Ian Dewhirst

There seems to be a ton of glitches in the ebay system these days! If they put some resource into sorting them out properly there would be a lot less frustration IMHO. Sometimes it makes you lose the will to live....... Ian D

Must be a test press from the record plant - that's really the only explanation. Also Salsoul ran through a few majors at different times - generally it was RCA in the 70's so maybe they switched to Columbia for a while in the 80's which would make sense..... I'll check in the next few days - I ran the UK Salsoul label from 2002-2005 and I'm still in touch with 'em so I'll let you know what the prognosis is....... Best, Ian D

Ouch. I'm bitten LOL..... I actually found the first 3 copies of the record and sent 'em over to the UK from L.A., but I never actually played it - not my kind of record at all. But it went massive the same way as Paul Anka, Beverly Anne, Larry Santos etc, so it's just part of the weird and wonderful tapestry of Northern Soul. Didn't help when Soft Cell covered it and had a massive hit as well. Obviously a popular song whichever way you look at it......... Best, Ian D

Haha LOL - I just wrote a reply on this on another forum. It is coming out on CD, apparently with extra tracks but find a link yet but I'm sure it's true..... And here's what I just wrote...... Always one of the greats. 'Bout time on CD! Buy it while ya still can - a lot of stuff is getting deleted or out-of-stock quite quickly and not getting re-pressed unless there's a decent demand. Plus a lot of dealers don't bother re-ordering slow sellers, especially in this climate. Moral: Have a CD spree this Xmas/New Year (especially the sales) and pick up all those things you kinda need, like the above 'cos you may not see 'em again. Plus they'll become RARE in a few years! A digital master of "The Show Must Go On" with extra tracks and notes! Buy 10 and sit on 'em. Someone will always want this @ top CD quality! Ian D

And two more pure Northern tracks from Mr Bataan are "Continental Square Dance" (the original version of Laso Square by Laso but recorded in '69) and "Johnny" both on Salsoul........ Best, Ian D

Hahaha LOL! There's always a 'rite of passage' on most scenes I think. Because the Northern Soul scene was very exclusive when I arrived (circa 1970), I had to go through a few months of being a 'div'. The Wheel boys saw us snotty-nosed kids as an embarassment at the time and so we had to keep a respectable distance. It was a bit like "Quadrophenia" when everyone looked up to Ace in the film. The Northern Soul ecquivalent to Ace, were the Wheel veterans. I was lucky 'cos I stumbled into a tight bunch of Torch regulars from Heckmondwike and Liversedge - Sid, Rod, Smithy, Twink, Alan and they introduced me to the heirachy LOL.. I think that passion should be encouraged whatever a person's age is. If some kid of 16 has the same kind of passion that I had at that age, then they should be encouraged as much as possible. Someday those snotty-nosed kids will be the next generation of DJ, Collectors, Dealers, Writers and Fans. One thing's for sure - the Northern Soul scene sorts out the wood from the chaff. That's why it's still here and thriving! Ian D

Never seen it ever. Weird. Ian D

Walters & Sisters "How Long" I haven't ever managed to find another copy of this since I sold mine to Sam. Can anyone oblige with an MP3 via PM? I don't think it's ever been on a comp has it......? Thanks in advance. It'll make an old man very happy LOL..... Ian D

Haven't seen Clarky in years! I used to catch him @ record fairs now and then when he was working for some guys in Guildford in the late 80's. I first met him circa 1972/73 whenever I travelled down to London record hunting. He was always @ Cheapo Cheapo in Berwick Street and we'd natter for hours about Northern Soul whilst I'd pick up stuff like the Ideals, the Heartbreakers and the Vontastics for 25p a pop from the stall - I think this may have been even prior to Ady working there..... So I've actually known him 35 years gulp! I did hope to see him @ the Forum the other week - Mike Ritson hinted that he may make it but 'cest la vie. Hope he's OK. He's always been a top Soul Man as long as I can remember! Best, Ian Dewhirst

