Is The Us Cleaned Out ?

[Guest]

Or not cleaned out ? That's the question.Are there any more great finds/big hits left waiting out there in some dust bowl in the middle of nowhere or in some forgotten basement smack bang on Manhatten ? Beware of disinformation from those with "agendas" but happy looking here and DREAM......

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/photos/28431/201795?mostpop=1

Rob

dreaming of a Sonny Herman !

[paup-ine]

Or not cleaned out ? That's the question.Are there any more great finds/big hits left waiting out there in some dust bowl in the middle of nowhere or in some forgotten basement smack bang on Manhatten ? Beware of disinformation from those with "agendas" but happy looking here and DREAM......

https://www.rollingst...01795?mostpop=1

Rob

dreaming of a Sonny Herman !

US is a big place

P:)

[funkyfeet]

There's tons there, the US is one big place and to think that there's no vinyl to be found is just plain rediculous.

[John Reed]

It might sound a silly question, but has anyone ever looked in Alaska?

[funkyfeet]

It might sound a silly question, but has anyone ever looked in Alaska?

Bound to be some frozen gems there.

[Dave Thorley]

It might sound a silly question, but has anyone ever looked in Alaska?

Hi John

Think that question has been asked on here before. Think there have been finds there in the past, but don't think that there was ever a local black music scene there, so the only records would be major label stuff and stuff sent in from other parts of the states.

As for the states in general, loads of records still, but you do need to dig a bit deeper now days. The days of going anywhere and opening the yellow pages have long gone. Hell many local yellow pages don't even have a CD or Record classification anymore, I know because I always check. As for shops and dealers lots have been written on here about that in the past, few shops left and many dealers just want to sell, what they think is the good stuff on Ebay.

Happy days

Edited September 29, 2010 by Dave Thorley

[Guest Matt Male]

Bound to be some frozen gems there.

I was thinking about this a while back and i think everyone's right, the US is just so massive that it would be impossible for the few thousand soul fans that there are in Europe to have plundered everything, or even most of the vinyl there. Another thing i hope, but maybe less likely, is that there are still some record shops and dealers who have never heard of northern soul, because the mere mention of that phrase seems to push all the prices up. I doubt if there are any business or shops that aren't online or use ebay these days. I went to Greenwich Village a couple of years back and most of the vinyl shops there were closed midweek because the majority of their business is through the internet and international, a real shame.

You never know in the backwaters of some states there could be some absolute treasure troves.

[Dave Thorley]

PS loads of records, but not always that good. Went through an old juke box operator a few weeks ago, 10,000 45, hardly any soul at all, every card for even the common stuff was empty, I even mean Marvin Gaye, Dells, Joe Tex, you name it all gone. But I did find a mint Leroy Barbour on Frontersman, must have looked like a country record to the unknowing, so it had been left.

But you do need to dig as I said before, some guy came on this site last year from the states and said that there was no vinyl left in his town!!!!, had he dug a bit deeper he would have found out that there is a warehouse there with close to a 1/4 million 45's mainly black music. Most creat diggers know it and it's been well picked over, but always fun for half a day mooching round the devastation that is left.

Edited September 29, 2010 by Dave Thorley

[Guest]

PS loads of records, but not always that good. Went through an old juke box operator a few weeks ago, 10,000 45, hardly any soul at all, every card for even the common stuff was empty, I even mean Marvin Gaye, Dells, Joe Tex, you name it all gone. But I did find a mint Leroy Barbour on Frontersman, must have looked like a country record to the unknowing, so it had been left.

But you do need to dig as I said before, some guy came on this site last year from the states and said that there was no vinyl left in his town!!!!, had he dug a bit deeper he would have found out that there is a warehouse there with close to a 1/4 million 45's mainly black music. Most creat diggers know it and it's been well picked over, but always fun for half a day mooching round the devastation that is left.

