Mickey Finn

An apparently well-informed article in today's Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2021/apr/02/how-britfunk-overcame-racism-to-reinvigorate-uk-pop

I've still to make up my mind on that after having spent most of the year's holiday budget on music of all eras. I filled a lot of holes in my Kent cd collection and was very pleased to keep up with various reissues and never-before-issued stuff, but of the newies so far I'd also nominate Light of the World's comeback album Jazz Funk Power as a strong contender. Of the latest reissues the Kenny Carter and Little Ann collections are top notch, and a lot of earlier reissues from Numero, Light in the Attic, Jazzman and others have turned up suddenly heavily discounted, so once again filling in various gaps there. One thing 2020 underlined was the importance of good radio, along with the growing accumulation of podcasts and streams - Mixcloud is incredible for the sheer range of good quality output, new and old. BVAN has shown how the spirit of a proper rare soul gig can be preserved and enjoyed in real time with spinners and punters interacting and appreciating the music selections. I didn't do much of the FB home deejay stuff, but I made an exception for the Boomerang soul sessions with Maria O and Arthur Fenn - highly enjoyable and good to see and hear the music being played. Steve Stevlor's book on Dave Godin is a fine tribute in every way. And thanks to everyone involved in keeping this forum so active and informative.

Thank you to the SS team for continuing to put together this excellent forum. We can be a grumpy lot sometimes but as a source of knowledge about the best music in the world it is unsurpassed, and there is plenty of laughter and friendship to go along with that. Not a bad combo at all. Best wishes to everyone

I had missed this, thanks for posting. He appeared on various well-regarded east coast soul/boogie productions in the early 80s and his bass playing was certainly enough to qualify him for a more substantial recording career:

Stomp Radio on Fridays: Colin Brown 9-12 (40s to 60s, r&b, blues, jazz, doowop, ska, etc) Pete Collins 12-3 (mainly 70s soul) Stomp Radio on Wednesdays: Richard Soane 4-6 (mostly 70s soul with some jazzier stuff mixed in) Dave Smith 6-8 (eclectic across the board) also Terry Peters on London Music Radio Tue & Thu 10-1 (70s/early 80s soul, boogie, disco, reggae, northern, occasional new) Mick O'Donnell's show on TWR every second Saturday 4-6 as mentioned by Chalky above Shaun Louis on Solar Mondays 6-8 (on the mellower tip, 60s to current but mostly 70s soul) Nick Aravis on Solar Saturdays 6-8 (see Fish Fingers above) Eddy Edmondson on Epic Radio Sundays 8-10 (soulful 70s with some northern and newer thrown in)

I enjoyed the hardback. The stories about trips to NY and the records brought back (and subsequently "discovered" by others ) are amusing. Was pleased to see a nice word for Mark Roman, the original Crackers dj who sadly passed away in June this year. Unlike many other clubs at the time there was not a racist door policy there, while the playlist did much to attract a lot of regulars. Add to that all the stories about the various clubs and venues visited and you've got a very informed perspective on a large cross section of the UK soul scene at a crucial time in its development. Recommended.

Cooler in the fridge!

Perhaps you'd have seen it sooner if you got a pair yourself. Resistance is futile. You will be assimilated.

Exactly. Looks like Manchester University Press is sharing the same marketing text book with the people responsible for Motown UK. Dave Godin was a much better intellectual than most, as was John Anderson. There's plenty of amazing archive work on this site and in releases by e.g. Kent that ranks with any academic history or social science re popular culture (and is often much better written). Glasses are cool.

It's unlikely that this book is aimed at the typical punter (at least by its publisher). It's a study by academics for academics, and written to current academic standards/fashions, published by an academic press and priced (somewhat optimistically these days) for academic library budgets. In a way it's a pity because it looks decently written and not overly stuffed with pretentious jargon. A paperback edition at 20ish quid would likely increase the total sales by a few hundred percent. The pricing policy belongs to the publisher however. And given the likely sales numbers for these editions, the authors won't be getting much in return for their efforts, so it was probably a labour of love, which is pretty much how it should be given the subject matter. It's unlikely to do much for the authors' academic career prospects because it is a book, rather than a series of high falutin articles in journals that nobody reads but which are used as indicators of "research excellence". Sadly the academic world is driven by all kinds of strangely twisted commercial logic these days, which forces academics to spend more time thinking about performance targets rather than helping their students actually learn. It's ironic in a way because the focus on targets and income generation means that a lot of stuff is produced that is of little use or interest to anyone except the bean counters appointed to various government quangos that decide who gets what. Aim your fire at successive governments, Tory and Labour, for turning learning into a giant bureaucracy that's good at talking business lingo while stifling as much as possible real creativity and originality - unless someone else agrees to pay for it, of course. Plenty could be said about pretentious academic twats in many places and subject areas, but this looks like a worthy project, let down rather badly by Manchester UP's decision to treat it as a highly specialised (and therefore expensive) research monograph, rather than an interesting, worthwhile and accessible piece of research suitable for a more general audience.

Very sad news indeed. Few singers could match him for range and sheer depth of emotion. RIP and thank you.

