Ian Dewhirst
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Posts posted by Ian Dewhirst
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I see that Nivea are now using Sugar Pie de Santo's -GO GO Power (a tune I recently bought off Mark Bicknell after having listened to it on cd for years) such a tune as well! Could do with more exposure and plays out.
What other companies apart from KFC and Felix catfood have used Soul to sell their goods or are these the only ones?
Well obviously Lambrini with "The Snake" and Boots with Ernie K. Doe.
In the past there's been plenty of ads which have used Jackie Wilson "Sweetest Feeling" and "Higher & Higher", Nina Simone's "My Baby Just Cares For Me", Marvin Gaye's "Grapevine" and Otis' "Dock Of The Bay" to name a few.....
Ian D
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OK - following on from the Graham Warr thread where I notice my old pal Simon Soussan gets a mention.
Picture the scene - I'm the first to see Simon when he arrives back from his trip to New York. Lots of in-demand and unknown 45s, so I get a good few off him for past favours i.e phoning him in the States to tell him what's being played/ been discovered that week etc. We meet in Chris Tippings apartment in Foxhill Court, Weetwood Lane Leeds (for those of you who know the area)
No sales list has been produced at the time, so his sponsor for the trip ( Chris Tipping - his dad owned Tipco Tools in Leeds and he had a Ferrari Dino reg LOV 750 - just a bit of useless information, strange how things stick in your memory) decided it would be nice to get some cash back asap and see what the NS scene was all about.
So, we set off Saturday night to the Cats. Good to see Graham, Pep, Max, Alan S etc on the night BUT things start to get a bit ugly ( don't think Simon had started to rip people off by then, I just think the locals decided it would be a good idea to 'roll' Simon for his sales box). Anyway I realised that it was time to beat a hasty retreat and dragged Simon out of there pretty damn quick!! Simon had brought a 'minder' with him - a big soft jewish lad who was neither use nor ornament who nearly sh-t himself and Chris Tipping was useless as well.See to remember running away from a bunch of these guys to our cars.
We then went to the Torch and the rest is history as they say!!!
Julian
(reminiscing)
Haha LOL. At least you didn't get a beer glass in your face like I did right in the middle of doing a swap deal with him @ the Mecca!
Mind you, those two black eyes and a bust nose got me a few nice things thereafter on the basis that I 'saved his life'.....
And more stories please! What did you sell, how much, how rare and to whom did you sell etc, etc......
Speak soon Julian.....
Best,
Ian D
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I think it's a stomper, not crossover at all. And Ian it was the Stylistics who were syrupy, the Delfonics were pure class. (though Point Of No Return by the Stylistics is a great dancer)
Sorry Ady, I meant to say 'treacley'. My excuse but we weren't allowed to like soppy class back then round our way LOL. Anything less than 80mph was considered heresy........
Ian D
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Cant you post propper clips,refosoul jobs like the rest of us cause i dont wanna`left click save then mess about getting it to play.
Apologies Ken. I did try and go the Refosoul route on these but I'm a technological buffoon who still can't manage to work it all out.
I'm going to have another crack in the next day or so hopefully I'll get 'em up there unless some other good soul can oblige.......
Best,
Ian D
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hi mr dewhurst sir!
i do totally agree with you on regionalized tunes but in those days there were not many places one could pick up different stuff,most dealers of the time seemed to have the same tunes for sale so a lot of them were played all over the country the same weekend i would think!! thru the network of dealers if you really got on well with them you could sift thru odd things that were not listed at that time & find a few gems! not generally available, but as you are aware it did not take long before these were pressed to meet heavy demand,when graham came back with his haul i can honestly say i had only got 1 record that he came back with, so a bit of scoop i would say. on an occasion in i think early 72' i swopped simon soussan 6 of my tunes for 87 records that i had never heard before or seen listed anywhere! most of these went on to become massive national favourites as dj's managed to find them, having i think all available lists at my dissposal i know that quite a lot of those 87 tunes remained very rare for years!! then of course the intellegent dealer realised that by supplying selected dj's who were in a position to break new tunes, helped to keep the supply of rarities ongoing, plus you also had guys bring bring you a record to see if you new it & if it was good you would buy it off them, the same still goes on today!! all i can say is "the wonderful world of northern soul" a total mania & long may it live!!!!!!!!!!
max...
