The Greatest Record Finds Of All Time 2008

It was 250,000 and I wasn't smiling after 7 days of crafting through that. But it does look like I ate well while I was there, or is that a 25 count box Young Brothers up my tee shirt? Nope it's genuine fat!

John

Forgive my ignorance

but if he wasn"t too keen on white folk, how did you get around that one

also being a bit cheeky, but did you purchase all his stock, and how much did it cost

John

Forgive my ignorance

but if he wasn"t too keen on white folk, how did you get around that one

When the Taxman comes a knockin' it don't matter what colour you are!

I was leads to believe that the IRS closed him down.

When the Taxman comes a knockin' it don't matter what colour you are!

I was leads to believe that the IRS closed him down.

Cheers Sean,

Anyone remember that record, "Who said honkeys aint got soul"

forget who sang it

any chance of an estimated purchase price on these 250k stash, from a nosey person

As someone who has been buying Soul records for nearly forty years now, I have found this one of the most fascinating threads ever on Soul Source.

Just keep the stories coming please.

It was designed for you Dave!

Incidentally, big-up on your website discographies mate! I've found 'em invaluable just lately, so credit where it's due. Also I have some full discographies on Salsoul, Philly Groove and the post '76 Philly International gear if they're any good to you. PM me with your e-mail addy and I'll whack 'em over.......

The thread that dreams are made of LOL......

Ian D

Cheers Sean,

Anyone remember that record, "Who said honkeys aint got soul"

forget who sang it

That would be the Bang Gang on either Midget or Warner Brothers Moggy........

any chance of an estimated purchase price on these 250k stash, from a nosey person

Jesus. Look at that! A veritable plethora of flying pigs just flew past the window...........

Ian D

Which was perfect! Anything to get out of the MCPS in Streatham which was slowly killing me.....

Ian D

Great story Ian. Interesting enough I can completely understand about Streatham! When PRS and MCPS became the Alliance in 1998, I have on occasion had to go to SW17 and it's not great. I was in LA many times in the 80's, 'anything to get out of PRS in London!!' and had a few finds many at Grandmas on Pico, but I think that was well picked over by the time I first got there in 1982?

TTM

My only trip to the USA was a holiday to St petes beach so off I jogged along to Banana records, expecting a small shop I came across this large wharehous full of 7" soul vinyl, I nearly came in my pants...the top man told me a few rules and away I went shoping basket in hand.

Hit Bananas a few times in the late 80's when they still had the old store, never got a great deal of 45's but this was around the time everyone was dumping L.P's in favour of cd's so came out with hundreds of great items wondering how I was going to get them home again. They also put me onto two well known local collectors / dealers who had just dropped on an old guy who had retired to Florida from Michigan. Talk about right place, right time. Yvonne Vernee, Jimmy Mack, Norma Jenkins etc 400 great records all at $3 each and two copies of Bob and Fred which I nearly left as I thought it sounded dreadful at the time. Went back a year later and another English guy had been in and paid crazy prices for the stuff I had left, I think they got wise after that and started putting the obscure stuff for auction in Goldmine.

Fantastic thread. As one who spends most of my weekends at flea markets, Garage sales, antiques shows, etc. looking for all manner of things, records included, its the thrill of the hunt that keeps me going back for more.

As daft as it sounds, finding the stuff is ultimately a lot less of a thrill than the anticipation of what you're going to find. And when you do find something big (big for me anyway), it makes going out the next time seem not worth it as it'll likely not happen again, right.

Its threads like this that gets that adrenaline pumping again. See ya - I'm off to South Carolina for the weekend to see if theres any jewels to be found.

Great story Ian. Interesting enough I can completely understand about Streatham! When PRS and MCPS became the Alliance in 1998, I have on occasion had to go to SW17 and it's not great. I was in LA many times in the 80's, 'anything to get out of PRS in London!!' and had a few finds many at Grandmas on Pico, but I think that was well picked over by the time I first got there in 1982?

TTM

Well, what didn't help was that the minute they gave me access to the MCPS database, I started digging around and immediately realised that something dodgy was going on.....

Because some of the entries were duplicated and sometimes several 'tunecodes' were assigned to the same song, I started wondering whether some of the writers of some songs may be spurious or even fraudulent. So I looked up the tunecode for the Jackson Five's "I Want You Back" because on the writing credits it's simply credited to "the Corporation" which was a collective of Berry Gordy, Alphonzo Mizell, Deke Richards & Freddie Perren but which an elderly typist in Streatham might not be aware of or understand correctly.

So I found "I Want You Back" registered to one Pamela Motown at a P.O. box number on the Isle Of Wight! Must have made a packet over 15 years LOL........

But stuff like that didn't make me flavour of the month there, so I was ready to get the hell out and the U.S. trip and the dosh I made from it eventually lead to me having enough time and money to develop the Mastercuts series a year later.

So record collecting can be good for your karma LOL.....

And Reddington's Rare Records in Glendale was brilliant even after Soussan plundered it plus there was a GREAT shop over in Orange County that someone got to before I got to it in the mid 90's.

Dammit. Wish I had a time machine.......

Ian D

Yeah great thread, keep em coming.

People used to ask me how do you find this stuff and I said I don't know I just do. It is not luck at all its not about being in the right place at the right time its just about being. Ian D said he went out looking for stuff and could not find much, he then went for a burger and while sitting there noticed a store and had a great hit. I used to watch Lovejoy on TV and he always used to say he had this strange feeling about finding something. I have that same feeling today even though I have not looked for stuff for nearly 15 years. Many a great find just turned up from out of the blue and then again I have made a specific journey to a certain destination and found Jack. Many of you will have done the opposite. You meet someone who knows someone who has this and used to work here that's how it goes. I mentioned in an early post about finding a store that was going out of business just by driving by, well in 2 weeks a 6 figure sum was made and for no capital outlay at all, stockbrokers work that one out.

Sure people are getting wised up with price guide books, but here is the difference, go to New York and ask 20 Americans have you heard of Northern Soul and how many will know, not many. Go to London and ask anyone have they heard of the Beatles and nearly all will say yes. But there are still Beatles dealers in this country making a good living finding stuff. Has your next-door neighbour got a price guidebook?

There is a second hand record store in anytown USA, but I can honestly say that everyone reading this could go there and find something, not as much as a year ago or 5 ,10, 15, 20 years ago but you would have a find and make a profit. But within a square mile of that shop in people's garages and lofts there is a ton of stuff. I used to advertise for old records wanted and went round to peoples houses and I had some very good finds, how and why did so many old people have so much good stuff? Many told me their son had left home years ago and left all his stuff or a relative worked for a music company and used to give them loads of records. Someone said earlier about old Uncle Chester. It's a massive place and in my opinion there are tons of stuff still waiting to be found, look at JMs big hit only a few years ago. I found records in a disused church that was being used to store stuff.

Oh by the way JM it was Tony Sherwood (earlier post) who contacted you on my behalf about some 45s.

There are many discoveries out there just waiting to be discovered.

Hit Bananas a few times in the late 80's when they still had the old store, never got a great deal of 45's but this was around the time everyone was dumping L.P's in favour of cd's so came out with hundreds of great items wondering how I was going to get them home again. They also put me onto two well known local collectors / dealers who had just dropped on an old guy who had retired to Florida from Michigan. Talk about right place, right time. Yvonne Vernee, Jimmy Mack, Norma Jenkins etc 400 great records all at $3 each and two copies of Bob and Fred which I nearly left as I thought it sounded dreadful at the time. Went back a year later and another English guy had been in and paid crazy prices for the stuff I had left, I think they got wise after that and started putting the obscure stuff for auction in Goldmine.

Yep, I thought Florida had been cleaned out but I went to a flea market in Orlando 'cos I also collect weapons and, of all things, my missus wanted a bankers light, so she dragged me round all the furnishing and ornament stores and in the last store in the covered section there was a box of albums. TONS of great stuff Anthony White, Bobby Hutton, Jean Carn, Jones Girls, all mint, all promos. So I bought around 20 albums for a buck apiece and they asked if I wanted any more.

