Ian Dewhirst

Very classy. The label credits alone kind give it away - Bacharch/David tune (the greatest songwriters of all time IMO) and one Charles Koppelman in the production credits - he went on to run EMI music but had been around since the late 50's so presumably knew a good tune when he heard one! In fact here's 'lil biography from the Cigar Aficionado Website LOL..... https://www.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar/CA_Archives/CA_Show_Article/0,2322,825,00.html I presume that this was probaby recorded in '69 then? Either way, those PYE copies are probably rarer than people may think. She never had any promotion or airplay in the UK at the time so there was no big demand so there's not that many of 'em floating around......... Worth snapping up methinks..... Ian D

Talking of which, does anyone remember any of those cut-out record shops that used to take over a town centre shop and knock out U.S. albums @ 25p a pop? One turned up in Leeds with TONS of incredible titles. Lots of Curtom, Casablanca, Boardwalk and other cut-outs probably around '77-'78. I actually ended up buying hundreds of albums from 'em - I even put a small ad in Echoes with Parliament, Jeanie Reynolds and other album titles at the time. You'd never know where one of these type of shops would appear. They'd often open overnight and close down as quickly. There were quite a few in London in the 80's as well. I remember a fantastic haul of cut-out import P&P and other small label 12"'s in a Berwick Street shop in the 80's - 1000's of 'em. Co-incidentally, the same 12"'s would become hugely collectible some 20 years later and would virtually be hung in Reckless @ £100 or £200 apiece despite the fact that the vast bulk of 'em could have been found just yards away some 20 years earlier for pennies. Fate goes full circle, what goes around comes around etc, etc And talking of the Bostocks penetration of the UK, I worked @ Island Records in Chiswick in the late 80's and popped into Chiswick for a sandwich one lunchtime and noticed a tiny Rock N' Roll type shop packed to the gill with 45's. I just presumed that everything in there would be Rock N' Roll or Pop but popped in anyway. Lo and behold, they had a boxful of MGM/Verve stuff which could have originally come from Bostocks 'cos virtually everythng was in there - all the Spyder Turner, Howard Tate, Kim Westons, Tymes, Shalimars, Triumphs, April Stevens, Dottie Cambridge etc, etc but also I found promos of The Embers and The Velours which I'd never found in Bradford. So maybe an ex UK record company bloke from the 60's unloading a bunch of his old U.S. sample stock or the long arm of Bostock's again? I'm beginning to think that the vast majority of everything on MGM and Verve ended up in the UK 'cos I never saw much of it in the U.S. at all come to think of it...........that early Bostocks hit probably cleared all of their overstocks in one fell swoop! Ian D

I know but I did go the 100 Club party t'other night if that counts........ Don't know that Sweet Inspirations either so you may have a point...... Ian D

Now THAT is a story! Brilliant! Cissy Houston and a crate of Stella is a marriage made in heaven LOL...... Believe it or not I hadn't even heard this until recently. I always rated her version of "The Long And Winding Road" for the sheer power of her vocals so I stumbled into her "Midnight Train To Georgia - The Janus Years" package and thought I'd check out the rest of it and being a sucker for Bacharach/David tunes ended up loving "I Just Don't Know What To Do With Myself". Sounds like a classic ending record to me........ I just checked my UK singles and I have a minter of "The Long And Winding Road"/"Be My Baby" on Major Minor but alas not a 45 of "IJDKWTDWM". Yet another one to look out for........ Ian D

Join Alan Champ and myself for a special edition of the Original Mastercuts Show LIVE today @ 2.00pm! We've no idea what we're gonna play yet but we're stocked up goodies so join us for some Soulful fun on www.starpointradio.com! See you @ 2.00! Ian D

LOL! If that don't get you in the mood then nothing will! Have fun and Merry Christmas! Ian D

I think she's really under-rated as a vocalist anyway but this is one belting version of the Bacharach/David classic. I liked Dusty Springfield's ballad approach but this version is pure Northern to me and what a brilliant production and vocal performance from Cissy...... ....come to think of it, there was a bit of former competition between Cissy and Dusty 'cos Dusty covered "Bring Him Back" so maybe this was Cissy getting her revenge.........? Either way, a cracking version IMO.......beats the shit out of the White Stripes for sure LOL...... Ian D

