Garethx

I'm pretty sure that Dean Courtney was an African American and the genre he worked in was firmly uptown soul music. The Crow doesn't sound like any rock record made at the time, perhaps with the exception of the use of tape loops. I think it's one of the single greatest records ever made and applaud whoever had the foresight and guts to spin it in Northern Soul clubs.

This record sounds good these days. What's it worth?

Jock Mitchell "Nomad Woman" on Golden Hit is shockingly badly mixed, although Tim Brown told me once that there are some rumoured copies which exhibit decent fidelity. Would love to hear one of those, as it's potentially a great record. Benny Harper's immortal "My Prayer" on Harper Soul is unfortunately really badly mixed. A shame as I feel this is one of the greatest vocal and band performances in the whole of soul music. The bass playing is simply phenomenal but even on a minty copy the muffled reproduction does its best to obscure all the great work which went on in the studio that day.

Definitely one of the most interesting questions posed here for a long time, Dave. Many of the pop records played at any time of the scene have simply worked on the dancefloor and have to be considered in that context above any other. They have the feel of classic Northern records: the intangible something which simply proclaims "Northern". I suppose at the heart of it all has been the central idea that deejays played whatever worked. On a basic level that has meant playing whatever made people want to dance and keep on dancing. On a less basic level is the idea of not only making people dance, but giving them that indefinable flavour which made the classic Northern scene different and special. Pop sounds have always been part of that flavour; I don't know if it's possible to pin down a specific time when they were 'introduced' to the scene: as Geoff says above they have always had a place on the underground club scene. That is an inescapable fact. I used to be quite po-faced about sticking to the "soul-only" template (I still do in buying records I suppose) but my stance on Northern-sounding Pop as a customer in a club has softened considerably over the years. Some inclusions still puzzle me, however. I wasn't around when, for example, Bobby Jason "Wall To Wall Heartaches" was first played, so it's never really made sense to me as a record. I don't think it would get spun today if it were completely undiscovered: similarly "Touch The Rainchild". There are scores of records which have come to make complete sense to me in a Northern Soul context: among these I include Dana Valery, Cajun Hart, Robert John on A&M, Pieces of Eight, Lynne Randell and many more, along with various Embers records (although I suppose these are strictly Carolinas Soul or Blue-Eyed Soul as opposed to straight pop, maybe an important distinction) and other Beach type sounds. Current big spins by the likes of Johnny Praye and Louis Paul seem to fit in also. It's interesting to me how this topic might reflect the one on Northern Soul and its interaction with funk which came up a few weeks ago. Just as records with a funk flavour have been part of the scene for decades (The Montclairs, Boby Franklin, Lou Pride, The Crow etc.) so records with a pronounced pop flavour have been part of that lineage from even further back: "You're Ready Now" is just as much a part of the blueprint of Northern Soul as "A Little Togetherness" or "That Beating Rhythm". Like I said on the funk topic it's just the size of that proportion which changes, and that's down to fashion. There have been times when the number of pop records played has seemed to increase (1977 Wigan, for example) and I'm sure there are currently unknown monsters lurking in collections which happen to be failed pop records by white artists from both UK and USA. It's the way it's always been and probably always will be. And there's nothing wrong with that. The sounds which have gone to make up the Northern Soul scene have always been diverse: there's no getting around that and maybe it's a huge part of its' appeal.

The other side is The Tanzotic All Stars "The Grass Is Always Greener" (Instrumental): strangely nothing to do with the Ella Washington track of a similar name on Octavia 0003. To clarify: the one I'm after is Octavia 0002. Octavia 0003 is the local Florida issue of Bye Bye Baby before national release on Atlantic.

I think Vernon Garrett's version of Angel Doll is really every bit as good as The Temptations cut.

Anyone?

