purist

The wdj copy Ive had for many years seems identical top this one. It looks like two double decker buses decided to use it for an ice skating rink, yet it sounds great in a club, it's in my collections "top 3 worst looking records that play great" I'm better now the sun is shining Simon, hoped to see you at rugby, next time mate?

looks alright to me ( why would atco demo's be on styrene? surely they're all vinyl???)

issue loads rarer than demo, maybe 50-100 difference in selling price, average condition 350 demo, 400-450 issue imo

Yet another tune that makes me wish we had a system here on soul source to vote on which is the "best" version. Surely we could line up links to all the known versions so folk could listen and vote? I reckon a poll of alternate versions would be a lot more interesting to most on here than the general election coming up, and it might expose some formerly unknown versions to folk that would appreciate them. Now knowing your copy will sell easily Pete (otherwise I wouldnt have commented) can I say while Turleys version has lots of grunt I find it falls down on the soul quotient ( nowt wrong with lotsa-grunt-and-virtually-no-soul-in-the-vocal, tons of my fave N/S garage'y records fit into that category ) not because of him being Caucasian, but think I first heard Jimmy James's version, and it's hard to go for another version after the first you heard, but if they're great, then so be it. Some time later I was completely blown away by The Capitols version ( was this a Detroit recording? would this have had the full funk brothers team on backing? this one just sounds more like what my brain identifies as Northern Soul) I know Ive heard several other versions, some in a latin soul style, so presumably a popular tune within that culture ( cannot remember the artists right now, but think the title is something like Me Siento Bien ?) one last thing, I vaguely remember seeing geno washington live and pretty sure he included this in the show, did he do a version on vinyl?

I saw him early summer '73 (June maybe) at a cinema in Wolves. He was the warm up artist for The Drifters. The audience were about 40% ML supporting soul kids and 60% Drifters supporting Mom & Dad types. When the Major came out on stage the woman next to me said to her hubby " Is he the lead singer of the Drifters? Where's the rest of them". I thought afterwards when a large chunk of the audience had been on their feet singing along to all of Majors big tunes that this woman must have thought ' I'll have to buy some more Drifters records, the kids seem to like their new tunes ' One more 70's recollection, soon afterwards, I'm guessing less than a year later (74 maybe) I saw ML again. A local club (The Lafayette) had a Monday night Live Soul Artist event, and being Mondays with nothing better to do we always went along. Anyway, ML did his set and kinda picked out the soul kids who were singing and dancing along and did a special number for us. When he came off stage he came over to a group of us to socialise, which impressed me greatly. After chatting for a while he pulled me away from the group and asked me a question which I completely misunderstood. My answer was something like " Oh you'll have to come back in the winter". I remember thinking perhaps he lived in a very sunny part of the USA. His question was " Where can I get some snow". I think it was probably when I saw some movie many years later that I realised that Snow was slang for Cocaine

does anyone know if there's to be a repeat of this Butch @ Box special? Sadly I was too poorly, or else I would have been there

Go on, be honest, some of you are sitting there thinking " yeah you might have all that bulk, but I bet you ain't got..............(insert your choice of record) Quality over quantity

Saw a copy of this on ebay today (listed for the flipside "The Bump") and it struck me that it's not a record that you see very often, if at all. I honestly don't think I've seen a copy for sale in 30 years. but maybe I was sleepwalking when looking through the millions of 45's I've gone through in that time period (pretty sure I cant be the only collector who becomes "blind" to records once you own a copy?) There's no copy on youtube that I can see and a google search didn't help, neither did a s/source search or popsike. Is it rare, or just nobody thinks there's any interest in it so don't bother to bring it out in their sales boxes. Obviously I think it's a fabulous tune that deserves a play or three, I do remember once playing it early 80's and a kindly soul told me he remembered it from the Mecca, but wasn't everything credited to the Mecca at one time or the other? - hmm perhaps I should have checked that I've still got my copy before I posted this up !?!? nah, it's probably common as muck https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GABRIEL-the-bump-Funky-Crossover-Soul-45-Artists-Of-America-HEAR-/201299021868?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2ede5b502c

One of my favourite ever instrumental tunes from the Catacombs era. And now a vocal turns up via master music detective Ady C - never thought I'd live to see the day !

quick question, which la beats had golden drums not silver? I thought I saw an al williams like this with the golden drums at Albrighton, pretty sure I know who bought it, 600- 750 ish at the time. I was sorely tempted but had just bought the most expensive record Ive ever had, so was a bit scared to commit the funds. Bloomin wish i had now. One other story, from much further back (70's,guess 75/6?) One dj/record seller turned up a quantity, cant remember now either 6 or 8 copies, all La Beat wdj's, stood in his shop one saturday morning he produced them and said "who wants on of these". Lots of voices spoke up. The price was announced as either £5 or 8 quid. Slowly he served one person then the next. Got to my turn, and he counted how many he had left and said " sorry John, miscounted, gotta keep one for so-and-so, and one for wotsit, so I have sold them all" Imagine growing up in a small town where all the main collectors other than me had a copy. Gutted. I dont really like saying who owns what, in case folk bug them, but of those handful of copies I do know one went to another local collector so is still in the area, maybe they are all still local. Like most La Beats think most had some small label marks from water, found in a damp cellar the story went, was that ever confirmed as true?

