Everything posted by Mickey Finn
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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!
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A fantastic achievement. A big thanks to you and all those who've contributed to making this what it is today.
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Indeed ... including playing bass on this song Bobby co-authored with Leon Ware and Don Davis, and sung alongside David Ruffin: Talk about a meeting of the talents!
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What an amazing career ... Stevie Wonder's bassist, then with Miles Davis (who told Stevie backstage "I'm taking your f#¤%ng bass player") before moving on to a solo career that highlighted his wonderful voice. How very fortunate we were to see him perform on stage at the Blackpool LSW in 2011. So many great tracks to choose from, but this seems particularly appropriate:
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That's a good question. Some people might argue that Motown stands out because of its recognisable production (classic Detroit era) ... it was also quite poppy at times whereas some prefer more gritty sounds ... punters might more easily understand "Motown" than "soul" ... some punters might be reassured that the playlist will focus on the more soulful side of Motown ... the "and Motown" might communicate a more 60s playlist to some ... That's all I can think of for now. But I agree ... the "and Motown" in "Soul and Motown" feels redundant.
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This kind of issue was behind Ian Levine's decision to re-record tracks with the artists for The Strange World of Northern Soul. Using original recordings would have had the project tied up in legal nonsense with no guarantee of any reward for performers. Re-recording would avoid the hassle and offer a chance of payment to the performers, who were also beneficiaries in being rediscovered and possibly having their singing careers revived. Nina Simone received 3000 dollars for recording "My baby just cares for me". No royalties. According to the link below, an estimated loss of over a million dollars, following the revival of that tune during the 1980s: https://www.cryptrecords.com/nina-simone-my-baby-just-cares-for-me-work-song-7.html In other words, even legal clearance of the use of original recordings does not guarantee any return to the artist.
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Some kindness and consideration from punters would also be good. At the recent Blackpool festival I saw a wheelchair user stuck behind 2 eejits oblivious to the live performance going on behind them while they spent the entire time shouting at each other between gulps of beer. There was little the lady concerned could do because the space most accessible to wheelchair users was full of similar types. Loads of space had been set aside (seating with tables, even) for people more interested in catching/tanking up, taking selfies, and all the other urgent things that must it seems be done during a concert these days, so can't blame the promoter. Sad stuff.
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A few days to reflect just confirms how great this event was. Big thanks go to Richard Searling and the organisers, the artists, the djs, the Winter Gardens staff, the traders and everyone who attended. All combined to make it a particularly memorable experience. Three years ago I rushed to buy advance tickets when it was announced that Jimmie Delphs would be performing, and ever since then I was worried that the pandemic or just the march of time would put a spanner in the works. That's what happened to some of the other performers, but in the end we got two fantastic shows and sterling work as always by Snake Davis and the Suspicions. Jimmie got us started on Friday and performed four songs, including an amazing rendition of his beautiful "Do you know what I mean", sung note perfect 45 years after the recording. "Dancing a hole in the world" ended his set in great style, and then we had a very classy performance from Jean Carne who gave us some of her PIR era hits and worked the audience like a true professional. The dimwits taking selfies and otherwise ignoring the stage action were the only minus ... despite a full set of rooms open elsewhere. Fortunately the message seemed to get through by Saturday, when we were able to enjoy in more respectful company Betty Harris and a returning Eddie Holman, who might be a senior citizen but who can still knock it out of the park vocally. The variety of genres represented was wide and deep as before, making it impossible to follow the action everywhere. The Old Vic was predictably busy throughout, and Saturday afternoon's session with Nick Aravis, Dug Chant and Tony Monson was at a very high level, with Nick playing the kind of set that make his Saturday shows (now on JFSR) essential. Dug as always managed to play 70s tunes that absolutely should be played but are not, probably because many of them are album tracks and otherwise quite obscure. Tony meanwhile brought us firmly into the present day, which sounded quite refreshing by contrast, although I've heard quite enough of the Terry Green Project (sorry Tony) The amazing Spanish hall upstairs hosted some great northern sets, and special thanks to Mark Freeman and Butch for two great sets on Saturday. The Derham lounge hosted more modern sounds and here John Kane was on top form as usual. It's a real pleasure to see a dj who so visibly loves his work. The Pavilion hosted two sets by Derek Mead, who played a mystery version of "I get the sweetest feeling" by "Someone Else". Clearly the standard for cover up names has slipped a lot during lockdown. Also good to hear Denise Lasalle's take on "Right track". Keith Money's opening set on Sunday was tip top ... so good to hear Richard Caiton played out. The Sunday afternoon Ritz revival session was packed from start to finish, and big thanks to Chris Box, Mark Grice and Neil Rushton for giving us a great set of selections that showed just how great an era that was musically. We finished the Sunday evening in the Empress Ballroom with Rod Allsworth and Jimmy Scriv, followed by Richard and Kev to the close at midnight, rounding off a spectacular weekend. So good to see friends we hadn't seen for literally years and to meet new ones. Such a shame we had to wait so long, but in the end we were rewarded very handsomely. Take a bow, everyone 👏 -
Overpriced vinyl has been used to cross-subsidise break-even or even lossmaking other formats by some labels. Buying stuff in anticipation of future rarity and profit might not be cricket, but since this is now a widely recognised (corrupt) practice the record/reissue label people might try to justify exploiting it if it means that more music makes it into the public domain and on a decent format because they have the finance to make it happen.
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I just spoke to Colin Brown (who's on here, or at least was - can't find him) and he remembers visiting it regularly. According to him it was well run with friendly staff, stocking a broad range of current and back catalogue with strong jazz funk and "Essex" type soul content, but not so much rare soul. The staff would hunt stuff down if asked, though.
