Seen a Monarch Test Press of "Meet me halfway" finish on Ebay at over £500 with the reserve not met.

I've got one of those Monarch test presses which has, along with bacon frying horribly over the music, TS 6016 etched in the run out. There is a delta number but it has been scratched over on both sides by some chancer trying to disguise it's age as these were, I believe, done at the same time as the boot.

Just to confirm these are boots could the fortunate owner of a real Tayster copy give us the deadwax details. And could the not so fortunate owner of a Tayster boot give us the details from that.

Cheers,

Mark.

all it has is 1257 on the mama side and 1258 on th mehw side and MIRA scratched on both sides

  Tedsoul said:

all it has is 1257 on the mama side and 1258 on th mehw side and MIRA scratched on both sides

Cheers Ted, confirmation someone nearly bought a very expensive boot!

  mark.w said:

Cheers Ted, confirmation someone nearly bought a very expensive boot!

That's interesting, I remember the first one of these turning up in the 70's, I think it was on a JM list and it sold for - well not much, a tenner or something - then one was printed on the cover of an issue of Shades Of Soul back in the 80's. Not seen it again until this one turned up on ebay. So you reckon they had the test pressings done for the bootleg?

  Pete S said:

That's interesting, I remember the first one of these turning up in the 70's, I think it was on a JM list and it sold for - well not much, a tenner or something - then one was printed on the cover of an issue of Shades Of Soul back in the 80's. Not seen it again until this one turned up on ebay. So you reckon they had the test pressings done for the bootleg?

Monarch did a "Test Pressing" for somebody who wanted to Re-issue or possibly Bootleg this title. The only boots that I have seen are VINYL with a red lable. These Test Pressings are STYRENE with delta number TS 6016 (1258) 104X-33X. If it failed to come out on STYRENE as a boot with these matrix numbers, (Monarch pressing) it is to me still a Test Pressing (Non-original). If anybody has the Red boot, can they please give some more details of it ?

Best Regards Ritchie.

  RitchieAndrew said:

Monarch did a "Test Pressing" for somebody who wanted to Re-issue or possibly Bootleg this title. The only boots that I have seen are VINYL with a red lable. These Test Pressings are STYRENE with delta number TS 6016 (1258) 104X-33X. If it failed to come out on STYRENE as a boot with these matrix numbers, (Monarch pressing) it is to me still a Test Pressing (Non-original). If anybody has the Red boot, can they please give some more details of it ?

Best Regards Ritchie.

The red boot simply has 1258 and 1257 on the run offs respectively, nothing else. All the boots are vinyl. Came out Easter 1977, remember it well, it was the weekend that "Jesus of Nazareth" was first shown and Lee Roye, Jean Carter, Earl Grant etc all got reissued/booted that same weekend. Funny how things stick in your head.

Edited August 7, 200816 yr by Pete S

  Pete S said:

The red boot simply has 1258 and 1257 on the run offs respectively, nothing else. All the boots are vinyl. Came out Easter 1977, remember it well, it was the weekend that "Jesus of Nazareth" was first shown and Lee Roye, Jean Carter, Earl Grant etc all got reissued/booted that same weekend. Funny how things stick in your head.

the story as ive been told behind these morarch test presses is.......sousann was going to boot lillie bryant, got to the test press stage, when someone beat him to it with the red boots, so sousann shelved the project. bootleg or not, there cant be more than a dozen of these in existance, ive got a monarch test pressing of betty fikes - "prove it to me" which has identical deadwax info to the red southbound boot

Are all these red label Tay-ster's boots?

 there are some geniune  monach white labels test presses from the 70`s..for instance the dale darby has the same vinyl & markings as the wesgate issue also theres the reachers and i think i saw a jobell on jan as a white label monarch copy

 

 

the red tayster copies on lillie bryant are all boots as far as i know

 

Always loved that label ! The Dynamic Soul Club in Edinburgh used it for their freebie " cassette " !! give away at the 1st Anniversary late 80's , funny how some of the tracks played locally then went on to become scene firm favourites over the years , like Little Nicky Soul , V.i.p.'s and The Hamilton Movement 

  On 04/03/2013 at 22:27, dave pinch said:

 there are some geniune  monach white labels test presses from the 70`s..for instance the dale darby has the same vinyl & markings as the wesgate issue also theres the reachers and i think i saw a jobell on jan as a white label monarch copy

 

 

the red tayster copies on lillie bryant are all boots as far as i know

So what would you say would be a reasonable price to pay for one of these? I know it's not the done thing on here but how else could you obtain one?

