Mickey Finn

Ordered mine and very much looking forward to it. The quality of the package looks excellent, with typical Kent care and attention to the stories behind the music.

Terrible news, not so long after Colonel Abrams, another vocal powerhouse. "Deliver me" is such a fantastic record and for me his best, but this comes very close:

Boris again: Nate Evans, "Main squeeze"

"the snake" Boris Johnson

Seems Harold Melvin was quite good at this politics lark: Any party leader: "If you don't know me by now" Loser on 13 December: "Bad luck" Winner on 13 December: "Today's your lucky day" Jeremy Corbyn: "Don't give me up" Boris Johnson on the first date: "Satisfaction guaranteed" Woman the morning after: "Bad luck" Boris in reply: "If you don't know me by now"

Nicola Sturgeon limbers up to this for the next tv leaders debate

and especially popular at Labour HQ Desmond Dekker, "The Israelites" Meanwhile, over at Conservative HQ as Boris refuses to take calls from Andrew Neil The Dells, "Run for cover"

The Paramount Four, "Sorry ain't the word"

Any version of Hamilton Bohannon's "Let's start to dance"?

Some of the above artists and tunes he mentions in the interview. He also praises this obscurity from future Players Association man Chris Hills in 1969: And my apologies for careless misquote earlier. As the interview makes absolutely clear, his fulsome knowledge of the music was informed by a deep love for it, spanning a very wide spectrum.

Not sure it's accurate to say he didn't like northern. There's an interview conducted by Richard Searling and Ian Dewhirst on this: There John Anderson makes it clear he enjoyed soul music across a wide spectrum, and it was the narrow mindedness of some of the northern scene he didn't have much time for. He also points out how Cleethorpes seemed to break free of that. It's a very interesting interview that gives a taste of the sort of book that could have been written. Well done to the people who made it happen, especially now that its historical value is sadly much more obvious.

It's interesting to see how the ultra-affordable Backbeats titles that came out on cd about 10 years ago have fared. A few of those titles covering the rare soul end of things have become very hard to find or much less affordable. For instance this is nowhere on Discogs but there's a copy for 50 quid at Northern Soul Direct: Some of the French bootleg cds from 10-15 years ago ("Magnetik Soul") are also going for silly prices - this one for over 40 quid on Discogs and a good bit more on Amazon:

This might be what you're thinking of: It was released in 2004 on US Hip-O label, sold out quickly and went for stupid money. It was re-released in 2012 and fetches more reasonable sums. The 2 earlier Hip-O compilations of Motown solo LPs with b sides and unreleased tracks are now in 3 figures, with volume 1 harder to find:

From 1980, this Players Association tune, a big Les Adams favourite, shows how much overlap there could be between jazz funk and boogie:

From 1982, this Carol Williams release on the same label as Players Association: