Will The Real Simon Soussan Stand Up

[Ian Dewhirst]

It's amazing how I managed to retain my good looks after all these nose-flattenings over the years LOL.....

Ian D

and teeth

LOL, the teeth are a whole other story. I smashed my front teeth on the bottom of the Kensington Close swimming pool when was showing off in front of a well-endowed female and dived in the shallow end!

At one point in my mid 20's two of my front teeth were held in place with matchsticks and chewing gum. I'd often have conversations and say "f*&k" and one of my teeth would fly out.........

I think my second Northern collection was sold to get my teeth fixed.......so my upper front set cost a Salvadores, a Tomangoes, a Eula Cooper and Four Perfections!

Ian D

[Guest familytree]

Yep, that smack in the kisser with a 1 pint pebble-glass beer mug turned out to be the ultimate 'sinus-deblocker' literally LOL. It actually realigned my nostrils which had been knocked out of shape from a previous punch a few years back, hence for a while it actually greatly facilitated the air-flow through my nostrils until the blood started to congeal.............

It's amazing how I managed to retain my good looks after all these nose-flattenings over the years LOL.....

Ian D

So Soussan did you another favour in the great scheme of things... realigning the konk and supplying you with a sex fest in L.A... not a bad lad all the time then? bless him

[Ian Dewhirst]

please expand! cant keep leaving us in suspense like this..... I feel like Ive been reading a book tonight, great fun! Howlin at the Mecca scufffle... or should that say shuffle.. Not at the pain you suffered Mr dewhurst I hasten to add.

Gotta leave that story to Kev as he tells it best. But I think that same incident is where Kev yelled up to Simon (who was hovering by the skylight whilst balanced on the roof), "Simon, what's this record by the Casualeers? It's on Roulette"

And Simon said "Get them all baby boy!"

Then later when Kev paid for all the records that he'd found, he went round the corner and got in Simon's car and said "I hope that Casualeers is good 'cos I got 30 of 'em".

Then later, when they got to Kev's hotel, Kev went to get his records and Simon went "Wait a minute baby boy. I need all ze Casualeers records because I must have a perfect copy for my collection so I need to play zem all to find ze best one".

Naturally Kev never saw 'em again..........

Ian D

[Guest familytree]

Gotta leave that story to Kev as he tells it best. But I think that same incident is where Kev yelled up to Simon (who was hovering by the skylight whilst balanced on the roof), "Simon, what's this record by the Casualeers? It's on Roulette"

And Simon said "Get them all baby boy!"

Then later when Kev paid for all the records that he'd found, he went round the corner and got in Simon's car and said "I hope that Casualeers is good 'cos I got 30 of 'em".

Then later, when they got to Kev's hotel, Kev went to get his records and Simon went "Wait a minute baby boy. I need all ze Casualeers records because I must have a perfect copy for my collection so I need to play zem all to find ze best one".

Naturally Kev never saw 'em again..........

Ian D

Er ever so slightly naive, gullabul if you dont mind my saying Kev .... but probably worth every penny lost for the sheer fun of it all...priceless! x

[viphitman]

LOL, the teeth are a whole other story. I smashed my front teeth on the bottom of the Kensington Close swimming pool when was showing off in front of a well-endowed female and dived in the shallow end!

At one point in my mid 20's two of my front teeth were held in place with matchsticks and chewing gum. I'd often have conversations and say "f*&k" and one of my teeth would fly out.........

I think my second Northern collection was sold to get my teeth fixed.......so my upper front set cost a Salvadores, a Tomangoes, a Eula Cooper and Four Perfections!

Ian D

By the state of things I have to sell a few this year too.

Bugger my pension is gone now.

[Ian Dewhirst]

So Soussan did you another favour in the great scheme of things... realigning the konk and supplying you with a sex fest in L.A... not a bad lad all the time then? bless him

Yep, bless him the cute little rascal! He indirectly fixed my nose, got me laid and it only cost me my royalties from a million-selling record!

Oh but the memories..........

The first night in L.A. he insisted that he took me out. I was jet-lagged and just wanted to crash but naturally I didn't have much choice in the matter. So I went back to the hotel, got washed and changed into my flash Ben Sherman shirt and oxford bags and then tripped the light fantastic in L.A.

We hit a restaurant, a couple of bars, a couple of clubs and then ended up in a club called the Candy Box in Beverly Hills. I'd spent the whole evening explaining to people that oxford bags and Ben Sherman shirts were actually in fashion in the North of the UK but they just looked at me like I was from Mars. They were all wearing one-piece jump suits with gold chains and I looked like a refugee from Belsen.

That and the jet lag were really pissing me off but Simon and his then wife, Sabrina, kept insisting that it was my first night in L.A. and they were gonna get me laid. Finally, at 3.00am in the Candy Box they introduced to a surgically enhanced blonde and the first thing she said was, "Hey, what's with the trousers.......?"

I said to Simon and Sabrina, "OK that's it guys, I've gotta get some sleep" so they reluctantly left and started running me back to the hotel. On the way back they were talking in the front of the car and Simon suddenly said, "Hey, let's just pop in and see Rosy. She's an old friend of ours and I know she'd like to meet you baby boy". I tried to refuse but no cigar.......

We get to this huge house in Beverly Hills and Simon and I got out of the car and walked around the house to the back door - Sabrina had decided to stay in the car for some reason. Simon rang the bell and then said, "Wait here a moment baby boy, I left my cigarettes in the car, I'll be back in a second". And with that he disappeared......

About 2 minutes later an obviously dishevelled female in her late 20's put the light on, opened the door slightly and said "Hello.....can I help you?"

I said, "Errr, I'm actually here with Simon but he just went back to the car to get his cigarettes".

She said, "I don't know anyone called Simon".

I said, "Are you sure? He's a French Morrocan guy........."

She said, "Look buster, it's 4.00 in the morning, you got me out of bed, I don't know any Simon and I don't know you, so maybe you'd better scram before I call the cops.....".

I said, "But you're Rosy aren't you? You must know Simon and Sabrina"

And she said, "Wait a minute. You mean Michelle? Michelle and Sabrina?"

It took 10 minutes of frantic explaining on the doorstep who I was, why I was there and to establish that in L.A. Simon wasn't known as Simon. He was known as Michelle in L.A. social circles for some reason.

Rosy eventually invited me in, Simon (aka Michelle) naturally never showed back up, so Rosy and I got to know each other over a couple of coffees @ 5.00am in the morning and she very kindly agreed to put me up for the night.

