Sean Hampsey

Old John Kinghan spin from 10 - 15 years ago. My copy is US. Sean

Jaheim's uncle = Hoagy Lands.

I nearly posted that same little known fact (or rumour?) days (or was it weeks ) ago on this thread. At the time the MVP's was played it was always speculated that these were the same crowd as Bullett - recorders of "Willpower Weak". But now, as new evidence has come to light, I think the MVP's were most probably a trio of Spencer Wiggins, James Carr and Bobby Womack... ...plus that other blokes Dad on the banjo! Sean

Proper Record shop and a Proper Geezer! Sold him 3 car loads of Soul 45's in the mid 80's... and I reckon he's still selling 'em! You're bound to have a ball in Robs. Sean

You must not have still been awake at 8:00am then Harry! I'd always sent a few hundred either home or to sleep by then Sean

I always used Millie Jackson's sublime "Ask Me What You Want" as the ender to the Rotherham Clifton Hall nighters. Now available on the Kent CD "Soul For The Dancefloor". Sean

Thanks Russ & Steve, Thought I wouldn't be the only one who knew the score... (although I was beginning to wonder!). Sean

Yes, the guys confirmed that Lee Jones is out in Dallas, Texas. They'd come out to Memphis to record for Chips Moman and hung around. They perform in a Ribs joint, two nights a week, two shows a night - Free Admission to diners! NEVER seen a show quite like it. Up close, almost on the stage, tucking into Ribs & Beer with these guys belting it out right in front of our noses. The real surprise was how Foooooking incredible Sam Hutchins is! Just literally blew me away! One of the best performers I've ever seen - Up there with Womack and Otis Clay (and I kid you not). They even did "Do You Love Me Baby" just for us! Priceless. Sean

Yes Bob, the "Your Love" side certainly gained favor amongst US Collectors. Nice 'mid ballad' group Soul, but I've been plugging the "Darling" side for this side of the pond. Sounds so right for now! My copy is a White label with Green type. Only one I've seen in that format. I think the issues of 1003 are Silver with Blue type (correct me if I'm wrong) and 1001/1002 is Gold and Green as per the scan above. Never had CVS 1004, the Electras, "Another Mans Woman" but it also came out on De-Lite. Nice femme ballad. Incidentally, Bob, I just thought, "Try A Little Love" came out by the Topics on 'Heavy Duty'. From memory they're pretty close sounding, but I never compared 'em side by side! What do you reckon? Sean

Nah mate, already done the Falls, Canyon and all that mularky... this was a three man Road Trip... No wives, No baggage, Big Car... hit the road thing. Visited over 50 record joints an thrift stores and many of our fave studios across Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama. Spent a full day with Wayne Jackson (Memphis Horns) who took us VIP style through STAX and around Memphis visiting Hi / Royal Studios, whats left of American etc. Saw the Masqueraders and James Govan on Beale Street, both just incredible. Knowing you, you'd love it Baz. Sean

It wouldn't have affected you like that Ian, cos not only are you tall dark and handsome... ...you're also more of a DISCO bunny than a Soul fan. Sean

Been playing "Darling I Need You Now" out for a while now - and included it on a recent CD swap. Lovely little crossover thing - lots of people chasing it - and miles scarcer than 1001 'Have You Ever / Try A Little Love' which is in itself an ace double sider. Sean

Baz, I choke up mate just thinking about it. We went to Fame, got the full tour from Rick Hall's wife and his P.A. Me and the lads were left to play in the studio for hours. Just soaking it up. All that had gone before. Unbelievable! Then we found Muscle Shoals Sound - 3614 Jackson Highway (Me and Tats outside the building on my Avatar). Almost died in there. The guy that lives in the basement gave us the whole nine yards. Staple Singers - Annette Snell - Womack etc. etc. etc. We stood in the studio and just welled up. Serious. All agreed we've never shed as many tears as we did that trip. Three fat, bald, old men crying like babies. Can't recommend it highly enough. Certainly one of the top ten things to do before you die! Sean

IMO It was a snapshot in time - where mostly good or great records were played - and where some absolute dross was played. Sadly it became a cliche for 'Northern Soul'. Northern Soul legendary venues included (in some kind of chronology): The Mojo The Twisted Wheel The Torch Blackpool Mecca Wigan Casino Samanthas Cleethorpes (x2) Clifton Hall (Rotherham) Bradford Queens Hall Stafford Warrington Parr Hall All of these were historic venues and all were responsible for breaking great records. The crescendo, though, came at Wigan, eventually attracting huge media interest. Huge numbers of people flooding onto the scene (over 100,000 members). The perfect Nighter Venue. Fantastic atmosphere! Incredible record bar! Pretty awesome Allnighter - and no wonder it became so popular. It probably hung around too long for its own good - got very commercial and that's where, I guess, some of the hostility (bit of a strong word really) comes from. Most who'd been around Soul Music and the scene prior to Wigan saw it as a bit of a 'sell out' prefering the underground status that the scene had previously enjoyed. Me and a bunch of mates went quite a lot (early days) but eventually got sick and tired of the 'pop' image, the eventual 'Last Nighter' palava and what appeared to many to be sheer exploitation. Even before its actual demise a large number felt the Northern Soul scene was walking dead, left the scene, and missed out on what was to follow at other incredible venues throughout the UK. Course, many have returned in recent years (having missed out entirely on the 80's and 90's) hankering after the nostalgia of Wigan, often uninterested in what came along post Casino. Fortunately, many of these folk are trying to catch up - but some are trapped 'freezeframe' in the nostalgia of Station Road. Maybe those who aren't so caught up in the 'Wigan thing' often come across as hostile because they know there's much more to being a soul fan than that one period in our history! But I must admit, by and large, it was a pretty awesome place and there's little wonder that people still speak of it with affection. Sean

