Scallybob

There are venues that play a bit of everything. I played Little Johnny Taylor "Zig Zag Lightning" and Johnnie Taylor "What About My Love" in the same room last Friday. Both went down great. In between we had "Worth Every Tear I Cry" Dee Dee Warwick, "Love Love Love" Bobby Hebb, "Take Some Time Out For Love" Isley Brothers, "A L'il Lovin' Sometimes" Alexander Patten, "I'm Gonna Build California" Phillip Mitchell, "Keep on Running Away" Bits & Pieces, "Compared To What" Mr. Floods Party, "Crazy World" Kenny Thomas, "The Living End" Curtis Smith, "Look On The Good Side" Invitations, a few Motown and handbag guaranteed floorfillers and as requested "The Snake" and "No One There". A bit of everything really. Mainly an oldies set but one of the other DJ's played a mainly 70's/80's set and that went down great as well. Included "Something For My Head" Bobby Womack, "You're Something Kind of Mellow" Johnny Williams, "I Don't Do This" SJQ and some new stuff I didn't really know. I think mixed rooms allow people to get to hear a bit of evrything and it can broaden their minds. I don't like a lot of R&B but the odd one thrown in is fine by me, and I've grown to like some of them: if I had to listen to it all night I'd probably leave early. If the bar was shut.

Joss Stone has a soulful voice but she's not a Soul singer, if that makes sense. It needs to be remembered that record companies these days leave nothing to chance so her voice would have been messed about with before the CD was actually released. For what it's worth I think one or two of the tracks are decent but the majority are below average. If Aretha or anyone else had the same material they'd have done better with it but I don't think the material is that good. If Joss Stone was a black singer from Memphis (which is what the record company would have you believe she sounds like) only those determined enough to track her down would ever hear about her. It's the age-old story: at last we've found someone who sounds black but isn't.

If I'd recorded that and someone gave me the opportunity to deny it I would. Terrible record. As Northern as My Heart Symphony.

The best at a soul night was Betty Wright at Wigan, the best in concert Marvin Gaye on his first tour. The worst was Aretha Franklin at the Appollo Victoria in London. She sang things like "Streets of London" and did vitually none of the classics you'd want to hear.

The original issue is black, demos white. The orange copies are the reissues from the mid-seventies. RCA issues only went orange about 1969 or 1970.

On one edition of Wife Swap they played "Lover" by the DeLites at the end and on that Johnny Vegas/Dave Spikey thing they played "Take A Giant Step" by the Profiles. They even had the pause in the music written into the script so Spikey started talking and the music came back in to embarrass him. Mind you they played "Ghost In My House" on the next instalment.

I sold a load of boots and advertised them as such. I couldn't believe people were paying £35 for Exus Trek, £20 for Eula Cooper and £25 for Bernie Williams. But they were all told they were reissues. You could tell from the photos as well. Funnily enough I sold a load of TMG stuff, early numbers, and got about £3-£4 each. Nothing mega rare but why would people bid £35 for a boot and I end up selling a mint copy of TMG515 for three quid? Madness. I sold a Darrell Banks Stateside Demo (the green second one) for £60. Far better value than the boots people had. Let 'em get on with it.

Why does it say "Don't Drop Out" on them. What does it mean? Is it anti-hippy speak?

Terrible Tom-We Were Made For Each Other Mike Post Coalition-Afternoon of the Rhino One vocal, one instrumental, both stompers.

Thanks for that. I'm now furrowing my brow trying to remember which MGM demos have the lion and which don't but I'm sure you're right. Cheers.

I bought this for £3 from Russ's Records in about 1976. It was played several times at Wigan early doors by Russ but never took off so he sold it. Always liked it but I've never played it out. I'll rectify that next time I'm playing.

Why do some, like Spyder Turner, have the cartoon lion holding a record but others, like the Embers, don't?