Musta been a successful night 'cos I moved in the next day and stuck around for a few weeks. Rosy was single, hot for action and a divorced millionairess so everything worked out quite nicely for my first night in L.A.

The first thing she did the next day was take me to Rodeo Drive and buy me a one-piece jump suit and a gold chain............

Ian D

[Ian Dewhirst]

Er ever so slightly naive, gullabul if you dont mind my saying Kev .... but probably worth every penny lost for the sheer fun of it all...priceless! x

Kev will confirm that Soussan could sell ice to eskimos if he wanted. He had a fantastic knack of getting you to do things you really didn't want to do. I found the second copy of Willie Hutch whilst I was there and he 'borrowed' it off me as he had a small scratch on his own copy and he wanted to compare the two. Goodbye Willie Hutch. I had it in my possession for the grand total of 5 minutes............

Ian D

[Guest familytree]

Yep, bless him the cute little rascal! He indirectly fixed my nose, got me laid and it only cost me my royalties from a million-selling record!

Oh but the memories..........

The first night in L.A. he insisted that he took me out. I was jet-lagged and just wanted to crash but naturally I didn't have much choice in the matter. So I went back to the hotel, got washed and changed into my flash Ben Sherman shirt and oxford bags and then tripped the light fantastic in L.A.

We hit a restaurant, a couple of bars, a couple of clubs and then ended up in a club called the Candy Box in Beverly Hills. I'd spent the whole evening explaining to people that oxford bags and Ben Sherman shirts were actually in fashion in the North of the UK but they just looked at me like I was from Mars. They were all wearing one-piece jump suits with gold chains and I looked like a refugee from Belsen.

That and the jet lag were really pissing me off but Simon and his then wife, Sabrina, kept insisting that it was my first night in L.A. and they were gonna get me laid. Finally, at 3.00am in the Candy Box they introduced to a surgically enhanced blonde and the first thing she said was, "Hey, what's with the trousers.......?"

I said to Simon and Sabrina, "OK that's it guys, I've gotta get some sleep" so they reluctantly left and started running me back to the hotel. On the way back they were talking in the front of the car and Simon suddenly said, "Hey, let's just pop in and see Rosy. She's an old friend of ours and I know she'd like to meet you baby boy". I tried to refuse but no cigar.......

We get to this huge house in Beverly Hills and Simon and I got out of the car and walked around the house to the back door - Sabrina had decided to stay in the car for some reason. Simon rang the bell and then said, "Wait here a moment baby boy, I left my cigarettes in the car, I'll be back in a second". And with that he disappeared......

About 2 minutes later an obviously dishevelled female in her late 20's put the light on, opened the door slightly and said "Hello.....can I help you?"

I said, "Errr, I'm actually here with Simon but he just went back to the car to get his cigarettes".

She said, "I don't know anyone called Simon".

I said, "Are you sure? He's a French Morrocan guy........."

She said, "Look buster, it's 4.00 in the morning, you got me out of bed, I don't know any Simon and I don't know you, so maybe you'd better scram before I call the cops.....".

I said, "But you're Rosy aren't you? You must know Simon and Sabrina"

And she said, "Wait a minute. You mean Michelle? Michelle and Sabrina?"

It took 10 minutes of frantic explaining on the doorstep who I was, why I was there and to establish that in L.A. Simon wasn't known as Simon. He was known as Michelle in L.A. social circles for some reason.

Rosy eventually invited me in, Simon (aka Michelle) naturally never showed back up, so Rosy and I got to know each other over a couple of coffees @ 5.00am in the morning and she very kindly agreed to put me up for the night.

Musta been a successful night 'cos I moved in the next day and stuck around for a few weeks. Rosy was single, hot for action and a divorced millionairess so everything worked out quite nicely for my first night in L.A.

The first thing she did the next day was take me to Rodeo Drive and buy me a one-piece jump suit and a gold chain............

Ian D

Owch to the royalty loss... Yipee to the sex starved divorced millionairess! every cloud n all that! (cant believe you moved in with her so quickly.. did you exchange names first?)

[viphitman]

Kev will confirm that Soussan could sell ice to eskimos if he wanted. He had a fantastic knack of getting you to do things you really didn't want to do. I found the second copy of Willie Hutch whilst I was there and he 'borrowed' it off me as he had a small scratch on his own copy and he wanted to compare the two. Goodbye Willie Hutch. I had it in my possession for the grand total of 5 minutes............

Ian D

Ian, please write a book or try to make a film. Seriously !!!! I think he may even be behind Soul Source..Simon Soussan, I am sure !!

[Ian Dewhirst]

Owch to the royalty loss... Yipee to the sex starved divorced millionairess! every cloud n all that! (cant believe you moved in with her so quickly.. did you exchange names first?)

I didn't mess around in those days. Within 2 days of arriving in L.A. I was living in a Beverly Hills mansion, driving around in a mustang and living like a king all thanks to Rosy, God bless her.

Unfortunately I f&*ked it all up very quickly when I met another girl called Carol Lopez in a club and swerved off tangent for a night, then tried to creep back to Beverly Hills and saw the other side of Rosy, i.e. the one you don't f*%k with LOL.....

However, I seem to remember finding 6 Eric Lomax's, a Lou Ragland and a Sweet Things later that day so not all bad!

Ian D

Edited January 26, 2009 by Ian Dewhirst

[Ian Dewhirst]

Ian, please write a book or try to make a film. Seriously !!!! I think he may even be behind Soul Source..Simon Soussan, I am sure !!

Perversely enough, threads like this actually help 'cos I end up remembering stuff that I'd long forgotten about and end up having to bang down the story so it doesn't feel like 'work'.......

All I have to do is compile all the stories and then do some serious editing and, hey presto, instant book LOL.....

Ian D

[Guest familytree]

I didn't mess around in those days. Within 2 days of arriving in L.A. I was living in a Beverly Hills mansion, driving around in a mustang and living like a king all thanks to Rosy, God bless her.

Unfortunately I f&*ked it all up very quickly when I met another girl called Carol Lopez in a club and swerved off tangent for a night, then tried to creep back to Beverly Hills and saw the other side of Rosy, i.e. the one you don't f*%k with LOL.....

However, I seem to remember finding 6 Eric Lomax's, a Lou Ragland and a Sweet Things later that day so not all bad!

Ian D

Thats the spirit... onwards n upwards! ... did you have to give the mustang back? (Not that Im materialistic you understand ) so where you a record buyer or a gigalo?! both sounds fun!