It turns out their son was a huge 70's Soul/Dance/Disco fan and he'd been collecting for 20 odd years but died suddenly from Aids a couple of months previously. So I went round to their house the next day and there were aprox 5K albums and 2K 12"'s, so I ended up buying quite a few!

Very sad though. You could tell this guy had loved his music and he was obviously very big on the great female singers of the 60's and 70's especially.

Paid for the trip though and replenished my collection for the 40th time which is the probably the kick I get out of it. I still love listening to stuff I don't know and occasionally finding the odd gem....

...in I fact found one the other day from '82 and it's one of the greatest records I've ever heard - J.P. Rogers Jr "All My Lovin'" - I'll post on a seperate thread. Think it was played @ Thorne back in the day but I've only just heard it......

See! I've got the bug again. Time to start sniffing around some of those leads.........

Ian D

J P Rogers was played almost on release Ian .. where were ya

When I was young and working at global just Fiday eve and sats I went through thousands of boxes and have admitted in the past that I must have crushed lots of what are now rare soul records (I know I should be shot). Anyhow I was supposed to be going with Richard (Not searling) to New York to order boxes of discs etc look through . This would be 1974/5. My parents put a block on me going and just as well as Richard got mugged and ended up in hospital for few days.

Move forward 30 years and I get to eventually go to New York.

gets in the record shop with loads of racks for 45s but non in them. I ask if he has any 45s and says yes in the back but my boss has not decided what to do with them come back friday which I did. I show the Boss the coulor of my money about $1200 as I had spent abit at Strider and other places. The Guy says hes not selling as he hasnt decided. - Ok I buy half a dozen Lps and walk out dissapointed.

A Month or so later Steve Bouden emails me from France telling me hes just gone into the same shop and got a copy of the Sillouhettes - Not me baby for $1.00 - I am in tears

Spent 8 days raking through thousands of records with little luck apart from meeting Peter Brown(having lunch and talking about P&P records PAP records and Patrick Adams) and being given some records by him and Mr Bouden is in for 1 hour and gets an £800 record

Thems the brakes

...in I fact found one the other day from '82 and it's one of the greatest records I've ever heard - J.P. Rogers Jr "All My Lovin'" - I'll post on a seperate thread. Think it was played @ Thorne back in the day but I've only just heard it......

Ian D

Me and Gary Smelt found loads of the "I enjoy makin' love to you" in a store in Tampa, 12"'s and LP's might have been the first copies over here. Is there a copy of the Yellow Pages left in Florida that hasn't had the page of record shops torn out ?

J P Rogers was played almost on release Ian .. where were ya

Playing D. Train, the Peech Boys and Gwen Guthrie at Leeds Warehouse to the groovy disco crowd LOL....

Mixmaster D

I'd love to read Jon Andersons greatest three hits..

great thread guys so much better than reading about "you dished my venue on etc etc"

When I was young and working at global just Fiday eve and sats I went through thousands of boxes and have admitted in the past that I must have crushed lots of what are now rare soul records (I know I should be shot). Anyhow I was supposed to be going with Richard (Not searling) to New York to order boxes of discs etc look through . This would be 1974/5. My parents put a block on me going and just as well as Richard got mugged and ended up in hospital for few days.

Move forward 30 years and I get to eventually go to New York.

gets in the record shop with loads of racks for 45s but non in them. I ask if he has any 45s and says yes in the back but my boss has not decided what to do with them come back friday which I did. I show the Boss the coulor of my money about $1200 as I had spent abit at Strider and other places. The Guy says hes not selling as he hasnt decided. - Ok I buy half a dozen Lps and walk out dissapointed.

A Month or so later Steve Bouden emails me from France telling me hes just gone into the same shop and got a copy of the Sillouhettes - Not me baby for $1.00 - I am in tears

Spent 8 days raking through thousands of records with little luck apart from meeting Peter Brown(having lunch and talking about P&P records PAP records and Patrick Adams) and being given some records by him and Mr Bouden is in for 1 hour and gets an £800 record

Thems the brakes

I'm surprised you could even understand Peter Brown. That guy talks FAST. The original Harlem hustler......

Also, do you remember Rick from Global? He used to play at Leeds Central quite a bit in the early 70's? I think he discovered Gene Chandler "Mr Big Shot" out of Global............

I've never found a Silhouettes in the U.S. which always bugged me because I figured there'd be a few around with the 45 coming free with the album. Might be a few knocking around via the Doo-Wop collectors though.........

Better luck next time Ernie - sounds like you're due some.......

Ian D

I'd love to read Jon Andersons greatest three hits..

great thread guys so much better than reading about "you dished my venue on etc etc"

Agreed.

And John could probably write his own book on his finds. I heard some great stories about John A's dealings with John Lamont from Philly, who later turned up in the book "Stiffed" when he was beaten up by the Mob over a cut-out deal which went wrong. Wouldn't mind reading that book again actually as it deals with a lot of the 'grey area' of cutouts etc.....

Ian D

I'm surprised you could even understand Peter Brown. That guy talks FAST. The original Harlem hustler......

Also, do you remember Rick from Global? He used to play at Leeds Central quite a bit in the early 70's? I think he discovered Gene Chandler "Mr Big Shot" out of Global............

I've never found a Silhouettes in the U.S. which always bugged me because I figured there'd be a few around with the 45 coming free with the album. Might be a few knocking around via the Doo-Wop collectors though.........

Better luck next time Ernie - sounds like you're due some.......

Ian D

Mr Cooper did indeed find stated record in Global ........

Malc Burton

Fantastic thread. As one who spends most of my weekends at flea markets, Garage sales, antiques shows, etc. looking for all manner of things, records included, its the thrill of the hunt that keeps me going back for more.

As daft as it sounds, finding the stuff is ultimately a lot less of a thrill than the anticipation of what you're going to find. And when you do find something big (big for me anyway), it makes going out the next time seem not worth it as it'll likely not happen again, right.

Its threads like this that gets that adrenaline pumping again. See ya - I'm off to South Carolina for the weekend to see if theres any jewels to be found.

Oh boy Covmart. I had a goody just next to South Carolina. I was on the way to Hilton Head Island for the weekend and we'd just crossed into Georgia (could have been Augusta I think) and I found a GREAT shop in the backwoods! Only had about 30 minutes there but found a bunch of stuff including all the Lorraine Chandlers, a Lee David and a lot of stuff from James Brown's personal collection. I think this guy bought up a lot of James Brown's possessions when they were auctioned off 'cos his shop was like a shrine to James Brown. Somebody on here will know the gaff for sure and I shudder to think what was in there.

I was being hurried up by the American family I was staying with who wanted to get to Hilton Head before sundown LOL so I couldn't clear the shop out and I never made it back there. Very frustrating.......

Good luck in Carolina. It might be worth sniffing around some Beach Music collections whilst you're there 'cos there will be stuff tucked away in collections I'm sure. An Embers on MGM perchance?

I have a feeling you're going to be lucky, so keep us posted!

Ian D

Mr Cooper did indeed find stated record in Global ........

Malc Burton

Nice record to find during your daytime job ay?

What a STORMER!

Ian D

no,no,no, dont stop, we need more record hunting stories, absolutely fascinating read, more more more please

no,no,no, dont stop, we need more record hunting stories, absolutely fascinating read, more more more please

I'm running out of 'em LOL.....

Where's John Anderson, Dave Raistrick, Arthur Fenn and everyone else when we need 'em?

One story I'd like to clear up was the third copy of "Skiing In The Snow" which was found in a U.S. Woolworths store for 10 cents, brought back to the UK but got destroyed in a car crash on the way to the Torch. Anyone know the full story?

Also, has anyone ever found copies of Robbie Lawson, The Twans, Don Varner, the Inspirations or any other ultra-rarities on a U.S. trip?

