Frankie Crocker

I think the thread is having a pop at sky-high prices but of course this can reflect badly on some sellers. Just seen Larry and the Larks on Veep advertised on Craig Moerer’s website for £178 - this is pure Comedy Sale Of The Day material based on one stupid auction price when the record usually sells for £20-30. Both Tim Brown and Pat Brady are offering Don Ray’s ‘Born A Loser’ for £200 and £250 respectively yet the record will not sell for that price - sure these sellers have overheads to cover but neither will have invested heavily in this record. Dealers are certainly entitled to earn a return on their outlay but the line between a fair price that’s mutually beneficial to buyer and seller, and an excessive price that makes the buyer feel ripped-off is a very fine one. I’d also add that some record dealers who turn up a title in quantity, parcel them out for resale at an agreed minimum price, which is absolutely fine from a business perspective but buyers can end up being overcharged when spun ‘the last copy’ yarn.

Don’t forget the act of ‘price matching’ This is where a record on a major dealers list is overvalued - a collector sees this and prices their copy identically. Someone else notices this and marks their copy for sale at a similar price so the higher price becomes established. The supermarket chains do this all the time. Once upon a time, it was illegal for their employees to be involved in cartel activity. Now they only need to look up each others’ prices online to match them. This is one of the main reasons our food bills just go up and up.

Butch anywhere, anytime. Never known him play a set that’s less than memorable down the decades. Always willing to chance an unknown rarity. Consistently top-drawer sets including Tranells, Walter And The Admerations, Mello Souls, Parisians, Martha Jean Love, Tomangoes, Joseph Webster, Rufus Wood, Cody Black, Milton James, Saints, Cleveland Robinson...the list of top tunes is endless.

We’ve all heard of supply and demand but there’s another trend that Adam Smith forgot about... It’s called the Northern Soul law of demand and supply. In this situation, a small quantity of good records turns up in the States and are snapped up by shrewd collector-DJ’s; the record is spun in public stimulating further demand. Other copies of the record soon come out the woodwork increasing supply. Worried collectors fearing they could miss out, end up bidding like the record may never come to market again. The usual law of supply and demand does not always apply to Northern Soul records as price increases with both demand and supply eg Exits, Nolan Porter, Joe Jama, Angela Davis, Marvin Gaye, Four Tracks, Joe Tex etc.

Russ also sold records via mail order. What is surprising is the lack of Pye Disco Demand related tunes, especially as Footsee had recently gone big. I can remember the Sharonettes being played about five times one Saturday night - by the time I got to North Western next morning, I was hearing the song bar-for-bar in my head waiting on the platform. Not too worried about the Mecca lads’ comments - the 60’s purists will agree with me and the sissy Disco boys who wore plastic sandals and white peg-legs fell off the scene thirty years ago. At least Ian Levine has admitted he took the scene too far towards the commercial end of the spectrum - pretty lazy and neglectful given there were so many good 60’s sounds waiting to be discovered. I wasn’t at the Casino for any of Levine’s spots and remain baffled as to why he was invited in the first place.

Don’t forget that Russ had a record shop in Wigan so had a vested interest in pushing particular discs. Richard was much less into the sales side of things. The Highland Room rang the changes so the Casino had to follow - there was more dross played in Blackpool than Wigan. The mid 70’s were a party compared to the early years of the decade and the Casino arrived at just the right time. The night Mel Britt was sold en masse at Wigan was electric - the record had a rapturous reception on the main floor. I associate Pointer Sisters with Blackpool more than Wigan as that’s where I first heard it. The music and times were great back then and that’s why we’re still talking about it now. Even the worst records played at Wigan were better than anything in the pop charts at the time so maybe we should count our blessings.

I think the list leans too heavily towards commercial sales rather than Casino quality. Two outings from Tommy Hunt, a Casino stalwart. Sharonettes, one of the biggest tunes at the time but pressed up on U.K Black Magic. Possible Capitol release of Earl Wright? Mel Britt bootleg soon to be on sale in Minshall’s balcony kiosk. Only a few true classic Casino biggies here - Lou Pride, Ollie Jackson and of course, Mel Britt’s superb track. Nevertheless, plenty of good dance music with Pointer Sisters standing out as a timeless oldie.

A near mint copy sold on Sunday 18th March for $191 or £136. Value has slipped down steadily in recent years as more copies have been put up for sale. Some of the demand for this Constellations record has been spurred by frenzied demand for their crossover outing, ‘I Don’t Know About You’. I suspect that some bidders on ‘ I Didn’t Know How To’ paid more than they should have in the belief they were chasing the other record.

