macca

In his opening sentence he refers to WC as a business. Businesses can go to the wall or not depending on how much capital they plough back in and keeping 'creditors' happy. Some of those creditors were probably kept more than happy. Dogstoat doesn't actually say that in his post, but encourages us to dwell on that possibility. It's all in the word 'business' I reckon.

Aside from the input from artists, Ian Levine's TSWONS project had plenty of 'talking heads' though, didn't it? Some of whom have since passed away, sadly.. All that footage could be gathered up again and updated to include the new century, the European scene, the weekender phenomenon etc, etc. That would be interesting. Just a shame about all the blood-letting that took place (on both sides) over the last year or two, 'cos it's evident that such a project would never get off the ground, given all the fear and loathing there was. Sorry if this is off-topic.

Esther Phillips' nasal whine is alright by me. But then I love the biggest nasal whine of them all, robert allen zimmerman. From a whisper to a scream is a bloody masterpiece, not a duff track on it in my opinion...

I wonder if the owners of Motown have licenced the use of the Tamla Motown logo to them. Hit that report item button!!

Early 90s I bought a plain white Calla promo of this and it wasn't expensive as I remember. Would this have been a 73 jobbie?

A splendid purchase! Fabulous record and one of those special cases where rarity meets brilliance head on. Well done sir!

Dregs and barrel spring to mind. Stop Girl is actually a good garage tune, but God knows what I saw in it, especially being holier than thou over all the British label pop that people like Minshull and Nev Wherry were spinning that year. We all have skeletons. :-)

So the end of the Northern Soul Scene as we know it (in the UK) won't be attributable to lack of 'new blood' but to the long hand of the inland revenue man. Who would have thought? Meanwhile, on the continent, all is rosy. ;-)

james coit and the 7 dwarves on the same night in 1978. I was very smashed.

While a lot of these sending in hard boys and fisting of frogs comments might be mildly amusing, as advice they're crap, The idea of 'UK soul boys' seeking retribution in a town like Marseille, with all its underworld connections is laughable to say the least. If you want come back in pine overcoat, by all means go take on Mehdi and the Marseille Mafia. The law courts are the only sensible option, if not just cut your losses and once bitten, twice shy etc. The world is a rum place and Marseille is particularly rum...

I've just seen a video on Youtube of her standing in for Pavarotti on an opera piece and it's simply awesome. What a voice... Like Levi Stubbs, she'sof the calibre we'll never see the likes of again. Bless her...

Probably something to do with them not wanting to collaborate with one of the scene's major hate campaign figures, which is a shame because petty animosities will have prevented Dena from achieving some much deserved recognition for co-penning and singing one of the scene's most iconic records.

I would have thought her next of kin would be legally entitled to reap the benefits of all those royalties. Agree it's definitely in the top 10 of those 'big impact' records... RIP Gardenia...

Sorry to bring Spain into the argument, but the word SGAE (General Society of Authors & Editors) is a swear word that's on many people's lips here. So much so that there's been a campaign of civil disobedience in protest at their 'persuasive' collection methods. Many small businesses have literally gone to the wall due to the outrageous royalty claims they process 'on behalf of their clients'. You might be the owner of a village bar or caf putting on background music just to make the place more amenable, but it's never long before you receive a visit from the copyright infringement gestapo. I can understand it when it comes to the big clubs where it's often the music that's the actual crowd puller, but to hammer family owned pubs, bars, cafs, shops etc? Incidentally, the previous president of SGAE was the lead singer in Los Canarios, Teddy Bautista. The ruthlessness of the SGAE under him had a lot of people... on their knees. I wonder if the UK equivalent of SGAE are aware of events like Blackpool, Prestatyn and others that pull in thousands of punters from all over Europe? Surely they'd make a pile there, wouldn't they?

I often question that the masses were really masses. We were still considered freaks at school and beyond. A trip to the local 'nitespot' on a weekend off would confirm that. At 15 I remember being in awe of the older guys and gals, who were most probably in their early twenties. People like Brian Rae seemed ancient though, and for every cringeworthy tune there was something sublime. It's all very easy to condemn the 74-76 period with the benefit of hindsight. Clouds and bright patches, as they say here.

if people are prepared to pay that sort of money for a boot, then more fool them. the seller obviously knows that if he starts the bidding at 125 quid. mad world...

Let the man without sin cast the first stone. when I paid a dollar each for unplayed demo copies of yvonne baker and the van dykes in a washington record basement in 1987 I didn't bat an eyelid. was I ripping the guy off? It's all very relative...

I downloaded (from a torrent site) a film about Bussard called 'down in the basement' after seeing a fabulous colour clip of son house on youtube. when you see him in action throughout the film, he definitely doesn't come across as a redneck chancer. in fact there's one clip where he calls on some old black guys who'd answered one of his ads. the scene is great and though the records they have are not what he's looking for, he's respectful and tries to 'connect' with them. The guy also happens to be a fantastic ragtime guitarist. I thoroughly enjoyed the film and would recommend it to anyone on here. the guy's enthusiasm is so contagious, especially when he takes you into his record room to listen to long forgotten 1930's jug bands whooping it up. great sound system for 78s too. :-)

Yes sir! Peterborough, St.Ives, Cleggy and Wigan, with all dayers at places like the Central Hall Kettering thrown in for good measure.

Johnny Bragg- There Talkin' About Me Barnaby Bye - Can't Live This Way Rodger Collins - You Sexy Sugarplum Esther Phillips - What A Difference A Day Makes Betty Wright - Where's The Love? Paul Humphrey - Cochise Wombat - Gettin' On Life Don Thomas - Come On Train Towanda Barnes - You Don't Mean It Keanya & Barnabus Collins - Love Bandit. Not saying I liked them all, but they certainly seemed to be the ones getting the most floor response at those first few all-nighters I attended aged 14.8 years.

Gotta Have Your Love is an indelible part of my youth. Not least for the youth club where I first heard it, but also for those countless occasions when played at a nighter, usually late on, when the troops were flagging and the light was peeping through the curtains. I'm welling up thinking about it right now...

sitting between two scooterists in the lounge at the fleet wih them 'verballing' about rebores, del'orto carburettors and ancilotti racing seats.

What does flaky mean? Is this another yank usage?

mr. ferguson has a lovely thing going on facebook. weldon arthur macdougall III and richard popcorn wylie, joint pole stars for most of us. the fact that they touched so many lives is a tribute in itself.

Superb. The bit about Edwin Starr's 'denial' of the Holidays is more than interesting. A mild case of egoitis?