Ian Dewhirst

Bloody hell. Please tell. The guy looked like Charles Manson and had records in every conceivable area of his house - even in the larder, the fridge, the loo, the bathroom etc. That's where I found the second copy of Willie Hutch and the first Judy Streets! He took me to see Ted Nugent @ the Colloseum in L.A. and that permanently wrecked my eardrums. Is he still around? When did you last see him? Ian D

Of course we're not! Too many years of Northern Soul frazzled our brains. Believe me the yanks thought I was crazier than them. Also Northern Soul got us all into travelling around - sometimes hundreds of miles on a weekend. It's also worth pointing out that a Saturday night on Manningham Lane in Bradford or the Mitre pub in Wakefield was a lot scarier than an average night in New York or L.A. Northern Soul was a great training ground for globe-hopping. One reason why we have a load of ex-pats on board and why we're spread right across the globe! Ian D

The reason why I decided to bite the bullet and go was, believe or not, because record prices were soaring LOL. It was the beginning of the era when record prices started to go nuts and being inherently tight it made more sense to stop paying inflated prices and simply go over there and find 'em myself. I'm sure I mentioned it earlier in the thread but I think the actual catalyst was when I got in a bidding battle for Bernie Williams. At the time it was a pretty reasonable £40 (at mid 70's prices) and I thought I had it locked. But then I remember a series of frantic telephone calls where the price slowly crept up to £120 and then ended at £120 + a World Column and a Rosey Jones which put it at around £150 which was too much for me. That would have been around 6 weeks wages at the time (I think I was earning £22.50 a week at my Mon-Fri job and probably around £15 a gig back then). That's when I realised that it didn't make a lot of logistical sense to keep buying the mega-rarities. Also, as a DJ you had to keep buying killers and there was no guarantee that the record wouldn't be bootlegged within weeks. To pay £150 for a record (maybe £1500 by todays standards) and only get 3 or 4 weeks play out of it was infuriating. Also once you became well-known as a deejay, you couldn't get bargains or decent unknowns anymore without the dealers or collectors wanting to jack the price up. I got sick of finding something that looked REALLY interesting in a box and asking how much a the guy wanted for it only for him to, "Well.....if YOU get it you'll play it so you'll have to be realistic". In other words, I was paying a premium simply because if I got a decent record, it would be played @ Wigan, Cleethorpes, the Central and Samanthas within a couple of weeks and would have a good chance of breaking big and then the price would leap. So I was effectively being penalized for being a DJ! Plus I'd had 5 years of gigging all over at the height of a brilliant scene. That 5 years had cost me 3 written-off cars, half a dozen girlfriends, the inability to do a 'normal' job (Mondays were a real bastard after 2 all-nighters and a Sunday all-dayer) and continuing poverty in the cause of keeping ahead. I was ready for a new adventure, so the States looked good to me. So that was it. I remember my Mum and Dad dropping me off at Manchester airport and my Mum (god bless her) giving me her last piece of motherly advice just before I vanished through to the departure lounge.... She said, "Now when you get to New York you don't want to be spending all your money in those expensive hotels, so check into the YMCA". So I did and what a bloody nightmare THAT was on my first night in New York! Two years later the Village People record came out and everyone knew what the deal was but to a kid from Mirfield who didn't know jack-shit it was a nightmare experience. I spent my first night in New York barracaded in my room at the YMCA with the wardrobe wedged against the door! But that's a whole other story LOL........ Ian D

Took me by surprise as well Drew - betcha didn't think it'd still be trucking almost a year later LOL....... Soussan had several trips over here in the early to mid 70's where some of the DJ's would travel to London and meet him at a hotel on Park Lane and do swaps - I wouldn't mind hearing about those. Mike Ritson mentioned meeting him in these circumsances......... Also I'd be curious if anyone actually got a bargain off him - I'm sure some of the early dealers must have had some large shipments from him that turned out to be good - are you reading this Julian B or Brian 45.......? Ian D

But Britain is full of obsessive losers like you Boba! This country was built on the romantic notion that being an obsessive loser is a noble art. That's why we're the kings of preserving other people's cultures...... Time to get busy and get some public funding from a Northern town which needs regenerating methinks! Ian D

Yep, totally agree Boba. But I still can't understand why my digitized scan of the Mona Lisa failed to draw any kind of crowd at my viewing at the Carshalton tea rooms....... Ian D

