JOMT

Another talent gone. Listened to his Mercury sides first (Moody woman, What’s the use of breaking up, You walked into my life) and later on moved to his Vee-Jay stuff. “I don’t want to hear it anymore” is a particular favourite (still need that sleeve!) RIP

It was really nice to meet you there Hans. Thanks for the shows! I’ll give them a listen in a couple weeks when I’m ready for it. Lovely to share our memories of Timmy together.

Timmy didn’t like social media but he DID like this forum. And although I’m not a regular poster on here, I’d like to share a couple of personal memories from my friendship with Timmy. I first met Timmy at a ska concert in an upstairs pub in Antwerp (my home town) in 1989. Timmy was the dj that night and I was impressed by his selection (6t’s ska and reggae). After I introduced myself to him, I realized he was the guy who had published the Rough & Tough fanzine (one issue) that me and my mate had bought in Brussels just a couple of weeks before. Through that magazine we discovered that there was another skinhead who had the same interests, style and attitude that we had. What a relief! We even wrote him a letter (that he hadn’t replied). I hung around the dj booth for the entire night. At one point, a big oi skinhead requested “Return of the ugly”. Timmy nodded and played a bit later “Return of the ugly” by …. The Upsetters, not the Bad Manners tune the guy was refering to … I was probably the only guy that night who got that joke! A friendship was born. In February 1990, he organized a ska and reggae night in his home town, Brussels. Me and the lads from Antwerp attended and stayed until the very end. I eventually ended up crashing at Timmy’s place after a long walk through the streets of Brussels. We spent the next day listening to records and I probably bought my first record of him. Many would follow over the years. We got pretty close and “a lot of fun was had” as they say. On his first visit to my parent’s place we did our “can you give a hand” routine. This meant Timmy would remove his prostethic arm and hand it over to the person in need of “a hand” … The look on my mum’s face! We started going on regular record hunting trips to London where on Thursday nights we would go to Gaz Mayall’s club at Gossips after having spend the entire afternoon at Bob Brooks’ (small but mighty) Reggae Revive shop at the back of Honest Johns on Portobello Road. We saw Derrick Morgan in concert at Gaz’s but also Justin Hines who made a big impression on us! Timmy was already into soul from the very start (as featured in his fanzine) and I also had a couple of Kent albums and soul 45s. As time went by, he was getting deeper and deeper into soul and he finally sold his ska/reggae collection (most of it to me, soul trades were involved of course). All the money was invested straight into soul. His skinhead days were also behind him by now. We still went to London and visited the 100 Club on a couple of occassions. We absolutely loved it. I remember chats with Mick Smith, entire sets with tunes we had never ever heard (Butch?) and a legendary X-mas allnighter where we danced our feet off until we had to catch the bus back home in the early hours. Timmy was a real digger and unearthed many, many great 45s in the US and Canada but also in our own tiny Belgium. He often found multiple copies and found for example two 100 count boxes (at least) of Jesse James’ “I you want a love affair”. That was probably in the early or mid 90s. I became his record seller in Antwerp where I supplied great r&b and soul 45s to our mod friends. I got a percentage for every 45 I sold and was paid in records His passion for rare soul was legendary. His great taste was a guide for a lot of his friends, including me. If Timmy liked it, and we weren’t sure at first, we would give it a second and third listen because we knew it was quality (and would probably kick ourselves later on for missing it). Two notable 45s that slipped through my fingers, due to lack of money on these occassions, were Betty Lloyd and the Tangeers … Timmy was more a collector than a dj and his integrity (and stubbornness …) might have held him back from becoming a “succesful international” dj (which he wasn’t striving for). He always played what he wanted to hear himself and he didn’t neccessarily want to please a crowd. There are so many tunes I wanted to hear him play out but he didn’t . I do remember many great sets though e.g. at a Northern soul allnighter in Paris where he played along @Ady Croasdel. The picture I have uploaded (hope it worked) is from that night and I think he had just played a cheap but great O’Jays 45 from their Bell period. Another memorable set was also in Paris (in 2008) where we dj’d at the Agro & Smart party. I played Jamaican sounds and he played everything on the soul side of things, including ballads to drunken skins, one of which was wearing a Combat 84 t-shirt and army pants . Provocative ? Yes, he definitely could be our Timmy (remember that party @Rom1?) Our return by car didn’t go as planned as there was no gps yet and I forgot the road map at home. This meant we got out of Paris on the wrong side of the Périphérique (Ring Road) so we lost a lot of time and almost ran out of fuel (we had to leave the motorway in the middle of nowhere to find a petrol station, laughs and despairs). Quality was Timmy’s only guideline in purchasing records, not price or rarity. He disliked people following trends as he relied on his own (impeccable) taste to make up his mind. He spoke highly of people like @Roger Banks for following their own path during all these years. In recent years he had been sending me 30 min. “tapes” again (well a digital variation of it) and I was slowly getting (even) more acquainted with his great collection. He played me B-sides, alternate versions and even “classics” that I was unaware of. Mindblowing stuff. These tapes were always accompanied by his liner notes which I thoroughly enjoyed as Timmy had a way with words. This is another part I’m gonna miss about him. Given the chance, I would have loved to document his collection, as a legacy and even a guideline for future purchases. He always knew which press to get, sometimes it would be the demo, or the regular as it looked prettier, or a particular pressing plant because it sounded way better on his custom/home built stereo. That was another one of his strenghts, his perseverance to get the best out of his records by adapting his home stereo for maximum result. And it worked! I was always as happy as a kid if I could play him a 45 he didn’t know or he had forgotten about (sometimes a B-side he somehow missed). But ever so often he would point out why he didn’t like a particular tune I played him. And even if was a rare tune, he would point out why it was rare … because it just wasn’t good enough! And to my despair, he was right in general pointing out weak vocals or arrangements. He wasn’t after trophy tunes, he was after good music and he would often buy a 45 for the not so obvious, but much better, flipside. True passion. Timmy had a huge influence on me as a youngster and I have always valued his opinion on music and on life in general even though we didn’t always agree. There are of course a lot more stories I could tell from the 35 year period that we knew each other. There were years that we hardly saw each other (family life) but we could always count on each other. He helped us out in a difficult period by providing us a much needed testimonial for court purposes. The last couple of years our conversations were more diverse and not only music oriented … but it always ended in “music talk”. Timmy was a deep, knowledgeable, honest, generous, passionate, humble and fun person. He will always be in my life because I’m surrounded by memories of him, through the records I bought of him (or he gave me), listening to the music we loved, looking at the picture frame he offered me or listening to a Fingerpoppinsoul From Amsterdam show on Mixcloud where he was invited to by his friends Hans and Harry (e.g. episode #1541, 18 05 2023). On Tuesday, me and many friends will say goodbye to Timmy, (or “Tiny” Tim as he used to call himself). Since he passed away last week, I’ve been struggling every day with his loss and I’m sure I’m not alone. I had to get these words of my chest, hope you don’t mind me posting these here. The next Northern soul party in Leuven in March will be emotional. Timmy was the regular guest dj there and sadly had to miss the last one due to his illness. Those parties and many others will never be the same again and I will also miss his posts here on Soul Source. Later on tonight I’ll play “Save a bread” by Justin Hines & the Dominoes, a track Timmy particularly liked … and I’ll shed another tear. Kris Van Beethoven, Antwerp PS: I dug up the poster of the ska and reggae night he organised on the 9th of February 1990 (as mentioned above). This is what it says and which is typically Timmy (BTW: He used to wear a black glove over his prostethic hand.) “The black glove strikes again so this time choose your groove, get on the move !!!” YEP! Smart dress, fun, dance, tough sounds, drinks. NOPE! Dirty look, fuss&fight, no-Soul people. Dj: Tiny Timmy and his boss sound.

