Ian Dewhirst

One here by the looks of it John...... https://vinylcountdown.com/node/30992 Ian D

Wow, that was what I call a KING HELL BASTARD of a weekend last week @ Prestatyn! But of course you'll already know that due to the DOUBLE STREAMING we did LIVE from both the Northern and Modern rooms last Friday and Saturday. Starpoint Radio was well and truly in the house and it's a gas to know that we could broadcast such a fantastic event around the world on t'internet. Many thanks to everyone involved for making it such a memorable weekend. Big up to Carl for dedication and apparently unlimited stamina in keeping things running so smoothly whilst everyone around him turned to mush LOL.... Great to meet so many old and new friends up and so many people who catch the show - it makes it all worthwhile when you bump into listeners we never knew were there! So this show's for all of ya and everyone else I had the pleasure of meeting for the first time. So this week we have the usual smorgasbord of Soul from across the eras. Kicking off this week with some scintillating up-tempo rhythms to get the blood flowing, then into half and hour of delicious 80's grooves before we gracefully slide into some glorious gems from the 60's and 70's before we ease into some mind-blowing mellow grooves and some Soulful killers to the close. Six Million Steps Presents The Original Mastercuts Show LIVE with Ian Dewhirst between 2.00-4.00pm on Sunday 28th March 2010 on everyone's favourite Soul station www.starpointradio.com. Featuring..... The Jacksons * Dionne Warwick & The Spinners * B.A.D. Connection * Fred Everything feat Lisa Shaw * 52nd Street * The System * Stephanie Mills * Dolette McDonald * The New York City Band feat Luther Vandross * Chairmen Of The Board * Barbara Acklin * Mel & Tim * Lyn Roman * Mark Capanni * Bob Relf * Diana Ross * Phillip & Lloyd (The Bluesbusters) * Tower Of Power * Loleatta Holloway * Mark Johnson * Patti Labelle * Mavis feat Candi Staton * Al Green Hope ya can join me! Ian D

Really refreshing to have such honest self-evaluation here Pete. Well done mate! Ian D

Too rocky!!! Ian D

I don't like it either if the truth's known. Care to suggest an alternative that'll give some people a clearer understanding of 'funk' then? Or maybe a fanzine if there's only 17 of you........... Ian D

Funk is a constantly mutating creature and took many different forms throughout the 60's, 70's and 80's predominently so I don't think you can realistically isolate Parliament/Funkadelic from your definition of funk Fryer. I think you'll find that the majority of people will accept that Funk falls into the kind of catergories that Rickey Vincent covers in his book "Funk". https://www.rickeyvincent.com/circles2.htm Wouldn't Rare Funk be a better term for the more obscure stuff? Ian D

All solid Cleethorpes tracks Paul but long before people felt compelled to catergorise 'em into neat little boxes. Mind you I can plainly remember getting harangued for playing Prince George, Frankie Crocker, Boby Franklin, Eddie Horan, East Coast Connection, Danny Reed and 'any more of that Funky shite' in the mid 70's so maybe things haven't changed that much ay.......? Also, for once I agree with Pete. Even though I had one at the time, I'm damned if I could ever play "Wash & Wear Love". Just waaay too slow and it always emptied the floor on the odd occasion I aired it. And to me, nice as it is, that Sharon Jones track is too slow as well - OK for an armchair but not my idea of a peak time record...... Ian D

LOL, always the charmer Jocko. I was actually in the studio with Parliament the day they recorded "Flashlight" which is tough to beat for a fly on the wall dose of pure funk. I went to the studio to pick up 500 copies of a record by the Glass Family from the engineer Jim Callon and ended up staying all night being entertained by George & co. Wouldn't have changed that experience for anything. No surprise that my looks are LA ravaged then....... Ian D

Please give her my best Rob. She was an absolute one-off and the East Coast would have been a lot less lively without Mary and Colin! Ian D

