Amsterdam Russ

A classic photo, Daniel, but this is the wrong place for it. This thread is for photos taken by members. 👍

My first mix in a good long while. A summer selection of latin vibes and soulful grooves featuring Nestor Alvarez, Kevin Fingier, Sonny Clark & Chico O'Farrell, Lou Pride, Kim Tibbs, Carmy Love, Michelle David, Shirley-Ann Lee, Bill Brown, Tuomo, and Milt Grayson. Click - listen - enjoy!

Huge spin for Keb Darge at the 100 Club in the 80s…

Ah, he called me sunshine. How charmingly 1970s of you. Yes, your smiley was just a bit of fun, but it added a an upbeat cheeriness to your statement about rising prices. Possibly that's not what you meant to convey. No worries, though, and my comment about avarice - affecting sellers and buyers - still stands.

You mentioned prices rising and added a smiley. That's not a good thing when you're a buyer, so your comment (with the added smiley) comes over as reflecting a seller's perspective. Anyway, greed - or more specifically, avarice - has taken a grip of sellers and buyers. If buyers weren't paying silly prices, sellers wouldn't get the silly prices. But they do, and that just increases prices further. It's a continuous cycle fed by both those who buy and those who sell. It is greed (avarice) on the part of both parties.

No, it's greed - pure and simple.

I hate to be so negative, but - and ignoring the huge cock-up with the Twisted Wheel logo - the float and activity on it looks absolutely pitiful. Did I see a couple there doing jive moves? No wonder the commentators preferred to reminisce about Space Hoppers rather than focus on this supposed celebration of Northern Soul.

Before looking for an answer, can you define 'uptempo soul'? And how do you differentiate between 'sub genres'? Asking for a friend...

Shirley Ann Lee - There’s a light When it plays in my head, though, it always morphs into Mitty Collier’s version of My Babe and then back again!

All good here, I’m pleased to say. PM sent…

Long overdue, Andy. Will send you a PM.

From the Scottish paper, The National: Source: https://www.thenational.scot/news/20188284.jubilee-pageant-concern-apparent-black-sun-nazi-symbol-northern-soul-float/ I've just done a quick search and found it rather easily... https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/black-sun-symbol-icon-color-vector-1333116191

From the Daily Mirror... https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/people-outraged-over-alleged-nazi-27152261 They had one job to do, just one. And they couldn't have screwed it up any more than they did. Kin eedjits!

Have to say that apart from the occasional new release I’ve pretty much stopped buy records now. Prices for original 45s have steadily risen over the past few years and today they are either unaffordable or do not offer value for money. Where cheaper items are concerned, ridiculous postage costs and Customs/VAT charges on items bought outside the EU can double the price paid (I bought a 3-DVD set from a UK seller on eBay just recently. Once postage, VAT and handling charges were factored in, the £16 I paid for the DVDs became £32 in total. That’s just ridiculous). Additionally, items that get picked up by Customs for additional charges are taking about five weeks to come through. I no longer know if items are lost in the post or whether they’re sitting in Customs. This is super frustrating for both me and the seller and is another reason why the desire to buy 45s has diminished.

I've ordered two copies (sometimes three) of most new releases I've bought over the last half a dozen years or more simply to help justify postal charges (postage for two copies is invariably the same as one copy) if they're coming from the States, and from the UK since Brexit. If I'm buying from within the EU, the price of one copy is usually fine relative to postal costs. For the handful of releases that subsequently go up in price, probably 90-95% do not. Indeed, many are still in stock. Or, if they have sold out, and there's not been the desperate scramble by people to get copies just because it's become hot, they can typically be bought at or around the original retail price. I can't say I've ever bought two or three copies of something on the basis it might go up in price. I've got a box full of low-value duplicates to prove that.

Early summer of 2019 and I'm spending three weeks on our favourite Greek island. Sitting in a taverna one afternoon, and Carlton Jumel Smith's 'This is what love looks like' comes on the radio. That's quickly followed by some Joe Bataan and a whole host of great soul tunes. I never did find out what the radio station was called (it was all Greek to me), but what a lovely and unexpected way to while away a sunny afternoon.

There was rain with the early morning sunshine. I said to my better half I reckon that with the sun being out the front, there's a good chance of a rainbow out the back. And sure enough, there was...

Not sure why you cut-and-paste JM's sales text without providing a direct link to the item up for grabs. That's very discourteous in my book. For the benefit of everyone - regardless of whether you're interested in bidding on the item or not - here you go: https://www.raresoulman.co.uk/harmonica-harry-nothing-but-the-blues-rampart-ramblers-soulin-sr-100-197263.html

Welcome aboard, Robert. In many respects, your story sounds similar like mine. I came into it about the same time. Still got an Inferno 45 and a few Kent LPs that were bought "back in the day". I sold most of my very small collection of LPs pre-Covid, but couldn't get rid of the Kent ones, bought when I was so shiny new to the scene - too many good memories associated with them. Hope you enjoy being on the right side of Soul Source - that is, by signing up and being a member rather than just lurking silently from a distance.

Not messed around with the camera and a light box in ages - a few years, to be exact. We had some over-ripe fruit at home and I thought that if I left them for a few days they'd be interesting to photograph as still-life subjects. Setting things up, I realised I was way out of practice. It didn't help that I don't have any really suitable lighting and ended up using some free-standing spotlights - very Heath Robinson! Fun to do, and perhaps oddly, I do like taking pics of things in decay. Things like that have a lot of character and texture about them. Well, I think so, anyway.

A bidder with 67 feedback and another with just 27 get into a bidding frenzy for a cheap 45 in, wait for it... VG condition? I'll be surprised if the seller gets paid!

