Sean Hampsey

Yes, Gareth, I've seen a Brown / Red issue too. Could have been Pats. On the "Wonderful" side.... clearly never gonna be a Northern MONSTER but certainly worth a spin or two - especially when you consider a lot of what does get played . Its a bit of a bonus track on the back of the marvellous 'Rainbow Road' 45... I think we'd all agree. Sean

Keb spin. Love the Male when it kicks in. There was a copy for sale on here last year for about £35 that I wish I'd nabbed. Keep missing em when it comes up - so if anyones got a spare..... please! Sean

Agreed David, And (thanks to you) I now have a white Tower copy up for grabs! Sean

Agreed Val & Steve. Came out on Pink MCA and Green MCA. Superb midtempo 70's. Sean

The LYNDELL 45 was their second or third release, by all accounts. Their first recording was "Stop Hurting Me" on FINE in 1965. Seems to also be a rare one. Sean

A stack of Tower 45's came out on Sparton in Canada, including Jerry Naylor "City Lights". Very nice indeed. Sean (PS: sell it to me! )

That's right Ken, there was a UK 'Capitols' group, so "Cool Jerk" had to come out under their previous name the 'Three Caps' (they were originally four members and known as 'The Caps'). Sean

Carrie Lucas Ebony Alleyne Howlin' Wilf Marcia Ball Sylvia Richards Trade Martin All did versions of this great song... but nothing compares to Barbara! Sean

Agree entirely. Sean

No.

Same record! Sean

I've played it out, Dylan. Much prefer the flipside though, and although a handful have gone through in the past 18 months I think it continues to be quite a difficult number. Will always be very desirable, for those in the know! Sean

It was the "Action Packed Soul" Lp (on Action) that had Jeanette Williams on it. But the Soul City abum was also a cracker! Sean

Yep - they had a pretty big club sound over here in the mid 70's on WB "Thank You Baby For Loving Me". Sean

Good man. As Brian said earlier, most of these sounds have long been in the UK's public domain. You didn't have to have been 'on the scene' to be aware of many of them. That era of 'Northern Soul' has been a British Pop Music phenomenon for around 35 years - ever since the Bay City Roller generation got on board. The 'rare soul' scene itself still appears to be intact - not that it perturbs me either way. Personally, I'd love to see more people turned on to good music - and if Supermarkets and TV advertising are a suitable route or channel to market then why should we remain the 'privileged' few. Every home should be into Darrell Banks, Major Lance, Garnett Mimms and Gene Chandler! Sean

Tis true. I have an Australian issue and so does Gareth Donovon. Was told there's only 5 known copies but I don't know who has the other three (certainly not Tony Drake as he tried to buy mine). I reckon you'd kill for a copy, John... 'ooh ahh' or no 'ooh ahh' Sean

No apology required, Mark. Fascinates me too, particularly as I saw it all develop, evolve and regress before my eyes. At that point (Clifton Hall days) the scene was truly progressive - playing a mix of old and underplayed, new, newly discovered and recent US product (Soul Music) just as it always had done throughout its history. Fortunately, by then, the just plain 'Bad Northern' and 'Pop Slop' element had been almost completely exorcised from the playlists, with the accent being on continuing progress and soulful quality. However, by the mid 90's certain sectors decided it would be a good idea to turn the clock back a few decades! Now I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that the 60's was the finest decade for Soul music, but I felt that there were still good releases coming through in the 70's & 80's that deserved exposure in the ONE room and that these were things which still had appeal for 'Northern' tastebuds. We did our best to keep it on track (despite the '60's Mafia' backlash) and kept on picking out the newer tunes that still had 'Northern' appeal. For me the real threat was the 'Modern Scene' going off on its own - which, sadly, it eventually did. But to bring that forward to this century, the sad truth is... the quality just isn't there 'en masse' these days (IMO) and hasn't been for over 10 years - Most of the 'Soulful Dance' around is far more 'dance' than it is TRULY soulful. I was only saying to Martin Dixon (Cunnie) last night, that I'm quite appalled by much of the tripe that some try to pass off as Soul music these days. For me a lot of this so called 'Soul' that gets played is almost as bad an experience to my ears as listening to Russ and Co at the Casino playing the Gary Lewis and Brian Hylands etc. A far too casual, lazy and easy approach... "Hey... it sounds a bit like Soul... and you can dance like fook to it - so that'll do". FFS Give me the real vocals... the Johnny Taylor's, the Randy Brown's, Lenny William's, Bobby Womack's, J. Blackfoot's, Carl Simms, Andre Lee's, Shirley Brown's, Anthony Hamilton's please. Most of what I hear these days from the so called 'Soulful' house fraternity just doesn't measure up. In recent times you've got to look REALLY hard to find the true gems and I'm afraid many DJ's (it seems ) just don't have the resources or ears to know the difference between an Omar Cunningham and a Mario Bondi! Your post has given me an opportunity to speak out on this subject, Mark - (and I'm not counting you in there, cos I know you have history... and an ear) - but I can well see why the 'Northern' crowd don't latch on too readily to some of the tosh which is promoted as 'Soul Music' nowadays. Fact is - Most of it just aint! Sean PS: I quite like Muthafunkaz- but, lets be honest... we're not talkin Darrell Banks here are we.

Lots. You made your point superbly. (and I'm known in some quarters as a 'Modern' soul DJ.) Sean

Fabulous! Just listened to both parts. Such a Great nighter, way ahead of its time. Thank you for posting. Sean

Best you give tomorrow night a miss then Kirsty! Fat old tramps will be very much in evidence. Sean x

"Do What You Gotta Do" is truly magnificent Webby. There are so many Tops classics, its very hard to say which was the best - but this would be up there. Means so much to me. A true Soul record, beautifully delivered. Sean

Of course Bob, I wasn't saying Bob Kuban's was the original, I was just answering Malc Burton's question. The Bob Kuban LP is full of covers. Sean

Think its a 'Beach' Reissue, Dave. One on eBay now for 12 Bucks! Love the tune. Used to hammer it, back in the day, at the Windmill! Class! Sean

The more Uptempo version of "Get Out" LP only, Malc. Sean

I'm a lover, not a fighter Steve. But he's right... I was only kiddin' All great records from a really great label. Love 'em all. Now, just have less... and give us a kiss! PoserMan