Ian Dewhirst

Phew, what a mad couple of weeks since the last show - it's been a busy busy summer this year and it doesn't look like it's stopping anytime soon...... A big shout out to everyone I had the pleasure of entertaining last week in Ibiza @ the Kumaras bar for what was a wonderful Sunset set on Wednesday evening, all at Ibiza Sonica Radio who caught some of the Original Mastercuts magic last Thursday, the brilliant crowd @ the Sands Beach Bar in Playa D'Embossa on Saturday, all @ the Es Vive Club in the Rock n' Roll Hotel for keeping me going all through the night and E.A.S.E. and the rest of the Nightmares On Wax crew who sure know how to party! See you all on Tuesday 10th @ Aura and the end of the month for some more Sands/Es Vive and Aura sessions! Hasta la vista. Closer to home, this coming Thursday finds me at the launch for the new book "The Record Players" by Bill Brewster & Frank Broughton over at The Book Club in Hoxton, followed by a Northern gig on Saturday in @ the Kursaal in Southend and then it's the Vintage @ Goodwood Festival on the weekend of the 14th & 15th which is looking to be spectacular! Hope I'll catch some of you out and about In the meantime, we have a show coming up! Join me LIVE tomorrow afternoon for another journey through the eras highlighting all things Soulful. There's the usual trip through House, Disco, Creative Re-Edits, Northern/Crossover killers, some long-forgotten Soulful killers and a couple of wonderful exclusives. Hope ya can join me! The Original Mastercuts Show with Ian Dewhirst on Sunday 1st August 2010 on everyone's favourite Soul station www.starpointradio.com. Featuring........... Stevie Wonder * Steven Stone feat Anthony Moriah * 75 Moods feat Dexter Porter * Allessandro Magnanini * Mtume * Zed Bias * Johnny Mathis * Change * The Spinners * Tony Owens * Gavin Christopher * Keni Burke * Jesse James * The Johnny Otis Show * Caesar Frazier * Millie Jackson * Barry White * Jeannie Reynolds * Stevie Wonder * Stephanie Mills See you @ 2.00pm sharp! Ian D

Phew, what a mad couple of weeks since the last show - it's been a busy busy summer this year and it doesn't look like it's stopping anytime soon...... A big shout out to everyone I had the pleasure of entertaining last week in Ibiza @ the Kumaras bar for what was a wonderful Sunset set on Wednesday evening, all at Ibiza Sonica Radio who caught some of the Original Mastercuts magic last Thursday, the brilliant crowd @ the Sands Beach Bar in Playa D'Embossa on Saturday, all @ the Es Vive Club in the Rock n' Roll Hotel for keeping me going all through the night and E.A.S.E. and the rest of the Nightmares On Wax crew who sure know how to party! See you all on Tuesday 10th @ Aura and the end of the month for some more Sands/Es Vive and Aura sessions! Hasta la vista. Closer to home, this coming Thursday finds me at the launch for the new book "The Record Players" by Bill Brewster & Frank Broughton over at The Book Club in Hoxton, followed by a Northern gig on Saturday in @ the Kursaal in Southend and then it's the Vintage @ Goodwood Festival on the weekend of the 14th & 15th which is looking to be spectacular! Hope I'll catch some of you out and about In the meantime, we have a show coming up! Join me LIVE tomorrow afternoon for another journey through the eras highlighting all things Soulful. There's the usual trip through House, Disco, Creative Re-Edits, Northern/Crossover killers, some long-forgotten Soulful killers and a couple of wonderful exclusives. Hope ya can join me! The Original Mastercuts Show with Ian Dewhirst on Sunday 1st August 2010 on everyone's favourite Soul station www.starpointradio.com. Featuring........... Stevie Wonder * AC Soul Symphony * 75 Moods feat Dexter Porter * Allessandro Magnanini * Mtume * Zed Bias * Johnny Mathis * Change * The Spinners * Tony Owens * Gavin Christopher * Keni Burke * Jesse James * The Johnny Otis Show * Caesar Frazier * Millie Jackson * Barry White * Jeannie Reynolds * Stevie Wonder * Stephanie Mills See you @ 2.00pm sharp! Ian D

