Neil Rushton

No, definitely the initial in christian name of Robert's girlfriend at the time of release.

By arrangement with the great Robert Bateman, I have arranged with him for me to re-issue IF IT'S ALL THE SAME TO YOU BABE - LUTHER INGRAM EXUS TREK - LUTHER INGRAM ORCHESTRA on a lookalike of his H.I.B label (B was for Bateman, I for Ingram and H for Robert's girlfriend at the time!) As well as regular black vinyl, am doing a limited edition run on multi-coloured vinyl. These will be individually numbered from 001 to 150. These will be £20 each plus postage. I can see them being snapped up, so if anyone wants to reserve a copy please PM me to do so. I am keeping Numbers 1, 45, and 100 for myself, but the rest up for grabs! Am happy to allocate numbers starting with No 2 on first come, first served basis and send PM reply confirming numbers that have been allocated. Robert remembers the recording sessions well. The main one was done at Golden World Studio with the Funk Brothers playing. Richard Wylie came up with the lyrics and worked on the track with Robert. They had a history together with Luther Ingram via "I Spy For The FBI". Robert, without Popcorn, then took the tapes to New York where he pulled a favour of Shelby Singleton and got use of the Mercury Studio where he added on the manic strings we all love so much. The Orchestra was in fact just two violinists, who Robert overdubbed and overdubbed until he got the sound he wanted ("I learnt to do that when I was at Motown"). We all think of Northern Soul classcis as being flops, but Robert tells a different story. Luther was popular in St. Louis and "If It's All The Same To You Babe" got regular radio plays there, and Robert's first pressing sold out and he had to supply more to deal with the demand. He sold about 5,000, his distributor in St. Louis wanted more and at that point Robert got concerned about the costs he was running up. He told the distributor his dilema and they said they would get someone to contact him who could help. Shortly afterwards Jerry Wexler from Atlantic rang him and arranged a distrtibution deal, hence the Atco credits on later copies. So Robert sold around 5,000 copies himself, and got an advance from Atlantic that covered all his costs/made him a profit, so he certainly does not see it as a flop. I explaind to him how the fast beat and whole feel of the record makes it ideal for the Northern scene, but asked who on earth he was aiming such an uptempo dancer at in the USA. His answer says it all: "I just wanted to make a record that sounded like something The Four Tops were doing!". All The Best, Neil

AVAILABLE NOW. SHAKE IT - MATT LUCAS (3246) ONE SIDED BLUE VINYL BACKING TRACK IS ALTERNATE INSTRUMENTAL VERSION OF EDWIN STARR "BACKSTREET" WITH MATT LUCAS DOING HIS DISTINCTIVE MOTOR CITY BLUE EYED MC THING OVER THE TOP AND REFERENCING VARIOUS DANCE CRAZES. THIS WAS ENGINEERED BY JOHN RHYS, WHO ALSO WORKED ON THE EDWIN STARR VERSION RECORDED AT GOLDEN WORLD STUDIO. 3246 LABEL NAME IS TRIBUTE TO THE GW STUIDIO ADDRESS AT 3246 WEST DAVISION, DETROIT (WENT LOOKING FOR IT LAST YEAR AND IS HARD THESE DAYS TO WORK OUT EXACTLY WHERE IT WAS LOCATED). DISC IS ONE SIDED AND BLUE VINYL. £10 EACH PLUS £2 IST CLASS RECORDED POST. PLEASE MAKE PAYPAL PAYMENTS TO - sales@soulvation.biz Thanks, Neil

The response to the book has been overwhelming!. Thanks to everyone for the interest. Advance orders are booming! To secure one of the first 500 copies - complete with Tamla Motown Appreication Society replica single - order online from www.soulvation.biz All The Best. Neil

I'M GONNA LOVE YOU A LONG LONG TIME - PATTI & THE EMBLEMS (KAPP DEMO) £300 LET MY HEART & SOUL BE FREE - TAN GEERS (OKEH) £350 WINNER TAKES ALL - GERALDINE HUNT (ABC DEMO) £200 HIT & RUN/ I MISS MY BABY - ROSE BATTISTE (REVILOT DEMO) £300 AIN'T THAT RIGHT - BRICE COALFIELD (OMEN) £350 PREPARED TO LOVE YOU - THELMA LINDSEY (MAGIC CITY DEMO) £225 GOIN' TO A HAPPENING - TOMMY NEAL (VAULT DEMO) £120 YOU'VE BEEN LEADING ME ON/MY HEART'S NOT IN IT ANYMORE - THE STEINWAYS (OLIVER DEMO) £250 I THOUGHT YOU WERE MINE - THE NATURAL FOUR (ABC ISSUE) £300 PLEASE PM ME OR CONTACT ME ON NEILRUSHTON2@BTINTERNET.COM ALL THE BEST, NEIL