Yep, you're right. Graham was one of the (very) few people who actually made the trip to the U.S. back then. He told me a few great stories about his finds and I told him he should write a book! I'm certain that Julian and Brian '45' had their own U.S. based connections, which, in many cases, were from the same souce, so not surprising that the same records were turning up at the same time. Also I can remember the London contingent - Tony, Clarky, Ady, Dave Rivers etc would always be turning up with goodies from their own sources too, so it really was a magical period.
Happy days mate, where every week would bring a whole raft of truly great records. We were very lucky and blessed to be there at the time.
Hopefully I'll see you @ the gig and maybe get a carful of us over!
Best,
Ian D
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HI TONY, I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW WHAT THOSE THREE WERE! IT'S INTERESTING & WHO KNOWS WE MAY BE ABLE TO TOTALLY PINPOINT SOME TUNES!
MAX...
Hey, Blue Max I presume?
I can say one thing, and that is that the scene was slightly more regionalised back then, then it is now what with price guides, the internet, rare soul forums and multiples of people going to the U.S. etc, etc....
I was always hearing about records that Max and Pep had but seldom saw them play 'cos Wolverhampton/Birmingham was a long way from Leeds in the pre M62 days.
I can remember going to the Birmingham Locarno and a few other Brummy area gigs in the early 70's and hearing a lot of sounds which weren't being played elsewhere. In fact that was the first place I ever heard "Afternoon Of The Rhino" and I'm pretty sure Pep had the Volcanoes, Don Varner (?) and many others long before they became popular further North.
Mind you I can remember Twink picking up the United Four and Susan Barratt off Julian Bentley early on and I got one of the few early copies of "Thumb A Ride" off him, so a few rare records were floating around the UK at the time in different regions.
It's great that we have the likes of Graham, Julian and Brian '45' Phillips on here 'cos they were all at the sharp end of record dealing in the early days.
And I can read their stories all day long LOL.......
I'm gonna try and make this gig!
Ian D
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Link not working for some reason - can you check De-To.......?
Ian D
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Not quite sure if you're saying he discovered all those records on the list, because he most certainly didn't.
Sam & Kitty springs to mind - when he returned from the states he had this at £6 on his list ( it was already being played at the Mecca and fetching £20) - trouble is, he'd bloody sold it when I got in touch with him!!!
Seem to remember he was a top bloke though.
Julian
That wouldn't be Julian Bentley - perveyor of fine records back in the day would it?
Ian Dewhirst
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Edited by Ian Dewhirst
IanThe vocalist on "Agent For Love" is Jackie Deane, she was vocalist on the vocal to "Strings Of Life" which Defected had a hit with some years ago.
The record was made in Alcester, near Stratford-Upon-Avon, very much a tongue-in-cheek kind of thing.
I gave first ever play to "Agent For Love" at Ritz all-nighter some years back and Guy Hennigan came running up thinking it was real...if it was good enough for Guy...