Hi there anyone got a copy of Ella Washington "Nightmare" on Octavia for sale? TIA, gareth

If only the immortal "Chocolate Buttermilk" was on there...

its not just about money although it is a factor , unkowns can come cheap if you do find em .. I did have that chat with Butch at lifeline

The original vinyl ideal is a nice one but the scene has changed so much since 'the rules' were handed down on stone tablets that I'm not sure it makes much sense any more. The proportion of deejays to punters must be so much higher now, than say 1975, that it's actually ridiculous. Out of that vast community of deejays the proportion who try to play sets of shall we say "lesser known" records is actually miniscule. It takes about five years to make a previously unknown record massive on a national scale whereas in 1975 it could often be done in the course of a weekend. The end result: lots of deejay spots revolving around the sounds that the top deejays were playing five, ten, fifteen, twenty, twenty-five years ago and wrist-slashing ennui. Records themselves are now ridiculously expensive. No disrespect to the guy selling Mel Britt, Cecil Washington etc. on ebay right now, but someone could buy all those for a great deal of money and produce a deejay spot which could bore the scene to tears for decades on end. My answer is as stated before on Soul Source. It's radical: less events, less deejays, an emphasis on deejays trying to entertain and strive for the best within a framework of the scene's true ethos. That ethos has been re-shaped to suit peoples' need to deejay. The original vinyl thing has become a bit of a red herring in that realignment. Let's face it, all you need to be a deejay these days is money. What you need to be a good deejay cannot be bought with money. It's called taste.

A nice selection of truly classic oldies, some in sparkling condition. I hope they all find a nice home.

For me the Jimmy Delphs just edges it as I think it's his finest vocal. Strangely topical at the moment too ("Now get real funky, out on the floor...")

Why categorize? Just play the records and let the travelling public decide. Simple fact of the matter is that music with a pronounced funk influence has been a part of the Northern Soul scene for a very long time. The size of that part has always shifted and will continue to shift as fashion (from within as opposed to from outside) has always played a bigger part on the scene than we would perhaps care to admit. Thirty years ago if any deejay had the intention of 'changing the face of the scene' they just went ahead and did it with records in hand rather than a mouse and keyboard.

A wonderful record indeed. I love both sides as "Mix and Mingle" is great too in its own right: wonder if fans of rare funk 45s are familiar with this? Good luck with the sale Richard as I think your price is fair enough.

Can anyone out there tell me the difference in duration between the 7" and 12" copies of this record? TIA gareth

There's a soundfile of the deep flip on John Ridley's great www.sirshambling.com

A couple of tremendous femme examples are Mavis Staples It Makes Me Wanna Cry from her Only For The Lonely set on Volt and Delilah Moore's immortal It Takes Love on Middle Earth, which for me epitomises this particular sound. It always sounds sharp as a tack and as fresh as paint.

Two great examples can be found on Freddie Hughes' Wand lp. Tonight I'm Gonna See My Baby and the great solo version of We've Got To Keep On are right up there in the fingersnapper stakes. Effortless cool topped of with Freddie's peerless voice.

Seeing as there's been a bit of interest in this 45, I'm going to give interested parties until 4.00pm on Sunday 18 November to get their bids in. The winner will be notified Sunday evening. Condition is M- with clean labels.

I'd be willing to part with one. Please PM with an offer. best, gareth

I'd say the Mel Williams was auctioned for a more than fair price. It's a tough record and has never really been about in anything like large quantities. The Billy Miranda 45 was once around in small quantity, but that was an age ago. I bought a copy off Kitch around fifteen years ago and it still had the original Richard Domar comments and price on the sleeve: something like "mid to uptempo dancer, could go big in the right hands: £8". Mind you if Domar was selling it for that price it must have been pretty scarce as his usual price for this type of unknown was in the region of £1.50 to £2.50. I eventually swapped that copy with Mr Manship. Wonder if it's the one that was auctioned?

Uptight from Pennsylvania (Intentions etc.) should not be confused with Up Tight (Louisiana), the Richard Caiton label.

I'm pretty sure the Intentions from Harrisburg are the same group as on the one on Philips: white guys, and at some time featuring our favourite singing record dealer, Dennis Brennan. I'm sure he looks in here from time to time and can possibly confirm. The Uptight 45 is pretty good. if you ask me. Ditto the Philips record. The Intentions on Moneytown are unrelated; think about it: this moniker is pretty much "vocal group 101" in terms of nomenclature.

I can only endorse everything written above. He was a hugely influential deejay for me. A lot of Ian's sets from the 100 Club and Stafford would still sound 'upfront' today: not merely in terms of the actual records played but in terms of the thinking behind what he did. The mixture of sixties, seventies and eighties soul in one set was by no means unique at the time, but the sheer quality of records with which Ian did it certainly was. A particular spin which stands out above all the others was Cliff Nobles "This Feeling Of Lonliness" on Roulette spun early doors at the 100 Club. To play such a marvellous but cheap record in a set with the then-new Tommy Ridgley and George Pepp was inspired.