Kegsy

Quite simply because there must have been a demand for them probably from newcomers to the scene, or are you saying people are sitting with four or five different re-issue copies of the same record in their collections.

Given that only some of the Secret Stash releases could be classed as northern soul, I don't think its about northern soul at all. Well unless you just object to some of the releases and not the others.

So its fine, for people who are now OVO only, to have bought cheaper alternatives when they started out buying/collecting, but its not fine for newcomers to do that now.

Only if there is a demand for them and people buy them !. What gets me with these type of threads is the blatant double standards. Can even the most ardent of OVO "campaigners" truthfully say they have NEVER bought a legit re-issue or God forbid a bootleg ?. I doubt it, just get over it, some people just want the music and don't give a toss what label its on. You can look down on them all you want but it won't make the slightest difference. Just stick to secretly polishing your precious seven inchers.

There were 4/5 copies of Bettye Swann Kiss My Love Goodbye plus multiples of other Atlantic stuff that was going/had gone biggish at the time, in the cheap racks. I wanted all of them, of course he went into his usual, you can only have one copy of ANYTHING routine. He was shit scared of people knowing what was what before he did, and missing out on a few dollars. Especially with UK customers.

Were they sat on top of boxes full of Trickbag ? He seemed to have a plentiful supply of it last time I was there. In fact I remember thinking it was well dodgy, and that it had just been pressed up off an old master tape or was a taylor made a la The Four Vandals. As far as I know there are no promo copies and every copy I've ever seen was brand spanking stone mint.

Not that I know of.

They were Shillings and pence in Bradford.

In about 1969 my mum worked with a West Indian woman called Olga, me and my sister used to babysit her kids sometimes. Her husband Barry ran the biggest sound system in Yorkshire at the time. Anyway one day he gave me two big boxes full of little label reggae stuff he had lying about the house, there must have been nigh on a 1000 singles, most hardly ever played before being tossed aside, as was the case with reggae back then. When I started work in 1971 I sold both boxes to a skinhead at work for twenty quid.

Bradford is pretty much the same, except in the summer when all the dole dossers lie around in the new "city park" complete with mirror pool, supping lager and sunbathing. Its quite ironic really, as the same council that build the park are now up in arms that the City centre is full of piss heads every time the sun comes out. By the way I got many of the albums already mentioned at Woolies too.

Sorry Pete, didn't realise Wolves had got THAT bad, well apart from the football team. I know, in the immortal words of Julian Bentley "F*ck off Kegsy".

Does Telford actually exist now.

That's because, back in the day, new tunes were being discovered at a rapid rate of knots and DJ's knew there were plenty more out there to be played, when something was re-issued or booted. That's not the case these days. Also, back then, loads of people DJ'd with pressings/re-issues AND unknown originals at local nights in the week, Its wasn't like now where only the top DJ's break new sounds. Where do you think I first heard Dean Parrish I'm On My Way ?, it was at a local mid-week night in Selby, at that time it had never been played at a major venue. People like Graham Slater, God rest his soul or Dave Box have probably discovered more records than most big name DJs or dealers, but they hardly if ever DJ'd at any major weekend venues on the scene.

No they arn't, but neither are many of the records that sell for 100's of pounds these days. It's all about popularity at a given time or the fact that people don't want to sell them which inflates the price. Have you any idea how many copies of Key To My Happiness were found on Bradford market ? It now goes for 300/400, mainly because collectors hoard it because its such a great sound. If all the copies came onto the market it wouldn't fetch a quarter of what it does. In addition there are countless stories of dealers dripping out single copies over long periods of time even though they have dozens of copies. Danny Moore on Allrite or that Trickbag record spring to mind.

100's of, not so rare, records have had their values inflated by actually being played to death. Bettye Swann - Kiss My Love Goodbye Sam Dess - Fragile Handle With Care Stanky Would you say any of the above were rare enough to command the silly prices they were selling for now or a few years ago. How many collectors complained that they were played to death, when they sold the copies they had bought years ago, for some ridiculous amount, based on the record's actual rarity.

Ok how about the Tamangos, what has happened to its value, because of the grapevine release ?

Excellent post. Let's not worry about any of these things. Artists musicians who's hopes and dreams were smashed when their record didn't sell many copies, thus increasing its future collectable value. Artists who lived/died in squalor and poverty due to them trying to make good music which didn't get recognised as such at the time. Whether its brilliant tune or whether its a total shite dirge. As long as I have the original piece of plastic and it holds its value, that's all that counts !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But that isn't the case here.

How many people started out on the northern soul adventure ONLY buying original copies or ONLY hearing tunes played on original copies ?. How many of those who initially bought pressings, re-issues etc. now search out originals with a passion ?. I would suggest anything that gets the music out there into more earholes can only be a good thing, including for the collecting game.

But they are not "fakes" and there isn't any intention to deceive people.

Perhaps it would help if you were to quantify the point you are trying to make. For example; By how much did the legit UK Tamla Motown issues of Frank Wilson devalue the original Soul copies ? or maybe By how much did Ady Croasdale's release of Buddy Smith devalue the U.S. originals ?

As Berry Gordy might have put it, "Its the dollars in the grooves that count".

Quite right, as long a Secret Stash have the rights and pay the royalties, where due, whats the big deal. How much did Eddie Parker or his family get from the last copy of I'm Gone that was auctioned ?.

What even on Carl Hall £187 good God I wish I could get that for my issue.

Please don't go down that road, you will have the OVO police telling us we can only play records on original 60's record players next and by extension that its not OVO unless its in its "birth sleeve" as JM puts it.