Garethx

Bunky's sons Billy and Stan Sheppard were in the Columbia act Skool Boyz in the 80s. One of them (can't remember which one) was later in By All Means on Island.

Not according to one of the group's sons who posted this on youtube:

300 quid for a mint-ish copy I think sounds about right. The other side is possibly more 'Northern' sounding now. Jimmy Ricks is quite tough on an issue in that format too. Don't know if people would be prepared to pay extra for that though.

Sammy King is usually pretty expensive these days. Last one on popsike was 455 USD and that was over four years ago. Great early New Orleans soul.

Don't think anyone's mentioned that there are quite a few big 70s records by white artists, in fact some of the biggest ever such as The Anderson Brothers on GSF or Benny Troy on Delite. Also add to the mix the likes of James Walsh Gypsy Band, Roger Troy, The Nicky Newarkers, The Fifth Avenue Band, Sons of Robin Stone, George Clinton Band, Pete Warner, Razzy Bailey etc. and it would be eminently possible to do a pretty good spot of entirely blue-eyed 70s anthems. I've long suspected that The Philharmonics on Soulin' were a white (or at least mixed) group. Does anyone know for sure?

The oldies scene could probably survive without deejays as such. Stick a couple of i-pods on stage and employ a silver-tongued compere to read requests and reminiscences and that should suffice. Throw in an hour of bingo and a chicken supper and it's starting to look very commercially viable.

Thanks for thinking of me Simon but I'm really in no position to make such a list. Family commitments and commercial considerations have meant that I've pretty much knocked going out on the head, certainly from a niter perspective. Lists like that also act as fodder to the lazy buggers who'd rather someone else do their legwork. I have seen and heard a few sets in the last couple of years which have been inspirational, and I always make a point of thanking the people involved, which to me is important. Seeing as there really is no money whatsoever in soul scene deejaying these days it's only polite to thank people who have gone that extra mile to entertain you. Out of pocket expenses in terms of travel are usually met, but the cost of buying the actual records is in no way reflected in djing fees and hasn't been for a generation. Maybe something to consider if anyone grumbles about the cost of niter entrance and maybe the widest reason why the thing is perhaps starting to become completely unsustainable. There are still good niters, but if the pre-eminent deejays are scaling down their commitments then it's actually quite a grave situation for the scene as a whole (if such a thing even exists these days). The scene needs them more than they need the scene: the serious undertone to what has been an entertaining topic. If the elder statesmen depart forever who coming up has the breadth and depth of collection or the necessary skills to replace them? That is knowledge and taste which will in all probability never be replaced. Searling bowed out at a time when there were hungrier, younger replacements to the deejay ranks. Could anyone be sure that is the case in 2011? Food for thought perhaps.

There's an inherent problem in breaking cheap records: inevitable overexposure. I'm sure those who first played "Kiss My Love Goodbye" or "Because Of You" or Ruby Andrews on Zodiac or Wade Flemmons on Ramsel and a good few more sometimes wish they hadn't. Everyone wants to be a deejay these days and with such 'ten quid monsters' seemingly everyone was for a while.

edit.

Through a spotify/facebook interface you can share i-tunes libraries with other users. Think you have to pay for this feature these days.

Great taste, contacts, knowledge, doggedness, intelligence and an unshakeable faith in your own ear. Those are all far more important than mere money. We've all seen people with money show up and try to use it to get to the inner sanctum (such as it is these days). It never works for long. You simply cannot instantly amass a great collection from scratch these days even with relatively unlimited funds. Even great records in themselves mean nothing without innate deejaying ability. Not everyone has it. It can develop over time but in many ways the ability to play the right records in the right order in an entertaining and refreshing way is probably something you're born with. It's a different thing from merely being a 'showman' or a comedian with the mike.

^ A tremendous shot of the Delreys Inc. Many thanks!

I'm not convinced that The Delreys Incorporated are white. A brief internet search for the writer, Samuel Crumity yields the following result: https://www.classmates.com/directory/school/Lincoln%20Memorial%20High%20School?org=1261 Now I know that's in no way conclusive (after all there are many examples of white groups recording songs by black songwriters like The Magnificent 7 with Archie Himons) but to me the vocal on Destination Unknown has always sounded 100% black. They shouldn't be confused with other similarly named groups who definitely were, like the Jimmy Johnson, Roger Hawkins group who went on to be the nucleus of the FAME studio band.

His exposure as what exactly? A passionate advocate of soul music in its many guises? I'm sure he can live with that. He wasn't attacking you personally Gene. He was disagreeing with your views in an internet discussion. It's an important distinction. Please don't take this personally, but your reaction to it all has been mean-spirited and a touch puerile: initially closing your own topic when a dissenting voice was raised and then continuing to badger away in another topic specifically opened to continue debate on what could have been a fascinating topic. Now you crow about Jock's 'demise' to use your original choice of words. It doesn't look good.

