Garethx

The Margaret Mandolph is just as in-demand among Spector/Girl group fans as it is for Northern Soul fans (maybe more so) and the bootlegs of this could be just as likely to be found in the US as over here. The other side, I Wanna Make You Happy Tonight is a really beautiful record and was covered in fine style by Dusty Springfield on Philips.

Hi Dan I could be wrong, but I don't think there is a true original of Margaret Mandolph on white dj.

From St. Louis, 1976. I first heard Keb Darge play this at Deep Funk in about 2003-4, and it was subsequently popularised on the Northern scene by Butch then Sam. Apparently it was a known and indemand record in Japan for a few years before Keb bought it over to Europe. Have heard rumours that Poke played this as a relatively new release: can anyone confirm this particular hearsay? The band are not comprised of well known musicians. Fryer (Motherfunk on here) and Gerald have been in touch with the surviving members and have legally re-issued this so they can presumably fill in more details.

Not a common record, but difficult to put a value on. The other side was once a deep soul want for Japanese buyers.

A fabulous record. If I didn't already have one... Was comped on the Lost Soul series of albums on Epic in the 80s. Doesn't turn up much but as Pete says, great early soul.

Loving You, Loving Me is a pretty scarce record on original. Before the price drop in albums talked about elsewhere on the forum it was fetching a couple of hundred quid. Even with that drop an original in decent nick should easily fetch three figures.

Hi Dylan I'm out of the running on this one: an alright record but one for the completists really. I can never get the ebay auction player to work with Safari for a Mac. Anyone got any tips?

Her two albums are both fantastic. The Beginning is easier to get than the first album, Loving You Loving Me but both are well worth hunting down. The cream tracks from each of these have been put together a few times as Rich has pointed out, both by Soul Brother and Charly. These compilations should be pretty easy to pick up and are full of essential and timeless southern soul.

Cheers Joel.

The above Jock Mitchell 45 is currently on ebay. I've heard this mentioned for years but have never seen one for sale or heard the record. Has anyone here actually got one? If so can they comment on whether it's any good? Is it a Detroit production? Looking at the credits it's clearly our man of Not A Chance In A Million fame, despite the Gainesville Florida address on the labels. For me he's one of the great unknowns, his spine-tingling singing didn't make it on to record nearly enough. TIA for any input, gareth

So right for now.

A really wonderful performance and one of my favourite early Detroit records. So good that it would probably fit into a set of any type of soul at many venues: the mark of a classic, I think. Ebay has seen a lot more of these turn up than were thought to be around in the past, so I think it should be possible to get one for around six hundred dollars rather than pounds. Seldom turns up in really pristine condition though, so a minter would probably be an auction item which would fetch near the full book price.

I've never received confirmation of this, but it certainly sounds more like BP than Perry or Sanlin.

Hi chaps a different group I would have thought.

Hi Dave the most expensive one on popsike is £150 for a mint d.j. copy. Manship is listing the Contempo issue at £40, so I would say £30 for a US copy is way too cheap. The record seems to have undergone a resurgence of popularity in the last five years and usually sells pretty quickly if available.

I'm surprised Mark Houghton hasn't posted about this. I'm sure he would know being practically a world authority on independent southern soul of the last ten years.

Unwanted Love £10-15. Hung Up £100 if it's the first US press rather than the How Can One Man Live mispress or the UK Contempo issue. I Need You More Than Ever £20. You might get more for the Hung Up on a good day, but I think £100 is a realistic rate at which a near mint copy would always sell. Three brilliant records and I hope I'm not alone in wishing that Unwanted Love enjoys a share of the limelight in its own right: maybe the perfect synthesis of Hey You, Don't Fight It and Hung Up On Your Love. Sadly I think its very availability has counted against it becoming an allnighter play.

Until I see a red label copy of Jan Jones in the flesh I will always think of it as an urban soul legend. I believe Dave Raistrick was the first scene dealer to handle this record and Arthur Fenn the first dj to play it (from a green and white label copy). Seeing as Dave is now on soul-source maybe he can shed some light on this. Ian Clark, who found quantity of the title in Ohio in the early 80s had never heard of there being red label copies. There is at least one Day-Wood record on the red and white logo (The 7 Nombres) so maybe this is where the confusion arises. The 7 Nombres record is around ten years older than the Jan Jones 45. Doesn't really have anything musically in common with Do You Think I'm Sexy.

I mentioned reggae blues parties in an early reply to the thread (post no. 6) because it's the correct answer. It's where two-step in this context started. It didn't start at Parkers. Searling didn't invent it. That is fact. Why do you find it so hard to accept? Rod's post gives a great first hand insight into how and why the two-step phenomenon started to make inroads into what might be termed the rare soul scene and collections thereof. The comment about the Streisand/Gibb record is puzzling. Are you saying this was not a two-step anthem? If so you are wrong. That particular record has and would have 'wrecked' many a two step dance for decades. In fact it was one of the first tracks specifically bootlegged for that particular scene.

A real shame this guy hasn't made more records.

I'm sure Dave Thorley was definitely selling this on the sales list he produced in about '87. The list contained many of the Stafford monsters including The Ringleaders acetates, Hattie Winston acetate, a Glenda McCleod original, Soul Bros. Inc. etc.. I kept a copy of that list (along with lots of other interesting sales lists from the period) for many years and only lost it recently while moving house. It made fascinating reading and I wonder if anyone still has a copy and could post up a scan.

I've always wondered what market the Padded Cell version was aimed at.

Eugene Gaspard. First heard this on the Anglo American sales tapes many moons ago. Was so convinced of its potential that I bought a good few copies and gave them away to likeminded individuals. A great and powerful piece of soul music which evokes images of an updated and more soulful I Don't Like To Lose.

It went long ago, Mark. Took absolutely years to get rid of it, though. Almost a really good record, but something about it always left me cold. The lyrics are a bit hackneyed and the ending comes across like a bit of a redneck hoedown.

I tried to use a copy of Earl White Jr. in a trade in the 90s and was told by a respected dealer that no-one would ever want it! How times have changed.