Frankie Crocker

The Independent dated 26/9/14 features an article by Adam Sherwin 'They kept the faith: Northern soul fans win battle over logo'. The Intellectual Property Office have turned down the Manchester shop's attempt to register the black fist as a trademark. It appears that ownership is actually 'by the many lovers of this music genre and subculture'. How do the readers of Soul Source feel about this?

I hope so. Trouble is, most of the rarest have already featured so it would be tricky to do a second edition with just a few more pages in. John told me he was considering a book of label runs - that would please some. There is probably scope for a book featuring Manship's auction items as the write-ups are a great read.

Byrney, you're not doing it right... The trick is to visit stores that sell left trainers on Saturdays and shops that display right trainers on Sundays. That way, you don't end up with odd pairs...

Good gear...

Most old records in the States sell for a buck. Got a Charades on MGM this summer for 25 cents but wouldn't have grumbled if it had been put in the 50 cent or dollar pile. Until the fun-stoppers are provided with Manship Guides, the trade could continue without bureaucratic interference.

I hate receiving 45rpm records in LP boxes. For starters, they are easier to break deliberately if you are that way inclined. The average letter box is only nine inches wide so hardly suitable for a pizza box. Plus you look a right tosser walking back from the parcel office with one under your arm, cursing the fool who sent it as you have to spend Saturday morning in a queue of hacked off people collecting stuff the posties allegedly 'tried to deliver' ho ho ho...

No, not Royals although they look cool. The shoe in mind was plain but with a toe cap and piping going across the foot. Around the same time as Zodiacs. Leather soled and fine for the wooden floors 40 years ago...

Yep, those are they. Never knew they were called Zodiacs. Had a pair in the late 70's. Not sure I'd settle for the two-tone model but black would be fine.

Records made in the 60's should rate 75 cents on the paperwork. Finders fees agreed mutually should kept separate. Hard working crate diggers and dealers deserve their fees but there is no reason that they be factored into a customs ticket.

So, what were the shoes with strips of leather crossing over the toe called? There was also a shoe with a toe cap effect with a bit of piping going across the top. Both these shoes were leather soled and popular with dancers in the 70's. I'm in the brogues camp with a pair of Mc Afees strictly reserved for dancing only. Rockport did a lightweight wing-tip ie brogue about ten years ago and these are brilliant for dodgy floor conditions and a long walk home being made of something synthetic with a spongy feel to them.

Price Guide prices don't really apply to these sort of records. Much depends on who already has it, whether to ignore the label condition and whether it is for DJing. No serious collector would turn this record down at a price they could afford but how many of us have 3K spare this week? Should clear 2K and get close to 3K as availability continues to diminish.

Hiya Patto. You really must stop going to Jazz evenings at The 100 Club... Trainers are OK with cord trousers and baggy round neck pullovers, especially when the dance floor is soaked with beer and all the blokes dance like Mick Jagger on stage.

Trainers are for prancing. Shoes are for dancing.

Makes you wonder. Was the demand actually there? Did the auction manipulate bidders into overpaying? Are we now seeing a false market for this record? Common, staple tune, decent enough oldie and the price soars on the basis of an auction bid; most would say, this is never an auction record.

Manship auctioned a perfect copy about a year ago - went for £100 plus. This in itself creates interest, discussion and demand.

Manship mania. Plain tune finally has it's day and value spirals. Invest now in the Royalettes, the next big MGM sound. Sell April Stevens, it's had it's day. Hold Dotty Cambridge, it might go big (price wise) one day. Why buy stocks and shares when you can speculate on labels. MGM is the new Shrine so bid accordingly wannabe DJ's...Off to the footie now...

Polishing whole records is verboten in my books, especially when styrene, rare or common: worse still if passed off as 'clean' records. Using an abrasive to remove a major flaw such as a skip makes logical sense. Never tried it, but something like Duraglit, a fibrous metal polish, might dig down into vinyl imperfections. Normally, a really good swabbing with Mr Sheen cleans a record as good as it's gonna get. Usually it's best to wait for a better copy to come along rather than spend time attempting to fix scratches etc.

Top drawer. Great dancer. Grows on you. Another Butch special. One for the connoisseur.

Nowt. Unless you set up a Northern Soul Police to close down venues. Poor events won't survive but even if they linger on, it becomes no different to sitting in a quiet pub with better music in the background and a dance floor for those up for it. If someone wants to promote a venue, let them: we should be encouraging attendance not clamping down on minor events.

Better than Don Thomas...

Better to have too many venues than too few. They're mainly local and regional events catering to short distance travellers so transport costs aren't a big issue. I suspect it's the younger element that are DJing so that's a healthy aspect of the current renaissance. For sure the records could and should be more varied than the Brice Coefield-Nolan Porter-Marvin Gaye-Donna Colman-Al Wilson sequence played out time and time and time again. Maybe the real issue is the lack of top drawer national events like The 100 Club, Kings Hall, Keele?

Dohhhh..apologies for confusing matters but at least we've let a good tune out of the bag.

Check the run-out: does it read ZTSC007 with Simon Soussan etched in crooked hand written script with the initials PB?. There might be a sticker on it saying If Found Please Return To Ron Murphy...

Funtastic. Would make a great ender at a Christmas party, everyone off their tree and sliding around on a beer soaked floor...

Now, Millie Jackson's 'My Street' on Brit is worth a shot at auction. Rarely turns up, not in the price guides and most importantly, sounds pretty good. Probably overlooked as it's by a mainstream artist. It's on You Tube but I don't know how to post a link. Check it out.