Britmusicsoulfan

Ah, the famous/infamous Les Harris out of San Antonio, Texas. He's been on The Bay for ages. Much to my surprise, he does get a lot of positive feedback, but I think it comes down to the fact he lists and sells so many records, which sort of "waters down" those negatives. I've never been tempted to buy his records, as I've heard stories of over-grading.

My wife and I spent most of a morning and early part of the afternoon at Graceland. It's definitely worth checking out.

If you like hamburgers, be sure to check out Dyer's Burgers. They have the best burgers and chicken fingers! https://www.dyersonbeale.com/

We just had our first soul night in St. Paul for Twin Cities Soul last night. I'm still trying to take everything in and evaluate. We had some real pluses, but our big issue was a low turnout. I had regular postings on Facebook, an event page on Facebook, regular Tweets, flyered all around the area, had my co-promoter get some info out to the university just a couple of blocks up, sent press releases to radio and TV, etc. My co-promoter runs a sound and light company, so we had a top-notch sound system that sounded great. We also had a great set of Northern, 60s and 70s 45s. The problem we had was a much-lower turnout than anticipated. Mind you, I was thinking if we could bring 100 (the room holds 200), that that would be a good start. I would say we ended up with about 25 people throughout the night. We tried starting at 5PM and going until 10PM, and ended up things about 10:15PM. I do realize some of these events take years to build and everyone has probably had lower starts to their nights. Any thoughts or ideas most welcome. Just a piece of info that might be helpful. There are two soul nights in town already. One is playing Northern and 60s/70s, while the other night is playing funk and rare R&B. The Northern night has been going 9 years, while the other is celebrating 4 years. Cheers.

Hey Everyone, I'm cleaning records for a bit this afternoon trying to find some new bits and found a copy of 'Ol Man River w/With These Hands from The Temptations. I gave both sides a chance but couldn't make my way through either track. It looks like this came out in 1967 and has a MTN-109 catalog number. Was this around the time of the Temptations on Broadway? I'll have to give this one a miss.

I am doing the soul night with a co-promoter that has a sound and light company that will be mixing sound, etc. He has DJed before, so I'm sure I can count on him to mix in the next track if a bathroom break is needed. Since it's a brand-new night, we wanted to just keep it to us two because we don't know what turnout will be, plus we want to workout any bugs or glitches the first time out. I have reached out to a few local DJs that I'm going to ask to be part of our set. Our first night is this Sunday, and our next one is just 3 weeks later. I do have the Stars of Goldwax ACE EP coming in the mail from the west coast, so it should be here in time. The excitement level is building!

I've been pulling records aside that I hear as first or second-hour records and am trying to save my better bits for the later part of the set.

Hi Everyone, I'm the main (only) DJ at a new soul night. I'm finalizing my record boxes and am trying to get a feel for how many records to bring. We're doing at least 5 hours, possibly may do 6 and possibly a bit more than that. I would think 300-350 records should do it? Many thanks, Tim

I'll Find You is one of my all-time favorite 45s in my collection. RIP nick.

Paul, Is the version of All of My Life any different from the original, e.g., alternate take? Cheers, and great work!

Hello, I have an original 45 for Nolan Porter for If I Could Only Be Sure w/Work It Out In The Morning, ABC-11343. The labels are in VG condition with fading on A and VG- to VG labels with some damage on B. This record is a survivor of Hurricane Katrina. The 45 visually grades VG+ (faint, light marks, but glossy). The A side plays VG+ on the first 15 seconds with light background noise, then plays EX- after with loud and clear play, so great for playing out. There is a tiny bit of background noise as the record fades. This might go away with even more cleaning. I have cleaned it with a soft cotton cloth with washing-up liquid and dried it. The B side plays VG+ for a second, then plays EX- with loud, clear play. I'm asking $100 US. Postage options would be first class mail international for $7.32 and will be sent in a heavy-duty cardboard mailer with inserts to protect it. There is no tracking available for this service. Express mail is $31.20 and is fully trackable throughout its journey. I'd love to keep it, but need to pay some bills. If you're interested, please send a PM. Many thanks!

