Frankie Crocker

Disagree Nev. Butch has the best set of exclusive, one-off, up-tempo 60's records plus a considerable range of rare, medium-pace sounds. Sam has rotated rare sounds down the decades leaning heavily towards the crossover period, an era of plentiful records, many of dubious composition. Mark has a sales box that beats Sam's playbox any Saturday night.

I heard a story about two outlaws called Big Tim and Little Butch who would go to America and rob the rich to give to the poor, or was it the other way round? These bandits would bribe keepers of unwanted vinyl records to part with obscure items for sums as high as 50 cents. Hundreds of dollars changed hands with Americans retiring to live off the proceeds, yes, literally hundreds of dollars. Derelict pottery kilns in the five towns near Stoke were filled with containers full of boxes full of records - a cultural revolution in the Stafford area established these 'unwanted' records actually had two sides, one of which was actually pretty good, extremely brilliant or dazzlingly superb. Apparently these two mellow souls have been nominated for New Years Honours for services to conservation, industry and entertainment...

Are you playing this at the right speed?

Hope this beauty finds a nice home...

No copies of the Del Larks sold recently on Popsike. Almost two dozen Mel Britts on Popsike though. Evidently, the Del Larks is much, much rarer than perceived. Never seen a copy of the Del Larks for sale apart from the Manship DJ offering at Cleethorpes. Fortunately, a nice copy of Mel Britt is shelved somewhere in Crocker Towers, courtesy of Gerry Dietz at the Austin Record Show. The Del Larks may therefore be so rare, a copy may not appear on the open market for some time, and if and when it does, expect it to fetch a princely sum...

John Manship had a black DJ copy for sale at Cleethorpes over 10 years ago, presumably the one featured in the Million Dollars of Rare Soul book. It was the most coveted record for sale that weekend priced at 3K or thereabouts - remember Greg Tormo drooling over it. In those days, the rarest records were hung on the wall in transparent wallets but they kept falling down.

Way to go Stan, the seek and destroy mentality works just as well for shoes on the High Street and top-shelf records...

Good luck Stanley. The bidding for both records looks very open with a noticeable lack of Red Star bidders with four figure ratings. Maybe these guys are going to step in at the last moment, but at present, the records look like they're going to younger collectors.

Del Larks could reach 7K and Mel Britt 2K. The condition of the Del Larks is perfect - has been rated a 5 grand record for years. Mel Britt always seems to fetch a four figure sum but records of this stature are in such short supply that even an Excellent copy could go beyond Price Guide levels.

Hi Rod - the Northern scene would be better without these 'bods' and there would be a lot more positive things to talk about such a high quality rarities unearthed by hard working collectors and DJ's...

It appears not - they're like Gary Glitter LP's as there's no point trying to sell them and you couldn't persuade anyone to take them off you for nothing...

Cheers for this Steve. It appears that the youngsters who attended the Casino were aged 13-14 but evidently passed as 18 year olds.

Dobber - John would not even contemplate selling bootlegged Northern Soul records. John is a top dealer and his livelihood and reputation depend upon flawless transactions. Members should think carefully before posting unfunny comments that could have damaging consequences. Maybe Wigan Bob should sharpen his wit on eBay and the dozens of bootleg sellers it ignores...

You can't be serious... John is the absolute tops in the world of rare records.

Nice one Len. I like the white label as someone's written on the pink one...

Ady Crosdell gets my vote as the man who gave us most of these unissued gems via world premiers at the 100 Club then again on Kent CD's. Cheers Ady.

But what a record. I used to ask Mark to play this every time he was behind the decks. It reached a point when he just spun it and said it was requested by yours truly which was handy as I didn't have to move from the dance floor. Top man. Top DJ and he told me a joke once...

Steve - thanks for clarifying this. I assumed that VAT was factored into all sales individually. At one stage, John maintained that the valuations in the Price Guide included 20% VAT but evidently it works differently for records sold on a commission basis.

And %20+%20=%40, in this case, a deduction of £400 making IDKAY a £600 sound. I doubt we will see IDKHT becoming an auction record in this class...

Keep up at the back there...£200 commission and £200 VAT leaves the owner of the record with about £600...

Nev - I'm pretty sure it's 20% commission so the seller gets £600 which is pretty good compared to the price it would fetch at an allnighter.

John. Hope you get your record back. Since I put a handful of records back in the wrong sales box, I've put all my sales box records in white card sleeves with distinctive coloured labels on. One record going AWOL has probably been palmed by someone, but you never know, it could be a genuine mistake...

Hi Pete. I missed the Stafford years but made do with the Soul Supply version of IDKHT until 1990 when I picked up the original - only heard it played out on the odd occasion until the recent upturn in demand and price as it deputises for the superior IDKAY. When I picked up my copy of IDKAY in 1993, it was a virtual unknown but on a few wants lists and yet to have a major impact on the dance floor such was it's scarcity. Nige RIP of the Hawaiian shirt brigade managed to get his hands on a good quantity maybe 10-15 years ago helping DJ's to popularise it. Since then, just about every copy auctioned has fetched decent money. Both of these Constellations tracks are very good but only one of them has that special X Factor that prompts a stampede to the dance floor.

Loadsa good tunes here and tons of early memories. Many of us started out dancing to these records so they hold a special place in our hearts. However, time turns up better and better records fuelling the quest to track down the elusive and most awesome sounds - dance floor reaction over the last 17 years places IDKAY in this special category as the price tag confirms.

Pete, sure you're not mixing the titles up? You Didn't Know How To, good record though it is, only rose to prominence and increased in price because I Don't Know About You had such a major impact on dancers and collectors...