Roburt

Towards the end of the 60's, Wilson entered the San Remo Song Contest in Italy (the 19th year the contest was held ... hence it was titled XIX Festival di Sanremo). In this; various artists were given certain original songs to sing (more than one singer having a go at each song) and a 'winner' was eventually selected (bit like an early version of X Factor but with less prats on the panel & way better singers involved). Anyway, Wilson was given a song to perform & he did this part in Italian (I believe it was written by 3 Italians) & part in English. It's not the best song he ever did & the bits in Italian leave me a bit cold ... but as it was only ever released on 45 in Italy on the Song Contests 'in-house' label, it's worth owning.

There are also a few nice collectable items on Alaska (some of the Cymande releases on the label seem to command decent prices). if we slip a year into 1980; then there are some good 45's on little Notts label Rondelet that are chased after (though they cocked up with their version of the Rain bows Valley release). More decent things on Ember from the same Detroit source as 'Fork In The Road'. I always thought of the Chi-lites "Changing For You" (R&B Recs) as a 10p single, but that seemed to jump up in price around 5/6 years back. At least a couple of decent outings by reggae guy Leroy Brown on EMI ..... can anyone tell me what his last 45 on EMI ("Holding Out") is like ... soul or reggae ?

Don't fret Bob. In the strange world of NS, anything that's not OVO is a 'boot' (go figure). Many don't even accept that (say) a UK or Euro version of a US 45 that got released over here within weeks of the US 45 hitting the shelves is OVO. STRANGE certainly is the appropriate adjective to go with Northern Soul.

There were some great tracks put out on Tangerine (TRC), the above one included. Some were produced in-house by Ray himself, whilst others were done by friends of his in the music biz. This one from early 68 had input from the likes of Wally Rocker & (Big) Dee Irwin who would go on to run the Canyon label not long after.

Not a big hit for him (chart wise) but surely one of his best .......

All the way back to 1958 now ... for one of Detroit's finest ...

How about a couple of the others on Mint : there's the Roger Hatcher & ain't there a Freddie Waters as well (think I have both here somewhere).

Not 100% here but think Jimmy sold these direct around the clubs..... ...... I am of the same opinion; came out after Jimmy was dropped by Pye & he was still doing very regular live gigs back then (when I think he was still residing in Retford -- down near the railway stn). Yours got a picture cover? ........ Probably had when new, but didn't have when I picked my copy up (about 10 yrs after its initial release). ..... another 10p blind buy of mine ... loads of these buys turn out to be gud recids to make frisbee's out of but a few 'fly' musically speakin'.

RE: Missing You on Mojem by Jimmy James far rarer than Hey Girl & far better too IMO. ....... can't be bad as I've also got a copy of J.J's Mojem 4 tracker that contains this cut. (the colour of the Mojem 45 on that youtube clip ain't too close to the real shade of blue of the label).

Bob, the 3rd single was my mistake (as its not on EMI & may be by a different group) .... ... the 45 I was on about is th one I make mention of above on Honey !! Sorry for confusing you. The Sunburst label soon moved on from their distribution deal with EMI and so I don't think there was time for a 3rd Grand Theft 45 on EMI. The LP contains a track that deserved to escape on 45 ....... it's "Keep On Smiling" (written by the group). It would have benefited from a 45 mix too as the drums are a bit too prominent on the LP version ... too far forward in the mix for me ... the drummer was also a singer for the group, so maybe he sings on this track & so wanted his musical addition up front & central as well (though Peter Ross was their main & more soulful sounding singer). BTW, what's "I Never Know" like, I'm told it's also decent !!

Billy Harner - What about the music - Kama Sutra INSTRUMENTAL VERSION A true case in point though ...... rare doesn't equate to good in any way, shape or form. BREAKIN INTO SONG ... Gimme the moonlight, gimme me the music & ... make it the vocal version.

RE: as pointed out here....interesting times. There are a lot of people in China!! Mark, other people might be 'Big In Japan' .... but it seems that you're the guy for the Chinese market. Catch the plane out there straight after the weekend (in fact go now, you've knowt much on today & tomorrow !!!) Strike while the iron is hot & you'll be the main man in that market.

Bob, ya lukee buga ..... good spot & buy; keep us informed as to it's quality !! Wonder if "rescue Me" is an original song or a version of Fontella's biggie ?

RE: everyones younger then our Mike...........do I know you? Well I stayed at your (parents) house a couple of times back in the 60's (though not actually from Hull) and was an ever-present on the Hull soul scene from 1966 through to the early 70's (by which time the scene as I knew it had disappeared)!! Visited Mike in France twice in the last 2 years .... he can be difficult to get on with at times !!

....RE: alma faye on a 45 isnt cheap as chips ! I have it on 45 so to me it was an easy find (back when it was a new issue; think I paid 10p for it at R&T Exch). ...... but my first post on this thread did state that I have no idea on record values anymore !!!

Don't know what you're on about Steve !!! It's impossible to dance to deep soul tracks so why would anyone wanna collect em; they should all be available for just a few pence each !!! ... when deep soul 45's are cheap again; all please contact me 1st as I'll buy everyone you have !!!