Yep, Champy rang me yesterday so I've put it in my diary! Be great if we could get Stuart Cosgrove and Caesar down as well - that'd make for a great night I'm sure! Best, Ian D

Hi Steve, Yep, saw Tommy @ the Kent 25th Anniversary @ The Forum - looking very dapper for a 74 year old! But didja know that Paul Schofield used to be his Road Manager in the early 1970's? Small world innit? Best, Ian D

I can remember this being on the Global wholesale list @ 75p a copy in the early 70's, so there's loads of 'em out there somewhere.......... And why are the horns so off-key on the Towanda Barnes version? Must have been a quickie session or something...... Ian D

Isn't there a decent 'younger' Northern type scene going on in the States at the moment? I've received tons of U.S. Soul Club MySpace adds - there seems to be one for every city and the music seems to be a blend of Northern and local R'n'B for the most part. The funny thing is they seem to know quite a few of the greats and current biggies but occasionally slip up on other stuff. The one in Chicago had never heard of "Do The Pearl Girl" and "Libras Really Do Run It" for instance but seemed quite knowledgeable on lots of other stuff..... I even had a major L.A. female Mod DJ asking me if I could recommend some 60's L.A. Northern stuff as she wants to start featuring it in her sets. Different scene altogether but still encouraging I think.... Also presumably the young Americans won't be carrying the same kind of baggage that we have over here LOL..... Ian D

Brilliant Thread this. I could do with a compilation of this stuff NOW! I'm going to dig around and see if I can find a few - I know they're in there somewhere........... Ian D

If I remember rightly the Demob lot were well into Northern Soul. They were involved in a band from Scarborough called The Friday Club in the early 80's who had a Northerny vibe about 'em. Ian D

And that was a pretty snazzy red outfit you were wearing down @ Cork's the other month guvnor...... Ian D

"Santa Clause Please Listen To Me" - Artie Fullilove Best, Ian D

Quite a few:- "This Gets To Me" - Pookie Hudson "What" - Judy Street "It Ain't Easy" - Charles Russell "I Know You're Leaving Me" - Si Hightower "I Wonder Why" - Si Hightower Plus lots of 70's Modern gear way too numerous to mention but most of 'em have gone big since. 100's of lovely originals including Terrible Tom, Willie Hutch, Lou Ragland, Morris Chestnut, Viginia Blakely, Ty Karim, James Gresham, The Servicemen, Tobi Bowe etc, etc. I used to send the majority of the stuff over to Neil Rushton who then filtered 'em out to various jocks at the time. Couple of memorable things which happened..... One time Neil rang up to ask me to get hold of a few hundred copies of the Glass Family record "Smoke Your Troubles Away" on Earhole Records. I checked the label and it had a contact number for a guy called Jim Callan who also turned out to be the engineer for Parliament! I arranged to pick up 500 copies of the record from Jim @ a studio in Hollywood.....where Parliament were recording "Flashlight"! So the first time I met George and the boys was late '76 whilst they were recording one of their most popular songs. One of my first chemical experiences too (thanks a bunch George!). Also I kinda take credit for Simon Soussan discovering Frank Wilson. I met Tom Depreiro (?) and Susanne Depasse when I was trying to get Shalamar signed to Motown with "Uptown Festival" and they were very interested. I took Simon along for the next meeting and he then got in with Tom whilst I had to come back to the UK 'cos my visa had run out. He somehow persuaded Tom to let him look in Motown's archive library which is where he found and 'appropriated' the first copy of Frank Wilson (which Kenny Burrell now owns). So I reckon if I hadn't hung around Motown all day waiting to meet Tom Depriero and Susanne Depasse, Simon would never have got into Motown's archive - he lacked the patience to wait around and would have pissed everyone off no doubt! Loads more stories but I've gotta save some for the book LOL...... PM me yer number and we'll have a natter and see if we can drag Caesar along as well..... Best, Ian D