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That's a very rich playlist, but the Ward Brown track in particular stood out for me. Great stuff
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A fantastic legacy, and equally at home in soul/funk as in jazz, including Miles Davis' 70s groups. This is a good interview with Mtume:
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The success of Kent comps alone should convince him of the market for this kind of release. If he's in the business of securing rare rights, there might be a very tasty comp to be made of them. Alternatively, perhaps he could agree to allow Kent to license it from him.
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One of the best shows of the radio for me - consistently good selections and presented with the kind of enthusiasm that's infectious. The web site is also well worth visiting on a regular basis: https://www.souldiscovery.co.uk/
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One of the Cherry Red reissue stable, Doctor Bird has recently been unearthing and reissuing some great 60s and 70s Jamaican music. It's an impressive and growing catalogue, with many reissued albums packaged with extras new to cd or previously unreleased. However, at least 2 of these titles seem to have fallen victim to bootlegging: https://www.cherryred.co.uk/product/various-artists-greatest-jamaican-beat-expanded-edition/ https://www.cherryred.co.uk/product/errol-brown-the-revolutionaries-culture-dub-medley-dub-2cd-expanded-edition/ On Amazon one of the reviewers mentions this about the Culture Dub package, but I've not seen any mentions of this problem anywhere else, despite coming across 2 separately supplied copies of "Greatest Jamaican Beat" that, like the Culture Dub package, comes in what seems to be a reasonably good facsimile of the booklet and inlay, packaged inside a case that looks like it was purchased/acquired from an office supplies stockist (the case has "2cd" printed on it), and containing 2 CDRs with Doctor Bird labelling on one side. The CDRs do not come in a factory sealed package, but are instead contained in a self-adhesive wrap-over see through plastic. And in some cases the package is so poorly put together that the inlay card does not fit properly - from the same seller I got what seem to be 2 genuine CDs inside a box that had a mangled inlay card poking outside it ... possibly the bootleggers had accidentally put the "master copies" in the wrong box. https://www.cherryred.co.uk/product/roland-alphonso-the-originals-orchestra-abc-rock-steady-expanded-edition/ Is anyone else aware of this problem? Anyone considering buying Doctor Bird reissue cds should not buy from Amazon third party supplier "all your music" (also on ebay)
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Sad to report we lost another soul great on 25 June: https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Musician-Band/Lou-Courtney-535875236565479/ His standout 1973 album "I'm in need of love", produced by Jerry Ragovoy, is an absolute classic.
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Many thanks to the organisers and all involved in this excellent event. Apart from costing me a fortune it's been a great education. Eventually once we're able to travel and attend events again I look forward to saying thanks in person. Without question it's been one of the outstanding features of this otherwise worrying and frustrating time. Well done and much respect to everyone concerned.
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Apologies if I've missed a thread on this, but if not there's an interesting obituary of Muscle Shoals drummer Roger Hawkins here: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/jun/20/roger-hawkins-obituary
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Not much anyone can do in the face of government regulations and people still waiting for a second vaccination while the virus continues to do its thing. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone alive and well at next year's rescheduled weekender. Meanwhile stay safe and keep the faith. -
Yep, the ruthlessness is there in the way he handled the local competition in the style of the classic monopolist and his subsequent decision to relocate the entire company. Thanks for the tip re the book!
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Like us all he made mistakes and was guilty of poor judgment from time to time. That doesn't take away from his achievement, which for most people seems to be the amazing run of music recorded up until around 1970, when things really had to change, one way or another. Not only was society changing, the music itself had to evolve. Artists like Marvin and Stevie were youngsters now coming of age and wanting to prove themselves as creative artists, rather than working to order. Having established an amazingly successful formula and exercising firm control over the company, no surprise if Berry was late to this game. But he relented eventually and we have a set of amazing releases that cover the period of transition when Motown relocated from Detroit to LA. It's that move that sticks in my craw. Having bought up just about all the competing labels in Detroit, and done his best to monopolise access to the musical talent there, he shuts up shop and takes as much away from the place as he can. Maybe the writing was already on the wall for Detroit as a place and he was just ahead of the game, but Motown's departure must have contributed significantly to Detroit's economic decline. LA had better weather, great recording studios and the cream of west coast session players, but Berry was also eager to get into the movie business and switched his focus away from the music. That might have been good for allowing the musicians and producers greater freedom, but it also meant that by the 80s Motown had lost any claim to quality control of the kind it once had. Instead of setting its own standards it was hiring outsiders to lead projects that were little different production-wise from what other labels were releasing. No surprise if it just eventually became too big to manage, but in Berry's defence we would not be having this discussion if he had not set such high standards and invested in the right people during the 60s. He created something that was able to sustain itself for years after he gave up trying to control everything, and which gave us some wonderful performers who were given the chance to make rich sets of recordings that we're still enjoying and even unearthing today.
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Thanks for this, Dave - looking forward to listening. Among radio presenters Mick O'Donnell is for me out front for the upfront new and reissue vinyl and cd action. I must have blown most of last year's holiday budget on plugging various gaps in the collection, including a pile of Kent and Numero comps as well as various Japanese reissue cds, so the focus has been more on the past for me purchase wise. So far this year albums of note include the Str4ta (stupid name) and George Anderson, and I'm waiting for delivery of a copy of Bob Baldwin's latest. Overall the last year has seen what feels like an explosion of output from Britfunk veterans, most of which sounds good to these ears (Bluey, Citrus Sun, Britfunk Association, Light of the World). Sorry to say I'm struggling with Sheree Brown's latest, which is obviously a very personal and heartfelt project but which musically isn't doing it for me, at least yet.
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