Ian Levine, Motorcity, Centre City, Blackpool Mecca, And Swons

[Reforee]

When it comes to politics and backstabbing then the Northern Soul scene beats even the Houses of Parliment.

I have supported Ian Levine during his Motorcity days (just listen to Joe Harris & Carolyn Crawford - Aint understanding mellow, what a version of the original). Ian and Colin Curtis along with Richard Searling were my top DJs back in the early days, however they have all played and even said things that I have not agreed with but I have never felt the need to verbally attack them .

Prehaps we ought to take it a bit further an throw rotten fruit & veg at DJs when they dont play a record or set we dont like.

Now I know Ian can wind people up without trying, but when it comes to putting tracks out he wants then its up to him, like them or not, you dont have to buy them, or play them and he certainly has no control over other people buying or playing them. Some of the tracks IL has been involved with have been very very good, others not my cup of tea, I have in the past told him that, but that is MY personal view.

When it comes to "tailor made" then again thats IL choice and even his ego might play a part,which is larger than average, but that is Ians personallity coming through.If that sound "floats his boat" then so be it. Take our soul scene,the records are very similar in tempo, but no one on here is saying Berry Gordy all the Detroit producers and all the other USA label owners/writers/producers were not "tailor making " their records! Of course they were, they were chasing the big hit, the big bucks, so lets not be precious about it. You talk to any artist/songwriter etc, their latest record is the best ever so their egos come into play, some of my favourite Soul artists from the 60s have egos I dont personally like and they have brought their halos crashing down when I have met them. Even Bobby Taylor made an LP abot tailor made soul , so its been rife since the year dot.

A personel attack on IL to me smacks of other underlying reasons which have nothing to do with Soul or even music. While it makes interesting debate it should be honest debate and not become personal.

I will say one thing IF Ian IS making his music aimed at the Northern scene then I am glad he is not using my money, because he certainly will not make a fortune, because OUR scene is small, a new record, beside getting shunned because its new, often does not sell in quantity, only to die a death becuase only a handful of copies get sold. 20 years later some DJ picks up a copy spins it, it hits the right spots and hey presto it starts to sell for £100+ and every Tom Dick and Harry wants a copy, and Bill & Ben and all the Flower pot men swear blind they have had it for years and bought it as a new release. Now what does that remind me of ?????

The Man In Black (aka Dave Halsall)

[Guest]

I understand that you are very passion-driven by nature and obviously this led to certain issues with several people, I can't comment on this and to be honest, I am not too interested in this.

What I don't understand is why people who don't know you are having a go at you and writing offensive posts.

I think it's great that you are on here and it makes absolute sense that you are having a thread on your own.

Just thought maybe some will find the view from an "outsider" on this topic interesting.

Oh, and surely I am not reading this topic because I find it as exciting as a car crash( never understood these people btw), and comparing this/your situation with a car crash..

Thankyou Stefan

You, and people like you, are the reason why I am dedicating so much time to posting in this thread, even though it involves dealing with a few who I wish I wasn't dealing with at the same time.

You make it worthwhile.

[Reg]

Sadly only two thousand. Loads of people watched her vids on YouTube, loads of people played it all over the world (one radio station in New York has played the whole album every day for a year now), but the sales were low for such an expensive project. At the end of the day it all boils down to promotion. If I sell two thousand of "Northern Soul 2008", then I'm happy, as I never expected it to have huge sales figures and we keep our costs right down to a minimum.

If Sony hadn't originally paid so much money to record Ebony's album, it would never have happened in the same way, as these days, unless you're Amy Winehouse, no-one but no-one could afford to spend that kind of budget on a record. This is why all the smaller labels have now gone out of business and we only have four majors left. The music business is screwed.

I like the Marva Hicks cover

https://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fusea...endid=167488728

Edited August 24, 2008 by Reg

[Guest]

and any news about Ebony Alleyne?

The album came out on Expansion with fourteen tracks in the summer of 2007.

Then late last year the Japanese album came out with five extra tracks, nineteen in total.

There were three seven inches on the Okeh label, before Sony dropped the whole project, but only 100 of each for promotion, through Steve Ripley at the time.

There was one track on a CD called "Northern Soul 2004" called "All The Love In The World".

Since releasing the album on Expansion, we have done various odd tracks.

