Garethx

I should have hadded the rider "for me" to that claim, Simon. I never heard Halo at the time, but probably would have bought it had it been around for general consumption: I'm pretty certain I would have offloaded it by now if I had, if only for monetary reasons. I've still kept all the other 45s you mention, though, so you're right in saying they've stood up pretty well. I'm not too sure about James Cobbin & Prime Cut not having dated hideously. I still love it but you've got to concede it's got more than a touch of the musical equivalent of a Crockett & Tubbs suit about it!

It's also worth bearing in mind that some of the early 80s indies which sounded technologically older didn't sell too well at the time. Releases which had real strings and horns were often passed over for records which embraced the new technology. It seemed at that particular point that tunes such as James Cobbin, WQBC, Bill etc. were the way forward, certainly for the dancefloor. The more 'classic' or traditional sounds have stood the test of time far better, but were seen as dated in some quarters.

This record is a great example of a genuine rarity which might be genuinely underpriced: certainly the prices in the guides might be conservative. I've only ever seen one offered for sale, by Martin Koppell about fifteen years ago. I'm sure a few deejays own copies but it rarely gets plays these days. A really nice record and my favourite by June.

I should have said that I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing that the more interesting events are smaller in scale. Lifeline and Essence weekenders are just about perfect in size. The music matters but there are more than enough people to generate a fantastic atmosphere. The big nighters and weekenders seem to me to be full of people milling around from one room to the next endlessly for hours at a time. I think Dave is correct in saying that the multi-roomed policy was first instituted to appease a small but vociferous minority who couldn't accept the idea that soul music is a broad church.

Many good points raised by everyone from all sides of the fence. I like a lot of different types of soul music, from all eras and in a variety of styles. I don't, however, like the idea or the actuality of multi-roomed events, so for that reason don't get out as much as I would like. I suppose the nearest thing to a way forward for me is the one-room event where deejays with a breadth of taste can play an interesting selection of soul music in all its guises in the same spot: the third way which Steve Plumb mentions in his post. This scene will be by definition smaller and will never recapture the essence of a crumbling ballroom packed to the rafters with adrenaline-crazed teenagers going mental, but unfortunately no event using soul music as its main diet will ever do this again.

Moerer's VG+ is likely to have been unplayed save for the soundclip he provided.

Is this really Dan Penn as mentioned by Craig Moerer in his recent ebay auction?

Coldwater Stone is none other than Freddie Briggs. Quite a tough album but unfortunately pretty ordinary. The Montclairs lp should be worth £20-25: you don't see it around as much as you used to. Clarence Mann features alternative versions of Ronnie McNeir's Different Kind of Love" (far better than RMN to my ears) and a couple of True Image tracks. Value not much more than £20 though. Hope this helps. gareth

Roz Ryan has had a very successful professional career in the wider world of music, rather than in soul or R&B. She has a wide range of stage and musical credits and I'm pretty sure she had a great deal to do with music for the Lion King films and maybe the stage show too. Her 80s record on Mirage produced by Butch Ingram is very good: a shame she didn't make more soul records as she had a tremendous voice.

Willie McDougall turned up in quantity in the late 80s and many dealers seemed to have it for sale. I suspect that copies sold these days come from the original haul, so while I wouldn't consider it a true rarity I would imagine it would tend to hold its price over time. I agree the Judy Clay mentioned above is genuinely scarce but relatively inexpensive. Plus it's an absolutely fantastic record.

I've never understood why people play original, possibly one-off acetates in public: what about the risk of damaging them? I appreciate there will be a possible loss in quality if using a facility such as vinyl carvers, but surely these discs were never intended to stand up to the rigours of consistent abuse on a Technics deck.

The same things in a record which might mark it out as a potential monster (catchiness for want of a better word) can end up making it sickening on repeated listening: in the case of Alfie Davison, Charles Johnson and Jan Jones that's getting on for thirty years of hammer. Time for these tunes to be given a rest. If I love a tune on first listen these days I'm often sworn off buying it as I know I'll probably tire of it just as quickly.

I have a distinct memory of "Are You There With Another Girl" being played at the 100 Club in the 80s: however this may have been at the Christmas bash, where more 'mainstream' soul was often thrown into the mix.

The clue is in the quality of vinyl. It seems a lot like the bootlegs of US soul 45s done for the Jamaican market from the late 70s onwards.

The Chavis and Candi labels predate the political struggle you outline Stuart, by some years. As for the Philly connection it's quite probable that the records were pressed there as it would be the nearest city with the apparatus to do so: it's only about thirty miles away and would be the obvious place to press and distribute (or not in this case!) records by Wilmington groups.

I'd like a copy of this too (after Mulf has been sorted out of course) The flipside is a great downtempo harmony record: Big Bad Rain. A great double sider.

Wilmington, Delaware? Home of Chavis, Candi labels.

Interesting Geordie: I've just played the blue label version against the green one and I think you're right: it doesn't sound as if it's Willie himself. Perhaps it's his brother Earl. If it is Willie he doesn't seem to employ any of his stylistic characteristics, particularly his very distinctive use of the word "Baby".

The blue label copy is a completely different take: it has piano as opposed to organ backing, group vocal backup and a different lead vocal. Much harder to find than the standard green label issue. There is another green label copy, on a slightly different logo (two black horizontal lines as well as the usual Gatur logo) which is backed with the very in-demand "I'm Having So Much Fun". Both this and the blue label copy are in a different league, rarity-wise, to the standard green label version backed with Funky Funky Twist. Hope this helps.

It seems so terribly sad to have to refer to Jim in the past tense. He was as everyone else has said a wonderful human being, whose optimism and fairmindedness shone through all the travails of the last few years of his life. Jim had a deep and abiding love of music and I feel privileged to have known him.

Seventies Northern gets no better than The Electric Express: someone buy it!

That goes without saying Steve!

Jerry Butler's Ordinary Joe was the first released version (some two years or so before the Occasional Rain lp) but Terry Callier recorded a version of OJ in 1969 which remained unreleased until the "First Light" lp on Premonition in 1998: for those who haven't heard it a great six minute reading in a more acoustic vein. For what it's worth I love all versions of Ordinary Joe: it's such a giant of a song it's hard to imagine someone completely ruining it (I'm glad that it hasn't been attempted by scores of acts though).

I nominate the following, but really there are hundreds of equally worthy contenders: Carla Thomas "Loneliness" Garland Green "Come Through Me" John Edwards "Tin Man" I've stated before that the discovery and more importantly the release of tunes like "Torture" and "The Magic Touch" had a crucial impact in spreading the rare soul word for people under forty across the globe.

A sad day: he was a fine artist.