Neil
Wow. She's great. Plus sounds really authentic too. Also, I got put onto it by a major collector who rates it very highly. Don't blame him. I actually played it on the radio show yesterday (along with the Delfonics) with a full introduction on it, so if you wanna have a listen go to:-
https://www.sixmillionsteps.com/6MS-2008-03-16-Starpoint.mp3
It's just over halfway through:-
1st Hour
Darlene McCoy - Unity
Deniece Williams - Slip Away
Kenix & Bobby Youngblood - There's Never Been (No One Like You)
Stan Lucas - It's Not The Same
Taste Of Honey - We've Got The Groove
Fonzi Thornton - Beverly
The Live Band - A Chance For Hope
Ron & Candy - Lovely Weekend
The Supremes - Bad Weather
June Evans - If You Want My Loving
Dottie Pearson - Bring It Over Baby
Gloria Scott - What Am I Gonna Do
2nd Hour
The Delfonics - You'll Get Enough
Aldora Britton - Do It With Soul
The Girls From U.N.C.L.E. - Agent For Love
Bobby Hebb - Love Love Love
Arnold Blair - Trying To Get Next To You
Choice Four - Hook It Up
Van McCoy - Soul Improvisations Pts 1 & 2
Jae Mason - Cloud Of Sunshine
Sharon McMahon - Get Out Of My Life
Charles McCormick - I Want You For Myself
The Malemen - Baby Doll
The Isley Brothers - Spill The Wine
Omari - After Loving You
Best,
Ian D
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We have just updated the Soulvation web site
and to tie in with Graham Warr's appearance at the annual ex-Catacombs Dj's bash on Saturday July 12 (nothing to do with the owners of the Catacombs copyright!) at Soulvation @ Lea Hall Club, Rugeley have put up a list from Graham of just some of the records he discovered on trips to the USA and brought back to the UK with them getting their first plays in Temple Street, Wolverhampton.
I was a regular at the Catacombs and can remember the anticipation when Graham was due back from the States but never realised just how many quality 45's he discovered.
Graham must be the most underestimated DJ and record finder ever on the Northern scene? And as he didn't bother with the All-dayers etc that much, probably on the jazz-funk scene too.
This is the list from the web site..The amazing thing is Graham can recall where every record was found and has a story to go with each find.
Haha LOL. I'd take those discoveries anytime! Amazing hit rate.
Regards to Graham - one of the earliest, if not THE earliest Northern Soul crate-digger. I met him @ Keb Darge's a couple of years ago and his stories are legendary - especially his first U.S. trip in 1970 or thereabouts. He isn't referenced as much as he should be IMO - his contribution to both the early Northern scene and Jazz-Funk was massive.
Please give him my regards and tell him to give me a buzz next time he's down thisaway.....
Best,
Ian D
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Now you're talking, I like YGE but Down Is Up is brilliant and I've never heard it played out. £2 record as it sold a million, perhaps that's why; shame on us (well at least me)!
And I don't even have it! Plus not on any of my Delfonics comps either. Blast. Was never too keen on the syrupy slow stuff back then so looks like I'll have to invest £2 on a single LOL....
Ian D
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Edited by Ian Dewhirst
Interesting debate this.
There's always been brand new releases played on the scene alongside the older records and this practise went all the way back to the Torch and probably even the Wheel. Here are a few examples:-
"My Man Is A Sweet Man" - Millie Jackson
"Keep On Keeping On" - N.F. Porter
"This Is The House Where Love Died" - First Choice
"Scub Board" - The Trammps
"Free For All" - Phillip Mitchell
"S.T.O.P" - The Lorelei
Etc, etc, etc. All of the above were brand new U.S. releases, were played at the key venues shortly after their release and all became huge records on the scene.
Many of us used to subscribe to Record Corners lists in the early 70's because they would often get new U.S. Northern releases which were otherwise unavailable and many of them would become huge records in their own right.
So arguably there's always been a place for contemporary new releases on the scene. It's been there since day one!
