Ian Dewhirst

Yep, I hear Ocky's doing the Brighton commute a bit these days! Good to see 'em getting on and good to see 'em both in good form again! Ian D

Well LOADS of people seem to be turning up again Al. From the Northern scene on SS alone we've seen Ian Levine, Andy Simpson, Kegsy and Swish in the last couple of weeks alone, all alive and kicking which you wouldn't have laid bets on for some of 'em some 35 years ago LOL.... And the last Soul Revolution in London was like a Central Jazz-Funk reunion with a good 20 odd of the old Central Jazz-Funk crowd there like Ocky, Douglas from Manchester, Lesley, Maureen from Ravensthorpe etc, etc. I couldn't believe it. Couldn't believe Steve Caesar wasn't there but I bet he'll be there next time...... Also I highly recommend the Wakefield City Soul Crew do's @ The Red Bar in Wakefield on the first Saturday of every month as you never know who's going to be there and it's a great mixture of old Northern and Jazz-Funk/Disco era bods from the Central. Sites like SS probably do more in terms of reuniting long-lost friends from the various eras then a zillion MySpace, Friends Reunited and Facebooks. As I've said before, this is a brilliant facility for which we should all be very thankful, so hats of to Mike and the Mods for THE No.1 Northern Soul forum on the net. Also the threads are always exciting and thought provoking which shows you how active this scene is around the world. Job well done! Ian D

It's one thing having 300 nice young arses hanging over the balcony @ Blackpool Mecca in 1975 but quite another to have the same 300 arses doing it 33 years later Al. Hang on a minute, is there a Guinness World Record for O.A.P. mooning...................? Ian D

Hiya Steve! Good fun wasn't it? Nice wide age range on the stage LOL... Ian D

LOL, Swish to a tee! I had to tick him off a couple of times for either incoherent microphone technique or long gaps between records but the Saturday nights he was resident at the Central are amongst the fondest memories I have! Ian D

Great post Jayne. I was going to add something along very similar lines, in that most DJ's start off in their own way and pretty much develop organically anyway. I'm sure Alex is no exception. What I was really trying to get across in this thread was more a sense of jubilation that there are actually 16 years olds who want to play Northern Soul! Given the fact that I have a 14 year old myself (she's an R'n'B freak) and that I don't get to see too many young Northern DJ's, it was a cause for celebration just seeing Alex play. And a refreshing change. I just think he should be encouraged. This scene's not the easiest scene to DJ to. I think we all know that. So I'm all for encouraging anyone who has the gumption to get in front of a staunch Northern crowd with his own rig and play a great set at such a tender age. It'll be a bonus if he starts breaking his own sounds! We all started somewhere and he's looking in good shape @ 16. Also I should point out that I have no connection with Alex or his Dad or anyone else for that matter. None of 'em knew I was gonna throw a thread down...... But I should also point out that I asked on several previous threads where the next Northern Soul audience will come from and my guess was that there would be a new younger breed of DJ's who would take Northern Soul to tomorrows young audiences. I guess it helps if you also know your stuff and are technically competent like Alex seems to be. It's a hapless job but someone's gotta do it..... Ian D

Good point. If Alex reads this maybe he can oblige. I didn't have time to quiz him on his taste as I was busy trying to follow him..... This was an oldies gig but young Alex had enough boxes to suggest he could pretty much cover everything.... Ian D

It comes with the turf dude. Plus James probably causes most of 'em. Ian D

Don't tell me Kegsy runs a hotel? The mind boggles...... Ended up in the Etap in Leeds quaffing champagne with a hen party 'til 7.00am, so had a pretty good time anyway! Ian D

I've now wrecked three cars for the cause of Northern Soul. Two spectacular crashes coming back from Cleethorpes and one where I was coming back from Louth on a Thursday early morning and got stuck in a field @ 3.00 in the morning! I've still got the mud stains to this day........... Are any of you oldies passing your records along to the youngsters yet? I think they should get a youth discount LOL..... Ian D

He's been collecting since he was 8 Simon! He probably raided his old man's collection over the years although he insists all his records are his own. By the way, I crashed my car in Leeds on Friday night trying to find the bloody hotel! Sound familiar? Ian D

I didn't know Alex was on here. If he is, then so much the better. Local promoters should take note, I'd book him in a flash! Ian D

Where where you Malc? I will bump into one of these days won't I? Even Schofield came along and then we checked out the Central (Hi-Fi Club) on Saturday. Leeds is rockin' even though I had a car crash and no sleep! Bit like the old days in fact........ Ian D

