Frankie Crocker

Surely it’s up to us to denounce this criminal practice? I get pretty sick of seeing this rubbish for sale and fault the buyers just as much as the bootleggers. How do these cowboys gain access to a pressing plant - surely this could be more tightly regulated. Can’t believe the sums of money involved - there are obviously lots of people who need their heads tested for squandering their cash on this trash.

Thanks for the info. Two really good tracks on the disc and still not all that well known. Ted Massey was after a copy a while back which tells you something.

Absolutely, but since when have the ultra-rich worried about us little people? But surely nobody other than the underbidder will pay such a colossal sum for Little Richie in the near future.

Did anyone note what the Talmadge Armstrong white demo went for? Vaguely thought it was due to finish next Wednesday... As I’ve remarked before, the buyer of these big-ticket records is very wealthy and does not consider the cost of them as most of us would do. Only a person with vast wealth can spend like this.

Hey, I’ve just had a great idea. Maybe someone should promote just one major central venue, say in Stoke or Crewe or Wolverhampton or Nottingham or Wigan. Somewhere accessible by train so folk don’t have to drive. Then all the wannabe DJ’s could go somewhere at the weekend to listen to great music and leave their little record boxes at home. Instead of having a hundred venues attended by ten people, there could be one huge dancehall full of vinyl addicts, filling the dancefloor and browsing in the record bar. I reckon this idea could really catch on and save everyone the hassle of reading events listings.

Agreed but best pitched up to 47rpm with extra talc on the floor...hit it...

Very saddened reading this thread years down the road since Pete’s post. Bobby delivered three records of the highest quality and was easily a Hall of Fame calibre artist. What a shame he never earned a long-term financial reward for his work but at least he was alerted to the immense contribution he made to the soul scene.

Interesting that the red one does not state ‘Gents’ on it. Did this one date from before the Northern years at The Casino? I have two yellow cards in my name and two green cards belonging to the ex. I first had a blue card that I tore in two to let a mate in. The number of us that had multiple membership cards makes a mockery of the often cited figure issued - 109,000 according to Richard’s recent book.

Spotted this earlier and thought no confusing this with the real thing. Early gents card was red then blue I think then yellow. Ladies card was green but there may have been others, not sure.

Very sad news. A real character. 100 Club stalwart. Will be sorely missed.

That’s my take on it too. Kev was signed up later. There’s a thread on Soul Source that discusses the First Allnighter patch which makes for interesting reading. The seller of the patch shown indicated it was home-made - you would be hard pressed to tell it apart from the genuine article. This of course makes it rather difficult for buyers of genuine memorabilia.

Cheers Dave. Clever stuff eh? Might get myself one and start up a new company...Bootleg Badges I’ll call it... On the other hand, maybe I’ll use the time to play a few more records.

These home-made jobbies look pretty authentic. To get the Tommy Hunt profile accurate is quite tricky but he has achieved it. I think these unofficial versions were made a long time ago in contrast to the profusion of current replicas. The guy who has made them has copied the originals quite closely so I wonder if he has a textile industry background...or was just very good at needlepoint?

Cheers Steve. Two of the above are destined for Crocker Towers. The other was very keenly faught over by two collectors chasing the elusive 3rd anniversary patch - I have been in touch with two Soul Source members about this collectible in the last year or so. Also up for sale today was a home made Wigan lookalike Tommy Hunt patch with white trim. This brings the total of home-made patches to three varieties in the last month or so.

Number 484 arrived Friday and only had time to glance at every page before catching a train. Looks a brilliant additition to books on Northern Soul.

Seen a yellow issue up for sale on eBay today...was over $600. Sold for £486.00 in the end

More or less agreed. Benny Curtis with clean labels is a tough find and warrants auction status. That said, this and the next auctions also have set sale items for buyers to scrap over. Perhaps some of the set sale type records are on so many wants lists, it’s just fairer to auction them?

I paid $3,600 for my copy last year plus £300 in bank loan interest charges. If yours was the copy that Manship auctioned a few months ago, it made me appreciate how lucky I was to snag the record and what a shrewd buy it was. Definitely one of the best double-siders ever and only the luckiest few on planet earth will enjoy the benefits of ownership.

Good luck with your quest. Was the Easter All Dayer an official freebie?

Let ‘em frown. I’m collecting the patches as I had the first, third and fourth anniversary souvenirs and thought let’s put together a colourful display for the record room in the dream retirement home. Any info on ‘unofficial mechandise’ is therefore welcome - good luck to these entrepreneurs but let’s have accurate listings and preferably not of the private sort.

Yep. Saw it on eBay, the seller mentioned it was a DIY job. I was beginning to think that these other home-made patches were indeed genuine as they look so exact, then this yellow one shows up. I think there are several of us Casino attendees who are collecting not just records, but other related memorabilia and it’s good there’s a forum like this to share our expertise.

Very nice... Is it up for sale somewhere?

Never seen this red and gold version before - sure looks old. I wonder if it was a sort of prototype for the maroon nylon Keep The Faith patch that was available during the first year of Wigan Allniters?

So, is this the copy that ended up with Butch or did the Willinghams hang onto theirs making it two known copies perhaps? Butch spent a considerable sum on his copy and had to work hard to get the audience to appreciate it more fully.

Thanks for posting. So, am I right in saying the white patches with either yellow or green trim and red writing are home-made? They do look very professional for unofficial patches I have to say. Odd that the original maroon patch seems so scarce - I sold mine back in the late 70’s and have seen very few for sale since.