Similarly has anyone ever been prevented from buying records because they're English? It happened to me in Texas, when the minute the guy heard my voice he ordered me out of his shop because 'you English have been ripping us off for years'. I said, "well, do you want to sell records or not" and he said "no, not to you, you English scumbag"!

Another time I got talking to a guy in a shop and then got taken to a house in East L.A. to see some guy's collection and there was a card game going on with 4 very angry-looking black guys who thought I was a cop coming to bust 'em. One guy picked up a shotgun and another had a handgun - ever seen "Training Day"? Well, it was EXACTLY like that! They finally cooled down after I kept shouting "I'm English. I'm only looking for records"! The worst thing was that the so-called collection was terrible. Lot's of beaten up albums and nothing worth looking at. I couldn't get out of there fast enough......

A similar situation also happened when I was in Jamaica circa '77 and I thought I'd pick up some Dub stuff. I was on my way to the airport in a cab and I dropped in at Beverly's in Montego Bay and found about 30 serious dub albums and for some reason the woman refused to serve me. The shop started filling up with people and a nasty vibe started circulating and then the cab driver ran in and said if I didn't leave RIGHT NOW he'd be going without me. I had to send him back in to buy the albums for me LOL.....

I called round at a well-known record dealer in Terre Haute, Indiana, rang his bell, the door opened and a shotgun was levelled at my face. I did the usual - "Whoa, I'm the guy from England. Don't you remember we spoke on the phone"? And he said "well, we don't like strangers round here". Got some great stuff though.....

Oh and 18 months ago I went to the worst street in the Bronx three times (it was the street where Biggie Smalls used to sell dope) and each time the guy wasn't in! I had to walk through 3 gangs just to get in and out. By the third time it was a joke. The only way I made it each time is 'cos no one could quite believe that the same white guy would keep showing up @ 7.00pm every night and then hang around for two hours in the Soul Food cafe with the bulletproof glass! The annoying thing is, when I looked through the letter box the hallway was crammed from floor to ceiling with 45's! There was even a copy of "Alone With No Love" - Rock Candy on the floor. Very frustrating and obviously dangerous.

Also, I've got a great story about when I sold my Lada Edmund Jr demo when it was rare, but I'm saving that for later LOL......

Come on guys more stories please.....

Any situations which looked incredible but turned into super spectacular failures?

Like with records, the stories are out there. We just need to dig 'em out!

Ian D

not sure If Ive told this one before...

Not a USA hit, but a UK hit.

During the 70's I got to know Anderson quite well, being 30 miles away we were in his portland street office every week.

When he moved to that bloody village, the house and the big barn we went down to see him in the 90's asked if we could have a hunt, which to our amazement he agreed, agaiin a few rules from JA and away we went.

I found a thing on Diamond by Mark Thatcher a blue eyed 100mph thing along with a few other bits, played it to Gary Spencer and he asked if there were any left..."yeah there was a wad of about 20"..he replied "get over there this week and buy the lot Paul"

10 days later I'm back in there straight to the 'D's' ....all gone!! 20 mins later I moved some records off the floor to turn the record player plug on and two Hard Road to Hoe's fell off the bottom and one was on the top of the another pile.

Went into Johns office to barter with the miserable so and so and he opens up his draw, and as always he had some 'specials' in those green covers.

"Fancy one of these?, big record they tell me, £200 to you" bugger me I found out where those Mark Thatchers went.. "Nah its ok John I brought one off you 2 weeks ago for £10.

I also remember the time in the mid 90's at JA's, John had warned me someone else was looking...goes into the wharehouse and theres this geezer at the back..

"ok mate"

"yeah"

"found out"

"few bits"

"what you looking for?"

"northern and motown"

"where you from?"

"Kettering Northants"

"do you know Glen Bellamy?"

"I am Glen Bellamy!!!!"

Any situations which looked incredible but turned into super spectacular failures?

Like with records, the stories are out there. We just need to dig 'em out!

Ian D

not sure If Ive told this one before...

Not a USA hit, but a UK hit.

During the 70's I got to know Anderson quite well, being 30 miles away we were in his portland street office every week.

When he moved to that bloody village, the house and the big barn we went down to see him in the 90's asked if we could have a hunt, which to our amazement he agreed, agaiin a few rules from JA and away we went.

I found a thing on Diamond by Mark Thatcher a blue eyed 100mph thing along with a few other bits, played it to Gary Spencer and he asked if there were any left..."yeah there was a wad of about 20"..he replied "get over there this week and buy the lot Paul"

10 days later I'm back in there straight to the 'D's' ....all gone!! 20 mins later I moved some records off the floor to turn the record player plug on and two Hard Road to Hoe's fell off the bottom and one was on the top of the another pile.

Went into Johns office to barter with the miserable so and so and he opens up his draw, and as always he had some 'specials' in those green covers.

"Fancy one of these?, big record they tell me, £200 to you" bugger me I found out where those Mark Thatchers went.. "Nah its ok John I brought one off you 2 weeks ago for £10.

I also remember the time in the mid 90's at JA's, John had warned me someone else was looking...goes into the wharehouse and theres this geezer at the back..

"ok mate"

"yeah"

"found out"

"few bits"

"what you looking for?"

"northern and motown"

"where you from?"

"Kettering Northants"

"do you know Glen Bellamy?"

"I am Glen Bellamy!!!!"

Hi Paul,

Well, I've had a few successes in my time but here is one CATASTROPHIC failure I had concerning the good Soul Bowl.

I think I've mentioned this before, but the WORST mistake I ever made with John Anderson, was turning down Billy Woods "Let Me Make You Happy" for £3!

He'd just come back from the U.S. and there was the usual battle to get through on the phone and I finally got him @ 9.30am and we started going through stuff on the phone.

The first record he mentioned was Billy Woods and in his thick Scottish brogue he said "I've only got a handful of these and it's really good.

I asked what label it was on and he said "Sussex".

Now here was the problem. The Sussex label was everywhere with tons of cut-out 45's on Creative Source, the Soul Searchers, Dennis Coffey, Bill Withers etc, etc. You couldn't go ANYWHERE without bumping into a zillion Sussex cut-outs at the time, so Sussex was probably the worst label in the world at that point for clogging up the record racks. A decidely none-rare label. Was there ANYTHING that they hadn't pressed 20K of?

That was strike one.

The second problem is that I was surrounded by tons of copies of Billy Woods "I Don't Want To Lose Your Love" on Verve. Literally. A local market chain called Bostocks with stalls at Bradford, Huddersfield, Wakefield and Leeds had bought out the stock from an MGM/Verve warehouse in the states with the result that one of the most common records round my way was Billy Woods on Verve. I was SICK of seeing Billy Woods records!

So that was strike two.

And John really tried to twist my arm when I declined - he said "well Richard and Levine both bought it, I've only got two left and it's just £3.00......"

I said, "Nah, I don't think so John. What else ya got......"?

The rest, as they say, is history. "Let Me Make You Happy" turned out to be one of the rarest records ever and I've never owned an original despite 32 years of searching. Furthermore, I've talked to people who either worked, or were involved with Sussex at the time and no one can even remember a Billy Woods record. Even the original label owner Clarance Avant couldn't remember it when I asked him about it.

One thing I do know, is that there is a master tape from the Billy Woods/Van McCoy sessions currently lying in the corner of the basement of the Universal Tape Storage facility in New Jersey and one day I'll get my hands on it!

I've been in pain over this for the last 30 years!

Ian D

As i posted earlier in this thread, this has been a fascinating read, but to add to these stories, i would love to hear how these guys felt on there first trip, i can only imagine how dodgy a place the usa is if youve never been before, bet these guys have some tales to tell on that subject, especially as some of the people must have only been in there early twenties at the time, very daunting indeed

As i posted earlier in this thread, this has been a fascinating read, but to add to these stories, i would love to hear how these guys felt on there first trip, i can only imagine how dodgy a place the usa is if youve never been before, bet these guys have some tales to tell on that subject, especially as some of the people must have only been in there early twenties at the time, very daunting indeed

Haha LOL! I'm glad you mentioned that Harry.

