Bostocks in Bradford Market -- MGM / Verve Haul

[Roburt]

I largely stopped 'chasing' 60's US import 45's after 1971, being more interested in newer stuff that you didn't have to send away for to the US or head off miles to go crate digging in some record dealers premises. So I never made it to Bostocks in Bradford market. Of course, with the size of their haul, you'd find some of the 45's they'd brought over here in all sorts of weird places -- 2nd hand shops / Sunday market stalls / local supermarkets (the Boyes chain; Hull, York, etc branches).  When I came across any in such premises, of course, I'd sort through them & buy any I was interested in. But I never got to witness the 'mother load' back in their original UK location.

They were sold so cheap at that time (5p each ?; around double that in a sold-on shop) that even if some of those singles were unknown back then, you'd still take a punt if the producer / song writer / artist name looked promising. It seems many top sounds came out of the market there and initially went on to be sold for a substantial mark-up to those not in the know.

MY QUESTION ...  it must have seemed that you'd be able to find any MGM / Verve soul 45 in quantity back then, so paying the pre-Bostock's going-rate must have seemed pointless for a while. BUT, many Verve 45's --     Howard Guyton – "I Watched You Slowly Slip Away" for instance -- managed to retain it's sought-after status & still go for a hefty wad. SO, which collectable MGM / Verve 45's didn't turn up in quantity in the Bostock's haul and is it known why they didn't ?

Were the copies of the 'rarer' items on Bradford market (Howard Guyton for instance) issues / demos or a mix of both ?. 

Obviously, there was always pent-up demand from niter-goers for the Howard Guyton single, otherwise it wouldn't have been booted back in the 70's. How soon after it started getting plays was it booted & how did that tie in (date-wise) with the Bostock's haul ?       

Are the details of where Bostock's got their haul from known -- record company warehouse stock or from a big US record warehouse ? 

Edited December 2, 2023 by Roburt

[Roburt]

I've been pointed in the direction of this podcast ...

COLIN CURTIS & TIM ASHIBENDE TRIBUTE TO KEITH MINSULL SHOW NORTHERN SOUL HISTORY HITMIX RADIO 107.5FM 

www.podomatic.com/podcasts/colincurtis/episodes/2023-01-23T03_56_29-08_00

I've given it a listen & it seems the Stoke crew were heading over to Bradford in summer 73 to buy from Bostocks.

Edited December 2, 2023 by Roburt

[Rick Cooper]

During 1972 and 73 I used to go to Bostock's in Bradford and later the stall in Leeds at least once a week. The titles in quantity are probably fairly well known but of the ones that I didn't see loads of are, (although they may have been very small quantities of some of these)

MGM

Tony Middleton- To The Ends Of The Earth

Lou Roberts- Everything You Always Wanted

Jewels- We Got Togetherness

Roy Hamilton- Panic Is On also Count On Me

Verve

Youngblood Smith- You Can Split

High Keyes- Living A Lie

Howard Guyton - I Watched You Slowly Slip Away

Robert Banks - A Mighty Good Way. I found one copy of this on a demo so there may have been a few more of this but not hundreds.

There must be others as well that weren't there as the records seem to only cover those issued around 64 to 67 so no blue and yellow MGMs .

As to why some weren't there it could be that there weren't any overstocks and returns on some titles as they managed to sell the initial pressing without enough demand for extra runs. The titles in quantity were all issues and they were packed in 100 count boxes, there must have been thousands of Spyder Turner- I Can't Make It Anymore but none of the hit- Stand By Me.

I thought Bostock's got them through Soul Bowl but others may know more. @Ian Dewhirst would know a lot more about Bostock's and there are some past threads on here, somewhere.

 

 

 

 

[Roburt]

Kegsy has been in touch & has given me the full run down (just about the same as Rick stated above; but more detailed). I didn't realise Bostocks also had a multitude of 45's on Okeh, Wand, Ric Tic, ABC, Chess, Checker & loads of other labels too. Though I was getting Chess / Checker 45 stuff (& Stax / Volt / Motown) from B&S / Contempo back then (72-ish).  

Edited December 3, 2023 by Roburt

[Algsoul]

19 hours ago, Rick Cooper said:

During 1972 and 73 I used to go to Bostock's in Bradford and later the stall in Leeds at least once a week. The titles in quantity are probably fairly well known but of the ones that I didn't see loads of are, (although they may have been very small quantities of some of these)

MGM

Tony Middleton- To The Ends Of The Earth

Lou Roberts- Everything You Always Wanted

Jewels- We Got Togetherness

Roy Hamilton- Panic Is On also Count On Me

Verve

Youngblood Smith- You Can Split

High Keyes- Living A Lie

Howard Guyton - I Watched You Slowly Slip Away

Robert Banks - A Mighty Good Way. I found one copy of this on a demo so there may have been a few more of this but not hundreds.

There must be others as well that weren't there as the records seem to only cover those issued around 64 to 67 so no blue and yellow MGMs .

As to why some weren't there it could be that there weren't any overstocks and returns on some titles as they managed to sell the initial pressing without enough demand for extra runs. The titles in quantity were all issues and they were packed in 100 count boxes, there must have been thousands of Spyder Turner- I Can't Make It Anymore but none of the hit- Stand By Me.

I thought Bostock's got them through Soul Bowl but others may know more. @Ian Dewhirst would know a lot more about Bostock's and there are some past threads on here, somewhere.

 

 

 

 

my best find in bostocks 75    they used to sell 10/15 45s  wrapped in newspaoer lucky dip   bought two packs and found four copys  of candi staton and two copys ronnie mcnair 

[Brunswick 58]

Don't forget the Guinness lps they had

[John A]

I’m pretty sure that Howard Guyton was never booted in the seventies. That bootleg often sold as a seventies reissue (pic) actually appeared in the early nineties.

