Ian Dewhirst

Wow. Sunday's show was stretching the systems to the limit! An unbelievable audience coming from everywhere. The streams were maxed out which is maybe why the download link sounds kinda thin. At least it does on this laptop. I need to whack the download link over a decent system and listen how it sounds. If anyone out there can tell me how it sounds over a decent system I'd appreciate it. Music this great deserves to be heard LOUD and CLEAR...... Anyway, a lovely vibe everywhere this Sunday folks. As per usual the show was the best part of the last couple of weeks against some strong competition on the gig side. Vintage @ Goodwood was just unbelievable (book NOW for next year - don't say I didn't warn ya) and ANY gig in Ibiza is an obvious no-brainer, but despite all these advantages, my fave time is the 4 hours of LIVE Original Mastercuts shows I get to do twice a month, 'cos it's like some kind of personal therapy to me. Shit. I should PAYING you to listen.......... Errrr. Maybe that's going a tad too far come to think about it LOL. The point is I LOVE this show and get a big kick out of doing it. So thanks for listening 'cos that makes it so much sweeter. And we rocked it this week......... The Original Mastercuts Show with Ian Dewhirst on Sunday 22nd August 2010 on everyone's favourite Soul station www.starpointradio.com. Featuring...... 1st Hour The Fierce Angel Collective feat Soraya Vivien - You Know How To Love Me Stevie Wonder - For Your Love - Nassau Re-Loved Remix The Fatback Band - I Found Lovin' - Bah Samba Remix Josh Milan feat Chinablac - 'Till You Go Home - Main Mix Linda Clifford - Don't Give It Up - Inner West Soul One Trick Pony Re-Edit Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes - Today's Your Lucky Day - Original 12" Mix Denise LaSalle - I'm So Hot - Jimmy M Re-Edit Atlantic Starr - Circles - Classic R'n'B Re-Edit 2nd Hour The Fifth Dimension - You Are The Reason I Feel Like Dancing The Imaginations - Searchin' Jimmy James - Reach Out The Four Tops - All I Do Millie Jackson - A House For Sale Edwin Starr - Treat Her Right Johnny Taylor - Shoot For The Stars Candi Staton - Wake Up Everybody The New Jersey Mass Choir - Yah Mo Be There Momie O (Vicki Anderson & Bobby Byrd) - You're Welcome, Stop On By Ecstasy, Passion & Pain - It's A Shame Heaven & Hell - Whatcha Gonna Do - Tom Moulton Remix https://www.sixmillionsteps.com/6MS-...2-Starpoint.mp3 Al's up next Sunday the 29th August Bank Holiday weekend and, touch wood, I'll be back on the 5th September if I make it back from my foreign adventures LOL..... As always, heartfelt thanks to everyone who catches the show. The feedback in all sorts of ways is incredible and I feel blessed to have to chance to lash some tunes down every other Sunday. God bless everyone! Ian D

Afternoon Of The Rhino - Mike Post Coalition It Rained 40 Days & Nights - Garland Green You'll Never Make The Grade - The Sunlovers You're Messin' Up My Mind - Herb Fame Tell Me It's Just A Rumour - The Isley Brothers Nothing's Too Good For My Baby - Stevie Wonder Ian D

Yep, as I keep saying the scene today is lot different to 30 years ago. It's probably 1000% harder to 'break' a record these days with the crowds being so splintered and the oldies/newies split. I sincerely take my hat off to anyone who can break an unknown these days - it must be ridiculously difficult......... Also I was speaking in the wider context of deejaying and I think I was pretty accurate by that measurement. Northern Soul has always been an anomaly on those terms - in it's own micro-world or bubble if you like. Plus with incredibly idiosyncratic audience which is hard to please at the best of times which must be one of the things that makes it so satisfying when a record does eventually take off across the scene. Ian D

That's 'cos I just woke up Malc! Well, that and a small dose of senility LOL.... Please accept my most profound apologies old bean. Ian D

