Tomangoes

Makes a trip to scour the goodwill / second hand shops in Detroit a viable business opportunity again.. Ed

I respect their patience in catching one. I've thrown the towel in plenty of times when nothing is taking the bait:) Ed

If you attend a "across the board" Northern soul event, you can expect to hear every conceivable type of music ever tagged into the all encompassing modern Northern soul scene. Ska, r & b, jazz, funk, disco, 60s soul, black and blue eyed through to today, and anything goes. Thats why its not a genre. Its a collection of genres manipulated into one scene to maximise the clientelle numbers. I'd say it was more a genre in the mid 70s than it is now in terms of an identifiable music style played. One man's Northern soul is certainly not guaranteed to be another man's definition of Northern soul. Not sure it ever was! Ed

Nice choices...Great mix for a long drive! Ed

JM referenced this particular tamla disc as desirable, collectable, in demand, etc as opposed to super rare. That attracts a different breed of buyer. The price of the said disc will fluctuate as it floats in and out of the top 50. There must be a conveyor belt of the next "big" oldie to push and capitalise on its sale value as "those buyers influenced by demand" start bidding. Not sure its ever been different, just more folks wiser to the sales ploy. Ed

You need "somebody" to tell you if they are original copies or "reissue/pressing/bootlegs" If one is like this below....you can retire:) Ed

Lovely views over the Humber estuary.. Ed

Gawd Its a way of life and it will never be over for me, even after tonight is all over because time will pass you bye and just to be clear I'm on my way....to the city. Genre my arse. Joking I am. Its whatever you want to be TSWONS. Ed

Indeed. Godin simply referred to the type of soul liked by the Notherners who frequented his shop. Obviously different to what type of soul, non Northerners liked, in his opinion. I still think it was a tongue in cheek referral and imagine it got a lot of laughs from the soul purists in his inner circle. However it did give an identity to the strange collection of records and those who cherished them. It also allowed a broad church of inclusion. Ed

To be slightly pedantic...and possibly add more confusion.. The dividing line is actually South of Watford Gap services...on the M1 Northamptonshire. The services are named after the nearby Watford Gap, a crossing point of the limestone ridge just north of the village of Watford; the name is unrelated to that of the town of Watford in Hertfordshire. Ed

Obviously depends on whether you get the original printed version, or a fake lookalike he produced later:) Ed

Much a do about nothing. I'd be surprised if any booted record actually came from a microphone and cassette player... Everybody ....almost ....did record at all nighters/dayers this way, but purely for personal use. The quality was poor. Lots of threads and stories on here about SS. Pity he never wrote a book about what he actually did, and why he did it! Ed

Well 1970 would be a good starting point for a 14 to 16 year old being on the crest of a wave of "Northern Soul" as it has come to be classified as. They would have seen its development as a seperate scene. That's important because prior to this, what was defined as Northern soul then was previously incorporated into a general r & b scene. Some of my friends were listening to Northern soul records 6 years before they were classified as Northern soul records. The north had the majority of clubs made famous in Northern soul history, but I'm not sure ALL the followers were only northerners or working class. Unfortunately I only joined the scene in 76....which in someways was the start of the demise as this original 14 to 16 year old were now getting married and leaving the ever increasing commercialised Northern soul scene. Good luck with the project. There is also a plethora of books written that could be of great use to you. Ed

Sorry about that. Its a long story, but I just extracted the part around the death that the topic starter mentioned. http://www.rebeatmag.com/the-story-behind-bob-kuban-and-the-in-men-the-cheater/ Ed

Extract here: unbeknownst to Kuban, their manager, of all people, was trying to break up the group. “Mel Friedman was the manager at the time, and at first, things were going very well with him, but it got so he had an agenda, which, unfortunately, didn’t involve me,” Kuban told me. “He started causing a lot of problems because he saw the advantage of Wally breaking away for his own purposes. Wally was a very good lead singer, and he was like a Fabian or Frankie Avalon, a good showman, a good-looking guy, and Mel obviously wanted to pull Wally away from the band.” The next thing Kuban knew, “despite the fact that we had a hit record, all of a sudden, the band was breaking up, and guys were leaving. I was in shock because I didn’t know why this was happening.” Scott left and opted for a solo career, though neither he nor the other members of the group matched the magic they had held collectively. “It was only years later that Wally told me what had happened, because by then, he realized what an opportunity we had and that Friedman had blown it for all of us. He got hold of good talent and screwed it up.” Despite the acrimony of the group’s split, nearly 20 years after their dissolution, the band was preparing for a big reunion concert when Walter Scott mysteriously disappeared in December 1983. In time, a bizarre tale unfolded that has even been the subject of its own book. Scott was tied up, shot in the back, and thrown into a cistern where his decomposed body was finally found in 1987. Eventually, the boyfriend (and later husband) of Scott’s second wife was found guilty of the murder (and his own wife’s) and given two life sentences. Scott’s ex-wife was also convicted of hindering the prosecution of the murder and sentenced to five years in prison. It’s obviously a cruel irony that saw the lead singer on “The Cheater” meeting his untimely end in the way that he did. Kuban continues to perform to this day. He has recorded some solo efforts and has a band that is highly regarded and plays a variety of venues across the Midwest. One can’t blame him for thinking as he does, though, that “if Mel Friedman had stayed out of everything, we probably would have been a very successful group for many years.” Tough luck for the cheater! Ed

Just wondering...sporadically heard this over recent years, and I absolutely love it...but cannot recall this as a back in the day tune! Help.. Ed

Got to share this one from today.... Ed

Playing a bit of background norvun whilst enjoying some heat from the firepit..... I swear the flames were dancing along. Ed

Wow! First class show. Plenty new to me. Track 5 a league of its own. Ed

Glad Mary is well. Seems like 5 minutes ago she was spinning Gwen & Ray at the WG. Rarely heard anybody else play it since... Ed

Looking at ebay a few days ago.. Some "pressings" are selling at daft prices... Anything original and clean and in demand is open to super inflation especially in an auction! Ed

Very atmospheric played loud at an all nighter.. I'm sure somebody somewhere knows how many sold/were produced. £5k would be astonishing. Imagine if Northern Soul took off in the middle East with the oil rich kids buying into it:) Great title for an auction item...I don't like to lose. Ed

From a friend with a long drive showing a great sunset.. Ed

Had some spare wall stones, and £100 in Heather's and other cheap plants. My attempt at a rockery....a bit of colour at the back door. Baxter was helping. Ed

I did not know this.. Epsilon is the fifth letter of the Greek alphabet, Must have got harder to pick a unique name back then... Ed