Wow. Is he still at it? I hope he perseveres. He interviewed me extensively for several hours a few years back. It'd be great to get it all documented 'cos Cleethorpes Pier was a magical nighter and obviously a brilliant setting. Health and Safety would probably prevent it ever happening on a pier again I guess..........we got away with murder back then didn't we? By the way, how's Mary these days? Is anyone in touch with her? Ian D

[quote name='John Reed' date='23 Mar 2010 - 02:30 PM' timestamp='1269354601' post='1292732' I've never been either a motown, demo or UK collector, but there is something special about a green/white or Red/white Tamla record going round a deck. I could be wrong, but weren't the sound quality better on some UK pressings?

I bet that's exactly what happened Max. There were a few around my way in the early 70's. Twink had one for a start. No record company likes receiving returns so there would have been a temptation to try and recycle some of 'em I bet..... Ian D

Whadaya expect Isabel? This is the fun bit........... Ian D

And no one would write poems...... Ian D

Right, I'm gonna blag that LOL! Nice one Chorley. Can you get the script knocked out in the next 3 months mate and I'll drag Puttnam out of retirement to get behind this! Mind you last time I saw him he was stumbling down the steps at the Wag! Ian D

OK, that's my soundtrack for the Prestatyn drive sorted then. The Box Tops blasting all the way up the M6 is today's plan. RIP Alex. Ian D

Don't we all Paul. Unless I'm completely mistaken, didn't he also initially launch the Police via Oval Records, which would obviously be another North East connection? Ian D

Yep, a true 100% music man. His books were a massive inspiration to me and I'm gonna make a point of digging 'em out tonight so I've got 'em for some downtime reading action @ Prestatyn, which would be entirely appropriate given the nature of "Making Tracks" and "The Sound Of The City". These should be essential reads for everyone on here given the subject matter - Charlie covered all this stuff in the early 70's so he was absolutely a pioneer in reporting on the U.S. Soul/R'n'B Music business. I particularly remember his story about meeting Morty Craft on an aircraft and his blow by blow account of the creation of Atlantic Records - Jerry Wexler is my kinda guy. Charlie Gillett should be a massive inspiration for everyone on S.S. because he was an early champion of great Black music and he took the time and trouble to document his experiences. Hopefully they'll now reprint his books and bring him to a whole new audience. He deserves nothing less. R.I.P. Charlie. I know you'll be having fun......... Ian D

Fascinating and dead accurate by the sound of it. I kinda remember it being semi accurate and not a bad effort overall but I wasn't expecting fantastic accuracy anyway really. It's a film innit? They never get it 100% right except maybe Scorcese or Coppolla when they have decent budgets........ As Robert Evans famously said to Francis Coppolla when he was making The Godfather, "I wanna smell the f*ckin' spaghetti"! Ian D

Certainly at the Casino it was. There'd be audible groans coming from the back bar from all us cool record collectors and DJ's but the kids loved it! Ian D

Ian D

No, I was actually cool Pete. Honest...... Ian D

I think it all depends on what age you were at the time. I was 20 and full-on deejaying at 4-5 venues every week and it was acutely embarassing for me trying to explain that there were almost 2 sides to Northern Soul at the time - the real underground proper Rare Northern scene and the more commercial end as represented by "Footsee", "Hawaii 5-0", Joey Dee and TOTP etc, etc. On the other hand, I'm still here 35 years later talking shit so there's hope for all of us! Ian D

OK, by my count that's 3 people on this thread alone that were influenced or excited merely by watching "Footsee" on TOTP when they were kids and are still on the scene some 35 years later. So even though "Footsee" was the crappo end of the scene (and a record I've personally never played ever), it still inspired people onto the scene for better or worse. The film certainly doesn't appeal to me (most UK films don't to be honest) but I don't think it's the devil in disguise either. What it may well do is inspire some people who will see it to dig a bit deeper if they are really interested and thus find out for themselves what the scene is all about. Also, nothing is stopping anyone else from having a try if they think they can do better. Ian D