macca

apart from the bilbao weekender, which I've yet to attend, there's also luanco in march & madrid in may. two stonkin' unmissable events in my book. most of them are 30 somethings, so the age difference is not that great really. it's certainly never bothered me. what with low-cost flights, great value for money hotels & superb food & drink, there's no excuse really.

I went to one. I remember sam getting flak for playing 70's & he responded to his critics with 'get ready' or something similar. or am muddling events? an all US demo motown spot steve? a beery rendition of the dambusters theme was probably sung before piling into the place, but I don't remember the chinese martyn. selective memory at work... :-)

offered the single-sided demo of this to a mate the other day & he said he preferred the version without the backing vocals. are there different takes of this then?

my best wishes for a speedy recovery too pete. M

sold mine last year to a girl in the fens. 25 sovs. I think I'm gonna be sick... tremendous record. M

CD only, eh? Probably won't be bidding for this 'test pressing' then... :-) Thanks for the info. M.

Had it played to me by a mate tonight. What a sound! There's a 'test press' on Ebay right now. An unissued track covered up by Chris King, says the blurb. Is that right? Are there any legit vinyl copies or is it a CD only track?

what I find fascinating is how our tastes evolve over the years. I've been listening to a lot of laura lee recently, her hotwax stuff, some tremendously soulful material there. would she 'fit in' at northern venues?

bet there's a stack still underneath someone's stairs then. thanks for the info guys... will ask the DJ in question for full scan & info of his copy 'cos I'm sure it said chapter five on the picture sleeve.

jeanette harper. loathed it. never heard the peanut duck. can't be worse than JH. I hate JH even more than Muriel Day & I'm not suffering from revisionism.

At a recent 60's weekender over here, I heard one of the 'white' DJs play this, & on a European P/S, which may have been a Dutch or Italian copy, he wasn't sure either! The dancefloor reaction was positive, considering they weren't Soul fans as such. Are these easy to come by? Might be a nice alternative to the mega rare UK jobbie. M

I have Dusty in Memphis, it's a pleasant, well crafted album. As far as her 'Northern' stuff goes, I have to say I prefer 'What's It Gonna Be' by Susan Barrett, another white popster, not because of it's rarity, I just think the whole package is better. Dusty's Bacharach-David stuff is excellent pop music, if you like that kind of thing. Smokey? I think most of us would acknowledge the fact that William Smokey Robinson has cast a huge shadow over the whole music industry, all genres. The man is truly versatile: Producer, arranger, writer, musician & yes, a great, great Soul vocalist. It's probably a question of taste again. In general terms, I prefer the 'If You Don't Know Me By Now' style of delivery. I couldn't stand (& still can't) the Stylistics & hated I 'Hey There Lonely Girl'. I think Eddie Holman is a great vocalist, except when he goes all high pitched on me. Smokey's vocal isn't the classic falsetto, it has an ethereal quality, which when given the right moment, can floor you right there in the living room. When I was 13 or 14 years old I used to listen to my sisters 45 of "mirage" over & over, memerised. Lyrically it's faultless & vocally it's extraordinary. Finally, & with all due respect, I think the comparison we're being asked to make on this occasion is slight dubious, even spurious, but then again the Spaniards have an expression that says ALL comparisons are odious.

there's a place in palma called the bugulu bar (c/ del mar 3) that holds 60's weekenders, but that includes mod, northern, psyche, freakbeat etc; the guy who runs these events is sebas avils, a top bloke. the crowd is young & stylish, but very welcoming, as is often the case in spain.

I can think of a fistful that I'd play, but I'd probably be hauled up the tyburn road for having the effrontery. quite a few of big joe turner's R&B shouters & most of wynonie harris's jump tunes would the order of the day for me. M p.s. who ever worried about clearing floors?

I think we tend to look at the past with rose tinted specs at times. while the all-nighter scene was a fairly placid place years ago, at least compared to the average saturday night out for 'normal people', ugly scenes did occur from time to time. who wouldn't remember the awful scourge that were barbiturates? some of the saddest sights I've ever witnessed on the scene were barbiturate related.

that was one I never 'got', it did have those driving bits in between the weird bits though. spring rain was another. sounds godawful to my ears now, like 70's soft porn emanuelle in chintatown etc; there were far too many chemicals about I reckon...

well done gareth. informative & concise. the students have to be brought into line once in a while. it's for their own good.

wine, women & song then!!! it's no wonder, is it? puto also exists as an adjective similar to feckin'. putos pressings. I'm enjoying it too.

I used to own the record in the late 80's & was simply surprised to see it going for the price it goes for now, the same can be said for don thomas. the night of the wolf used to literally set the dancefloor alight back in 1975/6. the reaction to it was a sight to behold at places like cleethorpes, specially in the 'stamping' period. the record was good then & is still good now in my opinion. mr. donnelly is a recalcitrant torch perv. his pooh-poohing of these records is to be expected.

sombrero soul. good to know. doug banks I think is a perfect example. I can smell the enchiladas now...

just trainspotting COD. :-)

careful, let's not confuse latin (very broad term) with the mariachi sound. cuba is miles from juarez, culturally & geographically. :-)

sombrero - any kind of hat, not necessarily the huge mexican jobbie. mariachi? those blokes with big hats, huge guitars & brass instruments that erroll flynn always had in tow around hollywood. & flamenco has feck all to do with mexico, our amigo dante will tell you that, verdad compadre? estos hijos de la gran chingada no tienen ni puta idea! keep 'em coming folks, it's most interesting! M

Little Richie - Just Another Heartache Southern label too!! Border influences. When you're lost in the rain in Juarez etc; M

Bud Harper out of my price range, sadly. Shame 'cos it's a top tune. Didn't know the Majestics were Mexicans. Cojonudo!! M p.s. If the Bud Harper horns are Tex-Mex, we can also add most of Bobby Bland's early to mid 60's stuff to the list, no?