Ian Dewhirst

LOL, you're right! I loved Danny Hunt but it simply wouldn't work anywhere but the Mecca. One of those records which I played constantly at home but somehow always lacked the courage to play out. Anyone remember Danny Reed "What Makes Her A Woman" and Beverly Wheeler "Don't Shake My Tree" - the instrumental side on that was just breathtaking......? Ian D

Well, the smell of vinyl has always been a key ingredient of the attraction. On a crate-digging trip with a mate in late 2007, I would quite often be driving down a road in Buttf*ck, Nowhere USA when I would suddenly slam the brakes on, stop completely and look at my mate with a slightly crazed look on my face and say, "didja smell that"? And he say "what"? And I'd say "I can smell vinyl"....... And sure enough, we'd find a store with vinyl almost immediately. Unfortunately, I owe these skills to Simon Soussan who would do exactly the same moves whilst we were driving in the middle of nowhere...... Simon Soussan: "Uggggh. Did you smell that baby boy? My sinuses are unblocking! Zere is vinyl nearby........." And he was never wrong. The sense of smell is not to be sniffed at! Ian D

Good. We're agreed. Plus you're right, the Mecca played everything first which is equally important. 'Cos to be on everything first can be a thankless task sometimes. The Mecca proved that by often being waaaay ahead of the mainstream. I actually have a massive amount of respect for both Levine and Curtis 'cos I saw them persevere with stuff that emptied the floor on the first plays many times. The best example of that being the Montclairs which absolutely emptied the floor without fail in the first few weeks it was played. It's understandable. That intro was so unique that people couldn't get their heads around it until it had sunk in after both Levine and Curtis persevered with it...... I've gotta give 'em credit for that alone, leave alone the 100's of other tunes they broke. I didn't get the Montclairs at all until I'd heard it half a dozen times. After that I realised that it was, in fact, one of the greatest records ever recorded once I'd got past my own personal barriers. I think it speaks volumes that some 34 years later "Hung Up On Your Love" is one of my favourite records of all time. If Levine and Curtis hadn't have persevered with that record it would still be unknown 'cos the intro is just too weird for most people to appreciate. And for that record alone, I owe them my everlasting gratitude. Ian D

Actually I think you're right Mel. Chronology is important. I personally really loved the Mecca circa '74-'75. That seemed to be the period where some incredible contemporary Modern releases were played alongside some more traditional Northern stompers. So in that period you'd hear a range of music which could veer from Eloise Laws, The Temprees, Little Beaver, James Fountain, the Carstairs, The Anderson Brothers, Gil Scott-Heron, Rosey Jones, Ann Sexton, Rock Candy, The Montclairs, Bobby Hutton etc, etc to Joe Mathews, The Inspirations, Jimmy Raye, James Lewis & The Case Of Tyme, the Idle Few, World Column, the Crow, Bernie Williams, Yvonne Baker, Tony Middleton, George Kirby, Frankie Crocker etc, etc.. To me it was the best of both worlds and the best club in the world at the time musically speaking bar none for my money. I wasn't over keen when it started veering towards more mainstream Disco as those releases were available in every import shop in the country and there was less of a buzz when you could pick 'em up easily at the local shop. That wasn't what I went to the Mecca to hear! F*ck hearing Tavares at the Mecca - I could hear that at my local Tiffanies on a Tuesday night LOL..... I went to the Mecca to be musically educated and that's pretty much what it did for throughout the key years IMO. In terms of musical depth and range, Ian Levine & Colin Curtis 100% led the way for me between '73-'75 with Richard Searling holding the fort adimirably @ Wigan over the same period. Was Blackpool Mecca the most infuential club in terms of musical creativity in Northern Soul history? 100% absolutely! No contest. I thank God almost on a daily basis that I was lucky enough to experience such a wonderful musical education. Ian D

Wow. Tremendous detective work MB. You couldn't use your skills to find out what happened to Simon Soussan could you? Could do with tracing him to get some comment on the first copy of F.W. I can see the reply right now ...... "...and when I went into ze Motown library my sinuses suddenly started unblocking and I could SMELL zat zere was a 100% genuine sinus-deblocker on ze shelves...etc, etc....... Ian D

That first play of the Idle Few blew me away. To this day one of my all-time faves. WHAT A REKID!!!! An inspiration to us all! Ian D

It's a killer Mark! A real sinus-deblocker for lovers of mid-tempo soul...... Ian D

LOL, thanks Mike. The Mighty 7 track was a side project from Gee Bello (Light Of The World) and has become something of a collectors item on the Boogie scene in France at the moment. He's actually my old flatmate, so nice to see some action on this tune 'cos it disappeared without trace when it originally came out. See ya Sunday, if you're up in time. Ian D

Classic! Right up there with Saddam Husseins son! Ian D

LOL, that's funny Roger! I often wondered where Russ got his image from. I thought it was Jason King but now the secrets out......... Ian D

But there lies the rub MB. If you mega publicise the record in the local town and get the front page, then the whole town will know something major is up, everybody and their 90 year old grandfather will be up in the lofts or down in the basements DIGGING, DIGGING, DIGGING like frenzied bastards and you'll have a couple of thousand lunatics turnin up with beat-up copies of "I Can't Help Myself" or "Baby Love" demanding millions of bucks and thinking they've won the lottery LOL.... Whereas my strategy would be the sneaky bastard approach i.e. a discreet box ad in the classifieds at the back of the paper asking if anyone has any records from the ARP plant in their lofts and specifically any by one Frank Wilson or, at a pinch, Patrice Holloway or some of the other obscure ones. Will pay CA$H. You know that sort of thing. It's something to do with me being a tight Northerner and my horrendous upbringing where beans on toast was the main meal of the week LOL... Great publicity stunt though and inspired thinking. How about a discreet box ad first and if that brings nothing substantial THEN go for the front splash with a scan of FW? It'd be the biggest news in Owasso since Tommy Jr fell out of a tree in '63! Good thinking MB. It'd definitely get the front page of the local rag and then the wires would pick it up and the next thing you know we'll have Manship on CNN....... Ian D

