soulfulsaint

Yes I've still got your original of Pop-A-Groove's 'Dance Your Ass' Off from that '76 trip. I was a fan of your sets at the Central. But my favourite was Huddersfield West Indian Club in Venn Street, which you have chosen to airbrush from history - tut tut. Mind you that was when you were working undercover as Frank 'n' Twink. I had a slight holiday in late '80s veering into funk, hip-hop and work. But still kept buying obscurities. My greatest regret now was that I moved down south first to Manchester then London so went to all the biggies Wigan, Mecca, Stafford, 100 Club and missed almost all the great venues back home in Scotland. Stuart Cos

I remember listening to Frankie 'Hollywood' Crocker when he was on WBLS New York. Try to dig out a copy of the movie Five on the Black hand Side where Frankie features as the dude 'Rolls Royce' I think he may have had a hand in the movie's strap-line "You've been coffy-tized, blacula-rized and super-flied - but now you're gonna be glorified, unified and filled-with-pride... when you see "Five on the Black Hand Side" Suspect Steve G's references to payola may also explain why Turbo were so keen on his services. I've always seen 'Ton of Dynamite' as a 'vanity soul' record, recorded to gain favour with Frankie who has a massive influence as radio DJ. A bit like Edwin Starr's re-recorded version of S.O.S as Scotts on Swingers in dedication to Detroit DJ Scott Regan

Agree keb doesn't let the invisible rules get in the way of what he wants to play, I understand him prefectly. Simple just exaggerate the 'R' sound, shorten the vowels and swear like f**k.

Will do Jock. I'll get thru to Edinburgh for a night soon. I still wonder why Luther Ingram was on Hib Records, but that's another post/

..yes by a few years if Chavis is late 60s label and it is deffo Delaware. Apols for a detour Gareth. Wilmington, Delaware is the Amtrak station before Philadelphia on the New York DC rail route. There is a local Delaware funk musician Gerald Chavis who is a regular backing musician - its not a common name so maybe his father owned Chavis? No obvious connection with Mello Souls but another lead. https://www.geraldchavis.com/

what's the info Simon - phone number zip code, I assumed there was no label info either?

I think it may be Wilmington, North Carolina. Gareth. The city was at the centre of a big civil rights dispute in early '70s, the largest demonstration following the assassination of Martin Luther King. A local militant Ben Chavis and nine others were arrested and became known as the Wilmington Ten. They were given 282 Years imprisonment. The Chavis label was named after Ben Chavis. Here is an image of Chavis below. Doubt he was in the Mello Souls but they probably did a benefit for him. Chavis is now a figurehead in hip-hop and organised the Million Man March.

Here is the Label Discography of DC International courtesy of https://www.dcsoulrecordings.com/index.php?...;s=recordlabels Producer R Jose Williams. DCI 3001 Skip Mahoney and the Casuals - Your Funny Moods (LP) DCI 5001 The Summits - Let Me Love You Again / It Takes Two (1973) DCI 5002 Mark Jackson - Baby / ? DCI 5003 Skip Mahoney and the Casuals - Your Funny Moods / Struggling Man DCI 5004 The Summits - Sleepwalking / I'll Never Say No DCI 5004 The Summits - Sleepwalking / Sleepwalking (promo) DCI 5005 ? DCI 5006 ? DCI 5007 Skip Mahoney and the Casuals - Seems Like (The Love We Had Is Dead and Gone) / Town Called No-Where 102 Marcelle Joseph Long Distance Love Affair / Resistance To Change (1975) Any one that can update the missing items please contact the website -its great and so to is the fliker photo page

I'll have a go. The music I love is the music of urban black America but the way it has been listened too, danced too and consumed in Europe differs enormously from place to place. Northern Soul was significantly different from the commerical soul that dominated most southern UK cities in the '70s, Belgian Popcorn is clearly a million miles from Belgian techno, and the mixing of music styles in the scooter scene of Europe is different from the more purist soul scenes of the north. I could bore forever on this. Maybe the biggest geographic difference of all was Detroit and Memphis, two great cities co-existing but creating very different sounds, Motown drifting away from R&B and Memphis sticking to it. Simplistic in part but true. So I would argue that geography is important although clearly not as important as 'soul' itself

I think that's enitirely possible and there's no doubt it would divide opinion but so did the Mecca and Cleethorpes and Stafford, divided opinion around the core of great rare soul is the heartbeat of the scene not its death. Bring it on.

I'm also struck by the commitment on the US funk-soul scene where people are generally younger and where the depth of awareness of local releases from 60s and '70s is remarkable. Just for example Washington DC area sites and Ohio area are listed below. https://www.dcsoulrecordings.com/index.php https://www.ohiosoulrecordings.com/p.htm

...not the first ring you've compromised if I remember the toilets at the Mecca...ah those were the days when modern versus sixties could start a war...

