dean jj

It would be great to see Dereck at the Parkers Reunion bash 'cuss I haven't see the rascily vagabond in ages. dean

Why are you worried chaps, there is a world beyond e-bay, and some one in the real world bought the album for what I said. That is the truth, I don't lie, and why are you bothered. If the very exsistance of me, my post, the album, reality beyond the internet, offends you so so much perhaps none of these things should be in the world. I'm very sorry to have caused such grave emotional turmoil.

I'm sure you are correct in every detail.

Hang on I'll turn it over...no it hasn't.

Yep Pete i'm sure. £200 ten years ago-I even remember who to but that would be rude. Remember as time marches on records that could once be found easily are now big bucks [lawdy the sounds like a thread] and also I don't think Woolworths had any branches OVERSEAS. I remember Rod Shard doing very nicely swapping shaking stevens records for northern in the states so anything is possible! dean

JOYCE BOND 'SOUL OF CHANGE' [uK WINDMILL] 1972 Sold this mint for a few hundred but this has a water stained sleeve and a few light marks but plays fine so £30 incl postage. Please PM if interested.

Somebody also explained that in came out four times with different coloured labels: this is a blue one cheers dean

People seem unsure on price so I'll tell you what I think: £200 plus postage I think is very fair considering the superb condition of the 45. That [or a bit more] will secure this diserable piece. cheers dean

TOWANA + THE TOTAL DESTRUCTION 'WEAR YOUR NATURAL, BABY' [ROMARK] Perfect copy-please PM serious offers. cheers dean

The reggae is provided by me

Dear Chaps-lots of interest but it is now sold cheers dean

Oh my dentist tells me the other side 'gigi' is a northern play. well you live and learn. dean

TALMADGE ARMSTRONG and THE ESCOTTS 'GIVE IT UP' [sPINDLETOP] MINT [well a tiny amount of edge dirt on the label. Proper offers by PM please. cheers dean

now sold -cheers dean

Please PM sensible offers for this classy crossover midtempo magic. Cheers Dean

I do enjoy someone who as a firm grasp on the notion of academic rigour.... or that is what Big Brenda from the chippy says about you young Dave.

In a shop in New Orleans many years ago the owner had one deck for lp's and one for 45's...that didn't work. When I used the 'wrong' deck he threatened to shoot me but after I explained the technical fault was as nice as pye. From a selling point of view the worst three types of customers are: 1] have a load of records saved but never send the money-especially with new releases which can loose there attractiveness after a few months and you have to wait a decade or so untill they are indemand again. 2] play something to someone they didn't know, they buy it, then complain bitterly six months later that another dealer has it cheaper. How did they know about it in the first place? These people are usually DJ's. 3] stand on the stall/shop asking endless questions about record values and related information without spending a penny. These are the same people who get all misty eyed about my old shop when I know they never spent any money in it. If all that sounds harsh then here is an equation for you: knowledge = mortgage. PS. Arriving at a record fair with John Anderson was always fun-all the dealers got the vapours!

I went a couple of times, late 80's under Guys supervision, fantastic nighter, good music and atmosphere, untill TONY PALMER, yes the man who filmed at Wigan, came to record for a 'history of popular music' series for the BBC. 4 in the morning and the lights came up and some one stuck a camera in your [my] ear whilst dancing. Killed it. I believe Guys partner worked in TV. Later in the early 90's she wanted to film in Parkers and out of respect for my customers Saturday night out I refused; though persuading Richard took some doing! The resulting footage from Blackburn I think made up less tham 30 seconds of the resulting programme. Underground music lovers screwed by the middle class media yet again. I've no axes to grind and maybe i'm incorrect but that is how I remember it. Oh, they still had one of those orange squash machines with the plastic oranges swirling around. dean

A few thoughts on the demise of record shops. I ran one for 12 years then went mailorder/selling at gigs for six years, and I think that many shut not only because of downloading [because many downloaders if they like something enough will seek out a real one], but also because of: 1] while the profit on new releases stayed the same or diminished the overheads rent/rates/insurence/wages all went up and up. 2] you would promte something that you thought was good, sell some, and then people would say 'that track your pushing: I got it straight from the artist on the web for £3 less'. well of course you did because the artist is selling it at the wholesale price. The three pound was the profit margin on a CD/45/12".The same person would never think how they knew to order it of course. 3] Of course collectors/old records are still making a lot of money but a shop still costs too much and there isn't a bottomless pit of good quality stuff. 4] The only people who ever ask me if I miss the shop are people who never spent any money in it.Go figure! 5] One final though for all keen downloaderst: when you peg it and the partner wants to sell your records to pay of debts and undertakers your collection will be worth zip. love dean

Dear chaps, Published in the eighties, so a little dated and possibly out of print, is 'NOWHERE TO RUN' GERRI HERSHEY which is a very good book about soul music of all types. As mentioned before DJ SAVED MY LIFE does well in capturing the essence of DJing but like most books is heavy handed about the british soul scene. If I read another stupid essay which has every one in the home counties listening to funk and everyone else listening to northern i may well spill my drink. Apparently there are no black people in this country living north of chelsea or if there are they stayed in throughout the entire seventies! cheers dean

Yes the original has a gold label-the reissue, actually bootlegs i think, have terrible sound quality if my memory serves me right. Which it probably doesn't. dean

The Luxury Soul Weekender at the Blackpool Hilton on Jan. 8/9/10 is rightly considered one of the highlights of the soul calendar with its multi-room exploration of all things Black, American, and Soulful, but did you know there is also a revive session on both the Friday and Saturday nights? Your humble poster provdes a couple of two hour [or so!] late night sets under the title of 'Jamaica Soul' featuring classic rock steady, 70's 'youth club' classics, a slice of 'big people' music and a little lovers rock if required. The sessions have delevoped over the last seven years into a rather popular knees-up with many northern fans remaining in the specialist room for the reggae. Just thought I'd mention this for anyone considering going to this classic weekender: maybe a bit of revive might make your mind up to go! cheers dean