LOL, I don't doubt 'cos I'd seen it around before but dismissed because of the horrible guitar on the intro - I'm not sure if I even heard it past the guitar to be honest. Too impatient in those days...... However, I give Kegsy credit for forcing it upon every DJ around the North one weekend until Russ took pity on him and played it. The rest, of course, is history......... Ian D

I 'discovered' Gerri Grainger, or rather, Brad from Burnley discovered it then sold it to me for £2 in '74. Co-incidentaly I also had Tobi Legend long before it went big - I first heard Howard Earnshaw play it in a pub in Huddersfield very early on, maybe around '72/'73 and Kegsy from Bradford discovered Dean Parrish round about the same time......... Ian D

I'll second that! GREAT version! Ian D

Yep, Mike just let me know. I'm waaaay too sensitive LOL... Well, I deffo wanna read the ethics/rules then when you can get hold of 'em Steve. That should keep things pumping along nicely! Ian D

LOL, that sounds like me. Sorry to have meandered off-topic but I have no idea what a type 'rule book' is and, if it is me you're referring to, then I'm curious as to which other forum and what topic you're referring to 'cos I'm not aware of any. And yes, of course you can play the bloody record in most places I would have thought! I personally wouldn't play at any venue that dictated what I can and can't play. Ian D

I can't help thinking some of these so-called rules miss the point entirely. Of course it would be lovely to always play originals everytime providing you're fabulously wealthy and don't mind messing your precious originals up on a multitude of decks. As I've said on here many many times before, I would probably not play originals these days, as I wrecked so many of 'em in the 70's, especially the styrene ones. So that's why I went through 3 copies of Morris Chestnut alone and completely f*cked the intro to my Joe Mathews as a result of the decks at the Central. It's seems stupid to me to destroy something you love with repeated plays on different equipment and cannot replace that easily. It was slightly different in the 70's as there weren't that many bootlegs of the top sounds when they were actually big, they were much easier to replace and records weren't worth as much as they are now. I didn't know any better back then but I do now. But also I think Dave and Ady made some good points earlier. For me, it's never particularly been about the format but more about the taste of a particular DJ. I want to hear GREAT GREAT records not so-so records that may be incredibly rare. Frankly I couldn't give a damn if a mediocre record is rare or not. Why would I? And playing a record that's rare but beat-up is kinda ridiculous in this day and age. Over the last few years I've heard records played out that frankly should have been consigned to the dustbin ages ago. Unplayable in my opinion and certainly unlistenable to me. Also, and I'll get slated for saying this, but bootlegs have been around since the year dot and they're unlikely to go away anytime soon. I can walk down to Oxford St and find numerous major bootlegs in the biggest store in town right now. How is that possible? You'd think that the majors would nail 'em in a milisecond wouldn't you? But no. The expense and legal costs of trying to enforce copyrights isn't worth the ultimate return, so that's why the bootlegs run unabated. Sad but true. It happens to me all the time - I've seen my albums bootlegged all over the world along with 1000's of major label releases and, yes, of course it pisses me off but what can you do? So when we talk about a record that sold next to nothing in the first place that has a few hundred boots made, it really doesn't make a great deal of difference in the grand scheme of things. Even legal re-issues only make the artist a few bob by the time any royalties might trickle down. James Fountain only got $8 dollars for recording "Seven Day Lover" and that was legit LOL. I wonder how much he made from the Cream reissue? Another $8.......? If you think this scene is bad, you should hear the complaints about illegal MP3 links from the artists on the House scene! We're talking 1000's of illegal downloads within days of a track's release which has gotta hurt....... Ian D

Yep, they're selling at a fair old clip Sean. All good! Just in case anyone's stumbling around HMV wondering where they're likely to be, you'll find them in the 2 for £10 Sales Compilation Section which is usually at the front of most stores. If a store has their stuff together, you'll also find them in the Soul Compilations section in those stores which have specialist sections. In some of the larger stores you could even find a dedicated rack like I just did @ HMV Oxford St! Ian D