I'd be quite interested to know why you have this animosity towards Russ. He never claimed to be the best DJ but he knew how to market the event. In 1973 just before Wigan started the all-nighters there weren't that many other places to hear this music. He made mistakes but he also created an all-nighter that ran for eight years and rarely drew under 600 people every single week. People complain about the pop records he played but often they are the people dancing to (or paying stupid money for) Holly St. James and the like. Whatever you might think, without Russ Wigan would not have survived that long and the scene was reinvented largely by people who first heard it at Wigan. Apart from the pseuds of course for whom Wigan just wasn't cool enough. No other venue broke or reclaimed as many records as Wigan and like it or not Russ was instrumental in it all.

Why do some, like Spyder Turner, have the cartoon lion holding a record but others, like the Embers, don't?

I just read that link myself and noticed there's no mention of JZSP in all that. I've also checked Lee David and Shirley Ellis and they both have JZSP as well. The only ZTSC seem to be Detroit labels like Groovesville and Ric-Tic. It won't keep me awake but anyone know about this?

https://capitolsoulclub.homestead.com/PressingPlants.html I knew there was something about this on the web somewhere, check this link. Me, I'm going to get out more.

And this one, and "Too Late" is the same.

Actaully it's not. Look at the attachment. I always thought the last letter indicated the pressing plant and assumed Okeh records were pressed in Chicago.

Correct. Usually. But there are soom boots with big "45" on them and boot demos but they tend to be vinyl and not styrene and anyone can tell they're not real. I think the ZTSC number is always stamped on originals as it is on Columbia records.

The first record I can remember was "My Guy" in 1965 when my brother was about to be born. The first record I ever bought was "Behind A Painted Smile" and I just liked that sound. In the late sixties/early seventies I started going to the "Teen A Go Go" which was actually a Labour Club in Hindley Green, and the Monaco. The top spinner at the "Teen A Go Go" was called Chris King: no, not him! What a shame the Monaco is run these days by someone with no idea. Records like "Free For All", "Love Love Love", "Soul Time", "Nothing But Blue Skies" and all the Motown stuff. I loved it all. When Glam Rock and all that shite came out I felt physically clean that I actually had a mind of my own and never listened to what Racist Radio 1 told me was good music. Al Greene, Marvin Gaye, Leroy Hutson and Womack. The pricks at school listened to Abba and Slade because Smashie and Nicie told them to. Going to the Rugby Club on Wednesdays then the Casino before the all-nighters began and the Mecca and Torch with Mike Rolo who lived near me. When Wigan started it was just a natural progression. Free coach from the Gas Showrooms to the Mecca to suffer Levine but enjoy the records then back to Wigan. Marvellous. Funny how Russ gets stick on here, and I've known him for nearly 35 years so know what he's like, but his place on the scene deserves more respect than people show. He's not on the scene now, but many who slate him know nothing of his contribution to it. Sadly the "Teen A Go Go" is getting demolished now. Still collecting, attending and DJing after all these years. I never gave it up and I doubt I ever will.

Certain people who decry bootlegging today used to spend every Sunday picking up their EMI's for resale. Always poor quality and any DJ who played them out should have been ashamed. These days they're proud of it.

Not as much as the £50 I got for it in 1976.

Charles Beverley: Hollywood

It's not even that good for finding tunes. It's bumped up prices so that things like Ruby Andrews go for £360 and blaggers sell boots that collectors would pull their ears off for if they tried it on in person. The occasional thing can be had, I've bought some stuff, but anything remotely well-known goes for daft money. Having said that I sold about 30 boots-and said they were boots-that I'd have taken £100 for and trousered £400. It was just like the Scots coach arriving at Wigan.

I sold a load of boots on eBay and identified them as boots to make sure nobody thought they were real. Some of the lokalikes-Johnny Hampton for example-were bought by bidders in the States. I also sold the Salvadors, Stanley Mitchell and a couple of other reissues to America. I suspect there are plenty of people over there who reckon that the stupid Brits will believe the records are originals just because they are sent from America. You see quite a lot of UK releases being sold out of the States as well.