Thinksmart

I almost missed this. Great news. I've dug further into his music this year after hearing it played by DJs more on Mixcloud. A talent that is underappreciated to me.

Tim's own book on Wigan Casino years, which I do not think had a distribution or readership of others, does not have the style of his reviews and is an enjoyable, straight forward read. I wouldnt take the review to heart and let it fade. As I was told years ago, a book will be around long after anyone remembers a review of it. I cannot comment on this book not having read it, but academic books on subculture / folkculture are a slog and are not based on participation. I have generally stopped reading them but will give this a go. ps sincrere congratulations on self-funding a PHD, my son is confronted with the difficulty of that (especially right now) and that achievement of yours is worth mentioning in its own right.

New Soul Togetherness 2020 CD details from Expansion Records: https://expansionrecords.co.uk/Soul-Togetherness-2020-p238096741 (Moderators, if you make this a news feature, please do feel free to delete this post)

Ah Jackie Wilson. I agree. I was outraged he wasn't even mentioned in that recent 3 part BBC series on Soul Music.

I have had or still got 181 of them but most I'm not bothered about anymore. Some were albums of the moment that didn't last to me, or had one or two great songs. Some albums also reflect a point in your life and fade away. As always a lot to quibble about and a very USA centric view - but still some fun to look through and wonder what will still be there when it is done in a decade. I too wouldn't say WGO is the best ever or even Marvin's most enjoyable, perhaps the most important but not one I feel compelled to return to constantly.

I'm from Nottingham too and very similar to Len, the Notts Mod route. So was very young entrant into nights and niters with the much older Mod lot from about 1984 onwards (Coyley from Clifton). However weirdly the best time for me was very early 1990s when I wasn't a Mod anymore, but I was absolutely obsessed with the Soul scene (such as it was and of course, I still am as keen as ever). The scene was just starting to build again, there was a lot of renewed excitement, everybody knew everyone for a while and the discoveries were coming in strong - especially all the Motown first time plays. It felt underground again at the time, the mixture of young people like me, people coming back as their kids grew up, people who never left. It was also totally about the music (or so it seemed at the time), there wasn't any of the overuse of NS imagery or facebook groups - it was still, be at a certain place, get your tickets at robs, write away for lists, swap tapes then the very start of internet era with Keeping The Faith group. Because at first attendance was sparse, you had to be there, you had to support the scene, in the late 80s in my teens I was going to NS events that gave up after a couple of hours and I drifted away for a year or two as there were so few in, while over at Kool Kat/Garage, The Bomb or Venus, Chicago house was ramming us in. I wanted to get that back in soul again and by early 1990s it was starting to happen. There was NS music played everywhere in and around Nottingham, any night or time we would go out with NS played constantly. We would even go out on a Sunday night with pubs having NS nights, it was about making the effort to keep it going. Everyone has their time and maybe not many would pick that era - but to see NS build again and flourish, to see nites going from a depressing situation of more DJs/bouncers/bar staff than us then soon filled venues again, to people being so into the music they would hang around singing and chatting for hours after sessions was awesome (obvious those were nights/alldayers not niters). CDs were coming in and passed around, new music, just keep it coming, Jimmy Frazer!! Pete Smith would send me loads of CDrs that had music that you just could not get anywhere, and I was suddenly writing a few CD sleeve notes being more keen than knowledgeable, record prices seemed really low, with a smaller scene everbody was mixing and just grateful to be with each other. Record shops were still everywhere, record fairs locally were constant, I'd started to get dealers ring me and entice me to buy some records - you felt like you were IN. Latin/Boogaloo was adding to the mix, some of the first pure R&B plays, a bit of furious Hard Soul/Funk played. Buying The Chants 'I Don't Need Your Love' on demo in pristine condition and just looking at it with awe. NS does that for us across many eras. One moment I recall, I was in some basement... top 500 type NS in the main, 'hardcore NS' downstairs with everyone stood around thinking 'is this credible enough to go first dancing to'. I was covered in sweat, absolutely in the zone on the floor, early hours when this furious girl-group R&B comes on, probably pitched up a bit more - stomper, sounds New Yorkish, R&B harmonica, WTF? Poppy but R&B harmonica, what the hell! That song destroyed the floor that night, nobody around it knew it was Bull Dog by the Shangrilas. It wasn't a Soulful epic, but sometimes that's not what the moment needs as we all know. I hunted for ages to find out what it was and I'm sure it's a totally obvious record to many, not really soulful but that brief moment it was THE record as everyone gave in to its relentless pace and grinned at each other. I asked around after and got the reaction 'there is no girl group R&B called Bulldog, I'm telling you'. But telling the people the next time I saw them what it was, that look back was pure NS. Then of course the track was ruined, but amongst my mates, I (re)found it! All of this felt incredible (and still might not compare to the days youngsters like me read about). It was a mix of people who seemed to know everything, people like me who knew nothing lapping it up. A few years later, my pregnant wife was pepper sprayed outside Nottingham Palais at one night by some people trying to disrupt the night and the support and care we had, was and is very special (that son is now 22!). That was all part of what made Northern Soul what it was at the time and is still.

