Frankie Crocker

Any bets on what price this will sell for? Within 24 hours of it being put up for auction, bids were above £700. The condition is pretty near perfect - when the record occasionally pops up for sale it’s in a neglected state. The sales blurb penned by John makes a fascinating read in itself. What do the connoisseurs out there think?

Who knows, they might be the ‘must have collectables’ in 40-50 years. For teenagers on a limited budget, they might be the stepping stones to collecting original vinyl. Who would have thought 70’s Grapevine or 100 Club Anniversary 45’s would one day become in-demand? Providing the issues are licensed and not designed to deceive, there’s no harm done. Once upon a time, these tracks would have been compiled on CD’s but these are no longer available so the music lover has to make do with a vinyl substitute. With reference to the web-site alluded to, it makes no sense go mix high-end USA originals up with low-end UK re-issues as this ruins the browsing experience on what is one of the best sales windows out there. Please, please change this!

A very enjoyable read. Thanks for posting. I’ve done a similar trip for the last few years and generally found something. Your comments about Will at the Alamo ring true so I’ve not bothered going there recently. There are records in Beaumont and Tyler if you’re passing through in the future.

It’s still there at £800... Thought there was one on Soul Source a week or two ago for £600?

Thanks for posting Mark. Must have taken hours to compile it and type it up. I wouldn’t dispute any of records included - I would like to own them all but so far have only 60. I also enjoyed the write-up...are you thinking of doing a book on the subject? Tim Brown’s Record Collector article over 20 years ago and John Manship’s ‘Rarest Of The Rare’ book have addressed the the theme of rarity/value but your list is more comprehensive. I would add a few more names on the basis of being sought after such as Little Joe Roman, Bill Bush, Johnny Maestro, James Fountain, Tommy Bush, Sherrys, Devotions, Gwen and Ray, Senator Jones etc possibly a few more on Okeh and Shrine.

It’s on the list already, and rightly so selling for big bucks last month.

Am I on the right forum? If this is a Soul Music appreciation forum can I just point out that William Powell is a highly coveted rarity held in high regard by some of the top collectors on the planet, Paul Anka has delivered a handful of Northern classics popular with punters for 45 years and Bobby Paris is one of the few artists who has three records that would grace any book listing a Top 500.

About a week ago... The copy Manship auctioned has obviously prompted the panic buyers to spend now they have enough bog-roll and pasta to last them for months.

Sounds very likely. Easing records from tight envelopes can be fiendish. Taping the stiffeners together helps avoid extricating problems. Putting the record in a paper sleeve then in a card sleeve adds extra protection. Recycling USA mailers is better than using new cardboard envelopes as they can be cut open easily. A razor blade is better than a scissors for cutting through tape - it’s usually best to avoid hacking into cardboard with any sharp metal blade eg box-cutter, scissors. Styrene records can be so much trouble as they are brittle and can have a weaknesses from the pressing process long before they are put into mailers for posting.

Bottom line is we should be encouraging indestructible packaging at all times. The very mention of Jiffy bags makes me cringe. High end items should go in a box then in another box - that way, you avoid the Manship Don Gardner scenario... USA sellers generally use special 7 inch mailers of varying thicknesses, which when combined with multiple cardboard stiffeners, offer ideal protection, especially when taped together so the disc(s) can not move in transit. UK sellers prefer thin cardboard envelopes with thin card stiffeners which do the job satisfactorily more often than not, but this method seems to be popular because the lighter weight keeps postal costs lower. Ultimately, the seller has a moral (and financial) obligation to ensure that goods posted come to no harm, so if a record breaks in the post, the seller should assume responsibility. USA dealers sometimes hide behind the ‘not responsible for postal mishandling clause’ then use inferior packaging - the trick is to spot this in advance, then request adequate packaging. The thinner the packet, the more likely it is to snap. If selling, we should always use thick packaging as this is what we would expect if we were buying.

Bizarre. This is a record that turns up regularly. The white DJ copy is more common than the grey issue. Big at Wigan, but that’s no justification.

It is a scarce record. Probably not even a semi-known as it has been under the radar for most of it’s life. For a major UA label release to be so unknown, that tells you it is a scarce one. I’ve only seen white demo copies in the last 15 years, so an issue may not exist. I’ve seen it advertised for sale once or twice at about £100. And the punchline is, this is a really good record. Quite likely blue-eyed soul, it is very catchy. There is one awkward drum-roll half-way through that would make dancers think, did the record jump? This could be the reason the record was pulled as the music does not flow as it should. My advice to anyone would be to grab a copy at any price before the masses stumble across it.

