Garethx

"Party Freaks" by Miami always sounded brilliant as a Northern Soul record.

December's Children "I've Been Hurt" on World Pacific?

The vocal on Babe Ruth sounds like Lena Lovitch. Entire sets of such records would be hard for me to stomach. As has always been the case the odd one thrown in here and there can sound incredible. Common sense is the key.

They used The Professionals cut and mis-credited it. Hope this helps. gaz.

Perhaps Dave will admit to it. Clarkie definitely.

Given a fair wind with licensing issues a comprehensive and well mastered 'Complete Willie Tee singles' would be really welcome. The effort from Tuff City a few years ago was alright as far as it went but the mastering was unfortunately pretty shoddy and sequentially it missed a few good tracks from AFO, Capitol, UA etc.

One of the greatest band / track name combinations ever. "Forest Fire On Main Street" indeed. Unfortunately the record itself is a bit tame. Just listened to Mel Stewart on Mercury again and have to say it would take a brave man to revive it: crashing DMX backing, novelty sound effects, dire lyrics and a poodle-rock guitar solo to top it off. Fortunately I don't have the facility to upload soundfiles.

Al De Lory "The Moon Racers" on A&M: a bonkers theme tune from a film that never was. I love it but can probably see why some would consider it the kind of record which gave Northern a bad name.

Steve raises a very good point. Up until, I'd say, the early 90s a wide variety of styles constituted Northern Soul. At that point I think there was a concerted effort on the part of the few 'newies' jocks left to get back to basics and try to programme predominently 60s uptempo soul records with a straightforward 4/4 beat. But the great clubs of the classic era, from the Wheel through the Torch, Mecca, Wigan, Cleethorpes and Stafford all found room for off-the-wall dance music of many different flavours. If you were to pick a record which summed up the sound of each of these clubs someone else could equally pick something completely and utterly different: Don Garner's Cheating Kind was a Mecca record, but so was Snoopy Dean. Chrysler & The Monarchs was a Stafford record, but equally Mel Stewart "No Work No Pay No Eat" was too (I dug this out the other day: would never get played anywhere now, I guess, but still sounds interesting. Rare too, not that it should matter.) Levine maintains that Northern Soul was always a specific generic style of music (4/4 rhythm, soaring strings, predictable harmonic structure, 'lifestlye' lyrics) a revisionist manifesto to fit in with the kind of music he makes now. Such revisionism is completely ludicrous.

"Zorba" anyone?

Are you buying or selling Richard? I think Mal's £250 is about right for it though. Used to own this but sold it as I was having a reaction against records which have that 'small town' sound. I now realise that much of the track's charm was probably based around its DIY feel.

It's on Phillip Mitchell's great "Make It Good" album on Atlantic and also as a 45 (the other side is "Only Smoke Remains"). Has been played on and off since the 80s, both on the Northern and Modern branches of the scene.

I'd love to hear the Marion Sodd 45. His "Permanent Vacation" is one of the most grimly fascinating tracks ever played in the name of Northern Soul.

In my experience once Parcelforce gets involved you're really in the lap of the gods. Their attempts at 'delivering' mail are sometimes pretty half-hearted and the 'communication' trail left by their operatives can be haphazard to say the least. I would tend to shy away from any service which requires proof of delivery across national borders: there's just too much that can go wrong and the track-ability options just seem to add to the stress. Standard USPS deliveries are far more straightforward in my experience. My advice to you Richie would be to go to your local Parcelforce depot with ID and proof of your address and ask them if they are holding a parcel for you. On more than one occasion I've had records waiting for collection at Parcelforce where no notification had been left stating that a delivery had been attempted. My feeling is that they prefer customers to come to them rather than the other way round. As an added layer of confusion if Parcelforce can't deliver a signed-for international package they sometimes leave them at a local Post Office first rather than taking them straight back to the depot. The odds are that your record is either at Parcelforce or a Post Office. Being pro-active is probably the key here if you can spare the time and energy, but it's all a bit of a pain when you've paid extra for a service which can be very hit or miss.

Different labels in a couple of respects (Stanson Record Company Presents... etc). Never seen this one before and couldn't hazard a guess which one was first.

I think it predates Wigan Joan (Mecca? IL will know). Was massive enough for a time to have been booted. A good record which will probably get a much longer lease of life as more 'newies' jocks add it to their sets.

Yeah. I never actually heard it until a Kent compilation a couple of years later. I put in on a wants list but was told they had long gone. The list of stuff from the early Kent albums which they did have and I was able to buy was still pretty mind-boggling knowing what we know now though.

Hi Joan Used to be on the Soul Bowl bulk lists for about a fiver in the early 80s. Wonder how many copies they had? Standard records in 'big' quantities would have been £2.50-£3.00 at the time, so this was probably always comparatively scarce.

Sandy Hadley's got to be £350 and rising now. Seems genuinely scarce these days.

Bobby Bennett & Sonny Allen both now SOLD. Thanks to all those who expressed an interest.

For Sale: BOBBY 'GUITAR' BENNETT YOU DID IT AGAIN / EVOL JUNIOR 1009 VG++ SOLD SONNY ALLEN YOUR LOVE WAS SO WONDERFUL / INSTRUMENTAL HIT PACK PH42747 VG++ SOLD Two quality records in fantastic condition. I grade conservatively. Postage will depend on buyer's location. I accept Paypal (fees additional), cashiers cheques, bank transfers. TIA for any interest, gareth

I don't know if my post was too confusing but I'll reiterate and try to keep it simple. The released 45 is Galaxy 768 Why Would You Blow It / Why Did Our Love Go Most deejay copies feature both sides. Last year Craig Moerer auctioned a copy of Galaxy 768DJ Why Did Our Love Go / Why Did Our Love Go i.e. the ballad on both sides. This is the copy of the record I would like to buy: not 'compromising' Mrs. B's want in any way, because this copy of the 45 does not feature the track she's after. I owned a copy of "Why Would You Blow It" for over twenty years, bought for pennies, sold for a bit more. I have no desire to own it again as I think it's a decidedly average record. The ballad on the other side, however, is a different matter, which is why I was intrigued that a demo exists which means I wouldn't have to shell out for WWYBI. I hope this is all clear. Please let me know if any of the above is unclear. best, gareth

Both sides of the Lennie Satin 45 are pretty good in their own right. The label is red with a white logo, black type and is pressed on vinyl. I haven't seen one for sale for quite a while, but it's well worth picking up if you like early 70s Chicago soul.

I don't want "Why Would You Blow It". I only want the double sided deejay copy with "Why Did Our Love Go" on both sides. Could I be any clearer?

Hi I don't want to buy the copy you wish to buy. I stated I would be interested in the dj copy which doesn't feature "Why Would You Blow It". In fact it's probably best to lock a 'wants' topic after the first post if you don't want people to hold a discussion about soul music. The board would be very dry if everyone did that, but I suppose it would promote 'good etiquette'. Good luck in your search. yours in soul gareth