Mickey Finn

Amazon used to have this problem with sellers there posting nonsense prices. I guess for chancers one sucker makes it all worthwhile. In a just world it's the kind of sucker who is speculating to accumulate.

Superb compilation produced to the very highest standards of Kent, and a great complement to this:

A short obituary here: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/jan/30/barrett-strong-obituary

Another one gone. Much much more to Anita and her sisters than the commercially successful Richard Perry productions, as this obituary makes clear: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/jan/02/anita-pointer-obituary

Indeed ... fingers crossed for volume 2

A decent obit in the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/dec/29/thom-bell-obituary

Many thanks to all who make this site what it is - organisers, moderators, tech support, contributors, punters, promoters, dealers, grumpy old gits, and everyone else. A peaceful Christmas and all the best to everyone in 2023.

Terribly sad news. What an amazing contribution to the world of music, and as one of the Mighty Three an absolute giant of soul. One of the highlights of last summer was listening to Derek Mead play this at the Blackpool and Whitby weekenders. A fantastic arrangement and wonderful to hear played out over a proper sound system. RIP and thank you for the music.

That's quite a collection you've got there!

I collect the music that I like, although I can get sidetracked by special series or issues or reissues. Not sure that makes me a "collector", but there seems to be enough music cluttering the house. I buy almost exclusively cds, ranging across various styles of soul and jazz. If forced to I will purchase vinyl or downloads if there's no other way of having the music.

Way too young, and a real loss to music-making and performance. My first encounter with him was his vocal on JTQ's Love the life, which after 30+ years still raises the spirit. Another one of those who would have been a bigger star in a world where real talent is properly valued.

Does anyone know the story of Van McCoy's original regular writing partner? The trail goes cold around 1972, after which there isn't any collaboration except on reissues, etc. According to Discogs, somebody called Joe (Youngblood) Cobb released a 2-sided single in collaboration with Chicago producer Otis Brown in 1972: https://www.discogs.com/master/433319-Joe-Youngblood-Cobb-Its-LB-Time Is this the same Joe Cobb? Did he have connections with Chicago? Sorry if all this has been dug up before but I'd appreciate any pointers. Van went on to collaborate closely with Charles H Kipps, who later became a novelist and film/tv scriptwriter, but who wrote some great songs for the Choice Four and David Ruffin, among others.

Peter, first of all it's great to know you are still with us. And thanks for letting us know. So sorry to learn of your troubles, but no stigma here, mate. Just appreciation for your honesty and effort to keep it together. One day I hope our paths cross and we can put the world to rights. Until then, stay safe and keep in touch. Mickey

Worth trying here: https://www.juno.co.uk/products/sandy-barber-i-think-ill-do-some/897969-01/

Could be much worse, Chalky:

The Guardian has published this decent obituary: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/oct/02/inez-foxx-obituary

Not sure that many Springsteen fans will warm to this project, while most fans of the originals won't either. It's therefore unlikely to be one of his bigger sellers, but if it stimulates interest in the originals in what is still a very racially divided industry in the USA, and generates some income for the writers and their families, then hard to see what's wrong with it. Hearing it will likely be a different story

Another decent obituary from Malcolm at Soul Brother: https://soulbrother.com/feature/ramsey-lewis-an-obituary/

The Guardian has a decent evaluation of his contribution here: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/sep/14/ramsey-lewis-butt-shakers-toe-tappers-jazz-people

What an amazing contribution to soul and jazz. Rest in peace, sir.

Changing for you (1983) was a popular spin for a while in modern rooms and on the jazz funk scene in its later years

Her obituary in the Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/sep/02/mable-john-obituary

Absolutely not. Same for 8-track cartridges, in case any record executives have got more bright ideas.

As I live in Finland my music hobby is very dependent on US and UK sources. The introduction of external VAT rules in both the UK and EU last year has significantly increased costs for us all (the latter for me). This can also be seen in the prices of new releases on sale at music retailers in the EU. Where these are imported from the US or UK or Japan (as most are, or indeed any non-EU country except, uh, the likes of Switzerland - not known for its manufacture of physical record formats), the price already effectively incorporates the VAT that was previously not paid by foreign commercial buyers, including retailers themselves. This means that we are all effectively paying double VAT or sales tax on any purchases coming from outside our single market area. That's supposed to be fairer for domestic producers/retailers, who are theoretically no longer undercut by foreign competitors ... except that the truly big players like Amazon can get around these rules by conducting internal transfers that don't count as taxable sales when they cross borders, because it's just moving stuff from one warehouse to another. So Amazon in Germany can offer a box set of jazz saxophonist Dexter Gordon's complete Columbia albums on cd for two thirds of the price you can get it at Groovesland in Berlin. The Finnish postal service (I use the word 'service' very loosely) has spotted an opportunity here and charges an additional handling fee of 2,90 euros for deliveries requiring any customs declaration, unless these are accompanied by a specific EU VAT number (IOSS). At least in theory. In practice the Finnish postal service (now I'm being really satirical) ignores all the information provided by the sender and forces the receiver to go through a customs declaration anyway, so I have to know that IOSS number in advance if I'm going to (a) save myself having to pay the extra VAT, and (b) save myself the handling fee ... at least in theory. In practice the Finnish postal service has a habit of losing packages for which IOSS is already known and/or declared but the handling fee has not been paid, even if it shouldn't be necessary to pay that fee in such cases. Thus I lost an order from Japan last year, which got returned despite having had all taxes paid upfront. Still awake? The combination of poorly designed VAT rules disguised as fairness and badly run state or private monopolies abusing their market power has not been good for my music hobby. Ordering from Ebay and Discogs at least allows me to know the IOSS number in advance and avoid most of the added hassle, if not expense, of buying from outside the EU. But it means that I've had to choose both the location of retailers/dealers more carefully, and time my expensive UK purchases for whenever I'm visiting family. Don't see any end to this any time soon, but I'll avoid making any obvious (and obviously controversial) suggestions!

A fantastic achievement. A big thanks to you and all those who've contributed to making this what it is today.