Thinksmart

Thanks for posting.

Discogs search only has Kiki Dee

Northern Soulless

You'll want CDrs that can be finalised into an Audio CD (not CDRWs which are rewriteable data CDs). Any CDrs sold should do the job. You'll need some software that does it for you. I used to do it all the time, but not written a CD in a good ten years or more now so I've forgotten which I used.

I've been listening to this all day, it is a great release and had me playing their Hotlanta series CDs too. All are essential.

I see the two Luther albums are being reissued on vinyl and CD this Spring for the first time.

Thanks for posting this, it's a song that we learn more about it's importance over the years. Initially it was just a core dancer in its various versions to me from Ramsey Lewis and Marlena Shaw to Little Sonny's ace harmonica led version.

The new Hotlanta CD out from Ace/Kent this week is unreleased Soul - I'm looking forward to the pre-order arriving. Those Soul Direction discoveries are excellent. I cannot get the single edit reissue of Lawrence Beaman's Thinking Of You out of my head at present. Very Barry White sounding: https://www.firstexperiencerecords.com/product/lawrence-beamen-thinking-of-you-the-7-remix-been-a-long-time-7-vinyl-black-picture-sleeve-pre-order-in-stock-8-3-24/

The easiest way to find Soul related tapes and old niter recordings may be at eBay when sold in bundles.

First, you may not need a device buying at all! A lot of your modern hifi or radio devices will already have a bluetooth mode. Your phone has Bluetooth. All you need to do is connect to it (enable Bluetooth mode on phone, search while the other device is in Bluetooth mode) and connect. If your hifi or radio (or soundbar) has Bluetooth in it - you don't need a transmitter or receiver box at all. You can then play direct from phone to the music playing direct over the air. Where a little box is helpful is connecting to a device that either doesn't have Bluetooth or it only uses the older poor quality versions. You migh not care about the sound quality anyway for casual listening. There are lots of easy plug in and connect devices to buy online - the 1Mii one I mentioned is great. You plug that into your device/amp and your phone then connects to that. You can connect these little boxes by audio cables (to your Aux In) or for better quality by Optical cable (generally to Opt In). For most people if you need a box, get one on Amazon or wherever you choose, check it has an audio cable that connects to your hifi/radio etc. First though, check if your music playing device already has Bluetooth - if so, you don't need anything new. Another option is just to buy a separate dedicated Bluetooth speaker. I bought the Soundcore 300 recently to take on holiday and it's excellent. There are lots of larger ones with handles to move around your home and garden such as from Soundcore (the 100) or Boombox, JBL etc. You then won't need anything else, just connect your phone and play. Bluetooth varies in its quality, it uses what are called Codecs - which are how the Bluetooth file is compressed and decompessed at the other end. These range from its most basic (SBC) available on all devices, through first generation higher quality (AptX and AAC) through to High-Resolution (AptX-HD, AptX-Adaptive or Sony's LDAC which is only available on all Android devices). For a bluetooth speaker AAC /AptX is generally fine. The others are used more for earphones/headphones. For most people if not worried about the highest sound quality - don't worry about these Codecs. If you're wanting better sound quality (and it does make a big difference) - I can provide more input either here or directly. I doubt most people will want to bother with that though. The only reason I have the boxes I highlighted in an earlier post is for the best sound, my devices typically already had AptX in them, but I had got used to using higher quality LDAC in earphones when travelling. NOTE: if using an Apple phone, it can only connect via SBC/AAC (AAC is good). Android phones support both of those plus the AptX versions I mentioned and LDAC. To enable highest definition audio off an Android phone needs a mode opening, which I can help with easily.

Yes, my Bluetooth boxes have Optical Outs so I have mine wired into the Optical in port. Works really well and I can then use highest quality BT codecs such as LDAC or AptX-HD/adaptive. I use the iFi Zen Blue v2 and 1Mii Bluetooth transmitters. The 1Mii recharge so are nicely portable between devices and properties.

Released on tape - https://www.discogs.com/release/2926485-Various-Capitol-Soul-Casino

Also $tateside records put out two cassettes of early spins on tape. The Rare series by Ariola Records mixes early Modern Soul and Jazz Funk, and is on tape. https://www.discogs.com/label/577298-Rare-7?page=1 Urban Classics 3 is on tape, Modern focused, even having We The People as its lead track. The Wind Down Zone series on Elevate made it to tape and was compiled by Ralph Tee. That has great MS selections on each one. Mentioning Ralph, I found a few tapes on Expansion:https://www.discogs.com/label/9974-Expansion?page=1 - I've got all those on CD. Beloyd is on Soul Sauce 3 for example.

Just remembered, Charly put out both volumes 1 and 2 (not 3) of Rare Soul Uncovered on tape which are perfect for your focus - plus after checking other comps such as Harlem Shuffle, Chicago Soul Uprising and This Is Charly Soul

Soul Souveniers volume 2 was on tape, but not volume 1. I used to see it in record shops and the charity shops a lot. Discogs lists 11 Goldmine compilations on tape, the Essential North West Soul Collection of the list was only on tape (though its songs are on many others).

Tom, thanks for the musical passion and telling us of your find. Reading back at the site will provide years of enjoyment and enlightenment. Carry on enjoying this and all music.

It almost seems wrong to say it, but I was a bit disappointed with the new Jalen track. It felt a bit '1969 by numbers' and not that memorable. Perhaps it is just be me, but I'm also getting bored of the new retro sound, which beyond its Daptone and related origins is becoming a widely adopted thing. A lot of it is very samey in sound and production, with songs that aren't that great. Artists such as Cleo Sol manage to sound contemporary and build on the past without being stuck in it.

Welcome recent joiners. That's a great Jimmy Delphs track.

Off the top of my head to get us going.... we could go more rare but surely Jerry Williams - If You Ask Me is Soul and romantic perfection. (I once knew a dedicated Northern Soul fan and constant dancer who somehow had never heard this, I simply didn't understand how that was) But if that's too obvious this gets me every time... And this just says it all

There were a few decent tracks on the CD, in a series that John Reed compiled from Decca UK. https://www.discogs.com/master/1106090-Various-The-Northern-Soul-Scene

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-13060377/henry-fambrough-spinners-dead.html

On MixCloud you can then pick best shows from such as Solar Radio, Starpoint Radio etc. There are loads of great new releases shows there too dependent on your taste - if you check out the websites for those, then check Mixcloud for the shows you like the sound of - there will be loads there that can be downloaded ready.

I've had the misfortune to be interviewed on R4 a couple of times and what you hear is a tiny edit. You speak with a researcher first who takes notes and feeds them on. The interviewer has seen that, but often has little knowledge or interest in the actual subject unless close to them (to be fair, they cover a lot of subjects doing a daily show), it's just filling 5 minutes and trying to find an angle. They also know in many situations their audience has passing interest at best, nobody ever checks back for detail accuracy normally. My most recent interview was ended when I wouldn't give them anything scandalous or confirm their line towards muck raking. They didn't want truth, just an angle that would perpetuate the subject and fill time - BBC is now like them all in needing social media clicks. All the other interviewees had ducked out based on the researcher questioning beforehand. It's not worth scrutinising a segment too much.

Great music from the early days. One of those artists where you'd trust the name if you didn't know the actual song first.

A useful article: https://www.wired.co.uk/article/archive-of-contemporary-music-save-3-million-records-digital-streaming https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/nov/16/archive-of-contemporary-music-new-york?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other There have been some useful other articles about ARC specifically too. One thing I find interesting is that the mega rich music upper tier of the industry, including artists do not solve this themselves - which they could without noticing.