Frankie Crocker

I reckon these people should be buying more 45’s... Does the readership figure include the W H Smith browsers?

Didn't realise this - W H Smith must’ve sold out. I read the book though, and thoroughly enjoyed it. Good to know the soul scene is receiving coverage.

That's true. Give me 45’s anyday. That said, I have kept all my Northern Soul albums and a few others.

I’d never heard of her but she guested at the Cleethorpes Weekender one summer. Certainly has a nice record collection.

Just bought this month’s issue as there were a couple of articles that caught the eye. On pages 52-53 there’s a special feature on Northern Soul collectables. On pages 20-21 there’s a profile of DJ Honey. I can not remember the last time I bought the magazine although I try to check it out monthly using W H Smith’s station stores to browse. If there were more Northern Soul articles, I would buy Record Collector regularly, but coverage of this most collectable genre of music is nigh on non-existent. I would be interested to read any views regarding this publication. Ian Shirley’s article on Northern Soul collectables has loads of discussion points, particularly the prices quoted, but I would like to see more articles like this on UK and US records on a regular basis. This magazine has the potential to reach a wider circulation by broadening coverage so it would be interesting to hear of any thoughts on this.

Nothing on earth you can do about this. If the label is paper and the fibres are impregnated with dye, only a bleaching solvent will remove the ink but will take the label colour with it. If the label is printed onto styrene, a solvent will remove the ink but take a patch of label with it. Probably best to just buy another copy of the record.

He now says there are ‘additional copies’ so does that mean 2 or 20 or 200?

More than the first one that went for big money and more than the second one that also went for big money...watch this space...

I’ve just been offered another copy from the eBay seller on a second chance-basis. The seller says he has found some ‘additional copies’. Apparently, the buyer of the second copy was very pleased with it and posted positive feedback, but I bet he will be hacked off when he learns there were more than two copies. Until we know precisely how many copies there are for sale, I would advise potential buyers to wait patiently.

Northern Soul is a hobby. Only a fool gets conned. Buying music you like is sensible. That’s what money is for - buying what you like. Paying stupid prices for records is reckless, but sometimes necessary, but doing so for investment purposes can be foolhardy. Sure, there are conmen in the record business - I’ve certainly bought bootlegs in the belief they were original records. None of us wants to be conned or even taken advantage of, so returning to the original question, buying records and attending events is pretty straightforward if you know what you’re doing. Only the gullible end up being conned, but you wise up quickly when you realise you splashed out too much cash.

Serious collectors who value the music and can afford the outlay. Plenty of pension pots being blown wisely and successful businessmen investing in priceless assets. If we all had the dosh, we’d all be doing it but sadly there’s not enough of it to go round.

A vintage selection of top tunes last month. Some of them were in mint unplayed condition. Sadly, I couldn’t land any of the biggest ones but did hook Rose Battiste. Competition for these rarities has definitely increased.

No-brainer then. Disable the comments. Provide visual enjoyment and cut back on admin. Spoil it for the trolls, make them even sadder, waste more of their time and worthless existence...

Shameful. Pity the poster of the video clips is unable to override the comment section. Trouble is, there is no option, you post a clip and it automatically has the comment section for trolls to spoil.

So Tim, why did he give it up? Are you able to clarify? Jud’s contribution was excellent and valued by many.

I really like Jud’s clips. They are good quality and give an insight into what venues are like. Providing the videos are taken from the sidelines, I don’t think there’s a problem. The wider problem is everyone with a phone seems to think it necessary to photograph anything, anywhere, anytime - this ruins the dancefloor atmosphere. Slightly off topic, but I was walking through the East Village at Stratford on Tuesday, admiring the Olympic accommodation and taking photos on my camera. Two security jobsworths came up to me and told me taking photographs was not allowed. So, I really detest being told I can not take photos when there’s no law against it but I think photographers should show real restraint when inside soul venues when choosing who to video.