I love the almost relaxed attitude we had in those days. Dave says "Next time I was passing I popped in......" and that's exactly how it was back then. No urgency LOL. These days if there was even an inkling of possible hit you'd have people booking plane tickets within seconds! I guess it's because back then there weren't so many crate-diggers and you'd get to know the competition pretty quickly. Sometimes I'd see certain faces at certain places and think, "Oh B*llocks! He's there. I may as well go elsewhere else then.....". But there was lots of choice and you get lucky down the road at another shop/stall/2nd hand store. Luckily I had a job which took me around the UK a lot so I knew most of the hot spots around the North and I'd occasionally get lucky and find somewhere that hadn't been previously foraged. But you could just as easily pop somewhere locally and suddenly find a ton of new stock which had more often then not come from Bostocks. It would always be worth checking 'cos really nobody knew where that stock was going in the UK - it could trun up anywhere. I found a couple of MGM Tony Middleton's in the UK but that 13 copies in one hit was a beauty Dave. I never saw it in that kind of quantity @ Bradford but that's the point - you just never knew what could come out of there at anytime....... The sobering thought is that somewhere in the U.K. right NOW, there will be thousands of unopened 100 count boxes of Bostocks U.S. 45's stock lying in an attic, a garden shed, storage unit, a disused factory unit or a barn. Paul Bostock would have been knocking 'em out by the box at one time probably at a fiver per 100 mixed 45's. There would have been a lot of market-traders, cut-out buyers, wholesale traders and funfairs buying 'em so that stock will be all over the U.K. I bet there's actually 10K Spyder Turners and Kim Westons in the UK 'cos they were everywhere. Ian D

Huh, typical that after all this time I never realised you were from Bradford originally Dave. Now that I think about it, it probably makes sense as Bradford was always prime vinyl-sniffing territory with a generation of vinyl hounds and a high percentage of sinus-deblocking discoveries LOL.... You're absolutely right about Bostocks stock leaching into everywhere around Yorkshire. You could find it in local market stalls, local junk shops and basically almost anywhere that did 2nd hand records. Often, a second-hand record shop would spring up in the weirdest of places - Cleckheaton, Bartley, Morley, Armley, Halifax, Huddersfield etc, etc and a large proportion of their stock would obviously be from Bostocks. We didn't always realise the connection at the time because frankly, West Yorkshire was packed to the gills with U.S. cut-out 45's. For a start, Bostocks had stalls in Bradford, Leeds, Wakefield and Huddersfield Markets and Paul or his Mum would sometimes be depping at those stalls. They got sick of seeing me everywhere - sometimes I'd hit all 4 Bostocks stalls in the same day. An Alice Clark or two, a couple of Tymes, couple of Shalimars @ Leeds, some oddball looking 45's from Bradford like Ronnie & Robyn on Sidra or Lenny Curtis on End, some Dottie Cambridges, Righteous Brothers Band, Ambers and Triumphs from Huddersfield and finish off in Wakefield with a Howard Guyton, Spiral Staircase, a Webs and a couple of Billy Woods to round off the day. Not bad considering that all of these were within 30 minutes of where I lived. It was like Christmas every week but we never realised it at the time...... ......and you'd often go to a visiting funfair and see the Bostocks stock as prizes. I won a Don Gardner "I Can't Help Myself" and Mongo Santamaria's "The Now Generation" by honing my dart-throwing skills! I don't recall any of us locals managing to get into the legendary Bostocks warehouse at the time pre '76 although I think Julian Bentley may have had access for some reason (can you confirm Julian?). I didn't get into it until well after John Anderson had re-plundered it maybe around '77 or thereabouts (or so the story went). By this point they'd probably got rid of most of their early stock from House Of Sounds 'cos there was a lot of relatively new 70's releases by the time I got there but I did snag just about everything on Buddah that was any good at the time - Charisma Band, Tony Owens, Mel Williams etc, etc so not a total bust....... ......around the same time a couple of us had a decent hit at some place in Telford (can't remember the name unfortunately). I think Colin Curtis and Keith Minshull had been there as well. This was where I left a 100 count box of Lew Kirton "Heaven In The Afternoon" because frankly I couldn't stand it (and stil can't) but also every other shop you went in seemed to have the 12" in! I actually think that some credit has to go to people like the Bostocks, Global, Robinsons, Soul Bowl etc, etc who actually brought in such huge loads of U.S. 45's in the early 70's that they unknowingly stoked the Northern Soul fire at exactly the correct time. It was an embarassment of riches when you think about it. Simply staggering the amount of stuff which came from these sources and others between 1970-80. They probably account for a good 30-40% of the key discoveries in the early 70's and certainly made our lives easier finding 'em. Just to put things in perspective, even the Leeds branch of Virgin had a box of U.S. 45's in! That's where the 2nd or 3rd copy of Candi Staton "Now You've Got The Upper Hand" came from for 10p! Happy thoughts. Merry Christmas All! Ian D

