Peter Richer

Don't mean to be rude Garry, but what exactly does that mean? There are a lot of great, 'underplayed' and collectable records in Kev Roberts' first Top 500 book. Examples, which a lot of serious collectors would love (and I would personally be proud to own or play out - especially at ovo events), include: Cairos Eddie Parker Del Larks Al Williams Johnny Hampton Don Gardner Willie Hutch Debonairs Eddie Daye Melvin Davis Joe Matthews People's Choice Empires Masqueraders - DYLMB Pat Lewis - NOTL Ivorys Inspirations - NOECTYP Lillie Bryant Dean Courtney - LYJCWA Tamala Lewis Frankie Beverly - BOMH Candi Staton - NYGTUH JoAnn Courcy Eula Cooper De-Lites Jackie Beavers - INMB Professionals Larry Clinton - and that's not even counting many of the cheaper items. Plus, from Kev's 'bubbling under' selection: Inspirations - YWIMC Donna King Rita & Tiaras Norma Jenkins Yvonne Vernee Lynne Vernado - WAWL Just Brothers - Carlena Ellusions Gwen Owens - YWAN And then, there are those that I, personally, don't even like much: Mr. Soul Magnetics - LIG (love HYMOS though!) Jimmy Burns John & Wierdest Billy Woods William Powell Damon Fox George Pepp Tommy Ridgley OK, so they are not new discoveries, or unknowns, but (especially at ovo events where they are none too common) they are generally very welcome additions to the playlist. Granted, at 'upfront' all-nighters they are not going to dominate the sets of Butch or Mick H. etc., but these records (and others) are worthy of significant respect.

This is almost like the alter-ego of the Mello Souls thread. Not that you can't like both of course. Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Ha ha - love it!

Loads of great cheap classics of course. Jackie Wilson is good for a few, and I'd pick Whispers with it being not far off a fiver. Then there's some terrific northern on Motown - love Martha & Vandellas, and both One Way Out and Gotta Let You Go have been favourites for a long time.

No, it's definitely not just you, I have several inadvertent doubles. I think the last one was Eddie Holland - Just A Few More Days - Motown. Don't think I deserve a buggering as punishment though!

Just to let you know - It's up on the auction site now. OK bidders ... off you go ...

While we're on the subject, it is also very annoying when someone puts up a want for something like, say, 'Dena Barnes', and that is the only information they put in the body of their post too. Nobody knows whether they want an issue, or a demo; maybe a bootleg; perhaps they want a legit reissue such as a Grapevine; or whatever. It then takes umpteen further posts to find out what the hell they're after. Or worse still, it wastes the time and effort of genuine people who tried to be helpful by digging out a record, checking condition, play grading it, deciding on a price, then writing a detailed PM. Only to be told something like 'Jesus Christ mate, I can't afford £400, I was only looking to pay a tenner'.

Ah right, I see now. You'd already corrected the problem by the time we saw your notification. Yes, titles that just say 'want' are very annoying. Always better to have some sort of indication as to what it is they're after (same with sales too). Cheers

I was wondering that too. Is there some obscure infringement here?

...errr, wasn't that kind of the thrust of my last comment ... with an attempt at a dash of 'humour'?! A difficult demo nonetheless though, and looks good too.

To help us get Al Wilson out of our heads, I'm sure we can all think of loads of fantastic white demos on the Motown labels and Atlantic. Even these two: Miracles - Tears Of A Clown, and Soul Brothers Six - I'll Be Loving You are very decent collectors' pieces.

Oh, and how can we forget: Al Wilson - The Snake - Soul City ... seriously, please, how can we forget ... any suggestions most gratefully received?!!

Good topic! Many absolute classics fall into this category. A few nice examples: Mamie Galore - It Ain't Necessary - St. Lawrence Spyder Turner - I Can't Make It Anymore - MGM (although this is, of course, yellow) Darrell Banks (both of them) - Revilot Precisions - If This Is Love - Drew Epitome Of Sound - You Don't Love Me - Sandbag (although the issue is actually quite expensive now) Gloria Jones - Tainted Love - Champion (also getting a bit pricey on issue) Jackie Lee - Oh, My Darlin' - Mirwood

Didn't think you were being stupid at all. I was actually hoping there may indeed be a useful book out there which I wasn't aware of ... I would have found one very interesting. Over to the main dealers with longstanding databases - John, Tim, Pat etc. - time you got cracking on an LP guide guys. First one to get a decent book out is likely to get plenty of kudos ... plus, of course, rake in the cash!!

Just out of interest, are there actually any book prices (geared towards the northern soul collector market) for LPs? Which 'book' please? I'm not reaIly as up on LPs as perhaps I should be, and might like to buy one.

That's fine, and fair play to them (and the effect they have on the market ... increasing demand for certain tunes). In the north east of England, however, there are far too many playing boots rather than originals (even at the cheaper end), so I wish there were more 'genuine' collectors dominating the decks. The bootleg Billys out there are probably distorting the market for reissues in the same way - just look at the £100+ that the Duke Browner recently went for, as one such example. Ultimately, there will be good days and bad days with selling prices. There is no set value, just guide prices with adaptations for trends in demand and the application of experience; plus the odd freak result either up (nice result for the seller), or down (a bargain!).

... except of course he didn't. It was bought by someone else - and it's another big record that leaves the shores of Blighty.

Quite right. Credit to Mike Powell and that terrific long jump competition at the world championships in Tokyo (where he had to break the record to win the title). Mike has now held the record for almost as long as Bob Beamon did. Shame to ruin an almost funny joke with facts though. Although, of course, being a GB athletics fan, perhaps the answer should be 17 years ... in tribute to Jonathan Edwards!

Definitely played at the Howard Mallet in Cambridge in the late 70s. Tony Dellar played lots of classy records before they went big elsewhere. Another obvious example would be the Metros - Since I Found My Baby.

Cheers Nev, I'll remember that in future. But for today I decided I'd like your post instead.

I'm now showing as added to the list because I just pressed the 'like' button by mistake ... as I was looking to see who else liked it! Doh!! Not that I don't like the record - though not my favourite Shrine by a long way.

You're probably right there. Except (again bringing things back to the original point of this thread), it would still be madness if an identical copy was simultaneously available from JM, Pat Brady, or Anglo for £40.

And that all sounds perfectly reasonable. However, bringing it back to the original point of the thread, would you still have made the £150 offer if the same record (in the same condition) was immediately available from a trusted and respected top-end dealer for, say, £125?

In which case, I refer you to my original post which opened this thread!

Not sure I understand what you're getting at here. Last time I looked, all the top dealers took credit cards too. So why pay more on an e-bay auction than you'd need to, the same day, from a reliable dealer?