Ian Dewhirst

Nice one Steve. LOL, maybe that's where our audience lies! Now all we need is another 20 thousand young girls and we'll have a good Xmas! Ian D

True Mike. I just felt there was some unjustified criticism and some nasty jibes going on. It's not like there's that many Northern releases on CD these days, so when a decent package comes out I think it should be applauded not derided. What I meant by moaning was comments like:- "Nothing new their then,same old, same old". "Hardly going to set the world on fire is it does beg the question....WHY? you can get most of these tracks free with a packet of cornflakes these days" "I'd like to think my family have got better taste , it's shite." But I guess yer right. Everyone's entitled to an opinion. But, on the other hand, most people don't know how difficult it is to get these projects together. I first heard about this project 18 months ago and I knew that it would have involved some torturous licensing/master/contractual hassles for many of the tracks on here. Saying you can get most of these tracks free with a packet of cornflakes is disingenious to say the least! When was the last time you got a free Patti & The Emblems or Spyder Turner with yer cereal LOL? Ian D

I think people are getting a little bit carried away here. The package is called "A Complete Introduction To Northern Soul", is culled mostly from the Universal archives and was compiled by a guy who came up in the formative years of Northern Soul and then went on to run the biggest and most popular all-nighter in the scene's history. It's 100% logical that Universal should have approached Russ to put this together. Anyone would have leapt at the opportunity believe me. I'm no apologist for Russ. I hadn't even seen him for 35 odd years until last week and I could be famously snitty about some of the tunes he played back in the day, but I won't decry him for his choice of music on this box set, which I think does exactly what it says on the tin. It IS an introduction to Northern Soul and many of these tunes are available on a legit CD for the first time so in my view there's nothing to really moan about in my opinion. In fact, as soon as I became aware that the release was imminent I was the first to ring Universal and get a copy. It's a great package! What I think many people on here are missing, is that it's being aimed fairly and squarely at a much wider market than the majority of many more contemporary Northern Soul CD releases, which have a much more limited sales potential. As an example, the four volumes of The Northern Soul Story which I compiled for Sony-BMG last year have now collectively sold over 100K units in the first year of release because they were aimed at a similar market. 'The Complete Introduction To Northern Soul' package wasn't necessarily designed for the S.S. audience, who, by and large, are not the sort of people who will be rushing into HMV or Asda for the latest Northern Soul reissue CD's anyway, but rather for the 30-40,000+ people out there who are looking for packages of this nature. If it's anything like the same audience who bought Goldmine's "The Wigan Casino Story" (rumoured to be over 60K) then both Universal and Russ will be very happy. It's a different market to the hardcore S.S. audience and, as such, probably won't find many fans reading this particular thread. However, there is a huge audience out here who will love this package and that's the market who this is aimed for. As Russ said t'other night, when he was agonising over what to call the package, he realised that he'd be damned whatever he did so he went for the least offensive title he could think of. I for one think he got it exactly right and I told him so. If it had been me I'd have called it something like "100 Monsters From The Golden Age Of Northern Soul" or something equally crass. So stop bloody moaning and listen to the music instead! It's got pretty much all of the Motown killers and lots of the lesser-known ones on one package along with decently mastered goodies from Cameo Parkway, Kapp, Chess, MGM, ABC, Phillips etc, etc and manages to not replicate several earlier packages and put 'em all in a beautiful 4 x CD package with a beautifully constructed 38 page booklet. Anyone who seriously collects music on CD would be more than happy to have this in their collection believe me! Ian D

Cheers Pete! That's why we put it out! Ian D

Hi Steve, Try it again mate. 1173 downloads to date - just checked it and it's working fine..... Gary The Master Blaster "Cafe Regio's" Soul Intention Limited-Edition 7" https://www.zshare.net/audio/183698315b8bc59d/ Would have thought this was right up your street Steve. Enjoy! Best, Ian D