I set off to New York in 1976 at the age of 21 and my mum and dad saw me off from Manchester airport with a very emotional goodbye.

My mum, god bless her, had done a bit of research on New York and said to me, "now when you get there, don't be wasting money on expensive hotels. There's this place called the Y.M.C.A. where young people can stay and it's very cheap and safe".

So okey dokey, the Y.M.C.A. it would be for my first night in New York.

I got a cab from the airport and shot into Manhattan, which was a mind-blowing trip in itself. Remember I was from the industrial Yorkshire of the early 70's. The biggest thing in our area was the I.C.I. chemical works in Huddersfield!

So seeing the New York skyline for the first time as I entered Manhattan was truly a brilliant experience - I'd only seen it on films and here I was doing it myself, just a 21 yr old kid from Mirfield in Yorkshire! What a buzz......

I came back down to earth with a bump when the cab pulled up at the Y.M.C.A. A guy was getting beaten up right outside and the Y.M.C.A. security guard at the entrance was just watching! I nervously got out of the cab, got my case out of the boot, paid the cabby, side-stepped the fight and entered the Y.M.C.A......

The first thing I realised when I got through the entrance was that there were an awful lot of guys hanging around and they all seemed to be staring at me! Disconcerting to say the least but, hey, this was the Young Men's Christian Association so what did I expect? I headed towards the reception desk to check in.....

The clerk at the desk looked up when I got there, suddenly got flustered, went bright red and then very coyly said, "HEEELLLOOOO sir, how can I help you"? And then kind of pouted at me.

He looked exactly like the gay guy with the turtle-neck black top on in the "The Producers" film!

I thought something was odd but I was still pretty naive around gays - the Northern scene in the early 70's wasn't exactly the place for our gay brothers back then LOL..

So I just went through the ritual of signing in and getting my key and trying not to look the clerk directly in the eyes.

I got my key, turned around to pick up my case and realised I was being stared at by aproximately 20 guys! I then headed for the lift before I became aware that there was a virtual stampede of guys anxious to get in the lift all of sudden.

I think it was then that the penny finally dropped and I realised that my mum had recommended that I check-in to a gay knocking-shop for 'safety'!

I realised what was happening as about 10 guys squeezed into the lift. When a guy asked my what floor I wanted, I immediately chose the floor above my actual floor. When the lift got to the designated floor the lift virtually emptied but I stayed in and one of the guys said "oh, I believe this is your floor isn't it"? I said, "no actually, I think I made a mistake....." and the doors closed. I went further up in the lift and then down to my real floor.

I then ran along the corridor, got into my room and barracaded the door with the wardrobe!

A couple of hours later, I plucked up the courage to go out and ventured out into Times Square, ran the gauntlet through the hookers, drug dealers, petty crooks and hustlers and almost immediately found the Colony records store which was still open at 11.00pm. One hour later I emerged with a Sounds Of Lane, a Strings N' Things, a Jerry Williams, an Earl Jackson, an Ambers plus about 20 other goodies.

I walked back through the street gauntlet of hookers and pimps again and then through the secondary gauntlet of highly aroused gays in the hotel lobby and then in the lift and finally got up to my room, barracaded the door again, spread my new acquisitions on the bed, unwrapped my cheeseburger, opened my coffee and just stared at the 25 records with justifiable pride. THIS was what I had come there for.

And I thought, "OK, I'm trapped in a building with roughly 500 gay guys of which at least 20 were actively stalking my room but let's look on the bright side........................"

And that was my first few hours in New York.

LOL, the memories are flooding back to me now Harry. Most of 'em were great, some of 'em were downers and many of 'em were virtually suicidal....

But I did survive 5 years of nighters in the North of England and we didn't accept fools gladly then.

And nothing could be scarier than a nighter at Va-Va's in Bolton when the locals fancied a ruck.....

So New York?

Piece of piss LOL........

Ian D

Hi Ian,some great stories you should be writing thrillers your a natural story teller which I'm not but i'll have ago,not a US one but my first trip to London when I was 16 in 1968.

I decided to go one Monday early summer 1968 dragged a mate with me we had about £20 between and a bag od half crown copies that worked great in the cigarette machines what my mate had engineered at Ferrantis. We blagged a lift down from a joiner I knew who was going down there for a job.

On arrival found ourselves in Paddington after a bit of searching got some digs at 15/-a night in some dodgy gaff used by the local brass probably.Anyway next day after a night on the booze started hunting first call was Soul City Deptford then Record Corner Balham didn't get much, I was after older stuff at the time and did't want to pay shop prices.

Anyway next stop was Soho after a few distractions found some stalls and some shops with some old stuff in it nothing brilliant but took a flyer on about 20 tunes plus a few half decent sounds including Dany White on Sue.Then after a lot of wondering around and finding nothing went back to the digs.

We went out at the night armed with these half crowns to get as many cigs as we could from machines we'd spotted the night before and turn them into money after about an hour we had a bagfull of cigs.Then started around the pubs selling them after a bit of hassle and some copper chasing us were about £5 better off a weeks wage then.After a few drinks and a fight in some chippy in which my mate copped for a black eye were back to the digs for the night.

It was Wednesday morning and the landlord wanted us out of the digs after a bit of rumpus so we had to find somewhere we managed to find a place in Baker Street advertised in the Standard 12/6d a night,some chineese geezer shown us the room apart from a load of empty cider bottles under the bed and the wallpaper went round the corners instead of in them was Ok.It was a luxury to the 10/- a night gaff in Queens Park what some Asian guy had tried to put us in the loft on a matress amongst 20 other boddies.

I know needed to get down to some serious sound hunting I'd been reccomended the East End so found myself over to Whitechappell found a market right outside the tube station, a lot of Red and common black Atlantic recent Motown nothing worth much more than 2/6d.took a flyer on a few imports.After a lot of slepping about found this old electrical shop with a f ew hundred singles in it picked up Humphrey stomp,Slipping around,Pain gets a little deeper which I already had and took a flyer on about 20 that may be ok that was it for the day.

Thursday saw me out early determined to really find some serious stuff,back over to the Eastend at East Ham,picked up some old Oriole Contours,Stevie Wonder,Marvin Gaye in a junk shop not what I was looking for at the time only worth about 5/-.Found another electrical shop full of hoovers with a few sounds in it nothing of a ny interest asked him as he got anything else he put me on to his mates shop I think it was in Stepney.Eventually found it with a few thousand sounds in boxes went straight for the fresher looking stuff(not dog eared covers}found Dr.Love,I dig your act,Jerk it,Ecstacy(not pills) and took a flyer on some others a decent find at 2/- a time.

After another eventfull night in Soho it was off home on Friday but I tought I'd give it one last go and found our way over to North London I think Camden but can't just remember.Stumbled on to a second hand musical instruement shop a bit like Mazels in Manchester with boxes of records outside in Cardboards sleeves.After half an hour found some half decent stuff including West Coast,American Poets and some other stuff that looked promising so I had about 40 records in all, but hardly any cash, so it was on our toes for the tube station with some old geezer chasing us.

We picked up our left luggage and was off trying to thumb a lift home,got lucky with some West Indian guy who was going to Moss Side,he had to stop in Coventry for some business we waited for him and he even bought us some grub a great guy.

I finished up with about 300 records about 100 crap but out of the stuff I hadn't heard at the time got Unsatisfied(yellow demo)What are you trying to do,Investigate,I choose to sing the blues,Dance with me The Blendells,andHey Girl Reuben Wright.

I've had more fruitful hunts but always remembered my first trip to London,I loved the place and the Tube, I mean you could could get anywhere for nothing apart from the odd guard colliering you and as long as you could outrun a middle aged overweight west Indian ticket collector.

Anyway got to go to Work running late

Cheers Brian Phillips

I'm surprised you could even understand Peter Brown. That guy talks FAST. The original Harlem hustler......

Also, do you remember Rick from Global? He used to play at Leeds Central quite a bit in the early 70's? I think he discovered Gene Chandler "Mr Big Shot" out of Global............