Ebony duetted with Noel McKoy on the album "Northern Soul 2007" with "Special Delivery". On that same album we did two new solo tracks, "Mister Magic Man" and a version of the Evelyn Thomas classic "Have A Little Faith In Me".

On the "Disco 2008" album we did one track, "Whistle For A Ride".

She's been studying for a law degree, to be a barrister, and we have done nothing new at all this year.

[Guest]

When it comes to politics and backstabbing then the Northern Soul scene beats even the Houses of Parliment.

I have supported Ian Levine during his Motorcity days (just listen to Joe Harris & Carolyn Crawford - Aint understanding mellow, what a version of the original). Ian and Colin Curtis along with Richard Searling were my top DJs back in the early days, however they have all played and even said things that I have not agreed with but I have never felt the need to verbally attack them .

Prehaps we ought to take it a bit further an throw rotten fruit & veg at DJs when they dont play a record or set we dont like.

Now I know Ian can wind people up without trying, but when it comes to putting tracks out he wants then its up to him, like them or not, you dont have to buy them, or play them and he certainly has no control over other people buying or playing them. Some of the tracks IL has been involved with have been very very good, others not my cup of tea, I have in the past told him that, but that is MY personal view.

When it comes to "tailor made" then again thats IL choice and even his ego might play a part,which is larger than average, but that is Ians personallity coming through.If that sound "floats his boat" then so be it. Take our soul scene,the records are very similar in tempo, but no one on here is saying Berry Gordy all the Detroit producers and all the other USA label owners/writers/producers were not "tailor making " their records! Of course they were, they were chasing the big hit, the big bucks, so lets not be precious about it. You talk to any artist/songwriter etc, their latest record is the best ever so their egos come into play, some of my favourite Soul artists from the 60s have egos I dont personally like and they have brought their halos crashing down when I have met them. Even Bobby Taylor made an LP abot tailor made soul , so its been rife since the year dot.

A personel attack on IL to me smacks of other underlying reasons which have nothing to do with Soul or even music. While it makes interesting debate it should be honest debate and not become personal.

I will say one thing IF Ian IS making his music aimed at the Northern scene then I am glad he is not using my money, because he certainly will not make a fortune, because OUR scene is small, a new record, beside getting shunned because its new, often does not sell in quantity, only to die a death becuase only a handful of copies get sold. 20 years later some DJ picks up a copy spins it, it hits the right spots and hey presto it starts to sell for £100+ and every Tom Dick and Harry wants a copy, and Bill & Ben and all the Flower pot men swear blind they have had it for years and bought it as a new release. Now what does that remind me of ?????

The Man In Black (aka Dave Halsall)

A fabulous fabulous fabulous post.

I'm glad I logged on this morning.

[Guest posstot]

There's no point in answering people's comments on the thread about "Souled Out", as they risk being deleted, and I have no wish to type out comments that will be removed.

Mike asked those going off-topic to start a new thread, and so I have.

I will try to be at least more civil than I am on A.N.S., but I refuse to be castrated.

I will not post on the "Souled Out" thread unless it is to specifically comment on items relevant to the film, and my abject horror at the Soul Police dissing it before it's even been made.

I have opened this thread specifically to answer comments and fight back. I realise that if someone puts a nasty comment on one of my videos on YouTube I can be as rude as I like back to them and delete their comments, and block them from having any further access to my videos at all.

I have no such luxury here.

As I said, I shall try to be civil, certainly to most, but find it very hard to be civil to those few for whom I have ZERO respect.

Let the curtain go up.....

I don't know what has been going on, yet it seems to me, that something looks like it is going to be very successful..

Without the input of Mr.Levine, and the camp,diva which lies within can't stand that fact, so here he is on Soulsource, the biggest arena to put oneself in to throw a hissy fit and get some attention. And it's worked.

DAVE RIMMER FOR KING!!

CARRY THAT WITH YOU, KNOBHEAD!!

Now I'm the reason you logged on this morning!!

Edited August 24, 2008 by posstot

[Guest inspirations001]

Isn't there some other releases of Fee, I cant see this being a tailor made track only for the NS just a record picked up by err who played it first Richard or Pat??

richard played it first more or less as a new release. pat was prob playing "brother louis brown" around the same time!

