SIMON SOUSSAN | MIND BLOWING NORTHERN SOUL! Charley Channel

[Mal C]

Really looking forward to this, has anybody mentioned, or discussed Simon Soussan appearing soon on the Charley YT Channel?

Heard all the stories, bought loads of his pressings in the past, heard about the acetates he would send to the DJs at the casino, and the lush White carpets at his place in Leeds, I guess in the early 7ts, and of course the madness that ensued around records he sold, but never supplied...

BUT, other than on Soul Train, I’ve never seen him in discussion, so this is to be an interesting interview...

Had dealings with SS, love to know about it...

 

 

 

[Mal C]

A few likes, but very few wiling to put their toe in the water... lol

Maybe we should keep this thread on ice till the interview comes out, then you can have your say. I would state though, for allot of us on here, Simon Soussan is just a name from the 7ts, I'm too young to have dealt with, or met him, but I know allot of you older guys did.. 

Christ sake I'm 55 and there are older guys!

[Chalky]

I hope it isn’t a token gesture or a nod to the good SS did, I hope it gets to the nitty gritty and dodgy stuff he got up to as well. It would be good to get the truth about Soultown, Mirwood etc.  this could be one explosive superb interview, he clearly has a story to tell and hopefully it will be told. 

[Jessie Pinkman]

I only dealt with him once, I ordered and paid for Hank Jacobs "Elijah rockin with soul" and I received Dave Mitchell "The Trip" with a note Sorry Hank Jacobs sold I hope this is okay instead as it's going to be played at the Mecca.

[Woodbutcher]

35 minutes ago, Chalky said:

I hope it isn’t a token gesture or a nod to the good SS did, I hope it gets to the nitty gritty and dodgy stuff he got up to as well. It would be good to get the truth about Soultown, Mirwood etc.  this could be one explosive superb interview, he clearly has a story to tell and hopefully it will be told. 

With KR at the helm I doubt very much whether there'll be any mention of the "dodgy stuff" that went on , just the usual rose-tinted waffle ... 

[Roual Galloway]

54 minutes ago, Woodbutcher said:

With KR at the helm I doubt very much whether there'll be any mention of the "dodgy stuff" that went on , just the usual rose-tinted waffle ... 

exactly

[Colouredman]

It should be very very interesting; looking forward to it. He certainly had a dodgy side, but I’d say this. I was lucky enough in the early 80’s along with Ian Clark, to be invited to Les McCutcheons home to view Simon Soussans collection, which was being sold through Les. What a sight that was! That haul of records all together like that, would blow most collectors minds; it blew mine!! Rarely do any of us see that many rare original records, all in one place in this country. It was phenomenol, amazing. Everything was for sale, and the pricing was amazing (Cheap!!)but thats a whole other story.

Anyway, my point is, whatever retrospective judgements we feel inclined to make about SS, I think we shouldnt  lose sight of the fact that he found, discovered, loved, and collected these records a long time before most of us here did,  in a country where there was no other collector interest, and no Rare Soul Scene, as a context for doing so. That he was also clearly a bootlegger, along with everything immoral about that is not in doubt though.

Whats also clear to me though,  having seen and bought (extensively) from that collection, is that he really did love Northern. Somehow bootlegging and collecting the same music seem irreconcilable facts I guess, and Im not defending anything he did; depriving artists of what theyre due is just plain wrong. But somewhere in there is a man who loved what we do, and discovered and collected a lot of it before us, so for that I’ll give him credit.