I wasn't going to get involved in this thread, even now whilst typing I still don't know why I am?
Just recently was record store day, and the collector in me wanted to purchase the Fame box set by Kent/Ace. So along I went to Soul Brothers Record Shop in Putney. Upon the counter was a small box of 7" vinyl, so as you do you have to look through them. In the box were various Kent, Outta Sight, Hit & Run, Soul Bros and assorted recent vinyl releases. Now amongst these were some great tunes, some of which I may already have on old boots, some on cds, some I already own on originals, but and this is a big but! None of them got me as excited as the original 7" Sam Dees on Atlantic on the shelf behind the counter. Whilst looking through them I thought to myself, I wish this was one of the sales boxes from the 100 Club instead. I realised that I would have much preferred to be looking through a box of records costing between £20 to £200+ (of which I can only afford the lower end of the scale), than to a box of, how can I put this, manufactored/tailored releases for the (northern) soul scene and in some ways felt disappointed. One particular record that stuck in my mind was Two Plus Two on a Velgo lookalike. When I first started on this site about 8 years ago, I saw an original of this listed on Ebay and mentioned it on here. I'd never heard the track before, having only recently started to buy records again after some 15 years or so. The record went for over 2 grand, I was seriously out bid, let alone out of touch. That record for me is for when I win the lottery and as such I won't buy the reissue, whether it's legitimate or not. That is my choice and it has nothing to do with whatever one person thinks is right or wrong, it is solely my decision.
Now just recently I've been trying to obtain all the Kent 7" releases (Town/Select/Gusto Etc), so I'm not against buying them, some of the previously unreleased stuff in my opinion would have to be classed as originals. In some respects this may make me appear to be somewhat hypocritical, but I can live with that.
There are arguements for both sides as to what should or shouldn't be played out, whether that be originals or reissues/boots. This debate will always resurface (unfortunately) , but getting back to what I think the original topic starter was saying or attempting to say, is there a market for so many re-issues? I know the Kent Select are limited to about 500, but what about the others? If there are so many dancers as opposed to collectors/dj's, how many records are sold from each run? Do some labels persist in releasing non-sellers just to keep their name in the spotlight? A bit like Tesco opening up 6 stores say in 1 square mile, like flooding the market and ensuring punters return time after time, regardless if they actually need the stuff?!
As for who play's what and where, I really couldn't give a monkey's anymore. I do what I want, I go where I want, when I want (or in most cases can)! I'm at an age now where I have my own set of priorites/rules, but respect the fact that others views are different. It's called freedom of choice and I choose the right to exercise mine.