A classified ad in the back of the local paper along the lines of: "Do YOU Have Some Motown Records In Your Loft or Garage?" might be worth a shot? Or better still "We're Looking To Contact Any Ex-Employees of ARP For A Forthcoming Documentary......" It'd be cheaper than the winning bid that's for sure LOL.... Ian D

LOL, you'd have thought he could have used a 60's Motown sleeve or even a U.S. one at that wouldn'tcha........? Ian D

FANTASTIC detective work! Ya never know do you? I'd be inclined to fish around just for the hell of it. Were the records ALL junked or did some employees of the plant get the wink and are there a load of 60's Motown promos in a loft in Owosso? These are the things dreams are made of. Nothing ventured, nothing gained dude........ Ian D

Hi Brett, I'm researching it as we speak mate. I'm speaking to the Guinness Book Of Records people in the morning so I should have some definitive info tomorrow. And I wouldn't believe me if I were you! Sometimes I have trouble believing myself! Ian D

I think that's Jon Coupland's copy from Spalding, Lincolnshire innit? Ian D

Well, it's worth a pint just for the jousting mate! Basically it could be a double reverse-psychology ploy pointing to a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma providing a conundum, thus creating a paradox if you see what I mean......... Pints on me Andy..... Ian D

My regard for the Ginger one has improved immensely! I thought the gig was up when I tried to insure your bet and cut a decent profit but couldn't persuade anyone to take me up on it LOL.... Said record dealer can't confirm or deny any of the rumours at this point on the basis of: 1) A confidentiality clause with the owner. and 2) "Frank - you're the LAST bloody person who needs to know!" quote. I don't know why he'd say that. I always thought I came across as the strong silent shy retiring type............ Ian D

Yep, that well-known hoarder of impossibly rare records from Spalding, Lincolnshire, Jon Coupland, who managed to outwit every record hound on earth for 32 years and bag the missing third copy of "Do I Love You" LOL....probably a personal mate of Berry's no doubt....... 'Frank Wilson Frenzy' we call in round these parts! We'll see more of this in the coming weeks I'm sure. Ian D

I've heard so many different stories, red herrings and blind alleys that I'm actually back-tracking slightly now. In the course of the last few days I've had to speak to a number of people who are absolutely more knowledgeable about the history of the record and the various processes which ths particular record went through. I'm now convinced that only 6 promo copies were originally manufactured. Of those 6, I think 3 went to Detroit and the other 3 were retained @ ARP. Of the 3 which went to Detroit I believe that 1 copy went to the main archive library (which eventually got relocated to Los Angeles and was subsequently 'borrowed' by Simon Soussan), 1 went to Berry Gordy's personal archive and the other 1 is either unaccounted for or gone. Of the 3 which were retained by ARP, I believe that 2 of them were destroyed along with the thousands of other multiple archive Motown pressings when ARP got the OK to clear the space from Motown as long as they kept a single copy of everything (not as unusual as it sounds as the American's never seemed to value anything that was mass-produced in those days, so dumping or destroying stock was standard practise). That single copy @ ARP was subsequently obtained by Ron Murphy. So 4 copies left out of the original 6. 1 'borrowed' by Simon Soussan from the Motown archive library which went from Soussan-Les McCutcheon-Johnathan Woodliffe-KevRoberts, now owned by Tim Brown. Verified. 1 obtained by Ron Murphy from ARP which went from Murphy-Martin Koppel-Tim Brown, now owned by Kenny Burrell. Verified. 1 owned by Berry Gordy in his personal archive. Unverified. 1 unaccounted for. Unverified. My feelings are that the unverified unaccounted copy is probably long gone. I just can't see that it could be laying in anyone's collection without being known about. What's the point in owning a Frank Wilson if no one knows you have it? And after 32 years I think the info would have come out one way or another seeing as every record hound in the world has been trying to track one down since the late 70's...... So that leaves 2 verified copies and 1 unverified. The unverified one is Berry Gordy's so that won't be going anywhere fast. Which boils it down to Tim and Kenny's copies......... Unless, John has managed to unearth the 'lost' copy which originally went to Motown but is unaccounted for..... So anyone's guess really...... All bets are off..... 6 weeks to go.... Ian D

My fave from that album is "No One Can Love You Like I Do". Still think that's a beaut.......... Ian D

huh huh

Hi Paul, The wonderful world of the internet! Welcome to Soul Source - it's the perfect audience for you I guarantee. I love the material you produced with Jimmy Briscoe & The Beavers in the 1970's. Is Jimmy still around and do you have any uptempo stuff by him in the can from back then? Ian D

Well, 'better' is a subjective term speedlimit. As good as the Mello Souls is, Frank Wilson has 32 years of history behind it and a much wider audience. It's also one of the Motown 'holy grails' and has crossed-over from the Northern scene to a wide international audience. Also there are several high-end dedicated collectors who want the record because of it's general history and rarity whereas Mello Souls hasn't quite reached that rarified level of exposure yet. Give the Mello Souls another 30 years and see if any more than 3 copies turn up and then you could be talking! Ian D

Burnley Cricket Club every Tuesday night in the early 70's was a gas! Happy days and I always used to grab a Chinese in Tod on the way back to Huddersfield! Ian D