Frankie Crocker

I do like stories with happy endings...

Great record. Great write up. It's tales like this that help understand how difficult it was to cut a record, let alone have a hit. Fortunately for us, the Four Perfections sole release on Party Time reached legendary status a long time ago and continues to be one of the best ever.

The first post to which you replied clearly states that a mint copy is required for a friend...I'm trying to save time, mine and others, by pointing out that values of common records can easily be established without posting on Soul Source.

Mint should mean unplayed. A mint stamp is an unused stamp. A used record in apparent perfect condition could be described as Mint minus and many vendors use this grade to describe pristine records. Maybe mint should mean never played and perhaps never even removed from the original sleeve.

I hope you have offered one to the initiator of the thread Tony? Having wasted several peoples' time due to a slip of a decimal point, perhaps you could auction your copy and donate the proceeds to charity? With the availability of Price Guides, Popsike and numerous sales lists, surely the going rate of any well-known record can be established with five minutes research. If in colossal doubt, phone up a major dealer and waste their time also...

The penny drops... £90.00 may be a fairer price but the record is fairly common and played-out so surely there must be copies priced below this?

Sounds a bit steep Tony. Mind you, the way prices are going up, it might be this soon...

No, not really. He is selling junk including a scratched record. He is not a dealer or even a proper record seller to take seriously. It's us who are having a laugh.

Shows how ignorant, intolerant and outspoken some people are. The connoisseur of rare soul understands the situation and appreciates not just the music, but the efforts somebody has gone to to release records that were unreleased in the 60's. OVO is a laudable philosophy but Kent 45's such as the Anniversary singles fall under this banner so are totally acceptable.

Definitely. Freshly unearthed sounds are the cutting edge of the scene. ALL the Anniversary singles are worth playing out but perhaps there is a resistance to spin UK releases that are readily available. Hopefully Kent as a result of your efforts Ady, will continue to issue lost and overlooked tracks, especially those laid down in the 60's.

Russ, you need to go out more often and release that pent-up energy. Now, if we drop the term Northern Soul, what are we gonna put on the flyers that litter the tables of the underground clubs?

I was with you until the words Northern Funk popped up... Are we to now assume this is a new genre as opposed to the funkier Northern tunes that latter day experimentalists have been pulling out of 70's soul packs that they couldn't be bothered to open back then? The odd RnB is fine, the occasional crossover sound too but what about the newies that keep the scene buzzing. Bottom line is it must be soulful dance music, preferably of the hard to find variety.

Better to have too many events than too few. Maybe best to have too few, but committed punters at events rather than too many hand baggers, tourists, voyeurs, media types and kids looking for the latest band-wagon to jump onto. If some of the wannabe DJ's can contribute some good tunes and give folk a good time then it can't be all that bad.

Some current popular tunes here Matt but Butch's playbox contains way more better sounds that have echoed around for 25 plus years. Sure, some half-decent tunes pop up to be spun, but often as a result of their rarity than their musical content. Every era has had its great sounds but the 70's revelations such as the Salvadors, Cecil Washington, Adams Apples, Bobby Paris, Embers, Coasters etc still sound every bit as good 40 years down the road. Every era needs fresh sounds to lift the dancers and the ones you quote are just that in some quarters.

Listen again soul brother. The drumming in this attains perfection, the melody is brilliant and the vocals exceedingly good - pretty awesome for a common, staple tune but one of many upon which the scene thrived in its first decade.

Barry, always travel with a plastic cone-shaped adaptor, readily available from the US, usually in yellow or pinky-red colours but also seen in pale blue. Seen them in stores behind the counter in a bubble-wrap packet. The record slips on and off this type easily. Avoid the black plastic flat-top adaptor as these are prone to jamming. Aluminium adaptors supplied with higher-end turntables are also dodgy. Avoid clip-in centres at all costs as they stress the vinyl/styrene and nick the label. Err, that's all on the subject of adaptors for now until I return to the theme of designing centres for off-centre records...

Does the leading bidder know the US version is easily obtainable? There have been several on eBay in the last year, but not in mint condition, going for reasonable money. Great shame I'm Your Pimp never got a US release on 45rpm. I can remember chatting to Russ in his Wigan store about the possibilities of a double A side release but this sadly never came to pass on UK vinyl although the opportunity must have been there. The Skull Snaps also have another decent release listed in Manship #6 as a DJ copy, but Didn't I Do It To You has turned up a couple of times as a light- brown issue. The Skull Snaps, like some other big late 70's artists, seem to be in demand again recently judging from the competitive bidding.

Rotten bad luck Baz. Maybe you should have played Gonna Get Along Without You Now instead?

A load of these have turned up and been available from several vendors. Is this another case of increased supply meeting latent demand and prices rising accordingly?

Gareth - if the book was written to introduce Northern Soul to people then OK as it informs...but if it was to introduce people to Northern Soul then some doubts as the scene does not need hand-baggers, voyeurs, tourists etc. As a tie-in with the forthcoming film, the book was a logical bit of marketing plus a useful volume with a different slant to the books hitherto published. I for one wish the film every success but hope that it does not rebound on the scene by attracting wannabe DJ's and acrobats. The Northern Soul movement will continue to thrive because of the music potential sought by devotees and the less the media are involved, the better things will be.

Phil, once you own a copy you will change your mind. Buy one ASAP as the price is soaring.

Sorry but I posted the comment based on an outbid notification but on reflection, someone has done very well to secure this rarity. Don't recall seeing one for sale so maybe it's a 3 thousand dollar record in mint condition and the thousand pound tag dating back ten years is now an irrelevancy. Hope you find an equally rare but good sounding record to drop your savings on...

But it's a thousand pounder at least and at the current exchange rate therefore 1700, less something for being below M-... so someone had a bargain.

Not the going rate but some celeb who has a minion buying him a record collection...or has Ashley Cole started to collect good soul music? Check Popsike for the going rate and note how prices fall over time as more copies turn up.

So Theresa, if you don't mind me asking, what sort of commission do you get on these big ticket items? Surely John doesn't pay you a flat-rate for your prose? I for one eagerly await a glossy book of US auction items in the not too distant future...