Frankie Crocker

Not seen this clip before. Sure looks like the Easter 1977 BBC visit at a very early stage of the night. Cameraman’s spotted a backdropper so he’s zoomed in on the lad. Trouble is, you shove a camera in someone’s face, they perform for the camera. Mind you, it could have been far worse - imagine Wigan today with 500 self-obsessed dancers holding selfie-sticks with 1,500 onlookers recording the action on mobile phones... Perhaps it’s just as well that cameras weren’t that common in the mid 70’s.

No, it’s more like the old-timers having a last shake of the dice to bag that favourite track that’s been eluding them for decades. Very few youngsters can throw away silly money of the sort that’s being discussed here.

It’s a lot to do with how many actually survived. Given the small number that have surfaced at auction in recent years, I would say very few sold initially so many must have been scrapped or still await discovery in a forgotten hoard. Even those snapped up in the hey-day of Wigan don’t seem to be too numerous given DJ playlists, set sales offers and recent collections put on the open market.

We have entered a strange period. Finally, a number of collectors are selling up due to old age and not surprisingly, want as much money for their rare records. However, many of these raritites are being offered at unrealistcally high prices. The supply side of the equation is changing with multiple copies of rarities being offered at any given time. Some, but not all, dealers are offering their stock at competitive prices that are hard to ignore - look at what Pete Smith has moved on this week to see that bargains are still to be had. The situation is going to change further in favour of the buyer. Already the market is being flooded by tasty items, too many at once if the truth be told, many of which are overvalued given what they cost just a few months ago. Buyers should sit tight and wait for high-end prices to drop.

The dead wax details would in fact be of great significance! If there are no details whatsoever, this would make it a bootleg. If there are actually details scribed in the run-out, this is the main way of confirming authenticity, or in this case, fakery. Don't understand this cat-and-mouse stuff - total openess is the best way forward. A price tag of $600 will get some free publicity, but you would have to be crackers to pay even $60 for this piece of forgery.

Hi Ted. Are you asking what makes Craig's repro a clear-cut repro? I'm sure several of us would like to know what the giveaway features are so we don't burn our fingers in future. He has another record by the Empires up for sale at present so maybe one looks dubious alongside the real one? Funny that the price is set at $600 - how was this arrived at given there is a single source of the replica?

Casey and the Sunshine Band - Queen Of Clubs Playthings -Stop What You're Doing I Like It John Miles - One Minute Every Hour Jesse Green - Nice And Slow Tony Etoria - I Can Prove It Hamilton Bohannon - Foot Stomping Music Lesser known, but soulful party tunes. Hope this helps. Let hs know what you played and how it went.

Sorry Julian, but I don't have a copy of this. Are you looking at the one on Craig Moerer's site in the hope that it is an original? It's a sad era now such a great record has been booted, but too risky to shell out $600 in the hope it's a real one.

Avoid having to buy them by recycling the packets from the States. Buy loads of records and keep the packaging materials - the range of boxes out there suits all sorts of consignments from single styrene records to mega-bucks 45's.

Well worth seeing Kev. Thanks for posting. I applied for a job there in 1979 and was glad I didn't get it - perhaps I missed out later? Always good to hear Searling speak as he talks so much sense. I made it to Cleethorpes Pier - can anyone compare the experience with Morecambe?

Too many Wannabe DJ's with hot boxes wanting to put on an event for their mates to spin at... Who is this Winstanley anyway? Really, promoters do not even need to meet up - just look at the calendar and find a free weekend. There is no central planning system to apply to (thankfully) so promoters need to be aware of what's happening where if they are to start up a successful event. Event clashes should be avoided when planning a new event.

Ditto. Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara, Los Angeles in three recent summers and only a handful of good sounds amongst the common stuff. Certainly no Larry Clintons or Primers... Plenty on eBay from SoCal, especially San Diego, but mainly collection items and old store stock. If you are a local and do the rounds week in, week out, you will turn up stuff every now and again but the hit-rate is pretty low. Trick is, go in the better stocked stores and bump into like-minded folk who'll give you a name and phone number - same as anywhere else in the States.

Thanks for this - it brings the total to 13 versions. 'I Want To Live' only came out of the woodwork recently and the artist is simply Mark - it is on the Mel Omega label which I suspect is the precursor to the Omega label. Really need some Philly experts to shine a light on this one.