I've never found a Silhouettes in the U.S. which always bugged me because I figured there'd be a few around with the 45 coming free with the album. Might be a few knocking around via the Doo-Wop collectors though.........

Better luck next time Ernie - sounds like you're due some.......

Ian D

Could never rember Ricks name thats why I called him Richard and not RSearling of course

When did Rick find Mr Big Shot as I pulled 3 out of a box and then passed it to Rick but this might have been much later. God its so long ago.

At the time I was also in a rock band so I had quite abit of knowledge about rock music and thats why I got the part time job.

I worked not far from Oxford road so it took me just 5 miutes to get to Global although I lived out at SWinton.

What was Sizs name who worked at Stolen from Ivor - he was the one who came in with the box full of British from the big find.

What was Sizs name who worked at Stolen from Ivor - he was the one who came in with the box full of British from the big find.

That was Steve "Siz" Sayles I think...always loved the story of that big find, written in Dave McCadden's inimitable style, in Manifesto some years back, along with a great one from steve G about Picos!

Hi Ian,some great stories you should be writing thrillers your a natural story teller which I'm not but i'll have ago,not a US one but my first trip to London when I was 16 in 1968.

I decided to go one Monday early summer 1968 dragged a mate with me we had about £20 between and a bag od half crown copies that worked great in the cigarette machines what my mate had engineered at Ferrantis. We blagged a lift down from a joiner I knew who was going down there for a job.

On arrival found ourselves in Paddington after a bit of searching got some digs at 15/-a night in some dodgy gaff used by the local brass probably.Anyway next day after a night on the booze started hunting first call was Soul City Deptford then Record Corner Balham didn't get much, I was after older stuff at the time and did't want to pay shop prices.

Anyway next stop was Soho after a few distractions found some stalls and some shops with some old stuff in it nothing brilliant but took a flyer on about 20 tunes plus a few half decent sounds including Dany White on Sue.Then after a lot of wondering around and finding nothing went back to the digs.

We went out at the night armed with these half crowns to get as many cigs as we could from machines we'd spotted the night before and turn them into money after about an hour we had a bagfull of cigs.Then started around the pubs selling them after a bit of hassle and some copper chasing us were about £5 better off a weeks wage then.After a few drinks and a fight in some chippy in which my mate copped for a black eye were back to the digs for the night.

It was Wednesday morning and the landlord wanted us out of the digs after a bit of rumpus so we had to find somewhere we managed to find a place in Baker Street advertised in the Standard 12/6d a night,some chineese geezer shown us the room apart from a load of empty cider bottles under the bed and the wallpaper went round the corners instead of in them was Ok.It was a luxury to the 10/- a night gaff in Queens Park what some Asian guy had tried to put us in the loft on a matress amongst 20 other boddies.

I know needed to get down to some serious sound hunting I'd been reccomended the East End so found myself over to Whitechappell found a market right outside the tube station, a lot of Red and common black Atlantic recent Motown nothing worth much more than 2/6d.took a flyer on a few imports.After a lot of slepping about found this old electrical shop with a f ew hundred singles in it picked up Humphrey stomp,Slipping around,Pain gets a little deeper which I already had and took a flyer on about 20 that may be ok that was it for the day.

Thursday saw me out early determined to really find some serious stuff,back over to the Eastend at East Ham,picked up some old Oriole Contours,Stevie Wonder,Marvin Gaye in a junk shop not what I was looking for at the time only worth about 5/-.Found another electrical shop full of hoovers with a few sounds in it nothing of a ny interest asked him as he got anything else he put me on to his mates shop I think it was in Stepney.Eventually found it with a few thousand sounds in boxes went straight for the fresher looking stuff(not dog eared covers}found Dr.Love,I dig your act,Jerk it,Ecstacy(not pills) and took a flyer on some others a decent find at 2/- a time.

After another eventfull night in Soho it was off home on Friday but I tought I'd give it one last go and found our way over to North London I think Camden but can't just remember.Stumbled on to a second hand musical instruement shop a bit like Mazels in Manchester with boxes of records outside in Cardboards sleeves.After half an hour found some half decent stuff including West Coast,American Poets and some other stuff that looked promising so I had about 40 records in all, but hardly any cash, so it was on our toes for the tube station with some old geezer chasing us.

We picked up our left luggage and was off trying to thumb a lift home,got lucky with some West Indian guy who was going to Moss Side,he had to stop in Coventry for some business we waited for him and he even bought us some grub a great guy.

I finished up with about 300 records about 100 crap but out of the stuff I hadn't heard at the time got Unsatisfied(yellow demo)What are you trying to do,Investigate,I choose to sing the blues,Dance with me The Blendells,andHey Girl Reuben Wright.

I've had more fruitful hunts but always remembered my first trip to London,I loved the place and the Tube, I mean you could could get anywhere for nothing apart from the odd guard colliering you and as long as you could outrun a middle aged overweight west Indian ticket collector.

Anyway got to go to Work running late

Cheers Brian Phillips

wasn't the name of the east ham shop called boogaloo records?

Hi Ian,some great stories you should be writing thrillers your a natural story teller which I'm not but i'll have ago,not a US one but my first trip to London when I was 16 in 1968.

I decided to go one Monday early summer 1968 dragged a mate with me we had about £20 between and a bag od half crown copies that worked great in the cigarette machines what my mate had engineered at Ferrantis. We blagged a lift down from a joiner I knew who was going down there for a job.

On arrival found ourselves in Paddington after a bit of searching got some digs at 15/-a night in some dodgy gaff used by the local brass probably.Anyway next day after a night on the booze started hunting first call was Soul City Deptford then Record Corner Balham didn't get much, I was after older stuff at the time and did't want to pay shop prices.

Anyway next stop was Soho after a few distractions found some stalls and some shops with some old stuff in it nothing brilliant but took a flyer on about 20 tunes plus a few half decent sounds including Dany White on Sue.Then after a lot of wondering around and finding nothing went back to the digs.

We went out at the night armed with these half crowns to get as many cigs as we could from machines we'd spotted the night before and turn them into money after about an hour we had a bagfull of cigs.Then started around the pubs selling them after a bit of hassle and some copper chasing us were about £5 better off a weeks wage then.After a few drinks and a fight in some chippy in which my mate copped for a black eye were back to the digs for the night.

It was Wednesday morning and the landlord wanted us out of the digs after a bit of rumpus so we had to find somewhere we managed to find a place in Baker Street advertised in the Standard 12/6d a night,some chineese geezer shown us the room apart from a load of empty cider bottles under the bed and the wallpaper went round the corners instead of in them was Ok.It was a luxury to the 10/- a night gaff in Queens Park what some Asian guy had tried to put us in the loft on a matress amongst 20 other boddies.

I know needed to get down to some serious sound hunting I'd been reccomended the East End so found myself over to Whitechappell found a market right outside the tube station, a lot of Red and common black Atlantic recent Motown nothing worth much more than 2/6d.took a flyer on a few imports.After a lot of slepping about found this old electrical shop with a f ew hundred singles in it picked up Humphrey stomp,Slipping around,Pain gets a little deeper which I already had and took a flyer on about 20 that may be ok that was it for the day.

Thursday saw me out early determined to really find some serious stuff,back over to the Eastend at East Ham,picked up some old Oriole Contours,Stevie Wonder,Marvin Gaye in a junk shop not what I was looking for at the time only worth about 5/-.Found another electrical shop full of hoovers with a few sounds in it nothing of a ny interest asked him as he got anything else he put me on to his mates shop I think it was in Stepney.Eventually found it with a few thousand sounds in boxes went straight for the fresher looking stuff(not dog eared covers}found Dr.Love,I dig your act,Jerk it,Ecstacy(not pills) and took a flyer on some others a decent find at 2/- a time.

