Sunnysoul

There's a nice 12" of this up on ebay at the moment Dave, both long and short versions ...

Is this great record now in the process of reaching the popularity it deserves ? $534.00 US on ebay .... https://cgi.ebay.com/NORTHERN-SOUL-45-The-J...1QQcmdZViewItem

Very cute pop music by a very talented pop artiste. Like Joss Stone and Amy Winehouse these are all are talented pop performers who appear to have been inspired by classic soul music. But I would never use the word "soul" in relation to the music that these artists are making ... Surely if you've ever listened to Garnett Mimms or Etta James or the Impressions and so on, can't YOU tell the difference between these artists and the Joss Stone's of this world ?

So often people on here express their concern about the future of the scene ... so what are future generations of soul fans going to think when someone shows them a genuinely rare and classic 45 that has been hammered to death, a shadow of its former self, because it was cued and played endlessly to 70 odd punters in some tiny club in the north of England back in the day? Of course records originally were made to be played as mass consumer products but there came an indefinable point some time ago where they became vintage collectables ! It's called "preserving one's heritage". Do you drive a vintage "one of only two in the world" motor vehicle to work up and down the highway every day of the week seven days a week so you eventually run it into the ground beyond recognition or restoration? Do the Italians hang the Mona Lisa out every week out in the park so that the elements can do their work and the great unwashed can gawk at it out in the open ? Of course not.

Disagree completely. Not madness at all, and if you are very wealthy so what if you pay 2,000 quid for a record that a disillusioned few may moan is worth no more than 600 ? It's been said on here a million times, a record is worth whatever anyone wants to pay for it . The whole world turns on the basis that people who have money can spend it in whichever way they want and sellers can sell whatever goods that they want to sell. This applies to records and everything else ... Good luck to both seller and buyer. Neither has a moral responsilibity to keep prices down for those who don't have as much money. That's life !

I never play precious originals when I DJ out ..... I only use boots ...... so I need a nice POINTER SISTERS boot of "Send Him Back" so I can hammer it good and proper. Will pay 5 quid. In case you're wondering I take one box of boots - which I play on the decks - and I also take box of originals of those boots , so that when some smart assed self important chin stroker comes up to me and takes issue with the fact that I'm playing a boot and questions whether I own the original , I quickly pull out the original 45 and shove it in his face then tell him to get on his bike and out of my face ... meanwhile the punters - who couldn't give a monkeys - are packing the dancefloor. Don't you just love this scene?

Yes , I've said it on here a million times , the EX grading should be banned completely , and any attempt to show a double ++ should be banned. The EX grade is essentially a UK invention via Record Collector. My British friends may moan all they like , but the US Goldmine system has long been the internationally accepted and most reasonable system. The UK soul scene in particular does itself no credit whatsoever when UK record sellers don't recognise anything below a "Very Good" grade !!!! I know of many overseas soul collectors that have received records from UK sellers descibed as VG and looking like they were run over by a truck !!!! The result is that there is an increasing number of overseas collectors who quite simply no longer buy soul records from the UK. Gradings should be as simple as this: Mint minus (as new) Very Good Plus (barest of handling marks , lightest of hairlines) Very Good (minor scuffs and scratches) Good (numerous scuffs and some scratches) Fair (hammered but playable) Poor (hammered) Let the poison posts now begin !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What's the current value of the Johnny Johnson record ?

If I said to you all that this track is well known and has been played and openly identified in clubs and on radio Down Under in Sydney for a couple of years now, would that change the course of this discussion? Or in 2007 are we still supposed to believe that the Rare Soul Scene only exists in a handful of counties in the north of the UK ?

Interesting comments Tony, Jackie Wilson was another soul man that delighted in performing vocal gymnastics throughout his delivery, and Minnie Ripperton of course in the 70's. I take it you're not a fan of that sort of thing, a performer showing off of their vocal range ?

Old timers tell me that Billy Stewart appeared at the Twisted Wheel on several occasions (before his tragic death in 1969) and he was a big big favourite with the Wheel crowd and the early soul scene.

Think I started a thread on this a few years ago ... the big question is : WAS IT LEGITIMATELY RELEASED ON A UK LABEL ?

Sadly mate, with some honourable exceptions, my dearly beloved soul source brethren are heathens when it comes to LP's .... However, to answer your question , a serious Motown collector might pay up a little, but otherwise same as a stock issue. Nice LP though, regardless of value. Great group too of course !

And Belgium pic sleeve similar to the French ...

"Searchin" by Alvin Robinson (Blue Cat) is the one that does it for me ...

Feel free Pete ... but I just stuffed up this Mel & Tim clip ... thought I did all the right things but it wouldn't download ?

huh huh huh

Can we clear this up please once and for all , which version is the one that gets most plays in clubs? The one with Person to Person on the flip or the one with Cottage for Sale ?

Yes of course he does , and no doubt it will - and deserves to sell - by the bucketload, not to the minutely small group of old cynics on Soul Source of course but to the many tens of thousands of northern soul fans around the world who couldn't care less what we on Soul Source think .... The Top 500 Book was and still remains an excellent book of its type and deserved all the kudos that it got on release. Remember, it is simply a book that focuses on the popular sounds on the scene over a 35 year period by a guy who - love him or loathe him - is as qualified as anyone to give an "objective" overview of the sounds that moved the scene (no, I'm not his personal promotions man , by the way, never met Kev Roberts in my life!) . No doubt people will suggest others are more qualified but if so tell 'em to sit down and write and publish a goddamn book like Roberts has done !!! (Incidentally, my conservative estimate is that there are indeed "tens of thousands" of northern soul fans dotted around the world. They might not all be presently active participants or even record collectors or restricted to the area of the UK north of Watford, but they are most definitely out there ...... )

Weren't the Magnificent Men also from Harrisburg ? Must have been a hot bed for Blue Eyed soulsters !

At 25 quid I'll have one too if anyone has another to sell !!!! By the way ,which version gets the most plays for the dance floor ? There is one raw version with just bass and drums , then there's another with rhythm guitar and strings ?

Right on cue !

Yes , and Warren Lee's original version of the tune is equally as good !

Tony, I appreciate what you're on about in this thread ... Allow me a bit of licence here as I'm thinking of US labels who issued earlier non hit recordings by major Soul artists as a way of cashing in. You mentioned Motown issuing Al Green's Take Me To The River but didn't Bell in the US issue on 45 (among others) Al Green's stompin' "Let Me Help You" which was a track from his (Detroit recorded) Hot Line LP issued in the 60's ? I know I have "Let Me Help You" on a tasty AUSTRALIAN Bell 45 anyway !!!!