Megabucks!!! Usually goes for about a third of this price. Seems like a small quantity were discovered a couple of years ago and had trickled out to the point that few people were interested.

Actually a fairly scarce record these days, but surely not one that warrants this sort of price tag. John's sales pitch must have made a big difference. Just amazed that two bidders would go head-to-head for this release - watch out for Superlove featuring in a future auction...

Timothy Wilson available on rarenorthernsoul.com

Russ and/or Richard played R. Dean Taylor and Junior Walker ‘I Ain't Going Nowhere’ during my first two visits to the Casino March 1974. A few years later, the Casino was holding monthly Motown Allnighters on a Friday. This reflects the staggering wealth of danceable Motown related records. The Northern scene grew from Motown roots and the independent labels that sought to emulate Hitsville’s success. In reply to the original post, promoters put on DJ’s to please the dancefloor so Motown sounds evidently appeal to many of those attending who want to dance. In any case, there is no need to dance differently to Motown tracks as the more up-tempo ones have the same four beats to the bar as many Northern classics. That said, any dancer who knows where it’s at, would interpret the music played and respond accordingly by varying their foot movements. I guess much depends on the venues you attend, any music policy advertised and who rolls up on the night.

Correct Steve. Neil ran the Alldayers and issued Heart of England Soul Club membership cards which I have stored away. I used to pester him for his copy of the Vibrations ‘Cause Your’e Mine’, and he sold it to me at the Ritz. When I was there in the mid to late 70’s, the sounds were sixties oldies and mainly newies including several tailor mades, in today's language, that translates as classic Northern and 70’s crossover nudging into New York Disco. In other words, both Wigan and Blackpool sounds were being played so you could go to all three venues in a weekend and hear the same tunes eg Pointer Sisters, Carstairs, Willie T, Lloyd Michaels, Doris Jones, L J Johnson etc The Brian Ferry effect had definitely taken a hold of the crowd 1975-78 in the pre Jazz-Funk years. Loads of people wore drainpipe trousers, plastic sandals, mohair jumpers and Brian’s hair style but there were plenty of old-school Northern stylists there too. That said, the Ritz had much more in common with the Mecca than Wigan.

This is an old picture. The stage is set up for a big band or orchestra. Before vinyl records were used by DJ’s in the late 50’s and early 60’s, people danced in pairs to the sound of live music. If this is the Ritz, it might be sometime in the 1950’s. After this time, I guess it would have been taken over by one of the major entertainment companies such as Mecca or Top Rank and revamped with a raised dancefloor. I went to the Ritz between 1975 and 1978. The Alldayers were on Sundays. As you entered from Whitworth Street, you were impressed by the opulence of the venue. The stage was at the far end. There was a small bar in the corner to the right but the main bar ran along the left but memories of this are hazy. There were steps up to the dancefloor on the sides and near the main entrance, maybe 3 or 4, but not certain. There were gold-chrome railings around the dancefloor and usually people leaning on them as they stood out for a record. The carpets were red or maroon if memory serves correctly. I think the Ritz was used for a TV ballroom dancing competition, ‘Come Dancing’, so there may be video footage around someplace.

Mister M’s was better than the main room at Wigan. Manchester Ritz was good fun - you let the floor move you so dancing was effortless. Any wooden floor for me, especially with talc in a spot or two. Hated Marley tiles and painted concrete floors.

Earles Inc on Manship’s auction site. Set to break the sound barrier for this record price-wise...

Dean Parrish goes for a world record sum. Wow. Compulsive viewing. Thanks for posting.

Certainly worth looking into further. I once thought it was a re-issue label when I saw the Drifters-You Got To Pay Your Dues on it. This seems to be a legitimate issue but how this came to pass, I have no idea.

The gadget portrayed is unlikely to work, and if you choose to use the service advertised there is a no-money back guarantee so you will certainly lose out. All you can do with badly warped records is play them on old-fashioned turntables with heavy tonearms.

Not even small quantities, just tiny numbers. Even 1012 is pretty rare but the number of surviving copies of ‘She’s Fire’ is miniscule.

Interesting...higher than Jack Montgomery and some others worth having. The third release by the C.O.D’s so certainly more copies pressed than Kellmac 1010 and 1012, the last throw of the dice.