What an artist. Love Brought Me Back is also a classic and so much great music by him. An immense voice.

I have not seen this mentioned, so doing so now! The fifth release in the series is back after over a decade. I have the double CD with me now and about to listen. https://soulfuldetroit.com/showthread.php?26511-A-Cellarful-Of-Motown-Vol-5

'Bring me the next Stormzy'

Sad news and very young for such a long career.

Essential reading. Great production values it seems.

Looking forward to it Pete. Rod's book arrived quickly today.

Great. Post up soon as you can with details. We all appreciate your continued dedication I'm sure. All these books are very welcome to me.

Just ordered the book. It looks excellent. Thanks for highlighting it.

Public Domain music within the limitations of expired copyright under the law is still legit of course. I'd rather people deal with the original license holders, but the debate on legal copyright expiry is a complex one. As we know that is an interesting and wider topic.

"Given that Mickey Finn's the only one who replied to my question, I've still no idea." I gave a comprehensive answer as your first reply at the start, that was very clear on what'll pay as a premium. I've contributed since and it gets just a touch frustrating when you have said a couple of times that nobody has replied to the question when I and others are trying to help. It's not really a simple yes or no anyway to whether someone will pay a premium on CD, it depends on the item. One person's must have Disco or Gospel album is not attractive to the mid-60s specialist who wants Deep or Northern Soul only. The value also reflects how much of an artist been reissued and do they have collector or dancefloor interest. To be more specific for you, for the right CD I and others already pay a premium, it depends on the item. I'm less fussed about Funk so wouldn't pay a premium for that, but for CDs more in my area of interest - sure, so long as it feels sensible. I'll pay up to about £15 for the right release, but after that I start to question it a lot more if there is only one or two songs on an otherwise poor album. Modern Soul is especially prone to this, with one song often on a pure Disco album that I have little wider interest in. For the 1975 Ronnie McNeir album as an example (or any of the albums mentioned as not on CD yet here and in other threads), I'd pay up to around £20 but haven't bought the Japanese reissue going for £40+ on import as that just doesn't sit well with me. For some rare imports with songs on I cannot get any other way, I'll often end up paying in the £15-£30 range. The reissued Rivage album is available now for £11 on CD, whereas the Spaceark reissues in recent years were £15 from the start. I hope that is helpful.

Yes enjoying the Don Bryant album immensely.

I've always enjoyed any of the dance Soul related to spies that I guess played off the popularity of James Bond, Man From Uncle, Mission Impossible, Get Smart, In Like Flint etc. Secret Agents, The Spy, I Spy For The FBI, Sock It To 'Em JB, Come Spy With Me etc. I was also a fan of the Kent Soul Agents compilation. I recall Ace did a CD of Spy related music years ago, but it wasn't just Soul related. After digging it out it was 'Come Spy With Us'. Anyway in passing on ear worms, from Secret Agents to today's..... Karate soul. Jerry O's Karate, The Emperors Karate Boogaloo etc. Karate Booaloo is especially hard to stop hearing those backing singers once in your head. I enjoy all those novelty dance things - Karate, Skate and so on as a bit of innocent fun in our music. The Skate ones were also stompers too.

I don't recall one, but feel like there is too. The song is now my earworm of the day.

Yes sad news, a singer who has been appreciated increasingly in Modern Soul over recent decades.

To keep this thread going I also welcome quality reissues on CD of: Gary Taylor' - G.T. Rockie Robbins - first album Ronnie McNeir - S.T. 1975 Thanks Mark

Yes I have the bootleg ones but I do not know of any official ones done from the masters as you confirm. The Bootleg ones are generally bad in terms of sound quality.

I don't think we have had any high quality CDs dedicated to Ric Tic or Golden World. The songs are compiled but spread across others. But getting the original singles from the masters compiled properly on CD would be welcome. There are the usual less-than-official compilations with the usual murky quality, but they do not do the job.

Indeed. Those first two Luther albums are a must. Like some of those Aretha albums, I think I read it was the artist themselves who blocked their reissue. I could be wrong on that. The Four Tops ABC singles have now been issued in a good CD set, so I hope for the albums too soon.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/jul/01/martha-reeves-dancing-in-the-street-motown-protest