After another eventfull night in Soho it was off home on Friday but I tought I'd give it one last go and found our way over to North London I think Camden but can't just remember.Stumbled on to a second hand musical instruement shop a bit like Mazels in Manchester with boxes of records outside in Cardboards sleeves.After half an hour found some half decent stuff including West Coast,American Poets and some other stuff that looked promising so I had about 40 records in all, but hardly any cash, so it was on our toes for the tube station with some old geezer chasing us.

We picked up our left luggage and was off trying to thumb a lift home,got lucky with some West Indian guy who was going to Moss Side,he had to stop in Coventry for some business we waited for him and he even bought us some grub a great guy.

I finished up with about 300 records about 100 crap but out of the stuff I hadn't heard at the time got Unsatisfied(yellow demo)What are you trying to do,Investigate,I choose to sing the blues,Dance with me The Blendells,andHey Girl Reuben Wright.

I've had more fruitful hunts but always remembered my first trip to London,I loved the place and the Tube, I mean you could could get anywhere for nothing apart from the odd guard colliering you and as long as you could outrun a middle aged overweight west Indian ticket collector.

Anyway got to go to Work running late

Cheers Brian Phillips

Cheers Brian! I like writing and once I start it's difficult to stop LOL....

Incidentaly, for the sake of some of our younger readers, Brian '45' Phillips was an original DJ from the Twisted Wheel, a massive collector WAAAY back in the day and eventually THE dealer of choice for budding Northern Soul DJ's in the early 70's. His lists were legendary - I still have some of them some 35 years later. "Cool Off" - Detroit Executives on Pameline for 30p? The only copy! Believe it baby, just one of the hundreds of future gems which passed through Brian's hands into the scene.

A large part of both Ian Levine and my own early collections were fueled by visits to Brian's house in Manchester on damp Thursday nights in the early 70's. I think the last biggies I got from Bri were "Gee Baby" - The Malibus on Sure Shot and "I Had A Good Time" - Little Eddie Taylor on Peacock. He always turned up phenomenal stuff!

A pleasure to have you on the thread my friend. Do you like the way I designed it to LURE you guys in LOL?

Also big-ups to Soul Source for making these kind of threads possible. I would never have bumped into Brian, Max, Julian Bentley and numerous other people from back in the day if not for S.S. This is a beautiful slice of Northern Soul history and running here LIVE!

Thanks to Mike & team for keeping up with this!

THIS is exactly what this thread is all about and Brian's story is invaluable to researchers like me. I'm obsessed with details that only guys like Brian can supply. So great stuff Bri. More please. Get the stories down mate, 'cos it is history and you were right in the middle of it!

London would have been a treasure trove back then. Younger readers have to understand that, Northern Soulers apart, travel was a luxury rather than a necessity back then. Going to London from the North was a big deal, believe it or not and Brian's described the experience perfectly.

I got lucky in London a couple of times too. I think I hit the same shop which Brian mentioned in Stepney. Myself and Phil Lynski from Wakefield found a Carl Douglas, a Levi Jackson, a Garnet Mimms and a bunch of other UK goodies from there.

Also, that trip, just for posterity, I can remember buying The Vontastics on St Lawrence, the Heartbreakers on Derby, the Differences on Monca (?) and, at that point the undiscovered alternative version of "Cool Off" - "Mighty Lover" by the Ideals on Boogaloo ALL from the market stall on Berwick St where Ady used to work. I think this was just before or around when Ady and Clarky used to hang there. I think Dave Rivers worked at Harlequinn further up and he always had some goodies under the counter, in the true spirit of Soho.

Berwick St was always the bee-line for Northern collectors. What could be better? Original U.S. Northern Soul Records @ 25p each, Strippers, Hookers, Porn, Pubs and Knowledgeable Enthusiasts in that one street.

We thought we'd died and gone to heaven!

Keep 'em rockin' folks........

Ian D

Haha LOL! I'm glad you mentioned that Harry.

I set off to New York in 1976 at the age of 21 and my mum and dad saw me off from Manchester airport with a very emotional goodbye.

My mum, god bless her, had done a bit of research on New York and said to me, "now when you get there, don't be wasting money on expensive hotels. There's this place called the Y.M.C.A. where young people can stay and it's very cheap and safe".

So okey dokey, the Y.M.C.A. it would be for my first night in New York.

I got a cab from the airport and shot into Manhattan, which was a mind-blowing trip in itself. Remember I was from the industrial Yorkshire of the early 70's. The biggest thing in our area was the I.C.I. chemical works in Huddersfield!

So seeing the New York skyline for the first time as I entered Manhattan was truly a brilliant experience - I'd only seen it on films and here I was doing it myself, just a 21 yr old kid from Mirfield in Yorkshire! What a buzz......

I came back down to earth with a bump when the cab pulled up at the Y.M.C.A. A guy was getting beaten up right outside and the Y.M.C.A. security guard at the entrance was just watching! I nervously got out of the cab, got my case out of the boot, paid the cabby, side-stepped the fight and entered the Y.M.C.A......

The first thing I realised when I got through the entrance was that there were an awful lot of guys hanging around and they all seemed to be staring at me! Disconcerting to say the least but, hey, this was the Young Men's Christian Association so what did I expect? I headed towards the reception desk to check in.....

The clerk at the desk looked up when I got there, suddenly got flustered, went bright red and then very coyly said, "HEEELLLOOOO sir, how can I help you"? And then kind of pouted at me.

He looked exactly like the gay guy with the turtle-neck black top on in the "The Producers" film!

I thought something was odd but I was still pretty naive around gays - the Northern scene in the early 70's wasn't exactly the place for our gay brothers back then LOL..

So I just went through the ritual of signing in and getting my key and trying not to look the clerk directly in the eyes.

I got my key, turned around to pick up my case and realised I was being stared at by aproximately 20 guys! I then headed for the lift before I became aware that there was a virtual stampede of guys anxious to get in the lift all of sudden.

I think it was then that the penny finally dropped and I realised that my mum had recommended that I check-in to a gay knocking-shop for 'safety'!

I realised what was happening as about 10 guys squeezed into the lift. When a guy asked my what floor I wanted, I immediately chose the floor above my actual floor. When the lift got to the designated floor the lift virtually emptied but I stayed in and one of the guys said "oh, I believe this is your floor isn't it"? I said, "no actually, I think I made a mistake....." and the doors closed. I went further up in the lift and then down to my real floor.

I then ran along the corridor, got into my room and barracaded the door with the wardrobe!

A couple of hours later, I plucked up the courage to go out and ventured out into Times Square, ran the gauntlet through the hookers, drug dealers, petty crooks and hustlers and almost immediately found the Colony records store which was still open at 11.00pm. One hour later I emerged with a Sounds Of Lane, a Strings N' Things, a Jerry Williams, an Earl Jackson, an Ambers plus about 20 other goodies.

I walked back through the street gauntlet of hookers and pimps again and then through the secondary gauntlet of highly aroused gays in the hotel lobby and then in the lift and finally got up to my room, barracaded the door again, spread my new acquisitions on the bed, unwrapped my cheeseburger, opened my coffee and just stared at the 25 records with justifiable pride. THIS was what I had come there for.

And I thought, "OK, I'm trapped in a building with roughly 500 gay guys of which at least 20 were actively stalking my room but let's look on the bright side........................"

And that was my first few hours in New York.

LOL, the memories are flooding back to me now Harry. Most of 'em were great, some of 'em were downers and many of 'em were virtually suicidal....

But I did survive 5 years of nighters in the North of England and we didn't accept fools gladly then.

And nothing could be scarier than a nighter at Va-Va's in Bolton when the locals fancied a ruck.....

So New York?

Piece of piss LOL........

Ian D

BEING 100% SERIOUS HERE SOME ONE SHOULD WRITE A BOOK, WEVE HAD ALL THE VENUES, AND HISTORY OF THE MUSIC BOOKS, THIS SUBJECT WOULD BE A CRACKER, GREAT STORIES, YOU GUYS IMHO MADE THE SCENE WHAT IT IS TODAY, ANY IDEAS WHO WERE THE FIRST TO GO OVER?

