Funky 4 Corners

I fully appreciate these two points, my info is only hear say. Don't for get through that `my` suggested total is 400 not 200. What we could do with is somebody who actually worked in the industry to give an idea of how many of these type of LP were pressed. I was haging out in a small record shop in Rochester about 20 years ago when a guy about 60 came in with two carrier bags full of LPs. He said he had worked in the Decca plant for 40 years and had just retired. Was the shop interested in some Jazz and Blues LPs? When we looked in the bags, there they were - all mint but not one outer sleeve to be seen. Apparently the management turned a blind eye to LPs being taken home but strictly no outer picture sleeves to prevent re-sale. He went on to say that in his opinion, the Vocalion LPs used the best vinyl and had the best technical production.

I agree, this is a high quality releases indeed. I once heard that only 200 mono and 200 stereo were pressed.

Hi Yep, this is the one but look at the nick it is in, most that I've seen have been similar. I did see a nice one at a record fair about two years ago but they wanted £75 for it.

I do recall having that Supremes LP `A Bit of Liverpool`, that was also forgettable. I never had their `Sing C&W` though, these two can't have sold many either. If anyone wants to see the cover of that `Temptations Sing Smokey` LP, there one on my blog - www.groovesvilleusa.com/blog

Does anyone have any facts about which Tamla Motown LP was pressed in the least numbers, excluding the Martin Luther King release. My reason for asking is that after a discussion with a long standing dealer, we both agreed that `The Temptations Sing Smokey` TML11016 is rarely seen for sale for example.

So looking forward to this. I hope that Mick H is on for a short block of time rather than regular snippets then I can fastforward while he's pontificating. He soiled the Bobby Bland documentary in my unbiased view.

I've just listed Roddie Joy's Detroit classic, "If There's Anything Else You Want", plus several other cheaper items. The Roddie Joy item # is 360314400378 you can access the others from there.

This reminds me of when Cliff Richards was doing a concert in Tokyo and a guy asked him top sing "Itchy Sore Fanny" and when Cliff said he didn't do that song and could the bloke sing it, he did.........."Itchy sore fanny how we don't talk any more......."

In Maidstone T K Maxx about a year ago I saw a couple of factory distressed denim jackets with two `fictitious` Northern Soul patches on them.

Hi Mick About 15 years ago I was talking to some guys who are into jazz and they had very similar recollections when looking for jazz 78s in a record shop in Tib Street in Manchester in the 50s.

Hi Denbo I did state that the Jimmy Ruffin was a re-issue with small print. Cheers K

Hi Again Sean I've just realised that you were referring to the scans that FM posted. Sorry mate, I assume we are in agreement with `our` examples? Cheers Keith

Hi Sean Thanks for the scan but I can't see any difference between yours and mine. The scan of the Earl Van Dyke below surely has got to be an original and the font is 3mm high. The same as the two scans I posted. It must be an optical illusion I think. The other scan below is a re-issue and the font is 2.5mm high and that is what I assumed was the re-issue.

Hopefully there are a couple of examples here. I'm not sure why the Edwin Starr has a smaller font for the title and the taller one for the release number. I thought it might me to do with the number of words in the title and they had to reduce it to fit it in but as the flip side is `My Weakness is You`, also in small font, my theory doesn't hold up as there are longer titles in tall print. Incidentally, while we're doing dirty anorak talk, what significance has the `K T` got? For the sane folk on the site, these are two small raised initials, under the label at each side of the centre hole. I understand they stand for Kentish Town, the location of the pressing plant but is there anything else? A subliminal message perhaps? Finally, the US Tamla label also had tall, `Columbia` print on the original pressings. These are styrene and generally rare.

I've just put Skip Jackson on Dot Mar on to ebay, plus several others. The item # is 360313525032. You can view the other stuff from there too.

The reason I asked the question originally is a notion that these were the original pressings. In John Manship's guide he also quotes that up to TMG 703 they also have "Sold in the UK...." in small silver type printed on the push-out centre.

