Mickey Finn

Good post all the same Hearing music played out as opposed to privately takes it to a completely different level. Whatever has happened to the original poster, any other newcomers stumbling across this thread will get the benefit of what you wrote.

Simply Soul, Soul Brother, and less so these days Crazy Beat for CDs. Also Dusty Groove in Chicago and Groovesland in Berlin. All do good mail order services. I tend to use Discogs instead of Amazon if I can't find something via the first four. If I'm at an event and any dealers show up then I try to support them (saves on the postage too). Any music retailer is up against the likes of Spotify (and Amazon), but for people who actually care about music there's no substitute for knowledgeable friendly service providing you with physical product. It's for the retailers as well as the producers to market their wares properly and encourage people to feel good about purchasing their music, just as in other industries. Not easy these days, but not impossible either. The vinyl revival suggests there's an appetite for stuff with more substance than the ringtones that pass for Top 30 these days.

It's not just the establishment. Certain people put in a lot of effort to make this happen, and while we can sneer at the motives of vote hungry politicians trying to hitch a ride on the back of whoever/whatever seems to be popular, sometimes they get it right (even if in the style of the stopped analogue clock that's right twice a day). Unfortunately the British state hands out medals that commemorate something that should really not be celebrated. I live in a state that never had an empire and so they find other emblems to use when honouring the great and occasionally good. Every state does this. In the USA Congress is widely regarded as a "swamp" and a den of corruption, but there's something called the Congressional Medal of Honor. All state awards are tainted by whatever history or institution is attached to them. But it's a positive thing if someone like RS gets recognised, instead of some greasy pole climbing, arms dealing, tax dodging, labour exploiting, moneygrubbing tosser who buys himself access to the PM via campaign donations. Part of Richard's recognition salutes his contribution to economic life in the north of England. As a regular visitor who loves the place I'm angry at how the same state that has squeezed millions upon millions of pounds of value out of the people and resources there over centuries has allowed large swathes of it to decline and decay. I wandered around the centre of Blackpool last weekend wishing that those w*nkers currently competing to be next PM, along with Chuka Umunna and all the smoothie tv sofa friendly "caring but responsible" posers would be forced to spend just 6 months living in a Blackpool bedsit/b&b on universal credit with all conditions attached, October-March (no summer for them). Let them explain to the homeless and poor how they understand, etc. I also saw the love and appreciation of soul people who know that this award has got nothing to do with empire, the establishment, Theresa May, etc. Instead it's a well deserved honour that was nominated by ordinary people and owned by everyone who appreciates what Richard has done over the years. Congratulations to him and to everyone who has helped him along the way.

And a standout track from a standout album:

His 1978 LP "City Lights" is a personal favourite, but his rolling piano style can also be found on a lot of session recordings, including this from BB King's 1981 LP:

Great news! Well done to Richard for years of dedicated work. Not only has he opened the ears of many to this wonderful music, and in so doing helped to bring great joy and deserved recognition to the artists who were otherwise ignored, but how much of northern England must have benefited from the economic impact of the events he has organised? Congratulations to a true gentleman.

According to his bio on Discogs, this is indeed the same Ernest Kelley as owned Lake Records. He moved to Detroit from NY in 1968 to work with Motown for 4 years. He stayed in Detroit when Motown upped sticks and his Soul O Sonic label was issuing output in 1973/4. Apart from Carol's 2 singles, this one above by Ruby seems to be the only other release on Mid Town. The producer is Carol's brother and the Garling Publishing Company was owned by mother Essie. For more info on Ernest Kelley, Dave Welding is once again your man, as he wrote the liner notes to this Grapevine comp, also cheaper than a new 7:

Dave Welding wrote extensive notes for the cd collection on Grapevine released in 2004. A few copies of this are still available, cheaper than a new 7. Carol's family is particularly relevant due to her mother's key role as financial backer, music publisher and record company owner (Mid Town). According to Dave's liner notes tragedy struck in 1983 when Carol's mother died of cancer on Christmas Day. Carol herself died of cancer a few months later. Her brother George, a photographer by profession and also a financial backer of Carol's career, died later of the same disease. It was Al Perkins who teamed up Carol with Ernest Kelley, following some heavy lobbying from Carol's mother Essie. Kelley was the owner of the Soul O Sonic label which released a few singles on Carol. Pat Lewis was a long standing family friend, and Carol was the godmother of both Pat's sons. Perhaps Dave would have more info but it's worth digging out the cd for the unedited version.