Looking for a mint copy of 'Ive Started So I'll Finish' by Magnus and the Masterminds (Black Chair) Will pay up to £400 for your's Rod. Pure modern heaven.

In his current auction-list John asks for further information on the obscure Indianapoiis soul-funk band, Jazzie Cazzie and the Eight Sounds. Jazzie Cazzie were formerly a local Indiana soul group, The Diplomats who changed their name to Diplomatics to avoid confusion with the DC group of the same name. They took the name form a famous basketball player of the early '60s the Chicago-born 'Jazzie Cazzie' Russell who was a star player at the University of Michigan where coincidentally he lived near Ollie McLaughlin's home, the base for Karen Records. He later joined the New York Nicks One of Jazzie' Cazzie's former band members Rodney Stepp has written the following: "My fondest memory of the Diplomats (we had to change our name to the Diplomatics for our LAMP release due to a group in the Washington DC area) is our love for music. We came together to win a talent show at School # 17 in Indianapolis, thus beginning our childhood dreams. The Diplomats began with Jerry "Boing-Boing" Miller (guitar, 14), Rodney Vorhis (bass, 14), Bobby Gayhart (drums, 11), and myself, Rodney Stepp (acoustic piano, 13). We went on to add two new members - Richard Gamble (sax, 14) and Robert Maurice Taylor (trumpet, 14). In 1969, Jerry Miller and Rodney Vorhis took advantage of an opportunity to play with The Spinners. Jerry returned after a brief 6 months. Miles "Butch" Loyd joined the band and collaborated with me to write "Hum-Bug," based around a dance from the time. Thanks in part to Herb Miller from LAMP Records, who believed in us and recorded this tune, "Hum-Bug" was an instant hit in Indianapolis. It was also the only song recorded by this group of band members (though we later reformed as Jazzie Cazzie and The Eight Sounds, and released one 45 on the Knaptown label). Throughout, we maintained a flavor similar to the Bar Kays. To this day, Jerry's guitar solo on "Hum-Bug" reminds me of Steve Cropper." For more info see https://www.stonesthrow.com/nowagain/artists/diplomatics.htm

Mixed Emotions 'Gold of My LIfe/Can You Feel the Funk (Rock-Way) One side 'modern northern oldie' b/w street funk

Great record and to see Eddie Parker and Pat Stanton in the same thread - quality.

Hope you get well soon Russ - take care. Stuart

Scotland at 9.03% is about exactly right as a percentage of total UK population. Surprised I thought the north and midlands would easily outvote Scotland per head of population. Must be all the Hibees.

Off work ill with chronic sinusitis so yes too much time. But Sam singing plodding disco'. Where's Steve G when you need him

that's the stuff Simon hope your trip to Scanadnavia was a hit, have you posted the track-list anywhere?

I've just spent a very happy half-hour playing both sides of Ronnie McNeir 'Sitting In My Class' (Deto) This record has always been a fave, it has fond memories, a great opening and is near flawless '60s soul. But the 'B' side 'Isn't She a Pretty Girl' keeps getting better with every play, maybe its changed tempo over the years, but I think I like it better, even although I feel I am betraying a great record. So help me out of this mess by suggesting stellar 'A' sides where you think the 'B' side is better. Could be Ollie Jackson, or whatever but must be a big 'A' side to really soothe my guilt.

Now we are talking my language.. Brechtian agitprop when the singer steps out of his naturalised role to communicate a message directly to the audience - Gil Scott-Heron's 'The Bottle.' Or the Stanislavskian-system, where the singer creates a believable emotional character inside a naturalised world by drawing on a fund of emotions from previous experience eg. Sam Dees 'Fragile Handle With Care.' Love them both. Not so sure about James Coit's 'Black Power - leans towards Brecht but it's crap. Any other obscure theatre references please call. Agree with Shane - Casino Cafe is not for me - nostalgic melodrama - but if I was in Wigan I'd go out of hypocritical curioisty.

No never seen the 'valuable' TMGs and suspect - as you say - that they may have been manufactured by EMI in UK and exported to Ireland, where different import/export regulations were in place. Here's another Irish/Tamla mystery. An Irish-rebel folk group called The Abbey Tavern singers became a novely hit in Canada, and signed to Arc, Gordy bought the US rights and according to VIP release sheets brought out an album on the band, which included several republican rebel songs? Kevin New on Soul Source has tracked down the Canadian releases for me, but I have never seen a VIP copy of the Abbey Tavern Singers. Did it get released? And if so was Berry Gordy inadvertently supporting the IRA?

Snap but with great female vocals taking the lead - Ty Karim, Rozetta Johnson, Carol Anderson, Linda Jones, Lolleatta Holloway, Patti Labelle etc. Rare helps too, mega-rare really helps. But that's shallow and I'm ashamed of myself.

Agreed I was also jealous of the guy that owned it, John Abbey, who married Tamiko Jones of 'Spellbound' fame. Not sure if it was sexual allure or Ric Tic demos that got me excited, I was young then.