OK, the new 10 Backbeats albums are now all up on HMV's site at a mouth-watering £4.49 each including free delivery! How's that for value? https://hmv.com/hmvweb/directQuery.do?Ntt=backbeats&searchType=0&N=4293486146&Ne=12&adultFlag=false&rid=129EAD137100&Ntk=Products Happy Listening! Ian D

Lovely show today apart from the usual couple of usual human error cock-ups....but there again would it be an Original Mastercuts Show without cock-ups I ask myself........? Anyway, I have time to ponder this as I head for the sun for a week. Al will post the link to the show up shortly but in the meantime here's the playlist...... The Original Mastercuts Show with Ian Dewhirst on Sunday 18th July 2010 on everyone's favourite Soul station www.starpointradio.com. Featuring.......... 1st Hour Bah Samba - Portugese Love Album Version Gloria Scott That's The Way Love Is DJ Friction Mix Frankie Knuckles Vs Intense feat Jazmina Let's Get Happy In The Rain Luther Vandross Heaven Knows White Label Remix Incognito feat Tony Momrelle Put A Little Lovin' In Your Heart North End Can't Put No Price On Love Unreleased Exclusive Stevie Wonder All I Do U-Tern Disco Re-Edit Donald Byrd Love Has Come Around Combo Re-Edit Matt Bianco Half A Minute Joey Negro Remix 2nd Hour Archie Bell & The Drells My Balloon's Going Up The Ethics Standing In The Darkness J.J. Barnes Everybody Needs Somebody (And I Need You) Ecstasy, Passion & Pain I Wouldn't Give You Up Johnnie Taylor Hey Mr Melody Maker Spanky Wilson Can't See The Forest For The Trees Lamont Dozier Fish Ain't Biting Yvonne Fair Stay A Little Longer Donnell Pitman Your Love Is Dynamite Gwen McRae 90% Of Me Is You Badwater Bridge Let Me Love You Candi Staton Too Hurt To Cry Oleta Adams Never Knew Love Incognito feat Mario Biondi - Lowdown The Blackbyrds Walking In Rhythm Catch you in a couple of week's folks! Ian D

Yay Brian. That's good enough for me mate and pretty much exactly as I thought! So I guess we're saying that there would have been a smaller 'Soul' scene but not necessarily the huge 'Northern Soul' scene which sprung up in the 70's then? That kinda sounds fair enough to me as I'm pretty sure I'd have been on it whether or not Motown existed. Motown just made what had been a small scene much more popular by ushering in a production line of uptempo belters which had as much influence in the industrial North of England as it had in Industrial Detroit. In fact, it's funny that this subject came up 'cos I just got my hands on the 2 volumes of 'The Sue Story" which reflected the tastes of Guy Stephens, the original DJ at the Scene in London and which had a lot in common wth the original Wheel and without a shadow of a doubt that particular style of music simply wouldn't have appealed to me as much as Northern Soul. Too much Blues, 60's R'n'B and even Rock N' Roll for my tastes. Also, wasn't the reason that Roger Eagle left the Wheel because he actually saw the scene heading towards Northern Soul and he preferred a wider range of music as per what he usually played up to the later part of the 60's? So that's got me thinking whether age has a bearing on all this. We're all products of the eras that we're born in and I'm pretty convinced that the most musically influential time in someone's life is generally when they're adolescent and discovering the type of music they like for the first time. As part of the 'baby boom' generation (born in '55), there was a massive population burst of young folk who would all have started hearing Motown on the family radio from around '64-'68 and would have heard The Supremes, The Temptations, The Four Tops, Mary Wells, Martha & The Vandellas, Stevie Wonder as they were growing up and thus been 'programmed' with the Motown template. So by the time they started going out to Youth Clubs, School Discos, Fun Fairs and eventually Clubs in the late 60's/early 70's they were looking to hear more of that kind of stuff, especially if they were cool and hip like me. So what I think happened is that the success of the 60's Motown sound undoubtably helped fuel the explosion of Northern Soul in the late 60's and early 70's. By the time the Northern scene was at it's height in the UK, Motown had moved to Los Angeles, changed it's whole sound and stopped making Northern Soul. Good job they'd left us so much stuff from the 60's! Frank Wilson wasn't discovered until 1976 but we won't go down that route.......... Ian D