  On 04/03/2013 at 23:19, Paddywack said:

So what would you say would be a reasonable price to pay for one of these? I know it's not the done thing on here but how else could you obtain one?

i wouldnt like to say and really i dont know...but of course it would be up to you and how much you wanted it and not to be judged by those superior types on here

  On 07/08/2008 at 07:28, Pete S said:

That's interesting, I remember the first one of these turning up in the 70's, I think it was on a JM list and it sold for - well not much, a tenner or something - then one was printed on the cover of an issue of Shades Of Soul back in the 80's. Not seen it again until this one turned up on ebay. So you reckon they had the test pressings done for the bootleg?

 

 

  On 07/08/2008 at 18:43, trev thomas said:

the story as ive been told behind these morarch test presses is.......sousann was going to boot lillie bryant, got to the test press stage, when someone beat him to it with the red boots, so sousann shelved the project. bootleg or not, there cant be more than a dozen of these in existance, ive got a monarch test pressing of betty fikes - "prove it to me" which has identical deadwax info to the red southbound boot

 

Mine was £8 from Soul Bowl and to my recollection was relatively speaking quite a while (almost a year) before the red boot. Searling was still playing it when the Monarch TP came out. Always regarded it as a boot.

  On 04/03/2013 at 22:54, 123-motown said:

 

Always loved that label ! The Dynamic Soul Club in Edinburgh used it for their freebie " cassette " !! give away at the 1st Anniversary late 80's , funny how some of the tracks played locally then went on to become scene firm favourites over the years , like Little Nicky Soul , V.i.p.'s and The Hamilton Movement 

 

Luvva Lee..................as rare as an honest politician....................

  On 05/03/2013 at 11:45, Chris L said:

Luvva Lee..................as rare as an honest politician....................

if it were that rare chris there would be no copies found ever

I got a white monach test pressing ov lillie bryant what they worth

  On 05/03/2013 at 18:52, dave pinch said:

if it were that rare chris there would be no copies found ever

 

You don't see many for sale, Lillie Bryant that is............

Edited March 6, 201312 yr by Chris L

here's some blurb from a rare "real original" white demo. Written in 2008.

 

"Meet Me Halfway/Mama (Tay-Ster TS 6016)

 

Lillie Bryant was 26 years of age when she recorded this extremely rare DJ Copy 45 for the New York City-based Tay-Ster label. She has such an incredibly beautiful and strong voice, so it should come as no surprise that this Jack Taylor-penned 45 is a perennial favourite and quintessential record that best exemplifies the Wigan Casino sound, ideals and sensibilities. To give you an idea of just how rare this Manship-listed 45 (valued at 2200 GBP) is, think of it like this: there are many Northern Soul DJs out there who love, cherish and want this record, but most of these DJs could probably spend 20 years looking for it out in the field and collector circles and still may never find it. Vinyl Grade: M-. There is some label wear in the form of water damage (dark spots) and the thinnest layer of paper is also missing from part of the label. The label is not as dark as it appears in the enclosed photograph. Also, there is a slight warp that does not affect play. The vinyl itself has a high gloss, and this 45 is definitely one of the greatest of the holy grail Northern Soul 45s.

 

On Jun-27-08 at 12:58:12 PDT, seller added the following information:

I have recently spoken with a top Northern Soul collector who advised me there are probably less than 10 known copies of this record in the world."

  On 05/03/2013 at 19:08, hinkleybill said:

I got a white monach test pressing ov lillie bryant what they worth

 

'bout £30

  On 06/03/2013 at 11:39, Chris L said:

I have recently spoken with a top Northern Soul collector who advised me there are probably less than 10 known copies of this record in the world."

 

I hate this sort of stuff.

Nobody knows how many copies of anything there are.

There are so many collectors who are off the radar.

All that guy can say is that HE only knows of 10 copies in the world.

too true, they didn't press just 10 copies did they...??? so its highly likely there are allot of other copies in collections, houses, bins, Crates  lofts around the world

 

m

  On 06/03/2013 at 12:34, Pete S said:

I hate this sort of stuff.

Nobody knows how many copies of anything there are.

There are so many collectors who are off the radar.

All that guy can say is that HE only knows of 10 copies in the world.