Last year I advertised some copies of this on Soul Source not knowing what to expect - and sold out of an LP I had found buried in old stock.Must have sold 20 plus. Tried to get some more after they sold out, but no luck. Now pleased to say have been able to source some more copies. All mint/sealed. Great compilation put together in 2001, now long deleted, and shows the Yanks are more than capable of delivering when it comes to delving into the vaults. Comes with wonderful sleeve. The big news is that it contains Butch's plays - the brilliant "You're Gonna Pay Some Dues" and the even better Northern stomper "Ain't That True Baby" - but the whole album is superb. YOUR LOVE AND MY LOVE TOGETHER TEASIN' YOU WALKING UP A ONE WAY STREET THANK YOU JOHN I WANT SOMEBODY PLEASE DON'T GO MY HEART REMEMBERS TEASIN' YOU AGAIN YOU GONNA PAY SOME DUES FOOLISH GIRL PEEPED YOUR HOLE CARD AIN'T THAT TRUE BABY I'M HAVING SO MUCH FUN SWIVEL YOUR HIPS Copies £15 each. Add £3 for delivery (Ist class post recorded) Ist disc, £1 each extra. First come, first served!!!! Best way to contact me is - neilrushton2@btinternet.com All The Best, Neil

Some of the images from the book - plus an article by Al Abrams about the book - are in the new issue of manifesto., Thanks, Neil

Al has sent over a message to him from Tom Good pka Tommy Good. The book cover shows a very evocative scene from the infamous "March On Hitsville" by Tommy's fans demanding that his singles should be released. Al organised this, and was told by Esther Edwards that he would be dismissed if the publicity coup went wrong. Here is the message from Tom to Al: Thanks to you Al, finally a book on the life and times of Motown when it was at its' best. A book not drivern by ego, just faithful attention to detail. I'm very honored to be on the cover of your book and for your telling of my time at Motown. Your friendship and support have been very important to me for 40 years.. I have felt that I failed at Motown. I hadn't heard any of these tunes on my CD, it was just this bittersweet feeling that I had. Then the CD came out and now your book. You have made one Soul singing white boy a very happy man. I wish the very best of success for this book and for you.

Many thanks to everyone who has been in touch and placed advance oders,. The TMAS singles were sent out this this afternoon to everyone who placed the orders overnight, & another pile are parcelled up ready to go out tomorrow from orders received today. Neil

Yes following the success of the event earlier this year, we are holding a 2nd Soulvation Weekender at The Cliffdene Hotel, Newquay over the weekend Friday Sep 30 to Sunday Oct 2. Weekend Music Passes are £30 and Weekend Passes/Hotel Accomodation (breakfast and dinner) are £109 for Friday/Saturday and £139 for Friday/Saturday/Sunday. Lots of reservations ,made already made by regulars ,and details will go up on the www.soulvation.biz web site next week. All The Best, Neil,

HYPE & SOU! BY AL ABRAMS This amazing book by Motown's former director of publicity is finally ready. On the title we deliberately replaced the l in Soul with ! to reflect the punch it packs. It's taken us ages to pull it all together, but the marathon has been more than worth the wait. Honestly, this book is astonishing! Al was Berry Gordy's first employee, working for him aged 18 in 1959 at what became Jobete/Motown. After working as a road manager, in song publishing and promotion (read his story about taking the first acetate of Barrett Strong's "Money" to Alan Freed in New York) he became Motown's famous Director Of Publicity where he was know as "The Fourth Supreme". The book tells the story of Al as a young Jewish kid working at a black owned label, the turmoil of the Civil Rights Movement and its effect on Motown,and about Berry Gordy relentlessy reaching for the stars. As well as being a workaholic headline seeker, Al was (fortunately for posterity) also a hoarder and kept virtually all his memos, press releases, newspaper clippings and unreleased photographs. They make the book a colourful almost dizzying kaleidoscope, and if that was all that was in the contents it would be the ultimate coffee table book for Motown fans. BUT - and it is a big but - the truy breathtaking graphics are backed bya series of piledriver essays in which Al tells it like it was in incredible spine-tingling detail. He writes now as superlatviely as he did when based at Motown. The first edition the book is a 1500 run full colour luxury hardback with dust cover. The first 500 copies of the book come with (licenced from Universal Music) a replica seven inch of the 1964 Tamla Motown Appreciation Society single supplied by Motown in the USA to TMAS in the UK after Dave Godin's visit to Hitsville which was partly arranged by Al (in typical Al style the book contains copies of a letter and the envelope it came in from Dave to Al). The record is red vinyl. The book is due to be published in September, but if we get copies mid to late August they will be sent out right away... The single is in stock now and will be sent out immediately all orders are received. The book is £34.99 plus postage & packing. We are offering delivery at less than actual cost on all advance orders only. To see more info on the book and to order on line (PayPal, Credit or Debit Card) go to - www.soulvation.biz All The Best, Neil