Good on yer Steve! Enjoy! Ian D

OK, after an agonizing 4 weeks of bad-pressings, 4 seperate lots of test-pressings and 2 different manufacturers we finally have PERFECT copies of one of the records of the year! Everyone who ordered first time around, has now had their orders re-filled at our expense - many apologies for the duff pressings and we're hope everyone's happy with the BRILLIANT new pressing. I've just spent the last 3 days mailing the new copies out to everyone who previously ordered, so we're now taking orders again! Simply go to www.soul-intention.co.uk and place your order! Demand for the record has gone sky-high this week and we're expecting some radio plays this weekend, so we do advise all interested parties to order a.s.a.p. whilst we have the stock. There's also been some massive wholesale interest from abroad, so the stock we've just received is going down very quickly! Don;t say we didn't warn ya! SOUL INTENTION RECORDS www.soul-intention.co.uk "CAF° REGIO'S" - GARY THE MASTER BLASTER! VOC & INST Soul Intention Records are delighted to announce their debut limited-edition 7" only vinyl release of Isaac Hayes' "Caf Regio's" by Gary The Master Blaster backed with a previously unheard instrumental version. It has taken 4 different batches of test-pressings, 2 months and two different record pressing plants to finally get a decent pressing which we can release with pride! The art of pressing 7" vinyl is slowly going the same way as dry-stone walling, so the sheer amount of blood, sweat and tears we went through to finally get this out would need a small book to document the experience! But it's here at last! And the record sounds just fantastic! This record has been pressed on a limited-edition U.S. 7" pressing of 1000 records only on the Soul-Intention label and was released on Monday 10th November 2008. The record is being self-distributed and only targeted towards a vinyl-friendly audience - our motto is "Keeping The Faith In Vinyl" and that's exactly what we propose to do with Soul Intention! So the record goes only to the right people, the right dealers and the right shops. This has never been on vinyl before and is backed with an alternative instrumental take by the Master Blaster Band. The story has been well documented elsewhere on Soul Source and other websites but essentially this is an updated version of Isaac Hayes' "Cafe Regio's" (the 'B' side of "Shaft" no less) which was recorded in 1998 and then overlaid with an original 1970 radio rap from Gary The Master Blaster - the legendary radio D.J. from Miami radio station WCKO who established a huge local audience as a result of his organic early radio 'raps' which were typical of the personality DJ's on U.S. black music stations in the early 1970's. We think this is a unique record which sounds like a breath of fresh air when played loud and is almost like a Detroit up-tempo version of the original Ike Hayes tune with such a Soulful DJ on top of it. A real one-off recording! The alternative-take instrumental version by the Master Blaster Band is simply cream on the top. Hope you enjoy it! For further enquiries, orders and wholesale on Soul Intention releases, please contact www.soul-intention.co.uk or PM Ian Dewhirst or Phil Dick on Soul Source. It's been a trial of fire but it's worth it when you hear the record! Best, Ian D

Great stuff Elias! Plus the instrumental kicks ass doesn't it! The final load to everyone who ordered the first copies is going out today, so I've finally caught up with the faulty pressing fiasco now. Time to start promoting the bugger now.......! Ian D

Yer welcome Gogs! Thanks for the support! Ian D

Talk about coincidence! About 2 hours ago I was with a couple of mates bar-hopping in Covent Garden of all places and as we walked past a restaurant an unbelievable piece of Soul music was playing, so we stood outside and tried to identify it. None of us knew, so I went in and asked the manager who it was and it turned out to be a track off one of Jools Holland's albums. Solomon Burke maybe.....? Ian D

You're welcome mate! Also expect to hear this on the radio this week too. Should have some plays coming courtesy of Eddie Piller and Gary Crowley touch wood. We may even get some Radio 1, 2 and 6 with luck.............. Boy, this record sounds just GREAT over a big system. I couldn't be happier now! Ian D

Great minds think alike Mel! Many thanks mate. Great taste by the way! Ian D

Sure does dude. PM me your address and I'll whack one in't post. You must have got that off Phil 'cos I haven't sold a TP. I sent out a load of packages yesterday and I'll be doing the sweep-up operation today but PM me your address anyway just to be on the safe side, OK? Best, Ian D