I only met her briefly on Friday Andy. Lovely lass who I wish I'd chatted with more as you don't get too many female DJ's on the scene. I think she was born a couple of years after I left Leeds! And she probably did buy the Jackie Moore 12" - another real enthusiast. On Friday I was in my usual 'laissez-faire' pre-deejaying mood happily chugging away pints with Liam the promoter when I suddenly realised that the guy deejaying was pretty good. When Liam told me he was only 16 I was amazed. But then I remembered I was that age when I started so I checked him out and watched him for the next 30 minutes. Definitely the real deal and very refreshing to see some youthful energy behind the decks...... Made me feel so nostalgic that I actually went down to the Hi-Fi club (formally Leeds Central) on the Saturday night to see what was happening down there these days. Boy has the place changed! It looks much bigger now and they've really kept the character of the place. Felt like home. Music was interesting and very eclectic - some early James Brown uptempo stuff, "Long Train Running" - The Doobie Brothers, "Alright, Alright, Alright" - Mungo Jerry (which sounded great), some Curtis and a great Reggae version of "Upside Down". Yound crowd - all in their early 20's. The only thing missing was a guy with long hair right down his back who when he spun, sprayed a nice belt of sweat into everyone's faces LOL! Ring any bells Andy? I had a good weekend trawling around places I haven't been for 25 odd years. Still lively in Leeds for sure! Young Alex should go for a residency @ the Hi-Fi Club 'cos he'll get a young crowd in there and probably spawn the next generation of Northern Soul fans in Leeds! Y'now it was kinda nice to see plenty of young energy at these places. All they need is the opportunity to hear the right stuff with people their own ages and a few OAP's and that would be a good balance instead of the other way around! Ian D

Sign of the times! Ian D

Just a quickie, we always seem to question the lack of young people on the scene but on Friday night @ Leeds Irish Centre myself, Steve Luigi and Lucy Locket had the pleasure of deejaying with a youngster called Alex Simms (son of John Simms who used to go to the Central in the early 70's). This kid was great! He's not only a serious DJ with several well-stacked boxes of his own originals and his own sound system but he clearly loves the music and dances with all the passion and energy a 16 year old can muster. Yep. 16 years old! Credit where credit's due. He clearly has the same passion about what he does as many of us did when we started out at the same age and it was refreshing to see someone less than 40 yrs old behind the decks who could play with a level of professionalism which would put many to shame. Check him out if you get the chance. This is exactly what the scene needs IMO. Nice one Alex. Pleasure to work with ya! Ian D

I concurr with everything Tony and Ian have said above on some of the artists who badmouth companies. Whilst it's fair to say that most record company contracts were crap anyway, many of us in the re-issue game often get stuck with artists whose careers we are attempting to boost/resurrect only to be virtually held to ransom sometimes because the artist signed a lousy contract 20 odd years ago. I spent 3 years of my life comprehensively re-issuing the best part of the Salsoul catalogue with virtually no help from many of the acts! If you do a licence deal with a U.S. company, then the U.S. company is obliged to pay on the royalties, providing the artist is recouped. And that's usually where the bone of contention lies, as very few artists ever recoup in my experience. It's a thankless task for a fan of the music, as you spend half your life arguing with your heroes about the fact that you've already paid a huge advance to the owner of the repertoire and have to recoup that advance before you can start making payments wily-nily. Myself and my then partner paid $150,000 for the priviledge of re-releasing a U.S. labels 70's & 80's repertoire in the UK for 3 years. We did over 90 releases, all lovingly put together with passion, pride and the maximum respect for the original artists. End result: We only just recouped the advance after the end of the licensing period and both of us ended-up working for free for 3 years! Which is why I'm broke these days. Yet throughout this period we regularly got held-up/high-jacked and black-mailed by some of the artists. We once had 2 days worth of Press and prime-time TV set up for a well-known Soul Diva, who then refused to do any of the stuff unless we paid her a £1000 per diem per day. All this happened whilst I was juggling bills and wondering where my next paycheck would come from.....all during a point where I wasn't even earning £1000 a year........ For sure there's a million stories about artists getting ripped-off but take note that there are only a small handful of those great independent companies from the 60's, 70's and 80's still operating. Most of 'em went bust or went out of business, 'cos it's expensive running a record company as I know too well.......... Ian D

Haha LOL. With the best will in the world, Charlie Records aren't exactly renowned for their accounting procedures anyway are they? Unless I'm mistaken, Universal have given up the ghost of even chasing 'em on the Chess catalogue haven't they? I'm not even sure what country they're operating from at present............ Ian D

Yep, that makes sense. It's the same musicians I believe........ Ian D

Well blow me down! You're absolutely right - it's thinly disguised instrumental version of "Domino"! How weird. I bought it in Peterborough for a tenner in '75 completely unheard 'cos I liked the look of it but it's taken an SS post 33 years later to state the bleedin' obvious...... Ian 'Cloth Ears' D

Rumour has it that there's Stafford and post-Stafford 100 Club albums in the works to cover this neglected period! Long overdue by the looks of it.......... Ian D

This thread's really handy actually Russ. A lot of the 70's Nighter regulars had taken a break in the 80's & 90's to marry, have kids, advance careers and so forth, and maybe didn't get back into it for a while, so to many people both Stafford and post Stafford can be a bit of a blur musically - one of the reasons why there's so much ignorance about this era from some quarters. Many people simply don't know the tunes.......I'm still playing catch-up myself....... Also there wasn't much in the way of Stafford or post Stafford compilations to catch up with either. Did much of this stuff come out on Goldmine? Either way, it's certainly an era which needs documenting........ Ian D

Sorry for highjacking Russ. So I guess post Stafford will be mid '86 onwards.......? Ian D

At least you can refresh yourself on the key details for the liner notes with the help of SS contributors, y'know salient things like opening date/closing date/DJ line-ups etc, etc! That Harold Melvin poster that Chalky just posted would be handy for the booklet too! Also we may need to track down a couple of music files too.......... Ian D

Let's get this right Dave. You ran the No.1 all-nighter in the 80's and you can't remember when it closed? I'd hate to do a Stafford comp with you mate! Ian D