Ian Dewhirst

Which was exactly the point I made earlier. Fast dance music generally = drugs whatever the decade. Ian D

That's amazing. Effectively one sixtieth of the UK population watched that show. I thought the figures would be good because there was a nice feel about the program but that's a phenomenal figure for the Culture Show. They could make a series out of the amount of footage they have! Ian D

Please bear in mind the way the program was edited which didn't necessarily have time to deal with the complete context of all those sound bites. The point was that there has always been a parallel between fast music and the drugs du jour whatever the decade. Essentially most types of uptempo dance music since the 60's have generally had a drug of choice whether it was speed in the 60's and 70's, coke and E in the 80's, Ketamin in the 90's or MDMA in the 00's. So 70's Northern Soul = speed and late 80's House = E. The BPM and age group was essentially the same. That's not in any way trying to compare the music but rather the sociological circumstances. They could have used a lot of other stuff but they chose that which is OK by me. I never took drugs when I was into Northern Soul, but I was in the minority. Ian D

I reckon they have much more than 20 hours. They got loads of great footage and we've only seen a tiny percentage thus far. If this show finds an audience, then watch this space... Ian D

Wombat - I'm Gettin' On Life (Gemni) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ux6Fj5zXLJs Hated it with a vengeance for the last 40 years but now I think it's a fascinating slice of social commentary. Plus anyone who decides his one shot at stardom will be aided by calling himself Wombat deserves a vote ay? Ian D

Her best performance I reckon.... Ian

There was some horrific mis-spelling of titles back then too. "Slau Fizz", Bock to Boc" and "Skying In The Snow" come to mind...... Ian D

He is a legend. I got loads off him in the early 70's. I once suggested that my wages from Tuesday Nights @ Burnley Cricket Club should go directly to Brad 'cos that's pretty much what was happening anyway........ Ian D

Me too. The last time I had a meaningful conversation with a guy in this position, he admitted the kind of amounts he was spending and that he had a major problem. Haven't seen him since. He seems to have completely disappeared. I hope he's OK...... Ian D

I'm seriously amazed! A complaint on Soul Source about a record that's suddenly catching attention because it's selling for massive multiples of it's original price????? OK, I agree in principle. Now will everyone on Soul Source who I've ever sold records to over the last 40 years please return them and I'll refund everyone the original price I charged? Yep, that will make it OK with me at least and I'll think much better of the people in question. Ian D

Val Shively told me some incredible stories about guns in people's faces and generally distasteful behavior on the Doo-Wop 45 collectors scene in the late 60's/early 70's. I've had people I knew try and nick records from my house and I know Tim Brown's had similar problems with people he'd known for 20+ years and previously trusted. In these cases obviously people lost their integrity in their greed to own a record and that's arguably far worse than any financial loss. Anything that can push relatively normal people into such lengths to obtain a piece of plastic can't be healthy can it? Beware obsessiveness in any form. It distorts reality. Ian D

I first gave up collecting major rarities in 1976. After swapping the Exception on Capitol for the Four Perfections, paying 10p for Lenny Curtis, £2 for the Pointer Sisters, £15 for the Carstairs, £20 for the Detroit Executives, £30 for Frankie 'Loveman' Crocker and £40 for the Tomangoes among many others within the same price brackets, I got in a bidding war for Bernie Williams which eventually went for £120 cash and two £15 swaps, which was around £90 too much for my liking. So that's when I made the decision to flog my existing collection and to go to the U.S. and find 'em at a more reasonable price, which was an action I've never regretted and which, ultimately, led me to a lifetime in music. So I'm pretty happy that's the direction I went. I've probably had 3 or 4 decent Northern collections since then, most of which tended to coincide with when I had more disposable income. So I thought the prices were going crazy in 1976 but great records were still obtainable for a reasonable amount. These days it's a rich man's game, especially if you're in the mega rarity mode and unless you have a 40 year old collection. I got in more financial messes between, say, between 1972 and 1976 when my weekly wage was around £22.00. Chuck in another £10-15 a week for deejaying and some record dealing which probably took my income to circa £120-30 a month. Knock off £50 for living expenses and that would leave about £70-80 a month, of which the majority went on records. So when records started breeching the 2 months disposable income level, that's when I decided I couldn't continue punishing myself any longer. Besides I had tons of other stuff I wanted to do and which needed money too and it's been that way ever since. I still buy stuff all the time but across a wide swathe of styles and generally cheap. I think the most I've ever spent on a record is about £500 and that was an exception to the rule. I thought it was good topic by the way. I can remember having to stay in for a week or two because of some purchases and that almost killed me at the time ....... Ian D

