Frankie Crocker

Very droll. I hope the Northern Soul Police approved of this, otherwise you could be in big trouble?

Not so much overplayed but played-out, had its day, overtaken by better sounds. Some lucky fella, not sure who, won a copy at auction that had been listed as a bootleg but was snaffled under the radar as it was the multicoloured issue. Still hanging onto the white boot in vain and pretty sure I will never find an original - for sure a good sound, and big at Wigan, but who needs cracked records?

It's a cracker... As Steve G says, surely it has been played to death? Mind you, Stevie G has been known to slip up... A good record and one any discerning collector would like to own, but 40 years down the road, surely it rests towards the back of the box with Kenny Smith, Black Nasty and Lloyd Michaels. One to pass over if cracked and probably not worth the book price if mint?

Scandalous. I hope you get your record back. Readers be warned, lending records can seriously jeopardise your friendships.

Nev, it's already happening with wannabe DJ's 'renting' the next big sound by paying over the odds and moving it on smartly when the masses are chasing after it. The scheme would create an upsurge of 'lost' records with Ray Agees and Mel Britts being 'left on the turntable' all over the country. Me, I couldn't subscribe as I tremble when seeing DJ's put fingerprints on records; I collapsed once seeing a record with a fag burn on it...

Will they be dancing to 'She's Putting You On' by the United Four?

Only in the sense that it avoided the travel and ticket costs of attending 29 Anniversary Allnighters. Many folk, myself included, have over a dozen of them and rarely play them so the winning bid today is higher than expected. If the next set auctioned fetches a higher sum than today's lot, then the winner may have had a bargain. Expect to see more 100 Club singles on the market in the weeks ahead...probably overpriced and not selling...

Would be more of a challenge to buy them one by one... Also a lot more fun. Could also save a fortune. Maybe someone's going to open a soul music museum and they're gathering exhibits the quick way? Acquiring records en masse like this seems weird, rather like buying sets of cigarette cards or boxed sets of videos. Hopefully they will end up in the hands of a young DJ with a high regard for the evolution of the music. May the richest man not win, but the one who will treasure the sounds and enjoy them the most.

Unless there's soul music in the afterlife...

More to it than mere rarity and availability. Timi Yuro delivers one of the finest mid-pace soul tracks, a timeless classic, and one that would grace any event in its 45 rpm format. Darrel's contribution, excellent though it is, was very much part of the '70's up-tempo avalanche, great then, but not so great now unless squeezed into an oldies set. As an ender, or music to be cremated to, Timi Yuro has very little competition as it oozes with so much soul, it chokes you.

A totally mindless act of incredible stupidity. Anyone with any genuine feelings for the music or the records would not have committed such wanton vandalism. There's only one Kenny from Scotland who walks on water and he scribbles his name on red football shirts for a good cause...

Hey, a regressive music policy... Why not dig out the Wayne Fontanas and Spencer Davis Groups best tracks to set the floor alight... This was fine in the late 60's, but things have moved on a bit since then. Just mix the sets up with forgotten oldies and lesser known sounds and you can't go wrong. Just avoid the Flash Mc Kinley-Marvin Gaye-Charles Sheffield sequencers and you'll be alright...

This is a facile thread with the answer pretty obvious. Read the Kev Roberts manual to see how a youthful individual broke onto the scene, a template that the early pioneers established and many others followed. DJing stems from record collecting so the solution is to get hold of some good records. Whilst the scene needs youthful followers if it is to continue in the long run, the age of the DJ is irrelevant - it's more about the calibre of the records in the hands of potential DJs and the local support for events put on by promoters. Well run events such as the 100 Club have youthful DJs such as Joel Maslin playing sounds that appeal to a younger crowd and veterans alike. A more pertinent question would be to ask where are all the other Tommy Potts, sons, or daughters for that matter, who have parents deeply entrenched in the scene, and have grown up surrounded by great music? The next wave of young DJs who stand to inherit a lot of good record collections don't appear to be doing much to perpetuate the future of the scene at present.

Hi Bob. I have had two copies of this record, neither with stickers on. I have one of her Millage records with stickers on but to do with the funeral director label owner and not Tawny herself. Good record by the way and one that deserves more acclaim.

Agreed Pete. Rocksteady is the perfect contrast to Northern in its many many guises. Some of the techno merengue out of Latin America at the turn of the millennium is brilliant. Some of the female club sounds from the early noughties are pretty good dance tunes. There are plenty of great pop tunes going back to the 60's and 70's for when you need a bit of background music - the Beatles have a superb range of songs for starters, much of the Spector Wall of Sound stuff, California surf music and Mersey Beat sounds, something for any occasion. Oh, and House of Pain's 'Jump Around' to play each time you stop at a traffic light...

Valid point Mal. There's too much of this 'comes with company sleeve' sales blurb going on...

Interesting that all this boot talk has prompted John Manship to advertise his #5 Price Guide as the one to use to differentiate the boots. Methinks it's time for John to produce a thick volume of boot scans and distinguishing marks. Currently in the USA using a well thumbed #5 in preference to the heavier #6 without boot guide...

Apologies Dave. The date should read 31/3/74. My error. The plug from Russ is as clear as day as he says it twice. When I die, I want the tape to go to a museum in Wigan. Went to the Wigan museum a few years ago and there was a small Casino exhibition - one day, I hope this will grow. There is also a sound archive in the north west where stuff like this should end up... ATB

How about the Sequins on Renfro then? Currently in the USA and today saw Johnny Moore on Soultown instead of Date - why was this label chosen for several boots?

No, it is a live tape made by yours truly on that specific night, my second visit to the Casino having been the previous Saturday.

Yep. No reference to Russell Steel. Mind you, I was recording start-stop for much of the 90 minutes duration which explains why there are five takes of Dana Valery and five of Butch Baker in amongst the longer sections. As I know of no track by Russell Steel, Russ could well be referring to someone in the Casino.

My nomination too. The lookalike appearance plays right into the hands of unscrupulous dealers and ignorant junkers. Mind you, a second rate dealer from Leeds very kindly sold me a Sam and Kitty on Four Brothers, Malibus on Sure Shot plus Eddie Reagan on ABC pre Manship Bootleg Guide days so any of these could qualify; needless to say, his phone number is no longer on speed-dial and he has lost my business.

Mike, sorry but I've got to abstain as I can't decide which is the worst.

Da boys got soul.. Just steer clear of World Champion floor-workers and you'll be Okeh.

The P-Funk shirt clip places you high up in the Dancer class but somewhere in the middle of the Fashion set...