Yup ya need some luck too......

a well known english dj on holiday in Florida......takes a wrong turn looking for some place(not sure if it was even connected with records) and found himself down a dead-end street,aupon turning round he backs into a garaging area,and on the door of a garage was a sign saying old records for sale and a phone number......

he gives it a call some days later and suprisingly finds it to be true......upshot was 15000 45's which had never been touched by any gold diggers,and MANY,top soul sounds he pulled out......

goes to show a touch of the" Lloyd Price " can make miracles happen

anyone else with amusing tales ?

Rob

[Premium Stuff]

I get most of my stuff direct from the states one way or another - not from the UK in general

Cheers

Richard

[Baz Atkinson]

Depends what your after even back in the day the bigger finds were seldom -cant speak for the seventies totally different but the eighties my first visist was 87 -loads of stuff was to be had on my last visist at unsuspecting places in texas san antonio etc,theres still stuff to be had thats for sure -the issue now is most dealers /stores have got the ebay bug so the emphasis for any collector is always go smart for the semi unknowns etc,this was blown out the water on my last visist as my first three purchases were the perfections on big b-little jewel and and a lovely phillip mitchell lol!!

mY VIEW IS YOU JUST NEVER KNOW lol,lots of dealers will be at the Austen fair 2 weeks today and it will be interesting to see if there have stuck their price quides up their arses and got real lol,best buy on the last day when there are desperate to rake in some $$$$ lol.

I ve always had a fancy for the mid west states perhaps Jacob our Nebraska soul man could put us in the picture -when you think about it logically the place is huge but countless times you can quarentee a british dealer has been there before lol.Still have an open mind on this however.

BAZ A.

[Mal C]

I,ve been to the west coast couple of times and found nice sounds every shop bar one in china town / sanfrancisco, obviously no way near as much there now, but nice sounds at $1 & $2 is a steal against 40 or 50 quid for the same sounds here- mal

Edited September 29, 2010 by Mal.C.

[Baz Atkinson]

NAIL ON THE HEAD -in many respects thats the key records of quality for $1-2 roe-tat-tion etc got 2 last time theres tons of them also-dealers are still n aive-except a few on the more funkier stuff and the harder funk/and as for the wave of gospel not many have a clue -it really is about going over and been smart and not asking for the same old same old-theres so many deep things and rare group things also-my mate gaz simon got some lovely rare sweet stuff last time out etc.

BAZ A

I,ve been to the west coast couple of times and found nice sounds every shop bar one in china town / sanfrancisco, obviously no way near as much there now, but nice sounds at $1 & $2 is a steal against 40 or 5 0 quid for the same sounds here- mal

[Guest gordon russell]

didn,t someone find some good stuff in VIETNAM.....guy hennigan maybe?.........or was that just another story from the strange world of norman soul....peg:thumbsup:

[Guest]

It might sound a silly question, but has anyone ever looked in Alaska?

Been there 3 times. Fairbanks is the place to go me thinks about the size of new jersey beautiful part of the world and close to the Mc Kinley mountain range some strange people out there everthing form eskimos, hells angels, hippies to facked up ex vietnam vets I know ive went drinking with them dont mention the war man, US army and airforce bases close by lots of Bars shops etc but if you dont find any hidden gems in the shit kicking record shops and believe me ive tried (18 weeks altogether out there) then if an adventure holiday is your thing you wont get better

Kieran

[Guest toaster]

Hi Baz,I hope you and the usual suspects are all well.I hope you are wrong mate as I am off to NYC next year and would like to come back with something!!The thing is though,I have been off the scene for a while now and when I re-connect I allways hear tunes I have never heard before.An example being Hiroshima,Never ever on Arista from 79.As you know I was a collector mainly of 70,s,xover and when I visited Paul Ackley last week he played quite a few tunes from this genre I had never heard.So for me the thing is the States is a huge place and tastes do change as we all know,so is it that tunes we passed over in the past now grab our attention.Back in 75 as a fourteen year old if you had asked me for £3 quid for Frankie Valli or Buddy smith for 25pence I would have took your hands off for the Frankie Valli!!All the best Baz,regards Tim.

[Smudger]

oops!

