Anoraks Corner

And dare I say superior!? Such a great double sider...what's the going rate for a stocker at present...spotted one last weekend.

Really...my original was on vinyl...never seen a styrene original or repress. The vinyl re-press has a bevealed edge making it easy to confirm.

Good call...fabulous track! Does Curtis Lee's 'Is she in your town' qualify?

Here's another romping wailer...though the scan is showing the nice mid-tempo side Ricky Davis and Deena Johnson - Who me

Oh yea, forgot about that one! Here it is on the rarer (and more attractive!) of the two label designs

A few from Tokyo!

Like you Mick, I've never seen or heard of any proper label demos (outside of penned 'X's or date stamped) for Mutt either.

Try this one out...it builds and builds and has a harmonica break and some super powerful brass...all over a Funky bassline Willy MacDougal - All I Want Is You - ...and let us not forget Charlie Gracie's 'He'll never love you like I do'.

One or two choice titles listed high to push them to the top of the 'Highest Price First' search option for a bit of free advertising...but the large number of lines he adds all at ridiculous prices has a negative effect with most folk I'm sure!? Less is often more when it comes to advertising!?!

There are also a few other designs for Symbol as well...early italic ones with a logo and later brown and white patterned ones. All are original as previously confirmed...all appear to by East and Mid-West pressings...the West Coast ones are easier to spot being on styrene with stuck on labels a la Monarch. Great label.

They used to re-title tracks over here and also sometimes lose things within the translation...one that makes me smile and I'm sure you'll appreciate it Gene, is for the Temptations', ' Beauty is just skin deep'...on the sleeve it says 'Beauty is just shin deep' and if that's not bad enough the rough translation for the Japanese characters used is actually, 'Good looking girls are dangerous'!

Really...not doubting your word as it is a large scene, but oddly enough I am kinda the opposite as I can recall seeing more HectorR for sale than BV during the 8T's! BV was a steady £40/£60, whilst HR was £30! It's a funny old scene!

Why do I feel that you're now also gonna mention that SUPERB Accents record on Mercury?!

...and I forgot to add that the CD release features the Smash 45's that weren't originally on the album. Available from Amazon >>> Press Here <<< for under £9.00.

No, it means I would've liked to have seen more Kent LP releases in the series, simple as that Girly group sounds on CDs...Kent wasn't recognised as their home...they were more an Ace label genre, weren't they? With regards to my comment about available catalogue - naturally licensing tracks is not always easy/cheap/viable..surely there was still life within the Kapp, Congress and Decca material...why wasn't the MCA deal renewed? Sales figures - well by the end Northern Soul CD releases were common place and cheap, as were CD players, and record shop shelf space was given over to CD rather than LP, so I can understand vinyl taking a dip. For reference, towards the tail-end there was confusion with releases with my regular customers...if it was on Kent they'd buy it, period. However, the inclusion of the jazzy/funky albums turned them off and they began to pick and choose or even pass over...leading me to think that maybe these volumes may have sat better on a new logo other than Kent? In hindsight...and maybe why I wrote what I did...I saw what I consider to be a similar fate happen with two other labels I liked, albeit they were Dance labels - 4th & Broadway and Urban. Both had a great image and sound-identity...people would buy up new releases in safe knowledge that they would get something they liked...then they both diversified with different genre...and they both rapidly lost their supporters and guaranteed sell-in figures. One thing for certain, long live Kent CDs!!

You could be correct...I thought it was a brown cover to the left and the picture on the right? However, in my defence, it's been a loooooong time since I looked through my old albums and even longer since I was selling that one as a new release, or should I say trying to sell as it wasn't a big seller!

The importance of this series to collectors worldwide and the Northern Soul scene en masse, should never be underestimated. This groundbreaking series were being released during the time when the Northern scene was starting to get back on it's feet again, and as previous posts testify they sparked the interest of dare I say the second generation of the scene...and first generation of non-UK based soon to be Soulies? They spread the word and were well written (!), always well presented with original artwork and usually packed with factual gems for the vinyl hounds...I know I would re-read the sleeve notes again and again, using them a reference points as I started to collect the labels they spot lighted – Scepter, Wand, Musicor, Kapp, Decca, ABC and Revue etc. Funny, I had previously dismissed Revue 45's, as they looked 'too modern' with their loud orange and yellow label design! I was lucky enough to be working in the record trade during their release period and used to look forward to seeing the Pinnacle rep (Ace/Kent's distributor) on his monthly visit, in order to see what was coming out. New titles would more often than not come out one per month, but sometimes we were treated to two! Naturally, I would always ask for the release sheets and white label test pressings, as and when the rep had finished his monthly cycle of shops. The first two volumes appeared on red and yellow vinyl and the 50th release was on purple vinyl and came with a poster, though in-store promotional material was never forth coming for any release. There are so many classic tracks that should be mentioned (Ritchie Adams, Earl Jackson, Little Charles etc), and I for one was delighted to finally get to hear some tracks direct from the stylus, having put up with cassette tapes of live recordings for so long - don't forget that Northern Soul LP compilations were very thin on the ground with only the long deleted Grapevine, President, Inferno and Jay Boy titles being found in second hand shops, if you were lucky. It should also be noted that around the same time as Kent, Charly and Soul Supply were also releasing some good stuff too. Let us also recall that CD's were in their infancy and there was little chance of any label investing in a Northern Soul release on that format at that time! The internet also didn't exist! I also found myself moving on my few 7" 45's as I now had the tracks on Kent LPs…something I would never have dreamt of doing in previous years, and I imagine I wasn't the only one doing that, so they also changed the approach to my collecting habits! Then there are the unissued Scepter/Wand/Musicor titles, raided from their vaults by 'Harboro' Horace', and I salute him (and others) for doing that...though I suspect it was a pleasure and hardly 'work'!? Maxine Brown's, 'It's Torture', Melba Moore's, 'Magic Touch', Tommy Hunt's, 'The Pretty Part Of You' and Judy Clay's, 'Upset My Heart' instantly spring to mind! Personally, the series really turned me on to the big NYC Soul productions leading to Chuck Jackson material being played in my house every Sunday morning! The Girl Groups were also well presented – the Shirelles', 'Putty In Your Hands' and the Chiffons' 'Keep The Boy Happy', have just crossed my mind. Shame they ran out of steam…was it a lack of available recordings to use…a dip in sales…or the possible loss of identity as certain titles may have been more suited to a new logo other than Kent…only Ady can answer this. So, in answer to the thread's question – sorry too many to list, but defo the previously unissued tracks I listed!

According to the Verve files, he recorded this at the same session as 'Look at Granny run run'...though it first appeared on Jerry Ragavoy's Utopia label backed by the superb, 'She's Looking Good'. However, the takes sound the same...hmmm odd.

Scorching Soul...recommended!

Hang on, you told me they were only worth £50 a piece when you bought them from me!

Please note: most demo copies of this number are double-sided and don't feature this track.

Yes, it finaly made it onto CD in 2007...I know as I co-wrote the sleeve notes! (POKER Label - DECKCD100) Here is my WD (mono) of the LP...and the CD....and a red label stock copy (stereo).

Agree with that one plus add their version of 'I Keep Forgettin' ', which has the typical full Spector production behind it. Here they are in all their Japanese glory!

This picture is the lower right hand side portion of the Sing label LP front cover. Sing was a label concentrating on King (geddit!?) family label product. There were about x100 titles released in all (distributed via Charly Records), often with duplicate original sleeves...though there wasn't one available for the Tiny Topsy album compilation.

Superb. Well written. Now, do the instrumental takes still exist?!