Soul16

Well, maybe that is what the scene has always been about 'for me' - attending venues all over the country, in order to hear a specific DJ play a specific set of rare records that I was unlikely to hear anywhere else. I've always felt that some DJs (rightly or wrongly) achieve a God-like status due to the 45's that they play. My statement was not an attempt to 'brainwash' others - it was an opinion, nothing more sinister than that.

Ah, yes, Kidderminster has been a major source of bootleg 45s since the 1970s - fair enough (?) in those days maybe. The current crop of counterfeit records must be very cheap to press, because I would imagine that demand for bootleg 45s is quite limited in the 21st century - We have (legal) CDs to listen to and copy to our ipods for use in the car and on the move. Yes, in the distant past, I've knowingly bought counterfeit records, but other than an 'out of my league' original, it was the only option. Why buy worthless illegal 45s today and line somebody else's pockets? - Take the wife and kids for a day out instead, they'll thank you for it. We all know that feeling of excitement, waiting for that elusive piece of original vinyl to drop through the letterbox - It feels like money well-spent, a good investment, you get an emotional attachment to it, you're buying something 'real' that has a history. You don't get any of that from a bootleg. In my humble opinion, at a wedding reception, birthday party or any family social event, legal CD's or mp3 files would be perfectly acceptable - How often do you see a wedding DJ with turntables or CD players these days? - they all appear to be using laptops. At a 'proper' Northern event though, a DJ should only play original vinyl only, that is what 'the scene' has always been about, surely?

It really hurts me seeing valuable records being played on 'toy turntables' - it should be illegal.

The first time I danced to Northern Soul was in the summer of 1976, at my mate Melvyn's house in Kidderminster. During the school summer holidays (whilst his parents were at work) we would empty the living-room of all the furniture and practice our dance moves, boy, could he out-dance me! - Queen of fools, Girl don't make me wait, I got the fever, Astral trip and Footsie were the top tunes at that venue... The first time in public would have been at the local Community Hall - It was just a local mobile DJ, but Northern always featured heavily.

It was a great LP indeed, but I think that Walk With A Winner was on an LP called 'Sold On Soul' on United Artists, that track stood out from the rest, mostly due to the fact that it was very much a slow-build beat ballad, whilst the rest of the album was generally more uptempo.

Thanks for the replies and advice - Boba - Unfortunately, I think I may fall into the 'audiophile type' category... The seller has agreed to take my 45 back and send me a flat replacement - Luckily for me he had around 10 copies available.

I received a record from the USA this week, it was described by the ebay seller as 'Mint Minus' unplayed 'warehouse find' (I guess you've all seen the stuff I'm talking about) The one issue I have though is that it is very clearly dished and also has a pronounced warp - it plays OK though - but it doesn't sit very well on the turntable. Four questions: Would you expect dishing to be mentioned by a seller, assuming that they've noticed it? Would it bother you if you received a 45 in this condition? Can it affect playback quality, given that the groove will be at a slight angle to the stylus tip? What causes dishing? I'm not calling into question the honesty of the seller here - I just wondered if any of you had any thoughts on the subject.

To be fair, it's not bad for £5 - All killer, no filler, by the look of it. You can probably get it from Tesco - just drop it into your trolley next to your groceries. Clubcard points too!

Ringtone I use is: Rita & The Tiaras (inst) Message tones I use are: Tobi Lark - Challenge My Love and Harvey - Any Way Ya Wanta (Short samples of the intro's) I add them as WAV files to my phone just by 'dragging and dropping' after the phone has been connected via USB - Simples

The blue vinyl bootleg of Hang On by Wall of Sound - it seems to have been pressed in a rush - the run-out groove starts before the music has faded out. The Marketts - Bela Delana/Balboa Blue on the Magic label - Terrible sound and pressed very off-centre.

Thanks for the responses so far, very interesting stuff. Gayle Harris is new to me, as is The Impacts - Just because.

I'm a big fan of Teddy Randazzo productions - they generally have the same DNA - A slow build, dramatic stop/start arrangements, full-on instrumental breaks and great orchestral stabs. An Ace/Kent compilation would be more than welcome... If I had to pick three favourite recordings (at the time of writing), it would be these: Howard Guyton - I watched you slowly slip away Annabelle Fox - Lonely girl Little Anthony and The Imperials - Better use your head Do you like or dislike Teddy Randazzo productions? Do you have any favourites?

You should really have sent it back more quickly, but for a seller to grade a record so wrongly in the first place is careless at best and downright dishonest at worst. The offer of a refund upon return of the record seems fair though. Fortunately, I've only had one bad experience with poor grading on this site - the seller said that the record was 'practically mint', but when I received it, I found it to be VG- at best. I kept the record, but was not at all happy, in fact I felt dismay that someone could be so careless/dishonest. (this was before there was a feedback system available.) The next time I wanted a 45 from this guy, as a goodwill gesture, he sent me the record 'on approval' first, so that I could satisfy myself as to the true condition of the record. This time, he was spot-on with the condition grade. Having said that, I would never buy any more records from him - there are plenty of other genuine and honest people selling records on this website that I have full faith in.