[Guest]

I will say one thing IF Ian IS making his music aimed at the Northern scene then I am glad he is not using my money, because he certainly will not make a fortune, because OUR scene is small, a new record, beside getting shunned because its new, often does not sell in quantity, only to die a death becuase only a handful of copies get sold.

The truest words ever spoken in the entire history of the universe.

But they won't listen, Dave, I promise you they won't listen.

People say "why make them" and never once stop to think that maybe it's because I WANT to.

[Guest]

I like the Marva Hicks cover

https://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fusea...endid=167488728

Yes, I love it.

We shot a wonderful video for it, but never had time to edit it together, and it's still in the can.

She sang it in almost one take, and I got goosebumps all the way through. We went back, analysed it, and only fixed about three line - it was just so perfect when she laid it down.

And this is very special to me, although it was done long after her album with a much smaller budget. But I love it unreservedly

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[Guest]

It's Ebony Alleyne, with a HUGE orchestra behind her paid for by Sony. £150,000 spent on recording her stuff, which is the only way to make a real record full of proper live instruments without it sounding cheap and closed and small like Sharon Jones. Or without Soul Source members complaining about it being computerised, which was hysterical with some songs, which DID have live orchestras becasue they were taken off previous versions.

But the Ebony album is the most expensive stuff I ever got to produce in my life.

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[Guest]

I don't know what has been going on, yet it seems to me, that something looks like it is going to be very successful..

Without the input of Mr.Levine, and the camp,diva which lies within can't stand that fact, so here he is on Soulsource, the biggest arena to put oneself in to throw a hissy fit and get some attention. And it's worked.

DAVE RIMMER FOR KING!!

CARRY THAT WITH YOU, KNOBHEAD!!

Now I'm the reason you logged on this morning!!

Ya think ??????????????

Sad.

Childish

Puerile

and quite pathetic, not to mention homophobic.

SCREW YOU, PAL.

[Guest inspirations001]

The album came out on Expansion with fourteen tracks in the summer of 2007.

Then late last year the Japanese album came out with five extra tracks, nineteen in total.

There were three seven inches on the Okeh label, before Sony dropped the whole project, but only 100 of each for promotion, through Steve Ripley at the time.

There was one track on a CD called "Northern Soul 2004" called "All The Love In The World".

Since releasing the album on Expansion, we have done various odd tracks.

Ebony duetted with Noel McKoy on the album "Northern Soul 2007" with "Special Delivery". On that same album we did two new solo tracks, "Mister Magic Man" and a version of the Evelyn Thomas classic "Have A Little Faith In Me".

On the "Disco 2008" album we did one track, "Whistle For A Ride".

She's been studying for a law degree, to be a barrister, and we have done nothing new at all this year.

was all the love in the world a take on sad girl form the late carol anderson or has this been documented before? fab voice and very distinctive!

[Guest]

was all the love in the world a take on sad girl form the late carol anderson or has this been documented before? fab voice and very distinctive!

It was originally. The song was just a demo. If we had gone to full recording and orchestra, it would have ended up nothing like it.

But Kev Roberts went crazy over the demo and started playing it on his radio show and begged to put it on the album "Northern Soul 2004" that he released at the time.

It was basically never properly finished, and if it had been, would have changed quite drastically. Sometimes we start with something that's a homage but change it once we have written the actual melody and words of the song. And in this case, apart from the intro, none of it sounded anything like the other record, so I let it go because of the time factor.

[leev]

well ian,

i doff my cap, over on ans i said i thought you had put too many vid clips up on this thread.

you've made my sunday morning, i've just spent hours checking some of them out, lovely to watch and listen to chuck jackson - all over the world, perfect sunday morning stuff, loved ebony alleyne -second look, very smoothe indeed

cant believe your stance on soulful house, a natural progression to some of the stuff you pioneered, brillant to watch double exposure- 10%, one of my favourite salsoul tunes

c.p. spencer - this man needs you, jesus h. christ, this song is amazing, never heard it before, wow.

i'm glad now i delved, too easy to judge without knowledge, i guess the answers simple, read the post if you want to, watch the vids or don't , glad i did.

[Epic]

Sadly only two thousand. Loads of people watched her vids on YouTube, loads of people played it all over the world (one radio station in New York has played the whole album every day for a year now), but the sales were low for such an expensive project. At the end of the day it all boils down to promotion. If I sell two thousand of "Northern Soul 2008", then I'm happy, as I never expected it to have huge sales figures and we keep our costs right down to a minimum.