He was always evasive about his record collection. He always maintained that he had a temperature-controlled storage facility in L.A. where his main collection was stored. He would NEVER leave me alone in his office, where he had a set of fitted lockable cupboards which ran the length of the room which contained the records he kept at his apartment (which I suspect was actually his complete collection). He certainly had some incredibly rare records though. Every so often a record would come into conversation and he'd say something like "Well have you heard ze Four Crests on Dandelion baby boy"? He'd then scuttle into his office, unlock a cupboard and pull out a record and play it. And it would almost always be great. Also his obsession with only having the best possible copy of everything was obviously because of his bootlegging activities - he needed pristine copies for copying and mastering. The amount of records he prised out of people on the basis that he need 'ze best possible copy' was ridiculous........ Also it was difficult to guage the quality of what was in those lockable cupboards. In the same way that he'd pull out ridiculously rare items, he'd also pull out run of the mill Dramatics or O'Jays 45's from the same cupboards. We were once talking about male harmonies and he said, "Baby boy, I'm gonna play you the greatest male harmony record ever made. Zees will TOTALLY unblock your sinuses" and he pulled out the O'Jays "Unity" - a 10 cent 45 at best in 1976! Ian D

LOL, he'd have been the king of the E-Bay conners. I guarantee that he'd have set up several aliases, different address drops, multiple bank accounts and simply multiplied things to a far greater scale........... Ian D

Both mate! Fact is back in '76 you couldn't fail with an English voice in L.A. I used to get marriage proposals every couple of weeks or so from lovely latino ladies who thought I could get 'em a green card. Whenever I went in a place I'd head straight to the part of the bar where there were some interesting females and when the bartender asked if I'd like a drink I'd say in a very polished, exagerated English voice, "Yes please old boy, a scotch on the rocks if you'd be so kind. Thankyou veeerrry much"........... It never failed. Immediately, one of the girls would say something like, "Golly gee, are you English? I just luuuurve your accent......" And I'd turn to her, give her the killer look and say, "Actually my dear, 'tis not I that has the accent but rather you that has the accent. I'm English. We invented the language.........". All very Austin Powers but stuff like that used to work back then LOL......definitely a better result then "Fancy a pint luv".......... It was very surreal. I'd be in Watts, Compton or South Central risking my life finding records by day and carousing around Beverly Hills and Hollywood by night. I went from living in Mirfield, West Yorks to the hotspots of L.A. so the culture shock was huge to a 21 year old. But what a ROCKIN' time I had. Easily one of the best periods of my life and for that reason I can't be too bitter about being ripped off by Soussan. Hell, I'm still writing about it some 33 years later........ I've been back dozens of time since but I don't think anything could beat that first 6 months I spent there. Just the sheer elation of waking up every day just KNOWING I was gonna find a bunch of rare records was excitement enough. So glad I bit the bullet and went 'cos it was a great experience in pretty much every way.......... Ian D

Perversely enough, threads like this actually help 'cos I end up remembering stuff that I'd long forgotten about and end up having to bang down the story so it doesn't feel like 'work'....... All I have to do is compile all the stories and then do some serious editing and, hey presto, instant book LOL..... Ian D

I didn't mess around in those days. Within 2 days of arriving in L.A. I was living in a Beverly Hills mansion, driving around in a mustang and living like a king all thanks to Rosy, God bless her. Unfortunately I f&*ked it all up very quickly when I met another girl called Carol Lopez in a club and swerved off tangent for a night, then tried to creep back to Beverly Hills and saw the other side of Rosy, i.e. the one you don't f*%k with LOL..... However, I seem to remember finding 6 Eric Lomax's, a Lou Ragland and a Sweet Things later that day so not all bad! Ian D

Blimey, all the old threads are rolling out tonight aren't they LOL....... Yep, I covered it as James Lewis I believe. I seem to remember very delicately placing a white sticker across Lou Pride's name with James Lewis if my memory serves me correctly. Someone out there will have my original with the sticker residue no doubt..... I was looking at Ginger's copy of Lenny Curtis t'other week and I found my name etched in the run-out groove, so all my originals are still out there somewhere.......... Ian D

Kev will confirm that Soussan could sell ice to eskimos if he wanted. He had a fantastic knack of getting you to do things you really didn't want to do. I found the second copy of Willie Hutch whilst I was there and he 'borrowed' it off me as he had a small scratch on his own copy and he wanted to compare the two. Goodbye Willie Hutch. I had it in my possession for the grand total of 5 minutes............ Ian D