Agree with the above post 100% Buying second-hand styrene records is a lottery if you can't get to listen to them first. In the past, for example, I've bought 'Ex and Near Mint' copies of Gino, Fay Simmons and Tommy Frontera - only to find that they have that spitty distortion and hiss from previous play on inferior or poorly set-up equipment. On the other hand, I have a copy of What You Gonna Do by The Tempests that looks completely knackered on the surface, but plays without any noise or distortion whatsoever and sounds great. Unfortunately, due to its physical condition, it's probably almost worthless.

Bella Mia is a nice track - It's also available on 'Soul Train', an early 1970's compilation double LP. (UK Philips?)

You generally see more stereo copies around, It took me longer to get hold of the mono version. Not sure, but I think the rarest version is the European issue on Phillips, 'Well Tempered Soul'. The American mono white demo is next in the pecking order I think. Mine are both USA standard issues, with the promo stamps on the rear cover. I've compared them side by side and the mono one sounds thicker, but has more of a 'ballsy' quality. The stereo one reveals more detail on the vocals and musical arrangement, but has less of a punch sonically - a bit of a 'Hole in the middle' effect. I Told SWMBO that I'd keep the one I preferred and then sell the other one on - Two years later I still find I'm unable to part with either one of them.

I sincerely hope they're not planning to DJ with it and no, IMHO it's not acceptable at an OVO night. Home use only. The LP sounds better, has other great tracks on it and is far cheaper. It's a no-brainer, much like the buyer of the Stardust 45 I guess.

The term 're-issue' was meant to be tongue-in-cheek, because that is how some Ebay sellers refer to bootlegs - maybe I should have been clearer and written bootleg/pressing/fake/counterfeit in my original post - I hope that clears up any misunderstandings

This is getting beyond a joke... take a deep breath everyone: https://www.ebay.co.u...984.m1423.l2649 I'm going for another lie down..

Outta Sight has its roots in the Joe Boy label as far as I'm aware.

That could be considered acceptable by some DJs I guess. The examples I'm really referring to are these sort of things: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rare-NORTHERN-MOTOWN-MARTHA-REEVES-NO-ONE-THERE-press-/160744121877?pt=UK_Records&hash=item256d18a615 https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NORTHERN-PAUL-ANKA-I-CANT-HELP-LOVING-YOU-OOTP-Pressing-/160740600079?pt=UK_Records&hash=item256ce2e90f They must be knocking these things out 24 hours a day, there's loads of the things - it's cashing-in big time, that's for sure. As for this - words fail me: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/120862971167?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649 I'm going for a lie down before I blow a gasket...

Good thought. I've never gone about collecting that way though, I just keep saving and dreaming!

As we all know, there is an abundance of newly pressed bootleg/re-issue/counterfeit 45s for sale on eBay. Although I'm only a small-time collector and not a DJ, I fully subscribe to the eleventh commandment: 'Thou shalt not play bootleg or reissue recordings for financial gain or public adoration' (Amongst a few others, exceptions to this rule would be KENT 45s, Frank Wilson TMG1170 and possibly Grapevine 45s) I'm sure that every self-respecting DJ feels much the same way about only playing original 45s. So, on the assumption that these records they aren't being 'played out', (they usually sound poor anyway) What is their purpose? Home Jukebox Fillers? Are people simply unaware of what they're buying? Being able to show off your 'Northern' vinyl collection? A (doubtful) financial investment? You only have to look on eBay to see that these new bootlegs sell very well indeed and there is a good profit to be made from them. But who on earth is buying them and why is there a demand for them? Most of them are available on CD compilations and probably - God forbid - available for illegal internet download too. In the mid 1970's, there were no CDs and no Internet, so the only way most of us mere mortals could obtain these records (other than on muffled-sounding cassette tape compilations) were on bootlegged records - It made much more sense then, but we're well into the 21st Century now. Surely it would be simpler, more convenient and cost-effective to buy yourself a nice quality CD that you can transfer to your iPod and also listen to in the car. These days I only buy original 45s (when I can afford it) and own hundreds of legal CD compilations - I just can't see the point in buying vinyl boots anymore, it just doesn't seem necessary in the digital age. Is it just me??

Bought both a mono and stereo copy of the Tempests LP in 2009, so I immediately sold my Stardust copy of Someday on Ebay - I got £8 for it There's some silly money being paid for bootlegs at the moment. One thing I have noticed, the Gwen Owens 'Just say you're wanted' 70's boot used to sell for £40 or more on Ebay, but the new Outta Sight lookalike re-issue has knocked it back to around £15 - maybe that's a good thing, but I had been planning to cash-in and sell my 70's Gwen Owens bootleg. Seems I can't win!

He's even selling his dancing shoes, which is a bit worrying...I do hope the guy is OK.