Sean Hampsey

Sad news. Geoff B summed it up perfectly. One of my earliest introductions to Soul. A giant of a Soul Singer. Rest In Peace. Sean

Nice one John. I'll stick it on while sorting records for Yarmouth! Cheers, Sean

Played by me first time out at the wonderful Soul Essence! Great record and excellent CD. I met her nephew working in a record shop in Sheffield Alabama, about 6-7 years ago. He was so proud of his aunt! Sean

Neither the Temptations or Jimmy Ruffin to these ears. Suspect someone may have added the blue pen copy later to an uncredited demo. Sean

Footnote: the opening line 'please somebody take their hand and slap some sense in me' is an absolute killer! Fans might also want to check out SOS from the author, Cash McCall in a very similar vein!

Remember singing "That's How It Is" to my 'then' wife with Otis, in his dressing room, 20 odd years ago. It wasn't a great performance, to be honest, (I ruined it) but he'd missed it off the show and I was hell bent on hearing it. One of the greatest real Soul records in the history of the universe. Period. The flip side is my old Jimmy Burns cover up from early Bradford days. Sean

Roadhouse Oldies, Ritchie Highway, Baltimore MD

I'll do that Buddy. At the time I bought it only 'Roadhouse' in Baltimore were stocking it. Skip was a regular customer there (probably still is) and left them a handful to sell. They are now online. Might be worth an email! https://www.roadhouseoldies.com/ Either way, will definitely keep a look out mate. Cheers, Sean

I think it's called "Now And Then" Chalks from memory. They re-released it, but this track was missing on the 2nd issue! A rare one, then and now! Sean

Yeh, you're right... no wonder I changed it

Rod could work wonders with those headphones Ivor. Kev was always at the front of the queue! ;)

I have tape recordings of every show. Must have been around 100. Great stuff! Sean

A rare 45 that now Steve. Sold less than 100 copies! Great double sider mate Sean

I'd picked this up on a limited edition CD in Baltimore. The shop I bought it from were the only place selling it at the time. The title was 'Overnight Success' but I used to announce it as 'Send Your Love Back To Me'. Which I guess could make it the first instance of a CD 'cover up', lol. It was certainly a very big tune at Pitches / Phoenix and Soul Essence etc, at the time. Sean

Hi Steve, Yes mate, we ended up upstairs! No idea how many we did up there, but I always liked that room. Downstairs was huge and difficult to fill for our type of music, but moving from Pitches to Phoenix gave us the extra hour that people begged us for. The upstairs room was a nice compromise, but it seems every venue has a life span and it can't have lasted more than a few months. Sean

Nice one Andy. Sean

Canal Tavern, Thorne, was easily the best venue in the country for a very long while; when under Gary and Steve Kilgour and later under the auspice of Rod Dearlove. The playlist from those years set the bedrock and tone of the 'crossover' scene for years to come. Rod Dearlove, to me, was one of the very best collector / DJ's. He always displayed excellent taste and wit. A great entertainer on all levels. Proud to say Rod worked for us at The Phoenix in Dec 1998 - Can't remember if he did Pitches or not? Guys, can you recall? (I do know I only got to work at his venue, Thorne, the once, so I guess that was about right ). I think Dec '98 was the last night, from memory! See photograph & flyer of the night below! Superb! Sean

They're brilliant John. Playlists were streets ahead, looking back, even though I say it meself! Great stuff matey. Sean

Hazy is right John. It's a long time ago. I just don't have 'Baby Hit And Run' in my mind or memory as a one time 'LP only' record. I think the 45 snook out in early '74 without much of a fanfare and then Russ (and I also seem to recall the Mecca ) started playing it. It was big that Summer and the LP then made an appearance and because of it's budget price a lot of us bought. Fascinating discussion. Sean

Thanks Kimbo, Dave, Jim, Baz etc. Here's a photograph taken at Pitches of the Pitches and Phoenix DJ's. Left to Right : Sean Hampsey, Tats Taylor, John Benson, Kev Briscoe. We all look very much older now (except John Benson who we are convinced bathes daily in Royal Jelly). And yes, we're all still putting a shift in 'occasionally' too! Sean

Wouldn't have been the same without the 'Scousers' Baz! Sean

Thanks John. That'd be great. Sean

On the 45 or LP first discussion, I certainly think the 45 came out a few months before the LP. I bought the LP as I did most of that series, but I already knew 'Baby Hit & Run' before doing so. Tamla Motown were still very much about 'new' release product at that time (73 / 74) and tended to bundle old stuff into the MFP compilations. I think the 'Baby Hit And Run' 45 release was as a result of a bit of digging at Motown, after the surprise success of JJ Barnes 'Real Humdinger, Isley Bros 'Tell Me It's Just A Rumour' etc. but the first venture was to put it out as a 45 and they packaged the LP a few months on, on the strength of it. You'll recall they put out 'R Dean Taylor 'Theres A Ghost In My House' on 45 a couple of months later (after it being used heavily on the LP - which is maybe what's confusing some of us?) and that's the way I remember it. Sean

Thanks for the memory's Dave and all. Yes, I'd agree it was a fantastic venue. 20 years eh? Where did they go? Have been thinking about doing a reunion at some point, if enough people are up for it. Then again, if we're not careful on the scene we'll be doing more reuniting... than uniting... if you get my drift! Either way, they were great times and the music was truly 'across the board' quality Soul. The attached was a tape of a representative playlist from the early months. I think there were two more, if I'm not mistaken. JB, I guess you'll probably be able to put your hands on this stuff and upload them Anyone any memorys of the records played? Sean

I think you should just sell it to me and quit worrying! ;) Sean