Good! The radio promos working nicely around the country then! Glad ya like it Mike and Darryl. Best, Ian D

Coming up LIVE at 2.00pm today! The Original Mastercuts Show with Ian Dewhirst on Sunday 22nd August 2010 on everyone's favourite Soul station www.starpointradio.com. Featuring...... The Fierce Angel Collective feat Soraya Vivien * Stevie Wonder * The Fatback Band * Josh Milan feat Chinablac * Linda Clifford * Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes * Denise LaSalle * Atlantic Starr * The Fifth Dimension * The Imaginations * Jimmy James * The Four Tops * Millie Jackson * Edwin Starr * Johnny Taylor * Candi Staton * The New Jersey Mass Choir * Momie O (Vicki Anderson & Bobby Byrd) * Ecstasy, Passion & Pain * Heaven & Hell Hope you can join me for 2 hours of LIVE musical passion on the radio! See you @ 2.00pm! Ian D

Wow, what a whirlwind of a month. I'm knackered. The most rest I've had in the last 3 weeks has been putting this show together. Since the last show, I've shelled around everywhere like a man possessed. So some shout-outs are due..... A big yell to the GREAT crowd @ Southend who turned out for myself, Russ, Kev and Jim a couple of weeks back. Great fun and I met Tony Hayzer for the first time too, so hi Tony! A great weekend all round folks! Big love to George and all the Wax-On posse over in Ibiza for yet another great night @ Aura with Paul Schofield a week last Tuesday. We'll see you all next week @ The Sands (Sat 28th August), Es Vive (Sat/Sun 29th August all night) and Aura (Tues 31st August) for 4 more days of sunshine and music to die for...... Lovely to meet all the DJ History crew at The Book Club for the launch of Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton's new book, "The Record Players" a week last Thursday and great to meet Andrew Weatherall and Jeff Dexter too two legendary DJ's in their respective fields and two lovely blokes. There are perks to this job after all..... And then there was Vintage @ Goodwood. Quite simply the best festival of all time with a crowd to die for. Big ups to Wayne Hemmingway for his vision and hard work, Eddie Piller and Greg Wilson for being top-notch curators and all the DJ's and Artists for making it a once in a lifetime experience. And an absolute gas being sandwiched between Chris Bangs and Chris Hill despite the mental imagery. A pleasure playing with you gentlemen, if you 'scuse the expression. What a weekend. I'm still buzzing............. And coming up, directly after the show this Sunday, I'll be shelling down to the Six Million Steps session @ East Village in Hoxton with Alan, JJ, Dave, Andrew, Lofty and special guest Mark Roman manning the decks. I can't think of a better way to close the weekend. Anyway, down to business. What do we have in store on the show this week then........... The Original Mastercuts Show with Ian Dewhirst on Sunday 22nd August 2010 on everyone's favourite Soul station www.starpointradio.com. Featuring...... The Fierce Angel Collective feat Soraya Vivien * Stevie Wonder * The Fatback Band * Josh Milan feat Chinablac * Linda Clifford * Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes * Denise LaSalle * Atlantic Starr * The Fifth Dimension * The Imaginations * Jimmy James * The Four Tops * Millie Jackson * Edwin Starr * Johnny Taylor * Candi Staton * The New Jersey Mass Choir * Momie O (Vicki Anderson & Bobby Byrd) * Ecstasy, Passion & Pain * Heaven & Hell Hope you can join me for 2 hours of LIVE musical passion on the radio! See you @ 2.00pm! Ian D

For sure Chalky. It used to be quite frustrating when we'd chase down a rare record and someone with a bigger cheque-book swooped in and got it. That started creeping in from the mid 70's and I've no doubt it still goes on today...... Ian D

"I Can't Hold On" and "I Can't Change" - Lorraine Chandler. Proper Detroit Northern like.........also "I Can't Help Loving You" - Paul Anka - not for the vocals but for the sheer majesty of the production and arrangement......... Ian D

