Sean Hampsey

I guess everyone's different, Phil. Take all your points on board though. Me and a mate are trying to get a night together in our part of the world (keep getting let down by venues) chiefly cos nobody else caters for 'our particular' approach to Soul music in our region. It certainly won't be for the money as I'm sure there's a lot easier ways of making the 30 or 40 quid that some of these local events end up netting (if they make anything at all). Quite fancy the idea of making it a freebie - but equipment hire and room charges might make that prohibitive. Good post mate. Very interested in the views of others. Sean PS: Bumped into Crofty recently. Not changed a bit!

Me too Tommy. When I bought the Oz copy he was straight intouch. He then started sending me all of his 'then' unreleased stuff and DVD's of his shows etc. I tried to get UK Based Record label interested in issuing "Suddenly" backed with his then unreleased take of "Living In The Footsteps Of Another Man" for him, but got no joy. Shame really, I reckon it would have sold a good few. Finally, though, "Living In The Footsteps" did come out over here - without Suddenly on the reverse. A really top guy - and, from what I've seen on the vids, an excellent performer. Sean

We take it in turns. Kirsty, pm me your address. I've got your CD here. Sean

As an aside, last Saturday night at Brid Weekender, Tats wouldn't let me play it (we were double decking for two hours). He said it's the worst record ever made! Now, I might have been inclined to agree with him were it not for the fact that 1) I have a rare OZ issue... and 2) I happen to think Tony Drake is a top, top bloke... and 3) we were running out of giddy uptempo stuff to play (its all they seemed to want at the time)! Personally...I LOVE that Horn... but it's not particularly 'soulful' is it. What do you think? Should I have played it (and risked upsetting my buddy - or worse still, recieving a kneecap in the nether regions) or was he right to exert such strict quality control? Sean

That's an easy one, Gavin

Did you see the Carl Hall Columbia issue I had off him for a tenner, Dave? Sean

Been offered a lot more than a quid for my copy, Gareth. Harder than a Gloria Scott or a Marcia Hines, I'll wager! Sean

I have a nice 'Australian' copy. So has Girth. Oz MCA. Looks great. Supposed to be only 2-3 known copies (and I know of 2 of 'em). Sean

And of course issued on British Stateside.

Great double sider - also on UK Mojo. Sean

Great stuff, Neil. The late Ron Murphy is a legend. Didn't realise that the Frank Wilson had come from him though. A pic of Ron with said lathe! Sean

There might be a lot of truth in that! Tell you what, you learn something new every day on here! I honestly never knew that it had appeared on a flexi. Sorry Fellas Still, I bet you didn't know it had come out on a stiffy! I bought mine brand new with the O'Jays, Family Reunion LP. O' course, you wouldn't be able to DJ very well with a flexi... especially one covered up and then speeded up to 45 RPM The Philly copy is: PIR JB1 The Flexi copy is LYNTONE LYN3280 Lyntone was the European licensee of the Flexi Process. Remember at the time (76) it caused quite a bit of a storm - being by Billy Paul and covered up as "Ann Perry" of all people. Think it may have been Rick Scott who did it (but I might be wrong). Certainly Cleethorpes Pier / Mecca period. I was resident at The Charade in Rotherham at the time... and might well have been the only person in the North to play it at the correct speed (early doors... of course). Personally, I reckon its now, not far off, the right tempo for the middle of the night! Think I'll give it a go sometime... but mine'll be a stiffy (none of that flacid stuff). Sean

Yeh... I remember it.... ...except it wasn't a flexi! It was a 33rpm EP called "PhillyFreebie" given away with each of four new release Philly albums of the day and featuring a sample track from each. MFSB - The Zip Billy Paul - Let The Dollar Circulate Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes - Don't Leave Me This Way O'Jays - Family Reunion Sean

Mine is Black vinyl, also, and I bought mine from same place as you, Mikey, Loughborough allnighter! Always thought it was a classy a job... except for the 33/45 thing! Sean

Hey, Go easy on the eggs & bacon! I'm only guessing. There's a UK copy on eBay right now at less than £50... ...but still a week to go Sean

Sold my UK copy years ago (regrettably) DJ'd with it for years, though. Certainly sounded good to me! A very desirable record on British. Certainly as 'nice to have' as the US Fame copy. What's it worth? £150 nowadays - either copy? Sean

Great to see such progress on this and the involvement of Poppa Willie and Royal! Photo opportunity - The 'New Memphis Horns' - Tats Taylor, Wayne Jackson, Kev Briscoe, Sean Hampsey at Royal Studios, Memphis. Sean

As a matter of interest, the original UK Issue of Mr Floods Party was on UK Ember. The Bulldog was a reissue, put out to satisfy 'Northern' demand. Sean

The Original 'SOUL' version is here for a bid of $5. https://cgi.ebay.com/BOBBY-WOMACK-DAYLIGHT-...bayphotohosting

You still plugging "Uptown Festival" Simon? You old Dewhirst groupie, you! Always thought Richie Family's "Best Disco In Town" was better!

Nearly there Steve. It's been a year, this week! Had builders and decorators in for 8 months. Nightmare! Records in every room... still! Can find bugger all. Need to do a full house search tonight to pull together a spot for Brid... tomorrow night! Sean

Sounds painful! I've never met James (to my knowledge) but I do admire his enthusiasm. If he puts as much into his DeeJaying as he does into some of his posts on here, I reckon he'd be pretty formidable... with or without sonic screwdriver! Sean

To be honest, although James came up with the term... the approach is nothing new. As a collector, I found DJ'ing to be a great way to 'express' my collection, but was surprised to find (back in the 70's and 80's) that most DJ's didn't have a collection at all. I remember Pat Brady telling me, back in 82, that he thought it was impossible to be 'both' a collector 'these days' and a DJ and that it was essential for one to keep selling and turning over the tunes to finance new material. Steve G is one of the few (sure, I know there are others) that would be a 'true collector' and yet he is also able to finance, discover and acquire new material for DeeJaying, whilst being able to fall back upon a huge catalogue of 45's, from his own collection. At the end of the day, you can only play one record at a time, so I guess it doesn't matter too much what's in the basement! In my case... a soggy mess! Sean

Sorry James. Couldn't resist!

Ah! That's what Dave Godin said about 'Northern Soul'... and look how that got misinterpreted! And Rod Dearlove's 'Crossover Soul' - most people haven't got a clue about that description. So, I reckon 'Hot Boxers' are open to interpretation. Here's mine!