Yep, bless him the cute little rascal! He indirectly fixed my nose, got me laid and it only cost me my royalties from a million-selling record! Oh but the memories.......... The first night in L.A. he insisted that he took me out. I was jet-lagged and just wanted to crash but naturally I didn't have much choice in the matter. So I went back to the hotel, got washed and changed into my flash Ben Sherman shirt and oxford bags and then tripped the light fantastic in L.A. We hit a restaurant, a couple of bars, a couple of clubs and then ended up in a club called the Candy Box in Beverly Hills. I'd spent the whole evening explaining to people that oxford bags and Ben Sherman shirts were actually in fashion in the North of the UK but they just looked at me like I was from Mars. They were all wearing one-piece jump suits with gold chains and I looked like a refugee from Belsen. That and the jet lag were really pissing me off but Simon and his then wife, Sabrina, kept insisting that it was my first night in L.A. and they were gonna get me laid. Finally, at 3.00am in the Candy Box they introduced to a surgically enhanced blonde and the first thing she said was, "Hey, what's with the trousers.......?" I said to Simon and Sabrina, "OK that's it guys, I've gotta get some sleep" so they reluctantly left and started running me back to the hotel. On the way back they were talking in the front of the car and Simon suddenly said, "Hey, let's just pop in and see Rosy. She's an old friend of ours and I know she'd like to meet you baby boy". I tried to refuse but no cigar....... We get to this huge house in Beverly Hills and Simon and I got out of the car and walked around the house to the back door - Sabrina had decided to stay in the car for some reason. Simon rang the bell and then said, "Wait here a moment baby boy, I left my cigarettes in the car, I'll be back in a second". And with that he disappeared...... About 2 minutes later an obviously dishevelled female in her late 20's put the light on, opened the door slightly and said "Hello.....can I help you?" I said, "Errr, I'm actually here with Simon but he just went back to the car to get his cigarettes". She said, "I don't know anyone called Simon". I said, "Are you sure? He's a French Morrocan guy........." She said, "Look buster, it's 4.00 in the morning, you got me out of bed, I don't know any Simon and I don't know you, so maybe you'd better scram before I call the cops.....". I said, "But you're Rosy aren't you? You must know Simon and Sabrina" And she said, "Wait a minute. You mean Michelle? Michelle and Sabrina?" It took 10 minutes of frantic explaining on the doorstep who I was, why I was there and to establish that in L.A. Simon wasn't known as Simon. He was known as Michelle in L.A. social circles for some reason. Rosy eventually invited me in, Simon (aka Michelle) naturally never showed back up, so Rosy and I got to know each other over a couple of coffees @ 5.00am in the morning and she very kindly agreed to put me up for the night. Musta been a successful night 'cos I moved in the next day and stuck around for a few weeks. Rosy was single, hot for action and a divorced millionairess so everything worked out quite nicely for my first night in L.A. The first thing she did the next day was take me to Rodeo Drive and buy me a one-piece jump suit and a gold chain............ Ian D

Gotta leave that story to Kev as he tells it best. But I think that same incident is where Kev yelled up to Simon (who was hovering by the skylight whilst balanced on the roof), "Simon, what's this record by the Casualeers? It's on Roulette" And Simon said "Get them all baby boy!" Then later when Kev paid for all the records that he'd found, he went round the corner and got in Simon's car and said "I hope that Casualeers is good 'cos I got 30 of 'em". Then later, when they got to Kev's hotel, Kev went to get his records and Simon went "Wait a minute baby boy. I need all ze Casualeers records because I must have a perfect copy for my collection so I need to play zem all to find ze best one". Naturally Kev never saw 'em again.......... Ian D

LOL, the teeth are a whole other story. I smashed my front teeth on the bottom of the Kensington Close swimming pool when was showing off in front of a well-endowed female and dived in the shallow end! At one point in my mid 20's two of my front teeth were held in place with matchsticks and chewing gum. I'd often have conversations and say "f*&k" and one of my teeth would fly out......... I think my second Northern collection was sold to get my teeth fixed.......so my upper front set cost a Salvadores, a Tomangoes, a Eula Cooper and Four Perfections! Ian D