Edited September 29, 2010 by smudger

[Baz Atkinson]

hllo tim hope your well mate -got some good addys for new jersey if you decided to get out the apple -drop me a pm mate closer to the time -good to see you on here,if your staying in the big apple there is so many interesting stores ,you are bound to get some stuff mate.DEFFO RIGHT on tunes passed over suppose its the old addage there all at some point have their day !!

BAZ A

Hi Baz,I hope you and the usual suspects are all well.I hope you are wrong mate as I am off to NYC next year and would like to come back with something!!The thing is though,I have been off the scene for a while now and when I re-connect I allways hear tunes I have never heard before.An example being Hiroshima,Never ever on Arista from 79.As you know I was a collector mainly of 70,s,xover and when I visited Paul Ackley last week he played quite a few tunes from this genre I had never heard.So for me the thing is the States is a huge place and tastes do change as we all know,so is it that tunes we passed over in the past now grab our attention.Back in 75 as a fourteen year old if you had asked me for £3 quid for Frankie Valli or Buddy smith for 25pence I would have took your hands off for the Frankie Valli!!All the best Baz,regards Tim.

[Baz Atkinson]

hello mate -guys travelling at the momment if i drop him a text mate and ask where he is -you may not be far wrong on that score dont know about rare soul

but i bet hes having a cracking time lol!!

didn,t someone find some good stuff in VIETNAM.....guy hennigan maybe?.........or was that just another story from the strange world of norman soul....peg:thumbsup:

[Mick Howard]

hello mate -guys travelling at the momment if i drop him a text mate and ask where he is -you may not be far wrong on that score dont know about rare soul

but i bet hes having a cracking time lol!!

didn,t someone find some good stuff in VIETNAM.....guy hennigan maybe?.........or was that just another story from the strange world of norman soul....peg:thumbsup:

Baz

Definitely in the far east - txt'd him a couple of week ago. Japan maybe find some stuff.

The US forces were massive in the Philippines weren't they - has that been looked over?

Mick

[Kris Holmes]

i would just like to add that the Rolling Stone article is a bit of a joke, some of those stores aren't even the best record shops on the street, let alone, city, state or country. There are still plenty of records to find in the US if you put in the hours

[Guest JIM BARRY]

i would just like to add that the Rolling Stone article is a bit of a joke, some of those stores aren't even the best record shops on the street, let alone, city, state or country. There are still plenty of records to find in the US if you put in the hours

i wouldn't mind betting there's more rare soul in manchester than the u.s.a.

[Ian Dewhirst]

Interesting thread this.It's a question I've asked myself many a time over the last 30 years.

The answer is: I don't think it is cleaned out yet but you've got to be very, very dedicated to locate untouched stuff these days. Or very lucky.

I've employed loads of methods to figure out where records could be. From studying U.S. population and demographic statistics to figure out where the Black populations were relocating to in the mid 60's, to going to the New York public library to dig out old 1960's telephone books from around the U.S. and find old record shops that looked good back in the day. I even once went in concentric circles around Detroit up to a 250 mile radius and bloody cleaned up! I once had to go to Denver, Colorado (cowboy country) on business and knew I'd clean up 'cos it's a pain in the ass to go there 'cos it's in the middle of nowhere. As it happens I was wrong 'cos central Denver had been comprehensively cleared but I scored a brilliant one-off hit in the outskirts plus good hits in Buffalo and St Aspen and then Dave Raistrick hit the area and cleaned up again due to my lack of knowledge of the then current biggies. I've had pretty good hits on business in New York and on holiday in California and Florida when I wasn't really trying that hard. I had to sneak off for a couple of hours and dig out what I could!

So anything's possible. I'm sure most of the professionals on here will know of great and very promising looking stashes that somehow they've never managed to access for one reason or another. There's plenty of great collections and old shop stock that's in storage over there for one reason or another. There's cellars and lofts packed full of failed records which haven't even been thought about for 40 years until 'those weird guys from England contacted us'. Etc, etc, etc.

Still plenty out there I reckon. It's digging 'em that's become so much harder. Plus, you can trust anyone on this scene to not miss too many tricks, so you have to dig deeper and deeper and really take time to cultivate good contacts or promising leads. All of which takes time and dedicated focus and is almost a full-time job I reckon.

