best of my knowledge. The paper label is authentic. The print on the label would be very difficult to replicate. The paper label is stuck onto styrene; the original is not made of vinyl. I do not own a copy of this record, but it looks OK. If you check the copies sold on Popsike, I suspect one or two may confirm the matrix details. Hope this helps.

Thanks for posting. Blown away by some of these prices. Younghearts must be a PB for this disc. Eddie Parker demo fetched 50% more than usual - evidently very rare and well worth having. Maurice Williams achieved double the old price also. Condition-wise, John’s auction items are unbeatable. Easily the most gripping auction viewing around and the fairest of them all.

Better to phone him. The staff are very helpful and will call John to the phone if he is around.

No, it’s not a problem. If you are a dedicated collector, then go forth and collect. Some go for demos and issues. Others go for West Coast and East Coast releases. Just lately, I’ve started holding on to label variations to avoid the hassle of selling records I already had a copy of. Better to have and to hold...

Discogs ha. Put it up on eBay and see what it goes for. Great record by the way. One I would dearly like to own. Doncha just get sick of sellers with the odd rarity putting them up for sale at a stupid price. At auction, this might fetch a shade more then £1,750, but then again, it all depends who’s up for it that week.

Well, that leaves plenty of scope for Volume 2. The post-Wigan period has received relatively little coverage compared to the early years, so hopefully someone will put a volume out on Stafford, 100 Club and the venues in-between. A sociological study you say? This skews it towards the participants, but without their stories, what sort of read will it be? If it is another out-and-out academic book that downplays the music, skates over the dancers and ignores the anecdotes, the reviews will limit sales. Do we actually need another tome on youth culture when the scene has become open to all age groups who share a common liking for the music, dancing and dressing up (in some quarters)?

It appears the book has already been written by two or more authors judging from the opening post. As it is to be published by my alma mater, it’s sure to be a book of considerable merit... A history of Northern Soul suggests it looks at the very beginning, the Wigan era, and maybe afterwards, but this is not clear hence the reasonable enquiry earlier. Every additional book on the topic has offered something different for readers (and browsers) so I’m looking forward to it. Let’s await further details and maybe sample pages to whet the appetite.

Looking forward to buying the book. The ‘Spotlight on Wigan Casino’ photo that appeared in Blues and Soul would be a suitable contender. Not sure who owns the copyright - it might be Russ Winstanley? A collage of photos could also work with emphasis on interior shots and dancers...