Ian Dewhirst

"Sweetest Thing" is a great track. Very nice on a 45. I've only ever had it on a 12"........... Ian D

It's pretty rare but also I wouldn't imagine there's much demand either. I managed to find a pretty worn copy in the mid 70's which has since fled the nest but must admit I've not seen another one since on my travels....... Mind you, that was a new release in the 70's. There should be TONS of 'em LOL...... Ian D

Yep, there was a nice clip on "Something For The Weekend" yesterday showing a short interview with Kenny Gamble. Additionally, Alan Jones (who writes the sleevenotes for the Disco Discharge series) is also featured heavily. Should be worth watching! Ian D

I think Brian was being 'creative' 'cos at that time there were tons of Persians and Debbie Taylors on GWP knocking around. It never took off. Some did though like Sterling Magee, Tobi Legend etc....... Ian D

The money talk was relating to the complete value of Colin's old Mecca records between '72-'76 at todays prices had he been able to retain them for 35 years. I could list all the rare as hen's teeth originals Colin had including the Inspirations, Don Gardner, Joe Mathews, Eula Cooper, Bernie Williams, Del-Larks, The Crow plus the other few hundred knowns, semi-knowns and still virtually unknowns which still command ridiculous prices but I fear it'll go over your head.......plus the last couple of Mecca slots I've seen Colin do have been 90-120 minutes apiece......... Ian D

Yep, that's right. Serves 'em right for flogging off £250K worth of originals when they could have sat on 'em for 35 years to play a couple of gigs a year in 2011. Bloody amateurs........ Ian D

Yep. Scam city. They should be ashamed of themselves. It's basically fraud. Ian D

I took it to mean that integrity can be bought? Ian D

At last a sensible comment. Hopefully this will now be the last word on this thread. Ian D

Do it the other way around Pete. 99.9% of all DJ's use CD's and the other 0.1% are Northern Soul DJ's or the occasional Rockabilly/Jump Blues DJ's - scenes where the format is more important than the actual music. Ian D

I do tons of gigs covering different areas 'cos I have eclectic tastes so yes, I use CD's all the time for the majority of gigs and especially for international ones. Also I personally need a HUGE selection because I just like a lot of choice, so I'd rather have a choice of several thousand tunes rather than a couple of hundred for sure. However, I also maintain a huge record collection including several playboxes of OVO of both Northern and Modern because I realise that's a key part of the deal. So, yes, I still lug around boxes of OVO for the gigs which expect it. Which is fine. Different strokes and all that.... Colin's always looked like a Grateful Dead roadie apart from a brief period in the late 80's when he sported a more conventional short hair style but still continued to wear the denims. When Colin deejayed at the Torch and the Mecca he looked more like a Heavy Metal fan than a Soul boy. But hey, he's always been a none-conformist...... Ian D

Yeah, but does that mean that we're valuing someone who merely has the disposable income to be able to just buy the OVO above the guy who put his balls on the line to both buy and then subsequently break the records in the first place? If we're saying that ownership of OVO is more important than the person who discovered and broke the records in the first place, then surely it's just all about money isn't it? It was very, very different 40 years ago Martyn. We used to have a go at Colin because he wasn't bothered about anything else other than getting new tunes 24/7. He never got much wedge from flogging records believe me because the turnover was nuts. I once spent a long weekend with him back in '75 and that was enough for me to never want to repeat the experience. I ended up staying at his place on a Sunday night and was astounded at the stuff that was on his shelves and not in his box. Records were the be all and end all with Colin. Wedge has never ever come into it with him. He's still wearing the same type of clothes that he wore 40 years ago. That should tell you everything. Ian D

Don't get me wrong, I see your point entirely but I just think you picked the wrong target. There's very few people I would jump to defend simply on the basis of past glories but Colin's the genuine article and pretty much impregnable in terms of lifetime commitment. He's actually in the hallowed 5% of those I genuinely respect in musical terms and I don't say that flippently. I always remember Neil Rushton once describing him as "Bohemian Lifestyle Jock Colin Curtis" in a Black Echoes article and Colin going nuts because he thought Neil was taking the piss. But hey, he's always dressed like a Grateful Dead roadie so it's understandable how he can be misinterpreted...... Ian D

Good point and that 100% covers Colin Curtis, who, quite frankly, couldn't have given a f*ck about retaining a record once it had been booted, became widely available or when he just got fed up with it. I know that because I bought one of the three Eula Cooper originals off him for a quid the week it got booted. And that's a record which stayed rare. His sheer turnover of stuff at the Mecca almost necessarily meant that his playbox changed on a weekly basis. It's staggering to see how many of those cult 'last hour' records eventually went on to become future monsters. It's all very well having a pop at the guy for playing CD's some 40 years later but I really don't think people appreciate the turnover or churn of otherwise unpopular tunes that he championed first, many of which are still going for megabucks today. Anyone who doubts his influence may do well to check out this previous S.S. thread:- Ian D