BEING 100% SERIOUS HERE SOME ONE SHOULD WRITE A BOOK, WEVE HAD ALL THE VENUES, AND HISTORY OF THE MUSIC BOOKS, THIS SUBJECT WOULD BE A CRACKER, GREAT STORIES, YOU GUYS IMHO MADE THE SCENE WHAT IT IS TODAY, ANY IDEAS WHO WERE THE FIRST TO GO OVER?

I've got a feeling it may have been Graham Warr. I think he was certainly the first everyday average Brummie Northern fan who decided to get on a plane and go look for records. I think Rick (I've forgotten his surname) from Global went out there for Global and hit the Philly stuff early on too. And of course Soussan went over from Leeds early as well. But we'll certainly get the info here, that's for sure.

And I have had a book on the go for a few years now. Whether it'll ever get finished is another thing though. I seem to be spending a lot of time on these bloody intenet forum thingies LOL......

Ian D

As i posted earlier in this thread, this has been a fascinating read, but to add to these stories, i would love to hear how these guys felt on there first trip, i can only imagine how dodgy a place the usa is if youve never been before, bet these guys have some tales to tell on that subject, especially as some of the people must have only been in there early twenties at the time, very daunting indeed

I am more scared now thinking about my first trip than I was then. Must have been mad.

I had been dealing with a few guys via the US collector's mag; I think it is called Goldmine. I had bought some listed stuff and I was contacted when they had other stuff that came in, one guy who later became a great pal always turned up the rare stuff.

We planed to visit both contacts, they were a fair distance apart, and one even had a store. It was decided before the trip that we were not going to drive. Anyway I took a friend with me and flew into JFK, I had made out an itinerary that would see us take the subway across town. Here were two guys fresh of the plane with suitcases walking around NY, we got confused with the stations and kept going round in circles, we ended up at Penn Station and I remember standing there thinking I want to go home. All these hoods were coming up asking, "Hey mister have you got a dime for the phone"? We reached our destination and checked into a motel. I remember having breakfast and the waitress asking us where are you from and what are you doing here; never forget the look on her face.

I think we were picked up by the guy who owned the store later that evening, it was massive store and he had all this Elvis stuff hanging on the walls, we were shown to where all the soul was and started going thought it, we found some pretty good stuff. Then about ten at night the door burst open and there stood this guy with a box of soul records. He put the box down and I started looking at the stuff, the guy went nuts completely lost it, threatened to go to his car and get his gun and shoot me." nobody touches my stuff man" I looked around at the store owners for support and they were ducking down behind the counter, my mate who was black went white. My whole life flashed before me but I remember thinking that he had some good stuff in the box. He calmed down after awhile and I had to promise not to touch his stuff again.Wheew.

We stayed for about 3 days down there and visited some of the local do-wop dealers; this is where the best finds were. To think of it now there was no planning to the trip. I did not know what to expect I had listened to all sorts of stories about massive hits and I just followed the yellow brick road so to speak.

The best thing was when the stuff got delivered to the UK and opening the boxes, every record had a tale to tell.

I've got a feeling it may have been Graham Warr. I think he was certainly the first everyday average Brummie Northern fan who decided to get on a plane and go look for records. I think Rick (I've forgotten his surname) from Global went out there for Global and hit the Philly stuff early on too. And of course Soussan went over from Leeds early as well. But we'll certainly get the info here, that's for sure.

And I have had a book on the go for a few years now. Whether it'll ever get finished is another thing though. I seem to be spending a lot of time on these bloody intenet forum thingies LOL......

Ian D

Top stories mate hope i`m still around to read it when you do finish it

wasn't the name of the east ham shop called boogaloo records?

or was it Moondog Records East Ham?

Top stories mate hope i`m still around to read it when you do finish it

Cheers Harry. We'll have to see. It could be a long wait!

I actually wasn't intending to stick around this long to be honest. I thought I'd design my life so that I'd pop my clogs around 40, so I basically led a 'live fast, die young' type lifestyle and intended to pack a lot of 'Sex, Drugs and Northern Soul' into around 25 years, say from 15 to 40. All so I could get my money's worth before keeling over with a smile on my face if you see what I mean......

But I overshot badly.

A serious miscalculation by 13 years so far and there's no immediate signs of a more peaceful, reflective life just yet. So I'm still in the fast lane despite my best efforts for a an early departure LOL....

And now I have to write about it dammit.

So, in my case, it's more a case of...

"Life's a bitch and then you live".

Ian D

This has got to be the best thread ever,period.

Now i,m not a dealer,just a small time collector of soul,and have been for some 40 yrs now.

But i do remember about 20yrs ago driving from LA to Vegas.Any one who has made this trip will know that roughly half way,there is a town called Barstow........In those days it was really a one horse kinda place,basking in 100c heat.In the middle of the town there was a bowling ally with a Chinese restaurant next to it.Sitting in the restaurant you could view the bowling ally through a large glass window.

All very good till i recognise a choon being played on the "wurlitzer" in the corner - Jon & The Wierdest.Over i trots and i can actually see the vinyl being played...........all the other 45s on there are Beatles,Stones,Elvis etc.

So i asked the waitress if it would be possible to buy the 45......not a chance,after some 20-25 mins of begging,pleading,and all other promises the answer is still NO.

I then went on to the ask the nice lady if there was any one locally that sells 45s particularily soul.

"yes there is" says she "some guy but he lives in the desert,i dont have his address" now think on we,re only there for a bite to eat then move on to Vegas,and i,ve got a non soul loving wife(whom i divorced shortly after the trip) and an 8 yr old daughter with me,so i had to leave it there and move on.

Finally gets to Vegas.....on the 2nd day i goes into a record shop on the strip.....all albums....all rock music !! again, i ask is there any one who sells soul music locally "yes there is a guy,he lives in the desert,dont where tho"......

Thinking,that sounds familiar...........does any one know who this guy who "lives in the desert" is ?

So out of all the threads on here i must be the only Brit to have never bought a 45 in the states........

Best .......Russ .....oh by the way the year was 1980

Cheers Harry. We'll have to see. It could be a long wait!

I actually wasn't intending to stick around this long to be honest. I thought I'd design my life so that I'd pop my clogs around 40, so I basically led a 'live fast, die young' type lifestyle and intended to pack a lot of 'Sex, Drugs and Northern Soul' into around 25 years, say from 15 to 40. All so I could get my money's worth before keeling over with a smile on my face if you see what I mean......

But I overshot badly.

A serious miscalculation by 13 years so far and there's no immediate signs of a more peaceful, reflective life just yet. So I'm still in the fast lane despite my best efforts for a an early departure LOL....

And now I have to write about it dammit.

So, in my case, it's more a case of...

"Life's a bitch and then you live".

Ian D

That was and still is in some instances my policy, however i was pulled over from the fast lane on to the hard shoulder by my wife, who now leaves me standing, as i sit back and watch shaking my head knowingly

or was it Moondog Records East Ham?

It was Moondogs ; run by a guy called Paul .........

I remember my first trip to there , and Paul saying upon hearing our mellow northern tones - " You are welcome to look , welcome to buy , but don't try to rip me faaarrrking off " ........

We became firm friends after that , and I was a regular visitor until the placed closed .......

On that first visit I found three MGM demo copies of The Velours " IGC " , and Two UK issue Fathers' Angels .........

Malc Burton

Im surprised Dave Thorley hasnt made a contribution to this thread as he told us some really funny and hair raising stories especially about the one in the Deep south and it was so hot he took off his tshirt and forgot to pick it up as he left a certain shop/cafe. Only to return ayear or so later and a Guy is walking down the road with Daves actual t-shirt on.

Im surprised Dave Thorley hasnt made a contribution to this thread as he told us some really funny and hair raising stories especially about the one in the Deep south and it was so hot he took off his tshirt and forgot to pick it up as he left a certain shop/cafe. Only to return ayear or so later and a Guy is walking down the road with Daves actual t-shirt on.

I must get my specs changed .......