[Ian Dewhirst]

Thats the spirit... onwards n upwards! ... did you have to give the mustang back? (Not that Im materialistic you understand ) so where you a record buyer or a gigalo?! both sounds fun!

Both mate! Fact is back in '76 you couldn't fail with an English voice in L.A. I used to get marriage proposals every couple of weeks or so from lovely latino ladies who thought I could get 'em a green card.

Whenever I went in a place I'd head straight to the part of the bar where there were some interesting females and when the bartender asked if I'd like a drink I'd say in a very polished, exagerated English voice, "Yes please old boy, a scotch on the rocks if you'd be so kind. Thankyou veeerrry much"...........

It never failed.

Immediately, one of the girls would say something like, "Golly gee, are you English? I just luuuurve your accent......"

And I'd turn to her, give her the killer look and say, "Actually my dear, 'tis not I that has the accent but rather you that has the accent. I'm English. We invented the language.........".

All very Austin Powers but stuff like that used to work back then LOL......definitely a better result then "Fancy a pint luv"..........

It was very surreal. I'd be in Watts, Compton or South Central risking my life finding records by day and carousing around Beverly Hills and Hollywood by night. I went from living in Mirfield, West Yorks to the hotspots of L.A. so the culture shock was huge to a 21 year old. But what a ROCKIN' time I had. Easily one of the best periods of my life and for that reason I can't be too bitter about being ripped off by Soussan. Hell, I'm still writing about it some 33 years later........

I've been back dozens of time since but I don't think anything could beat that first 6 months I spent there. Just the sheer elation of waking up every day just KNOWING I was gonna find a bunch of rare records was excitement enough. So glad I bit the bullet and went 'cos it was a great experience in pretty much every way..........

Ian D

[Guest]

With reference to the memoirs of " Foggy Dewhirst in L.A. " ........

" I said, "But you're Rosy aren't you? You must know Simon and Sabrina" : and she said, "Wait a minute. You mean Michelle? Michelle and Sabrina? "

Ian - with regard to the above , I have posted this before on the forum , which deals with my first encounter with SS , and towards the end of it , confirms that Rosy knew him by his real name .......

I first encountered the enigma that was to become Simon Soussan in 1969 , when I worked for Alexandre The Tailors in their Boar Lane branch in Leeds . SS worked for Burton's in their Briggate branch , just up the road from Alex's .

A short scene setter ......... Any quick alterations to suits ( trouser length shortening , sleeves taken up etc . ) , were sent to local small tailors / seamstresses , who could complete these jobs usually within an hour . Alex's and Burton's used one housed on the third floor of an old tenement building , off to the side of Lower Briggate , run by an old Jewish couple , The Fallons .

This is where I first met SS : he was in there , obviously waiting for a job , and I was taking a jacket in to get the hand stitching put on the edges , as we had cocked up not putting it on when the suit was ordered ..........

SS was sat on a chair in front of a rack of garments , legs crossed , smoking a cigarette . Very bronzed with coiffered and laquered hair ( obviously not cut by your average barber ) , and dressed , as we all had to dress who worked for the chain tailors , in a dark suit and waistcoat : no big deal , but what struck me was an extremely loud paisley tie and large silk hankerchief hanging from his breast pocket like a bunch of bananas : a real dude to say the least ......

We eyed each other , and exchanged hellos . Mrs Fallon said " this is Michel , Malcolm , he works for Burton's : Michel , this is Malcolm , he works for Alexandre's " . We shook hands , told me his name - Michel Soussan . He stressed his name , and assume he did so in order for me to remember it . He asked me if I liked working " there " ( Burton's staff had a downer on anyone who worked for anyone but the Burton empire ) . I was taken slightly aback when he spoke , as I could not make out his accent , as I thought he was Jewish because of his looks and mannerisms . He looked / appeared to be around the same age as me , 19 or perhaps older .

I told him it was OK , to which he said " I don't know how you can stand it , I cannot wait until I get out , and make something of myself . I hate selling to people , I hate this town , I hate everything "

The conversation led to where we lived, to which I told him in Moortown : he said that he lived on Street Lane in Moortown

( then an extremely wealthy area of Leeds ) , and that he was looking for a place for himself . He did not give any information as what his parents did when I asked , only stating that they were " in business " . We got to talking about where we went socialising in Leeds : I told him that I DJd at The Central , and went to Le Phonograph , The Old Mecca in The County Arcade , and the new Mecca ( The Locarno ) up in the Merrion Centre . " He stated " that he did not go to such places " and he went to where it was " more suitable to his image " ..........

In regard to telling him that I DJd at The Central , he asked if I went The Wheel , and he told me that he was interested in the records , and that he had " many "of what they played there at his home .........

That is as much as I could get out of him , he would only tell me that there were " Many , Many " , and the were " good " . Despite my keeping asking him about his records , he would not open up , stating " later , later , maybe we will talk then ". . He picked up his stuff , and went down the stairs ........

After he had gone , I asked Mrs F about him : she did not much , said he was " Egyptian , Persian or something " , and that he was " full of himself " , and " I would be sorry if I got into his company " ........

As I did not frequent his alleged " suitable " places , our paths did not cross , except when we collecting alterations from The Fallon's . Obviously on meeting him , I would ask him again about his records , he would be avasive , only telling me that he had got " more " , and when asked could I see them , all he gave was the familiar " later , later " . I became more and more intrigued about these records he had , and attempted to gain his friendship whenever we met . I used to call at Burton's in the hopes of seeing him , but to no avail . I was always told that he was busy , or he was out , or not in that day .

I left Leeds at the beginning of 1971 , but used to return to see friends at periodic intervals : one particular time whilst I was there , I decided to call at Burton's to see if he still worked there . The floorwalker informed me that he - Michel Saossane - had left .........

I called down to see The Fallon's , and asked Mrs F if she knew he had left ; She said she had , just looked and said " I never liked him : you never felt at ease when he was in here , he was too much of a Fagin for me " .......

I never encountered Michel Saossane again until the mid - seventies , and like with many others , the rest is history .........

Malc Burton

Edited January 27, 2009 by Malc Burton

[Tykarim]

LOL. Great stuff Johnny but can you at least PM me with who he pissed off? It was probably the mob in one form or other.......

Sounds like he cheesed off the wrong people.....again!

Simon sailed close to the wind. I got his ass out of the jammer on a few occasions.