Certainly worth preserving then Steve. I seriously think it would be worth setting up some form of trust to preserve the best collections and keep them intact. Northern Soul is history and someone needs to preserve it in the same way that other history is maintained and cherished. If somebody in Memphis or Detroit could have thought ahead, then they might have been able to preserve their own history to a better degree! Ian D

Yep, that smack in the kisser with a 1 pint pebble-glass beer mug turned out to be the ultimate 'sinus-deblocker' literally LOL. It actually realigned my nostrils which had been knocked out of shape from a previous punch a few years back, hence for a while it actually greatly facilitated the air-flow through my nostrils until the blood started to congeal............. It's amazing how I managed to retain my good looks after all these nose-flattenings over the years LOL..... Ian D

That's the spirit lad. Save 'em for the archive @ the Northern Soul museum where they'll be treated with love and will give pleasure to countless future generations. That way you can float to heaven knowing that your collection was kept intact and the music will be kept alive for future generations. We'll even put a nice little plaque celebrating the good work Stevie G did for Northern Soul in his lifetime. By the way did I mention that I'm training to be a curator? Ian D

That looks like your stand @ Midem circa the mid 90's? Ian D

Or ban cigs for that matter. Drink and cigs kill more people per annum than any sound system ever has......... I wish they'd stop all this dicking around with none-consequential stuff and start dealing with the major problems....... Ian D

And no sooner do I read this thread, then a TV ad pops up for a "Best Of The Spinners" album from Asda............ So now available at your local Asda...... Ian D

What music business LOL? I'd be curious to know what he's up to........ Ian D

Can you believe that this is the 4th ORIGINAL MASTERCUTS show of 2009 already! Time flies when you're having fun and this week's show really was a gas with lots of interesting subjects bouncing around this week including Youth Clubs, Chickens in ovens, pairs of Levis costing 67 shillings and sixpence back in the day and some nice new bits of terminology like "Wrist- Slashers' and 'Pant-Wetters' LOL...... But as per usual the music takes precedence so here it is.......... Six Million Steps Presents The Original Mastercuts Show with Ian Dewhirst on Sunday 25th January 2009 on www.starpointradio.com. To download the show simply hit the link below! Or for this and all archived shows please pay a visit to www.sixmillionsteps.com where you can download the last 4 weeks worth of all Six Million Steps produced shows. That's 16 hours of free music over the last 4 weeks plus loads of new fully downloadable KILLER mixes in a variety of styles! So let's go with this week's show:- 1st Hour Kathy Sledge - Another Star (Classic Roger Sanchez 12" Mix) Patti Austin & James Ingram - Come To Me (Remix) Chicago Soul Underground feat Kenya Dower - Surrender Five Special - The More I Get To Know (Extended Re-Edit) Brooklyn Express - Girl, You Need A Change Of Mind Lillo Thomas - I'm In Love The B.B & Q Band - Time For Love Delight - Is It Too Late The Nobles - Jealousy M.C.B. - I'm The One, You're The One 2nd Hour Main Ingredient - Don't You Worry 'Bout A Thing Thelma Houston - No One's Gonna Be A Fool Forever The Supremes - Up The Ladder To The Roof Carl Graves - Heart Be Still Carl Carlton - Fighting In The Name Of Love Cecil Shaw - This I've Got To See Joshie Jo Armstead - I Got The Vibes Almeta Lattimore - These Memories Darrell Banks - I'm The One Who Loves You Yvonne Fair - It Should Have Been Me Paris - I Choose You Breakwater - Work It Out Sharon Ridley - Changin' Fatback - So Delicious https://www.sixmillionsteps.com/6MS-2009-01-25-Starpoint.mp3 Thanks to all for listening! Best, Ian D

Agreed. It's only the limiters I'm against because I've had bad experience with 'em in the past and there's nothing worse than having a club with 1000 customers in and the sound suddenly cuts out. Also limiters tend not to take into account different circumstances. If a place is really packed the music has to cut through the increased noise levels of the crowd etc, etc. Mind you I'm not exactly a great advert as I'm almost totally deaf whenever I'm in a club - can't hear a word anyone says to me if there's music playing - I inevitably have to retreat to a quieter location for a conversation LOL......but that's after 35 years of deejaying and I can live with it. Also I can't stand the thought of council busybodies being involved. It's bad enough that they're now monitering my dustbins LOL..... Ian D