If Sony hadn't originally paid so much money to record Ebony's album, it would never have happened in the same way, as these days, unless you're Amy Winehouse, no-one but no-one could afford to spend that kind of budget on a record. This is why all the smaller labels have now gone out of business and we only have four majors left. The music business is screwed.

Probably didn't help sales that by the time Sony got round to releasing it most people who wanted it had"demo" copies in their collection already.

[Guest]

brillant to watch double exposure- 10%, one of my favourite salsoul tunes

Anyone who went to the Highland Room or The Ritz in 1976 would weep tears of joy over seeing that, Lee.

[De-to]

Ya think ??????????????

Sad.

Childish

Puerile

and quite pathetic, not to mention homophobic.

SCREW YOU, PAL.

posstot,sorry but imo there really is no need for that sort of reply on this site to anyone,

[Guest inspirations001]

This is reminding of that time in a DJ's life when a big surly bloke comes up to you on the decks and says

"Got Any Northern"

can't find your original reply in response to wil collins. yeah i am old enought mate (and daft enough) but i stand by my remarks as i think it was a scene changing record. the stuff at the mecca and pier was played in the main and accepted by all cos of the crowds who accepted progression. some of it was shite and some brilliant! wil collins was played when everyone was trying to find the next big "stomper". pat was playing that f**king awful "tied to ur heart" richard was playing that equally awful "no second chance" (where's the SOUL in those two??) it opened the door for a lot of dross as long as it wasn't 60's so did spawn a new scene in a way. had it been aroun wud curtis,ike strong,brafa,been played when everyone and their mother was having orgasms to terrible tom and nightwatch (should that be shitewatch) i don't think so do you? modern is accepted by evryone(well nearly) would "rock ur box" have been played otherwise!

[Guest]

Probably didn't help sales that by the time Sony got round to releasing it most people who wanted it had"demo" copies in their collection already.

There were only 100 of each, so I hardly think so.

Sony never released it anyway. The seven inches were in 2002. It took five years before the album came out on Expansion, not Sony, in 2007. The album had fourteen tracks on it, and there were only three seven inches so it never made that much difference anyway.

It's like saying that the videos are on YouTube so no-one would buy the album - that may be true to a certain degree but firstly the quality on YouTube is fuzzy and pixilated compared to the original DVD quality, and secondly, if people didn't get to see them on YouTube they may never have discovered her talent in the first place.

[Guest]

c.p. spencer - this man needs you, jesus h. christ, this song is amazing, never heard it before, wow.

i'm glad now i delved, too easy to judge without knowledge, i guess the answers simple, read the post if you want to, watch the vids or don't , glad i did.

Go to my YouTube page and look through the videos.

You'll be glad you did.

https://www.youtube.com/ianlevine

[Epic]

Anyone who went to the Highland Room or The Ritz in 1976 would weep tears of joy over seeing that, Lee.

Interestingly enough a version of 10% that Ian did with The Trammps got a remix by DJ Romain & it has quite a following on the Underground Soulful Dance scene.

[Epic]

There were only 100 of each, so I hardly think so.

Sony never released it anyway. The seven inches were in 2002. It took five years before the album came out on Expansion, not Sony, in 2007. The album had fourteen tracks on it, and there were only three seven inches so it never made that much difference anyway.

It's like saying that the videos are on YouTube so no-one would buy the album - that may be true to a certain degree but firstly the quality on YouTube is fuzzy and pixilated compared to the original DVD quality, and secondly, if people didn't get to see them on YouTube they may never have discovered her talent in the first place.

"Demo" as in CD Burner Copy !!!! DO try to keep up Ian!!!

[Guest]

Interestingly enough a version of 10% that Ian did with The Trammps got a remix by DJ Romain & it has quite a following on the Underground Soulful Dance scene.

I don't even have a copy of that. I thought the only version that came out on Network was that double gatefold one with my own twelve inch mix of it.

I also cut a version of it for Motorcity in 1990, on the late great Hattie Littles. In fact that was two years before I did it with The Trammps.

[Paul-s]

Wow, what a prissy little boy Mr L still is. Cant tell if hes drunk or just plain illiterate?! A bit like the child that spat the Dummy.