Point taken Nev but let's not forget that every DJ starts off as one of the 98%. That's how you learn your art. Just like your football analogy, 98% of football players are probably Sunday leaguers and only the 2% get into the premiership. That's not to say that the 98% are crap though - far from it. Circumstances often dictate the direction that people go in life and not everyone wants to be a week-in, week-out DJ - there's much easier ways of making a living rather than zinging around the country every week. I mean what makes a professional footballer? Training, fitness, skill, dedication etc. What makes a professional DJ - training, skill, experience, knowledge, confidence, dedication and a box full of ever-changing great records. It's not for everyone and you certainly don't do it to get rich that's for sure. In my Northern days I clocked up tens of thousands of miles every year, wrote off three or four cars, never slept from Friday to Sunday every week and was constantly broke. Had some great records though! And I wouldn't generalize about the Pro's either. I don't think anyone would accuse Sam or Butch of turning up an hour before their set, only playing tried and tested records and patronizing the audience. Most 'pros' that I know take it very seriously. So let's not make this a pros versus amateur 'cos everyone starts off as an amateur. Also the circumstances these days are very very different. There's ten zillion Northern venues every week and they all have DJ's. I mean, is there anyone out there that ISN'T a DJ these days? Ian D

Oi! Don't hold back Steve....c'mon what's he working on now.......? Oh, did I mention the sleeve notes by one Steve Handbury by the way.......? Ian D

Inspired choices Steve. "The Cellarfull Of Motown" is No.1 on the Amazon Pre-Release chart and "Philly Re-Grooved - The Tom Moulton Remixes" is No.2 so money well spent I reckon........ Ian D

Agreed. An effective DJ must always be inspired. I don't think merely going through the motions in any arena is good enough these days. There is such a thing as a good balance though. A true professional will balance his or her set accordingly according to the crowd. The way we broke stuff 35 years ago was to try and maintain the atmosphere with the 'bankers' and slip the new spins in wherever they'd fit the best. Sometimes those new spins would be things that we'd played earlier, as the club was warming up, or later, as the club was winding down. Hence the appeal of slots like the 'last hour at the Mecca' where Ian and Colin would specifically play the lesser-known gems to an audience of aficionadoes after the main crowd had split for Wigan. Similarly, if I had 2 slots at an all-nighter, the new spins would invariably be spun in my first set and then, if a record was demonstrating a level of big popularity in the first slot, it could be promoted to the last slot if it looked like a goer. However, sometimes it took ages before a record was promoted to a prime slot. Ridiculous as it sounds now, a record like "Job Opening" - The Del Larks was a guaranteed floor-clearer for a good 3 months before it eventually took off. The only thing that kept that record going was the small band of enthusiasts who used to badger me to play it every gig. Same thing with "Stubborn Heart" - Ernest Mosely, "Set My Heart At Ease" - Mikki Farrow, "Ain't Nothing You Can Do" - Joe Mathews and dozens of others. Floor clearers the lot of 'em. The thing is, it's never ever guaranteed what will appeal to the crowd at any given time. A good DJ will realise that and programme accordingly. That's why I applaud DJ's like Ian Levine for persevering with "Hung Up On Your Love" - The Montclairs (which was guaranteed to clear the floor every time) and Richard Searling for relentlessly playing "She'll Come Running Back" - Mel Britt (a very difficult record to break amidst a welter of 100mph stompers) early on. Both mammoth floor-clearers initially, but both records went on to become all-time classics. Sure, it's different circumstances these days but the principles remain the same. Any DJ worth their salt should know how to programme effictively for the crowd they have. If you're only playing for yourself, then you're short-changing the audience unless you're the luckiest and most musically gifted guy on earth. Go back to your bedroom and play to your heart's content for yourself 'cos you're your own best audience. I mean, how can you fail? The measure of a good DJ is someone who can turn their vision into reality via clever programming and not someone who bludgeons their rapidly diminishing audience into submission. If I'm going to be totally honest, you can probably count the amount of genuinely great DJ's in any field on two hands maximum if you're lucky. There's roughly 2% of naturally gifted DJ's in any given arena and the other 98% are either semi-pros or aspiring hopefuls. It's a skill and not something you can do simply because you have a box of hot records. Ian D