 

It's probably more likely to be a pathetic attempt at a sales pitch than being misinformed..........or both.

theres been probably 10 copies sold in the last ten years .....issue or demo of course...been on ebay half a dozen times and JM has auctioned it a couple or 3 times in that time...pat auctioned one..thats just for starters,,,,,,still very rare tho

Edited March 6, 201312 yr by dave pinch

Was gonna say that Dave, I know of four copies in collections, two of which are not on the northern scene.

  On 06/03/2013 at 15:36, dave pinch said:

theres been more than 10 copies sold in the last ten years .....issue or demo of course

just edited my earlier post but even i can remember seeing it listed a handful of times late 80`s thru the 90`s and there must have been copies originally in the 70`s for it to have been played in the first place

  On 06/03/2013 at 12:34, Pete S said:

I hate this sort of stuff. Nobody knows how many copies of anything there are. There are so many collectors who are off the radar. All that guy can say is that HE only knows of 10 copies in the world.

 

Pete

The seller didn't have a clue about the NS & collecting scene. He does say however "All that guy can say is that HE only knows of 10 copies" so he doesn't say that there only 10, it is a demo, original, never seen one, a couple of issues, but I get the picture.

Edited March 6, 201312 yr by Chris L

Remember a couple from Birmingham used to have a WD in the 9ts, only time I've ever gazed at one..think they bought allot of biggies of Mick Smith, Might be wrong on that particular disc, but there it was in all its glory...

 

does anybody have the boot for sale?

 

m

Edited March 6, 201312 yr by Mal.C.

  On 06/03/2013 at 19:12, Mal.C. said:

Remember a couple from Birmingham used to have a WD in the 9ts, only time I've ever gazed at one..think they bought allot of biggies of Mick Smith, Might be wrong on that particular disc, but there it was in all its glory...

 

does anybody have the boot for sale?

 

m

there is one here https://www.ebay.com/itm/Lillie-Bryant-Meet-Me-Halfway-Tay-Ster-2nd-/111015401169?pt=UK_Records&hash=item19d90896d1

  On 06/03/2013 at 19:21, jim g said:

there is one here https://www.ebay.com/itm/Lillie-Bryant-Meet-Me-Halfway-Tay-Ster-2nd-/111015401169?pt=UK_Records&hash=item19d90896d1

 

JesUS... just nearly choked on me beer.....

Edited March 6, 201312 yr by Mal.C.

  On 06/03/2013 at 19:26, Mal.C. said:

JesUS... just nearly choked on me beer.....

 

Yeah he's a man with extremely sensible prices.......not

  On 06/03/2013 at 20:17, Steve L said:

Yeah he's a man with extremely sensible prices.......not

I gave my vg bootleg copy away to a charity shop, I hope this doesn't get bought

heres the thing  original is £2000.. whether we like it or not the red counterfeit is £40 so i would rate that white monach test pressing at £75..now wheres me tin hat

  On 07/03/2013 at 07:59, dave pinch said:

heres the thing  original is £2000.. whether we like it or not the red counterfeit is £40 so i would rate that white monach test pressing at £75..now wheres me tin hat

Dave here's the thing with mine, I will never own the original, well not without a big lotto win :-) but I would not let my counterfeit go for £40 that's for sure I enjoy playing it at home way to much.

 

Steve J

I assume the "Tay" from Taylor but where does the "Ster" come from ?

  On 07/03/2013 at 07:59, dave pinch said:

heres the thing  original is £2000.. whether we like it or not the red counterfeit is £40 so i would rate that white monach test pressing at £75..now wheres me tin hat

 

 

My gut tells me No, Not in a million years, and I'm always one thats banging on about 'Lower' prices.. this said i just paid £40 for Melvin Moore boot or 2nd issue, what ever it is... 

  On 07/03/2013 at 16:35, Mal.C. said:

My gut tells me No, Not in a million years, and I'm always one thats banging on about 'Lower' prices.. this said i just paid £40 for Melvin Moore boot or 2nd issue, what ever it is... 

just look at popsike mal for the red tayster boot  sold over £40 a few times.....crazy i know and thats an out and out booteg. at least monach was a proper company but it seems anyone could order stuff from them and not have the rights or the authority to do so

  On 07/08/2008 at 07:28, Pete S said:

 

 

That's interesting, I remember the first one of these turning up in the 70's, I think it was on a JM list and it sold for - well not much, a tenner or something - then one was printed on the cover of an issue of Shades Of Soul back in the 80's. Not seen it again until this one turned up on ebay. So you reckon they had the test pressings done for the bootleg?

JM sold it for £8 according to Shades of Soul Issue 17, that also has a photocopy of Carl Fortnums copy on the cover.