[Julianb]

As the only person to be allowed access to their almost derelict terraced house ( where they kept their one off copies) I might have a few stories to tell!

[Rick Cooper]

6 hours ago, Roburt said:

Kegsy has been in touch & has given me the full run down (just about the same as Rick stated above; but more detailed). I didn't realise Bostocks also had a multitude of 45's on Okeh, Wand, Ric Tic, ABC, Chess, Checker & loads of other labels too. Though I was getting Chess / Checker 45 stuff (& Stax / Volt / Motown) from B&S / Contempo back then (72-ish).  

Looking through the MGM and Verve label listing on 45cat, a few others I don't remember seeing are

MGM- Carol and Gerri and any Invitations releases, Andrea Henry.

Verve- Wilson Picket, The Chantells, Clara Ward- Right Direction, Billy Woods, any Nick Ashford, Barbara Banks, Tommy Yates.

All the titles seemed to be from  January 1966 to December 1968. Maybe MGM/Verve had a clear out limited to those dates which ended up at Bostock's.

They also had a lot of mixed singles from loads of labels but again mainly 66- 68. These were unsorted and they put fresh stock out daily so it was easy to miss the one-offs.

I think I got all the earlier Billy Butler OKeh singles and a few other good titles.

Later on they found a small quantity of Alice Clarke -You Hit Me but Paul Bostock knew by then that he could charge a lot more for some titles, I think this could have been £3.00.

[Rick Cooper]

30 minutes ago, Julianb said:

As the only person to be allowed access to their almost derelict terraced house ( where they kept their one off copies) I might have a few stories to tell!

Well let's hear them.

In 1975 I got to go to a couple of lock up garages they had and the upstairs room behind some shops, but both of these were where they stored the pop titles and singles that had already been on the stalls and not sold. Both a complete waste of time. 

[25miles]

7 hours ago, Roburt said:

Kegsy has been in touch & has given me the full run down (just about the same as Rick stated above; but more detailed). I didn't realise Bostocks also had a multitude of 45's on Okeh, Wand, Ric Tic, ABC, Chess, Checker & loads of other labels too. Though I was getting Chess / Checker 45 stuff (& Stax / Volt / Motown) from B&S / Contempo back then (72-ish).  

KEGSY, MOUSE, STEVE GRIMSHAW, SWISH ETC WOULD SELL STACKS OF MGM/VERVE STUFF DOWN AT STOKE WHICH CAME FROM BRADFORD MARKET !!

[Julianb]

Ask Kegsy about the bollocking I gave him at the Torch re record sales!

[Julianb]

28 minutes ago, Rick Cooper said:

Well let's hear them.

In 1975 I got to go to a couple of lock up garages they had and the upstairs room behind some shops, but both of these were where they stored the pop titles and singles that had already been on the stalls and not sold. Both a complete waste of time. 

Keith Minshull reminded me of the time we both got a Salvadors on one visit

[Alan T]

I'm currently reading "Atlantic And The Godfathers Of Rock And Roll"

Here's a bit about Morris Levy, owner of Roulette records buying 5 million MGM records for 20 cents each. The Bostocks stock could of come through this deal ?

[Agentsmith]

11 hours ago, Alan T said:

I'm currently reading "Atlantic And The Godfathers Of Rock And Roll"

Here's a bit about Morris Levy, owner of Roulette records buying 5 million MGM records for 20 cents each. The Bostocks stock could of come through this deal ?

Levy was also ' Mob 'probably made more money from the bootlegging of his own records!

[Rick Cooper]

20 hours ago, Alan T said:

I'm currently reading "Atlantic And The Godfathers Of Rock And Roll"

Here's a bit about Morris Levy, owner of Roulette records buying 5 million MGM records for 20 cents each. The Bostocks stock could of come through this deal ?

The prices look more like albums rather than singles. Twenty cents each for five million records is too high for singles and Morris Levy would never pay over the odds. Then selling singles for $1.70 to $3.50 in the 70s is unlikely. Also Nat King Cole and Ella Fitzgerald are album artists, however it shows what went on back in the 70s.

[Julianb]

On 03/12/2023 at 18:46, Rick Cooper said:

Well let's hear them.

In 1975 I got to go to a couple of lock up garages they had and the upstairs room behind some shops, but both of these were where they stored the pop titles and singles that had already been on the stalls and not sold. Both a complete waste of time. 

Got copies of Bricks, broken bottles, Skip Jackson, Dear Beloved, Constellations  I don't know about you and many more. Gave them all a spin at Lord Jim's but they weren't the right tempo for the time. Scroll forward 10/15 years, guess what, perfect!!! Maybe I was a trailblazer but did't know it?  They let me have them on sale or return  as no record player was available. Got an Earl Jackson for 25p as well. Happy days.

[Roburt]

On 03/12/2023 at 19:03, 25miles said:

KEGSY, MOUSE, STEVE GRIMSHAW, SWISH ETC WOULD SELL STACKS OF MGM/VERVE STUFF DOWN AT STOKE WHICH CAME FROM BRADFORD MARKET !!

Yes, Kegsy told me that his Bostock 45 sales @ the niters financed his buys of stuff (!) for a good while.

[Julianb]

2 hours ago, Roburt said:

Yes, Kegsy told me that his Bostock 45 sales @ the niters financed his buys of stuff (!) for a good while.

He used to waste the proceeds on leather jackets and other things!

[Roburt]

If there was more demand for a particular Verve 45 than Bostocks had supply of ...

Kegsy would resort to this method to make extra mula ...