Ian D
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Hello Ian ,I first heard the Delfonics via a Kent CD of unissued and obscure sides ." Agent for love " has an interesting story , being the vocal of course to Guys from Uncle " The Spy " .In the 70's fanzine editor Dave McCadden [RIP ] ,wrote a made up story asking if anyone had a copy of the vocal to The Spy , titled " Agent for love " .It of course didn't exist , though years later people were claiming to have heard it at Cleethorpes !! The folks at Joe Boy decided to make this in the 90's , recorded in B'ham I think .You probably know this story anyway
,the strange world of Northern Soul eh ? Best ,EddieYeah, but I only heard the song this week and then caught up with the story afterwards. I don't usually like these added vocals - I also listened to a few of the Soussan vocal dubs and they haven't aged well at all - but "Agent For Love" sounds great and pretty authentic to these ears. Also the lyrics have every cliche going - namechecking Agent Double-O Soul and borrowing heavily from Len Jewell's "Bettin' On Love" but I still love it LOL....whoever the vocalist is, she's great!
Also it's funny how things repeat themselves isn't it e.g. Soussan listing a fictitious Bob Relf track called "Reaching For The Best" and then Levine nicking the title for the Exciters track?
And yep, the Northern Soul scene is strange - probably the strangest scene on the planet LOL......
Ian D
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Agree this needs to be played , i ain't a dj in the sense but occasionally get a chance to spin a few early at local soul nights , late spots are always taken !!!....played this twice last year
but no reaction , in the north east anyway....no doubt if it was spun at say middleton it would be well received......just needs a mainliner to give it a go.
I think it's one of those that fell between the gaps - there's loads of 'em out there. Unfortunate that it didn't get found 'til the 90's and that it never came out originally. But what a tune - I like it more than a lot of stuff in the Top 500 LOL......
Ian D
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Am I right in thinking this wasnt issued in the 60s?
I've got it on a Philly Groove reissue with The Crusaders - You Pay For Love on the b side.
Your right Ian, great tune which needs playing out
Yeah, it's 60's recording. I got about 20 CD's from Reid Whitelaw who administrates the Philly Groove catalogue and this was buried away in 'em. I think Goldmine did a custom pressing of it which is probably out of stock now. Some great stuff tucked away on those plus I've got all the instrumentals too, so good listening!
I'm having great fun digging around this gear again 'cos you just never know what you're going to find. I'd play the Delfonics and Johnny Johnson out anytime 'cos neither have really been played before - y'know, mix 'em in with a few rarities and bob's yer uncle.
Talking of which, did you ever hear this? Check file below - I'm sure Glen @ Joe Boy won't mind - I rang him yesterday raving about about this LOL..........
Best,
Ian
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Posted ·
Edited by Ian Dewhirst
I'm in the middle of a collection audit, so I'm re-visiting lots of previously forgotten stuff (like the Johnny Johnson from last week) so every time I bump into something of interest I like posting it.
This is a perfect example. Where was this when we needed it!!!
Prime-time Philadelphia perfection and I reckon they must have heard "If That's What You Wanted" - Frank Beverly 'cos the BV's at the beginning are very similar.
But how come this didn't surface till the 90's? I reckon this would have been huge virtually everywhere if we'd had it in the 70's. Also a rare uptempo workout from the group known for their tear-jerking ballads and the soundtrack of "Jackie Brown" LOL....
I'd love to hear this out and played LOUD! Would sound spectacular. I have permission to post this from the owner.......
Enjoy!
Ian D
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Edited by Ian Dewhirst
After " TITHWLD " , I always endeavoured to listen to any output I came across of FC ........In respect of their other output , I did not really take to " TP " , but liked " AAED " , due to the acceptable and pleasurable vocalising of the lasses on the hook line of the song .....
Quite a few of the tracks they did on their PG albums were good , plus the B sides to 45s , one example being " One Step Away " , as Sean stated .......
Malc Burton
OK, Malc, I know you love the vocals but just listen to the instrumental version of AAED.......
https://www.zshare.net/download/8980868bfb4ca9/
Plus a nice little unreleased First Choice gem "You Became A Woman"
https://www.zshare.net/download/89815528984a39/
Note: I have permission to post these plus any other Philly Groove repertoire from Reid Whitelaw who now administers the catalogue (and is also the co-writer of Magic Night's "If You And I Had Never Met").
