Frankie Crocker

Same with Jay Traynor on DPG... sells for big money on original demo then goes for three figures on a bootleg. Buyer of Hi Keys maybe didn’t understand what ‘70’s press’ actually means?

The prices of the best tunes will continue to rise in the decades ahead. Given that we’re talking about the best music on the planet, that shouldn’t come as a surprise. The English speaking world will stumble across some of the better tunes sooner or later - even those who don’t speak much English will come across common releases and be impressed by them. As the world’s population heads towards 8 billion, it will only take a few dozen buyers to influence the market - not hard to appreciate as there were over 80 people following last night’s Record Jungle auction that realised another set of huge winning bids. If you keep hold of your records, their value will appreciate in years to come. By all means sell the odd record to fund some expense, but try to keep what’s precious to you. There are compelling reasons to sell a collection, but if you can hold on to the best bits, you won’t regret it.

I’m into Northern Soul in a big way but strongly deny any celebrity connection... Personally (sorry Bobby) I don’t care if anyone famous likes the same music as I do. Celebrity culture has now overwhelmed society to the point that it idolises a tiny number of musicians and actors - surely that can't be good for the music and film industries? If I saw someone famous at a soul-do, I would ignore them unless they spoke to me about the music or where the toilets were.

There is a special ink rubber out there with some sort of solvent in. I bought one in the States a few years back and it worked on graphics ink eg Rotring when on shiny paper/card. Trouble is, rubbing any coloured label is likely to remove the colour so best to try on white labels.

Absolute madness. Kenny should have known better. Still, I suppose you could file it in a sleeve with the other side facing up...

Wait until a mint copy comes along then sell the damaged copy to someone less concerned with aesthetics. Damage resulting from attempts to remove WOL reduces the appeal and value of the record so best to not bother getting involved with amateur DIY.

Yep, another batch of serious big-hitters, some of which were on offer earlier so presumably there are multiple copies of a few titles. Looks like a distributor buy-out given the breadth of titles. In the earlier batch, one buyer, e***e with a rating of 103, snagged 4 of the titles I was watching closely - Danny Monday, Gene Toones, Volcanos, and Larry Clinton. These cost $16,482, a colossal sum by any standards. The buyer may have had other winning bids also. So, who is the mystery bidder? Hollywood celebrity, top-dealer, Lottery Winner, avid collector blowing pension pot...answers on a postcard please...

Tranells £2,000 Larry Davis £100 Vibrations £200+ but could be more as an in-demand classic oldie Hope this helps. Are you buying or selling?

To enjoy this record at it’s best, you need to hear it in a dancehall, on a loud system, everyone up for it and in the mood to dance. This is not Ball Of Confusion, Papa Was A Rolling Stone etc, another Motown packaged tune on an oldies radio station. Neither is it James Brown screaming his head off demanding to be in the spotlight. This is Mr Cool, laid back, moonlighting in a Detroit studio with some of the best session men around - Dennis’ delivery is clear but not overpowering. Although a Detroit track, you wouldn’t know it because of the arrangement, the rat-a-tat-tat machine gun drumming which is pretty unique, the full-on backing singers, maybe even borrowed from Motown? Definitely one of the best tunes spun at the do’s promoted by Ion on Jermyn Street, London back in the 90’s - back then, it rattled the boards as a relatively new discovery, seldom played out due to rarity and was certainly appreciated by those in the know.

If you were impressed, that that counts as an excellent record in any language. If a record impresses on the first listening, it’s probably because it is very good and will sound better and better with further spins.

Pray tell me, which are Dennis’ best tracks? Remember, there’s no such thing as a bad soul record, it’s just that some are much better than others...

You’re correct, it was pressed up in the 90’s. Labels were the right way round but some may have been faulty. The original has red and black details on a white label easily distinguished from the plainer pressing. I think the pressings were done in Detroit - I got my copy at Street Corner Records where it was in the racks with a few other Detroit sounding pressings, one of which had reversed labels and maybe handwritten credits. Original is very rare and both sides are good - Johnny On The Spot is a terrific up-tempo dancer, surely one of Dennis’ best releases...

Record on hold. Thanks for the messages on this one. Lots of interest shown so sorry to disappoint anyone.

