purist

Perhaps some knowledgeable person will correct me, but I always thought that The Cat Walk (jingly bells tune) was played on the scene originally only because it was a play on the name Catacombs? Maybe they thought it would become their theme tune? Obviously it's been written about many times that the Cats DJ's and the Torch DJ's swapped and traded tunes (and probably further afield as well) picking up on each others "biggies", but in my memory it was a record that was soon around in plentiful supply. In that era many of the flipsides were tried out and I'm pretty sure that was the case for Gerry & Paul, reckon I danced to both back then and it spread to the local nightclubs and bars (maybe it was the nightclub DJ's who didn't know which was the correct tune to play and played the flip not the Cat Walk because they had wrongly labelled copies?) Either way up, it's a great memory of when the world was a simpler, and for me at least, a happier place !

Just noticed there's a programme on tonight at 9pm on the Vintage channel (on Virgin it's channel 343. sky 369, Freeview 82 ) It's called "The History of Blue Eyed Soul", might be worth a watch? Blurb says ' artists down the decades have been inspired and influenced by the sound of Soul '

I remember going to Prestwich one night and there were four copies in a small sales box, along with a Gwen Owens and some other goodies.

Think you'd get a massive amount of interest in a SM issue, auction it (easy 4 figures is my guess when the common wdj has fetched 800) - and your JM wdj try asking for offers on source sales & FB

If you get offered two copies I'll gladly have the second copy because I've been looking for it for years !

been through about 40% of my boxes so far, it must be in the remainder. will continue looking tonight. I have several 45's on the same label, all spares and they are all together. I'm confident I will find it

Think I have a spare Johnnie Taylor, not played since the night i got it at the 100 club, so should be super mint in original sleeve ! If you don't get sorted out beforehand I will have a look tomorrow for you.

I do think if you are looking for accuracy then it is a bit of a minefield. Some of the DJ's worked with each other, so it's easier to identify the era than the actual venue. For instance my late friend Blue Max when DJing at The Catacombs told me he would meet up with Keith Minshull & Colin Curtis in some pub mid way between Wolves and Stoke,, and swap and trade records and talk about what 45's were going well and what wasn't. So this helps explain that certain records that say Max had tried at The Cats and hadn't managed to make it 'go big', he might trade with Keith or Colin who might then take them to their clubs and they might take off there, and vice versa. The same thing applies with the tunes that had already gone massive in one club but the other club didn't have a copy, so they'd trade emidiscs of these 'biggies', if not the actual records themselves because they'd had enough of them by now. So, for example, does that make those records Torch records because that's where they broke big, or Cats records because that's the club which first tried with them, or vice versa? We had some fun in the Stafford era, where DJ's were being braver and trying a broad approach, because this threw up a small number of tunes that we knew from ten years earlier in the Cats times. There's one particular Monster rare tune that somebody I have huge affection for, claims to have both found and broken in that era, and this is generally accepted to be the truth. We know it was definitely played by Max before the Casino opened. I really like the DJ so would never tell him what we know, why burst his bubble. In addition, people with better knowledge than me often insist that the first two years of the Casino was largely reliant on Cats/Torch/Mecca/etc known tunes, with a few new things dotted in amongst them. It didn't end with the 1980's either. In the 90's clubs like Albrighton, for instance, did very well with picking up on forgotten 1-2-3 spin wonders from 70's clubs like Blackpool Mecca, Yes these songs were first tried in the Highland Room, but if you weren't there on the actual Saturday you wouldn't know them because they'd often disappear without a trace into a collection. So unless you were one of the few remaining vinyl hounds from the Mecca days with an exceptional memory, when these tunes blew up in the later 90's, should we refer to them as Blackpool revives, or Lea Manor Monsters? One example, ask most folk where The Professionals was first played. Not as you might think at the Casino, but the Cats by Max. I think it's fair to say that most people believe that The Enchantments I'm In Love With Your Daughter is an 80's TOTW era tune. Yet Pep played it at The Cats. Then there's all the other non "big time clubs" that we all talk about. I remember hearing a record at Whitchurch (probably? - can't say for sure, but think 72-75) Pretty certain I heard it there a few times and all I knew for sure was it's cover up name and a few words. Never heard it anywhere else. It took me about 25 years of asking around to find out what it was (and it was down to Butch because he not only identified it by the small snatch of lyrics I remembered, but sold me his copy) Now if that record became massive tomorrow is anybody but me gonna refer to it as a Whitchurch tune? Have fun with your quest, but my advice is don't set too much store on certainty, outside of the likes of the old guys who did it at the time. p.s. apologies if this has sounded like a party political broadcast on behalf of The Catacombs and it's outstanding contribution to the scene, it's just that I'm a Black Country kid through and through. If I'd been born and bred in Stoke then my bits of knowledge would be more pro Torch type of thing.

