Derek Pearson

just PM'd you Richard. cheers, derek

played Lee Fields' "Take me back" in the DDA room @ Lowton last Friday and 2 people asked me what it was. Angle 3 is the label and it's rather wonderful in my mind. onwards, derek

Alan Darker, Tim Fletcher and I at the Manchester Ritz mid 90s I guess? Yes I know I had a beret on - it was just a phase I was going through. Seem to think I'd just been to Paris and yes I know - WTF! derek

Disclaimer: None of these patches have ever, ever been sown onto any bags, jackets, trousers, vests or any similar items of clothing that I have worn in the past, currently or are likely to be worn in the future. derek

Here's a letter that was sent out to new members on joining the newly formed Inter-Soul Club (North). Date unknown but it should be quite easy to work out (Bankhall Miners; Morecambe). derek

Knights of the road-nights on the road or summat. Westbound soul club Bury allnighters 1995 date card. SAS Of GB club Rotters in Manchester allnighter (date unknown?) Manchester Placemate 7 allnighter from 1986. Olivers in Swinton - lives of the rich and famous eh. more as I find them.... derek

A few months ago whilst browsing various soul related sites on the web I came across an article describing growing up in London as a soul boy during the seventies. The author talked fondly about a record store where he spent many Saturday mornings buying newly released vinyl. He asked if anybody still had one of the plastic carrier bags the shop gave you to cart home all your new buys in. What a weirdo I thought - fancy somebody wanting an old carrier bag? Mmmm thats just the sort of thing I'd do! A few weeks later we went to an audio jumble/record fair in an old church hall and in amongst old blokes dressed in nylon jackets with bad facial hair I chanced upon an old Woods Music Shop paper bag sandwiched between some bad rock albums. I used to buy all the Grapevine 45s as new releases from this shop (circa 1979) and being the smart cookie I am - I didn't want to waste my money - I only bought the one copy of Nabay and Lester Tipton. Records in paper bags - how quaint and old fashioned does that sound these days. onwards, derek Woods Music Shop with branches in Huddersfield and Wakefield.....

don't suppouse you wanna sell me your copy do you Baz? derek DP trying to trade on the old buddy routine hehehe

hey up Sutty hows it going? "Crazy" was the first track I'd heard on day time radio in the last few years that made me actually want to go out and buy it. My plan stumbled when I discovered it was a download jobbie. But the vinyl grapevine told me it had been promo'd on vinyl first, haha the search was back on. But after a few nights sleep it had slipped down my list and fallen off. Fast forward many months and DP remembers again. Time to end the search. Thought it would be quite neat to get it on a 10" promo.... Alright Jason if you get chance can you dig out your UK promo please - providing its in good condition I'll gladly trade for the Emotions 45 you're after. Will hunt about for a copy and get back to you. A vague bell was ringing in the back of my mind saying I'd already asked about this UK 10" promo on here but forgot/didnt have time to search for my original post. Thanks Jerry you reminded me I had. onwards, derek

hey up barry - Mmm maybe I got the title wrong will re-check later. Maybe thats why I couldnt locate a copy.......cheers, derek

Came across a bundle of these old bits n bats at the weekend- Southend WMC - this followed on from when Stafford TOTW finished, posted up some pictures last year or so. Kool Kat & Top Dog Gents 1987 - which clubs were they running? The Peacock in Yeadon, Leeds up by the airport. Think it ran Wednesday nights and as I was at college in Leeds till 7.30 that night I often used to call in for a couple of drinks on my way home. Was driving a motorbike at the time and do recall turning up there one rainy night dressed in waterproofs. As I got to the door they said "You do know its a soul night don't ya". Dave Bywell read and weep. Major Lance in 1982-that must've been at Hinkley Leisure Centre, got some pics somewhere. Smokey in Halifax in 1983 would you believe it eh? Still got a Tee shirt from that night! Carlisle 1995 dates - the mid 90s were for our gang what you might describe as 'hectic and adventurous'. The roads north were littered with incidents which still cause us to chuckle to this very day. onwards, derek