Only just read all this crap. So, obviously, I guess, The giant 'Bun' has a financial interest in the film so aptly named after his soul career! Pity I cant say hes a 'shadow' of his former self, as he seems to still be eclipsing people with his size rather than his intellect...The guy has ALWAYS represented everything false, desperate and manipulating about this scene and as we can read, he still follows that path. "OOOH you little bitch"..... I hear him say (backed by a syndrum and a vocoder, obviously! . )

Mr L has only ever consumed the scene, like food to a binge eater, never really tasting or appreciating it! Now hes being offered another slice of pie by a film company...yum, yum. Spoilt little rich kids are few and far between on this scene, apart from this egotistical Beluga, thank god.

Too soulful to have ever bothered with you Ian, but you are such a rude fool, I felt bound to comment. No doubt, you will pace around (as best you can...), getting a bitchy reply together, so at least i have contributed to your exercise programme!

PAUL-S

[Guest]

Probably didn't help sales that by the time Sony got round to releasing it most people who wanted it had"demo" copies in their collection already.

"Demo" as in CD Burner Copy !!!! DO try to keep up Ian!!!

I don't get this.

If it hadn't been released, how could people have burned copies. Where did they come from in the first place to get burned ??? We only gave them to a few trusted people.

[Guest]

Anyway, here's Ebony's duet with Noel McKoy.

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[Guest]

Wow, what a prissy little boy Mr L still is. Cant tell if hes drunk or just plain illiterate?! A bit like the child that spat the Dummy.

Only just read all this crap. So, obviously, I guess, The giant 'Bun' has a financial interest in the film so aptly named after his soul career! Pity I cant say hes a 'shadow' of his former self, as he seems to still be eclipsing people with his size rather than his intellect...The guy has ALWAYS represented everything false, desperate and manipulating about this scene and as we can read, he still follows that path. "OOOH you little bitch"..... I hear him say (backed by a syndrum and a vocoder, obviously!

Mr L has only ever consumed the scene, like food to a binge eater, never really tasting or appreciating it! Now hes being offered another slice of pie by a film company...yum, yum. Spoilt little rich kids are few and far between on this scene, apart from this egotistical Beluga, thank god.

Too soulful to have ever bothered with you Ian, but you are such a rude fool, I felt bound to comment. No doubt, you will pace around (as best you can...), getting a bitchy reply together, so at least i have contributed to your exercise programme!

PAUL-S

"You are ignoring this user"

[cloth ears]

glad to have you back ian ! i must answer one of your responses.

the scene is healthier now ,more than ever with followers in japan,australia even the usa.

more records turning up than before and we now have the big weekenders especially prestatyn where you you have upwards of 4000 enjoying the various sub genres.

when i started my love of "northern soul" i think it was about 1970ish. (im sure you will know the year!) we often battled against the odds to attend the mecca , the torch etc and often thumbed lifts to get up & back as we were in london 200 miles away.

a lot of the people on the scene then are still on it today ! it has evolved and is better for it.

also great to see younger fans enjoying the scene, wanting to move it on (like J.T. he has the enthusiasm that we had years ago)

right off to grab a few zzzzzzzzzz before the third allnighter of the weekend!!!!!

[paultp]

You asked for it

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[leev]

what exactly does someones size, or parents financial status have to do with there standing on the northern soul scene.

maybe he's demonic and a crazed gay too.

criticize the man if you dislke his musical input and contribution, we all are entitled to our views on the musical policy of this scene, but personal slurrs are ugly and unecessary. imho.

quote name='paul-s' date='Aug 24 08, 12:27 PM' post='849223']

Wow, what a prissy little boy Mr L still is. Cant tell if hes drunk or just plain illiterate?! A bit like the child that spat the Dummy.

Only just read all this crap. So, obviously, I guess, The giant 'Bun' has a financial interest in the film so aptly named after his soul career! Pity I cant say hes a 'shadow' of his former self, as he seems to still be eclipsing people with his size rather than his intellect...The guy has ALWAYS represented everything false, desperate and manipulating about this scene and as we can read, he still follows that path. "OOOH you little bitch"..... I hear him say (backed by a syndrum and a vocoder, obviously! . )

Mr L has only ever consumed the scene, like food to a binge eater, never really tasting or appreciating it! Now hes being offered another slice of pie by a film company...yum, yum. Spoilt little rich kids are few and far between on this scene, apart from this egotistical Beluga, thank god.