Hello Everyone, I wanted to check and see what the going rate is on a few records I may have the chance to get this weekend. Betty LaVette/I Feel Good/M- Joey Heatherton/When You Call Me Baby/M- stock Stevie Wonder/Hey Harmonica Man M- picture sleeve Many thanks!

Speaking of which, I'm curious what the shop looks like these days. I hear it's sparkly!

Hello, I am looking for a clean, playable copy of both of these 45s. I have 2,500+ 45s to trade. Please get in touch. Many thanks.

There's an upscale grocery store in St. Paul that must have a manager that likes soul music at a nice loud level, as I've strolled in and heard My Girl, Martha Reeves and The Vandellas and tons of cool soul stuff as I'm grabbing a gallon of milk. I've wanted to let the manager know I'm impressed with his choices!

I don't know if anyone else has mentioned it, but I ended up getting a Best of Marv Johnson CD long before the Ace Records release came out. I popped it in the car and heard re-recorded versions with drum machines -- ugh!

Well, my two best friends both to a ton of graphic design things but are just too busy to handle it at the moment. I have checked several times. I might need to teach myself more graphic design than I currently have the knowledge of. Cheers.

The first time I heard "Because of You" blasting through the sound system at a soul nighter.

@soulsalmon, Cheers. The logo I have so far is a logo of a 45 RPM record with Twin Cities Soul - Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA below it. I was really hoping to have something like the same 45 RPM record, but have Twin Cities Soul superimposed in white on top of it and Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota, USA going around the record. We're planning on sticking to Northern Soul, crossovers and uptempo Motown, Stax, Atlantic, etc. Many thanks!

@Pikey's Dog, I am completely open to any sort of flyer that's interesting. I'm not particularly skilled at graphics, hence my need to reach out. The other problem is a limited budget. I've got plenty of records to offer in trade (but nothing big at the moment). While Minneapolis-St. Paul is not known for being particularly soulful music-wise, we do have 2 other soul nights going on. One plays more Northern Soul and R&B, while the other gears more toward rare soul and funk. I've had a chance to check out both soul nights going on here. The crowd definitely skews toward people in their 20s and 30s. @Boba, The big issue for me at the moment with regard to a graphic person is a limited budget. I've done a logo but think someone else could do a much better one. I'd like a poster that's colorful and interesting. The venue is in a great location. We're 2 blocks from a private college with its own radio station, so we'll be definitely talking with them. There are 4 other private colleges within less than 5 miles of the venue. Keep those thoughts coming! Cheers, everyone! Tim

Hello Everyone, I've got nearly 2300 45s listed, with hundreds and hundreds of soul 45s, including Northern Soul, 60s soul, 70s soul, crossovers, funk and more, all with buy it now or best offers. I've got another 100+ soul 45s to list this week and have thousands and thousands more that will be listed. https://shop.ebay.com/timsmusicshop/m.html?_trksid=p4340.l2562 Many thanks, Tim

Hello Everyone, I am working with another chap on starting a brand new soul night in Minneapolis-St. Paul that will take place in St. Paul on 18 September. I have posted it in the upcoming soul night section. I have created a logo, but think it could be better. I also would love to see if there's someone out there that could help with designing a logo and a flyer (we would do 4 flyers to the sheet and a poster). I'd be happy to offer soul 45s in return! Feel free to PM if you can help. Cheers!

Hi Everyone, There are a few Northern Soul 45 cheapies that continue to make my arm hair stand on end and give me goosepimples/goosebumps no matter how many times I spin them. Billy Stewart's Why (Do I Love You So) gives me the same reaction every time I hear it. How about you? Cheers.

I was so relieved when I heard a You Tube clip of this, as I was wondering how in the world the Glenn Miller big band legend could have a 45 played on the scene.