Steve G

I bet a lot of them don't. For many of them I think it's about looking the part and having the records that look like they are authentic. "It's 1977 again and I'm just like Mr Richard Searling with my box of rare originals (well they are look-alikes really but who cares?), on my way to DJ for a load of dancers".... I've been at plenty of weekenders and watched as the speciailist CD purveyors sit cowered behind their boxes reading the paper or latest issue of Manifesto, waiting for some brave soul to venture up and start going through the CD's. I know most legit reissues are sold via the internet these days, but honestly to see the lack of CD sales at some venues it's painful.

I reckon Steve Coogan should act his "Paul Carf" role. He can wander into the Nighter f*ing and blinding, lager can in hand, start falling over, and turn it into back-flips and spin out.....

Enough said??? Well not quite. Very brave of you to come on here and tell us about your ethos and that you play these bootleg things out. Even braver if you could tell us who you are. Rare records have always been expensive, strewth at Wigan I could hardly afford anything other than UK and cheapo 45s. I think what's different now is the obsession many so called DJs have with a more limited range of records - i.e. you got to have Eddie Parker, Salvadors, Tomangoes Mel Britt etc. in yer box to be a DJ. Well Sir, you don't. There's plenty of great records out there to find, NOT reissued, that are just as good. Thing is when you play your JD Bryant, it's not down to an "ameteur slewth" as you put it to identify it as a reissue, everyone who cares can work it out as soon as the first bars start. Regards and all.

Some DJs have been known to take non legit records off of the decks if some warm up flunky is playing a boot of something they (the other DJ) has on OV. One even uses them as frisbees to try and decapitate people dancing to the bootleg version

I have the LP and it does go on a bit Great track btw.

good one fellas

A really interesting article. Never been anywhere in the NE soul wise, but thanks for posting this.....

Hmmm, but I'd wager third rate DJs love em Andy. It means they can PRETEND they have the original and no one will know otherwise....I remember the hullabaloo (rightly) when Winstanley was outed playing pressings.....now with these lookalike 45s, no one will ever know.....so anyone who wants a go, can ply their trade without facing criticism from the OVOmen.

Remember hearing him DJ in London at the beginning of the 80s, all the big Wigan modern stuff that Richard had Larry Houston, Roy Dawson etc. I guess all sourced from Soul Bowl. Was slightly jeleous at the time that he'd managed to get copies of all this stuff

So true Len. And....some of these pre-production "critics" don't seem to realise how broad the scene was in the mid 70s. "Won't be done correctly" tosh and all that. The people making it were actually around at the time......and the scene was much more than just Wigan on a Sat night, although that was of course important. NS was going on all over the place at it's height, lots of oddballs, hangers on, footsie fly-by-nights in every town, fights etc. People forget soulies weren't just atacked on their way to the Casino - anyone else get roughed up by 'hairies' on their way to 'The Fleet' for example?. The way some people talk you would think there were only 2,000 perfectly formed "rare soul" youths that congregated in Wigan every Saturday night and conformed to a single fixed way of life. This film has all the right credentials, the right people working on it to make it authentic, and I do not think for one minute anyone other than a complete mug will see a film like this purely as "a documentary". So stay optimistic.

Some quality tuneage there all right.....

Yes a Mecca spin, and I am sure plenty of other places.....back in the mid 70s....Steve

I am sure the Velours 45 was pressed up in quantity unless it was a vanity release (it wasn't), it's just that the vast majority of stockers never got out of the company warehouse or diustributor, whereas other 45s were distributed all over. Could be a dozen reasons for it - no radio plays, contractual dispute emerges, group sign a new contract (or change their name ) etc etc.

Roburt there was a whole thread on this topic a while back....

Some Wands were only issued in a certain area to try them out (e.g. Ohio) and so the copies all went to a single promo man. If he trashed them, then it would be pretty rare.

Sounds good out in a club, remember playing it at Prestatyn in the modern room on a sat afternoon, went down very well.

Positive, you asked me about it... I used to call it Harvest "Searching for love"....sounds better than Rudy Dardy somehow

Carms, Production is set to begin in early June in Bury, Bolton and Blackburn. Steve

That's because you've heard me play it yer prune! How are you anyway?

Amazing....didn't know it was that well known. Will have to cover it up again

Loks tatty enough to be a Jamaican pressing?

I've always thought J-2 was a post Sue / Symbol project kind of code for "Juggy's second attempt".....but that's just me speculating....

As far as I know 1991..........Thanks for the feedback, there's a lot of hidden gems in those 12s that we used to buy.

6 Track, there are both sides of the single, two versions of "I wonder why" one with strings, and three other tracks. Only one of those three is slow the rest are uptempo. As it is single sided there should be a Side 2 somewhere popping up the Santa Monica freeway.......Steve