Only on some. Mine sounds perfect.

The autograph (alongside the key 45)...

You're pretty much on point with that. The story goes - and it's been well documented elsewhere - is that Eddie Piller had a fixation in finding Callier, to the degree that he - with the aid of the old-fashioned Directory of Enquiries phone service and some access to US telephone books - phoned up every Callier listed or given. So the story goes - as far as I remember - he called up a number one day and there was a hesitancy in answering the question as to whether this was the right connection for THE Terry Callier. Eddie Pillar called several times - again getting a continued rebuttal from the young lady at the other end of the line. Doggedness on his part (what we'd probably call stalking today) eventually led to her - apparently his daughter - saying something like "there's someone who wants to speak with you". It was indeed Terry Callier. Anyway - and I'm sure many others can better clarify the story - Eddie Piller, after much reassurance to a man who had no desire to either get back into the music business or get involved with someone from the UK he'd never heard of - convinced Callier to come over to the UK on a holiday (I guess Piller must have offered to pay expenses). This, I believe, was all because of the fantastic success of Eddie's licensed release of "I don't want to see myself". As part of the holiday, Eddie convinced Callier to do a performance at the 100 Club - that was in 1991. I was there that legendary night, and have to say, not unlike many other 'forgotten' artists brought over thinking they're playing on the UK equivalent of the US oldies circuit, Callier was absolutely blown away by the response he got from the intensity of a small crowd that knew the words to every song he sang. Little did he know before going on to that small stage how much of a hero he was. The rest is history. He stayed - he recorded - he found adulation and fame. He was truly respected. He found the musical career he thought had died many years previously - and all because of the determination of someone who probably rang nearly every 'Callier' in America's many regional phone books. Well, that's my late-night recollection of the story. I'm more than happy to be corrected, put right, etc. I still have the flyer from the night. And, from a Terry Callier who was clearly impressed by my asking, I got his autograph when he came out of the dressing room, post-performance, which stood right in front of the 100 Club's equally legendary gents' toilets (in which, I might add, I shared some peeing space with Lou Pride before he too was blown away by that club's still legendary crowd.) The flyer...

I'm not sure why, but I felt compelled to go as extensively through the Soul Source sales listings to see how frequently the TSU Toronados 45 had been offered - at what prices and when. Here we go... 16/05/2022 - £500 (Sold) 10/05/2022 - £400 (Sold) 23/04/2022 - £400 19/03/2022 - £390* 17/03/2022 - £400* 22/02/2022 - £375 05/02/2021 - £300 (Sold) 01/10/2020 - £300 12/11/2019 - £325 (reduced from £350) 24/10/2019 - £225 20/09/2018 - £180** 18/05/2018 - £250** 21/04/2018 - £200 02/07/2016 - £200 31/05/2017 - £175 (Sold) 04/02/2017 - £200 24/01/2017 - £175 29/04/2016 - £150 (Sold) 03/09/2015 - £175 13/07/2015 - £125 (Sold) 09/05/2015 - Offers 02/03/2015 - £250 18/02/2015 - £150 05/02/2015 - £160 12/12/2014 - £150 (Sold) 20/07/2014 - £120 20/04/2014 - £140 14/03/2014 - $250 19/02/2014 - £150 (Sold) 03/11/2013 - £185 ****** 01/11/2013 - £180 ****** 28/10/2013 - £185 04/10/2013 - £150 (Sold) 17/09/2013 - £140 (Sold) 14/09/2013 - £175 (Sold) 15/07/2013 - £175 30/06/2013 - £130 22/06/2013 - £150 08/05/2013 - £150 29/03/2013 - £140 (Sold) 15/07/2012 - £150 17/09/2011 - Offers 04/07/2011 - £150 02/07/2011 - £130 (Sold)**** 23/05/2011 - £130 (Sold)**** 21/04/2011 - £90 29/12/2010 - £125 14/12/2010 - £125 07/11/2010 - £120 (Sold) 07/11/2010 - £150 05/12/2010 - £150 21/07/2010 - £150 06/06/2010 - £175 31/05/2010 - £175 11/06/2009 - £160***** 21/04/2009 - £180***** 04/04/2009 - £175 27/02/2009 - £175 13/02/2009 - £120 15/01/2009 - £175 21/08/2008 - £125 05/07/2008 - £120 (Sold) 14/07/2008 - £120 23/02/2008 - £150 (Sold) 22/01/2008 - £120*** 16/12/2007 - £130*** 09/11/2007 - £150 22/09/2007 - £150 01/03/2007 - £120 30/01/2007 - £250 06/01/2007 - £150 05/01/2007 - £150 26/11/2006 - £100 (reduced from £150) 15/10/2006 - £175 05/09/2006 - £170 27/08/2006 - £125 20/02/2006 - £174.99 19/02/2006 - £175 11/02/2006 - £150 30/01/2005 - £150 01/06/2005 - £100 24/04/2005 - £150 18/07/2004 - £150 11/11/2003 - £150 Where an asterisk or a number of them appear next to a sales listing, this indicates the same seller offering the 45 soon after an earlier listing. It doesn't mean the same seller across the years - just different people offering it up a second time after it not having sold, and often posting it again with a price reduction. Obviously there will be other instances where a seller has listed an unsold disc a second, or perhaps even a third time, but these weren't obvious to pick up (unless I also made a note of the seller, which I thought was taking this a bit too far) Where sellers stated the 45 had been sold, this is marked on the listing. This doesn't mean these are the only sales of the disc on Soul Source. Rather, these are the only listings where a seller has bothered to say it has been sold. So, 84 listings in total with prices ranging from £90 (for a copy with some poor sound reproduction) to an eye-watering £500 'today'.