But there'll be great hits to come for sure. Maybe some amazing ones 'cos most people from the era we love are coming to the end of their days, so a whole heap of treasure will appear out of nowhere over the next 10 years and there's bound to be some great records in there somewhere. I've got a personal hit-list of the areas I'm gonna concentrate on and I'm reasonably certain there'll be some unheard goodies in there, because, after all, this is what we do isn't it?

Having spent the whole day listening to the INCREDIBLE CD of Derek Martin's Roulette recorded tracks (released on EMI with little fanfare) with at least 2 absolute stonking Northern monsters and 1 Crossover piece of brilliance (thanks Jaffa), I realise how much I still have to learn. There's tons of stuff yet. It's out there. We've just gotta find it.

Ian D

[Ian Dewhirst]

Salt Lake City anyone?

There's just no way that anyone could justify paying to go there. It's 500 miles from anywhere else for a start. But the whole Osmonds thing was huge in the U.S.A. from the mid 60's and they were based there, so there must have been records flowing into Salt Lake City from the mid 60's onwards. Including Motown. Somewhere, in a Mormon cellar in Salt Lake City, there'll be a shitload of local distributor stock or radio station promos you can betcha ass.......

I never made it there, but I always have this romantic notion that sometimes the best hits are in the most unlikely places. As an example, the 100% greatest-ever 70's Album and 12" hit I ever had was in Nashville, Tenessee 'cos a hot 60's/70's Black jock from Chicago switched stations and moved to Nashville, then got bounced and dumped his collection in a second-hand record store in the heart of C&W country. By the time I got there, the albums were marked down to 50 cents each and the 12"'s were 10 cents. Unbelievable hit. I bought around 5000 records right there. The Nashville branch of the freight-forwarders couldn't believe it. F*ck right. Gimme a Leo's Sunship album for 50 cents and a Norman Connor's "Once I've Been There" 12" for 10 cents and I'm ready to party..........

I reckon there's lot's of records in those upmarket retirement communities. All those rich retired music biz execs who kept everything 'cos they could. Probably haven't even thought about that stuff they put in storage in the early 80's that they'd accumulated over the previous 20 years.

Don't even get me going.........

The possibilities are endless 'cos the U.S. is just so friggin' BIG.

Ian D

[Sean Hampsey]

Last month's haul for me and Tats,after a week long, 1500 mile Road Trip - a Bed Full o' Soul!

In amongst that little lot is:

Tony Middleton 'Paris Blues' Mala Demo,

Rose Brooks 'I'm Moanin' Soul City Demo

Sinceres 'Girl I Love You' Pzazz

Lorez Alexander 'I Don't Wanna Hear It Anymore' Pzazz

Debbie Dean 'Why Am I Lovin' You' VIP Demo

Brown Sugar 'Game Is Over' Capitol

Leslie Uggams 'Don't You even Care'... just off the top of me head...

...+ loads of nice hard Gordy / Motown and a pile of obscure and unknown small label bits n' bobs...

Hard graft, tough diggin' but there's still gold in them there hills!

Sean

[Ian Dewhirst]

Last month's haul for me and Tats,after a week long, 1500 mile Road Trip - a Bed Full o' Soul!

In amongst that little lot is:

Tony Middleton 'Paris Blues' Mala Demo,

Rose Brooks 'I'm Moanin' Soul City Demo

Sinceres 'Girl I Love You' Pzazz

Lorez Alexander 'I Don't Wanna Hear It Anymore' Pzazz

Debbie Dean 'Why Am I Lovin' You' VIP Demo

Brown Sugar 'Game Is Over' Capitol

Leslie Uggams 'Don't You even Care'... just off the top of me head...

...+ loads of nice hard Gordy / Motown and a pile of obscure and unknown small label bits n' bobs...

Hard graft, tough diggin' but there's still gold in them there hills!

Sean

So how's the West Coast these days then Sean?

Ian D

[Sean Hampsey]

So how's the West Coast these days then Sean?

