Frankie Crocker

Johnny Praye, very rare and a very good sound, so someone snagged a bargain. Barbara and Brenda was a big surprise - what’s the story on this one?

It’s not just DJ’s and collectors who are buying, dealers are also doing the business. Some of the biggest bids on eBay have been placed by high profile UK dealers. Minor dealers, or more accurately, collector-dealers, are buying low to middle price-range records to sell on for a profit. A few sizeable collections have been sold off recently so there are plenty of expensive tunes available to please both collectors and DJ’s.

Someone must have wanted Candi Staton very badly! It’s been hovering between £1,000 and £1,500 over the last couple of years but doubled in price at this auction.

Big spin for Butch back in the day. Then a few turned up. Great record and still unexposed to the masses so hardly surprising people are waking up to it. Prices are going bonkers just lately. Most sellers seem to want top dollar ie what the record just sold for on Manship’s auction or eBay. Records should be priced to sell - if they're too expensive, they won’t sell

Thanks for your perspective. I’ve had the Siberians for over 25 years. I found a load in Cincinnati but only took two as it was nothing special. Nobody was interested in the record when it was in my sales box. A few years ago, I offered the spare copy to anybody who’d missed one on eBay - I think it sold for about £100. The recent deluge of Siberians links back to Cincinnati, quite possibly the stock I left behind. The Flirtations is an absolute classic, and has been for over 40 years. The Siberians will never achieve such status but may please a few collectors. Agreed, the loss of Bob A was a very sad one.

Rare and very good but nobody would pay this eye-catching price. A mint copy might fetch half this figure at auction but 7.5K more likely. This is just another one of those hyped-up adverts intended to stimulate interest.

Siberians went for a stupid sum - a mediocre sound that really should cost less than £100, not a figure just below what the Flirtations sold for.

Hi Paul. Consider making up your own from record labels indicating what might be played. If you have a name for your event, weave it into the imagery. There’s a few creative talents on Soul-Source that could possibly help out... I would like to see the finished poster anyway. Good luck with the event - there’s a few dead keen Soulies down in Cornwall.

Or as 100 Proof Aged In Soul put it ‘One Man’s Leftovers (Is Another Man’s Feast).

As a recent purchaser of this record, I am absolutely delighted with it and have enjoyed it enormously on the few occasions I’ve played it. It took four decades to track down a decent copy and part with a princely sum for it. In fact, I was offered two copies but regrettably turned down one...

Come on now Ted, quintessential dance music on both sides. Take it you’ve not got one?

Sorry, no as I was in the pub. I would certainty like to know - was there anyone out there watching or bidding? Thanks in advance.

Just over a dozen went through eBay in the last 20 years. We’re watching the one on Manship’s auction closely - should top 3K. A seriously rare record, two great sides, truly an auction piece and one that would grace any collection.

I think a bit of discussion doesn’t detract from a wants posting. A comment on how rare the record is or current availability would not be out of place. Warnings regarding bootlegs would be invaluable. Someone offering a priced-up VG+ copy instead of a minter could save a bit of hassle. A comment on current alternatives might be helpful even, citing second issues, UK releases etc. Too many wants posts on here are over-optimistic, unrealistic and terse so a bit more information would enlighten readers.

Cheers ML. Thanks for posting. I take my hat off to you for being a doorman at the Emp. My grandparents danced there before the War. My dentist was in Wigan 1964-69 at the time you were working there. My father’s naval base was at Liverpool so I’ve been acquainted with the Mersey Docks for a long time. I have not spoken to anyone who worked on the. Cunard liners, but if they were born in 1932, they would be 90 today, so there can’t be many of them around to talk to. It’s impossible to prove a negative event, something that did not happen, as there’s no evidence! On the other hand, it may be possible to confirm an actual event if there’s actual proof eg photographs, ship loading records etc. As you grow older and wiser, and the story-tellers drink and boast more and more, one does become more sceptical about the accuracy of the yarns spun...

Thanks for posting. We boys in North Wales were obviously missing out... Glasgow was evidently the place to be! I’m not going to take on the Mob here or say anything that could result in a horse’s head put in a Moderator’s bed...

Steinways on sale every week on eBay...just another set sale price record, but a good one at that with two fine sides. Jimmy Mack a great record and worth every penny.