They go on further than 600, although I don't collect UK TMGs I have a few and have 639, `My Baby Must Be A Magician` with tall type face and a demo of 646, `I Am The Man For You Baby` with the TMG 646 in tall print but smaller lettering on the titles.

Can anyone tell me what the last UK TMG release was with the tall type face please? I guess into the late 600s?

I have a full set of seven, Souled Out magazine which commenced in the 70s. In my opinion, this was a cut above most of the other Soul magazines out at the time as it was not preoccupied with Northern, although it did cover that genre. I have them up on ebay now, if you link to item #360309163976 this will take you to issue #1, from where you can access the rest. Start price £2.99 each.

A guy called Ben Sandmel in the US is writing a book about Ernie K Doe and has asked me for any info. I've spent hours going through a few hundred black music related mags with absolutely nothing to show for it. Does anyone know of ANY magazines that has anything on him please? Thanks

In a few big cities such as London and Manchester you did find jazz type clubs that featured early 60s R&B and Soul acts but I think that a big thank you should go to the Mecca Dancing organisation, mainly their Mecca Locarno dance halls. They would get together with big promoters such as Universal Dancing and host 80% of an artist's UK dates. When I were a lad Wakefield Mecca and Leeds' Spinning Disc for example staged many early Soul shows. There is some interesting stuff on the web about various Mecca venues, its well worth checking out.

In the mid 80s I went around to a guy's house in North London who had DJed at the New Scene Club in Soho in the mid 60s. He showed me several 12" 45 rpm records with Sue labels that had various titles typed on. Each record had about three or four tracks per side. Some I recognised as 45rpm releases but others not, some I'd never heard of period. Apparently they were supplied by Guy Stevens a couple of years earlier to test dance floor reaction.

In either late '72 or spring, '73 I was on teaching practice at a school in Gt Horton and used to go down to that stall on a regular basis. Apart from the various 45s already mentioned I came across half a doz James Bounty 45s, also some Shalimars. I never got anywhere near the warehouse, just into a little room behind the stall. I related a funny story at length in Manifesto about 10 years ago - I scrounged about £20 to take to the stall having studied Simon Saussain's 1st sales list and gathered a nice pile of records together then came across a box of 25 Charts `Desiree`. Greed took over and I dumped some lovely records to buy the box. Only to find they were the Doo Wop version when I got them home to Ossett, PLUS they were on a reissue label to rub it in!

I regularly receive various local newspapers from South Yorkshire and am amazed at the number of Northern Soul events that are advertised. These are often in old mining towns and villages, that in my day (mid 60s) were as anti Soul as was humanly possible! There were of course some folk that liked Soul but we were few and had to go to bigger places like Leeds, Wakefield or Sheffield to mix with like minded. Bob Foster, a pioneering Soul and Detroit collector came from Hemsworth and a guy called John Nicholson from South Kirby used to go to the Wheel. Martin Koppel is from Goole. Barnsley had a club called the Hub and the Bodega, Wakefield had the Mecca and the Place, Castleford had the Crystal Bowl / Tin Chicken. Dewsbury in the very late 60s had the BIn Lid. Doncaster had the Attic. In Huddersfield there was Lord Jim's....As far as current low Northern Soul areas are concerned Kent has always been near the top of the list (with notable exceptions of course) especially when you consider the size and population but where I live must be a national contender.....Maidstone! I'd nominate North Wales as being a long standing big Soul area and Funky Feet Records in Rhyl a really great little record shop.

One mystery that has never surfaced is Tom & Jerrio - Oolya-Choo / Bacardi - ABC 10787. In ABC discographies that I've seen such as Globaldog, it isn't ever noted as un-issued. In my decades of collecting, I've never seen a copy or heard of one BUT I do recall that Ady Croasdell had an option to lease it from ABC but that was in the mid 80s. Incidentally, Wang Dang Do on Wand is the same track as Push Push on Shout but is slightly longer and far more crisp.