Ian D

Hahaha.... I see where you're coming from but, surprisingly.... we never went anywhere near Calif. on this trip mate.

But, we did hit 9 other States en route!

Sean

PS: Did you get my email?

[Ian Dewhirst]

Hahaha.... I see where you're coming from but, surprisingly.... we never went anywhere near Calif. on this trip mate.

But, we did hit 9 other States en route!

Sean

PS: Did you get my email?

Wow. Pzazz distributed inland? All of which confirms the point I was making earlier, namely, ya never know.

And yep, I got your e-mail and apologies for my tardy response sir. More of the same please mate! We have an open canvass and a willing audience...........

Ian D

[Kris Holmes]

Wow. Pzazz distributed inland? All of which confirms the point I was making earlier, namely, ya never know.

And yep, I got your e-mail and apologies for my tardy response sir. More of the same please mate! We have an open canvass and a willing audience...........

Ian D

I pulled runs of unplayed Pzazz stock out of Wisconsin of all places, don't underestimate the distro

[Baz Atkinson]

its all food for thought mick -bet you hes having fun with flynny lol!!

BAZ A

Baz

Definitely in the far east - txt'd him a couple of week ago. Japan maybe find some stuff.

The US forces were massive in the Philippines weren't they - has that been looked over?

Mick

[Baz Atkinson]

bUFFALO NEW JERSEY one of the hairiest afternoons ever -stayed over the falls at a small town called chipawa on the lake and hired a driver to take me into buffalo and locate stuff this was 92 after some incredible finds in hamilton [canada which is always worth a look]decided to try and round things off,the driver turnEd up half pissed -he was a boat maker by trade and was on strike at the time -all he talked about was the indians up north[at the time there was barricades up in canada with the native indians]when we hit a few stores in downtown areas he was becoming increasingly agigtated lol,we got chased out of the final one with the owner firmly saying "i know where your coming from man but i dont want you here"lol-wont even tell you what my driver said but i was shitting myself lol.

Pleased he didnt have a gun on him because he was that pissed he would of used it.Hope people reading the thread dont think its all happy la la -you have to grift to get stuff and dig and dig often faced with people that view you in a peculiar manner lol.For every good experience youll get all sorts of weired stuff thrown at you lol!!

BAZ A

[Guest]

Hahaha.... I see where you're coming from but, surprisingly.... we never went anywhere near Calif. on this trip mate.

But, we did hit 9 other States en route!

Sean

PS: Did you get my email?

Wish you guys would quit yappin on about the west coast

Here,just take another lookee here to blow your minds to pieces :

And I always kinda wondered if anyone managed to get there since this video was up on you tube if that Temptones was found

This is Val on gr8 form,a very amusing video and ya can't help wondering.....

Anyone been over and know what the recent situation is with him over there ?

Rob

[Kris Holmes]

Anyone been over and know what the recent situation is with him over there ?

very much on a "pay to play" schedule these days

[Ian Dewhirst]

I pulled runs of unplayed Pzazz stock out of Wisconsin of all places, don't underestimate the distro

That's weird in itself. Why on earth would they want Len Jewell records up there? Mind you, I had an OK hit in Madison once I seem to remember....

Ian D

[funkyfeet]

i wouldn't mind betting there's more rare soul in manchester than the u.s.a.

Dream on, just think of all the group/soul/motown/do-wop/funk collectors in the states, we fit in one of the lakes, Machester is the size of one of there shopping malls.

The majority of big ticket numbers on ebay are still coming out of the States, think this proves the point.

Plus it doesn't matter if somewhere was picked over last year, doesn't mean that there not a new find to be found, rare records being found in car boots and second hand shop in the UK all the time even though they get picked every week.

Edited September 30, 2010 by funkyfeet

[Anoraks Corner]

Definitely in the far east - txt'd him a couple of week ago. Japan maybe find some stuff.

Mick

its all food for thought mick -bet you hes having fun with flynny lol!!