Upon first reading , I thought Dave had seen GUY walking down the street wearing his t - shirt .......

Malc Burton

What would we do without Soul Source (thanks Mike for all your hard work) to keep us informed & entertained ?

But I have to say I don't think I've ever enjoyed a thread as much as this one .............. (oh apart from one sales thread a week or so ago )

I am more scared now thinking about my first trip than I was then. Must have been mad.

I had been dealing with a few guys via the US collector's mag; I think it is called Goldmine. I had bought some listed stuff and I was contacted when they had other stuff that came in, one guy who later became a great pal always turned up the rare stuff.

We planed to visit both contacts, they were a fair distance apart, and one even had a store. It was decided before the trip that we were not going to drive. Anyway I took a friend with me and flew into JFK, I had made out an itinerary that would see us take the subway across town. Here were two guys fresh of the plane with suitcases walking around NY, we got confused with the stations and kept going round in circles, we ended up at Penn Station and I remember standing there thinking I want to go home. All these hoods were coming up asking, "Hey mister have you got a dime for the phone"? We reached our destination and checked into a motel. I remember having breakfast and the waitress asking us where are you from and what are you doing here; never forget the look on her face.

I think we were picked up by the guy who owned the store later that evening, it was massive store and he had all this Elvis stuff hanging on the walls, we were shown to where all the soul was and started going thought it, we found some pretty good stuff. Then about ten at night the door burst open and there stood this guy with a box of soul records. He put the box down and I started looking at the stuff, the guy went nuts completely lost it, threatened to go to his car and get his gun and shoot me." nobody touches my stuff man" I looked around at the store owners for support and they were ducking down behind the counter, my mate who was black went white. My whole life flashed before me but I remember thinking that he had some good stuff in the box. He calmed down after awhile and I had to promise not to touch his stuff again.Wheew.

We stayed for about 3 days down there and visited some of the local do-wop dealers; this is where the best finds were. To think of it now there was no planning to the trip. I did not know what to expect I had listened to all sorts of stories about massive hits and I just followed the yellow brick road so to speak.

The best thing was when the stuff got delivered to the UK and opening the boxes, every record had a tale to tell.

Yep, very good point mcleanmuir!

It's funny how merely looking at a record can trigger the memories. I always remember where I got the most influential records in my life, if not all of 'em.

The best moment for me is getting 'em back to the hotel room and just studying 'em like mini works of art.

Phew, I'm getting hot under the collar just thinking about it LOL.....

Ian D

or was it Moondog Records East Ham?

Hi Paul,Moondogs was on East Ham High Street but I don't think he opened until the early 70.s, I tended to go in junk,electrical shops in the main then,I didn't like paying 10/- for a single then unless it was a real big sound.it was hard getting more than £1 for anything in 1968 especially in Manchester,I think on that trip to London the most I would paywas 2/6d.,unless it was new import release from Record Corner or Soul City.

I become friends with the guy in Moondogs can't remember is name though nice guy he was.

cheers Brian

Hi Paul,Moondogs was on East Ham High Street but I don't think he opened until the early 70.s, I tended to go in junk,electrical shops in the main then,I didn't like paying 10/- for a single then unless it was a real big sound.it was hard getting more than £1 for anything in 1968 especially in Manchester,I think on that trip to London the most I would paywas 2/6d.,unless it was new import release from Record Corner or Soul City.

I become friends with the guy in Moondogs can't remember is name though nice guy he was.

cheers Brian

The guy who ran Moondogs , was called Paul , Brian - see my earlier reply posting .......

Malc Burton

Yep, very good point mcleanmuir!

It's funny how merely looking at a record can trigger the memories. I always remember where I got the most influential records in my life, if not all of 'em.

The best moment for me is getting 'em back to the hotel room and just studying 'em like mini works of art.

Phew, I'm getting hot under the collar just thinking about it LOL.....

Ian D

I love looking at Album covers, much better than any art gallery. I even went through some of my Motown yesterday and took photos of some collectables and posted them on the Gallery. That familiar dusty, damp smell.

This thread has got me going again. Last night I phoned my pal who made some trips with me and we spoke about old times for over an hour. I even emailed an old contact in LA to say hello. I think my subconscious is planning a comeback trip. Better tell the wife. LOL.

No luck in it Kiddo! Dedicated hunting and being in the right place at the right time and making my luck LOL.....

Also, any success stories need to be tempered with the not-so-good tales. So here's one.....

I got to Philly on my way back from L.A. in December '76. I had two large suitcases with me and went from the airport into the city centre. It was so cold my hands were freezing up just carrying my cases. I then decided to visit Val Shively's place in Upper Darby and made the mistake of deciding I could get there via public transport (Philly's version of the tube).

What I didn't realise is that a suntanned English white guy carrying two cases stood out like a sore thumb on that particular tube journey which went through the worst parts of Philly on the way to Upper Darby. Also, I was the ONLY white guy on the tube and everyone was flat-out staring at me and whispering "he must be crazy", "is he asking to be mugged" etc, etc......

Anyway, I got off at Upper Derby, came out of the station and realised I was being followed by a nasty looking guy. So I got around the next corner and legged it halfway down the street and jumped into a shop entrance.

About 20 seconds later, the guy went past the doorway almost running and I thought I'd got away with it but he must have caught me out of the corner of his eye and he stopped and walked back towards the shop entrance. I was shitting myself....

He approached me and said "Hey man, have you got the time......"

But I was nervous and thought he was going to knife me and my arm shot up in a kind-of reflex action and my little finger caught him square on in his right eye.

Just at that point, a cop car pulled up and two cops jumped out and asked me if everything was OK. It turns out that they'd seen me come out of the station with my suitcases and wondered what the hell a white guy was doing walking around with two suitcases on that particular line.

They told the guy to get lost and ended-up dropping me off at Val's. Val was great and I ended up stopping at his place where he spent the whole night telling me some FANTASTIC stories about the rare Doo-Wop scene and the lengths that some people went to just to get hold of a record - guns, threats, intimidation etc, etc. If I get time I'll bang a couple of 'em down......

The next day I was in the back of Val's shop when I suddenly heard a commotion with Val shouting out "Hey f*%k you. Get the f*%k out of my shop NOW! You ain't buying anything else here ya scumbag". I walked around the racks and looked over and Val was facing off a huge black guy with an Afro and a full-length black leather coat. Eventually the guy left and Val told me that the guy was a collector from Toronto and had messed all his filing up on previous visits and was an asshole to deal with.

Anyway, I had to leave for the airport and my cab arrived about 2 minutes later (once bitten, twice shy LOL), so I said to Val I'd catch him next time, grabbed my cases and got in the cab.

Just then the black guy who'd been kicked out of Val's shop came over to the cab and said, "Hey man. Which way are ya going? If you give me a lift I'll split the fare".

I said, "Well I'm going to the airport....."

He said, "Oh cool man, I'll drop off on the way" and he jumped in.

Anyway, he redirected the cab in the direction of where he was going and the cab driver looked at me and said "Are you OK with this"?

I said, "Yeah, we're gonna split the fare, so it's OK".

In the cab the Black guy told me that he travelled from Toronto around the U.S. and bought a lot of stuff to re-sell to the Japanese collectors - he had a few things on him - Mike & Bill records on Botanic and quite a few little label things which he said were Deep Soul collectors items in Japan.

About 20 minutes later he started directing the cab down some dodgy streets and halfway down on of 'em, he turned to me and said, "Hey nice meeting you man" and then opened the door and hurled himself out of the cab whilst it was doing 20-25mph.

The cab slammed the brakes on and stopped as I looked out the back window to see an afro-ed Black guy picking himself up off the road, shaking himself down and running off into the ghetto.

And no, he never gave me any dosh, the bastard!

So, it wasn't all roses.

More later......

Ian D

I remember making the same journey, being in the same situation - only white guy on the train, far too much cash in my pockets and thinking 'what the hell am I doing here?'

When I got to Val's he told me it was a safe area compared to Northern Philadephia