Frankie Crocker

The poor man's Bernie Williams... Great tune, rarely seen at auction and a DJ must-have all contribute to this high valuation. There is also someone spending BIG money at present winning every pristine classic up for grabs so this may have gone to them QED.

I think it's the other way round ie four stars is rarest. For the most part, record prices reflect rarity and quality combined so a system like the one Manship's book uses is not necessary for general use. That said, the book benefits from the scarcity scale used despite the inaccuracies in places.

Some are more numerous than others but mainly tucked away in collections so hard to quantify. A good example would be Donni Burdick's Bari Track which was a Wigan Anniversary freebie and soul-pack staple back in the late 70's but now fetching £750: Popsike evidence suggests occasional sales in recent years as sellers cash in their bargain acquisitions. The Adventurers on Compass is another ex-cheapie that fetches big bucks due to quality and recent interest. Today a copy of Rufus Lumley on Holton has sold for a sum ten times greater than the going rate of £25 when widely available twenty years ago. The list is endless but includes many classic 70's spins such as Rubin on Kapp which pops up monthly, Epitome of Sound on Sandbag, Invitations on Dynovoice and Major Lance's You Don't Want Me No More on Okeh: the first three are on eBay right now and all four crop up regularly.

Great record and one that gets better with every listening. Wouldn't sell my copy for double the sums mentioned so far. This one will continue to rise in value so grab it when you can regardless of price.

Good shout. What about Donni Burdick's Bari Track, Jimmy Fraser on Columbia and more recently Pinkertones on Queen G.

Tricky question to answer. By common, do you mean in total or regularly up for sale? What does 'expensive' mean these days? Bill Bush on Ronn is a four figure record these days but with 40 or so on Popsike, evidently obtainable but hardly common. Curtis Lee on Mira with 40-50 on Popsike but selling for a few hundred. Masqueraders on Wand, bigger numbers and selling for more. Others that are regularly up for grabs and at prices that make you think twice are Lonnie Lester on Nu Tone, Maurice Williams on Deesu, Charades on MGM, Ann Haywood on Hondo, Jimmy Fraser on Columbia and the list goes on. Jack Montgomery, as already mentioned, possibly takes the prize with over 300 on Popsike at a costly outlay. All the records we're chasing are relatively scarce, even if there are hundreds in collections, as many will never come up for sale in the lifetime of the owner. Factor in private sales of the records above and you have some sizeable numbers stowed away but they are still very rare compared to Beatles, Elvis etc. What I need to know is which common record will be the next mega-expensive one so I can stock up on it now???

Maybe, but some auctions are fairer than others. If both buyer and seller are satisfied with the final bid then that counts as a fair auction. You are right to be alert to shill bidding as this occurs but is usually detectable.

You would be unwise to contest an auction of this sort in the age of eBay. Blind auctions were OK pre-eBay but are now outmoded. Unless there is a record that you absolutely must have regardless of rarity, cost or condition, blind auctions are best avoided. A bit of patience will be rewarded in the future by steering clear of blind auctions and awaiting a set-sale or incremental-bid auction. John Manship's auction records may be a tad pricier than similar records elsewhere but the bid-system used is completely transparent and fair to all involved.

One on eBay finishing in just over two hours time. Only VG- but bids at $113. A mint copy of this goes for well over £100 but they are seldom seen. Good luck with your search.

I wouldn't read too much into this Northern segment. In a ten year period of huge popular music transition, Wigan was a mere footnote, surely deserving a brief acknowledgement but not wanting much more than that in a series of this sort. British popular music ruled the world in this period but Northern Soul was an adopted dance craze that has stuck around much longer than anyone expected it to. The BBC continue to make their cultural noddings but just don't geddit but that's the BBC for you, a bunch of overpaid, self-important twerps who have absolutely no idea whatsoever despite (many) having attended the most expensive public schools and famous universities in the land.

Just emailed you with the phone numbers.

Bidding looks suspect to me. Wonder if it will actually sell at all? Can't think of too many other records that have had such a high minimum bid. It might be a very good, extremely rare record but the number of DJ's/collectors in the frame for this mouth-watering offering can be counted on one hand.

Thanks for the heads up. Bidding looks a bit hooky to me?. Heading back on topic, I would rate The Lady In Green as a better track despite it's slower tempo. Sure, Junior Mc Cants is very good, up-tempo and a DJ's dream-exclusive, but interms of pure catchiness, The Magnetics shade it for me.

Esther Grant now on Popsike. $6,650 or £4,308 at the current crap exchange rate.

Thought John sold this one a couple of years ago or is it another copy? Looks like the best copy on Popsike cropping up for resale... What, with a George Pepp on eBay at present and a copy of Esther Grant selling on Saturday it sure is a good time to browse (if you have a spare 5K or so). The Magnetics on Bonnie deliver two cracking tunes so this gem should fetch £8,000 plus.