Baz

I'm sure we'll get up to allsorts when he does get here in a couple of months

He went to Vietnam on his last trip, but didn't find anything to write home about

One thing is for sure, I find quality discs EVERY weekend in Japan (check out my sales pages!), but then again I've been here 6 years and know where to go, who to talk to and sellers contact me when they have something decent to offload

[Pomonkey]

I've been to Val's around a hundred (yes, 100) times in the last decade+, once a month or so it's an easy round-trip from here in NYC, a stone mint Hyperions on Chattahoochee (from the clearly marked Chatahoochee section, not exactly hard to find) for all of $20 was probably the biggest surprise to find was somehow still sitting there, but although it's very rare to find anything even close to that there in the last few years is def still one of my favourite ways to get out of town for a day.

[Guest]

I've been to Val's around a hundred (yes, 100) times in the last decade+, once a month or so it's an easy round-trip from here in NYC, a stone mint Hyperions on Chattahoochee (from the clearly marked Chatahoochee section, not exactly hard to find) for all of $20 was probably the biggest surprise to find was somehow still sitting there, but although it's very rare to find anything even close to that there in the last few years is def still one of my favourite ways to get out of town for a day.

Good of you to mention,thanks

from what you indicate,Val's is,at least,cleaned out (for our kind of stuff) ?

he said as much on the video clip.....still its kinda shocking to think when you see all that quantity

Rob.

[Guest]

I've just stumbled across a young lad who dragged his dads college dj collection from the basement - 2000 60s dj promo copies that have only been played a few times... been in the basement for 40 years... some great sounds so far that I've heard

[Pomonkey]

Val does get some new stock on the shelves but really not in quantity at all, esp since he let John go and only has Chuck working full-time. Still do check a couple of specific labels each time on the off chance but otherwise build up a list every month of every soul/funk 45 that goes through ebay >$100 that I know I haven't looked for before and anything I see on any playlist of a dj I get the impression plays decent stuff that again haven't looked for before, obviously that means by now have looked for a ridiculously high % of "known" titles / labels so tend to be more looking for slightly more niche stuff, eg 2 weeks ago came back with 45's like the Cravens featuring Rex Garvin on Saber, couple of copies of a girl popcorn version of Blues in the night, Nancy Ames "I wanna hear it from you" on RCA (he has an entire wall of RCA, you have to look for specific artists/titles or you could spend all your time just there, no others of this one), 2 acetate pre's of Ocie Smith "Lighthouse", etc, interesting stuff for sure but not what most people here would really be hoping for, even on the local Philly labels it's very thin, prob last decent hit was a dozen unplayed Jack Jacobs on Libra (including a white demo, only ever seen the blue issue before, anyone?), definitely not like a decade ago when you could think, hmm Dorothy Ramsay, and simply walk to the Melodynamic section (now empty of course, sorry) and lift one out!

[Ian Dewhirst]

I've just stumbled across a young lad who dragged his dads college dj collection from the basement - 2000 60s dj promo copies that have only been played a few times... been in the basement for 40 years... some great sounds so far that I've heard

There ya go Soulgirl. It'd be interesting to know where your mate's dad went to college in the 60's. My guess is that it would be a white upper middle class kinda community so he's probably got more Pop/Rock in there rather than obscure Soul as a random guess. I don't think Impact or Mary Jane woulda had the resources to mail to colleges somehow. But, as always, I'm dead curious as to what is in there.

If I was doing this seriously these days, I'd probably talk to local barbers in Black areas who have been around for the last 50 years. They'd know the deal and who the players are locally. It'd probably be a ratio of a 95% crap waste of time but then that INCREDIBLE 5% random hit is what drives us all isn't it?

Ian D

[Guest]

There ya go Soulgirl. It'd be interesting to know where your mate's dad went to college in the 60's. My guess is that it would be a white upper middle class kinda community so he's probably got more Pop/Rock in there rather than obscure Soul as a random guess. I don't think Impact or Mary Jane woulda had the resources to mail to colleges somehow. But, as always, I'm dead curious as to what is in there.

If I was doing this seriously these days, I'd probably talk to local barbers in Black areas who have been around for the last 50 years. They'd know the deal and who the players are locally. It'd probably be a ratio of a 95% crap waste of time but then that INCREDIBLE 5% random hit is what drives us all isn't it?

