Amsterdam Russ

According to the TFL website, items left in the back of cabs are first handed in to local police stations. From there it can take seven days before the item ends up with lost property. So, keep checking back with them! Lost Property Note that there are three or four major black cab fleets in London, and these may be worth contacting as well. Off the top of my head you have: Radio Taxis, Dial-a-Cab & Computer Cab. There will be others. Of course, your driver may not belong to one of these firms, but between them they probably represent a good percentage of all black cabs in London. Good luck! Oh, just noticed you say you lost them 12th May! Still worth checking with the all the black cab fleets.

Sorry Ian, but unintentional as it is, that's up there as one of the funniest things I've read on this site for a long time. I very much suspect that you were right in your second assumption! Put yourself in her shoes - and, if some old geezer came on to your 20-something daughter like that, what advice would you offer?

Agreed. I have a version by Peggy Lee from the late 40s and have often thought when listening that it must have provided at least some modicum of inspiration for the Frank Wilson song.

Anyone know...?

Lorraine, it takes me very much by surprise that you would have any 'haters' at all, let alone a plurality of them. Beyond acknowledging the obvious fact that there are far too many people in the world who have a sandwich short of a picnic, why should this be so? Russell

My mind is now sufficiently boggled...

Jimmy Helms - Gold - Japanese 45.

The best thing about the 1974 film 'Gold' starring Roger Moore and Susannah York is the eponymous opening theme sung by Jimmy Helms. I bought a copy of this last week (Japanese 45 on Philips with lovely pic sleeve) and was disappointed to find that it's a different version of the song. The YouTube clip has the version I was after, rather than the funkier and somewhat disco-ified version I now have. Is this also on 45, or is it on the soundtrack album only? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJtjmS8WXR8

Hi Lorraine, A question for you, if I may... When you cut 'What can I do'/'Tell me you're mine' on Giant - or indeed any records - and the 45s are pressed and all packed in their boxes ready for distribution, what happened next in terms of you promoting the songs? How did that work; what happened at street level - were you performing the songs in clubs (and if so were the likes of Mike Terry out there with you?), or doing radio interviews, that kind of thing? Do bear in mind that whilst we might be able to hold these records in our hands years later, it's sometimes very difficult or impossible to appreciate and understand the life cycle of a record when it first came out at the time and the efforts that went in to promoting it, particularly by the artist or group. Insights about such things are (certainly for me) absolutely fascinating and really add an extra dimension not just to the songs, but to the disks themselves, the 45s we hold in our hands and treasure so much.

Incredible - the one and only Lorraine Chandler here, right now! Just by being here Lorraine, you're making a whole fresh batch of memories for people. It's the stuff of legend!

Wanted: Linda Jones & Whatnauts - I'm so glad I found you - Stang (Ex/M preferred). PM's only, please. Thanks for looking.

Just picked up a copy of the French release on eBay, with sleeve, for £2.99.

Benny was his older brother.

Nice French release

I would have thought that any acetate of the Lou Ragland track would have gone by its original title of Travellin' Man.

Yes, it is the same person.

Oh, don't worry. I do get out - every day, for about an hour. Sometimes without restraints.

Hold on, I haven't finished yet! The Orisha (the spirit God) can manifest itself in many ways and each form is given a different name by worshippers. One of these names - and our linguistic connection to Exus - is Eshu (in Portuguese - Exu). Here's what Wikipedia has to say about Eshu/Exu: So, the track could possibly relate to the journey that the spirit God Exu embarks upon when taking the souls of the dearly departed to heaven or hell (Exu's Trek). Of course, you are marked down for heaven or hell depending on whether you prefer the instrumental version over the vocal one or vice-versa.

A quick look online shows that the word Exus can have meaning in Latin. Here it can be translated as burn down or set on fire. Google Translate suggests hath burnt. Digging a little deeper provides a link that connects Exus (in Portuguese) with the Orisha, an elemental spirit of the Yoruba people's of West Africa. The indigenous Yoruba religion is practised wherever West Africans have settled in the world, but particularly in South America, Brazil, Cuba, the Caribbean - all places that would have seen a major influx of Yoruba beliefs courtesy of that thing called slavery. Of course, the national language of Brazil is Portuguese and so it would be natural for the language of slaves to morph into the prevalent tongue. Brazil, and other countries in Sth America played an important role in the slave trade, and many of those poor souls who found themselves as chattel in this part of the world ended up in forced migrations to North America. Perhaps there is a distant association, one that crossed the Atlantic centuries ago with the African tribes people who were sold into slavery, that links the trek of the Exus with the journey of the spirit God Orisha. Then again, perhaps not!

The Record Collector Price Guide 2010 states that it is a promo only release from the 90s. The flip song, 'Emidisc Theme' is by Saint Etienne. Value - ten quid.

No, it was well before then. I was a kid then and possibly rather oddly Nationwide was my favourite TV programme! Thought of a 'twisted wheel' was very funny, not to mention unusual. The notion of it stayed with me as did whatever visuals they showed. It would be years later, when I got into Northern Soul c. 1980, before I would hear the name again, this time in relation to the club. When I did, the first thing I thought of was the TV segment from years prior and the penny dropped - that's what the segment was about. Could be false memories, of course, but as I say, it was around 30 years ago that I became aware that I'd seen something about Northern Soul & the Twisted Wheel on telly. To me it was very real indeed.

Does anyone remember the current affairs programme called Nationwide? It used to be on around teatime during the week. I'm positive that they did a segment on the Twisted Wheel. I've always presumed that this is common knowledge, but I've never seen it mentioned. Anyone?

As far as I'm aware the complete back catalogue of Billboard magazine is available and searchable through Google Books. Have been using for a couple of years and have found it immensely useful in digging up stuff. One tip - if you have a Google Account, then you can save pages for future reference within your Google Library!