I believe there was a limited UK 7" vinyl promo of Anthony Hamilton's "Sunshine" sent out to DJs. Anybody confirm with a scan and who wants to sell me a copy? PM or email D.Pearson@bradford.ac.uk onwards, derek

Before Mister Barclay went to number one on the strength of his downloads I'm told there was a very limited 10" promo mailed out to some lucky DJs in the UK. Anybody confirm with a scan? And more importantly has anyone got a copy to sell? PM or email D.Pearson@bradford.ac.uk onwards, derek

Bit of a long shot but nothing ventured an' all that - anybody got an orig Joe Mathews "Aint nothing you can do" on Kool Kat they fancy selling or trading? Off list replies please PM or email D.Pearson@bradford.ac.uk thanks, derek

about a month ago I saw a tiny ad in the classifieds of a local paper which read "big stock of soul/disco 12"s just in". To be honest I'd seen this ad run for a few weeks but didnt have the time or inclination to do anything about it. Anyway we had a free Saturday recently and I rang him up asking if he had any soul/disco 12"s for sale, he replied "thousands". I didnt tell Miranda what he said so we drove out there, (Miranda) with no expectations and Derek with a pocketfull of money. Now I've never heard anybody talk about this shop before and I know loads of what the young uns call 'crate diggers' round town. Perhaps they've all kept it quiet Mmmm. So in we goes and its full of rock vinyl and old 7"s, I ask where the 12"s are and he points down the stairs. As we get into the cellar Miranda gasped as she saw boxes and boxes and boxes of twelves marked "70s/80s" & "90s/current". Soul/RnB one wall, house/dance the other. Must admit in all my years of rummaging I can't recall the last time I've seen so many twelves in one room. We spent at least 2 hours solid looking and only did a third. Bought a few nice little things. We intend to go back soon (obviously). derek

here's the incomplete discography: Cruize feat Gee Morris "Get your lovin" TSCRT 2 (blue label) "Get your lovin" Donyx/Soula muffin mix TSCRT 2 Special Touch feat Duval "Your so good" TSCRT 3 (red label) Gold In the Shade "Over you" TSCRT 5 Special Touch feat Duval "Your so good" (blue label)* "Your so good inst" * sold this recently & forgot to jot down the cat no-damn! anybody got anymore? I'm lead to believe the Special Touch 12" that has Gold In the Shade's release on the flip is highly collectable and quite pricey? Think Girth Devon was selling a copy of the Special Touch voc/inst 12" on here recently for £6. onwards, derek

Get your lovin - cruize feat gee morris - uk tsr 12" 14564 refosoul

Over you - gold in the shade - uk tsr 12" 14562 refosoul

You're so good - special touch feat duval - uk tsr 12" 14560 refosoul

whooah nearly shat mi pants there Derek hehehe...

hey up Derek - hows it going down there in Bristol land? Think you were living down there in the early 90's so you'd probably recall the whole Massive Attack period. I'm sure I saw a book recently by someone documenting that whole period of Brisol street life. Sound clips of the TSR 12"s on the way... derek when you back up north lad?

I won't let you do that to me - luther vandross - sony promo 12" 14559 refosoul

Now I realise this may be of no interest to many northern fans but bear with me as there's a very similar parallel going on regarding the music. What words would you use to describe the term "street soul"? Well I'd say it was low budget, bass driven, poorly distributed, UK black music from the urban areas of the early 90's. Listening to it now it's easy to hear many of the artists weren't the best singers and some of the production wasn't too hot either. Can you see the similarities that street soul music shares with northern soul releases? Alright northern isnt bass driven. During the late 80s-early 90s I DJ'd on pirate radio stations in and around Bradford and was sent and bought loads of these twelves (many of them as white labels). I was always curious as to how many they sold and where they were distributed. I suspect they only travelled to the cities with a large black population ie. London (where many of these tiny labels originated), Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Bradford etc. The booming Pirate Radio station culture of this period fuelled the release of this genre on tiny record labels that sometimes only had one or a handful of releases. In this thread I'll post up soundclips and label scans of releases on the TSR label which featured twelves by Special Touch featuring Duval "You're so good", Gold In The Shade "Over you" and Cruise. Street Soul seems to be a period and genre very overlooked by collectors, obsessives & historians. onwards, derek