Ian D

What he's uploaded so far is well away from pop Ian... hence my excitement really.

[Ian Dewhirst]

Val does get some new stock on the shelves but really not in quantity at all, esp since he let John go and only has Chuck working full-time. Still do check a couple of specific labels each time on the off chance but otherwise build up a list every month of every soul/funk 45 that goes through ebay >$100 that I know I haven't looked for before and anything I see on any playlist of a dj I get the impression plays decent stuff that again haven't looked for before, obviously that means by now have looked for a ridiculously high % of "known" titles / labels so tend to be more looking for slightly more niche stuff, eg 2 weeks ago came back with 45's like the Cravens featuring Rex Garvin on Saber, couple of copies of a girl popcorn version of Blues in the night, Nancy Ames "I wanna hear it from you" on RCA (he has an entire wall of RCA, you have to look for specific artists/titles or you could spend all your time just there, no others of this one), 2 acetate pre's of Ocie Smith "Lighthouse", etc, interesting stuff for sure but not what most people here would really be hoping for, even on the local Philly labels it's very thin, prob last decent hit was a dozen unplayed Jack Jacobs on Libra (including a white demo, only ever seen the blue issue before, anyone?), definitely not like a decade ago when you could think, hmm Dorothy Ramsay, and simply walk to the Melodynamic section (now empty of course, sorry) and lift one out!

I was only in Upper Darby for a day in December 1976 so I called by Val's in the late afternoon and ended up staying over at his place 'cos he was good enough to put a complete stranger and fellow record hound up for the night. I never really got the chance to seriously dig through his shelves 'cos I knew they'd already been zapped by John Anderson previously, so I wasn't in hyper-intense digging mode. Fact is that Val never stopped talking about his experiences - especially in the field of rare Doo-Wop. Much more dangerous and expensive than the Northern scene at the time - "Stormy Weather" by the Five Sharps on Jubillee was the one to find right then. Ridiculously rare.

So I had a BRILLIANT time and packed a LOT of knowledge and experience into my 24 hours in Philly. Despite having an attempted mugging on me (which failed miserably 'cos I chinned the twat and then the cops turned up immediately thank f*ck) and the CRAZY Canadian black guy who Val banned from the shop whilst I was there (and who stiffed me for cab fare on the way to the airport), I had a wild time in Philly thanks to Val.

I even turned up at House Of Oldies at one point and spent around 2 hours digging through just one 20' x 20' pallet of 45's (out of 1000 pallets) and decided that I'd need at least a year to cover the place. Also it was a pallet that was heavily skewered towards Country & Western so I got bored.

I had a drink with Keb Darge earlier this week and he showed me the kind of stuff he's playing at the moment - virtually all 50's and knowing Keb, rare as hell and EXACTLY the kind of stuff his audience wants to hear. He had a couple of one-offs too. If you think Northern's hard, then imagine trying to dig up rarities from the 50's. This is seriously rare stuff.

So consider yourselves lucky. 60's Northern is EASY compared to some stuff!

Ian D

[Guest]

I've just posed a few questions so hopefully he'll reply

[Ian Dewhirst]

What he's uploaded so far is well away from pop Ian... hence my excitement really.

OK, now we're talking Soulgirl! Wanna share the knowledge LOL.....?

With College Radio promos it always seems to me that there's a bias towards major label Pop & Rock, which is generally what I've experienced whenever I've hit Ivy League college towns. More Simon & Garfunkel rather than Stanley Mitchell if you get my drift. But having said that, I've stumbled into great records in a wide range of places so I'm a believer........

The best bet would surely be to target small Black local radio station DJ's from the 60's and early 70's and ex-employees from local independent

record distributors in the 60's and 70's. You could probably narrow this right down with extensive research and locate people who grabbed the freebies at the time and then put 'em in the loft and forgot about 'em. Ex record company sales, marketing and promotion people from the 60's and 70's is another area which would surely have a better than average hit-rate. Likewise those personnel who worked in pressing plants or distribution hubs. The really interesting stuff is still out there.

