Ian Dewhirst

Hi Stu, Airbrush from history??? No way Jose. I had to leave quite a few venues out - Bradford Polish Club was my first ever Northern gig, followed eventually by Taurus @ Venn Street (my mate Al Horseford's Dad used to own the venue, so that's how we got it) and numerous others spring to mind - Halifax Tiffanies, the Cat's Whiskers in Leeds, Normanton Working Mens Club etc, etc - I kinda listed the more regular venues so as not to bore everyone to death...... Also, you're too shy - I would've thought your time @ NME & Channel 4 would have certainly conflicted your ability to travel to too many Northern gigs - especially in the 80's, 90's and 00's! Anyway how are ya? Are you still in touch with Steve Caesar (who I haven't seen for a while)? I presume you're working @ Victoria these days, so if you're up for a drink then PM me and we'll fix a time - it's on my way home when I'm working in town so I'm pretty free most of the time. Did you go to the Forum last week? Now THAT was a gig..... Best, Ian D

Haha LOL. Touche. Are we ever gonna have that local drink? I missed you @ The Forum t'other week but you were kinda busy..... Best, Ian D

Great thread! I'm doing OK on most things but there's at least a few which I need to check out again. I've still got my Clyde McPhatter original UK MCA album with the immortal "Please Give Me One More Chance" which I first heard on the way back from Sale Mecca on a Thursday night courtesy of a tape Andy Simpson from Bradford had at the time. The same journey was where I also heard "I'm So Glad I'm Me" by the Ebony's also from an album - "Determination" I think...... I was also quite partial to the Exciter's "Caviar And Chitlins" and Thelma Houstons album on Mowest I seem to remember. Spoilt for choice at the time 'cos that's when "What's Going On", "All Directions" and "Music Of My Mind" came out as well, so a Northern/Contemporary split was going on. And Millie Jackson too. "Caught Up"!!!!! Like I said, GREAT thread! Ian D

Typical that the group on tour doesn't feature Russell Thompkins Jnr - to many the real voice of the Stylistics - could anyone else sing "Betcha By Golly Wow" with the clarity and perfection that he did? Hope the gigs are priced accordingly! Still be fun though.......... Ian D

PJ Proby? Bobby Vee? Maybe there should be a defintive 60's Pop stomper thread........? Ian D

I've got a few like that. I LEFT a 100 count box of Lew Kirton "Heaven In The Afternoon" @ a warehouse in Stafford @ 25p each 'cos I hated the damn record! A couple of years later it took off and started fetching nutcase money....... I did find 50 copies of Eloise Laws "Love Factory" and 50 copies of Segments Of Time "Memories" and also the rarest record in Belgium at the time ("Heartless Lover" - The Dick Baker Combo on another Kool Kat label) plus 2 Terrible Tom's and a Johnny Caswell for 25 cents each @ an L.A. junk shop in the middle of industrial east L.A. And of course, I did find the ONLY ever copy of the Si Hightower Monarch Test Pressing which I later sold to the good Colin Dilnot for £15 in 1978 on the basis that it was 'too deep' for me LOL....... Ian D

Yep! When I bought the 2nd copy of the Carstairs for £15 off Dave Rivers @ the Heavy Steam Machine in Hanley circa 1974. When I found the 1st real copy (outside of Simon Soussan's) of Willie Hutch's "The Duck"/"Love Runs Out" at an L.A. record dealers house in 1976. When I swapped the Exception's "You Always Hurt Me" on Capitol for the ONLY UK copy of the Four Perfections "I'm Not Strong Enough" on Partytime off Arthur Fenn circa 1975. When I went in a shop called 1940 Jukebox Company in Denver, Colorado and found everything for 25 cents each in 1987. Now THAT was a "geddin there you beauty" day I can tell ya............ However, I also turned down a Billy Woods off John Anderson for £3 in 1973, so not all roses LOL........... Ian D

Dynamite record! Played this on a Paris radio show a couple of years and blew everyone's mind as they hadn't ever heard it before. I remember the exact time Levine played this upon his return from the U.S. Surely this would have been huge at the Wheel if it had been discovered then wouldn't it? Ian D

Cheers Chalky! Ian D

Actually I agree with Mr Smith as well Tony. The P.J. Proby version is a little slow for these ears compared with the Idle Few's storming version innit? Best, Ian D

Does anyone have any info on Henry Brooks - The Greatest Debt To My Mother on P&P please? How long has it been around? Year? Any value? Etc, etc Many thanks, Ian D

Does Herbert Hunter's "I Was Born To Love You" on Spar qualify? In fact there were a few on the label weren't there - Jenny & The Jewells and a cover of "Selfish One" I seem to remember........ Best, Ian D