I think KT is not a person! I've always understood it's the abbreviation for Kentish Town where EMI records were once pressed. Anyone confirm? Sean

Made my first visit to STAX last month Baz with Kev Briscoe and Tats. A treat I'd promised myself for a long while. An absolute MUST for everyone, I'm sure you'd agree, especially if you can do the tour with Wayne Jackson himself as we were able to do! Superb! Sean

Sorry Barry, most of that was lost on me. If you'd asked me in the mid 70's what I thought of Wigan I'd have given you the same answer. Therefore, hindsight has absolutely nothing to do with what I wrote earlier. Sean

I remember a mate of mine suggesting they should have boarded up the room with everybody in it! Bit extreme, but I saw his point! Sean

Looking forward to it Simon. Reckon quite a few of the good folk on here would enjoy it immensely! Sean

Here's one! https://www.soul-essence.co.uk/ There are others! Sean

Praise the lord! Sean

I got into Soul Music in the late 60's Craig. Came in through the Stax door. Was a few years before I'd even heard the phrase 'Northern Soul' and was often disgusted even back then (very early 70's) at what was played and 'passed off' as Soul Music - although at that time, the greater majority was either good or excellent. Much later, the Wigan era brought with it a whole host of nonsense. It was'nt a particularly attractive chapter in our history (IMO). Why some seem to want to hang onto that particular snapshot period of our 40 year history and all its infantile trappings is beyond me. Wigan was only a poor pastiche of what a real appreciation of Soul Music was and is about. It was popularised by the media, invaded by Bay City Rollers fans and the Soul fans left in droves. But I was one of the ones who stayed! I say that Soul Fans should reclaim our ground - To hell with 'Era Facism' - Give me Real Soul music... regardless of when it was made... and give it to me now! Sean

Shame that Win. Who are the propagators of such madness? An open 'across the board' type policy is by far the best way of ensuring longevity. An insular, exclusively backward looking scene is destined for extinction. How long will the scene be able to continuously 'discover' new 60's in the volume and quantity required? How many really good 60's tunes have been discovered in the past 12 months? Very few. The only way to keep it going on that narrow causeway is by playing forgotten oldies.... ...but then the 'rare' only crowd wouldn't really favour that either because most forgotten oldies... just aren't rare! It's madness. It's the flipside of the same coin where a DJ on the Modern scene might only play a track 'because it's Modern'. Quality is what matters regardless of when a record was made. But the vast majority of us (and I would venture to say, the vast majority on SS too) have known that for years! Sean

Very well put, but I'm sure we passed that point over 20 years ago, Win. The mid 80's 'Northern Scene' spawned scores of dreadful records that seemed to be played purely because they were rare 60's (and because they acted as a minor backlash to the more modern tunes that were hugely popular at the time). The Northern scene was progressing nicely in the early 80's (post Wigan) not least because we saw the extinction of Pop music on playlists but because we were able to play and enjoy 'current' Soul music, without some of the nonsense that, perversely, still prevails today. Somewhere down the line, it seems, reactionaries and revisionists tried to claim back the scene as a 'retro' or exclusively 60's scene which of course was absolute nonsense - the roots of 'Mod' and Northern Soul are steeped in progressiveness and the promotion of 'current' music, along with the discovery and promotion of unplayed or forgotten 'earlier' records. That mid 80's - '60's only' - backlash to the outbreak of a more Soulful, varied and open approach has left its unfortunate mark on the scene even to this day in creating unfortunate and unecessary splits and divisions. So I would dispute any claims that the Northern scene is exclusively a 60's scene. In the 60's it played exclusively 60's, of course, but as decades progressed and newer Soul records were found these would obviously find favour amongst Soul fans - and should therefore be part of the playlist. I blame Mr M's. Until that came along there was no 'retro bias' and the main rooms in Northern venues were distinctly progressive. As I see it, progression is the true 'Northern Scene' and '60's only' retro belongs in some offshoot backroom... if at all! Sean

Mmmmmmmmm thanks Neil, understand that Bill Downs licensed a few of the tracks to Dave Godin - but where's the logic in the fact that none of the tracks that appeared on the UK Right On logo appeared on the 'US' Right On variant... or indeed vice versa! I always understood that the 'US' Right On's were (as I seem to recall) of Canadian origin and not US. What's more, Dave categorically denied having cribbed the 'US' logo (Can you imagine Dave ever copying anything???) that it was the other way around... and that he did not know who was behind it. All very confusing. So did Bill Downs own the US/Canadian operation... and which is the original logo? My money is on Dave's being first. After all, the logo itself was half of Dave's own slogan/strapline... Keep The Faith... Right On Now! Anyone confirm one way or t'other? Sean