£150 on a good night. £125 for a fast sale. Seen it go above these values lately but the demand may have peaked.

Not been booted on the DJ version. There are two DJ versions, one with Mono on the label. Check out Popsike to see the contrasting variations - there are several with Mono on. I have both DJ versions but they are buried away. The Mono version is rarer so I would grab it ASAP.

Totally agreed, the Godfather of memorable sets. I was at the 100 Club when Richard spun Holly Maxwell’s ‘Only When You’re Lonely’, an overlooked B side, and the ground moved. From then on, mid-tempo tunes became the rage, building upon their widespread acceptance at Stafford.

For sure, there are a lot of factors that make a good set - varying the tempo is indeed a key aspect that fills the floor and keeps the dancers moving after a string of up-tempo tracks. The DJ who overlooks crossover tunes is missing a trick as these now enhance an oldies set more than ever with their high ‘happiness’ quotient. Ultimately though, it is the tunes that make for a memorable set, the sequence they’re played in, their age and therefore genre etc; a few surprise tunes clinch it, that world premier, the overlooked B side, that something from out of left-field.

I remember it well as I was there. Seldom do you hear so many top tunes unleashed at once. Ady has a proven track record of introducing top-drawer sounds left on the master-tape shelf amongst sets of forgotten classics and Motown staples.

Sounds good to me. There’s loads of overlooked, obscure and highly playable tracks worth exposing. Full credit to the jocks who work hard at digging them up then taking the chance on spinning their discoveries in public.

Good point Chalkie. I can remember a set played by Gaz Kellett and most were unfamiliar but I would’ve been proud to own them all, they were that good. Perhaps it’s hard, maybe impossible, to spin 20 unknown sounds in a set and get a great reaction?

Sounds like some of us who went to the Mecca expecting 60’s sounds and left with a liking for some of the 70’s releases as well. Was the weekender in the Tower Ballroom? One of the best dancehalls in the land and sure to boost the success of any event.

I can still remember Russ DJing at the 100 Club in the mid 1990’s, it was that good a set and the energy levels were really something.

Was at the Dome Alldayer on Sunday 11th March. Ted Massey played a fantastic set, as good as any I’ve heard in years. Tomangoes on Washpan, Mello Souls, Parisians, Del Larks on Queen City, Hamilton Movement, Eddie Parker on Awake, Saxie Russell, Emanons Orchestra, finishing off with Timi Yuro. Plenty of others including some real obscurities ie no idea what they were... Great venue, big crowd, packed dancefloor and a brilliant spot from Ted. So, has anyone experienced a really memorable DJ set in the past or more recently? Not necessarily packed with rarities, but maybe some unknowns that went down well or a set of classics that raised the roof?

All of the previous reasons plus a few more. Price Guides kick-started the trend. eBay sales and private auctions by major dealers means fewer set-sales of high-end rarities. Databases such as Popsike and Collectors Frenzy have informed the USA dealers of the potential worth of their records. Collectors chasing the Top 500 classics, especially if they have an eye on a DJ spot and have to own the latest ‘in-sound’... The list goes on.

Probably fewer, but through no choice of my own. Just about everything is more expensive in recent years and there’s less up for sale in the USA. That said, the records bought in the past mean there’s fewer to be added to the collection so that’s a good thing. One day I might come to my senses and admit I’ll never get to own a copy of all the good Northern records out there... for the time being, I’m putting off that day.

I got the hardback copy cheaply from Amazon. Well worth picking up and dipping into. If we don’t buy proper books then publishers will stop making them... Look what's happened to the NME this week, very sad for music lovers... That said, reading it on a Kindle or another device is better than not reading it at all.

Err tough call, but the Mello Souls stands out above the Prophets on Shrine and a score of others I would like to own.

The Romark copy is priceless... Ty’s vocals are amongst the very best, quite probably in the Top Ten female singers on the soul scene. Anyone who owns this record is very fortunate indeed.

I very much doubt it. Can anyone in the Leeds area verify this? Sutcliffe was a psycho who cruised around red light districts in Manchester, Sheffield, Leeds etc. The very notion that he attended a soul event makes me nauseous...

Some interesting points here. Rare Northern isn’t necessarily the same as good Northern so some records will be less in demand. The rich seam of USA releases continues to throw up overlooked gems whilst the British releases are pretty well known and in finite supply. Tastes change so the future may well see converts buying the cheap USA sounds that no one wants right now. Once Amazon owns the rights to all on-line music, the savvier listeners will embrace all genres on vinyl and especially the sort of music that we like.