Soul16

Me and my wife backstage with Edwin Starr at Butlins in Minehead. Taken in 1990 or thereabouts.

This one is better for people spotting

I think it may have been me that sent you the link - it was footage of The Old Vic in Wolverhampton. It wasn’t publicly visible and I asked for the link not to be passed on because Pep had recently lost his wife and I didn’t want to cause any more distress to him by uploading a video in which she featured. I spoke to Pep about it in 2017 and he said that he is OK with the video being out there now. To be honest, It’s very grainy and largely unwatchable until you get about 26 minutes in.

They’re all vintage Mal, the Bermuda’s I have date from the late 60’s I reckon. I understand that they track at 6 grammes too, not sure I’d risk any valuable vinyl to that much pressure mate if I’m honest.

Hi Mal, I have some available, the ones I have left are: 1 x Dansette Bermuda MK 1 2 x Dansette Bermuda MK 2 1 x Dansette Monarch 1 x Dansette Popular 1 x Dansette Conquest All in great condition cosmetically. They’re a bit of a distance from you (Tenbury Wells in Worcestershire), but if you’re interested let me know and you can come and see them. Not sure of prices at the moment, (they belonged to my brother) but I’m not looking for silly money for them. Andrew

In simple terms, Northern Soul is/was very much about exclusivity, certain DJs had certain rare records and if you wanted to hear them on their original format, you would sometimes have to travel hundreds of miles to do so. For me, the DJ was King. They were exciting times, we were young and the records weren't that much older. This 'scene' is now donkeys years old, so what may be new to you is considered standard fare to others. Northern Soul is now a broader church and there are thousands of great records out there, so you can't guarantee hearing the stuff that is on your CDs. With all due respect, you are just as likely to hear the 'big sounds' at wedding receptions and retirement parties via CD and (more likely) digital files these days. So, welcome and just enjoy what you have been missing out on for all these years.

I don't think it has been, but apologies if this particular photo has already been uploaded earlier in the thread. A wider view of the boxes.

In the light of the current scandal, I think it'll be more interesting to see if cowboy DJs playing out bootlegs to the paying public comes to halt. It would be nice if Northern Soul could re-align itself to some kind of normality and move away from being the circus that it has become in some quarters. Maybe it's too late though. Why is it that so many feel the need to buy these bootlegs in any case?

Yes, as far as I’m aware, the Outta Sights are genuine, and not counterfeit copies of Outta Sight 45s. Counterfeit is arguably the wrong word for the dodgy stuff really. ‘Counterfeit’ suggests they were out to deceive buyers into thinking that they were real. The illegal stuff is clearly not attempting to deceive anyone. Some of the items were tagged as ‘Licensed release’ though, so maybe some were. Your average buyer of such items may not really care too much I guess. As you say, Minefield!

From what I can tell, the business continues Steve, albeit with a few members of staff being out of the game for a few months. Hence my deliberate present tense response.

Yes, they also sell legitimate Outta Sight and Kent product.

I’m sure fraud of originals is out there, but to a far lesser extent. This was about shifting large quantities of flimsy fakes with crude pastiches of the original label designs. UK Grapevine boots are only £4 a pop though - Bargain!

I doubt it Len, a blind man on a flying horse could see that they’re all brand spanking new. For the sellers, I think it’s just a case of cashing in on a big market while you can and spending the ill-gotten gains on stuff that they need but can’t afford on a standard pension... When it comes to the buyers of said items, I imagine that they’re purchased for some kind of misguided ‘look at my Norvern vinyl collection’ willy waving thing. Legalities aside, the only reasonable reason I can think of is that if you owned a 45 rpm jukebox and you wanted to load it with Northern Soul, that would be the way to go.

Their whole business was based on selling fakes to buyers who knew they were fakes on a Buy it Now basis for around £6 each. They shifted loads of this illegal worthless plastic to buyers who wanted to be part of the ‘new cool’ that is Northern Soul...

There’s still loads on eBay right now. Even the sellers name and location strongly suggest that it’s the same ‘gang’. Unbelievable.

Sounds like a possible plot for NORTHERN SOUL - THE MOVIE 2... Bootlegs have been coming out of Kidderminster since the 1970s, somehow it seemed relatively innocent in those days, but this Is just pure greed and is totally shameful. Looks like there are sizeable sums of money involved here, I wonder what the proceeds have been spent on. If there was any justice, eBay could surely have some liability here too, they provided the platform for it and take a cut of the proceeds in commission. However, the seller is responsible for the item I guess. Interesting stuff.