Big Maybelle beats Beyoncé for me! And I can recommend the album for anyone who's interested

Dusty Groove in Chicago have been shipping this for at least a month already: https://www.dustygroove.com/item/930180?sf=scepter&incl_oos=1&incl_cs=1&kwfilter=scepter&sort_order=artist

Hi Robb, I guessed as much - it's an interesting thought experiment for sure. However there's a chance that Jackie at Motown may not have been such a brightly shining star, given all the talent already there and the quality control system (with its sometimes baffling decisions, as now 5 volumes of Cellarful of Motown plus other discoveries testify). Look what happened to Marv Johnson. Alternatively, Jackie might have shone brightly, but at the expense of someone else (e.g. Marvin). We'll never know of course, but the music he recorded in Chicago with Carl Davis and co was and remains top drawer, and if I wish anything, it is that there would be a stash of until now undiscovered goodies from that time for us to enjoy.

A decent obituary in today's Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/oct/07/johnny-nash-reggae-singer-best-known-for-i-can-see-clearly-now-dies-aged-80 This is probably my favourite of his: RIP

Yesterday my copy of Cellarful of Motown vol 5 arrived. In addition to the front cover where the art work of the series remains consistent, there's a new development on the back. UMG has gone except in the small print, but there is no logo associated with Motown. Instead there's this hippyish-designed "Caroline", which is UMG's reissue label covering all genres (not even just soul). And in that small print, there's a typo in the middle of all the terribly important detail about who licensed what to whom (and all within the same company ) For a company supposedly making such a number out of reviving a classic brand, this is a textbook case study of how not to do it.

The internet is full of stuff so no need to spend time with virtual djs not up to scratch, just as with events in "real life" . The Bury Virtual All Nighter has been fantastic and a very expensive education for me so far - in these times it has been a highlight of the month (formerly the week). When these things are done well they really lift the spirit. And I think with Bury especially we might have stumbled on a format worth keeping once this is all over. Thanks to all concerned.

Great group, great singers, and some great recordings, especially at Columbia with Maurice White at the helm, but also earlier for Volt and later when they released this classy number: RIP.

Very good point. Considering all the highly credentialled MBAs walking the corridors of these firms you'd think someone would realise what a treasure trove they are sitting on. Motown in particular has been a victim of some of the worst and laziest repackaging of its back catalogue for many years, going all the way back to the late 80s when cheaply dashed off compilations and occasional album reissues with the barest of liner notes were being put out supposedly to cash in on the rising cd market. Only later and largely through the efforts of specialist non-employees of Motown or even Universal there have been some excellent repackagings of the back catalogue (e.g., from the now defunct Hip-o Select label, Kent, Soulmusic.com) and compilations of previously unreleased gems (e.g., Cellarful of Motown series). This is maybe what the article refers to when it says "Through the years, Motown music was released on various UMG labels and as highly sought-after imports." Doesn't say much for the people running the company during those years. There was a time not so long ago when the UK and US branches of Universal were not even talking to each other, making the work of reissue and archive specialists even more difficult. Altogether this doesn't sound like such a clever marketing idea, since Motown is still mainly known for its 60s heyday and the big stars associated with that, which is unlikely to interest many of those digging Stormzy. But if they are prepared to make the investment and are in it for the long haul, then good luck to them. They'll find that Tony Blackburn and Sharon Davis are still around to cheer them on.

Some would argue that Motown never recovered from relocating to LA from Detroit. But after a really weak 1980s the sale to MCA which was then absorbed by Universal has meant that it's been decades since the label had any clear reason for its continued existence. There was an effort in the early 90s to make it more distinct, led by Steve McKeever I believe, who revived the MoJazz label in 1992, and he was followed by Kedar Massenburg who signed Will Downing for a one-off album release, along with Erykah Badu. But since then ...

Sorry, meant that they were seriously funky before the cheese crept in and eventually took over completely. But in their prime they were among the best.

Apologies if this has already been noted but if not ... Powerful soul and gospel singer DJ Rogers died on 22 August at the age of 72. Details here: https://www.soultracks.com/story-dj-rogers-dies Some amazing vocal performances recorded over the years: One of my favourites appears on Gene Harris's "Tone tantrum" album where he does a remake of Donald Byrd's "Cristo rendentor", featuring DB himself, but with an incredible performance by DJ in part 1: RIP D.J. Rogers.

They were indeed, until Deodato started producing them in 1979, and by their own admission, simplified their music. This was helped also by recruiting James J.T. Taylor as lead singer, who gave them a much smoother sound. Things got even more slick after the 4 Deodato-produced albums, by which time I gave up on them. But in their 70s prime they were pioneers and contenders with EWF and Cameo for big band funk jazz (if that's a term but I can't think of another way to describe it).

I was with you all the way until the foam parties and Bob Sinclar ... I think we need at least one winter before we can tell how the virus is evolving. Possibly 2. As much as I am hoping that we get events back for next summer there's every chance that there will be serious disruption then too, considering what's happening in some other countries right now. Especially considering the age group which most of us belong to, for any scene to continue we all need to stay well - punters, promoters, deejays, everybody. A couple of years of little or no going out is a small price to pay for ensuring there's enough people to revive the scene once things get better. Then I think it will bounce back pretty quick. We just need to look after ourselves - eat more fruit, drink less alcohol, stop smoking, get regular exercise, wash hands, etc. Getting to that magical moment will also require some thought and planning from people who are paid to have that kind of responsibility, but that's another story.

That's how I felt about most of the "Love man" material when I played the album first time. But hearing something played out or like in this case just out of the blue can sharpen the senses and open your ears to stuff you might otherwise miss. Maybe worth a revisit ...