Colin's gone through numerous collections over the last 45 years whether they be Northern Soul, Modern Soul, Contemporary Soul, Jazz, Jazz-Funk, Latin, House etc, etc. He'd have needed a seperate warehouse and a huge income to have maintained all the records which have gone through his hands over that kind of time period. I actually can't think of anyone who has been able to retain every record they've ever owned from day one, leave alone someone with such eclectic and ever changing tastes as Colin, who has always been well ahead of the curve in all of the areas he's interested in. This is a guy who is still pushing the envelope today and whose sheer knowledge in his chosen specialist areas surpasses most other collectors easily. I'm not quite sure what's being said here unless it's the usual OVO arguement. If Colin was to re-create the record collections he owned between, say, 1970-1975 on OVO, he'd require somewhere around £250,000 and that's IF he could ever get some of them back, which is unlikely. Are we seriously suggesting that someone who was responsible for breaking more records than most over the years, should retain £250,000 pounds worth of records simply for the odd Mecca revival gig that he may do a couple of times a year? You'd have to be a very rich man to be able to do that. So it's basically just not practical for a couple of gigs a year which may net a few hundred quid. The maths just doesn't stack up does it? I've caught Colin doing a couple of Mecca revival gigs over the last couple of years or so and without exception they've been fantastic and the dancefloor was buzzing. Colin's current tastes are a million miles away from what he was doing 40 years ago but I still considered it a privilege to see a consumate professional getting the crowd off on the ground-breaking records he broke in the 70's. The Colin Curtis brand has always been about his musical taste rather than format. This is a guy who often GAVE away stunningly rare originals as soon as they'd been booted because he was always onto the next unknown record. So I can't be churlish about what format the guy is playing for a Mecca revival gig some 40 years later for f*cks sake. Too many people define themselves by their ability to buy rare records (which is all about disposable income anyway) rather than someone's individual taste and foresight in creating the demand for a previously unknown or underplayed record, which Colin has consistently demonstrated throughout his life throughout a number of different musical areas. If Colin really wanted to, he could pick up the phone and assemble a ground-breaking playbox of knock-you-dead OVO in seconds because he is held in high regard everywhere. But as he would say himself, really, what would be the point? Ian D

Funnily enough I was the first person to put out an R. Kelly record out in the UK - "She's Got That Vibe" on New Jack Swing Mastercuts back in '91. Blimey that 21 years went quick.......... Ian D

Never heard it before Pete but I correctly guessed the era and type of recording and then pumped in what I thought was the title and sure enough it popped up on on several You Tube clips so I guess it is known by that kind of audience......... Ian D

Actually I love it Martin. It's a perfect insomnia cure. I put it on every night when I'm ready to turn in and I'm guaranteed to be asleep before the end of the track............... Ian D

And here's the Northern version of "Laso Square"...... "Continental Square Dance" - Joe Bataan Ian D

Those magical lists were the main reason I used to risk life and limb driving over snake pass usually on a pissing down Thursday night every few weeks! Hope yer well Bri! Ian D

And Don Haywoode from the Velours/Fantastics used to live in Leeds. I used to go out with his daughter Emma and his other daughter was Syd Haywoode who had in the UK with the song "Roses"......... Ian D

Apologies to all for my no-show last week and many thanks to Al for filling in at short notice! I had a king hell zinger of a night up in Leeds a week last Friday with Paul Schofield @ Heritage @ Distrikt (next one on the 9th March) and woke up the next day with a king hell cold! So I was wiped out last week! Anyway, I'm looking forward to the show this week. Naturally we have a mini tribute to Ms Houston (RIP) but otherwise it's back to the usual Sunday afternoon mix of old favourites, newies, killer re-edits, classic Northern and just great music, so hope you can join me and if you're up for some banter then join me in the Starpoint chatroom on the Starpoint homepage with the regular crew. Six Million Steps Presents The Original Mastercuts Show LIVE with Ian Dewhirst between 2.00-4.00pm on Sunday 19th February 2012 on everyone's favourite Soul station www.starpointradio.com. Featuring...... Whitney Houston * Diana Ross * The Defloristics feat Gary Poole * Slick * Alexander O'Neal * Sister Sledge * Ashford & Simpson * R. Kelly * The Temptations * Jackie Lee * Bobby Freeman * The Olympics * Vicki Nelson * George Blackwell * Dave Love * Curtis Mayfield * Al Hudson & the Soul Partners * The Jones Girls * Anthony Hamilton * Arnie's Love * Barry White See you @ 2.00-4.00pm! Ian D

Yeah but this was my all-time greatest 'must-have' record so I was pretty close to it. We know it originally only got issued on the demo right, so this wasn't exactly a standard run-of-the-mill new release. It took Levine a while to track down the first copy which we know and it took me a further few months to track down the second copy, both demos. During this time Red Coach switched distribution from Chess over to Red-Lite which is why the Carstairs never made it to issue when it originally came out. Let's then assume that the minimum press at the time would need to be circa 2K just to make it worthwhile exporting. So if there were initially only the two copies for a long time it would've taken a good year to break big enough to warrant importing 2K of 'em. Don't forget that Universal Mind "Something Fishy Going On" pink copies came over BEFORE The Carstairs re-presses and Universal Mind was 1974. I think I got my Carstairs in early-mid 1974 and I'm pretty sure the pink reissue wasn't until late '75. Don't forget that virtually every gig I did throughout late '74 and most of '75 I had a queue of people waiting to look at the record or hold it etc. I don't think they'd have been that enthusiastic if they'd had a copy at home. We need someone with a bunch of old Blues & Soul's to see what date the ads for the reissue started popping up. Ian D

Good. At least this will confirm that Kegsy is actually insane if nowt else........ Ian D

That sounds 100% correct. I knew he'd heard it in Miami but I didn't know where he sourced his copy.......... Ian D