Too soulful to have ever bothered with you Ian, but you are such a rude fool, I felt bound to comment. No doubt, you will pace around (as best you can...), getting a bitchy reply together, so at least i have contributed to your exercise programme!

PAUL-S

[soulAdequateNP]

I don't get this.

If it hadn't been released, how could people have burned copies. Where did they come from in the first place to get burned ??? We only gave them to a few trusted people.

If it exists, it will leak - look at how advance screeners of movies get knock-off-nigel'd within a week

[Guest JJMMWGDuPree]

Oh, by the way, do folk realise that every time a page on here is refreshed or openned it generates a hit on every youtube video on this page, several times on one video if it has been quoted a few times, even without a click through.

Now that's what really gets up my nose. Why do people DO that? It's simple enought to delete the address even if you do have to quote from the post (And most of the time I find that pretty superfluous too).

Never mind Ian Levine and all this 'Is this going to split the fraternity in twain for the rest of all time?' garbage, this is important! We're wasting precious irreplaceable moments of our lives winding through surplus Youtube vids. It's a right pain in the butt.

Well it is in this chair anyway.

[KevH]

It all depends when you joined the SCENE as the majority of records played first on the Scene were by established artist who did make a good living out of their music (Geno Washington, Jimmy James, Impressions, O'Jays, Motown Acts, Stax acts etc and even some of the BIG bombers out there, went on to earn a living in the Music industry, generally any artist that had multiple releases must have had varying degrees of success in some capacity or else they wouldn't have got the chance to record again and again. Some of these obscure artist had careers of ten+ years, so of course they made a living from it, they may have been third or fourth division but that doesn't mean they didn't pay the rent out of the work, no one does anything for nothing, they may have had high hopes of reaching big time, but we all don't get there, it's a fact of life. By your account, the northern/rare soul scene needs to Burn any record that sold more than 100 copies and shoot any DJ who plays one.

it depends what you mean,i've loved soul music,the guys you mentioned, since i was 12/13,long before it was called Northern.

Im well aware that some made enough to keep the wolves from the door.

I was making the point that i don't like to be told what to buy "cos its soul".

As i said in my post the general ethos is one of the underdog,the romance of us owning ,discovering and loving records long forgotten,and not acknowledged by the masses.

Your last statement,,,,,,where did you come to that conclusion?.

Some of the best records are in the £40 bracket and a fairly easy to get hold of.

A lot of collections consist of many of these including my little contribution.

I like nothing better than to hear a set put together of cheapies and underplayed,along side the rarities.

Think you've overeacted to my post,maybe you're trying to label me a dinosaur cos iv'e had a pop at Ian?

Sorry to have gone off topic,,,,,take it to pm's Netspeaky if you want to continue,don't supose i'll be buying any bargains off you again .

Edited August 24, 2008 by KevH

[Tony Foster]

Didn't you say on your last radio stoke interview that you were walking away from the soul scene because of the people, also the people on SS were up there own back sides? Also you had a go at your old rival Soul Sam! I just wondered why you are back Ian?

Edited August 24, 2008 by Tony Foster

[Guest Stuart T]

Oops, sorry mate, i should know that especially as that record you sent me got stuck in their customs for about 3 weeks!

Btw what do you think of the new improved Levine Model 225, i think it's a big improvement on the previous 224, this model comes complete with a new improved humility device, still needs the disco & self promotion knobs adjusted slightly though.

Simon

He seems much nicer. But can he keep it up? I won't speculate as I am determined not to get drawn into being mean to Ian. Like some others I'd like to hear the stories behind him discovering certain records and what he thought of them, not much interested in the new stuff but suspect that Ian is less interested in the past and more concerned about the present? Each to their own.

I liked Venetia Wilson too.

[Mark B]

Some have some haven't. We NEVER EVER played A Fifth Of Beethoven - SACRILIGE !!!!!

We played the other side, "California Strut".

Here is my favourite Mecca memory from that period, and no it's not my record and has nothing whatsoever to do with me.

