Frankie Crocker

Just waiting for somewhere like Manchester University to start up a degree course in Soul Studies. I fancy three years of hedonism up north, especially if they do away with tuition fees.

Or maybe someone got Sam Williams confused with J D Martin? I’m always getting my white demos on Tower mixed up... was it Jerry Naylor or the Four Larks I meant to get next and so it goes...

Ah, but you’ve still got the record to remind you of happy times... Me, I’m trying to forget those large outlays from decades ago. Once upon a time, I listed all the records bought and the prices paid. When returning to the scene in the 90’s, I resolved not to do this and not to count the cost. As I see it, some records are picked up cheaply and others are too expensive, but hopefully things average out over the long run.

Ah, but when you’re a megabuck-tycoon, life is too busy to mess around on Facebook or other social media. At least the big spender has their priorities right - firstly, make a fortune, secondly blow it on great records...

Fair point...so two ultra-rich newbies to the scene as they would have picked this one up much earlier had they been around a few years ago...

You can have control of billions regardless of intelligence. I think we’re seeing a one-off situation involving a multi-millionaire personality who can spend money without even bothering to check the credit card statement. There was always the possibility that some TV celeb B lister would latch onto the music and grab the nice tunes when they came to market - it could be a Chinese businessman, a Russian oligarch, a Radio 1 DJ, it matters not, but there’s at least one person out there who spends on records like no-one ever has. Only John knows their identity and he sure won’t be telling us the name of his golden goose...

If you’re a millionaire, then the price paid for J D Martin is pocket-change. Maybe some ultra-rich tycoon has stumbled upon a strain of music they quite like and fancy owning mint copies, money no object. No ordinary mortal could justify shelling out over a thousand quid for J D Martin. Someone in Hollywood or Silicon Valley is having a jolly fun time...

Has he forgotten the words or is just an overlong intro? Overtones of Julian Covey make it tolerable but can’t quite see anyone dancing to it...

Compared to what...

Strange title for the book causes confusion... Kissing The Black might have been better... Ben is a top lad and erudite to boot, so I would certainly advocate checking out this volume. Don’t recall Sam’s demise, he’s always been ahead of the game. I’ve always said the next best thing to listening to the music is reading about the music, so I will certainly be picking up the book.

So, have given this further thought, did The Casino issue any white badges at all, and in particular, the ones with yellow trim? Can anyone confirm they actually bought a genuine white patch over the counter? Now wondering if the white Keep The Faith patches with yellow trim are of the home-made variety. QED.

You can’t go wrong with Technics - they are probably the must have decks for DJ’s. I use a Thorens deck, brilliant in the house but not made for DJ ing. If the missus got rid of her jewellery box on the chest of drawers, I would install a pair of Technics decks tomorrow.

Nah, the question was mo-ti-vation... hangin’ up the whole darn nation... Great tune. Great lyrics. Always liked it. Always will. For years I felt totally inadequate without the import, just the British Bulldog release. Now I can play it in the house without fearing a knock on the door from the Soul Police...

Yep. Missed a couple of copies on eBay being too soft. Snagged one a few years ago. Not seen many at all since then.

This is a tough record to acquire. eBay auctions have pushed the value up and up. I had to pay a silly price for mine but glad I did as the price will continue to rise.

Thanks for this Steve. Bootleg badges, whatever next. So, a home-made hand-made item, perhaps one of several. I had no idea this practice had even taken place. I dislike private listings as there’s very little to justify them and the scope for subtefuge is considerable.

Probably not even though the name could not be seen. It was in a bad state, badly worn and seloptaped. Nobody would put this in a frame for memorabilia. What sort of scroat thieves in the workplace?

This is plain bonkers. Surely the promoters can sit around in a pub to discuss how to organise things. Or is it a case of ego-soul, I was here first, my vinyls are more original than yours, they’re my decks and I’m going home...

End figure was £89.99 and 14 bids recorded. All bids were secret and private with the identity of the bidder(s) well and truly masked by eBay. The bids were as dodgy looking as they get looking at the timings and amounts. The patch was put up for sale with a tatty looking membership card but surely nobody would want this...

Yes, familiar with this... I was there. Badge in question is one that first appeared as a maroon Keep The Faith five petal rose, very similar to the yellow patch issued at the first allniter on 23/9/73.

Never seen one of these before. One on eBay due to finish in one hour. Is this genuine? Other white Wigan badges seem to have yellow trim. Bidding on the item looks highly suspicious so caution should be exercised...

Maybe better to have too many soul events than not enough? The more there are, the shorter the journey to them. Sure, this dilutes the crowds somewhat, but at least folk are more likely to have something within travelling distance every weekend. The quality of the sounds is another issue but of course in part determined by the considerable number of would-be DJ’s...no chance of Mel Britt being spun at 50 venues every weekend. Without these DJ’s, there’s less crate digging and fewer new sounds surfacing. These are key players in taking the scene forward so give credit when it’s due. The scene continues to evolve and we should be glad that it survives in any form. I say put on more and more events and let the cream rise to the top.

But on a soul scene that is vinyl driven and DJ/promoter led, OVO events may well deter the uninitiated. It’s all very well sitting in the house listening to a CD or Spotify and enjoying the music, but if you are deterred from gathering records or amassing a DJ box, the scene will wither and die. Don’t forget there are people on the scene to purely collect records - they never dance and talk records all night. The scene needs record collectors to flourish and the dwindling availability of good rare tunes surely has to impact on the next generation of potential buyers, dealers, DJ’s and promoters.

Exactly the point I tried to make earlier...If there is no vinyl culture or negligible record playing in the house, how on earth are youngsters going to stumble across Northern Soul? Digital streaming can only offer limited enjoyment - to dance to the music, people would have to take a giant step and visit a Soul Night. There are plenty of sounds you can only hear in a dancehall setting AND they sound better belted out on a big system - makes you wonder why more people don’t sample it as they plainly like music being glued to their phones all the time.

Ah, but what if you like the music, and can’t get your hands on any of it in vinyl form? What does the future hold if there’s no youngsters digging for the next batch of latest discoveries? There are tunes for the dancefloor and others for the house: what people might enjoy at home does not necessarily match what some hot-box DJ could be flogging down the local village hall...For every 50 records you play in the house, only a few might be good enough to play in public, and then, only if you are a DJ. As I mentioned earlier, the tradition of buying vinyl has died out so youngsters are left with digital music, hardly an adequate substitute. As well as the prohibitive cost of records to potential recruits, there’s also the apparent rarity as so many good sounds are locked away in private collections. The scene lacks a youthful element with a commitment to buying vinyl so the future is open to question even though the quality of the music has stood the test of time.