It's like whenever a U.S. dealer asks me what I'm looking for, I always tell 'em that I don't actually know, 'cos I really don't. I've found a few of the rarest records ever made by complete default. When I found a Primettes acetate one time, I kinda knew it was a goodie but I couldn't tell you why. It just looked special. Likewise the Dick Baker combo (the most wanted record in the world at one point). My heart missed a beat when I saw the first real copy of "The Duck"/"Love Runs Out" - Willie Hutch. I had no idea that this was "Let's Do The Duck" by Richard Temple. But I didn't really have to know. It instinctively FELT like a great record and struck me like a lightning bolt when I found it in a crate of radio station library 45's.

There'll still be 100's of great Northern Soul 45's that probably never even got properly promoted or distributed. Maybe a couple of copies went to a local radio station and a couple of local shops and then the rest probably got put in the cellar, garage or loft and forgotten about. I mean, we KNOW all about rare records and some of these records are ridiculously rare. How many times have we been surprised at finding out that a major Northern Soul goodie was originally released via an even tinier local label?

So still a way to go yet I reckon.

Ever the optimist!

Ian D

[Guest Dave Turner]

Interesting Val Shively read for anyone who ain't seen it

https://blogs.myspace...logId=317892828

and while we're at it a John Anderson read which was mentioned on here a little while back.

https://www.austinrecords.com/?gallery/index.htm

Edited October 1, 2010 by Dave Turner

[Guest]

Interesting Val Shively read for anyone who ain't seen it

https://blogs.myspace...logId=317892828

and while we're at it a John Anderson read which was mentioned on here a little while back.

https://www.austinrec...llery/index.htm

Thanks,totally hallucinating,sedatives are needed to imagine/fantasise what monsters were lying around......like someone quite well known (Ian Dewhirst !) once said "its better than an orgasm".....

not sure if I agree on that,but there could still be some extra terrestial finds waiting somewhere......

Rob.

[Guest]

Salt Lake City anyone?

There's just no way that anyone could justify paying to go there. It's 500 miles from anywhere else for a start. But the whole Osmonds thing was huge in the U.S.A. from the mid 60's and they were based there, so there must have been records flowing into Salt Lake City from the mid 60's onwards. Including Motown. Somewhere, in a Mormon cellar in Salt Lake City, there'll be a shitload of local distributor stock or radio station promos you can betcha ass.......

I never made it there, but I always have this romantic notion that sometimes the best hits are in the most unlikely places. As an example, the 100% greatest-ever 70's Album and 12" hit I ever had was in Nashville, Tenessee 'cos a hot 60's/70's Black jock from Chicago switched stations and moved to Nashville, then got bounced and dumped his collection in a second-hand record store in the heart of C&W country. By the time I got there, the albums were marked down to 50 cents each and the 12"'s were 10 cents. Unbelievable hit. I bought around 5000 records right there. The Nashville branch of the freight-forwarders couldn't believe it. F*ck right. Gimme a Leo's Sunship album for 50 cents and a Norman Connor's "Once I've Been There" 12" for 10 cents and I'm ready to party..........

I reckon there's lot's of records in those upmarket retirement communities. All those rich retired music biz execs who kept everything 'cos they could. Probably haven't even thought about that stuff they put in storage in the early 80's that they'd accumulated over the previous 20 years.

Don't even get me going.........

The possibilities are endless 'cos the U.S. is just so friggin' BIG.

Ian D

hmmmmm....in that case : https://www.bing.com/local/default.aspx?what=thrift+stores&where=Salt+Lake+City&s_cid=ansPhBkYp01&mkt=en-gb&ac=false&qpvt=salt+lake+city+thr

and : https://www.dexknows.com/local/arts_and_entertainment/media/radio_stations/geo/c-salt_lake_city-ut/

or this : https://www.dexknows.com/local/retail/consumer_goods/antiques_and_collectibles/geo/c-salt_lake_city-ut/

My personal favourites the most amusing are the junk shops,commonly called "antiques and collectibles"....

Rob

pm me if you find a Sonny Herman