fantastic read. it's always one of those records that i love but I'm often surprised that others do too, as it's not exactly traditionally styled, but more girly and gentle. thanks for bringing us stuff like this to read

I'm all for a bit of artistic licence, but trouble is these fictionalised versions become the accepted truth (like when Americans alter the facts when making 2nd world war films about tales of heroism by british forces, and in the film it's all about US servicemen who probably hadn't even joined in the war yet) So with pedantic tongue firmly in cheek, and strictly for purposes of accuracy - I think Turner's were the last to cease actual car production, in 1966, althought the Clyno and most of the other car manufacturers stopped in 1929 or before, although a proud tradition (starting in 1884, we had Thomas Parker building cars) Wolverhampton didn't have a car factory when Wigan was open

We ofen see the term " guaranteed floorpacker" on sales lists, but I have no idea how many of those actually listed as such actually are "g.f". This is one that imho is a "g.f." Hence, I think a wdj should be worth 150, double it and add a bit for a stock issue with clean labels and ex condition (I recently read a quote from a well respected veteran dj collector on our scene where he said he'd never seen one and wondered if it existed as a black issue, so they ain't exactly a common 45) I wouldn't be surprised to see it fetch more on certain web auctions, as I reckon there's ten "Cracking Up" black issues for every "Shook" , or possibly more

The only ones on popsike are all World copies, although I can find a Sound Gems copy being offered for sale on this forum, I cannot find a scan or other mention, except in a label listing for Sound Gems. Can we draw any conclusions as to authenticity, or even which came first based on such little info as a few label scans ? I'm not trying to cast aspersions, but not having held a copy, those World copies look very cheap (but as both budget local labels, and bootlegs alike, can look cheap, that probably doesn't help) What is in the run out grooves of the World 45? My eyesight isnt great, but it looks like Virtue and that stamp that looks like a figure 8 on its side, on the SG copy. and finally, as there seems to be a lot of demand for this 45 right now, what is the top price you'd have to pay for a copy on either label? I know it used to be a cheapy record, but perhaps I should add my SG copy came from Soul Bowl as an original back in the 70's, and if it isn't, I might have to ask John for my 10p back ! tia

are you allowed to use the word ' phat ' if you are beyond your twenties ?

unless it's the wdj, then its worth more cause there aint too many wdj's out there that play well, imho

I know when it first went big it was fetching up to 450-600, but what does it go for these days?

I honestly believe that if the owner of the £12K Eddie P plays it sparingly, then puts it up for sale in a years time on a 'Buy It Now' for £15K it'll sell in minutes, possibly seconds. A 25% profit on a years investment, - better than pensioners bonds !!! Why get so upset about somebody sticking labels on old boots? £3K profit on one record makes overpaying for boots, either with pretty labels stuck on them or just old 70's creations, or newly created facsimiles, seem like chickenfeed to me? If you dont know how to tell if a record is genuine or not, either on the net or in a record bar, then ASK. Our scene is chock full of folk who enjoy sharing their accumulated wisdom, you only have to read this site to see that, and record bars are exactly the same. I was once at a Niter, about 20 0dd years back, where somebody pointed at me and said to the person who'd asked him about originality " go and ask that soul encyclopedia over there". Now I don't profess to such vast knowledge, but if I don't know, I'll involve every person I know in the venue until we at least reach agreement on an answer, rather than fob the lad off with duff info. And I'm not the exception, I'm more the rule. You know how some kids love standing by the roadside and telling motorists who stop and ask for directions the totally wrong answer, then running off laughing, well I've never known that happen when someone has asked about a record in a record bar in all the years I've been doing this. Not even when the person asking me was a complete and utter twat who I really disliked - I still gave him the correct info and saved him buying a boot. Not because I'm a saint (not yet anyway) but because there's a truth to it which we all as collectors aspire to. Anyway, surely its now only a matter of time before somebody starts listing on ebay perfect label photocopies of rare originals A+B sides, so that folk can buy them, then get an old boot or carver, add a prittstick, and make their own lookalikes? A whole new hobby might open up, vinyl collaging [ borrowing a definition :- "An artistic composition of materials pasted over a surface, often with unifying lines and color, to create a new piece of art" i.e. an ugly old boot turned into a pretty mock original boot ] btw, off on a tangent, I was told years ago that colour photocopies of label scans are much more difficult to tell from originals than those produced with a home printer. Not convinced, I was then shown the proof of the arguement and I have to say at that time, about 10 years back, that the photocopies were much more difficult to tell than the printer ones, much more "real", especially on paler colours, but maybe things have improved with home printers over that time period? caveat emptor - the only way to be as a vinyl addict