Enjoy....
Best,
Ian D
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Just out of intrest was there a more used backing track on the northern scene?
Not to my knowledge. I spoke to Teddy a couple of years back and he laughed when I mentioned all the versions to him. He said "you British guys know more then any of the record companies I kept selling the track to!".
When you consider how many times he sold it to different companies and the fact that Laura Greene was used on the Kentucky Fried Chicken ad, he must have ended up making a bundle from a record which never became a hit no matter how many versions were slung at the wall.
That Subway Riders version was RARE!
Ian D
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Recently, Irma Thomas played a live show here in Lafayette (Southerrn USA a bit west of Nawlins)
As if that isn't enough...
Barbara Lynn... a live set! in my home town!
https://www.theind.com/index.php?option=com...d=1&ed=1012
she'll also be performing at the Ponderosa Stomp
7th Ponderosa Stomp, April 29-30, 2008
https://www.ponderosastomp.com/music_more.php/75/Barbara+Lynn
Barbara Lynn archive article:
https://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Is...?oid=oid:348522
Barbara Lynn space
https://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fusea...endID=243385285
Discography
https://www.melingo.com/thesoulnet/lynn.htm
excellent video
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1mml7_ba...o-have-it_music
I also noticed in the paper today that Percy Sledge is playing at the Cypress Bayou Casino. It just never stops around here!
I admit I like vinyl & everything... but these live shows are the best! I'm goin'!
also, the new orleans jazz fest and fest international are coming up this spring.
music is live!, alive... and well, in Louisiana.
Beats the shit out of Croydon UK LOL......
I mean who wants warm weather, a vibrant economy, plenty of records and Irma Thomas, Barbara Lynn and Percy Sledge on their doorstep?
Oh, hang on, what's this? Karaoke night at the local pub - I take it all back..........
Ian D
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We went to watch Liam spin a few tunes to open the Duffy show last night. He definately turned a few heads and saw a fella come and ask about Timebox - beggin. I was really surprised at the age of the crowd though. I expected young girlies but have to say most of the audience were middle-aged. Duffy has an awesome voice and didnt hit a note wrong - was pleasantly surprised.
heres a few pics.....
oh and of course Duffy,
Yep. Good for all of 'em! Nout up with Liam or Duffy IMO. Duffy's done more in 4 weeks to entice more people into investigating the scene then anything else this year. And you could say Amy did the same thing last year. The general public LIKE the Northern Soul 'sound' when they get exposed to it at this level. There's already compilations being lined-up to further educate 'em as we speak......
Shock horror....Northern Soul is sexy again!
Ian D
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Yep, No.1 single for 4 consecutive weeks, the third biggest-selling record of the year so far with 215, 731 sales as of last week and the biggest airplay audience for several years - 91.01 million listeners over the last 4 weeks.
Her album went in @ No.1 this week as well.
I like it - I wish we had more records like this that have such an impact on the masses. Even if a small percentage of those listeners and buyers go on to listen to more authentic stuff it'll be a good thing.
Ian D
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The Delfonics "you'll Get Enough" - Another Under-rated Gem?
in All About the SOUL
Cheers Steve. Even if I had a boxful of ultra-rares I'd still play it. It's been a fave of mine since the first time I heard it and it elates me every time I hear it and not many records do that these days. It's almost as if Stan Watson went into the studio one day and said, "OK fellas, enough of this soppy shit, let's give those Motown guys a run for their money and put a Delfonics typa spin on it!".
Also weird that there's no strings on it! There's horns on there but no string section which is unheard of on a Delfonics record. I reckon it was probably a demo which never got 'sweetened' or the string section had a day off LOL....
Oh and good luck with The Orwell on Saturday. Give my regards to Sam and Pete Haigh. I'll get up there one day, promise.....
And here's "I Told You So" whilst we're on a Delfonics vibe.......
Best,
Ian D
03_I_told_you_so.mp3