bobkayli

Has anyone experienced buying records post-Brexit? I see eBay listings mentioning 20% UK vat to pay on EU listings with duty also on over £135 purchases. I’m wondering also what discogs and other sites will do. Will the postman be collecting these taxes when delivered? Any experience would be appreciated.

Thanks for coming back with an honest, review John. Besides the price, my quibble was with the claims the publicity made for the book. To state it as complete and immaculate seemed false pretences. Especially when the publicity itself had obvious errors. As you suggest as an author yourself, such claims are impossible to realise in practice. If you don’t mind me asking, Out of interest, how many countries are covered in the book? Are countries like Taiwan and Yugoslavia covered? Is any African product shown?

Hmm... the authors need to be careful before calling something 'immaculately researched'. The very first record described in their write-up above was released on Columbia and not Stateside as mentioned (The Big, Big Sound from Detroit.. French compilation). Also the French EMI distributor, Pathé Marconi, dates release of this album as 1965 not 1964 as stated above (and on Discogs). It was part of a January 1965 release schedule including several Columbia label EPs as advance promotion for the upcoming French launch of the Tamla Motown label and Motortown Revue concert at Paris Olympia in April 1965. The claim for Tamla Motown Worldwide to be the 'first and only book that gathers together all the original vinyl albums which the mighty MOTOWN corporation has released in the USA and other countries during the 1960s,' seems also ambitious. I've collected for years and am still discovering stuff. If Discogs is their source, this is far from complete. i'd have to buy the book to check out the claim but the price is too high. Sorry to sound pedantic, but a cover price of 48 euros is being asked for under what seem to be dubious pretences.

i look forward to new stuff on Motown too, but i can't see anything new in the review. some questions: - was the Tamla Motown label founded in 1960? i thought it started in 1965 and Motown Record company started in 1959 - three pounds for a motown chartbusters LP? i remember them costing £1 17s 6d! i couldn't have afforded £3... - what is in the book? the clips given don't say anything not already said elsewhere.

As a simple punter and also collector I don’t think much will change. We all have our own views with their own validity. Personally if a DJ plays bootlegs, I’m not interested in listening to it and will go to another room. A skilled dj should be able to operate inside the law. Reissues I accept but over reliance on the commonly available reissues really isn’t that skilled. Ovo will always be my preferred listening. Often I have to travel good distances to attend events. Hearing sounds I would never be able to hear otherwise is one of the pleasures that make the trip worthwhile. The so called millionaire djs have their place in this respect as well as the dj that puts together his own take on achieving a sound.

Thinking of buying a copy but read cautionary tales about it. quite a few for sale on discogs but am told that the yellow label Highland stock copy has been booted. Is there a way of identifying a genuine from the boot? looking at the promo copy, the admirable Brad Hales has a VG+ copy at $80 which sounds fair. However I would prefer near mint if poss. There is an NM copy but the guy wants £250 for it. Is that a realistic price? Popsike and discogs sales history place it at half that and lower. any thoughts for a willing but troubled buyer?

Wile I go along with the noble intent of the film, i didn't find it all a pleasant film to watch. Sadistic violence was stretched over a long part of the film. There were only 8 people at the viewing I sat thru, one person walked out halfway thru and the lady I was with wanted to do the same and only stayed the course out of respect for me. It really was seriously overdone and took away time that could have been used to explore many of the other troubling strands of this awful tale notably the police investigation and the court case for which the film short changes us imo.. the Adaptation of the Dramatics story in order to create a sense of reaction to Motown being considered to have sold out to the establishment also casts a doubt on the credibility on the film. I've heard the sentiment expressed before but it doesn't fit the facts in this particular case. If this bit was adapted, how much of the rest was based on truth? Much as I would like to recommend the film as a lover of the city, its music and the civil rights movement, I really can't bring myself to do so.

i agree that a lot of the prices are top heavy. A lot of the lower end records tend to be available much cheaper. However the really rare stuff (i'd say £250 and upwards) comes up so occasionally, the price guide is not relevant. If you want the record, you have to pay for it. many times the seller talks even higher than Manship although also some talk less. That was the point i was trying clumsily to make. As you say discogs and popsike can be useful but often the record has never been sold or not recently. I also have my doubts about some of popssike entries.

I suppose its worth depends where you approach it from. Yes as a book it is expensive although it was a late birthday present for me so i didn't have to fork out for it myself. as a guide to Northern Soul vinyl, it is as comprehensive as I've seen. Certainly will help me to know better what I'm buying so will pay for itself quickly. I can imagine those who know the scene better than me will criticise it. As for the prices, it is a guide so the prices are to be taken with a pinch of salt. Some look ludicrously low, there are a lot that seem very top heavy. In the end people will pay what they think something is worth to them. I find the main problem with the rarer stuff is just finding the record in the first place, as I'm not likely to see it again, the price tends to be what it is (within reason and a bit of good natured haggling) I see lots of dealers price above Manship anyway.

Just arrived in the morning post. Poor old postman nearly had a hernia carrying it. It weighs a ton! First flick thru shows a lot of new features. an LP section and pages of label scans. Original presses, bootleg presses and a variety of collectors showing off their stuff. Worth waiting for!