Never was anything there. I picked up a few Motowns and Sunny and the Sunliners on RPR from a collection when Jelly's was by the Ala Moana Centre back in the 80's. When Jelly's moved to King Street, I grabbed a few dozen common records in the 90's. I got Roy Hamilton's Earthquake from Jelly's in Pearl Harbour again in the 90's but there was nothing in the warehouse-type store when last there about ten years ago. Jelly's has a store downtown but there was very little there the first time I went in 2015 and even less in 2016. I didn't bother to go this summer. To dispel the myth, there were never any collections of rare records left in the islands by servicemen. When the troops shipped to Oahu, they could only take a kit-bag. Some officers would have had a record player but it would have played Beach Boys, Jan and Dean, teen idols etc back in the 60's. There was a local music industry producing indie sounds but nothing soulful. The music industy still thrives today and produces island-style reggae which is excellent in some cases. Have a good trip. Best place on the planet for a summer holiday or a winter trip.

He joins Richie in Vegas, Les in Scottsdale etc as a Sunbelt transplant...may as well count records and/or dollars in warmer climes. Palm Springs is too hot for me - I hope he keeps his records nice and cool.

No, not really, it's just the dollar signs on their eyeballs going round and round. Sure, there's a savvy few who really appreciate the music, Matt in New York, Greg in New Jersey, Chris in San Antonio, Brad in Detroit and someone in just about every big city. But in reality, most music fans are unaware of what's happened and continue to ignore soul records of all descriptions...until they have a valuable one in their hands and they want to sell it.

The carolinasoul auction uses stockpiles of locally sourced cast-offs, unsold warehouse stock, label hoards, consignments from UK collector-dealers, estate/yard sale bits and pieces, whole collections etc. Their monthly auctions of 1,000 plus records depend on a steady flow of records from all types of sources. The US is no longer a great place to plan a road-trip to find rare records at low prices - you can stay at home and they will surface on eBay, Discogs, dealer web-sites etc. Chicago was picked bare years ago, Detroit has mainly stacks of unsleeved common 45's with few uncommon sounds and so it goes. New Orleans has given up it's treasures, Houston barely worth stoping off at, San Francisco stripped bare apart from the commonest sounds. I was in Seattle this summer and could not be bothered to hit the record stores as I took everything I could 10-20 years ago and many others had beaten me to the best stuff there...thanks Nancy. Some folk think the market is peaking and are selling high-end records to cash in before the predicted glut in years to come. I think there are a lot more sellers at present so the numbers for sale reflect this more than anything.

Yes. A double A side of the highest order. I think 'You Left Me' is usually regarded as the top-side.

Petersons is a very good version, and certainly one to chase down. Trouble is though, it's very rare and pretty expensive. I'm resigned to not owning all versions now, and wasn't too upset when I didn't win 'I Got A Feeling For You' given the condition it was in.

Me neither but it had to be done... Once in a lifetime opportunity. Even the Mrs was humming along to it when I first played it.

Heaven Is In Your Arms...comes between the first two. I Want To Be Free comes after the last one. A love story in five song titles. I've just picked up the Peaches record with the help of a HSBC loan...crazy but necessary.

Thanks for confirming - I did suspect it was a dealer with such a large number of bids and a considerable outlay. I think his website is impressive and if you want to see prices rising before your very eyes, this is the place. It's one thing when collectors go head to head for a long term want, but when a dealer has to have something for the 'shop window' at any price, it distorts the market. Next thing, some US dealers are using SJ's winning bids to price up their records. Wasn't the Combinations cracked?

Another to add to the list sold at auction last night. Fred Mark-'IGot A Feeling For You'-Omega832. Sold for $262 in G condition with several flaws. Sound bite was good and comparable to 'I'm Coming Home' - certainly better than 'Dance With Me' which is currently up for grabs in two auctions. This makes it 12 different vocal versions for the same backing track.

Not madness but grabbing the best of what remains. The carolinasoul auction offered heaps of rare records but mainly graded at G, well below the usual standard but still playable as conservatively graded. The spoils of victory were shared amongst a number of bidders, mainly battle hardened with high eBay feedback scores. One bidder netted Combinations on Kimtone, Billy Prophet on Sue, Insights on Palmetto and Fred Mark on Omega plus at least one other big tune, blowing well over $2,000; this is shrewd buying where money is no object. There are fewer and fewer rare records turning up for auction, yet more and more chasing them. Rising prices are therefore inevitable.

Compared to what?