John Moffatt

My early stuff, not in any meaningful order: Ben E. King — Happiness Is Where You Find It Chris Calloway — You’re Something Else E.J. & Echoes — Put A Smile On Your Face Fabulous Peps — Why Are You Blowing My Mind Richie Havens — I Can’t Make It Any More Bill Horton — I Wanna Know Baby Huey & Babysitters — Just Being Careful Amanda Humphries — Power Of Love Incredibles — I can’t Get Over Losing Your Love Maurice Jackson — Lucky Fellow Walter Jackson — They Don’t Give Medals (To Yesterday’s Heroes) Ketty Lester — Please Don’t Cry Any More Kenny Lynch — Movin’ Away Masqueraders — How Big Is Big Johnny Mae Matthews — Here Comes My Baby Mayberry Movement — I Think I’m In Love With You Johnny Moore — Lonely Heart In The City O’Jays — One Night Affair Olympics — Girl, You’re My Kind Of People Ovations — I’m In Love Patti Page — You Don’t Need A Heart Patti & Emblems — Mixed Up, Shook Up Girl Sandra Phillips — You Succeeded Precisions — Dream Girl Audrey Royal — Come On Playboy Helen Shapiro — He Knows How To Love Me Sylvia Shemwell — He'll Come Back Shepards — Little Girl Lost Willie Small — How High can You Fly George Smith — I’ve Had It Joe Stubbs — Keep On Loving Me Superbs — Baby Baby All The Time Dee Dee Warwick — Don’t Think My Baby’s Coming Back Adam Wade — Rain From The Skies Larry Williams — This Old Heart (Is So Lonely)

I've only ever posted two tunes, just for information and interest, and had one of them removed by the Copyright police :-( (followed by a serious legal threat!) That may be why so may are 'missing'.

Excellent response. I think faith has been restored.

When I saw this Ebay listing, I sent the seller a link to the Gloria Shannon You-Tube video to give him the info on who it was and when the British release came out (2008 or thereabouts). In other words, this is either a genuine early test press (as claimed), or this bloke needs taking to court.

Thank you gentlemen. It appears to be genuine then. Needs a spin or two now. Cheers John

Hi all Thought I'd posted this once but can't find it now. Anyway it's probably been done before, but here goes. I have a copy of the above, which was apparently recorded in 1962. But my copy is in far too good a condition to be that old. It's has a dark green/blue label with silver lettering (as it appears on Youtube). Does anyone have any info on this please? Thanks in advance John

All these superb cheap records, so why does any DJ play bootlegs? Fear, lack of imagination, ignorance or what? I know we've been here before, so take these comments as a statement rather than a question.

32 bids - £100.00 - remarkably round figure?

Yes, found the same. Need to place on a card sleeve or similar on the platter so they lay flat. Otherwise no issues, but that shouldn't happen.

Just about the best question ever asked on this forum!

Sent you a PM.

Thanks to everyone for the info. Well sorted

Many thanks for this Steve. Just got copies for myself and a mate. Spot on

Hi all Anybody heard anything about a new Motown LP release featuring many very early tracks? I think it's just a rumour, but if there's anything substantial does anyone have details? Cheers John

Which is pretty much where I came in at the start of this post - can't shift good, but plentiful cheapies. Yet, when I play some of these tunes out, nobody knows them. They've never heard them played. So, they're common yet unplayed. Why is this? Many, it's true, are not up to the mark, but many are. The ethos seems to be, among many DJs (and, by exposure, many punters) that if it isn't a well known 'biggie' (that you probably can't afford) then play a bootleg, rather than search for something good, but cheap. The mindset seems to be that if it's cheap, it can't be any good. (This is easily disproved by the fact that many common cheap records have become 'biggies', and hence acquired a suitably inflated price.) This is ridiculously wrong and very sad, and potentially very damaging. If playlists continue to shrink, as they are doing in many places (the mentality that says "I play what the punters like and the punters like what I play"), then the end is surely nigh.

Just think of all the £200 bootlegs could you buy instead.

I wasn't intending getting too specific, but 3 tunes that attracted no interest at all were Martha & Vandellas - Heartless, Miracles - Would I Love You & Gerri Granger - You Must Be Doing Something Right. Not out-and-out in-demanders admittedly, but worth 99p surely (£2 postage). Perhaps not :-)

Well put. As you say, we'd all love more of the big ones, but we all have only so much cash, and the price shouldn't really matter anyway. If it's good, it's good. At a time like this when, supposedly, money is tight, how come the cheapies (but goodies) don't sell, but the big ticket numbers do? Or is that just my perception, that may not be universal or accurate?

Interesting point you make. For myself I can say, if I'm guesting somewhere, I pick tunes that I think will fit where I've been asked to play, and then I'll go for the ones that will be well-accepted, be that oldies, underplayed, R&B, whatever. But at my own clubs, I empty my box after every event and fill it up with completely different material. Of course, most tunes are repeated eventually, over the months, but my aim is to keep it as fresh as possible. That's where having a reasonable collection, with a fair few cheapies, works, I think.

Great to hear Barry. Yes, we do too. I hope the idea might spread a little, but such events are not very common (at least not round here) and I've lost count of the number of times I've been told to 'play something we know'. But that's another well-worn topic, so let's not get into it here.

Loads of very interesting and well thought out comments along the way here, based on a wide range of experiences. I can't reply to everyone, but thank you all for your input. I think we are going through a time when real bargains are there to be had, but it all depends on why you buy records in the first place. Can I ask though, that some of you who also DJ give some of these cheapies a spin or two. Whether you're playing at a full-on dance night or a chill-out session, there are many, many tunes that are in need of an airing (and, conversely, a fair few that should be put away and never heard again). ATB John

Got one if you're still after it, VG++, clean labels. I'll send you a PM with more details.

Yes Dean, no doubt, cash is tight all over for the reasons you state (I'm certainly no exception). Might have to rein in for a while.

Just posted a piece about the sale of cheaper records. You've got a bargain there, but is it a sign of the times? Cheers John

Hi All, I hope I've got this in the correct forum. Lately I've tried selling off a few of my cheaper records, to fund a couple of more expensive wants, mainly on Ebay, but also on SS and Facebook, as well as carrying a sales box around to just about everywhere I go. Nothing new in this, of course, except that, of late, I'm having very little success, with no sales on SS or Facebook, or from my box. As an experiment recently I posted six records on Ebay, that would normally fetch between £5 and £10 each, with a start price of just 99p. The listing was for ten days. Three of the records attracted no interest at all, while the other three went for just the start price, 99p. Is anyone else suffering from the same problem? Is there just a glut of cheap records about at the moment, or is there really a serious decline in sales generally? I notice many higher priced items seem to be becoming cheaper as time goes by. I've also noticed a number of long-term collectors who are selling up for various reasons. Any comments would be very welcome. Thanks John