I'm pretty sure I've got that Kev. I have a feeling that it could be from some re-records that Harold Melvin did post PIR but I'll need to check. I've got an album full of fantastic different versions of some of the PIR stuff. I've gotta shoot off now but I'll try and dig the album out and refresh my memory..... Ian D

Also, in many cases, Tom is not gratuitously adding length for the sake of it but rather restoring the originals to the length that's actually on the masters! As a perfect example, the original recording of Robert Upchurch's "The Devil Made Me Do It" turned out to be 11 minutes long. We never knew that until the tape arrived. The only thing we'd ever heard up to then was the 4 minute edit from the master 'cos that's all that had ever been made available. This is a prime Philly session with all the key musicians including the late Vincent Montana playing their asses off over an 11 minute jam. That would have been lost forever if we hadn't dug it out. Ian D

Anyone who wants a beautifully mastered version of "No More Ghettos In America" can still order this by the way:- https://www.amazon.co.uk/Holy-Spirit-Spiritual-Soul-Gospel/dp/B007O3VO2Y Ian D

I'll let the 25,000+ people that have bought the Moulton albums in the last 2 years know that you're not a fan Roger...... Ian D

It's obviously in the wrong place. Re-edits are not designed for the Soul Source audience full stop. No point in anyone on here lacerating themselves over this. The better re-edits are finding a completely different but massive audience elsewhere and frankly that's where they're aimed at. The majority S.S. audience are simply not interested in anything other than the original recording which is absolutely fine. As I keep saying, the last place I would go to hear a great re-edit set is anywhere connected with either the Northern or Modern scene. Any talk of these recordings 'killing' Soul music is just nuts. I don't even know why it's even up for discussion..... Ian D

You're in luck. There's a special Bank Holiday All-Dayer on this Sunday with 9 of the original DJ's. Ian D

That seems to be the score these days LOL. Where are the pros who have the guts to break new tunes when you need 'em ay? Oh, they'll be the unassuming ones at the back of the queue of the 50 free DJ's with "Tribute" and that bloody Aretha Frankin atrocity won't they? Ian D

Seek help. I'm not sure if Soul Source can actually condone violence even if it's in defence of the desecration of the Queen Of Soul! Ian D

You mean a 'leg waggler for the over 50's' surely? Ian D

Difficult to beat the old Birmingham Hilton lounge for breaking new stuff by the sound of it..... Ian D

I'm not sure if there's still a 'Modern Soul' scene per se is there? There's a handful of core enthusiasts who valiantly push new contemporary releases but I'm really not sure where they congregate apart from the Luxury Soul Weekenders..... Ian D

LOL, that's a 'lil unfair MIke. The Aretha Franklin record is a ballad and thus would not fit any kind of dance-floor in it's original form. If someone's had the inspiration to add a touch of Marvin and an RnB rhythm some 45 years later and turn it into a new anthem for the audience then good luck to 'em surely? I have never not seen that remix pack the floor. The old version was simply too old to make sense for today's dance-floors. You can always get a drink when this is playing 'cos everyone's usually on the floor and the bar is clear! Ian D

Most of 'em were re-edits Mike. They would often be done be done almost as an afterthought in the studio, i.e. let the engineer bang a 3 minute radio edit from the full version, or, even worse, sometimes the promotion guys did 'em (there's many famous stories of the promotion guys editing the album versions for the radio edit - "Light My Fire" by the Doors being one of the biggest). The Sigma musicians simply went in and played the sessions and then went to the next session. On much of the Philly recorded stuff I'm sure the producers - Gamble, Huff, Bell, Eli etc would have overseen the radio edits but as Gamble told me, they just banged 'em out 'cos they were always too busy recording the next hit! At Sigma Sound the musicians generally got the groove pumping and then it would be up to the producer/engineer or promotion guys to guys to cut the radio edit from the recording. Some of those 3 minute Philly singles that we all know and love are from 10 minute recordings! Ian D