At first I thought Jock's reply was maybe too strong but, like I said, re-read Gene's original post and it really is an unveiled attack on the views which many of us hold on here. Jock's reply was a robust defence of his own values rather than a personal attack on Gene.

I've read and re-read Gene's original post again and I find it ridiculous that he should stir up such a hornet's nest and then retreat, pretending to be the voice of reason and the wronged party in a frank exchange of views. Maybe Gene can convince me otherwise but he is clearly stating that if I don't like all the records on his list I am a blinkered, narrow-minded hypocrite. Apart from The Seven Souls (which shouldn't be on it in the first place) and Joanie Sommers (an unreserved masterpiece in any genre of popular music) the vast majority of those records are pretty poor and the type of thing I became a soul fan to largely avoid listening to. Play The Deadbeats or Gary Sole to any reasonably informed music fan and tell them they are 'soul' and you'd probably expect to receive a puzzled reaction. I completely understand that many pop records had the correct flavour to become popular Northern Soul plays and don't mind listening to many of them in the course of a night out, but they are not and cannot, surely be the scene's bedrock. Take J.J. Barnes, Eddie Parker, The Tomangoes, The Salvadors or The Del Larks or Mel Britt or Mikki Farrow or Willie Tee out of Northern Soul history. Replace them with the Paul Anka's, The Gary Lewis's, Buck Rogers Movement etc. and you would have something which wouldn't have lasted two years, let alone the forty-odd and counting we're in now. I am utterly convinced of this. The pop stompers are an interesting curio, a diversion and a sprinkling of the weird and wonderful. The pop records lack the basic elemental feeling of the greatest Northern Soul records. It's in the vocals, it's the intensity of the productions. It wasn't invented by the Radio Corporation of America, or Warner Brothers or EMI of Hayes, Middlesex. It came from the streets of inner city Black America. The proliferation of pop reached epidemic proportions at a time when the scene enjoyed its highest attendances and it's surely no co-incidence that a different set of values came to prevail in the post-Made In England era. The values which now seemingly get labelled Soul Snobbery. It's come to something when you have to defend liking soul music on a soul music forum!

But as Bob A. pointed out in Gene's original topic it's fairly impossible to have a discussion on soul's roots and identity as a cultural phenomenon without it having a racial dimension or a political context. Soul was born of a specific set of circumstances in the African American timeline and it had a specific point to put across about black people's lives. That is inescapable. If revisionists seek to state that was not actually the case then I can only guess at their agendas.

Gene's original proposition was so loaded that it was bound to get up people's noses. He started the topic and, as Jock highlights above, stated exactly where he stood on the debate. There have been a few really good discussions on here on the entire topic of Blue Eyed Soul. The point I've always tried to get across about it is that it's actually quite distinct from 'Records Made By White People Which Just Happened To Be Played On The UK Northern Scene'. John Reed's post on the original topic was reasoned and the list of records he gave was very instructive. White Soul is a fascinating phenomenon and worthy of serious discussion.

Buying or selling Russ? Fair to say demand far outstrips supply. The few copies around were snapped up largely before "Don't Be So Jive" became a popular side in its own right. Sticking my neck out I'd say £1,200+ for a mint-ish copy.

A record which always blows non-soul scene people away when they hear it for the first time is Oscar Wright on Hemisphere. On deeper reflection on the original question maybe the single record which sums up everything weird and wonderful about the Northern Soul phenomenon is Paul Anka's "Can't Help Loving You". It couldn't have been released on a bigger record label and the artist was practically a worldwide household name yet it took a youth cult in the UK to rescue it from the dustbin of abject failure and obscurity. Maybe nothing else better sums up the idea that it's the sound, not the artist or the artist's racial identity which makes a Northern Soul record different from simply a Soul Record. Love it or hate it this is quintessential, textbook NS. I would have loved to have been there when it was uncovered.

Edwin Starr "I Have Faith In You". A new convert can still go out and buy an original copy of this brilliant record for the price of a couple of pints.

I have a white deejay copy as well Simon. Wasn't aware that it was particularly difficult in this format. As for the year of release I'm sticking my neck out with very late '70s.

Hi Looking for a clean copy of Way Out 2006 The Volcanic Eruption "Red Robin" c/w "I've Got Something Going For Me" TIA for any leads gareth

Martha Starr was from Greenville as Dave says and was a member of Moses Dillard's Tex-Town Display (along with the young Peabo Bryson). I'm guessing that live and session work with Dillard bought her to the attention of Bill Smith, hence the Charay recordings. Moses Dillard was part of the Sons of Moses of Soul Symphony fame of course. The Tex-Town name of the group has nothing to do with Texas, but instead refers to the fact that Greenville South Carolina was once the centre of the South's textile industry.

In my experience this is actually a really tough record to buy on US 45 issue. The demo has "I Wanna Feel Your Love" on both sides and should be around fairly easily (in fact there are copies on musicstack from $4) but the issue with her updated version of Lucky Jamal Davis's "Love Is Better Than Ever" on the reverse is rarely sighted on an American 7". I could be wrong but I think it was 12" only in the UK.