Actually my 'holiday' started in '76 when I went to the U.S. to look for undiscovered Northern stuff. When I came back 6 months later I went to quite a few Northern venues and even ran Leeds Central Northern Night on Saturday nights but I guess I'd kinda moved on in many ways - it would have difficult for me to have continued my passion at the same intensity that I had from 1970-76 - which I truly believe was what people keep referring to as 'the Golden Age of Northern Soul'. However I never stopped dropping in on venues from '76 - present and enjoyed 'em for the most part - in fact I was @ The Forum for Kent's Anniversary on Friday night and that was one of the greatest events I've ever been to in the last 40 years! Plus I still kept in contact and sold records to lots of DJ's and collectors throughout the period from '76 - '90, so I never completely lost touch. So maybe I just got older and developed some other interests which absorbed me as much as the Northern scene had in earlier years? But it's really hard to convey to people exactly how huge the Northern scene was back then. We really were spoilt for choice. I personally had several gigs every week - Burnley Cricket Club (Tuesday), Leeds Central, Huddersfield Starlight, Sheffield Samanthas (Friday), Wigan Casino/Cleethorpes Pier (Saturday)and numerous Sunday All-Dayers. My weekend started quite often on Thursday night and would continue until Sunday night/Monday morning. Plus the quality of the records was overwhelming in my opinion - I don't think there can be any doubt that the period from the Wheel to Wigan Casino really was an incredible period of dicovery for Northern Soul records. Also I think I read somewhere that at one point in the mid 1970's there were circa 100,000 Northern Soul fans over those years. Certainly records like "Hey Girl Don't Bother Me" (No.1), "There's A Ghost In My House" (No.3) and "You Sexy Sugar Plum" (No.22) were capable of becoming UK Pop hits back then selling tens of thousands in the process. It was a vibrant exciting time to be a Northern Soul fan if you were into both the music and the buzz as I certainly was. Also, with many people, one of the key periods in their lives is between 15-25 - 'the carefree years' (in my case 15-Present LOL) and I think that has a bearing on why people 'dropped-off'. I could never understand at the time why so many of the local Wheel and Torch veterans dropped off the radar in the Mecca/Wigan years. It was generally 'cos of wives, kids, work, mortgages etc, etc. You know - growing up and being responsible.... In conclusion I think it's really impossible to run a comparison between different eras. Times change. I personally preferred many of the 60's and 70's Northern records 'cos I was there at the time! In retrospect I've ended up liking a lot of the later discoveries from the 80's to present and enjoying pretty much all of the gigs, albeit with not the same level of intensity that I did in my younger years. Although last Friday @ The Forum gave me a good run for my money! Best, Ian D

Ron & Candy - Lovely Weekend Dooley Silverspoon & Jeanie Burton - Am I Losing You Ian D

Actually selecting just one person from the last 40 years is a daunting task Malc. What I think could work, would be to put together a list of key contributors in the various decades over the entire period. For instance, the 60's would almost definitely have to include: Roger Eagle Trevor Churchill Dave Godin Brian '45' Phillips Etc, etc And the 70's John Anderson Ian Levine Colin Curtis Soul Sam Mary Chapman Etc, etc - you get the drift. In fact it would make a really nice project for someone who runs a magazine to do an 'icon a month' article and then turn it into a book sometime in the future. There's not enough documentation or first-hand accounts of the 60's era and even some of the info from the early 70's can be sketchy. Plus, as we know too well, none of us are getting any younger, so it would be great to do a definitive project which covered the whole era methinks.... Best, Ian D

Looks like they were playing my Blackpool Mecca CD - Vol 3 from the Northern Soul Story! That's the spirit! Ian D

Still in the UK Mel - owns a couple of houses in Wembley........ Best, Ian D

Sorry mate - been away and obviously out of touch! Could paste the clip anyway LOL.... Ian D

Best advert of the moment? I predict this will bring Northern Soul back into media fashion again big time. All regular DJ's will now have to have a requisite 'Lambrini' session for drunken hen parties LOL.......

Actually Greg Wilson tipped me about this article. I went to the Timepiece when Les deejayed there in the early 70's and it was a real Funk club, no doubt. Quite scary for a couple of white guys from Leeds (I went with Paul Schofield I seem to remember). But Northern Soul never really clicked in Liverpool. The only guys I can remember being into Northern from Liverpool were Dennis Brennan (a big UK label collector) and Pete Lawson (R.I.P.). Also Liverpool always had different records to the rest of the country even on the Funk/Jazz-Funk/Disco scene - I used to natter to to Terry Lennaine when I was a plugger for Decca in the 70's and they always had different 'big' records to the rest of the scene at the time. So Liverpool's just one of those places where Northern Soul really didn't figure that much. Has there ever been a great Northern Soul venue there? Can't think of one..... So Les isn't to blame for his statement - he just never really got it like many of his fellow Liverpudlians....... Ian D

I owed Dave a lot - he pretty much put me on the media map in the early 70's when he did a B&S column called "The New Wave Soul Masons" or something similar and based the article around me plus got my piccy in there as well which was a first for me back then. Also I believe he was the one who got me my first ever compilation job - compiling the Stax Northern Soul album in 1974, so he had no idea what he triggered 33 years ago LOL....... R.I.P. Dave - I'll be having a fag and thinking about you! Ian D

That looks suspiciously like the cover of Deep Disco Culture Vol 1! Vol 2 coming up next week for all you Disco freaks on here....... Best, Ian D

Well I did tell Arthur that oral sex was out of the question due to potential 'beard burns' LOL..... And Jellybean's just become a MySpace friend so who knows.........? Didja meet up with Mr Schofield? Best, Ian D

Just been with him at the Red Bull Music Academy in Toronto plus he played a club set t'other night @ a club. He's still totally into music and a lovely guy to boot! Ian D .....

Mainly 'cos the forum's called Soul Source, hence maybe not the right forum for a white New York disco singer called D.C. Larue and a russian jazz musician called Miroslav Vituos. Whereas the Salsoul stuff I can totally see on Soul Source because there's little disputing that the artists are actually soulful aren't they? But, hey, I'm easy going....... I really don't mind. I personaly don't think Disco Tex and his Sexolettes get enough props LOL...... Ian D