We've all had those mate! I once went to a shop in Batley in about 1975 which was run by a biker. There were 1000's of old U.S. 45's from the Doo-Wop eras through to the mid 60's but very little obvious Northern stuff at that time. When the slower, earlier stuff started being played in the late 70's and Stafford era 80's, I realised that many of those records were in the Batley shop - I have a photographic memory for labels I've seen. Naturally I could never find the guy again........ I think there were a couple of places in Nottingham too weren't there? I know the Ila Vann's all came from Nottingham whilst the only copies of the Del-Larks all came from Jim Wilson's Records in Shoreditch..... Ian D Ian D

I read about it! Amazing score. It was Record Surplus wasn't it.....? Ian D

Good enough for me - especially post e-bay and price guides! It's a hell of a lot more difficult these days that's for sure. Thought for the day: the 2nd or 3rd copy of the Invitations "Skiing In The Snow" was bought in a U.S. Woolworths sales for 15 cents! Times have sure changed....... Ian D

I'd probably have a scan through Soul Brothers 12" catalogue which should give you some idea of most of the prices. Pull out any P&P 12"'s and any which were played up North back in the day (D.C. Larue, Esther Williams, Jobell etc) as they don't turn up that often and are now being discovered by younger DJ's. Best, Ian D

Well the way I always looked at it, was that if someone could genuinely use a record more than me, then the record would be better off in their collections rather than mine. What's the point in just having records gathering dust on the shelf when someone else could be genuinly using 'em? Si Hightower was a perfect example. At the time you were one of the few collectors in the country who was genuinely interested in Deep Soul and none-dancers, plus I could tell that you really dug the record. And really you were the best owner for that item at that time I reckon. The subsequent history of the record demontrates that I think. But only £4???? I must have been nuts. Mind you, back then, how many buyers for that type of record were there? Hardly any believe me - that's why I loved it when you came over LOL.... By the way, I've bumped into a similar collector down here - Steve Rumney, who is really into a lot of Deep stuff albeit with slow rhythms underneath, so I'd like to put him onto you and vice versa if you're up for it. He has a lot of stuff and he's always on the lookout for more...... But more to the point, how much did Rod pay for Si LOL? He never actually told me....... Best, Ian D

Darrell Banks "Open The Door To Your Heart" @ my local - The Woodman bar in Carshalton a little while back. Nothing to do with me - it just came on! Ian D

OK, how about this: One pissing down miserable Tuesday I was in Bradford still coming down from the weekend and feeling generally pissed off, so went to Bostocks in Bradford Market 'cos they always used to have tons of imports (they bought out the MGM/Verve Warehouse in the States so this is where the Tymes, Dottie Cambridge, The Shalamars, April Stevens, The Righteous Brothers Band, The Charades and many others were discovered along with lots of other stuff like Alice Clark etc). One of the big records at the time was "Sidra's Theme" on the Sidra label. Lo and behold I found a record for 25p called "As Long As You Love Me (I'll Stay)" by Ronnie & Robyn on Sidra. Turned out to be the vocal version before anyone knew there was one! Same market, two years later I found the first copy of Lenny Curtis "Nothing Can Help You Now" on End. Over the years there were literally hundreds of Northern Soul discoveries from this one outlet. Every so often Levine would come back from the States with fresh discoveries and some of us would know that the records were @ Bradford Market - the Righteous Brothers Band and Spiral Staircase are two good examples, so sometimes there'd be a queue of people waiting for the market to open on a Monday morning after the weekend LOL...... I think Bradford Market was one of the key places for Northern Soul discoveries in the early 70's along with Global in Manchester. Also, the travelling fairs would sometimes have U.S. imports as prizes for shooting galleries or hook the duck stalls etc, etc. I found a copy of Don Gardner's "I Can't Help Myself" at one, although I have a feeling that the fairs used to get their stock from Bostocks themselves. It might be a good idea for a thread as to where many of the best places to find Northern Soul in the UK were back in the day. On the other hand it could be horrible as well, looking at the prices now LOL! More to come....... Ian D