Mickey Finn

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.

Thanks Peter, and the same from me to the moderators and all who contribute. Stay well, stay safe.

This appeared in a recent issue of Private Eye magazine (no. 1632, September):

Derek Mead has been championing this in recent years, and deservedly so - great version:

During the mid 70s majors like Columbia (Herbie Hancock) along with locals like EastWest released a lot of straight jazz in Japan, much of it recorded in the US. Japan seems to have had enough crude to avoid the rationing apparently happening elsewhere.

Thanks for posting this good news - very glad you are making progress and that you can feel it. Also that these amazing people continue to perform miracles every day despite the enormous pressures they face. All of us are going to need them at some time or other!

Years ago I heard an interview with jazz trumpeter Eddie Henderson who said that his run of albums on Capitol came to an end in 1979 due to the second oil crisis affecting vinyl production costs and forcing record companies to cut back on releases.

Expansion have been particularly vinyl-oriented in recent years. Copies of Bobby Hutton's album on vinyl can be found here: https://soulbrother.com/shop/a-piece-of-the-action-pre-order-due-6-sept/ or here https://www.firstexperiencerecords.com/product/bobby-hutton-piece-of-the-action-lp-vinyl-pre-order-in-stock-6-9-24/ For the singles check out https://www.firstexperiencerecords.com/product/bobby-hutton-loving-you-needing-you-loving-you-wanting-you-watch-where-youre-going-7-vinyl-pre-order-in-stock-6-9-24/ https://www.firstexperiencerecords.com/product/booby-hutton-lend-a-hand-come-see-whats-left-of-me-7-vinyl-pre-order-in-stock-6-9-24/ https://soulbrother.com/shop/lend-a-hand-come-see-whats-left-of-me-pre-order-due-august/ https://soulbrother.com/shop/loving-you-needing-you-loving-you-wanting-you-watch-where-youre-going-pre-order-due-august/ All in stock at the time of posting.

It's very encouraging to see this finally reissued. For some years any hope of ABC albums being reissued was lost due to a fire that consumed the master tapes. I don't know what source was used for this reissue but there are people who can perform miracles by patiently removing hiss and crackles from whatever decent enough source is available. The ABC catalogue has quite a few strong candidates for reissue, including Chuck Jackson "Through all times" and Charles Mann "Say you love me too"

Wade Flemons - Jeanette Skip Mahoney - Janice (don’t be so blind to love) Four Tops - Just walk away Renee

That's a strong line-up, only Trina Broussard is missing from my collection. Some others in my top list include Change - Miracles Charles Jackson - Passionate Breezes Walter Jackson - Good to see you Bobby Womack - Someday we'll all be free & Roads of Life Nancy Wilson - Lady with a song Sister Sledge - We are family George Benson - Give me the night

They are beautifully produced and well worth the pennies. Much appreciation to David Nathan and the team for these excellent reissues.

The Guardian has a decent obituary: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2024/aug/15/maurice-williams-obituary

All the best to you, Mark