Amsterdam Russ

Excellent - thanks for the practical input, those that actually had something to contribute. As for personal opinions, each to their own. Now, anyone have information about the origins of the song/acetate & the two names mentioned earlier?

Blimey, that's impressive. How did you happen to remember that??

I have Habanera in my music library - just been giving it a listen. Of course, no wonder it sounded so familiar! Excellent - well spotted the pair of you! Much like The Toys and their use of Bach's Minuet in G major... Artist & label?

Can you identify the track? I'm guessing called "Eyes of love" or "Looking in the eyes of love" and I'm told it comes from Detroit. There are two names on the label: Yvonne Stevens & Ralph (something - looks like it could be Woothy / Woolly / Woodly). The song sounds really familiar - was it recorded by someone else? https://soundcloud.com/harveysoulfinger/eyes-of-love-sample All help appreciated.

Released in 1967 according to Mr Rimmer's site: https://www.soulfulkindamusic.net/whiz.htm

The seller does describe the item as "super rare remastered" and "remastered label and pressing"...

Following on from Rick's excellent insights into the Surinam soul scene here in NL... Browsing through record shops here, you'll often find soul 45s with labels that have been scrawled on with heavy marker pen - usually on both sides. I was told by the owner of one record shop that competition among djs was very fierce. So fierce was the rivalry that thievery was rife and to prevent 45s from being misappropriated, djs took to writing their names on labels in big letters.

I did send an enquiring email and the friendly people there said sure, come along. Sorry to say I didn't follow it up though as coming all the way from Amsterdam would have been a bit too much. Would have loved to have participated - George Gently is great.

The producers did post here some months back asking for extras. With the single voice presented by Soul Source members as guidance, how could the programme makers go wrong? Found it...

Elvisluvs - this is "Northern Soul" today. Well, it is here... it's the grumpy old men... Please, please... let someone with a real understanding of "Northern Soul" as a youth cult pass by here soon so the OP can be enlightened.

I dread to think how bad you'll be when you are old! In the meantime, I'd like to recommend two books to elvisluvs. The first is "Boogaloo" by Arthur Kempton. The second is "The In Crowd, Vol1" by Mike Ritson & Stuart russell. The first is a brave, ambitious, detailed, but at times a somewhat confusingly written history of the development of 'Black' music from the age of Gospel through Soul and beyond. The second is an equally brave and ambitious attempt at putting into words the effect that very same 'black' music had on the (mainly white) youth of Britain from the 1950s, the 60s, and the evolution of what very loosely is "Northern Soul". It's a subjective and highly personalised affair, but it does a good enough job in my view simply because 'Northern Soul" is exactly that - subjective and highly personalised. Another great book to help put the black music of the 60s into a mainstream cultural context (for me at any rate) is "Burn, Baby! Burn!" the autobiography of US radio DJ legend, music promoter, black culture champion - Magnificent Montague. Now, there's a story worth reading...

Terminally, most people who might have something decent to say about the origins and development of what became known as 'Northern Soul' are now at the "grumpy old men" phase of life - as you can see from the replies here. Sorry about that.

Whatever... I like the track. And I have to say I could see it going down quite well if played out. To be honest, I'm more surprised that no one's offered any info or suggestions about the origins of the first track...

There are some names on the label of the 2nd track and I'll post up what I've found out when I get some time. It definitely has a poppy feel to it, but I've heard much worse played out and masqueraded as soul

Yup, little doubt that the second singer is white.

Not everyone who uses English as a second language is fluent in it...

Picked up a couple of acetates recently. No idea who the tracks are by. Any ideas? All help appreciated. The first one is an R&B flavoured number. https://soundcloud.com/harveysoulfinger/unknown-im-through-with-you The second has a nice cross-over feel to it a https://soundcloud.com/harveysoulfinger/unknown-heads-you-win-sample (I've best guessed song titles for both based on the lyrics)

Keep going. I'll tell you when you've won...

Yes, also on French...

Well, that's how much I paid for mine on eBay earlier this year

Which issue are you talking about? Belgian release with pic sleeve - about a fiver...

No one's mentioned OC Smith's great version on the LP 'For once in my life" Well, I like it https://youtu.be/EWzoJYiq3GM

TIA = Thanks In Advance...

In the Netherlands there is only one dedicated 'Northern Soul' night - the Amsterdam Soul Club, which plays a bit of everything. There are numerous other nights across the country and these are typically cross-genre events offering a mix of soul, ska/reggae, R&B, garage in varying degrees. One thing that became very quickly apparent when I moved to near Amsterdam from London five years ago is that the majority of punters attending Northern Soul nights, or indeed even mixed genre nights, are not what you might call lifestyle fans - they're basically just people off the street who go to a club for a good time. The exception is the ska/reggae scene. The Netherlands has a far bigger ska/reggae culture than it does Northern Soul. Having said that, there are quite a number of very serious and knowledgable soul collectors - Hans and Harry of Fingerpoppin' Soul fame immediately spring to mind. The distinction here is that these people are soul collectors, not Northern Soul collectors. Very few here suffer from genre-specific tunnel vision. As an example, in a couple of weeks an event takes place in Amsterdam called "Mods versus Rockers". This is an event where both broad churches come together and share their musical and cultural passions. Scooters will be parked alongside classic motorbikes. Eindoven is home to the Endless Memories events. They organise regular cross-genre nights that includes Northern Soul. They're holding a weekender in October, a ska/reggae specific affair. All-in-all, it's a mixed bag...

I have that boot - it is the instrumental.