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[paultp]

Sadly only two thousand. Loads of people watched her vids on YouTube, loads of people played it all over the world (one radio station in New York has played the whole album every day for a year now), but the sales were low for such an expensive project. At the end of the day it all boils down to promotion. If I sell two thousand of "Northern Soul 2008", then I'm happy, as I never expected it to have huge sales figures and we keep our costs right down to a minimum.

If Sony hadn't originally paid so much money to record Ebony's album, it would never have happened in the same way, as these days, unless you're Amy Winehouse, no-one but no-one could afford to spend that kind of budget on a record. This is why all the smaller labels have now gone out of business and we only have four majors left. The music business is screwed.

Just sold another

I'm sure we've discussed the Ebony Alleyne CD on this forum before somewhere, might have been on a thread about either of the NS 2007 & 2008 CDs, think someone posted up a link to the Ebony Alleyne track. Can't remember.

[Guest Nik Mak]

Sadly only two thousand. Loads of people watched her vids on YouTube, loads of people played it all over the world (one radio station in New York has played the whole album every day for a year now), but the sales were low for such an expensive project. At the end of the day it all boils down to promotion. If I sell two thousand of "Northern Soul 2008", then I'm happy, as I never expected it to have huge sales figures and we keep our costs right down to a minimum.

If Sony hadn't originally paid so much money to record Ebony's album, it would never have happened in the same way, as these days, unless you're Amy Winehouse, no-one but no-one could afford to spend that kind of budget on a record. This is why all the smaller labels have now gone out of business and we only have four majors left. The music business is screwed.

YOUR SO WRONG IT'S MIND BOGGLING. LOL! Was it available as a down load? Did it go all over the net thru I-Tunes or all the other down load sites. Were there any other mixes done on the releases to open the act up to other audiances. Especialy ones with more energy? NO! I would imagine not. (Or probably very little?) In this day and age with the net and how much coverage that can be tapped into instantly the only reason a quality product like this gets nowhere is because the people in control didn't bother. Simple as that. I put out my own material regularly and with just the net I can generate sales of 2000 plus units and some times up to 5000 on a few. Other bods do huge sales and never touch a record company. It's all out there to be used & it's a peice of piss once you get the hang of it.

Once I can figure out how to use Refosoul I will show you how wrong you are about a lot of things.

Edited August 24, 2008 by Nik Mak

[Epic]

Some have some haven't. We NEVER EVER played A Fifth Of Beethoven - SACRILIGE !!!!!

We played the other side, "California Strut".

Here is my favourite Mecca memory from that period, and no it's not my record and has nothing whatsoever to do with me.

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[Guest Modern Skip Tone]

I'm actually surprised that most of you never heard the Ebony stuff. Just goes to show.

I am not surprised at all, with the response to Ebony, as only a very small few on here actually listen to new releases and are up to speed with new and recent soul releases. This is a Northern Soul site. New music is not in its make up for god sake.

Only a limited few on here can step in and out of this site and still enjoy the whole genre of our music.

Expansion and it's djs and followers have championed Ebony for her soulful values, sheer musical content and arrangement from day one. May I state one of your best releases that is head and shoulders above the rest of a weak pack.

I ask you Ian, should you have posted on the EMS forum - would you have encounted such a largely based political fuelled hatred and mixed reactions, may I say some good responses. Thanks.

Nick.

[Guest]

when i started my love of "northern soul" i think it was about 1970ish. (im sure you will know the year!) we often battled against the odds to attend the mecca , the torch etc and often thumbed lifts to get up & back as we were in london 200 miles away.

I have certainly known you since early 1971, so that's almost thirty eight years.

[Guest]

Whether you've come on here just to promote this DVD set or not, I don't care, I'm going to buy a set just based on this one. Absolutely fantastic.

Thanks

Paul

The DVD set is never likely to make money.

If we'd filmed thirty artists we might have stood a chance, but we filmed 131 at the time and many more since.

It was a lifetime labour of love, one which has been violently criticised.

The criticism got to me indeed for many years, because nobody else had ever captured these wonderful artists who were such a major part of my youth and whose songs so inspired me.

Every documentary that covered Northern Soul on TV had Edwin Starr and P.P. Arnold, but none had Frank Wilson, Tobi Legend, Dobie Gray, Bob Relf, Lou Johnson and Sandi Sheldon.

So I did it and stupidly thought the entire Northern Soul scene would embrace it with open arms.