Interesting point Chalky. Established DJ's who have already 'paid their dues' probably have an easier ride than new up and comers. However, established DJ's are generally there for a reason and that's usually because they're good and provide what the majority of the audience wants to hear. The thing that makes an 'amateur' DJ and/or a collector different from a pro, is that the pro will understand all the different requirements of the audience better and know how to balance priorities better. The only way you learn these things is to be persistent and keep playing to good audiences. If you're any good as a DJ the bookings will keep coming in and the confidence factor will grow. In this day and age where virtually everybody is a DJ sometimes the lines get blurred. A DJ is there to inspire and entertain the audience with his/her choice of music and you'll generally find that the Butch's of this world are there for a reason. In Northern Soul terms he absolutely ticks all the boxes. Presumably Butch started as a collector didn't he? Ian D

LOL, I'm working on it Martin. Actually I think the Moulton project will probably appeal to SSers more than the Dimitri project as the material is slightly older for the most part. Plus Tom's just so good with strings......... Ian D

Cheers Mike! Ian D

Well, Philly Groove pre-dated the 12" era, so all of the above were 7" and album releases only. However, Tom always wanted to get his hands on the tapes because he knew all the musicians anyway and knew what the quality of the recordings was like. Plus "This Is The House Where Love Died" was always one of his favourite-ever tunes so naturally he couldn't wait to get his hands on the original master tapes. If you like beautiful early Philly masterpieces with full orchestration, then this album's for you. And Chris definitely hasn't been listed in the thankyou credits...... Ian D

Wait til you see the You Tube clips of the interview we did with Tom at his apartment which should be ready for this coming Monday. It's every collector's dream to see some of the stuff he has in there. At one point the camera lovingly lingers over a master tape which says "The Volcanoes - 1966" on it so the mind boggles at what he has in that apartment! A man after your own heart Steve, but much less organised in his approach to record and tape filing! Ian D

Hi Garv, Well these things tend to work at their own speed, which from our point of view can be slow. There's all the problems of the costs involved in transferring tapes, baking masters, formatting 'em etc, etc and no one really wants to pay for all that if they can avoid it. Then there's any potential legal issues which in some cases may mean the artists wanting to re-negotiate his/her/their contracts which can be a grey area at the best of times..... However, with it being the 50th anniversary of Holland-Dozier-Holland as a songwriting team and the 40th anniversary of Philadelphia International Records in 2012, I'm rather hoping that these issues with H-D-H and Philly International can be resolved for the bigger picture. So watch this space I guess..... Will obviously feed out any info as it comes in so stay tuned....... Best, Ian D

Philly Re-Grooved - The Tom Moulton Remixes View full article

LOL, that's right. We've been co-opted by Wayne 'Dr Evil' Hemmingway and his dastardly plans for world domination........ The view from over here in the 'establishment' is wonderful! Ian D

Mmm. Now we're talking. A bit over the top for early postage though. I think the bacon sarnie is a bit more practical...... Ian D

Which co-incidentaly I'm playing on the show on Sunday (how does that not surprise me)! Also worth checking out is the wonderful "Love Enough To Care" from '79 currently available on Soul Intention 7"........ Ian D

I think the difference is that this was such a good major event that the atmosphere was akin to, say, the opening of Wigan Casino, Cleethorpes Pier or something similar. The other thing is that the audience was probably on average much younger (by about 20-25 years LOL) than most Northern events these events so the energy levels were right up there which is probably what Simon's alluding to more than anything. It certainly made me realise that a wider age range crowd makes a hell of a difference in terms of energy and atmosphere. Ian D