David Morris is better known in jazz funk/boogie circles for his "Saturday night" single on Becket. He was also involved in Garfield Fleming's "Don't send me away" as well as Archie Bell's own Becket released LP. However previous to these he released various singles, including this manic stomper:

It also appears on the cd reissue of the LP on Funkytowngrooves a few years back: https://www.discogs.com/Melba-Moore-What-A-Woman-Needs/release/2748459

Neil Rushton: Q: What are you up to now? What are the plans for the future? A: I’ve almost finished a revamp of my book ‘Northern Soul Stories’ to celebrate 10 years of the original release. https://www.bensherman.co.uk/the-blog/The-Last-Word-Neil-Rushton Looking forward to this

This is the kind of tune that is likely to be known on the French funk scene. I tried scouring the many French bootleg cds of this genre but couldn't find anything. You could try asking DJ Bronco for help (not to be confused with the California version). His email is public information: broncofunk@hotmail.com Please let us know if you find out.

Hi Les, many thanks for the Folkestone weekender last October ... Too young to have been at the Mecca but assuming that's no barrier to entry I'd be interested in what comes out of this. Hope you get a good response.

I can see why you might not want that, but all the same there are regular comments and agreement on these throughout the forum about the dire quality of some records that managed or still manage to fill floors on the scene. A thread like this might be more useful if there would be some kind of insight as to why e.g. Tribute should be so popular, when there are so many better properly soulful tunes out there that don't get a look in. Going back a bit, why would a record as (to my ears at least) transparently terrible as that Pierre Hunt nonsense have been acceptable to dancers who might otherwise take the hump at records with a far more soulful pedigree? I get the novelty of Joe 90, but there are some records that filled floors despite having no obvious joke value, never mind soulful content. It's also interesting to see how opinions diverge sharply over someone like Helen Shapiro. If we can discuss it rather than just post something simply to slag it off then is that not a good use of the forum? Before the gates are locked once and for all, is there anyone on here who has while deejaying ever played out any of the above nominations? If so, why? What sort of crowd gets down to them, do you get down to them, is there something we're missing, are we all just mindless snobs?

Fair point - maybe the better way to do it is some sort of Q&A like at the summer Blackpool festival.

Professionals get paid. Some of those artists might never have got paid in the first place. Discovering there's a bunch of people crazy about your work that you thought was long forgotten, and who are prepared to pay to see you in person, must be really uplifting. Easy to knock promoters for seeing the angle, but without them the artists might be none the wiser, and a lot of punters denied the pleasure of seeing and even meeting their heroes. As for those who keep on recording, I wasn't too wild about much of Aretha's stuff on Arista but there was a big audience for it, apparently. It doesn't have to take away my shelf space or listening time that's better used for more worthy releases.

It's certainly working out better for them than it did for a previous generation of heirloom owning offspring:

Richard Searling just published a book like that! Great idea - it would be a good way of sharing memories of the scene in addition to bringing some insight and maybe even generating new appreciation for the well worn, the rare, or simply the underplayed obscurity. I don't think this place is so negative at the moment, although I don't scour every corner. For me this thread has been a good laugh and Ed deserves our thanks for starting it off and giving us yet another chance to enjoy "Tribute". Can somebody kick off a new "Personal favourites" thread?

Apparently not: https://www.discogs.com/artist/120167-Peter-Shelley

If I may be permitted to nominate a standout contribution to the dung pile:

Absolutely. I don't think he came near to fulfilling his potential on record - the highlights featured above hint at what could have been done if he'd been discovered a few years earlier, before the music became overly programmed, or if a different producer like Michael J. Powell had been able to work with him on a full album, rather than just a track on an album. Having said that, his work with MAW was terrific and there could easily have been more along those lines. Grateful for what he left us.