You got a promo Graham!!!! Doing better than I am mate! All previous buyers of the track have now been re-mailed the brand new pristine copies - they should be on everyone's doormat by tomorrow morning, so I'm just about finalised on sorting out everyone who had originally paid for a decent pressing. Now you have 'em folks. If any order has slipped through the net for any reason, then please feel free to drop me PM and I'll get it sorted, OK? Also a GREAT gig at the 100 Club tonight with Russ Winstanley, Jo Wallace and Lois Williams slaying the dance-floor (to celebrate the release of "A Complete Inroduction To Northern Soul"), so all good! To see such a vibe on a wet Tuesday night in London with 200 rabid soul fans was just brilliant. Oh yeah and a FREE bar all night which undoubtably helped........ Several key radio plays are coming up tover the next few days so we hope the record will speard like wildfire accross a numer of scenes. Exciting times! This is just the beginning LOL............ Oh yeah, and if there are broadminded GREAT DJ's out there or, in fact, simply anyone who loves a fresh record which sounds like a breath of fresh air, then just PM me and I'll get the sucker to ya! How's that for enthusiam? Best, Ian D

Hi Andy, Try it again mate. I just tried it and it worked fine. There have been a further 18 downloads in the last hour or so, so maybe the traffic was too heavy. Should be OK now...... Ian D

LOL, welcome to the music biz Russ! I saw this album had became available a couple of months ago over on EMS. It's probably saved you a lot of stress and hassle mate. If you'd have gone ahead and done it you'd probably be facing a load of phone calls from other people who also believed they 'had the rights'! These things can turn into horrible quagmires which can sap your time, energy and enthusiam. Also worth pointing out that the art of pressing vinyl is becoming increasingly difficult these days. It's just taken me almost 6 weeks to finally arrive at a decent 7" pressing after going through 4 lots of TP's and 2 different pressing plants (see the new Gary The Master Blaster thread for details). A costly and demoralising experience which I could have done without. So you should pat yourself on the back and buy some more music 'cos you've just saved yourself a whole heap of stress by the sound of it! But if you get anything else along the line then give us a shout. Working with 7"'s is kind of like going full circle for me......... Ian D

Only got the Gary The Master Blaster vocal handy Andy (no pun intended)! Will post the instrumental version up as soon as I can get hold of it (two different masters went to two different pressing plants which means that I don't have one handy right now, which is bloody typical). Here is the 'A' side - a phenomenal 1070 downloads since it was first posted here on Soul Source a couple of months back:- Gary The Master Blaster "Cafe Regio's" Soul Intention Limited-Edition 7" https://www.zshare.net/audio/183698315b8bc59d/ Enjoy! Ian D

Just a quick update for everyone who received the initial copies from the faulty pressing run of "Cafe Regio's" - Gary The Master Blaster and to everyone who has PM'd me over the course of the last few weeks. Yippee! We finally have PERFECT 7" U.S. vinyl copies of the record! It's taken us the best part of 4 weeks, 4 lots of test-pressings which were rejected and two pressing plants to finally get a decent pressing. Everyone who received the original copies will now receive a fresh copy in the post in the next day or two and I'll reply to the various enquiries I've had over the next 48 hours, OK? Here is the updated release info for anyone who's interested:- "CAF° REGIO'S" - GARY THE MASTER BLASTER! VOC & INST Soul Intention Records are delighted to announce their debut limited-edition 7" only vinyl release of Isaac Hayes' "Caf Regio's" by Gary The Master Blaster backed with a previously unheard instrumental version. It has taken 4 different batches of test-pressings, 2 months and two different record pressing plants to finally get a decent pressing which we can release with pride! The art of pressing 7" vinyl is slowly going the same way as dry-stone walling, so the sheer amount of blood, sweat and tears we went through to finally get this out would need a small book to document the experience! But it's here at last! And the record sounds just fantastic! This record has been pressed on a limited-edition U.S. 7" pressing of 1000 records only on the Soul-Intention label and was released on Monday 10th November 2008. The record is being self-distributed and only targeted towards a vinyl-friendly audience - our motto is "Keeping The Faith In Vinyl" and that's exactly what we propose to do with Soul Intention! So the record goes only to the right people, the right dealers and the right shops. This has never been on vinyl before and is backed with an alternative instrumental take by the Master Blaster Band. The story has been well documented elsewhere on Soul Source and other websites but essentially this is an updated version of Isaac Hayes' "Cafe Regio's" (the 'B' side of "Shaft" no less) which was recorded in 1998 and then overlaid with an original 1970 radio rap from Gary The Master Blaster - the legendary radio D.J. from Miami radio station WCKO who established a huge local audience as a result of his organic early radio 'raps' which were typical of the personality DJ's on U.S. black music stations in the early 1970's. We think this is a unique record which sounds like a breath of fresh air when played loud and is almost like a Detroit up-tempo version of the original Ike Hayes tune with such a Soulful DJ on top of it. A real one-off recording! The alternative-take instrumental version by the Master Blaster Band is simply cream on the top. Hope you enjoy it! For further info on Soul Intention releases please PM either myself or Phil Dick. Best, Ian D