Boots or Superdrug, or some other chemist might be able to help you guys out, the product you're looking for is called earex or something like that After a few applications try listening to Mighty Pope again, hear the soul, the ache, the heartbreak. Jesse is okay but it's too gentle for me, it's kinda like he's saying " if its okay with you, but if not, then no problem, sorry didnt mean to disturb you" whereas Mighty Pope lets her know with every strangled phrase that he'll probably die if she dont give him a chance... (absolutely no bias on the grounds that JJ is cheap as chips/common as muck, and MP is far more difficult to find (and therefore much more suits the 'Rare Soul' tag) because 98% of my collection is cheap records which are wonderfully soulful, neither am i making the arguement with my RCA label collectors uniform on. In fact I'm not even playing the Northern Soul versus Soul card which many would say fits this discussion perfectly as MP is much more dramatic & hence more suitable for our scene as a dance record. No I'm just making the point that MP makes me believe every word where JJ sounds like he's singing a demo for somebody else to come along and insert some soul into ) I suppose you could say it comes down to which you prefer - The polished magnificent silky sound of Smokey Robinson, or the SOUL of Bobby Bland. MP & BB, different branches, not of the same tree, but the same forest. Smokey, well he's not wood at all, more like an elegant water feature in a high end hotel, something we can all look at and admire, but truthfully he couldn't make me cry even if I stubbed my toe with the really bad ingrowing toenail on him

I like the Banana stylus, it's designed for djing, hence the bass feel is bang on (luvverly on 50's & 60's uS 45's) I run it on a Numark TTXUSB, which again is designed for djing, but is great for home use. When people were having trouble with that motown box set jumping and skipping I tried some on my deck with this set up and they played through no problem. Generally this seems to be the case, records that sometimes jump on other decks will play on this (obviously badly scratched/damaged won't play, for that you need an old Dansette with the 78 needle https://www.juno.co.uk/products/tonar-banana-cartridge-stylus-yellow/309170-01/ https://www.decks.co.uk/products/decks/numark/ttx-usb

I have that Chuck Jackson on a 7", Argentinian I think without going to check

Just an aside really (sunday afternoon musings) I absolutely love the very soulful flipside Mr Soft Touch, and used to spin it at x-over events (albeit speeded up to make it danceable) and one day thought I'd found a unique promo copy with Mr Soft Touch on both sides. I was dissapointed when it arrived and it was just a mislabelled standard copy. I eventually gave that copy away and afterwards decided I needed a copy back. First time I looked I found a second mislabelled copy, identical to the previous copy (except this has W.O.L) This got me thinking, perhaps they cocked up the pressing batch and hence it didn't get distributed as it should, contributing to its rarity on true correctly labelled original? Does anyone else have a mislabelled copy?

As I remember the story, the labels of the 70's era boot were initially thought to look "too new", so in an effort to make some of them appear more genuine they were left out in a certain persons garden to "weather". Sadly no one in the enterprise considered the possibility of rain, hence the washed out look of some labels. They were pressed in Ireland if memory serves? Can't remember the exact details now, it's gotta be 40 years ago or close to it, but Ruby Red records in Wolves seems to be in the story somewhere? Was it a friend of the owner of said shop who put up the money for the pressing to be done? There's several on here who can correct my memories, inc owner of the garden which to be fair was more jungle than garden in those days.... (it's worth saying that not all the boots from that batch were put out in the rain, so some must still have good labels?)

Presumably thats him in the photo of the album sleeve holding the guitar, looks pretty much like a black man to me although he could be one of the other 8 black men in the photo (yes I counted up, nine members named in The Brothers and nine men in the photo. Would these be the same 'The Brothers' who recorded the anthemic "Are You Ready For This" on RCA?) btw - Am I alone in thinking a lot of black artists were trying their best to sound white enough for plays on the white pop radio of the day (think of the many Drifters sound-a-like bands there were, for example) after all they were all trying to make hit records.... weren't they ?

One american seller said to me " I have no problem putting five dollars on your packet. The truth is I paid a dollar for it a week ago, just because some crazy english guy wants to pay me 100 dollars for it doesn't make it worth any more than the dollar I paid for it. It cannot be worth both one dollar and one hundred dollars can it? Which is the true value? You cant say the one hundred because thats the newest price it sold for because tomorrow you might be broke and have to sell it for a loss for fifty dollars" Food for thought? Interestingly, the dictionary defines value as "an estimate of monetary worth" - I think the key word here is estimate, what you might pay for a vg minus copy of Bob & Fred for example, isn't what I as a veteran collector (and therefore an ' expert' ) would say it's worth