I know. I compiled it LOL. Ian D

Well not the best example as it really was an out and out Pop hit, but I consider records like the Isley Brothers "This Old Heart Of Mine" and "Tell Me It's Just A Rumour", Steve Wonder's "Uptight" and "Nothing's Too Good For My Baby", The Four Top's "Reach Out, I'll Be There" and "I Can't Help Myself", The Contour's "Just A Little Misunderstanding" and "Baby Hit And Run", Edwin Starr's "S.O.S." and "Headline News", The Elgins "Heaven Must Have Sent You" etc, etc to be prime examples of Northern Soul. The fact they had a whole slew of hits with uptempo material doesn't detract from them in my opinion. It's a credit that an independent Black operation from Detroit had the game totally locked down. We have a lot to thank them for IMO. Whoops. Gotta run for the radio show but I'll be back....... Ian D

Coming up LIVE directly after Tee in just over 1 hour folks! Hope ya can join me for an action packed show on www.starpointradio.com at 2.00pm sharp!Ian D

Nah, you're obviously on speed mate! "Dancing In The Street" is not slow. Compared to Williams and Watson "Too Late" or Sandi Sheldon "You're Gonna Make Me Love You" it could be considered more mid-tempo-ish but you can't possible classify "Dancing In The Street" as slow. It's a perfect example of a booming classic Detroit mid-tempo dance tune........it filled dancefloors across the world at the time..... Ian D

Well I'll disagree for a start Steve. Motown was created in 1959 with Marv Johnson's "You Got What It Takes" - an uptempo dance record. I think you're making the mistake of assuming that every Motown record was a hit. Well,they weren't, especially when the Wheel was playing 'em. In fact, I don't think any of the Wheel Motown monsters were hits when the Wheel was playing 'em. The Wheel essentially laid the foundations for the future popularity of Motown, which really exploded at the latter end of the 60's. That's one of the reasons why Motown Chartbusters Vol 3 was the first compilation album to make No.1 on the UK album charts because many of those tracks had built up demand over the previous few years essentially as a result of clubs like The Wheel and a host of other places playing 'em and building demand. And you and I must have different ears 'cos when you said, "if you look at the album posted earlier in the thread apart from possibly road runner,which of the tracks is uptempo dance music", I'd have said the following were all uptempo dance music:- 4. "This Old Heart Of Mine (Is Weak For You)" - The Isley Brothers 5. "I'll Pick A Rose For My Rose" - Marv Johnson 7. "I'm in a Different World" - The Four Tops 8. "Dancing In The Street" - Martha & The Vandellas 9. "For Once In My Life" - Stevie Wonder 11. "Get Ready" - The Temptations 12. "Stop Her On Sight (S.O.S)" - Edwin Starr 13. "Love Child" - Diana Ross & The Supremes 14. "Behind a Painted Smile" - The Isley Brothers 15. "(I'm A) Road Runner" - Jr. Walker & The All Stars Well over half the album in fact. Are we listening to the same album.....? Ian D

