Seano

Mine today - lifts the spirits!

Great article thanks. I learnt a lot (that many others probably knew already). Black Grape for one - I got a very good soul pack from them, probably when Garry was looking at winding it down in the early 80's. I never kept lists of what was in the packs, but I did do a tape or two for convenience and swapping, so will have to see if I can find one to recall a few of the records.

Nice one - I got a copy of this in a soul pack years ago and you could just hear the soulful quality from the outset. Soul packs certainly helped to broaden my tastes, as while I was after Northern, the more interesting range you'd get if choosing a soul pack has given me much more enjoyment down the years I think. Plus of course, back then, the perception of Northern still had a lot of room to grow, and some stuff that I liked came into the mainstream in due course.

I got quite a nice (and prompt) email back from David Clements, who posted the article on his website. I'd just asked out of interest if he'd covered record shops around Detroit, but he hasn't. "Thanks for the note on my recent Blog story. I have documented and posted Blogs on three years of Detroit A Go Go documentation. These and other Detroit Blogs can be found at www.davidclementsproductions.com "

Great article with a really vibrant feel from the photos, despite the fact that the actual text clearly shows that the businesses have pretty much all disappeared.

As I've posted I'm out - but Sam Dees anybody??

Quick search in the Soul Source vaults came up with this by Bobby Womack:

Fair comment, although of course Bobby Womack did get a slot, so not all bad.

Only just seen this so it's already on (Friday 27th March). Probably a repeat, but in case you're browsing, might be worth a watch. Billy preston at moment, Tempts before and started with Brenton Woods I think.

Mine arrived yesterday - two stunning sides. I actually prefer The Exceptions, but the Milton Bennett is definitely amazing. It seems to have absolutely everything you'd associate with all of the most well loved and respected Wigan biggies.

Sounds of the Universe, in Broadwick street just off Berwick street is a good start. Downstairs there is a decent range of original 45s and albums to browse through along with a deck to listen on. Impressive range of books too. Ground floor more focussed on dance and reggae I think (I tend to just head straight downstairs). Central Soho, so easy to get to if wanting to focus on central London. There's a box of soul singles sorted into sub-categories right next to the deck (generally around the £10 mark), and also one up on a shelf to the left side of the counter of soul priced around £3-£7 I think. I've not delved further than that but I'm sure they've got more that is perhaps more collectable and priced accordingly. Then, nearby back on Berwick street you have Reckless Records. Again, mostly original vinyl, 45s, 12" and albums. More or less opposite is Sister Ray with mostly CDs on ground floor and vinyl downstairs. They do carry quite a lot of new reissues as well as originals, but have the approach of often just putting a photocopy of the record in a sleeve and you'd have to take that to the desk to see the real thing. Then just one street over from Berwick street, in Poland street, you find Phonica. I think this is very much more dance orientated along with reissued funk/soul. Hope he has a good trip!

Ah - succumbed to the clear vinyl eh? It's all good. Not sure how often I'll put the instrumental on though - it's the vocal that does it for me.

Mine arrived today, might have to get a smaller letterbox as I found it on the floor when I got home earlier 😅:

Sounds great Alex.

As an Apple fanboy I've always enjoyed this one, very happy when I got hold of the single, after encountering it on an LP compilation of his: 😂

Really interesting compilation. I have to agree with @Tomangoes that if played back to back it would be likely to clear the floor. To be honest, I feel like that about all genres of NS - love stompers and classics, love modern, reggae influenced, low rider, brand new, funky and probably several other strands that I don't even realise have a name. I'd enjoy across the board being within a DJ's set, rather than one style for an hour, followed by something different for the next etc. As @Tlscapital says, the Kent albums have been a great source to broaden your tastes, certainly opened my ears to a massive amount of stuff I didn't at the time know. That said - a very good album, and the Lee Moses track sounds great!

You know she's one of the greats from your immediate reaction to seeing the title of this thread. Sad news indeed.

Quite a wide range here on Juno, including domed aluminium, flat and various others: https://www.juno.co.uk/dj-equipment/45-adapters/

Yes lovely track, only come across it via YouTube, but it interested me as I've got the Imperial Wonders and like you, had thought maybe there was a connection beyond the label itself. Blackpool Soul's link looks like the explanation is in there - have to spend a bit of time reading it though!

Always liked the track Helplessly:

A vote for optimism and a pleasant night's sleep.....

[Scan] Shades Of Soul #11 April 1986 View full article

Yep, another great double header. There's a lot of good stuff coming out it seems.

Man alive.

Sadly Kickstarter have announced that the project is not going ahead as today was the deadline and they didn't get enough pledges to proceed. "But, it’s not the end of this project. We are planning a couple of pop-up exhibitions of the photographs with Q&As over the next few months and we will relaunch this campaign in the Spring."