Frankie Crocker

Hi Mark. I have a spare copy. Have PM'd you.

Hi there. I have a VG copy of Bing Bong with slight label soiling. Probably not the nice clean copy you are looking for but priced according to condition - £130 including postage and packing. PM me if interested.

PM'd you. Have a few but sadly label damaged like all others from this source namely Skippy White's basement in Cambridge MA.

Nice one Pete. Wall to wall goodies here and several unfamiliar tracks well worth an outing.

Well, I liked your post even though Maxwell did not indicate he actually liked it. I thought you went to a huge amount of trouble to provide the information Mick. Such scholarship should be given a big star...

He deserved to lose the sale charging excessive postage fees. Ripping off buyers by upping postage charges is poor customer service. Failure to recognise the importance of the UK market is plain stupid. Best to spend the funds on records, not on stamps and bits of cardboard...and eBay postal deductions...

And a William Bell Year to all the followers of Soul Source. Move over Pharrel, the master's in town, and his song is happier than yours. ATB to Mike and the team for helping to fill the empty hours between records arriving in the post, soul nights and those moments when the vinyl spins around on the deck.

Much depends on the actual rarity and mint value of the record. That said, a side that skips is virtually worthless. The record sounds flawed with some grooves perhaps being off-centre. Whatever you expect from the re-sale, be sure to mention the record's faults - had you known of them, you might not have bought it in the first place. Can you return the record to the original seller or is it too late?

John would be the best man to vouch for this but that's my interpretation of the listing based on the blurb at the front of the guides. He doesn't list two entries per release when there are both demo and issue copies unless the values are markedly different: if the demo and stock copies were the same value, virtually every record listed would have two entries resulting in a considerably thicker book. I know the price guides are based on his sales database but again, only John can confirm that every record listed has actually passed through his business. Obviously, not all soul records known are in the price guide, but I suspect that he will have come across some titles that haven't yet been listed for a variety of reasons.

Manny doesn't list all demos in the price guide. Only demos that have a different valuation to stock copies are listed in addition to those for which no stock copy has been through his hands.

Thanks for the update guys. Seen Bunky's Pick on lots of records.

Legitimate and available on a stock copy also. Not sure but Bunky may have been a Chicago radio station DJ who endorsed records for airplay. Good track, fairly easy to get hold of and an acceptable alternative to Jimmy Delph's version. Seems to sell for $40-80.

Someone in the Bop Shop record store in Rochester, New York might be able to help you. Not sure if is Tom Kohn the owner or one of the senior staff in the store, but they told me the Soul Brothers Six were local and mates with one of the guys there.

With vinyl 45's still being pressed in the USA, Europe and other places, the technology is still out there. If someone turned up the masters for a rare record, could it still be repressed after all these years? One would guess yes, but any serious collector would be highly suspicious. The batch of Oxford Knights on Delphi that turned up over ten years ago looked like they had been pressed recently QED and doubts still linger about the provenance of this record. The good news is, recently pressed records just look too new so collectors aren't easily duped whilst the older production processes can't be replicated perfectly. It is therefore unlikely that fraudsters would be able to clone the rarest records successfully.

Was a top tune at the Mecca and Wigan. Copies were not really available at the time. Oddly enough, not released on English Atlantic even though demand was there. Never come across this in the USA in over 50 trips. Still rates as one of the very best tracks on the label and one that sounds better and better as the years slip by. Never considered it a Girl Group sound, just pure Northern all the way.

So, is the yellow vinyl version an original, second issue or some special product done as part of a package? I thought both my Pointer Sisters issues were boots, one of which was yellow vinyl: one has been replaced by a demo, not sure if it was the regular or yellow version though so will check in the weeks ahead. Still need an original stock copy but proving difficult to locate on eBay. Is the yellow vinyl version worth keeping (that's if I've actually still got it)?

Could have been worse...might have been Frank Wilson singing how much he loves you...or even Marvin telling you about his love starved heart... And you thought a nice quiet pub would be a great escape from a noisy Boxing Day.

White cardboard 200 boxes are as good as anything. They can be stacked three high without problems. Ultimately, they are a convenient size and weight to handle when full, reasonably inexpensive, compact so easily shelved and fairly durable.

I went twice in March 1974 and have a live tape with many of the sounds that Pete and Kev have listed namely Gwen and Ray, Lee Andrews, Tony and Tyrone, Casualeers, Tomangoes, Shawn Robinson, Mike Post, Furys Band, Velvets, Gloria Jones and Al Wilson. Add to this The Fuzz, Saxie Russell, Olympics, Robert Knight, Terrible Tom, Ventures, Lord Thunder and Junior Walker, Biggest tunes were Dana Valery and Butch Baker, both played about six times in the main room. Sheer quality all the way (if you ignore the Ventures) without the more commercial chart sounds that soon followed.

Hi Louise. I think most of us are pro-American releases as the music is American, rather than anti-British soul releases. I would imagine that loads of UK based US record collectors have a sprinkling of good tunes on British vinyl, I know I have a few. Trouble is, it is very difficult to collect both British and American in a big way given the costs and of course, the scarcity of the records hence the preference for one or the other. I will say that British vinyl is of a superb quality, and wish that plenty of US records I own were on this superior vinyl rather than styrene or low grade vinyl.

Despenza any day. US format. Local label. Vinyl. Who needs rare releases on common labels, possibly on styrene. Revilot would suffice for virtually anyone serious about the music. London release in a picture frame or a bank vault just doesn't impress.

He's probably got a copy anyway, maybe a demo as well as an issue...

Our Love Is In The Pocket is the top side for me with of course a decent flip. Over the next few weeks anticipate a rash of wannabe DJ's spinning pink or grey Revilot copies with dancers scrambling onto the stage to see if they have just witnessed THE ONE being spun.. I hope it goes to Mick Smith for services to the British vinyl industry, arise Sir Mick...

It was a good record when covered up as Eddie Foster. Now it's used as background music by the BBC, on every other CD compilation, film and documentary, it's become overexposed, dull and uninspiring.

Brilliant Ian. I would like the lot for Christmas but I guess I can hang on for a couple of months.