Frankie Crocker

SOLD One from 1976, two from 1977, ten from 1978. In fair condition. All have Wigan advert, Northern sales lists, some Godin and Elson columns and a few club reviews, photos etc. Price is £13 but this includes postage to UK address. PM to reserve. Payment by PayPal, buyer pays fees. Thanks for looking.

PM to reserve any please. Payment via PayPal, buyer pays fees. Price includes free postage to UK addresses. Thanks for looking. Colt Brothers-Hold Me, Hold Me- Bullet: £125 VG++, DJ stamp on label, slight sticker mark on label Bobby Montgomery-Seek And You Shall Find-Generation: £50 VG+ Joe Tex-I Wanna Be Free-Dial: £110 Mint SOLD Ruby Andrews-I Just Can't Get Enough-Zodiac:£35 Mint, label off centre Dobie Gray-Honey You Can't Take It Back-White Whale DJ: £75 VG+ Apollas-Mr Creator-Warner Bros: £60 VG+ patches of label damage on both sides but plays perfectly ON HOLD

Ah ha - finally a reason to head to Accrington. Are you sure the DJ's haven't been colouring in the white bootleg labels?

Keep The Faith. As the music is good enough, the young crowd will embrace it. The Northern Soul movement is in safe hands as there are plenty of youngsters with good taste in music. If you are worried about your records ending up at a car boot sale, let me have some and I'll find a good home for them.

Utter clap trash. Northern Soul is about listening to rare dance-music sourced mainly from the USA, generally dating from the late 60's or early 70's, SIMPLES. The interpretation quoted above reads like the misinformed tabloid journalist's take that finds it way into general circulation. Frank Elson lost the plot years ago and plainly has regressed over the decades, as yet again, he fails to report objectively.

So Frank, go and sit next to Ian in Room 101.

An interesting review until Frank got on his soap box. No collector has all the rare records, not even Tim as he has been flogging them. A few collectors have truly fantastic collections with many great rarities but there are lots more skint collectors out there buying as much as possible but will never own the thousands of rarest records. I suspect most DJ's on the circuit have a hotbox of in-sounds plus classics plus a few mega-rarities plus a few unknowns - no big deal in my books.

Thanks for this. Missed it at the time but came across it a few years ago. Looks pretty good and tempting but who plays compilation LP's these days?

Which album are we talking about here? I recall hearing about someone called Levine, worked at Top Rank or Mecca somewhere, but the album, I just can't place. Ivories just a great track but can not recall it from Wigan so guess it did not really take off. If you want another good track on the Despenza label, seek out the Measures 'Girls Are Evil'.

An interesting point Mike. The La La La-ing gives the impression of improvisation and something lacking. That said, the backing singers have rehearsed thoroughly and are in sync with the string arrangements. I suspect it sounded good in the studio, but once the demo's were cut, someone said it lacked oomph, would not sell and therefore the release be canned. I think it has a touch of class, sublime tempo, clear lead and backing vocals, great orchestration but flawed by the La La La-ing that aims to give a sense of happiness but sounds like filler when you analyse it intently. But give me a flawed track over a poppy chart-topper anyday.

Just assumed it was a local label before being picked up by Mira. My apologies, I meant Mira and not Mirwood.

Great tune and will always be wanted. Recent dancefloor reaction had pushed the price up. The Coda find has leaked out and dried up. Mira is now the label to wait for but a white DJ is particularly hard to come by. To appreciate the 'value' of the finishing prices on Pat's auctions, you need to watch the starting 'bids', incremental 'bids' and winning 'bids' closely. Best way to acquire this record at the lower, older price is a private sale or trade-deal. Good hunting.

Went for less than expected so someone had a bargain. That said, it is an acetate as opposed to a proper record. Acetates deteriorate with handling and plays, more so than vinyl records. Hopefully, the sound will be preserved in a studio and transferred onto another medium. If put on 7 inch, it could sell hundreds at £10 a pop making the original investment a shrewd bit of business.

I played Higher and Higher. Brilliant track. Put up with it on a crumby bootleg until I entered the real world of OVO. Only discovered I'm The One To Do It was on the reverse years later. Like you, I spent some early days combing soul compilation LP's for good tracks but rarely finding much until the Grapevine, Casino Classics and RCA albums came along.

If was an M's tune in the early days of the Casino, it was sure to have been spun at The Torch and maybe The Wheel. Don't forget, there were other top venues such as Cats, Va Va's, Palais etc where some Mirwood tune might have had the first spin. If a record appeared on the Jay Boy UK label, it was generally a popular spin at one of the early clubs. Bob Relf is in the spotlight at present with a few of us chasing the yellow label release of Blowing My Mind To Pieces - rumoured to be scarcer than the orange release, a couple have gone for big money recently including one on John Manship's auction.

Before my time but I would guess The Twisted Wheel and certainly The Torch. Mirwood records are generally common and would have been more available than most in the early 70's. The legacy of Relf/Garrett was in evidence at Mr M's so the records had already featured in the early venues and by then we're 'oldies'.

True. One on there now. Another minter a month or so back. Perhaps San Diego has been mostly overlooked due to the limited recording output and shortage of record stores but is now yielding the better stuff.

Yes, the cat's been out of the bag a while now. But who did the finding, where was the stash hidden and how come they got their hands on the goods? If this person was sitting on a load of Mickie Champions and June Jacksons, wouldn't you like to know?

Sure, there have been plenty of private sales with plenty of UK dealers listing it. I would imagine they took a couple of copies each. Add that to those that have dribbled out on eBay and Discogs etc and there are 50 plus in circulation. The LA/SD finder has certainly managed the 'bringing to market' process shrewdly and kept the source secret. I wonder how many more Pinkertones are going to be up for sale in the future and what price it will eventually settle at?

Thanks for this info. I am curious to know if it is indeed Eddie's stash that is coming to market. Whoever tracked down the hoard has done well to locate a great tune that, although known from a small number of copies, has remained very scarce until fairly recently. A few San Diego dealers auction rare soul records regularly but the facts behind this particular find are buried deep at present.

Expect to pay at least £100 for an original in excellent condition. If the record is in mint-minus or unplayed condition, you may have to pay appreciably more to secure it at auction. It is not a 'Buy It Now' record that you can pick off a shelf so be prepared to scrap for it as the competition is intense. There are two yellow label versions, one of which was thought to be a boot but actually isn't, a white demo version in two formats and a minefield of bootlegs to differentiate. As a classic top 500 tune, you will be very lucky to pick up a nice original on the cheap.

You sometimes get that impression looking at the range of prices a specific record is on sale for. That said, if a dealer has paid handsomely for a rare record, then it is understandable if they want a high return. Also, always worth chancing your luck as in the case of Tommy in LA just recently picking up well over a £100 for a worn copy, presumably one that had been in a collection for decades.

Now they are really coming out of the woodwork but where did the bulk-find turn up?

I saw this too and thought it optimistic. Mind you, if that's what you paid for it, then it's reasonable to expect that in return...unless of course, a ton of them turn up.

Now heading north of 3K within minutes of being posted on the web site. Clearly this is a record that isn't going to turn up in bulk any time soon, so this copy may be from a pressing plant employee, label owner or group member QED. If anyone wants to get rid of their clapped out 'decorative' object, I would be delighted to cover postage costs so I can frame it for the wall.