RIP Prince. Ten Commandments Of Love is still one of my favourite records. maybe not politically correct today but summed up many of the attitudes behind bluebeat. sat here stupidly smiling at my iPad thinking about it.

Last Popsike sales are in 2013. The prices from that year go from 100 to 133 pounds for excellent condition records

Hopefully this time my photo will load. Two obvious differences from the copy shown above, plain white background but also mine has a name and address printed in the bottom right corner. Colin Duffield living in Sheffield .

Sent the Manship Mail advertising the book hopefully to my wife without comment. seems my birthday present is sorted so feeling quite chuffed! however she hasn't let drop yet what she expects in return....

Do you know where I could find a copy of the advert? Sounds interesting.

Have this poster on my wall. Does anyone know anything about the concert? seems to be at the city hall. Sorry poster didn't come thru. It is for a Jr walker concert under the mojo logo at the Sheffield city hall. Cost ten Bob to get in.

Thierry the record is a promo only LP. The reference number includes the letters HC which indicates it is hors commerce. it was issued to coincide with the launch of the Tamla Motown label in France and was presented at a press launch in Paris on the day of the Motortown review concert at Olympic in April 1965. My copy came from the collection of Jean jacques timmel who was international manager for Pathe Marconi at the time who distributed the label in France. the musician listing mentioned above for the tour sounds right.

supremes sweden 516.tif supremes denmark 1013.tif

The TMG reference seems to have been used in the smaller markets that EMI distributed to from time to time and corresponds to the UK numbering. Maybe because the smaller markets weren't always structured to handle a release so it was managed from EMI. See below Supremes picture sleeves distributed by Skandinavisk Grammophon in Sweden and Denmark using TMG rather TMK. I think K=Krone since Sweden and Denmark are Krone currency markets. Same record, same distributor, different sleeves. Come See About Me was distributed in Denmark as Stateside KSS 1013. Here the K comes into play. I'm uploading the sleeves separately to ensure they load as the files are quite large. supremes denmark 516.tif

You're probably right Alan, it makes sense.

Also to add that EMI were incredibly methodical in their approach to numbering their output as Beatles collectors would testify with EMIs system of matrix numbers and stamper and master references in the run out groove being fundamental in dating and valuing their 60s Parlophone output. Outside UK EMI set up it's own referencing system in 1969 as it expanded further into European markets. Effectively there are 3 references in 1. A first number representing the country (1= Germany, 2= France and so on), a 2nd group of one letter and three numbers representing the format (C006 = 45s, C062 = LPs etc.) and a 5 digit reference number with the first two digits being the year (90= 1969, 91= 1970 etc.) and the last three being unique identifiers for the record itself. Presumably it was done to give precise information for their stocking and cataloging systems at the time but gives a lot of information to today's collector. The only downside is that the references are for all EMI product distributed in the region so there is no sequence to follow for a labels output by countrywhich would make it easier to follow for a label collector. so for example 2C062.90298 is the Four Tops Now LP French edition from 1969, 1C006-90768 is Jr Walkers These Eyes 45 Germany in from 1969, 5C006-90741 is Marv Johnson Sleep little one from Holland in 1969. just some of the minutiae I've picked up in years of European record collecting.....

Just to add that the three letter reference for 45s and four letter reference for LPs beginning with TM tended to be used where EMI distributed. They seem to me to represent countries or regions where possible G for GB, F for France, O for Oz (maybe?), K for Krone (Swedish currency). India seems a strange mix of UK references and local. Does the E in ETM mean Eastern for example? I have copies of Pathe Marconi (an EMI subsidiary) references used in France for all their issues. They all follow a pattern so seem to be led by Pathe rather than an individual label such as Motown, Liberty and the others they distributed. Some of the other examples quoted are different distributors. The italian references were used by Durium, the German by CBS although isn't GO Dutch rather than German (distributed by Artone)? The Spanish was RCA. EMI didn't distribute in these countries until much later. Seeing the different types of prefix suggests that the local distributor had more influence on this than Motown itself. Even in the UK, in the early days EMI wouldn't have let Motown lead the dance. Motown needed EMI more than the other way around to get themselves established. EMI were the establishment at the time as far as UK music was concerned.

Some are overpriced and some not, as you say, they can often be picked up cheaper at record fairs. An underpriced Example would be the Chris Clark French EP at 25 euro.... I'd buy a box load at that price any day... i bought my copy of Daniels book from him a long time ago. It is well done but there are lots of omissions and only EPs, 45s are not covered. Also the sleeves are in black and white only. It was good as a start point but the jukebox series has the edge.

Jukebox Magazine has published an argus in several volumes of all non-French language 60s picture sleeve releases over five volumes. If you contact Jacques Leblanc, he can surely provide a copy. It covers all genres but the soul releases are very well covered. Very few are missed. The Argus has a colour picture of the sleeve with a track listing, reference number, year of release and price guide. The prices are sometimes questionable (both up and down) but with rare records in all countries that is often the case. Daniel Delorme made also a similar book a long time ago covering only black American EPs released in France. However it had no prices and had quite a lot of omissions and no prices. Fabulous EPs it's called and shows up on eBay from time to time.