IN STOCK NOW SHAKE IT - MATT LUCAS REFERENCE DISC TEST PRESSING 20 COPIES ONLY - ALL INDIVIDUALLY NUMBERED 1 TO 20 ONE SIDED BLACK VINYL SAME BACKING TRACK AS EDWIN STARR BACKSTREET ENGINEERED BY JOHN RHYS £2O PLUS £2 POST & PACKAGE (IST CLASS RECORDED) THESE ARE TEST PRESSINGS OF RELEASE SET FOR NEXT MONTH. RELEASE WILL ALSO BE ONE SIDED BUT BLUE VINYL. PLEASE PM TO RESERVE. PAYPAL PAYMENTS TO - sales@soulvation.biz All The Best, Neil

IN STOCK NOW. YOUR AUTUMN OF TOMORROW/UNCLE FUNK THE CROW (Inner Ear W/DJ lookalike) Green vinyl! Remastered and sounds great. Inferno release. Label design is great looking Inner Ear lookalike, White/DJ 100 only solid centre Advance Promotion Copy limited run. All individually numbered 1 to 100. £20 Plus regular release dinked no centre. £10 Add postage & packing £2 first disc, £1 each extra disc. All sent Ist class recorded post. PayPal payments to - sales@soulvation.biz All The Best, Neil

Test pressings approved today. Black vinyl compared to the release which will be on green vinyl, so if anyone wants a TP just PM me. The main stock due in next week - Individually numbered (from 1 to 100) solid centre Advance Promotion copies - £20 Regular dinked USA style copies - £10 To reserve just send PM. Thanks, Neil

Arrived in stock today (in lovely red viny) is our replica of the 1964 HITSVILLE U.S.A. GREETINGS TO TAMLA MOTOWN APPRECIATION SOCIETY promotional single. FEATURES MARGARET PHELPS, BERRY GORDY JNR, SMOKEY ROBINSON & THE MIRACLES, STEVIE WONDER, MARVIN GAYE, THE MARVELETTES, THE TEMPTATIONS, MARTHA & THE VANDELLAS. THE CONTOURS, EDDIE HOLLAND, KIM WESTON AND THE SUPREMES. The single will be given away with the first 500 copies of the deluxe limited edition hardback of the forthcoming book "Hype & Sou! - Behind The Scenes At Motown" by Al Abrams. As a tribute to The Catacombs the publishing imprint is TempleStreet, so as (what we think is) a nice touch, the first 50 people admitted to The Catcombs Reunion at Queen Mary Ballroom, Dudley Zoo on Saturday July 9 will receive a copy of the disc. All The Best, Neil

CALL ME TOMORROW - MAJOR HARRIS (OKEH ISSUE)) £250 THANKS FOR A LITTLE LOVING - THE TRENDS (ABC DEMO) £400 BABY RECONSIDER - LEON HAYWOOD (FAT FISH DEMO) £500 BARI TRACK/I HAVE FAITH IN YOU - DONI BURDICK (SOUND IMPRESSION) £550 YOU HIT ME - ALICE CLARK (WARNER BROS ISSUE) £200 CRAZY BABY - THE COASTERS (ATCO ISSUE) £150 WINNER TAKES ALL - GERALDINE HUNT (ABD DEMO) £250 COME GO WITH ME - GLORIA JONES (UPTOWN DEMO) £250 I THOUGHT YOU WERE MINE - NATURAL FOUR (ABC ISSUE) £300 THE GREATEST GIFT - RICHARD LACKEY (SOLID FOUNDATION) £250 WHY GIRL/WHAT I WANT - THE PRECISIONS (DREW ISSUE D 1002) GREEN VINYL! £250 ACQUIRED DIRECTLY FROM THE LABEL OWNER, A REAL NICE DETROIT ODDITY Please PM me if you are interested. All The Best, Neil ll

Thanks to everone who has been in touch to reserve a copy. Had a few people at Cleethorpes this weekend how many were manufactureed on Inferno? There were only 500 issues as the market had imploded by the time we got it released. I can't remember how many of the red and white demos, but think 200 or so. Neil

The 100 Advance Promotion Copies will be individually numbered from 001 to 100.

