Frankie Crocker

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...

Nice take on the scene Wardie but there were a lot of guys who fitted into all four categories. The latter category were less numerous but plenty fitted into two or three of your categories. Remember there were also tourists, jealous hippy boyfriends, hangers-on and bag thieving scroats but I guess they are an irrelevancy nowadays.

Your stock answer was the right answer. Normally, people would pick it up by observing other dancers. Dance classes are for hopeless cases who are clueless about the music and too dim to work things out by themselves.

Apparently Sharon's school is about to be closed down by Ofstep...

Where's anybody going to find a mint Judy Street in 2014? The vast majority are in collections and will never be sold. I paid John £200 for my copy over ten years ago so the current price tag is about right for this classic sound. Try finding one at a soul night and I think you'll be disappointed for a long time.

He should have already had plenty of soulful experiences in the womb. Studies show that babies exposed to music prior to being born are happier and healthier. The trick is to to now sit back and hope he finds his way through the maze. He already has a massive advantage in life, living in a soulful household, so sooner or later he should catch on to what is the best music out there. Just keep him away from Frank Wilson and he should turn out Okeh...

Manship #6 puts Joeys Dee at £50, but good though the track is, I doubt if you could sell it for £40 so £35 tops. Missed out on a mint USA one a few months back for under $20 but wasn't too bothered.

I blame Bruce Forsyth and the BBC...

Perhaps we should re-name the upstairs kiosk at Wigan the Boot Room? Keith Minshall must have shifted half of Simon Soussan's product via this emporium. In those days, no one really bothered about OVO as the sound was more important than the format.

I have Russ saying this on a live tape dated 31/4/74, ' anybody want a copy of that, seven quid' - Dana Valery was played at least five times in the main room at Wigan that night.

The £100 bidder with 100% bid activity looks mighty suspicious. The bids are totally senseless given the record has been described as a reissue.

Not sure re all the fine details but you can gift money up to a certain limit annually and avoid capital transfer tax. You can also buy a Will Form and complete it yourself without a solicitor being involved hence saving money to spend on more records...

Ah ha, the asset transfer bequest scenario. Not sure you need to value the collection at all. Better the value is as low as possible to avoid inheritance tax. Better still, gift the collection to the missus seven years or more before you die to avoid death duties. Ultimately, the collection is worth what your family can sell it for after you have passed on - ideally, you would price the items up individually ahead of time, particularly the most valuable, as these are more likely to realise a higher proportion of their notional worth. Records sold in a hurry realise lower prices - always best to sell patiently in well planned lots to achieve optimal revenue.

Frank Wilson - Do I Have To Keep Hearing This Song... Seriously, Brenda Holloway - Reconsider would be my pick of the 30 or so really rare or unreleased tracks in the Motown Northern archives that have been on the circuit for the last decade.

An interesting question but the answer depends on the purpose of the valuation and how mint the records are. If you are planning to sell the collection, you would do well to get 60% of the valuation whereas an insurance appraisal would more flexible according to the coverage you wanted for the premium paid. I would do as Bearsy said and price them up individually according to condition but if they are all mint or VG++ then go with the book price. Alternatively, just list the most valuable sounds say above £100 and value this part of the collection more precisely. Next, estimate how many records fall into categories such as cheap (£10-20), pricier (£25-50), valuable (£60-90) and do a ball-park calculation for each category. If thinking of selling, the collection can then be treated as a set of smaller collections with different re-sale conditions applying. Hope this helps.

Carl - thanks for the rapid response. Redemption awaits you, just attend a few soul nights and all will be forgiven. Despite the proliferation of small venues ie clubs, the rare soul scene essentially remains underground and the masses are unaware of it - this is how it evolved, and ideally, will remain. Northern Soul is for the tiny minority who seek it out so let's keep it from going mainstream. The tape dated 31/3/74 kicks off with the Olympics 'Same Old Thing' followed by Velvet Satins, Devonnes, Lee Andrews, Gwen and Ray... then ends with Junior Walker 'I Ain't Going Nowhere'.

Carl, Man of you to own up. You are evidently a soulful guy but you can achieve this state of nirvana at any half decent venue every weekend in Britain. Keeping The Faith means just that, not smearing it across the TV screens because you reckon you are 'better than the person next to' you. The BBC was out of order dressing the presenters as clowns and to get a young soulie do a backdrop for a biscuit was dog-training at its demeaning worst. You all looked stupid in the wrong setting and should be ashamed for dragging the scene down a notch. This weekend I shall be celebrating my 40th anniversary of starting the journey at The Casino by listening to a live tape made that night in March 1974 - appreciating good soul music is a personal thing, best expressed in the clubs where it is rooted and in the company of fellow soulies, hopefully something that won't change. On this occasion, you let your 'media head' over-rule your 'soulful heart' and and exposed the scene to ridicule...

My World Was Empty Without You...

Not aware of this seller but am interested as I collect Texas labels. Houston is a poor city for finding records but a few years back, there were reputedly tons in storage. Given the importance of the recording industry there, it is odd that more records haven't emerged from Houston. Bud Harper has cropped up a few times lately but via different sellers.