He was also banned from just about everywhere - Reddington's Rare Records in Glendale being just one of many places he couldn't go along with Major Bill's warehouse in Texas and a heap of other warehouses up and down the West Coast. He had to send his wife Sabrina down to Reddingtons with lists of records to buy everytime new titles popped up in England.

One of the reasons he kept getting banned was because of his legendary arrogance and impatience when going through thousands of records. There are stories of him flinging priceless Rock/Pop rarities across warehouses because 'they weren't Northern'. I seem to remember rescuing a Primettes Lu-Pine actetate which he'd thrown across a warehouse because he said it was '50's garbage'. It may have been 50's but it was an acetate I later sold to a serious Motown collector who considered it priceless.

There's also a great Kev Roberts tale of when Simon broke into the Reddingtons Warehouse through a skylight in the roof - are you reading this Kev - we need this for the archives mate! I think that was the time when Kev had found around 30 copies of the Casualeers "Dance Dance Dance" BEFORE it was known and Simon took all of them claiming that he had to go through all of them 'in order to find the cleanest copy'. Naturally Kev never saw any of those copies again.

Also his hatred of funk was legendary. If he hit a load of funk in a place, he'd start snapping copies of the records in half! I'd say 'oh c'mon Simon, you don't have to break the bloody records do ya"? And he just keep snapping 'em and say "it's repetetive garbage (pronounced REPET-TAT-TIVE GAR-BAAAARRRRGE) baby boy, they just get in the way"!

One time he was in real snit - I think he'd had a bust up with Sabrina and he was really pissed-off. We were driving along Sunset Boulevard in his car and he switched the radio on and the Isley Brother's "Fight The Power" came on and he went "F*&king FUNK! I HATE "f*&king FUNK"! and he jabbed the car radio's pre-set buttons to another station and the Ohio Player's "Love Rollercoaster" came on - steam started coming out of his ears and he screamed " "F*&king FUNK! What ees wrong with zees people? F*&king FUNK Motherf*&kers! Why can't zey play some Northern instead of this motherf*&king FUNK all ze time"!!! He then furiously jabbed the pre-sets again only for the Brothers Johnson "Get The Funk Out Of My Face" to come blasting out of the speakers. He looked at me, "OK, that's it now"!

He then just jerked the car to a complete hault right in the middle of Sunset Strip and started smashing the car radio with his fists. When his hand started bleeding, he got out of the car, took off one of his shoes and continued smashing the radio until parts of the radio were all over the floor of the car. He then physically tore the radio out of the car and threw what was left of it onto the road and then started stamping on it with his other shoe-clad foot.

By this point there was a half-mile tailback on Sunset and the horns going off were almost deafening and the driver of the car behind us was just watching all this with her mouth wide open in shock......

I said "err, Simon, maybe we'd better go......"

He just got back in the car, slammed it into gear and said "well, at least we won't have to listen to that REPET-TAT-TIVE GAR-BAAAARRRRGE anymore!"

Ian D

SPOT ON!! :lol:

Great stuff, superb reading Ian...now, i bet SS would be joining forces with some people in the northern vs funk thread...

Btw, can you imagine wich kind of rip offs he could have come up with in today's internet/eBay times...?

Best!

Edu

[Ian Dewhirst]

SPOT ON!!

Great stuff, superb reading Ian...now, i bet SS would be joining forces with some people in the northern vs funk thread...

Btw, can you imagine wich kind of rip offs he could have come up with in today's internet/eBay times...?

Best!

Edu

LOL, he'd have been the king of the E-Bay conners. I guarantee that he'd have set up several aliases, different address drops, multiple bank accounts and simply multiplied things to a far greater scale...........

Ian D

[Ian Dewhirst]

With reference to the memoirs of " Foggy Dewhirst in L.A. " ........

" I said, "But you're Rosy aren't you? You must know Simon and Sabrina" : and she said, "Wait a minute. You mean Michelle? Michelle and Sabrina? "

Ian - with regard to the above , I have posted this before on the forum , which deals with my first encounter with SS , and towards the end of it , confirms that Rosy knew him by his real name .......

I first encountered the enigma that was to become Simon Soussan in 1969 , when I worked for Alexandre The Tailors in their Boar Lane branch in Leeds . SS worked for Burton's in their Briggate branch , just up the road from Alex's .

A short scene setter ......... Any quick alterations to suits ( trouser length shortening , sleeves taken up etc . ) , were sent to local small tailors / seamstresses , who could complete these jobs usually within an hour . Alex's and Burton's used one housed on the third floor of an old tenement building , off to the side of Lower Briggate , run by an old Jewish couple , The Fallons .

This is where I first met SS : he was in there , obviously waiting for a job , and I was taking a jacket in to get the hand stitching put on the edges , as we had cocked up not putting it on when the suit was ordered ..........

SS was sat on a chair in front of a rack of garments , legs crossed , smoking a cigarette . Very bronzed with coiffered and laquered hair ( obviously not cut by your average barber ) , and dressed , as we all had to dress who worked for the chain tailors , in a dark suit and waistcoat : no big deal , but what struck me was an extremely loud paisley tie and large silk hankerchief hanging from his breast pocket like a bunch of bananas : a real dude to say the least ......

We eyed each other , and exchanged hellos . Mrs Fallon said " this is Michel , Malcolm , he works for Burton's : Michel , this is Malcolm , he works for Alexandre's " . We shook hands , told me his name - Michel Soussan . He stressed his name , and assume he did so in order for me to remember it . He asked me if I liked working " there " ( Burton's staff had a downer on anyone who worked for anyone but the Burton empire ) . I was taken slightly aback when he spoke , as I could not make out his accent , as I thought he was Jewish because of his looks and mannerisms . He looked / appeared to be around the same age as me , 19 or perhaps older .

I told him it was OK , to which he said " I don't know how you can stand it , I cannot wait until I get out , and make something of myself . I hate selling to people , I hate this town , I hate everything "

The conversation led to where we lived, to which I told him in Moortown : he said that he lived on Street Lane in Moortown

( then an extremely wealthy area of Leeds ) , and that he was looking for a place for himself . He did not give any information as what his parents did when I asked , only stating that they were " in business " . We got to talking about where we went socialising in Leeds : I told him that I DJd at The Central , and went to Le Phonograph , The Old Mecca in The County Arcade , and the new Mecca ( The Locarno ) up in the Merrion Centre . " He stated " that he did not go to such places " and he went to where it was " more suitable to his image " ..........

In regard to telling him that I DJd at The Central , he asked if I went The Wheel , and he told me that he was interested in the records , and that he had " many "of what they played there at his home .........