Mmm. Don't quite get what you mean Proudlove. Motown was pumping out records from the early 60's, tons of which were huge at the Wheel throughout the whole of the 60's. Early examples being The Miracles "Shop Around" and "You Really Got A Hold On Me", The Marvelettes "Please Mr Postman" and Barrett Strong's "Money" from the early 60's through to the Contours' "Determination" and "First I Look At The Purse", Marv Johnson's "You've Got The Love I Love", The Marvelettes "Don't Mess With Bill", Barbara Randolph's "I Got A Feeling", The Spinners "I'll Always Love You" and "Sweet Thing", Earl Van Dyke's "All For You" and "6 by 6" and virtually every Jr Walker & The All-Stars release from the mid 60's. Motown was one of the lynchpin labels at the Wheel throughout it's entire history. And how many Motown tracks can I honestly say are uptempop dance music? Errr, most of 'em mate. That was the whole point of Motown. They were in the business of making uptempo dance music and doing it better than any other operation in the world. That's EXACTLY what "Dancing In The Street" was all about. In fact, I'm hard pressed to think of any other label that could compare to Motown in terms of uptempo dance music. They were the world leaders of uptempo dance music LOL. You're not on drugs or something are ya Steve.......? Ian D

No, I think you're bang right. I was 15 in 1970 and just beginning to discover Northern Soul being too young to have gone to the Wheel but I used to pester the older lads about records and some of 'em took pity on me and played me stuff. "Heaven Must Have Sent You" by The Elgins is a perfect example of a super rare Motown record which became so popular via the Northern clubs that it eventually turned into a UK Top 20 hit when Tamla Motown eventually issued it . Some of the original Wheelies are on here. Brian "45" Phillips would be a good person to comment on Motown as he was an original Wheel DJ. I think he's still alive........... Ian D

Uh oh. Dunno if we pressed enough Phil. Just got 2 ridiculously good export orders in plus healthy re-orders on Gary The Master Blaster and Superlatives, so please make sure you send me 10 copies a.s.a.p. 'cos I'm getting asked for it by all sorts of people.......amazing that the Fout Tops can still excite the record buying public in 2010........ Ian D

Blimey, it's been almost a month since my last show. In that period I've survived a couple of extreme traumas, several catastrophic incidents, a near death experience and a hospital visit which resulted in me being drenched in piss.......someone else's unfortunately......... so pretty much a normal month by and large. Anyway, I'm in a good mood and ready to lash down some serious tuneage before I take off for a week in the sun and hopefully a period of sober reflection and not much rest....... If anyone happens to be over in Ibiza next week then there's several GREAT gigs happening, namely Aura on Tuesday night (Kylie Minogue was down for the last one and she danced her ass off all night to some serious stuff), Wax Da Jam Beach Party @ Kumharas on Wednesday and what will the gig of the century @ Sands Beach Bar on Saturday where Paul Schofield will be joining me for another historic night of bliss if the first one was anything to go by! Oh and then the all-night shindig down at the Es Vive hotel which will truck-on to da break of dawn......and then I'll come back and sleep for a week...... So try and join me tomorrow for another LIVE Original Mastercuts show which will feature several brand new KILLER re-edits, an exclusive first play on an unreleased Northend tune from the 80's and the usual mixture of Soul music throughout all the eras. The Original Mastercuts Show with Ian Dewhirst LIVE from the new space-age Starpoint studio on Sunday 18th July 2010 at 2.00-4.00pm UK time on everyone's favourite Soul station www.starpointradio.com. Featuring...... Bah Samba * Gloria Scott * Frankie Knuckles Vs Intense feat Jazmina * Luther Vandross * Incognito feat Tony Momrelle * North End * Stevie Wonder * Donald Byrd * Matt Bianco * Archie Bell & The Drells * The Ethics * J.J. Barnes * Ecstasy, Passion & Pain * Johnnie Taylor *Spanky Wilson * Popcorn Wylie * Yvonne Fair * Donnell Pitman * Gwen McRae * Badwater Bridge * Candi Staton * Lamont Dozier * Oleta Adams * The Blackbyrds * Incognito feat Mario Biondi Catch you LIVE @ 2.00 PM folks! Ian D