COPY NOW SOLDFor sale, a G+ copy of this monster tune for £250 including free postage and insurance to UK address. A similar copy sold for over £500 on eBay and Manship sold a cracked minter for a bit under £900 recently. On the deficit side, the record has been neglected and spent much of it’s life without a sleeve. As a result, there are numerous scratches, scuff marks and hairline marks on the ‘I Travel Alone’ side. The ‘Big Wheel’ side is similar in appearance. The record has a punch hole, label ring-wear and soiling with a small tear where a sticker has been removed. On the positive side, the scratches are light and superficial - there are no deep scratches. The record is flat and has no warps. It is a styrene record and plays without cue burn and background hiss. It is the scarcer pink label issue on Amy, not the DJ. copy. The ‘I Travel Alone’ side plays nicely on my high end (Thorens deck, Goldring stylus, Q speakers) with barely noticeable background noise that is not too distracting (although at one point, there is a micro-second of hiss). The record plays without sticks, without skips and without jumps at a light tracking weight of 1.5 gms. The record could be used to DJ with on a big sound system as the audible imperfections are virtually drowned out by the heavy baseline throughout. It is not a snap, crackle and pop record - I have play-tested it 5 or 6 times without any problems. PM me to reserve. All messages will be replied to in sequence. I can provide photos but not sound-bites. Thanks for looking. Payment by PayPal preferred - buyer to cover fees.

Sealed copy of this sought after double-sider for sale at £65 with free postage and insurance to UK address. Tamla Motown green sleeve release with booklet. PM to reserve or for further info. Payment via Pay Pal preferred, buyer to pay fees. Thanks for looking.

Awesome performer. Unforgettable music. Sad loss. His spirit lives on in the music...

I think some of the lower end items will go cheaply as the focus will be on the high end stuff. Even if the £100 sounds fetch a bit more, the mint condition justifies the outlay. Awkward finishing time is also a factor. Just pick a target and bid to win it. Maybe we should agree our targets on Soul Source to give each other a free run without the competition...

These guys are good news and know their stuff. They had some eBay auctions a few years ago and were happy to ‘low value the ticket...’ This prompted me to visit the store in East LA - took a bit of finding but there was absolutely nothing in the racks worth taking away. All their best stuff goes online, and this haul must rank as one of the best to come to market in recent years. It almost looks like a collector selling up such is the sheer quality on show but the records are mint, unplayed and still in their original sleeves.

Well, someone might snag the Larry Clinton for less than the previous one sold for. I don’t recall seeing an auction list like this before in terms of major rarities and mint condition items. It looks like a warehouse find or distributor buy-out judging from the range of top-notch sounds. Loads of people watching and bidding so competition will be too hot for bargain hunters. Probably best to sell the house to grab the most coveted records and beat off the middle-men dealers...

At least £300 but it could go as high as £400 at auction. But these things are not like tins of beans you can stick a price on - if you are buying, pay whatever they ask within reason. If selling, ignore the price-guides and check out Popsike.

Some corking tunes in this round-up, with a few rarely seen up for grabs. Seems like you need a couple of spare thousand quid to snag the very rare ‘uns these days. Got to be DJ’s winning these at higher than ever prices as your ordinary collector can live without them. Is the Sag War Fare track really worth the sum paid for it?

Totally agreed. Vivid memories of kissing a red brick wall while some wag sings Hang On In There Baby as the crowd surges back and forth. Getting in was done in two movements - first your right arm and body then two minutes later, your left arm and bag. It only went quiet when the London coach drew up and they rolled out the red carpet for Cockney Norman and Southern VIP’s who just went straight in...

It’s total bollocks. The crush to get into the Casino was always unpleasant. Only one of the doors was open so it was a tight squeeze. If Norman thought the crowd would stand back to let him through as he had a London accent, he must have been hallucinating. Even the DJ’s struggled to get in, sometimes with their record boxes on their heads.

Thanks for the heads up. Not seen this for years. Actually enjoyed it all the more this time around with Levine’s contribution coming more sharply into focus. Doesn’t Richard Searling talk so much sense. All in all, a good summary of the early days. Now I know why the Wigan doorman used to shout ‘stop pushing at the back’. It now seems the crush at the front had to stand aside for Cockney Norman to go in without queueing as he was up from London... and evidently far more important than all the working class miners and factory workers pushing away at the back.

I have only found one copy in the wild on over 70 trips to the USA - needless to say, I snapped it up. Big Tim champions the track and ever since he spun it at the 100 Club, I wanted a copy - took me over 20 years to end the quest. The record is much scarcer than most people think despite being on a well-known label.