That is as much as I could get out of him , he would only tell me that there were " Many , Many " , and the were " good " . Despite my keeping asking him about his records , he would not open up , stating " later , later , maybe we will talk then ". . He picked up his stuff , and went down the stairs ........

After he had gone , I asked Mrs F about him : she did not much , said he was " Egyptian , Persian or something " , and that he was " full of himself " , and " I would be sorry if I got into his company " ........

As I did not frequent his alleged " suitable " places , our paths did not cross , except when we collecting alterations from The Fallon's . Obviously on meeting him , I would ask him again about his records , he would be avasive , only telling me that he had got " more " , and when asked could I see them , all he gave was the familiar " later , later " . I became more and more intrigued about these records he had , and attempted to gain his friendship whenever we met . I used to call at Burton's in the hopes of seeing him , but to no avail . I was always told that he was busy , or he was out , or not in that day .

I left Leeds at the beginning of 1971 , but used to return to see friends at periodic intervals : one particular time whilst I was there , I decided to call at Burton's to see if he still worked there . The floorwalker informed me that he - Michel Saossane - had left .........

I called down to see The Fallon's , and asked Mrs F if she knew he had left ; She said she had , just looked and said " I never liked him : you never felt at ease when he was in here , he was too much of a Fagin for me " .......

I never encountered Michel Saossane again until the mid - seventies , and like with many others , the rest is history .........

Malc Burton

He was always evasive about his record collection. He always maintained that he had a temperature-controlled storage facility in L.A. where his main collection was stored. He would NEVER leave me alone in his office, where he had a set of fitted lockable cupboards which ran the length of the room which contained the records he kept at his apartment (which I suspect was actually his complete collection). He certainly had some incredibly rare records though. Every so often a record would come into conversation and he'd say something like "Well have you heard ze Four Crests on Dandelion baby boy"? He'd then scuttle into his office, unlock a cupboard and pull out a record and play it. And it would almost always be great.

Also his obsession with only having the best possible copy of everything was obviously because of his bootlegging activities - he needed pristine copies for copying and mastering. The amount of records he prised out of people on the basis that he need 'ze best possible copy' was ridiculous........

Also it was difficult to guage the quality of what was in those lockable cupboards. In the same way that he'd pull out ridiculously rare items, he'd also pull out run of the mill Dramatics or O'Jays 45's from the same cupboards.

We were once talking about male harmonies and he said, "Baby boy, I'm gonna play you the greatest male harmony record ever made. Zees will TOTALLY unblock your sinuses" and he pulled out the O'Jays "Unity" - a 10 cent 45 at best in 1976!

Ian D

Edited January 27, 2009 by Ian Dewhirst

[Drew3]

Just spent the last hour re reading the whole thread after I realised it had been reactivated. Just as good reading as it was when the thread was new last year!!!!!

Mr Levine, you must have some great stories about Simon Soussan so get cracking?

KTF.

Drew.

[doublecookin]

just finnished reading this thread, much better than any book about the scene i`ve read previously.

Ian, might sound a bit soft like, but I just could never have imagined me as a 21 year old just f**kin off to new york, wish I had mind, I mean finding all these rare records and getting laid into the bargain...what a life

bring on the book

[Ian Dewhirst]

Just spent the last hour re reading the whole thread after I realised it had been reactivated. Just as good reading as it was when the thread was new last year!!!!!

Mr Levine, you must have some great stories about Simon Soussan so get cracking?

KTF.

Drew.

Took me by surprise as well Drew - betcha didn't think it'd still be trucking almost a year later LOL.......

Soussan had several trips over here in the early to mid 70's where some of the DJ's would travel to London and meet him at a hotel on Park Lane and do swaps - I wouldn't mind hearing about those. Mike Ritson mentioned meeting him in these circumsances.........

Also I'd be curious if anyone actually got a bargain off him - I'm sure some of the early dealers must have had some large shipments from him that turned out to be good - are you reading this Julian B or Brian 45.......?

Ian D

[Ian Dewhirst]

just finnished reading this thread, much better than any book about the scene i`ve read previously.

Ian, might sound a bit soft like, but I just could never have imagined me as a 21 year old just f**kin off to new york, wish I had mind, I mean finding all these rare records and getting laid into the bargain...what a life

bring on the book

The reason why I decided to bite the bullet and go was, believe or not, because record prices were soaring LOL. It was the beginning of the era when record prices started to go nuts and being inherently tight it made more sense to stop paying inflated prices and simply go over there and find 'em myself. I'm sure I mentioned it earlier in the thread but I think the actual catalyst was when I got in a bidding battle for Bernie Williams. At the time it was a pretty reasonable £40 (at mid 70's prices) and I thought I had it locked. But then I remember a series of frantic telephone calls where the price slowly crept up to £120 and then ended at £120 + a World Column and a Rosey Jones which put it at around £150 which was too much for me. That would have been around 6 weeks wages at the time (I think I was earning £22.50 a week at my Mon-Fri job and probably around £15 a gig back then).

That's when I realised that it didn't make a lot of logistical sense to keep buying the mega-rarities. Also, as a DJ you had to keep buying killers and there was no guarantee that the record wouldn't be bootlegged within weeks. To pay £150 for a record (maybe £1500 by todays standards) and only get 3 or 4 weeks play out of it was infuriating. Also once you became well-known as a deejay, you couldn't get bargains or decent unknowns anymore without the dealers or collectors wanting to jack the price up. I got sick of finding something that looked REALLY interesting in a box and asking how much a the guy wanted for it only for him to, "Well.....if YOU get it you'll play it so you'll have to be realistic".

In other words, I was paying a premium simply because if I got a decent record, it would be played @ Wigan, Cleethorpes, the Central and Samanthas within a couple of weeks and would have a good chance of breaking big and then the price would leap. So I was effectively being penalized for being a DJ!

Plus I'd had 5 years of gigging all over at the height of a brilliant scene. That 5 years had cost me 3 written-off cars, half a dozen girlfriends, the inability to do a 'normal' job (Mondays were a real bastard after 2 all-nighters and a Sunday all-dayer) and continuing poverty in the cause of keeping ahead. I was ready for a new adventure, so the States looked good to me. So that was it.

I remember my Mum and Dad dropping me off at Manchester airport and my Mum (god bless her) giving me her last piece of motherly advice just before I vanished through to the departure lounge....

She said, "Now when you get to New York you don't want to be spending all your money in those expensive hotels, so check into the YMCA".

