Thinksmart

Normally PRS is covered and where relevant paid in the country of the performance unless there is a partnership arrangement with another country to collect it. This page sets out all the arrangements between UK including the one with China: https://www.bmi.com/international/entry/reciprocal_representation_agreements_foreign_performing_rights_societies The Chinese PRS equivalent details including direct email and phone numbers are at: https://www.ifrro.org/members/music-copyright-society-china Their main page is at: https://www.mcsc.com.cn/ It may be worth a quick call to PRS in UK who through their partnership with China's body may be able to give a bit of advice.

Yes the Stuart Cosgrove book was very good I thought. I haven't read it but Gethro Jones' 'They Danced All Night' was also published last year. In a different way, the Dave Rimmer Rare Soul Bible reissued books were invaluable too. Checking my shelf I also got the 'Motown - Sound of Young America' by Adam White in 2016 as a new book. It was a lavish book that while great had odd omissions. Some major artists are not featured at all while others get too much attention. Still, a great book that is excellent to dip into.

I think it's been a vintage year for books on the history of soul music.... View full article

Excellent list to which I add Keith Rylatt's 'The Birth of Motown' which is a UK fan perspective on how it was supported here in the early days.

The film misses the fun and joy a bit and is a bit too dark and grim I felt. It is made with care but did not connect with me. In particular it misses the communal togetherness. The soundtrack is good. The related picture book is well done too.

I am up to 1968 in reading the book and learning so much, what a story there is around the label(s). By including songs distributed through Scepter Wand it extends the reach out across USA and internationally. I am enjoying it greatly. Many facts, artists links and pseudonyms are explained that add context to the music.

I have just finished reading 'The Record Players' book which links nicely to this and I will check it out during seasonal time off.

Original Prince La La version is great in that loose New Orleans early R&B way. Spencer Davis Group and Otis Redding both did strong versions too.

I am half way through and agree this is an immense achievement. I am learning enjoyably on every page.

It is often worth hunting down the original mono mixes of their own single artist CDs of not on a compilation. I collect each variant, which runs to a few edits and mixes sometimes. Mixes for a single were generally mono, album versions stereo.

If for personal listening starting out, buy a load of old Kent and Goldmine Soul Supply LPs, original Out On The Floor LP from a second hand shop. Build up a diverse range of tracks to listen to.

I certainly like Jimmy's version of Forgotten Man better than Gene McDaniels though enjoy both.

Walter Jackson for me absolutely nails this song, far better than the others.

The heart of the scene will always be vinyl but the reissue on CD is brilliant. It is vital to get properly mastered releases from labels that are MCPS registered, paying the proper royalties. From there you can make your own MP3s for convenience and efficiency of storage which will sound perfectly good at 320kbs / 44.1khz settings. Labels such as Kent, Expansion, Outta Sight, Joe Boy, Sequel, Spectrum, BBR, BBE, Charly and many dozens more have all put out great reissue releases (with Kent as the most dedicated). CDs are for home and on the move listening, vinyl as the original source for playing at events (with crossover for more Modern Soul of course. There's a lot to collect in CDs, many of which are collectble themselves. I've been collecting soul on CD since the mid-1980s from the first Charly and Sequel releases such as 'Up All Night' and 'Some Modern Soul' through to now. There's a huge treasure trove of music that has never made it to CD and lots that in all likelihood never will, but once you start collecting in whatever form it will be with you throughout your life. Get a good music management software tool such as MediaMonkey and start building your own library. It's great fun. Remastering is a another topic but like reissues it has to be done with care and sympathy for the music. Bringing out the best in a track and retaining its balance is wonderful but adding bass, compression and other aspects can ruin a track, remove its dynamics and flatten its sound. In the right hands, it's a useful tool - the way Kent has revealed the magic inside murky sounding originals is great, but the dozens of low bite-rate, poorly copied unlicensed tracks as MP3s in Amazon, iTunes show the damage of shoddy treatment. Remastering is about bringing out the best of the sound, remixing is changing way is within it and its structure. A genuine master like Tom Moulton can be trusted with this but there are many rubbish 'edits' and 'remixes' out there that will soon be forgotten and source track remembered for its original quality.

Yes Vivian Reed is next week and I am looking forward to that. First time on CD for most of it. Be great to have her post 1970 songs issued too if the few I know from scene plays and compilations are good examples. The John Legend is more of a real instrument album than last couple of them produced by person who does Alabama Shakes. Lyrics seem well considered in interviews and Love Me Now is a good song it seems.

The Linda Jones CD is essential and I am delighted finally to have a compilation of her music on the right home in Kent Records.

Gonna Take A Miracle did get plays I believe and has been compiled as such before.

Stand at the edge of the floor, watch and gradually move your feet a little bit how you see the others doing it. Then away from the venue practice a bit at home with some music on. Classes are inherently wrong for Northern Soul, it does not work like that, this is about freedom of expression immersed into the joyful music. So long as you don't try anything crazy you'll be fine and nobody will notice anyway. Enjoy the journey.

CDs of relevance I received after pre-ordering today: Outta Sight - Soul On The Real Side - Volume 6 (excellent Modern Soul dancers) Let's Groove - The Archie Bell & The Drells story Deniece Williams - Black Butterfly (2 CD collection). I've never heard anyone mentions plays by this artist who is probably too mainstream, but thoughts welcome. new John Legend Also the new Goody Goody reissue, mostly disco apart from I Call It Love but with Vince Montana involved, it's better musically than most in the genre. Was any of it played I wonder at Mecca/Ritz etc.

A load more are due to be released pre-Christmas I'll post up on the Fridays as they are released. Some get delayed so I'll mention them as they appear.

Some great new CDs hit the mat today. Linda Jones new Kent CD - looks like a wonderful collection of her music: https://acerecords.co.uk/precious-the-anthology-1963-72 Kenya collection on Expansion New Orleans Funk 4 from SoulJazz Gladys Knight solo two-albums from SoulMusic.com

The two Kent CD compilations of Stax/Volt dancers 'Do The Crossover' and 'Let's Crossover Again' were great a decade or two ago now and essential listening along with the Ian Levine compiled set last year. I've been working through those three sets of all the Stax singles that were put out years ago and still find songs anew in there that seem never to have become the big plays they would if on other more obscure labels. It won't happen of course, but I'd be equally happy with all the b-sides being issued too. Especially in the '72-closure era a lot of that was ignored it feels but has great songs behind the obvious chart hits. Checking back to the Kent Records page for Stax the other releases there have good selections too. I forgot how many releases they have featured on Stax such as the 'Gospel Truth' and 'Nobody Wins' sets. Many have been and gone and aren't listened at the site anymore.

The book arrived yesterday and I had a quick sneaky read while pretending to be part of a conversation with my wife. It's a great book. Lots to read and return to there. Thanks for all your work on it Steve.

I look forward to listening. The Salsoul, Prelude, later PIR, early NY garage, post-disco era is something I've evolved towards and enjoy a lot now.

Post-Wigan (before my time) the time I noticed NS go overground was mid-1990s with a series of well organized, bigger commercial nights (not niters) bringing in a younger interested general public just as older generation was coming back. When I first got into NS as an evolution from the Mod revival it was back completely underground and very few nights to go to locally as a teenager in the 80s. by the 1990s there was interest with the dance scene at its peak and some people outgrowing that and the internet certainly helped. Soul Togetherness got going and it started to feel vibrant (if mostly oldies for a while). I remember there being no internet, then a few email groups on Yahoo, then KeepingTheFaith group which became really big by which time we were into NS being a media go-to and the CD era really kicking in with the popular supermarket/car garage sold compilations.