Mickey Finn

Good question, to which the answer is ... not a lot! Her one single featured two sides both produced by Howard King and Ed Moore of the group Mtume. James Mtume and Reggie Lucas executive produced it, suggesting they were backing her for greater things. Possibly RCA's signing of Diana Ross in May 1981 derailed those plans. Mtume and Lucas had other production projects ongoing around this time (Stephanie Mills, Marc Sadane, Spinners, Lou Rawls, Sunfire) so possibly they were just too committed otherwise. "Since I found you" was popular on the rare groove scene (and is featured in volume 2 of Dez Parkes' series of "Rare" comps, in addition to volume 3 of Soul Brother's "Groove on down" series) whereas "I wanna feel your love" is a staple on the continental boogie/funk scene, among other places.

Some years ago I posted a few wants and then got notification of copies available from sellers who clearly targeted such listings with prices asking for stupid money. For that reason I went back to checking 2 or 3 times a day. It's possible that Discogs' reformatted version is not as complete as its predecessor. Many of my Discogs mailbox records have just disappeared without any warning, more than once. That's annoying when, for example, I go looking for a mail delivery code sent via Discogs messaging. That's how quickly those communications can disappear. Meanwhile, I did a random check on this title: https://www.discogs.com/master/963931-Mighty-Pope-The-Mighty-Pope It's fetching some decent money depending on condition and generosity of the seller. It says that there are 136 people on Discogs with a copy in their collection, and 390 who have it on their wants list. There's no record of average sale price, lowest sale price, highest sale price, last time sold, etc. Yet when I go to the page for this rather suspect French compilation, it's all there: https://www.discogs.com/release/4055995-Various-Magnetik-Soul-Collector-1 As was discussed on here a while back, I don't think Discogs' recent makeover has been successful. My suspicion is that some of the added features demand too much processing power and/or memory so cuts elsewhere are being made to compensate for that. Better informed people can confirm or deny.

This book is now almost 3 years old and contains a lot of information about the London scene. It's not the easiest read if you're looking for a straightforward story from A to Z. It might be better as a reference book you dip into here and there, but that would require a proper index for that to work properly. I don't blame the author, who has tried to make sense of a very complex story of the organic growth and development of an underground scene that certainly had its leaders but, as is often the case, only retrospectively do some of those leaders get identified as significant while others are unfairly forgotten. How can it be otherwise unless there's more books, articles and blogs of this nature to come. The London scene alone was/is huge and would probably require volumes to get a proper handle on it, but this is a good start and even if you disagree with the author DJ DSL, he's given you something to disagree with and go develop an alternative version. The book was published by the Dance Radio Network. There's a FB page here: https://www.facebook.com/danceradionetwork.net/

We talked about this dispute on here a while back when discussing Norman's book, which doesn't mention Sharpe. I don't think it matters in any case. He was certainly a leading light. For me personally, and many others, Norman's work is what we were following at the time and I owe him a musical education. For those who feel similarly about Barrie K Sharpe, fair play to them. I mentioned Dez Parkes because he's someone else who deserves a lot of credit for lifting the scene. As a wise man on here once taught me, "credit where it's due, it's all you can do"

Norman Jay seems to have been a leading light in that scene via his pirate radio shows and a Monday night residence at the Bass Clef in London for several years during the late 80s/early 90s. That's certainly the kind of "rare groove" I learned at the time and those Dez Parkes comps on Arista were a fair reflection of that particular scene (and apparently quite collectable today - some proper rarities on them).

According to this, 81: Clash Magazine Music News, Reviews & InterviewsSeminal UK Soul DJ Chris Hill Has Died | News | Clash Mag...Influential UK soul DJ Chris Hill has died. News of the DJ's death was confirmed today (September 11th) through multiple sources; Chris Hill is said to

The Jones Girls backed Lamont Dozier on his 1976 LP Right There (Wild frame of mind) and for Lou Rawls a year later (What’s the matter with the world). The Dells are credited on LV Johnson’s 1989 LP Cold and Mean.

An amazing catalogue of music, including film soundtracks. He was also a contributor to the jazz funk sound during the late 70s:

Horses for courses. If you have soul police CCTV showing everyone what's on the decks then there's less need for chat, but no harm if it's informative, entertaining or generally positive - enthuasiasm is usually infectious. As long as the music stays front and centre, there's no harm done. And while most of us might know most of the sounds, catching a stray punter is always a possibility and shouldn't be forgotten. And for those of us with Alzheimer's, it's good to be reminded sometimes.

My condolences to his family and friends. His sets were always among the most interesting and enjoyable of anyone's and he carried himself with style. Poorer for having lost him, richer for having had him. RIP.

As a regular at the Whitby July weekender since 2014, I'm very sorry to read this. He seemed to radiate calm and good humour and wore his obviously deep knowledge of the music very lightly. That guest appearance by Spyder Turner was hilarious as Spyder did various impersonations of other soul singers, including a very convincing Chuck Jackson. Many thanks and much respect for making our summers so much more enjoyable for so many years. RIP.

... and former Heatwave frontman Johnnie Wilder, Jr. with this from 1988:

Two artists who went from secular to sacred on the same Light Records label: Beau Williams and a great version of the Sam Cooke classic from 1991:

A true professional, whose job as a radio presenter he was able to use as a way of introducing people to the music that was his first love. Mr Blackburn is another, despite their very different styles. The Lennon interview was an amazing piece of luck. From memory, there was a write-in type of discussion show on Radio 1 on Sundays (Studio B15, presented by Adrian Love?) and someone wrote in asking "What's happened to John Lennon?" From that came the interview recordings and book. RIP.

What a terrific show that is, and at any time of year.