So I did and what a bloody nightmare THAT was on my first night in New York!

Two years later the Village People record came out and everyone knew what the deal was but to a kid from Mirfield who didn't know jack-shit it was a nightmare experience.

I spent my first night in New York barracaded in my room at the YMCA with the wardrobe wedged against the door!

But that's a whole other story LOL........

Ian D

[Guest familytree]

The reason why I decided to bite the bullet and go was, believe or not, because record prices were soaring LOL. It was the beginning of the era when record prices started to go nuts and being inherently tight it made more sense to stop paying inflated prices and simply go over there and find 'em myself. I'm sure I mentioned it earlier in the thread but I think the actual catalyst was when I got in a bidding battle for Bernie Williams. At the time it was a pretty reasonable £40 (at mid 70's prices) and I thought I had it locked. But then I remember a series of frantic telephone calls where the price slowly crept up to £120 and then ended at £120 + a World Column and a Rosey Jones which put it at around £150 which was too much for me. That would have been around 6 weeks wages at the time (I think I was earning £22.50 a week at my Mon-Fri job and probably around £15 a gig back then).

That's when I realised that it didn't make a lot of logistical sense to keep buying the mega-rarities. Also, as a DJ you had to keep buying killers and there was no guarantee that the record wouldn't be bootlegged within weeks. To pay £150 for a record (maybe £1500 by todays standards) and only get 3 or 4 weeks play out of it was infuriating. Also once you became well-known as a deejay, you couldn't get bargains or decent unknowns anymore without the dealers or collectors wanting to jack the price up. I got sick of finding something that looked REALLY interesting in a box and asking how much a the guy wanted for it only for him to, "Well.....if YOU get it you'll play it so you'll have to be realistic".

In other words, I was paying a premium simply because if I got a decent record, it would be played @ Wigan, Cleethorpes, the Central and Samanthas within a couple of weeks and would have a good chance of breaking big and then the price would leap. So I was effectively being penalized for being a DJ!

Plus I'd had 5 years of gigging all over at the height of a brilliant scene. That 5 years had cost me 3 written-off cars, half a dozen girlfriends, the inability to do a 'normal' job (Mondays were a real bastard after 2 all-nighters and a Sunday all-dayer) and continuing poverty in the cause of keeping ahead. I was ready for a new adventure, so the States looked good to me. So that was it.

I remember my Mum and Dad dropping me off at Manchester airport and my Mum (god bless her) giving me her last piece of motherly advice just before I vanished through to the departure lounge....

She said, "Now when you get to New York you don't want to be spending all your money in those expensive hotels, so check into the YMCA".

So I did and what a bloody nightmare THAT was on my first night in New York!

Two years later the Village People record came out and everyone knew what the deal was but to a kid from Mirfield who didn't know jack-shit it was a nightmare experience.

I spent my first night in New York barracaded in my room at the YMCA with the wardrobe wedged against the door!

But that's a whole other story LOL........

Ian D

Brilliant.. hey at least you had a door to hide behind... my fella's first night in N.Y was a park bench in Cenral park!!!!!!!! thought it a waste to pay for a room when money could be spent on vynl.... the very notion that he could have been mugged of all his dosh didnt cross his mind...try telling me you guys are sane! x

Edited January 27, 2009 by familytree

[Ian Dewhirst]

Brilliant.. hey at least you had a door to hide behind... my fella's first night in N.Y was a park bench in Cenral park!!!!!!!! thought it a waste to pay for a room when money could be spent on vynl.... the very notion that he could have been mugged of all his dosh didnt cross his mind...try telling me you guys are sane! x

Of course we're not!

Too many years of Northern Soul frazzled our brains. Believe me the yanks thought I was crazier than them. Also Northern Soul got us all into travelling around - sometimes hundreds of miles on a weekend. It's also worth pointing out that a Saturday night on Manningham Lane in Bradford or the Mitre pub in Wakefield was a lot scarier than an average night in New York or L.A.

Northern Soul was a great training ground for globe-hopping. One reason why we have a load of ex-pats on board and why we're spread right across the globe!

Ian D

[Dewsburyborn]

It's also worth pointing out that a Saturday night on Manningham Lane in Bradford or the Mitre pub in Wakefield was a lot scarier than an average night in New York or L.A.

Ian D

How very dare you besmirch the name of this fair city ...................

[Ian Dewhirst]

How very dare you besmirch the name of this fair city ...................

LOL, I go back to the night in 1971 when I went down there with my girlfriend (June Allett from Ravensthorpe) at the tender age of 16 and had a drunken Irish bloke smash and grind his 1 pint pebble glass beer mug into the table in front of me and tell me the next one was going in my face!

Bit of a theme going on here, namely, I pint pebble glass beer mugs/Dewhirst's face......

Dodgy bloody pub that Gary! Could be pretty scary just going the 200 yards up the road to Wakefield Tiffanies in those days..........

Ian D

[Dewsburyborn]

LOL, I go back to the night in 1971 when I went down there with my girlfriend (June Allett from Ravensthorpe) at the tender age of 16 and had a drunken Irish bloke smash and grind his 1 pint pebble glass beer mug into the table in front of me and tell me the next one was going in my face!

Bit of a theme going on here, namely, I pint pebble glass beer mugs/Dewhirst's face......

Dodgy bloody pub that Gary! Could be pretty scary just going the 200 yards up the road to Wakefield Tiffanies in those days..........

Ian D

The very lovely June Allett from Ravensthorpe ................

Re Wakefield, to be honest I don't think a lot has changed in the interim years - the only sensible place downtown is The Red Bar when it's the night put on by The Manic Brothers of Wakefield City Soul Club ............

Anyway - back on topic with Simon - I remember when I used to work in Leeds around 1970 and went in HMV on Vicar Lane nearly every dinner time - Bentley, LeMoyne, Swish etc - Simon would come in and someone, can't recall who now, covered up the flip of Steam's 'Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye' - which was a pop hit around that time - as an unknown Northern rarity. But all in all - he never did me any wrong.

[Julianb]

The very lovely June Allett from Ravensthorpe ................

Re Wakefield, to be honest I don't think a lot has changed in the interim years - the only sensible place downtown is The Red Bar when it's the night put on by The Manic Brothers of Wakefield City Soul Club ............

Anyway - back on topic with Simon - I remember when I used to work in Leeds around 1970 and went in HMV on Vicar Lane nearly every dinner time - Bentley, LeMoyne, Swish etc - Simon would come in and someone, can't recall who now, covered up the flip of Steam's 'Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye' - which was a pop hit around that time - as an unknown Northern rarity. But all in all - he never did me any wrong.