Hi Dave, I actually went there after stopping at Val Shively's the previous night whilst on my way back to UK in '76. I remember climbing into 20ft high palletts and wading through thousands of mostly C&W 45's and that was just on the ground floor. I remember thinking that there were actually too many records and you'd need at least a year or two to get through the whole place. Believe it or not that could be a common problem in the early-mid 70's. The sheer amount of 45's in some places meant you had to do some basic maths to figure out if the amount of work involved would be worth the effort of spending days or weeks going through individual places. This would usually be determined by spending a couple of hours ducking and diving around somewhere to get the basic lay of the land and to see what kind of stuff was there. If, after a couple of hours, you hadn't managed to find anything of significance then it could be time to move on. I clearly remember going to a garage in East L.A. which was crammed floor to ceiling with tens of thousands of 45's. There was a ton of latin american stuff there but also lots of early L.A. stuff which I left 'cos it was simply too dated at the time. When some of those earlier L.A. releases started getting played in the Stafford era I actually remembered that I'd left quite a few of 'em at this East L.A. garage (Kell Osbourne and Andy Fisher spring to mind). Can't win 'em all........ It makes perfect sense that the Bostocks stuff came from House Of Sounds. Co-incidentally, House of Sounds owner John Lamont was caught up in a Mafia overstocks operation which got detailed in an excellent book about the mob and MCA records called "Stiffed":- "Though former Los Angeles Times reporter Knoedelseder has dug up much dirt, his fast-paced tale of music industry nefariousness suffers from convoluted detail. In 1984 a minor tax investigation sics Justice Department attorney Marvin Rudnick on Sal Pisello, a reputed mobster who had planted himself inside MCA Records managing sales of budget "cutout" discs. The story eventually involves strange upheavals inside MCA, a counterfeiting ring, a corrupt cutout dealer who turns on the Mafia, and a band of dishonest record promoters. As Rudnick probes deeper, he faces threats from MCA and odd pressure from his superiors. Knoedelseder suggests that a greater scandal has been missed because the Justice Department, under Attorney General Ed Meese, backed off from making a deeper inquiry into mob involvement in the record industry. Knoedelseder's effort to weave together several court cases, competing investigations and a large cast of characters makes for a confusing narrative". https://www.amazon.co...a/dp/0060924942 John Lamont ended up with a broken jaw when the mob visited him @ House Of Sounds and then eventually he and his family had to go into a witness protection programme. All the time this was going on, weird people from the U.K. kept turning up looking for something they called Northern Soul! Ian D

Wow. Stunning response from all @ S.S. and very appropriate under the circumstances. This is a real community and shows how people can come together in certain situations. Pete should seriously consider a future career in socially concious fund-raising and Johnny is a perfect example of a human being with very good karma. A really magical 'lil set of events here folks...... Makes a change to have a genuine feel-good story on Christmas Eve doesn't it? Right time for a brandy methinks.......I'm starting to feel Christmassy............ Ian D