Great character. Dancing DJ. Champions obscure sounds. Fair dealer selling cheap records, paying generous sums for sales stock. Good taste in Northern and RnB. Wacky sense of humour. Always joking around. Provided lots of good memories at the 100 Club, Cleethorpes and other London venues. One of the best lads on the circuit.

Sometimes, but not often enough. Am often asked this question but can't answer it precisely. When you have several thousand records, it is not easy to play them. When you acquire several per week on average, it is tricky to keep up with cleaning, playing, filing, storing retrieving etc. When you travel to the States and buy them in box loads, it becomes a challenge just to sort the sales records from the keepers. I tend to have record playing sessions when dozens are spun. Every now and again, I will make a compilation tape. I have played most of what is in the collection but there are some boxes that have records only sampled in a USA store and not yet played through - this is shaping up to be a retirement job-to-do. Like many of us, I tend to play the latest acquisitions as they arrive to test them, then repeatedly whilst to hand. Once boxed and shelved away, they don't receive the attention they used to. It is always a joy to stumble across a record in the collection you had forgotten about and play it to realise that it is way better than you recall it from twenty years ago.

Nothing to be gained by spreading rumours. Fine to speculate on the root cause but YouTube will not confirm anything. On a legal point, copyright in the US expires after 95 years but only if it was registered within 5 years - if not, the music is in the public domain. I would imagine that some of the tunes displayed were never copyrighted in the first place so they should not have been removed. Presumably there is a list of US music actually registered prior to 1978 when copyright law was amended - I wonder if YouTube consulted this list and cross checked before censorship? Probably not I guess. As virtually none (if any at all) of the tunes in question were copyright owned by major music corporations operating today, it is a bizarre case. One therefore has to consider the probability that it was someone bearing a personal grudge against John.

Ridiculous. Just about all John's tunes were on independent labels and minor ones at that. No one lost out financially with his selection being aired - indeed the opposite as the clips advertised product that stimulated the eBay market. YouTube was getting an improved reputation as just about any tune worth hearing was on it- now that is not the case and we are worse off for it. This could be just another biproduct of an ailing music business that has killed itself off and forces the legal-sharks to grab whatever they can. Chinese style Internet censorship hits Britain. Sad day for all concerned.

Nice post Steve. I like the Delphi label, as do plenty others. A true local, minor independent but with several good releases. The Prophets have the distinction of releasing one of the most highly regarded Northern records of all time plus a number of more widely available, catchy tunes.

PM to reserve any or for further details. Price includes postage, packing and insurance to UK address. Payment via PayPal (gift) please. Thanks for looking. Anne Sexton-You've Been Gone Too Long-Seventy 7: VG++ for £70, a few light label marks. SOLD Joe Murphy-So Blue (Without You)-Vivid white issue: Excellent for £45, slight label ring-wear. Marvelle And The Blue Mats-Mellow Man-Dynamic Sound: M- for £50, nice unplayed copy. Patience Valentine-Waking Up To A Dream-Thrush: M- for £35. Rayons- You Confuse Me Baby-Forte: Excellent for £55, a few light label marks. Sophisticates-Back Up Baby-Sonny: VG++ for £45, unplayed copy but a few light marks.

A few cheapies in company sleeves. PM to reserve any or for further details. Price includes postage, packing and insurance to UK address. Payment by PayPal family and friends please. Thanks for looking. Jay And The Americans-Got Hung Up Along The Way-United Artists: VG++ for £22.50 Erma Franklin-Gotta Find Me A Lover-Brunswick: VG+, slight label damage on reverse for £12.50 Reggie Garner- Hot Line-Capitol: M-, slight label damage/wear for £25 ON HOLD Jimmy Steward-There Goes My Everything-Coral DJ: Ex for £22.50 Tams-Hey Girl Don't Bother Me-ABC: VG+, slight label wear for £12.50 Orlons-I Ain't Coming Back- Cameo WD: VG+ tight edge crack across run in and first few grooves NAP for £12.50

Many, many of them Jem, and judging from what's happening now albeit on a modest scale, plenty of tunes in one format or another. Maybe Timi Yuro 'It'll Never Be Over' had it had a US 45 release? Perhaps Frank Wilson's 'Do I' had copies not been binned. Countless others. Some of us have hundreds and hundreds of good/excellent/brilliant records that eclipse everything the pop music industry came up with. Ironically, there isn't a pop music industry as such anymore apart from a few girls who are branded soulful eg Joss, Duffy, Amy don't know the names of any others sorry but there must be some as I keep hearing awful ringtones.

I think the star thing helps us to scroll down quickly rather than take a closer look. The real threat lies in photocopies of original labels being stuck on boots, counterfeits etc. It's reached the point that eBay dealers with an England address are not worth checking out as the majority are flogging unoriginal records. There is a market for repro stuff but it should be abundantly clear that it is not the real deal. Lot of fake Pointers Sisters on Atlantic flying around recently and selling for £50 apparently...unbelievable.