Sean Hampsey

Despite Popsike, there've been a couple on eBay, Nev, in the past few years! Sean

Got to be subjective this one Ivor. I can really only suggest names that I think have similar tastes to my own, but I'd certainly nominate a couple of National Heavyweights for starters. Dave Godin - Impeccable taste and the biggest influence on my own in the early days. Richard Searling - 70's & 80's He always had a great ear for a quality tune! Outside of those, the Soul Essence & Pitches guys have always been people I can rely on for a good tip on a quality item. Names that immediately spring to mind.... Rod Dearlove (How many GREAT tunes has Rod been behind?), Mike Charlton (Absolutely!), Bob & Gavin (Naturally), Steve Plumb (The man behind the best LP only set in the known world), Steve G. Gareth Donovan, (how come, for someone so young?) etc. and in my own direct circle... The Wikipedia of Soul, John Benson (great ears)..... The very wonderful Kevin Briscoe (if you've ever heard him play out or received a CD from Kevin, you'll know what I mean The guy has incredible taste) and my partner in crime Tats who (as you know) has blinding great taste, always uncompromisingly soulful and, these days, one of the most entertaining Real Soul DJ's on the planet. People who may not DJ a great deal, but I know have great taste (i.e. similar to my own) would include Binsy (He knows the score) Blake Helliwell (Sublime taste in music) Richard Broughton (First Class) Alan Darker (Always a winner!) Rob Hurcombe (Midlands Maestro) Mike Lofthouse & Adam Garbutt (North East Legends) Eddie Hubbard (A1+) and Dave Turner (Arkwright) who is so similar to me, in where we are at in the music, we're thinking of setting up home together . Oh... and I think you know a good tune, when you hear one, as well Mr Jones . Sure there's a lot more, but at 11:00pm (and I'm supposed to be preparing a presentation for tomorrow morning) that's just a quick brain dump. Sean

Great stuff Pete. Always had a soft spot for "Little Miss Perfect" and "What is Love". Wonder where the 'Doc Love' nickname came from? Ray Caldwell / Nick Caldwell / Whispers / Doctor Love / California ???? Just a thought! Look forward to the Boba interview! Sean

Still reeling from hearing "To Get What You Got" (My favourite record of all time) on Radio! Truly Awesome!...and an excellent Birthday Pressie for me! Sean

Fabulous show Gentlemen. One of the finest two hour sessions of Real Soul Music I've ever heard on Radio. A very fitting tribute to the Maestro, Willie Mitchell. Thank you. It was very special. Sean

Worth noting that, in the case of Motown, the label owned the Studio facility and the Musicians were mostly salaried, so the cost was covered as a 'fixed 'cost' (it cost the same whether it was utilised or not). This is why they were able to record 24/7 at no further expense... and could therefore afford to implement strict quality control and have such a high 'rejection rate'. In the case of RCA, it was a 'Major' label - consequently the Pop hits from Paul Anka et al paid for all the rejects. In contrast, it was the 'Megatones and Cabells' of this world where a guy could lose his shirt if he overpaid for Artists, Production and Promotion... which is why they did it 'on the cheap and in limited numbers. Sean

Of course not. I was merely supporting Chalky's comment that there were stores in the US you could walk into and record a record for a few dollars and come away with a copy of the recording, by explaining that we could even do that over here - for a 'one-off'. The stuff 'Rare Soul' fans tend to collect is covered in the second part of my post. Sean

You could cerainly do that Chalky. We even had Booths in this country back in the 60's where you could go and cut a record for about 10 shillings (50p). Brett - The economics were and are the same as with any manufacturing process - the more you press, the cheaper the unit price as the set up cost is liquidated over a greater number. Even the very small labels would have found it viable to press 300+ rather than a handful. This is why even the very rarest records will turn up... every now and then. The 'survivors' are all still out there! Sean

It was certainly a BIG record mid 70's. Played when new and very little since, ( thankfully... ) so not really 'anthemic' status. Sean

Looks like it. I guess your list was too recent to be 'Modern' Dave. Sean

Ten of the best! Otis Clay - T&C Club Sam Dees - Thorne Johnnie Taylor - Hammersmith Dells - Trentham Gardens Marvin Gaye - Sheffield City Hall Temptations - Sheffield City Hall Bobby Womack - Manchester Eddie Billups - Somewhere in the sticks! Masqueraders - Memphis Gladys Knight - Las Vegas Sean

Yes Simon, I was just answering Miss Wasperellas question. Personally, I think its bloody awful. Sean

Rimshots on Allplatinum

Yes, I've got that Dave. It Is the first issue before being repromoted as Boogie Man Orchestra. Sean

Sean

Great call Dave, Played this beauty out for years. Well worth a revival mate! Sean

THIS UPDATE SPONSORED BY JUST SOUL WWW.JUSTSOUL.CO.UK

I often used to play this lil beauty. Moves along nicely! Sean https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyPORWY05Pk

It's the magnificent Don Bryant (Ann Peebles hubby). Sean

Ah gotcha mate. I've got one of these bolted onto my system which I think does a pretty good job. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Philips-CDR796-05S-CD-Recorder/dp/B00007J5UN Hope your well Neil and all the best for 2010. Sean

Probably mate! In years to come though, perhaps somebody will write a Guide on all the Spelling peculiarities and various Bitrates... and music fans collectors will get all lathered up over its contents as if something mystical happened in the production of the various files and formats (mmmm I've got this on a WAV.... I wonder, did it come out on MP3 first?) When all along it was just some YTS not paying attention! Sean

If it is, I bet you'll be doing it! Sean

What is it?

Some very nice Ace / Kent downloads on both iTunes... and Spotify at the moment Ady.