Just topped up the fund Pete. Lovely gesture mate. Merry Christmas to all! Ian D

Go on....be a devil....publish and be damned Mike.... I'll give Mark a call tomorrow and see if he has it on file. He's a natural archivist and one of the most focused guys I've ever met, so I'm pretty sure he'll be OK and I'll hopefully get his consent. Obviously best to get his blessing so good call........ Merry Christmas by the way! A stirling job you've all done over the last year so compliments of the season to all at S.S. Ian D

LOL, you actually want own up to "Contact"???? What a weird record but only he who shall not be named would have played it. George Kirby is obviously one of the greatest records of all time........ ....but what's this Paul Thompson on Volt? I don't know it but I'm intrigued. Is this a known biggie that I've never heard of......? Ian D

I'll tell you what - if you could dig that up and scan it that would be an xmas treat for a lot of people! I wonder if Snowboy still has it on file? I just checked his excellent book on the UK Jazz Dance scene and John's mentioned but not in any depth. I'd love to read that interview so get scanning 'cos it'll be great reading over the holiday! This thread is the perfect audience and you just struck gold LOL........ And John always said that he was never a fan of Northern Soul - I think it was a happy accident that the early Northern record hounds got onto his first lists from Scotland (as Northern record hounds are inclined to do). In other words, the Northern scene found John, not the other way around. Likewise Gary Cape @ Black Grape. These guys were were Soul enthusiasts first and foremost and the Northern scene was an unexpected bonus...... Also, the last couple of posts have brought an interesting question. Namely, did John Anderson broker the MGM/Verve warehouse deal (which I think was a million and a half records or thereabouts)? It's possible for sure. It was always interesting to me how come a Bradford Market stall managed such a fantastic hit at the time. You would have thought that a million and half U.S. major label warehouse 45 overstocks would have gone to the U.S. not Bradford in Yorkshire........ The f*ckin' centres were too big for a start! Not only that, but Paul Bostock and family knew absolutely zero about Soul and were always slightly bemused at people spending hours there looking through all this stuff. And it may well have been before John was totally clued up on Northern or maybe the deal was simply too big for him to absorb so he passed it over to someone with ready cash. I think they were 1 cent apiece or so the rumour goes.......... ....it wasn't just the Dottie Cambridges though. It was EVERYTHING on Verve and MGM (which is like 50 classics right there), but also monumental amounts of other stuff including hundreds of exceptionally rare records on small labels. It would take a seperate thread to list everything that ever came out of Bostocks. I didn't realise that Milton Wright & The Terra Shirma Strings and the Chalfontes came out of Bradford until reading this tonight........ Fascinating stuff coming up on this thread. We should be so lucky to get this stuff. God bless Soul Source! Merry Christmas! Ian D

Mmm. Shame about the no money, no advice and no wisdom bit but the sentiments are bang on for the season of goodwill! The next round's mine! Merry Christmas! Ian D

Too true. As an example Tim Brown routinely values his own collection pieces above his own price guide on the basis that even if a record is listed in his own price guide @ a particular price it doesn't mean that he'd sell his own copy for that price. I had a big hassle earlier this year selling a record for his minimum price of £550 when it was listed in his own guide for £75! He maintained that it didn't matter what the price was in his guide but that for him to sell his own copy £550 was the mimimum he wanted. He was also of the opinion that there are some very rare records which aren't in demand and so have a low price in the guides (especially Deep Soul stuff). However, he personally rated the rarity of certain records way above his own guides on the basis that he didn't want to spend 10 years finding another copy! I can believe that. I've sold records for mimimal amounts because there was no demand at the time and then never, ever seen them again in my life. Si Hightower being a good example........ Another question could be what would you price a great total unknown at? £10? £100? £1000? £10000? Ian D

Hi Rick, Long time no see - must be at least 35 years! So glad you're on here mate. You were instrumental in getting me into so much stuff when I first came onto the scene. I'm pretty sure you were the first person I heard play "The Way You've Been Acting Lately" - Al Kent and "The Gallop" - Milton Wright. Just to confirm, weren't you the guy who found "Mr Big Shot" - Gene Chandler whilst @ Global? Best and Merry Christmas, Ian D