Is anyone still championing Thelma Jones's "Salty Tears" (UK CBS) ??

RE: The Young Delegation-I'll Keep Holding On ... Peace Have recently been discussing this with that nice Mr Dewhirst (ge'ya ruddi fingur howt an relees that gospul seedee) and it seems its another Philly Int related item that will escape via Harmless in the (hopefully) near future. .... BTW, you'e not Mike B's brother are you ?

Probably the same guy as the Peter Ross in Grand Theft ....... An album from 1972 on UK Decca ..... Keith Cross & PETER ROSS 'Bored Civilians' .... this seems to have had loads of fans in the far east & the album has been re-released in South Korea twice since 1997. Immaculate Fools (a 1980's UK group) consisted of Kevin Weatherill (vocals, guitar) and Paul Weatherill (bass, vocals), and ANDY ROSS (guitar) and PETER ROSS (drums). The band's single "Immaculate Fools" reached #51 in the UK charts ..... .... AND the Andy Ross might just be the guy from back in the 60's with Episode Six. ..... ...... both most likely related (distantly) to Diana !!

I didn't know about it Bob & obviously have never seen a copy of it before your post .... .... AND I've been a massive Dee Dee Warwick fan since the mid 60's ... I have all her 70's things & buy loads of 80's / 90's /Y2k items ... but have never seen this.

Another that just might be jumping up in value .... now that Boba has got behind it ... ... Grand Theft -- Body Talk (Sunburst / EMI) They are a UK 'white' group produced by Heavy Metal-ites in 1978 .... but their tracks sound very AWB-ish ... NICE !!!

A few 'cheap as chips' items that shouldn't be overlooked ....... Carl Douglas -- Changing Times (Pye) Al Matthews -- Run To You (Electric + his "People Are People" ... not so cheap) Al Matthews -- Its Only Love (Mercury) Alma Faye -- I Believed (Flamingo) Delegation -- Baby You're My Mystery (State) ... 70's / 80's ???? ....... Paul Jackson -- You Made Me A Winner (Orbitone) Craig Pruess (Ariola) .... 80's ....... Roy Young -- You Never Had It So Good (on EMI's TSOGB inking) Roy Young -- Love Sweeter Than Fruit (on EMI's TSOGB inking) Oliver Cheatham -- Be Thankful For What You've Got (Champion) Delegation -- Its Your Turn (CBS) Delegation -- One More Step To Take (UK recording but Europe only on single)

I'm useless on record values (way out of date on what's now in & what used to be in but has now 'gone off the boil') but a few nice UK 70's (relative) rarities are ....... Sir Ted Ford on Ardent (9001) Sir Ted Ford on Barak (BAR 3) The Imperials & Ray Munnings (?) on Tammi Mickey Stevenson on Ember (EMBS 329) Shirley Alston on London (HLA 10506) A couple of Charles Drains on RCA (+ other UK 70's RCA stuff) Howeefeel on Contempo (+ a couple of others on Contempo from the same Chicago source) A few items that used to be 25p records have also shot up in price (relatively) -- the likes of The Bottom Line on GTO springs to mind). When did the G C Cameron on Flamingo come out (80's I guess, so that will not count) If we do slip over into the 80's, then the 4 Tops "Your Song" has to figure as well. Lots more UK items qualify but its too early in the day for my brain to be working well (I will I still had an effective memory ... old age, I does really suck).

I have to back up part of what Ian says above ......... Brazil used to be a great place to buy records from (not by actually visiting the country, that's too expensive for vinyl buying purposes), their 7" releases all played at 33rpm so to fill up the vinyl space there were just about as many 4 track 7" releases as exact local copies of US & UK singles. So down there you get lots of tracks on 7" that are LP only everywhere else. Coz of this, there were / are good things to seek out that were issued in Brazil. A few years back I used to buy 60's, 70's & 80's releases from a number of dealers there & get great stuff at good prices (the 60's stuff had obviously been 'picked over' for some time so the best items had gone but there were still a few real goodies to be found). ... THEN ... Brazil became more affluent, the pound dropped against their currency & locals started to show an interest in old vinyl. Over the space of about 3 months, all the old 7" soul / disco-ish stuff went up in price (in UK £ terms) by about 400%. I no longer even look to see what's available as a locally released EP (4 track 7") by say Major Harris, Al Green, Marvin Gaye or Ace Spectrum shot up from around £5 a copy to £20 to £25 a copy (haven't checked back there recently, so these prices may now be out of date). Not only that but the dealers that had always had 30 / 40 decent soul things on 7" went to having 1 or 2 instead. They told me it was because as soon as such items came in to them, they were being snapped up. So what used to be a great 'happy hunting ground' has dried up & I no longer even check out what dealers over there have up for sale. Luckily I had a good 2 years or so when I got loads of stuff from down there.

Back 'across the tracks' once again .... for a show in October 1965 ... .. top of the bill was the 4 ft 2 inch tall song & dance man Eddie T ..