Tricky question to answer. Are we talking about records that have been played by top DJs at major venues? Or minor records of dire quality that are played after a buying trip to the States? Some of the records already flagged up have an irritating facet, perhaps due to overexposure, but there are dozens like these that annoy some but please others. I reckon many of the tailor-mades fit the ‘Hated’ description. Four Vandals comes to mind and wins the Drosscar. Biddu Orchestra’s Northern Dancer on Epic is similarly dire but surely never played out by any self respecting DJ. Some of the Casino Classics releases are so poor they sunk without trace and are not worth playing even for a laugh. Such is the depth of brilliant soul music, it is a real struggle to identify the worst record as nobody would bother to play it. If I had to nominate one horrible sound, if only to provoke debate, it would be ‘I Love My Baby’ on GSF but I don’t care who sings it... I would run off the dancefloor if this was played in public and applaud the DJ who snapped it into two.

Topic has been covered before on Soul Source. Could be that some of the top U.S. soul acts of the mid-to-late 60’s such as Major Lance and James Brown displayed a shuffling style of footwork. The showmanship of their contemporaries threw up back-drops and splits etc that were adopted in the earliest British clubs such as the Twisted Wheel. The dancers featured in the clip are an invited audience bopping freestyle. The character you point out who exhibits moves commonly seen at Northern venues is simply moving with the minimum of effort in a very basic pattern. The earliest soul dance styles in Britain were pretty energetic by all accounts.

Always paid to get in - well worth the price of entry. Beachcomber warm-up was free and a welcome haunt when introduced. 1975 Footsee period was a bit of a media-frenzy with huge numbers of new faces but most dressed the part, lads and lasses. The crowd was the best dressed in the country bar none. 1976 was a good year. 1977 was a good year despite the Oldies v Newies debate - we still danced to The Flasher, Big Nasty, Kim Tolliver etc. 1978 was a good year. 1979 was possibly the last I went so cannot comment comment beyond then. I think the great times totally outweighed the bad so we can wallow in nostalgia 45 years down the road. The 70’s decade was generally a time of austerity but those who got to Wigan had the good fortune to be in the right place at the right time.

Great tune. Packs the floor when the lucky few who own a copy spin it in public. Always been rare and unavailable. Would be mighty proud to own a copy. Hard to convey just how good the record is but it’s a superb dancer, distinctly haunting, so tuneful it hooks you, just perfect for the scene.

But little or nothing in London week after week... OK, the 100 Club pops up every month or two, but given the population and number of visitors in the capital at the weekend, there is very little going on. Perhaps the people north of Watford should be pleased with the number of events to choose from? That said, it is plain bonkers to have too many events competing with each other in the same area at the same time. Fewer, but larger events are the way forward - people will travel to them and support them. Trouble is, everyone wants to be a DJ and self-promote their event resulting in a plethora of poorly attended, unsustainable venues.

Of course, it’s a Northern Sole website...

Good DJ’s NEVER play reissues, bootlegs or carvers. That’s partly why they are good DJ’s! Any collector with original vinyl can get by DJing if they have some nous. Dancers attend venues to hear authentic records and can generally put up with mumbling, fumbling DJ’s if the sounds are decent.

Never trust a person who knows the price of everything but the value of nothing. Some records are priceless. Others may be affordable but unavailable. Market value is a fickle concept - the perfect market comprised of a large number of buyers and sellers does not exist in the world of record dealing. The laws of supply and demand do not apply to trading rare records when often demand becomes more feverish as the price rises and nobody bothers with low-end items. For any given record, there are range of prices depending on condition, status of seller, potential availability, current local demand, currency, type of sale and other variables too. Bottom line is, a record sells for what someone is prepared to pay for it whilst its ‘worth’ is subjective. Bet you loads of us have paid too much money for records that we have enjoyed enormously at first but now realise the purchase was rather hasty...or...like the sound more and more with the passing of time and are glad we shelled out sooner rather than later.

Surely must have been spun the once and then set aside. MGM had some crack tunes back in the day and many still sound good. There were far fewer tracks around in the 70’s and an urge to spin anything that might appeal so naturally there were a few duds. Fortunately there were more than enough good tunes to keep the dancers happy. I still go weak at the knees when cratedigging in the States and turn up Yellow MGM demos.