I think the most likely explanation is that the Trammps had signed to Atlantic in early 1975, released the brilliant "Hooked For Life" in the middle of the year so Buddah decided to scoop up their Trammps tracks and bosh an album together to cash in on the potential success of the Trammps forthcoming debut Atlantic album. A couple of months later "That's Where The Happy People Go" came out, burned up the club charts and hit No.1 on the U.S. Dance chart thus confirming Buddah's instincts. It's highly likely that he who shall not be named got an acetate off Dave Macaleer as that was the lead UK single off the Legendary Zing Album. In fact it was released in the UK in October '75 a good two months before the U.S. single release according to my info. However, I can remember buying the import Buddah album within a week of hearing Levine and Curtis play it so I guess it was being hammered off the album for a good couple of months before the single eventually got released in the UK......... Ian D

Tried to get 'em as authentic as poss under the circumstances Rog LOL.... Ian D

Many thanks to all who joined Al and myself this week. As per usual the best audience for a freezing cold Sunday afternoon and it warmed our cockles considerably! Plenty of Original Mastercuts Show faves this week covering the last 4-5 decades of brilliant Soul Music - something for everyone hopefully! Also don't forget that Al and myself are also doing an Original Mastercuts Christmas Special next Sunday 27th December so make sure you tune in to catch us LIVE! 1st Hour The Isley Brothers - Harvest For The World - Intro Reprise The Originals - Down To Love Town - Dimitri From Paris Disco Citaay Remix The Isley Brothers - Harvest For The World - Remix Aaron Neville - My Brother My Brother Ferry Ultra feat Gwen McRae - Let Me Do My Thing Al Green - Everything Is OK - Ashley Beedle Re-Edit The Sylvers - Come Back Lover Dee Dee Sharp Gamble - Easy Money - Greymatter Re-Edit The Trammps - Shine A Light Leonard Lidell - Keep It Secret Three Ounces Of Love - In The Middle Of A Feeling Marcus Love - Love They Don't Know You 2nd Hour Universal Mind - Reach Out For Me Dionne Warwick - Once You Hit The Road Neo Experience - Human - Special Extended Mix Marva Hicks - Looking Over My Shoulder Jack Ashford - Fly Into My Open Arms Joshie Jo Armstead - I Got The Vibes Turn Of The Century - Money Can't The Lovelites - Yo've Lost That Loving Feeling Holland & Dozier - Why Can't We Be Lovers The Chi-Lites - Stoned Out Of My Mind Mica Paris - Walk Away From Love Main Ingredient - Won't Let You Do That To Me Soulpersona feat Marvin Gaye - Ain't That Peculiar - Neil Thompson Mix https://www.sixmillionsteps.com/6MS-...0-Starpoint.mp3 Merry Christmas All and hopefully we'll catch you next Sunday 27th December LIVE! Ian D