Big Maybelle for sure. The only version that brings tears to my eyes.

Damn! What a great singer. Got quite hooked on him at one point and bought as many (mainly) Awnd 45s I could get my hands on. Have fantastic scooter rally memories dancing away to “I only get this feeling”. RIP

Excellent. Only know/have one of her 45s so will definitely be checking out the others.

Very sad news. One of the first soul artists I listened to. RIP.

Probably Gene Drayton Unit.

Two 45s for sale in great condition: Jimmy Jones: 39-21-40 / Personal property (US Bell promo) small writing on labels (see pic, same on both sides) Ex+ £40 (seen @ £75) Bobby Hanna: Everybody needs love (Belgian Decca) small stain on labels (see pic) Ex+ £23 (great version!) P&P extra at cost. Paypal as friends/family. I can ship from the UK in 2 weeks time (so trouble free!). I can ship from the EU all the time (from Belgium) Thanks for looking.

Couldn’t agree more!

One more reggae: Five card stud by King Cannon.

Little Anthony for me! It’s a great version and the Dutch picture sleeve is lovely. I do appreciate the Philly Devotions’ one if I want to shuffle my feet.

No soul songs but here are a couple of (early) reggae ones (incl ska, rocksteady) for inspiration: Derrick Morgan - No dice Hortense & Alton - Don’t gamble with love (ballad) King Cry Cry (Prince Far I) - Deck of cards King CC - Rasta poker Jimmy Cliff - One eyed jacks Young Freddie (McGregor) - Drink and gamble Nat Cole - Pack of cards Lynn Taitt & the Jets - El Casino Royale Shenley Duffus - A Bet cha don’t know Basil Gabbidon - I bet you don’t know Don Dummond - Lucky seven The Techniques - Love is a gamble King Edwards - Russian roulette The Pioneers - Jackpot The Maytals - Domino Sound Dimension - Straight flush Don Drummond - Ruyal flush The Kilowatts - Slot machine Candy - Ace of hearts Owen Gray - Tumblin’ dice And some interesting labels of course: Dice, Jackpot, Spade Records, …

Edwin, the soul master.

Connie Questel is on the Soul Class of 66 album on Kent but vinyl only I’m afraid.