Frankie Crocker

Crack outfit. Produced some superb tunes. Great photo. Thanks for posting.

Nicely phrased. I keep meaning to buy the book...

True. But 'blue eyed' usually means soulful despite being overtly white. When obviously 'blue eyed', more often than not it is regarded as slightly inferior than if it was an out and out black sounding vocal. Most of the time, classic soul tracks sound so black, irrespective of the artist, that the listener does not even consider they may be hearing someone who is not black.

Presumably this is a CD for yourself rather than commercial release? To me, 'blue eyed soul' is where you clearly have a white singing voice with a soulful backing track for example the Outsiders, Tom Jones, loads of Beach Music sounds etc. Some of the tracks referred to in the thread are so 'black sounding', they can hardly be classed as 'blue eyed', and in fact, are so embedded as classic soul sounds, no one would regard them as 'blue eyed'.

In January, 272 copies sold as one auction lot for $1,581.00. It appeared they were bought by a well known Detroit record dealer. In May, the first copy from the hoard sold at auction for $210. This month, another copy sold for about $250 and a further copy was put up for auction with a minimum bid of $125 or a Buy It Now price of $190. These copies were put up for sale under a different seller ID. Some buyers have already paid too much for this record by getting into an Auction duel and maybe a few more taking up Second Chance offers. More buyers are going to get their fingers burnt, especially if they don't read this. Would it have been better for the seller(s) to price the record at say $30, generate a handsome profit and make a lot of collectors happy? Or is the the best way to move 272 copies of the same record, to sell the first few at a huge mark-up then keep dropping the price until they all go? What do members think?

Check out Popsike or some of the sales listings on here for a realistic valuation. Knock off 10-20% if in a hurry to sell. Ask yourself what you paid for them, then decide what you can let them go for. Condition is a prime factor. If all else fails, turn to Manship's Price guide.

One on eBay finishing 4.30 p.m. Monday...

Sometimes they do...by accident. When I got back into record buying in the early 90's, I would buy from a weekly list put out by a northern dealer. After John Manship published his bootleg guide, I found I had bought plenty of bootlegs in the belief they were originals eg Sam and Kitty, Spyders, Malibus, Eddie Regan to name but a few. Don't forget, there's plenty of good tunes only available on carvers and bootlegs

Yep, that's vinyl collectors of all hues, US originals/test pressings/reissues/boots etc. Sure, there are plenty of newcomers and returnees to the soul scene, but I suspect only a small proportion buy records.

Not 100,000. Maybe 12-15,000 but no way of being precise. Obviously anyone who DJ's. The few thousand hard-core 60's and 70's survivors who've been involved for decades. The few thousand in Europe and the hundreds in Japan, Oz and of course the USA. A few dozen in Canada. A few more thousand recent converts, mainly in the UK. Talking Northern 45 collectors in the main, although there are of course other genres to gather. A typical three figure eBay item might have 25 bids but just 10 bidders, largely due to continued long-term interest rather than overwhelming demand from armies of rabid collectors. John should use the sales figures of his Price Guides to judge the number of really serious collectors out there, then deduct a figure for the number bought by record store owners, many of whom have no interest in collecting records. Whatever the figure, the collecting scene thrives yet still remains slightly underground and a mystery to the masses.

Job well done Rodders. A man can only take so much Modern Soul... Enjoy a well earned break.

This is good news. Better than when you put some dollars in an envelope and asked for the change to be sent with your record.

Copy up for auction on John Manship's site. Usual sales hype, so expect this to go for BIG money... Any predictions? Place your bets...

Great record. Great performance at Cleethorpes. Great story behind it all too.

Does an upset DJ chuck their records out of the box if they they've not got a pram to throw their toys out of? And where do upset Wannabe DJ's go for counselling if there's no cloakroom at the venue?

Some handy tunes there. Good to see the art of crate diggin' is alive and well. Still plenty of 'unknowns' to be discovered and always nice to grab a few bargains.

Up for auction to bidders in UK and Ireland. A mint unplayed copy of this top tune. Reserve price is £3,000. PM your bids if interested with email address. Auction scheduled to close Sunday evening. Payment by bank transfer. Not interested in trades as funds required for major want. Delivery costs would be extra and by special arrangement. I'll do my best to keep interested parties notified.

Demo copy - the letter 'A' makes a difference, but how rare is this and can the price tag be justified? Skullsnaps sold for a bit less last week so maybe the underbidder is coming back in a more determined frame of mind? These records are now 40 years old, on top quality vinyl and have decades of play left in them.

PM'd you. Spare copy here.

Brilliantly put Alan. A couple of other additions would be:- has a large flight case with stickers on cues up records using one headphone keeps two spare adaptors in their pocket (or handbag in this age of gender equality) pushes to the front of the queue saying I'm on the Guest List is the worst dressed person in the venue on the rare occasion they use the mic, never mumblemumblemumble

Easy answer, when they stand behind the decks. Easily done too if you promote yourself to MC in the back room of a pub and can carry a small box, maybe with some popular sounds in, possibly a few on records that have a large hole in the middle of them, I think they might be American and I think they might have come off of a jukebox... To be a proper DJ, you've got to practise. It helps if you have a stack of truly great records on original vinyl and maybe even a few one-off sounds. You need to have a deep love of the music and an ability to match the tunes in the playbox to the dancers in the venue. This comes with age and experience. If you have the talent, a Wannabe Promoter might give you a warm up spot. If overlooked, you have to grovel a bit and boast a little about your latest acquisition. Then comes the being ignored stage so now you have to really suck-up and spend stupid sums on auction records. After years in the wilderness and hours of practising on your own Technics in the bedroom, you become bitter and twisted, then turn to Facebook to remedy matters. Finally you give up hoping for a spot at a legendary venue and book up a back room in a pub so you and your mates can take it in turns to entertain each other. Now you are a DJ.

Three Rivers Band-Ophelia-Lion: Excellent £100 Art Grayson-Bad Dreams-4 Corners: Mint minus £35 David And The Giants-Superlove-Crazy Horse: Mint minus £30 SOLD Onyx-You Never Fail To Amaze Me-Yew: VG++ £50 Bobby Wilson-Feels Good-Volt: VG++ £20 PM to reserve please. Prices include free postage to UK address. Payment by PayPal, buyer to cover fees. Thanks for looking.

Ever the optimist when it comes to Northern vinyl, the music will last for ever. Some records will wear out, others will break, but the volume of 45's out there ensures a future for the music. Given the sounds are the best on the planet and there's a lack of new music being produced, Northern and it's close relatives will continue to thrive. Forgotten tunes will come back into fashion as DJ's look for something fresh. Those on modest budgets will enjoy the sounds on one format or another and probably buy up the legacy of previous collectors in decades to come - by then, Holly St James will sell for £10,000, a month's wages, and collectors will be just as skint as they are now.

Some dealers' auctions are not worth checking out, let alone bidding on. Not mentioning any names but you can work it out... Some of the best auctions around are US sellers on eBay, (despite the flaws of eBay). John's records are as good as they come in 2017 - no other seller can match the condition of his wares, the range of records, after-sales service etc. The sales-pitches are poetry to these ears and well worth publishing - maybe a new book next Christmas?

John's auction blurb makes for interesting reading and the prices achieved warrant discussion. Some of the prices are staggering - Holly St James @ £2,500 virtually doubling what it went for recently. Jack Montgomery, again realising a sum greatly in excess of the Price Guide valuation, and rightly so. John's auctions are the best around in many, many ways...keep the discussion flowing.