Hi Tony, OK, here's 5 of 'em mate. I didn't think there was much point in listing the New York Dance, 80's Chicago House, 80's Boogie, 90's Garage or Breakbeats volumes good as they are but here are five of the more Soulful volumes:- Philly Disco 70's Dance Floor Anthems From The City Of Brotherly Love 1 Archie Bell & The Drells Let's Groove 2 Dee Dee Sharp Gamble Breaking & Entering 3 Teddy Pendergrass Only You 4 Jean Carn If You Wanna Go Back 5 Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes Don't Leave Me This Way 6 The O'Jays I Love Music 7 M.F.S.B. Summertime & I'm Feeling Mellow 8 Teddy Pendergrass You Can't Hide From Yourself 9 People's Choice Jam Jam Jam (All Night Long) 10 Jean Carn Was That All It Was 11 Billy Paul Bring The Family Back 12 McFadden & Whitehead Ain't No Stopping Us Now That Driving Beat 60's & 70's Northern Soul Stompers 1 Jackie Wilson The Who Who Song 2 Rose Batiste Hit & Run 3 Bunny Sigler Girl Don't Make Me Wait 4 Cindy Scott I Love You Baby 5 J.J. Barnes Our Love Is In The Pocket 6 The Just Brothers Sliced Tomatoes 7 Len Barry When You Call Me Baby 8 Johnny Caswell You Don't Love Me Anymore 9 The Fascinations At The Top Of The Stairs 10 Fred Hughes Baby Boy 11 The Parliaments Don't Be Sore At Me 12 The Delfonics You'll Get Enough 13 Gloria Edwards My Love Is Getting Stronger 14 Lavern Baker Wrapped, Tied & Tangled 15 The Cooperettes Shing-A-Ling 16 Adam's Apple's Don't Take It Out On This World 17 Gene Chandler Mr Big Shot 18 Darrell Banks Somebody Somewhere Needs You 19 First Choice This Is The House (Where Love Died) 20 Willie Mitchell The Champion 21 The Demures Raining Teardrops 22 Johnny Johnson & The Bandwagon Sweet Inspiration 23 Marvin Smith Have More Time 24 Johnny Jones & The King Casuals Purple Haze 25 Erma Franklin I Get The Sweetest Feeling 26 Epitome Of Sound You Don't Love Me 27 Johnny Howard The Chase Is On 28 Eloise Laws Love Factory 29 Mel Britt She'll Come Running Back 30 Young Holt Unlimited California Montage Back To My Place Baby 70's & 80's Seductive Soul 1 Al Green I'm Still In Love With You 2 Ann Peebles I Can't Stand The Rain 3 The Chi-Lites Have You Seen Her 4 Teddy Pendergrass The Whole Town's Laughing At Me 5 The Average White Band A Love Of Your Own 6 Paris I Choose You 7 Windy City I Still Love You 8 Manchild Especially For You 9 The O'Jays Brandy 10 Teddy Pendergrass Close The Door 11 Walter Jackson It's Cool 12 The Jones Girls Eternally 13 Margie Alexander Whatcha Trying To Do To Me 14 Dexter Wansel The Sweetest Pain 15 Jean Carn Don't Let It Go To Your Head 16 Dee Dee Sharp Just As Long As I Know You're Mine 17 Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes You Know How To Make Me Feel So Good Windy City Soul Smooth 70's Soul From Chicago 1 Windy City Windy City Theme (Vocal) 2 Tyrone Davis What Goes Up (Must Come Down) 3 Barbara Acklin I'll Bake Me A Man 4 Mr T Love Uprising 5 Ginji James Honey Babe 6 The Promises This Love Is Real 7 Mighty Doug Haines I'll Be Right Here 8 Lyn Roman Stop! I Don't Need No Sympathy 9 Sidney Joe Qualls Run To Me 10 Barbara Acklin I Did It 11 Major Lance Sweeter As The Days Go By 12 Otis Leavill I Love You 13 Windy City Fool Or Your Man 14 Eddie McLoyd Once You Fall In Love 15 Gene Chandler Let Me Love To You 16 Tyrone Davis Turning Point 17 Jackie Wilson It Only Happens (When I Look At You) 18 The Chi-Lites Stoned Out Of My Mind 19 The Dells Your Song 20 The Impressions All I Want To Do Is Make Love To You 21 Gene Chandler Does She Have A Friend For Me 22 The Chi-Lites You Don't Have To Go Soul Steppin' 80's Soulful Steppers 1 The Dells All About The Paper 2 The Impressions Fan The Fire 3 Patti Labelle When Am I Gonna Find True Love 4 John Davis & The Monster Orch Bourgie Bourgie 5 Mike & Brenda Sutton Anyway You Want My Love 6 Greg Henderson Dreaming 7 Steve Shelto Don't You Give Your Love Away 8 David McPherson You Can't Stop 9 The Underground Behind My Back 10 Scandal feat Lee Genesis Love Either Goes Or Grows 11 Sound Troupe Can You Really See Me 12 Dee Dee Sharp Gamble Easy Money 13 Teddy Pendergrass You And Me For Right Now 14 Walter Jackson Touching In The Dark Can't moan @ a fiver apiece really can ya? Merry Christmas! Ian D

Caseful of Semtex more like Malc! Ian D

Yep. Will e-mail ya Ady..... Ian D

Of course. Good music is good music whatever the genre........ Ian D