Rob Lemoine now lives in Beverley Hills, perhaps he can look up the infamous Simon?

Where is Swish now?

Good days in HMV - Tony Banks used to be in there almost every day as well.

[Guest SteveJohnston]

Rob Lemoine now lives in Beverley Hills, perhaps he can look up the infamous Simon?

Where is Swish now?

Good days in HMV - Tony Banks used to be in there almost every day as well.

All the posts have been a must read and realy would make a fantastic book IMO........ but for fooks sake if Simon posted somthing up on hear out of the blue, I along with most on this site would get numb buttocks

Steve J

Edited January 28, 2009 by SteveJohnston

[Ian Dewhirst]

Where is Swish now?

Good days in HMV - Tony Banks used to be in there almost every day as well.

Was that pre Jumbo when it was in the arcade then? I'm struggling to remember HMV on Vicar Lane........?

And good point, where is Swish these days?

Ian D

[Ian Dewhirst]

All the posts have been a must read and realy would make a fantastic book IMO........ but for fooks sake if Simon posted somthing up on hear out of the blue, I along with most on this site would get numb buttocks

Steve J

I think somebody mentioned earlier in the thread that he's reformed his ways and now become an ordodox Jew........?

Ian D

[Guest]

I think somebody mentioned earlier in the thread that he's reformed his ways and now become an ordodox Jew........?

Ian D

That was me, and he has. He never takes his yamalka off his head.

[Guest]

Was that pre Jumbo when it was in the arcade then? I'm struggling to remember HMV on Vicar Lane........?

And good point, where is Swish these days?

Ian D

HMV was on Duncan Street , two doors down from The Duncan pub , and was managed by a chap called Steve if I recall correctly .

The original location for Jumbo was upstairs in Thornton's Arcade , on the left as you trolled up Briggate ........

In reference to your , and to Julian's earlier enquiry regarding Swish : he is on SS ( under " Swish " ) , and last posted a couple of months ago ......

Malc Burton

Edited January 29, 2009 by Malc Burton

[Guest SteveJohnston]

I think somebody mentioned earlier in the thread that he's reformed his ways and now become an ordodox Jew........?

Ian D

Baby boy you are a one! .................

[Guest]

What music business LOL? I'd be curious to know what he's up to........

He builds audio workstations and spends a lot of time in the audio software section of torrent trackers

mulb.

[arnie j]

He builds audio workstations and spends a lot of time in the audio software section of torrent trackers

mulb.

do you think he knows there is a thread about him on soul source mulberry ?

[Ian Dewhirst]

He builds audio workstations and spends a lot of time in the audio software section of torrent trackers

mulb.

Are you in touch with him Mulb?

Ian D

[Dave Fleming]

Here`s a cutting from "Black Echoes" 76 about "SS,

Dave f.............

[Rich B]

Selectadisc , def on Arkwright St

Warehouse where all the good stuff was, was definitely on Canal st though. Can anyone remember the huge amount of detroit class that came out of there in the later 70's (when the shop had moved to Bridlesmith gate)? Ric Tic, Golden World, Groovesville etc and in great quantity.

If we had known then etc etc

RB

[Ady Croasdell]

Warehouse where all the good stuff was, was definitely on Canal st though. Can anyone remember the huge amount of detroit class that came out of there in the later 70's (when the shop had moved to Bridlesmith gate)? Ric Tic, Golden World, Groovesville etc and in great quantity.

If we had known then etc etc

RB

Chris Harrop and I got a Jimmy Page on Fontana out of there! Along with a UK 'Per-So-Nally' and lots of others.

[Rich B]

Chris Harrop and I got a Jimmy Page on Fontana out of there! Along with a UK 'Per-So-Nally' and lots of others.

Doesn't surprise me Ady. As a fledgling on the northern scene I went in to buy the newly bootlegged Sweets "Satisfy me baby" and straight out of the rack in the shop, from the middle of a bunch of boots came a mint original. The guy (Nick something or other) said "It looks like your lucky day" and sold it to me for the same price as the boot would have been! That certainly satisfied me...but apparently it wasn't unusual that SS sent original mixed in with the pressings.

Mel, the guy who ran the warehouse was a rock and roll collector, but "discovered" many fine northern sounds while searching for his own stuff. That warehouse had all sorts in it!

As for the Frank Beverly on Sassy story, I had one of those 800, I also had a Mel Britt demo off Rob smith who let me have it for £2.50 because he had bought them wholesale.

What a world it was. I had to turn down Jonathans Rouser copy of Frank B for £25 because I couldn't pay him there and then, and even though he didn't mind waiting a week, the wife wouldn't let me owe him money, Aaaargh!

RB

[Ian Dewhirst]

Doesn't surprise me Ady. As a fledgling on the northern scene I went in to buy the newly bootlegged Sweets "Satisfy me baby" and straight out of the rack in the shop, from the middle of a bunch of boots came a mint original. The guy (Nick something or other) said "It looks like your lucky day" and sold it to me for the same price as the boot would have been! That certainly satisfied me...but apparently it wasn't unusual that SS sent original mixed in with the pressings.

Mel, the guy who ran the warehouse was a rock and roll collector, but "discovered" many fine northern sounds while searching for his own stuff. That warehouse had all sorts in it!

As for the Frank Beverly on Sassy story, I had one of those 800, I also had a Mel Britt demo off Rob smith who let me have it for £2.50 because he had bought them wholesale.

What a world it was. I had to turn down Jonathans Rouser copy of Frank B for £25 because I couldn't pay him there and then, and even though he didn't mind waiting a week, the wife wouldn't let me owe him money, Aaaargh!

RB

That makes sense. It also explains how Selectadisc also seemed to have a fair wack of original stuff and what was then run of the mill bulk items. Simon must have sold 'em several bulk loads of general stuff at the same time as he was booting various titles which I guess makes sense. Also there wasn't the same degree of passion about collecting originals which had just been booted back then. I bought a Eula Cooper original for £2 just after it had been booted and I still had to think about it LOL.....

Ian D

[Ady Croasdell]

I seem to remember originals being straight down to the price of the boots as soon as they were done. Except for UK pressings which were looked on as the ultimate and developed a much stronger collecting ethos before US. Most people though just wanted the music and a boot was fine. We didn't really understand the moral implications of booting then. Or we just didn't care.