Instead I have had ten years of being accused of cashing in, of ruining the songs by remaking them, of people saying the artists should have stayed incognito because they were all too old, of being pilloried and lambasted because people only wanted the original versions, of being told how terrible the videos were, and of a lack of respect which caused me to shy away in horror.

Artist after artist passed away, and I realised how unique it was.

In 100 years time, when everyone reading this thread is dead and buried, historians of soul music will look back at this project and muse with bewilderment at how my contemporaries were so cruel to it.

I also feel that about my music. Imagine soul fans in the year 2108 looking back at The Concentrations singing "Man On The Spot" and commenting how the Northern Soul fans at the time turned their back on this whole level of music just because it didn't fit into their pigeonhole because of age and who wrote and produced it.

But I am glad you like the fact that we filmed the lovely Jackie Ross.

[Guest]

If it exists, it will leak - look at how advance screeners of movies get knock-off-nigel'd within a week

Even so, is that an excuse to never release it in the end ??

[Guest]

Now that's what really gets up my nose. Why do people DO that? It's simple enought to delete the address even if you do have to quote from the post (And most of the time I find that pretty superfluous too).

Never mind Ian Levine and all this 'Is this going to split the fraternity in twain for the rest of all time?' garbage, this is important! We're wasting precious irreplaceable moments of our lives winding through surplus Youtube vids. It's a right pain in the butt.

Well it is in this chair anyway.

It does NOT generate a hit on YouTube unless you actually click on the video itself.

Absolute FACT.

And if you watch it a second time, it does NOT generate a second hit.

And as I keep pointing out, if you don't like it, then why oh why oh why oh WHY are you on this page anyway ????

It's a free forum. No-one's making you come on this thread, in fact some would rather that you didn't.

[Soul Shrews]

I have purposely refrained from posting in other threads on Soul Source, because if I did, I might get involved in unnecessary arguments or complaints of self promotion.

I think this is a darn shame as your vast knowledge and experience would be invalueable to the rest of this forum.

As for 'unnecessary arguments or complaints of self promotion" well this thread seems to have more than its fair share.

Cheers Paul

[Guest]

Didn't you say on your last radio stoke interview that you were walking away from the soul scene because of the people, also the people on SS were up there own back sides? Also you had a go at your old rival Soul Sam! I just wondered why you are back Ian?

I realised that most of the people on Soul Source are quite genuine.

It's just a few anarchists who ruin it for the masses.

I explained my reasons for coming on here in my first post on page one of this thread.

I am not a damn politician and I am not beholdent to you to vote for me, so I really don't give a damn what your opinion is, to be frank. It must become blatantly obvious, even to the most closed and bigoted and intransigent of minds, that there are lots of people on here who are enjoying it and being quite nice too.

[Guest]

not much interested in the new stuff but suspect that Ian is less interested in the past and more concerned about the present? Each to their own.

I liked Venetia Wilson too.

I am indeed, Stuart, although the music is in my blood.

And it's Venicia.

To quantify a little more, I believe in the music that I make. As hard as this may be to understand, I like stuff like Ebony and Noel doing "Special Delivery" and Nat Augustin doing "Love Is My Sanctuary", every bit as much as I like the classics of my youth like The Charades and Frank Beverly. Some others do too, and then again, others much like yourself view this as sacrilege.

Which is why I'm posting here on this thread.

On THIS thread.

It really seems simple for those who are "not much interested in the new stuff" to be easily able to avoid it, thereby making certain I am not putting unwanted stuff where casual readers of the Soul Source forums might stumble across it and resent it.

It seems logical to believe they know they will get it in a thread that's entitled "Ian Levine, Motorcity, Centre City, Blackpool Mecca, And Swons". By the very title of the thread, they should know what they're getting and be able to make an informed choice if they wish to not be subjected to the songs that I create.

[Guest]

He seems much nicer. But can he keep it up?

I promise you I can keep it up if the trolls leave me alone.

Sadly they haven't so far.

[Guest]

always reminds me of wayne bloe and jackie the used to swing dance to this at the mecca.

mark

And isn't it just fabulous to see a video clip of it ??

Oh how I wish I could see the whole song. Memories, wonderful memories.

[Guest SteveJohnston]

Anyway, here's Ebony's duet with Noel McKoy.

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