Thanks for the various ideas. Please keep them coming. The deck is set up correctly, I can assure you, although the slip mat is a fibre material and maybe a rubber mat might cure it ? ( I've not seen a rubber mat for sale anywhere, anybody got an old one they don't want?) This is a problem with maybe 5-8 records out of maybe ten thousand in my collection. What they all have in common is that they are all extremely light in comparison to a standard 45, and flimsy. In addition I suspect that the groove of the flip side track is shallow so doesn't aid with friction. Those from the 90's & 2K onwards were mostly made at a time when 7 inch records weren't produced in any great quantity, and I think that is part of the problem. They all have those painted on type labels and are shiny and slippy to the touch. I have one south american 7" 33rpm that slips terribly, but it's the only way to have this track on a 7", again no anti slip ridge type moulding, but its such a fab tune I don't want to discard it. I also have a new zealand 45 , again no anti slip moulding, actually its completely flat, viewed from the edge, the label height is level with the groove height. I can play them by applying pressure downwards on the label with my finger and following the rotations but I can't keep up on my crutches

Deck spinning normally. As you bring the stylus down onto the run in groove on the vinyl, the turntable continues to turn but the record remains still, sliding on the slip mat as though there was some lubricant between the record and the mat. does that explain?

I'm looking for your solutions to records that slip when played. I have a few, mostly from overseas, but some more recent UK 7" pressings. They are all flimsy and lightweight, which doesn't help. I know the reason they slip, it is because unlike the 60's UK pressings which had a series of grips around the label, they just have nothing to grab the slip mat. About 35 years ago I made myself a solid brass middle on the lathe at work and used to put this on top and it sometimes worked, but sadly that has disappeared (probably been weighed in for scrap in these hard times, it was blooming heavy ) I thought of putting something in the run out groove area of the flip side, but what? It can't be anything too sticky obviously. C'mon People, let me have your genius ideas !

Got me thinking, how many Rarest of the Rare Niters were there? All the ones I attended were wonderful, both for music/people, and also for the records I bought there - although I do remember many a conversation over a record box that dealers added 20-50% of the previous weekends prices just for the R-O-T-R

Stuck in the house recently, I recorded the New Edition mini series on BET channel. Now I've watched it I'd say it kinda reminded me of other similar filmed soul group "drama doc's" ( i.e. The Temptations Story, The Five Heartbeats movie, etc) with the same type of issues affecting their lives - coming from poverty, not knowing how to stop yourself from being ripped off by the music business, greedy relatives and friends/hanger on's, drink and drugs, and what seems ever present in groups as they become more and more successful - ego mania ! Admitting I really didn't know that much about the group outside of Candy Girl and Bobby Brown, I have to say it was very enjoyable watching with some pretty good acting, dancing and of course music. Some of the songs where Ralph Tresvant and Johnny Gill share the lead vocal duties, bouncing back between them, the interplay between their beautiful voices is nothing short of stellar. B.E.T showed it in three chunks, each approx 90 mins +, so not something you would watch all in one go. On the sky box it's channel number 187 I think, although it may be something you can find on the net? I gather it only premiered on USA televisons at the end of January so dunno if there's a DVD set yet? (as an aside, when New Edition fired their first manager, Maurice Starr, he decided to create another group in their image - this replacement group was New Kids On The Block ! )

