Soulsmith

It was a private news eve bash for all the local soulies. Dunno who played it, could have been on 78 for all I care! Do remember every body having a good time though. Regret to advise Pipkins 50 is not Tim.

Top Tip: For those fed up with - Do I Love You? Might I suggest: I Do Love You - Albert Jones Do You Still Love Me - Cookie Jackson You Don't Love Me - Epitome Of Sound If I Don't Love You - Bobby Reed Confused? - I know I am

You may want it..........but Simon wants it more and I owe him about 200 quid

I have Carl Carlton - Competition Ain't Nothing - UK Action which a mate wants to acquire from me. We'll probably do a trade - whats a fair value?

8.3.1 is a good happy, clappy, trappy record! It got played last nite & as far as I could see everybody seemed to be loving it. Sure if you analyise it ur gonna find some fault with it. Particularly if you don't like modern soul! Looking back to Wigan days (yawn!) sometimes we danced to a right load of old crap. Did we pontificate on the relative pedigree of certain records.......... or did we just get out there on the dance floor and have a good time? I know I just had a good time. Do I regret having a good time? Of course not.

Happy new year soulies. Have a good time wherever you go, whatever you do. I have a few crap new years eves in my time. This year ain't gonna be one of them! We've hired a big pub, kept it to invitation only, organised the food, bringing our own decks & of course have the music well sorted! Speak again next year. Oh and a special mention to Mike, thanks from all of us for the hard work you have put into the site over the past 12 months. x

Mike, you can say whatever you like - its your program. Me, I just like to liven it up a bit sometimes

Please do! ..........regret can't tell you how.

Just back tracking a bit here 'cos there's been a couple of good posts. Esp liked Kid Mohairs comments. Can relate to that - most of the time I'm either socialising or dancing. I get a real lift from n/soul. I may get crucified here, but the fact is I generally can't tell 1DJ from another - I'm just too busy having a good time. "I DONT KNOW WHO THAT DJ IS BUT WHAT A RECORD." sums it up for me. Also appreciated Hammy's heartfelt comments. On a lighter note would agree with Hammy - ref. Nostalgia: It Ain't What It Was!

I found Mikes comments more offensive. They were also lacking in structure

Gareth, I'm coming to believe that you really are The Oracle

Love the record..........but getting Tim to play it is difficult. His girl-friend doesn't like it.

Whats crap.......the track, the price or the statement?

Regret missed 100 club 25th anniv. Went to the nighter the previous month where there wasn't room to swing a cat. Assumed anniv. nite would have been worse, but I believe i was wrong! Live & learn........maybe I'll be around for the 50th. Maybe not. Best live acts this year - Garland Green Phil Perry Baby Washington Most disappointing live acts this year - Bobby Womack (Hammersmith) lost in the mix - couldn't hear a word Jean Carn (Cranleigh) - bad cold - couldn't hold the notes

Fair comment Sebastian, however, the desire to 'end it all' was just too great for me. The bloke behind it had the money and the access to the greatest soul singers of all time (for me) and the net result is an almost total waste of resources. Art is often described as 'making something beautiful out of nothing' This DVD has managed to reverse the process.

I appreciate 2004 is not over yet, but maybe its time for a brief reflection Highs - The people I've met and friendships made on the scene. A bunch of wonderful & diverse people! Particularly enjoyed the weekenders Prestatyn, Fleetwood & Rimini. Lows - Just found out that Nathan Heatman has died. Saw him earlier in the year, I think he was musical director/part of the Philly Tour with Dexter Wansell, Jean Carn & Billy Paul. He did a couple of numbers with Jean Carn earlier this year & completely blew her off the stage. I was awestruck. Sad loss.

Hats off to Ian Levine. He has managed to do the impossible - unite the world of northern soul. Unfortunately its only united against him and his track record. "Levine must go"....where have I heard that before? Actually I think he has gone, but his legacy lives on & its managed to ruin many a christmas this year. Did I say hats off?....I really meant heads off.

The problems normally start for me when I make assumptions...... Sticking to the facts & going back to the thread..... Garnett Mimms - Looking For You Played at my best friends funeral 20 years ago. Paul was 24 when he died and I miss him very much. Especially today. x

Dunno what happened there! as I was saying...... its a struggle getting further than Stoke these days Assume Scotland/England all-dayer went well for you? Dunno where I was that nite...maybe Luton? - where the guy above in the thread (Hammy) along with Sean played absolutely blinding sets between 12 & 2 am

"I spun it at the recent Scotland vs. England All-dayer, was requested in fact but would probably have played it anyway" Looks like I should travel further north then! These days our nominated driver struggles to get further than

Haven't heard Jean Wells track played out for ages, which is a shame as it certainly blows away the cob webs at 4 in the morning. Currently listening to a bit of modern whilst wrapping up the xmas stuff. Last 3 tracks up on i tunes have all had the desired goose bumps effect. Carl Sims - I'm Sending You Back To Him 100% Pure Poison - You Keep Coming Back Bobby Womack - Home Is Where The Heart Is

So Gareth, is there any room in the scene for the odd 'happy, clappy, trappy' record?

Always makes me smile when people say they don't like modern, but then you see them dancing away to likes of Jan Jones & James Fountain. Best laugh for me was when Dave Evison played George Benson - On Broadway during his last hour at Wigan. All those people who hated modern absolutely loved it. Funny old world innit?

Going back to the main thrust of Ady's argument ie. proper remuneration for the people that created the music, has anyone considered setting up a legalised mp3 download site for rare soul? If I want to buy a std compilation CD, its going to cost say £12.99 from a shop. Now there's probably only 3-4 tracks I'm really interested in. I'm not interested in the fillers & i'm not interested in the packaging. Of the £12.99 I guess £2 will be going to the govt. in VAT and the shop will probably make £6. I assume the artist actually gets paid after the record label & distributors have had their share. Apple & Napster seem to be doing fairly good business knocking out mp3 singles for around 79p. If the same could be done for rare soul then the punter (thats most of us) would be happy 'cos he's only paying for what he wants & the artists would be happy because they would get a higher proportion of the value of the sale. The artists would be better off.