[Sean Hampsey]

Warehouse where all the good stuff was, was definitely on Canal st though. Can anyone remember the huge amount of detroit class that came out of there in the later 70's (when the shop had moved to Bridlesmith gate)? Ric Tic, Golden World, Groovesville etc and in great quantity.

If we had known then etc etc

RB

Thanks Rich,

I knew it was Canal Street, early 70's, when I first started getting stuff of Selectadisc.

Sean

[Ian Dewhirst]

I seem to remember originals being straight down to the price of the boots as soon as they were done. Except for UK pressings which were looked on as the ultimate and developed a much stronger collecting ethos before US. Most people though just wanted the music and a boot was fine. We didn't really understand the moral implications of booting then. Or we just didn't care.

Most people were too young to know any better back then. I can remember lots of otherwise respectable people (including myself I'm ashamed to admit) haulassing over to Nottingham to pick up the new Selectadisc arrivals if there was a particularly strong bunch of titles coming out. Sometimes you'd get 5 or 6 in-demanders in the same week and it'd be worth picking up a few of each to sell locally. I remember the demand for "Afternoon Of The Rhino" being almost off the scale when it was booted........

I think the education really started with the Blackpool Mecca ads in Blues & Soul where they frequently had a pop at bootlegs and the individual behind them!

Ian D

[SteveM]

Doesn't surprise me Ady. As a fledgling on the northern scene I went in to buy the newly bootlegged Sweets "Satisfy me baby" and straight out of the rack in the shop, from the middle of a bunch of boots came a mint original. The guy (Nick something or other) said "It looks like your lucky day" and sold it to me for the same price as the boot would have been! That certainly satisfied me...but apparently it wasn't unusual that SS sent original mixed in with the pressings.

Mel, the guy who ran the warehouse was a rock and roll collector, but "discovered" many fine northern sounds while searching for his own stuff. That warehouse had all sorts in it!

As for the Frank Beverly on Sassy story, I had one of those 800, I also had a Mel Britt demo off Rob smith who let me have it for £2.50 because he had bought them wholesale.

What a world it was. I had to turn down Jonathans Rouser copy of Frank B for £25 because I couldn't pay him there and then, and even though he didn't mind waiting a week, the wife wouldn't let me owe him money, Aaaargh!

RB

Rich, when did Jonathan first have the Rouser copy? I first saw at at Clifton Hall very early eighties when Adam had it. Tried to buy it with a Fairmount copy thrown in, but he wasn't having it . Who found it in the first place ?

Steve

[Ady Croasdell]

Most people were too young to know any better back then. I can remember lots of otherwise respectable people (including myself I'm ashamed to admit) haulassing over to Nottingham to pick up the new Selectadisc arrivals if there was a particularly strong bunch of titles coming out. Sometimes you'd get 5 or 6 in-demanders in the same week and it'd be worth picking up a few of each to sell locally. I remember the demand for "Afternoon Of The Rhino" being almost off the scale when it was booted........

I think the education really started with the Blackpool Mecca ads in Blues & Soul where they frequently had a pop at bootlegs and the individual behind them!

Ian D

Yeah, i bought 3 copies of the first ever boot off jeff king in Leicester on Old Soul and sold two at the Lantern nighter in Harboro for a 5 shilling profit. Neither I nor anybody really knew what a boot was but we had a good idea they weren't 100% kosher (as he also sold ten black bombers for a quid, it wouldn't have been a great surprise to find out they were dodgy!). They could have been proper US re-releases for all we knew. There were a few that were but we didn't know or care about the difference.

[Ady Croasdell]

Rich, when did Jonathan first have the Rouser copy? I first saw at at Clifton Hall very early eighties when Adam had it. Tried to buy it with a Fairmount copy thrown in, but he wasn't having it . Who found it in the first place ?

Steve

I'm pretty sure Adam bought it off Jonathan, cos I had my first unsettling encounter with Tim Brown selling it to him for Adam.

[Rich B]

Rich, when did Jonathan first have the Rouser copy? I first saw at at Clifton Hall very early eighties when Adam had it. Tried to buy it with a Fairmount copy thrown in, but he wasn't having it . Who found it in the first place ?

Steve

Hi chaps,

I'm not sure exactly when he first got it, but he was selling at the end of '79 early '80. The deal would have included a Professionals which he also rated at £25. If I remember correctly he did sell it Adam.

I also photocopied the Frank Wilson he had. It had a coffee stain on one side, but I can't remember which now. I had been selling stuff to Jon for years as he was in my then g/f's little sisters class! well she had more class - but you know what I mean! And, I am only joking Jon, when it came to tunes Jon had taste in spades! Damon Fox was one of his I recall - no one else could believe it was unknown it was that good. Cost him a fiver as I recall. I have never bought off KR though so didn't see it with my own eyes. I wasn't allowed in the shop by that time, as I had found some moral fibre and had been "critical" of his business activities (is that diplomatic enough?).

Oddly, I think I was ahead of the curve in collecting originals. I couldn't afford them as big sounds, and no one would sell them a spotty kid anyway. I had tried to buy a Michael & Raymeond for a weeks wages only to be told I couldn't have it (een at the full asking price) because was "nobody"!

I recall the average price once booted was £1.50 - £2. I did pay more as time went on, but Denny got them off Jack Bollington, who got them from Colin C, and passed them to me very reasonably priced.

Anyway Mr Hampsey, what's this about a DB7?

Best,

RB

[Rich B]

Thanks Rich,

I knew it was Canal Street, early 70's, when I first started getting stuff of Selectadisc.

Sean

Thinking about it (can't be arsed to dig the actual adverts out I'm afraid) the mail order mail went straight to the warehouse for processing.

Very few civillians got through the doors.

Best,

RB

[Rich B]

Most people were too young to know any better back then. I can remember lots of otherwise respectable people (including myself I'm ashamed to admit) haulassing over to Nottingham to pick up the new Selectadisc arrivals if there was a particularly strong bunch of titles coming out. Sometimes you'd get 5 or 6 in-demanders in the same week and it'd be worth picking up a few of each to sell locally. I remember the demand for "Afternoon Of The Rhino" being almost off the scale when it was booted........

I think the education really started with the Blackpool Mecca ads in Blues & Soul where they frequently had a pop at bootlegs and the individual behind them!

Ian D

I always loved both the Wigan "Playing sounds like:" ads and the Mecca ones, which as you rightly point out Ian, had a pop at the bootleggers.

I seem to remember you had a "personal" ad listing the stuff you could play at one time Ian - or am I imagining it? Was it with Twink?

Best,

RB