Yep, that makes sense to me Barney. Motown was THE major part of my personal soundtrack growing up in the North. Every school Disco, Youth Club and Fun Fair was belting out Motown in the late 60's. It was especially popular with the girls and the whole 'dance around the handbags' scenario was almost always accompanied by Motown tunes. The very first record collection I ever bought from a local DJ was probably 50% Motown and I can plainly remember going round to girls houses and they'd have every Supremes/Diana Ross/Four Tops/Temptations records on original black TMG's. It was almost impossible to avoid around my way, which was Leeds, Bradford, Dewsbury, Huddersfield, Wakefield. Whenever I'd go out locally, the Motown stuff would be so popular that many of the 'B' sides were every bit as popular as the 'A' sides - "There's No Stopping Us Now" - The Supremes, "Third Finger Left Hand" - Martha & The Vandellas, "Wherever I Lay My Hat" - Marvin Gaye, "It's The Same Old Song" - the Four Tops were all huge records which would be guaranteed to fill the floor everytime. Also I'd be willing to bet that Motown Chartbusters Volume 3 was probably the biggest selling Motown album in it's UK history at that point. That was one album which was pretty much guaranteed to be in every house. It certainly had the best sleeve of any compilation ever....... 1. "I Heard It Through The Grapevine" - Marvin Gaye 2. "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me" - Diana Ross & The Supremes And The Temptations 3. "My Cherie Amour" - Stevie Wonder 4. "This Old Heart Of Mine (Is Weak For You)" - The Isley Brothers 5. "I'll Pick A Rose For My Rose" - Marv Johnson 6. "No Matter What Sign You Are" - Diana Ross & The Supremes 7. "I'm in a Different World" - The Four Tops 8. "Dancing In The Street" - Martha & The Vandellas 9. "For Once In My Life" - Stevie Wonder 10. "You're All I Need To Get By" - Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell 11. "Get Ready" - The Temptations 12. "Stop Her On The Sight (S.O.S)" - Edwin Starr 13. "Love Child" - Diana Ross & The Supremes 14. "Behind a Painted Smile" - The Isley Brothers 15. "(I'm A) Road Runner" - Jr. Walker & The All Stars 16. "The Tracks Of My Tears" - The Miracles The track-listing wasn't bad either! Ian D

My guess is probably not. There may well have been a collectible rare Soul scene, but whether it would ever have been classed as 'Northern Soul' is open to conjecture. Motown provided the template for Northern Soul. It was the greatest 100% Black-owned commercial success story of the 1960's and the influence of the operation inspired tens of thousands of copycat recordings which provided the foundation for what we now class as Northern Soul. For every great Four Tops, Temptations, Supremes, Isley Brothers, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Marv Johnson, Gladys Knight & The Pips, Smokey Robinson & The Miracles, Velvelettes, Marvelettes, Mary Wells, Spinners, Jr Walker & The All-Stars, Martha Reeves & The Vandellas, Jimmy Ruffin GREAT records, there would be 1000's upon 1000's of small label copyists and entrepreneurs who were trying to emulate the Motown template and get a taste of the magic themselves. And who could blame 'em? No other record company provided the level of inspiration that Berry Gordy's operation provided. Motown truly was the sound of young America and was revolutionary in terms of using full orchestras and string sections and mixing the tracks so that they sounded great on transistor radios. Their A&R, Artist Developement process and quality control was second to none. No other operation came even close. So, yes. 100% absolutely Motown was the template for Northern Soul. I mean, surely it's blaringly obvious isn't it...........? Ian D

The pleasure's all mine Malc. I actually heard "The Fruit Song" when I first went to L.A. in '76 and it was on constant rotation on Kute 102. I wish I'd know that Parliament had played on it 'cos I met them in the studio on the same trip - when they were recording "Flashlight" in fact. I met them through a guy called Jim Callan who was engineering for 'em at the time. Jim had a small label called Earhole Records which had a track called "Smoke Your Trouble's Away" by the Glass Family (a doper's anthem) and I ended up buying 500 copies from him and had to pick 'em up at the studio and that's where I met George and co. Jeanie Reynolds is one of the best records ever made! I'll be playing it @ a beach party in Ibiza on Wednesday night just as the sun goes down......that should get 'em steaming LOL...... Ian D