Wow. Last week was some week with what with Barack Obama winning the U.S, presidential election and then it was remembrance Sunday before I knew it! So this Sunday plenty of remembering, that's for sure - I decided to be indulgent and play a whole heap of faves from the last 3 years of the show today. So join the party, kick back for a couple of hours and enjoy the show! Six Million Steps Presents The Original Mastercuts Show with Ian Dewhirst, on Sunday 11th November 2008 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 alone! Plus, loads of new fully downloadable KILLER mixes in a variety of styles! So let's go with this week's show:- 1st Hour Betty Wright - Where Is The Love - Danny Krivit Re-Edit First Choice - Armed & Extremely Dangerous Main Ingredient - Happiness Is Just Around The Bend Angie Stone - Wish I Didn't Miss You Basic Black - Whatever It Takes Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes - Today's Your Lucky Day Glenn Jones - Meet Me Halfway There Swade - Spend My Day Alone Solo - Blowin' My Mind Stephanie Mills & Teddy Pendergrass - Two Hearts Rene & Angela - Secret Rendevous 2nd Hour Barbara McNair - Lone Lonely Town Edward Hamilton & The Arabians - Baby Don't You Weep The Velvelettes - These Things Will Keep Me Loving You Darrell Banks - Open The Door To Your Heart Gladys Knight & The Pips - Take Me In Your Arms And Love Me Edwin Starr - I Have Faith In You Rena Scott - We Can Make It Better Ujima - I'm Getting Hip (To Your Ways & Actions) Bobby Womack - Daylight Billy Paul - It's Too Late Des'ree - You Gotta Be David Ruffin - Walk Away From Love The Spinners - Games People Play Ashford & Simpson - Get Out Your Hankerchief Jean Carn - If You Wanna Go Back Tongue N' Cheek - Tomorrow https://www.sixmillionsteps.com/6MS-2008-11-09-Starpoint.mp3 Best, Ian D

Oh there's some great car crashes in there Una! I totalled two cars coming back from Cleethorpes alone! I needed some action sequences in there - it can't all be Sex, Drugs and Northern Soul can it.........? Ian D

If only. I think I'll have to wait 'til I've finished the bugger. With the way things are going just lately, it looks like that'll be my pension LOL..... Ian D

Obviously not to your taste then Dave........ And Johnny did share an anecdote or two on the Greatest Record Finds Of All Time thread from earlier this year..... Season's goodwill to you too mate! Ian D

LOL, I wonder who that could be? Good job my long-term memory is pretty infallible compared to the short-term! Ian D

Well, it looks like it's gonna be another typical November Sunday afternoon with the rain lashing down, so pour yourself a nice cuppa or maybe something stronger and settle down for 2 hours of beautiful soulful gems from across the eras. Coming up today LIVE @ 2.00-4.00pm on The Original Mastercuts Show on www.starpointradio.com. The emphasis this week is just on pure quality songs, so curl up and lose yourself to...... Betty Wright, First Choice, Main Ingredient, Angie Stone, Basic Black, Glenn Jones, Swade, Solo, Stephanie Mills & Teddy Pendergrass, Rene & Angela, Bernard Wright, Barbara McNair, Edward Hamilton & The Arabians, The Velvelettes, Darrell Banks, Gladys Knight & The Pips, Edwin Starr, Rena Scott, Ujima, Bobby Womack, Billy Paul, Des'ree, David Ruffin, The Spinners, Ashford & Simpson, Jean Carn & Tongue N' Cheek See you @ 2.00! Ian D

My most faithful listener Mel! As always spot on mate! Many thanks........ Ian D