Not being an expert on maritime design, I should briefly clarify what I said earlier...sailing ships that used sails for power would have used extra weight in the holds for ballast in the period before vinyl records were thought of. Ships that were propeller driven would use seawater as ballast as this was a better system than the earlier one. I very much doubt the hearsay that USA records came across in ships’ holds in quantity but acknowledge they could well have accompanied seamen in smaller quantities in the 50’s and 60’s. And by the way, I travelled from Liverpool to Manchester, and from Manchester to Liverpool on the Ship Canal in the 1960’s. I was also in Salthouse Dock in the 1960’s and met a Captain Duffy - I wrote about the occasion in school the next week. I started supporting Liverpool in the 1960’s and saw my first match at Anfield in 1973 so have an excellent working knowledge of the city and docks. I have taught students about Liverpool and it’s docks/industries for decades. I was also at Anfield a fortnight ago for the Rolling Stones concert which was brilliant, another top group who readily acknowledges the US RnB influence. My mind is open to anything factual but the bullshit detector kicks in when people start blabbing about something that is unproven and possibly untrue. People in the past have rumoured that records were used as ship’s ballast but I do not believe this ever occurred QED.

I don’t think anyone doubts that some records travelled across the Atlantic with servicemen, merchant navy sailors etc. The doubts really relate to the large quantity of records allegedly imported and the influence that had on the evolving rare soul scene AND particularly to the tosh peddled about vinyl being used as ship’ ballast. The Merseybeat sound of the 60’s was certainly influenced by the music of the USA - Beatles cover versions confirm Motown was a significant influence. The question I’d be asking is if the Cunard Brits are blowing much of their wages on Yank fashion, how much money did they have remaining for RnB 45’s which despite their seemingly low cost, were priced at a level beyond most working people?

Ships’ ballast systems use seawater for stabilisation. Old sailing ships used a deadweight such as iron or concrete. The notion that 1950’s ships’ ballast tanks, or holds for that matter, were full of Checker/ Cadet/Chess 45’s is utter rubbish and anyone who actually worked on a ship should surely know this. Still waiting to see genuine black & white photographs of a Scouse merchant seaman in his old uniform in his record room surrounded by late 50’s and early 60’s RnB 45’s from the USA...

A very comprehensive and scholarly review that enlightens those interested in the origins of 50’s US RnB imports - however, the word ‘ballast’ does not figure prominently... Given the cost of 45’s and the weight of them, I do wonder how many records were brought back by those working on the boats.

The more popular the record was locally, the more plays it had at parties or just indoors. In those days, 45’s could be stacked on a tall spindle, as many as six at a time, so they all suffered extra wear and tear. Often records were stored unsleeved in a metal rack - this looked like a toast-rack with 50 narrow slots and would seriously damage the labels. Styrene records such as Tommy Frontera would really suffer from handling - they would stress and crack more easily, then be thrown away. It took me a while to upgrade Tommy Frontera to a mint copy as there were very few kept back from general circulation. Many of the records turning up today are from the ghettoes of Detroit and Chicago - you only have to be in Brad’s store in Detroit when someone brings in a boxload and he puts on rubber gloves before sifting through. As for the ship’s ballast...RnB records into Liverpool etc - this is such a load of complete fabrication, the original peddlar should have been put in the Twisted Wheel toilets and made to lick the floor clean.

Anything that sells for so little is patently not an auction item. Tami Lynn was a bargain - easily a £400 pound record in my humble estimation, but the soundbite for a lesser track would hardly tempt a serious buyer unaware of the unissued tracks. The top prices for the big sounds were a fair reflection of their worth at this current moment in time.

A lost decade for me as I only started going to the 100 Club roundabout 1990... Fortunately there were plenty of LP’s and then CD’s to keep the flames burning. Since then, Keb has sold his records about three times, but his influence back then and even nowadays is undeniable.

I don’t recall it being covered up but it got plenty of plays at the 100 Club in the 90’s - might have been Greg or Shifty who spun it regularly? You My Love is a brilliant track and the EP really hard to find, so it’s odd that John Manship hasn’t led with this as the auction soundbite. I’ll dig out the Cotillion version sometime to compare it with the Atco track so thanks for the heads-up.