Mother You Smother You, good playable copy wanted please. offers by pm thanks

Slightly offtopic, but I read something on the net recently and am a little baffled. Terry Jones, who I presume is Linda's daughter has done some recording with Helen Bruner, and in this write up she calls Helen her sister. Does this mean that Helen Bruner is also Linda Jones's daughter, or am I misreading the connection, a shared father perhaps, or maybe "sister" as in best friend? Was Linda married to a well known industry figure, or is that just another nonsense rumour?

Two releases of Buddy C, first is 1003, then 1004 (both orangey) supposedly issued 18 months apart, but could be years (always a bit cloudy with this set up) Or maybe you are thinking about The Worlds Funkiest Band 45 when you talked about it being booted? Those were done by the label in the later 70's weren't they? Although they are not exactly the same take of the song, I can't recall the exact difference, it's a kinda remix, although possibly a slightly different bpm also. Only ever owned 1003 & WFB, so can't fill in details of 1004 copy. hth

I clicked on more details, and it didn't even show quantity in each box, let alone a list of titles. Can you put up a link to the titles list please

What a strange way to sell them ! There doesn't seem to be a list of the contents of the boxes, or even how many records each box contains, just saying 4000 45's doesn't really help. With a 25.5% buyers premium also to take into account how would you know what to bid? I suppose if it's close enough distance wise then it'd be worth a journey to go look, but that's gonna cut down the potential buyers, or will it be just like a gathering of the major and minor dealers? I remember previous collections auctioned via this route and they raised a tiny percentage of what I would have expected. If I knew whose collection this is I'd have definitely advised them to sell them via a different route. Bonkers to me !

I'll buy the Tommy Neal off you. pm me your paypal details please

True Sunshine Pop seemed to reach it peak around 1969, release wise. Was it a Hippy Phenomenon ? Either way we've had some great tunes played in the first decade of NS that I doubt would be tried today. One of my Favourites to get played ' bitd ', was Jackie Forrest Show Me How To Love, but suspect it'd be accompanied by tumbleweeds on the dance floor today (were they all pretty bad pressings ? seemed a few plays and they were rubbish, at least on the two I had )

But that reissue TMG 1046 was struck from the TMG 760 masters, so it's exactly the same version, i.e. the short version, NOT the Long Version that eatoboss is asking about in the original question. The short version on 45 runs approx 2:49, and the long version runs 3:43. The true Full Length version on the album (New Ways But Love Stays) runs approx 4 mins, depending on how you cue it in. It's what happens in that extra minute plus that makes this special imho. The popularity of this LONG version can be tracked back to Blue Max's venue in Essington, Broad Lane Club, couldn't put a date to it, guessing twenty years ago. Prior to that no one would have considered playing the bog standard version at a northern venue because it was always classed as a Pop record and hence not playable. At least I'd never heard anybody play it out in that version before that.

I've only seen the mispresses that play Tony Galla done on the black stock issue label. Does anybody actually own a WDJ that is a mispressed TG?

not the long version, only on the British album

£50 - 100, depending entirely on condition of vinyl, but also on label, as most went to radio stations and we all know that those guys were a pain for scribbling all over the WDJ labels. The Yesteryear reissue 45 can be bought for next to nothing 25-30 for a minter. The full effect can be found on the album, which I believe it was first played out on the scene from, but playing it from that source does require a little DJ skill, as it blends through the previous track. Sounds great in full blown stereo though ! (seem to remember it turned up on another issue from a different country, can't recall which?)

a mate of mine wants to buy one, if you are selling one. he keeps asking me for my copy ( I have no idea on prices in this crazy time we are living in, I just think the buyer and seller have to agree on each individual sale, and not worry too much if the following day a similar copy gets sold for twice as much, or half as much. I know this doesn't help you very much, put it up for offers and you'll be happy with the final offer I'm sure)