I’ve been caught out a few times, I got done once by a dealer who used to sell a lot of records on this forum. This was before the forum feedback system. The beauty of the feedback system is that a repeatedly dodgy seller won’t get away with it for long. These days, I try to resist buying without hearing a sound file first. My priority is how good a 45 sounds, rather than how it looks. After all, I buy them to listen to them. I’d rather pay a little bit over the odds from a dealer I can trust, rather than take a chance on a record that has only been ‘visually graded’ by a seller I don’t know. I can’t claim to have bought from every well known record dealer out there, I’m sure there are plenty, but I can certainly vouch for Pete Smith and Darren Brown.

Howard Guyton is the better version I reckon. Great intro, great vocals and an instrumental break that pins you to the wall. Even the sound quality on the 45 is top notch. A true Northern belter if ever there was one.

For me, Edwin's version has a more heartfelt vocal performance, so it got my vote. Doni's version sounds like he's reading the lyrics off a sheet. However, the backing track does have a certain something about it.

John Manships video is very nice, but do those weighing scales and vernier callipers have a valid calibration certificate? If not, all that fannying about is pointless

I must say that having a hand cut aluminium plinth at a cost of £6k does sound a bit over the top to me too, but who are we to argue if it makes him happy eh? Sure, with high end audio (and plenty of other hobbies), the law of diminishing returns kicks in at some point - sometimes you have to spend big to get a relatively small improvement. If we are lucky enough to have disposable income, we can spend it on whatever we choose I guess - like NS records. Some people are even happy to buy a Parka coat from Canada Goose at nearly £1k. I could never justify that and I’m not just talking about the price...

Being something of an audiophile myself (I have a relatively modest £10k Naim CD, streaming and amplification system), can I assume that your comment about expensive audio cables is based on your own personal listening experience or is it just your opinion? Trust me when I say that (some) expensive audio cable can and do make a big difference to sound quality, of course they have to be used in an appropriate system that is capable of resolving the detail in the first place. As an example, Naim produce a 1 metre interconnect that is priced at £1600, a lot of money for sure, that I couldn’t justify in the context of my hifi system, but I have had a demo of that cable (using a Mario Bondi CD - This is what you are), the improvements in sound quality and detail resolution were indisputable. I don’t have ‘special’ hearing abilities. I went to the demo as a cynic and took my even more cynical son with me. The demo was as part of a £30k system, so £1600 for a cable is fully justified in that context - if you are wealthy enough and are happy to blow that amount on hifi. Your comments around the Technics turntable are spot on, it’s a great all rounder for any application.

It never ceases to amaze me how often I see YouTube videos of people playing 45s worth serious money on toy turntables - crazy. You bought well and won’t regret it. Sure, there are still arguably better ‘audiophile’ turntables out there, but for playing 45rpm singles, the 1210 is perfect. I use a Michell Gyrodec for HiFi listening and an Audio Technica AT LP1240 for playing singles.

I've got the Marion Stewart footage on a videotape - boxed up in the loft probably. I bought the tape off a guy at Keele around 1989/90. I uploaded some Keele, 100 Club and Old Vic footage to youtube some years ago, I didn't bother with the Queens Hall stuff because (from memory) it was not very good quality and was too dark.

Lou Roberts and the Marks - Ten to One - MGM Parliaments - Don’t be sore at me - Revilot Dottie and Millie - Talkin’ about my baby - Topper Harvey - Any way ya wanta - Tri - Phi The Miracles - If your mother only knew - Tamla Tony Middleton - Spanish Maiden - Speed The Neptunes - Girl that’s an awful thing to say - Gem Little Anthony and the Imperials - Better use you head - Veep Madeline Bell - Picture me gone - UK Philips Jimmy Beaumont - You got too much going for you - London Chi Chi - If you’re gonna love me - Kapp Kiki Dee - On a magic carpet ride - Fontana Kelly Garrett - Love’s the only answer - Smash Buster Jones - Baby boy - Sure Shot The Capitols - Don’t say maybe baby - Karen Sam Fletcher - I’d think it over - Tollie John Bowie - You’re gonna miss a good thing - Merben Howard Guyton - I watched you slowly slip away - Verve Roy Hamilton - The panic is on - MGM Aretha Franklin - One step ahead - Columbia All tried and tested oldies that remind me of people and places. Strict OVO policy firmly in place too of course.