YOUR AUTUMN OF TOMORROW / UNCLE FUNK THE CROW Have finally done something about getting this released again. Will have copies on replica INNER EAR W/DJ label in between 2 to 3 weeks. GREEN VINYL! REGULAR ISSUE - USA IMPORT STYLE /NO CENTRE - £10 LIMITED RUN 100 ONLY, ADVANCE PROMOTION COPY, UK SOLID CENTRE STYLE - £20 To reserve please PM me. I will notify you when stock arrives and you can pay me then. All The Best, Neil

THE NEXT IN LINE - HOAGY LANDS (STATESIDE SS 2030 ISSUE) £500 BETTER - RUBY WINTERS (STATESIDE SS 2090 GREEN & WHITE DEMO) £170 HIT AND RUN - ROSE BATTISTE (REVILOT WHITE DJ) £300 PM ME IF INTERESTED THANKS - NEIL

BRAND NEW OUTTA SIGHT 45'S ALL LICENCED IN FROM SONY/BMG ALL LOVELY LOOKALIKE USA STYLE LABELS YOU DON'T WANT ME NO MORE/ DON'T FIGHT IT - MAJOR LANCE (OKEH) (NICE TO SEE DON'T FIGHT IT ON OKEH!) SINCE I FOUND MY BABY/I'LL NEVER FORGET YOU - THE METROS (RCA) (THE PICK OF THE BUNCH.. LOVELY LABEL DESIGNS, AND I'LL NEVER FORGET YOU SOUNDS GREAT ON SEVEN INCH SINGLE!) 'CAUSE YOU'''RE MINE/FOLLOW YOUR HEART - THE VIBRATIONS (EPIC) ALL £10 EACH. ADD £2 DELIVERY (IT CLASS RECORDED) FOR FIRST DISC, £1 EACH SUBSEQUENT DISC. OR ALL 3 FOR £30 WITH FREE IST CLASS RECORDED DELIVERY. ALL ORDERS RECEIVED TODAY BY 3.30PM SENT OUT TODAY. PLEASE MAKE PAYPAL PAYMENTS TO - sales@soulvation.biz THANKS, Neil

Best Modern Soul record make in the UK for ages. Created loads of interest in Northern Soul circles. Half a dozen copies only with white sleeve autographed by Eli and Janine - the singers on the track . SHOW ME LOVE - WESTCOAST SOULS STARS (WCM SEVEN INCH) £10 plus £2 postage (Ist class recorded) and packing., PayPal payments to - sales@soulvation.biz All The Best, Neil

Chris, Are the GQ's USA demos on 7"? All The Best, Neil

SORTING OUT SOME OLD STOCK. ALL £10 EACH PLUS £2 POSTAGE AND PACKING (FIRST CLASS RECORED POSTAGE) £2 FIRST DISC, £1 EACH EXTRA DISC I STILL CAN'T GET YOU - JOSEPH MOORE (JOE BOY) PRESSURE - DRIZABONE (JOE BOY) LET'S SPEND SOME TIME TOGETHER - LARRY HOUSTON (HFMP 2ND PRESS) A HOUSE FOR SALE - MILLIE JACKSON (UK SPRING) CRYING OVER YOU / NOTHING BUT LOVE - KADDO STRINGS (GRAPEVINE, SLEEVE SAYS RCA PROMOTION COPY DEMONSTATION COPY NOT FOR SALE) GET OUT (AND LET ME CRY) - HAROLD MEVLIN & THE BLUE NOTES (PHIL-L.A) JANICE (DON'T BE SO BLIND TO LOVE) - (SOULVATION) BE'S THAT WAY SOMETIMES - BOBBY WELLS (GRAPEVINE DEMO) SHE SAID GOODBYE - BILLY HAMBRIC (GRAPEVINE DEMO) BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND - JEAN, SCHERRIE & LYNDA (USA MOTOR CITY) IF THAT'S WHAT YOU WANTED - FRANK BEVERLY & THE BUTLERS (INFERNO) I'LL HOLD YOU - FRANKIE & JOHNNY (INFERNO) I REALLY LOVE YOU - JIMMY BURNS (TOP DOG) HURTING - ERIC & VIKINGS (KOOL KAT 3 TRACK SINGLE) YOU DON'T MEAN ME NO GOOD (ORIG PLUS NEW EDIT) - THE JELLYBEANS (SOULVATION) and below are one-offs @ £20 each TRYING TO GET BACK TO ME GIRL - JACKEY BEAVERS (JAY BOY) TAKE ME BACK - CROSS FIRE (VIRTUE) LONELY LOVER - EDDIE HOLLAND & THE CHECKMATES (ADVANCE) (actually Marvin Gaye) HUNG UP ON YOUR LOVE - THE MONTCLAIRS (CONTEMPO) please PM if interested payment by paypal to - sales@soulvation.biz Thanks - Neil

Nice Cameo Parkway issue - YOU JUST DON'T KNOW (WHAT YOU DO TO ME) - CHUBBY CHECKER (UK CAMEP PARKWAY P.965) £300 please PM me if interested Thanks, Neil