Chris L

Would agree with most names listed here, don't forget Alan S from the Cats, light years ahead of most DJs at the time. Of course it depends on what the criteria is for a top DJ. Chris L

A lot of what got played in the 90T's by DJ's of that ilk (or is elk ;-) were already in Ian Levines collection, thing they are so shitty records that they never got played. Why would you when there were hundreds and hundreds top class Motownesque records to play. Chrs L

Yeah, these rare Soul guys have pushed past anything that even resembles soul music. Grungy R & B, cha-cha, rockabilly. They have the ability to clear a dancefloor faster than a Soviet tank division, the only list they should be on is a maffia hit list......... Chris L

No, it was released in 1971 on the back of "Tired of being alone" I was instrumental in getting "Back up train" released I knew Chris Denning of Bell Records and suggested they release it, which they did. Didn't make the charts I'm afraid. Flip it over, nice mid/uptempo choon, got small plays at very very early Mecca days. Chris L

We should also remember people like Barbara Mills could have just said "No, naff off" but she didn't, she put some make up on, got into a dress and did it like she does. None of us look like we did did when we were 18 so be grateful of wht we've got..... Chris L

I seem to remember McCullogh off his head refusing to get fof the stage...............

Went a few times, the Mecca DJ's also DJ-ed there, Tony Jebb for sure. Firsy heard "In a world of trouble" there. Was it a converted chuch or something ? Chris L

I got six, this is what they told me : At the end of the specialist round you scored 6 The Temptations don't seem to be your specialist subject! Why don't you try another specialist subject?

Dee Grant founding member of the Spellbinders died suddenly Tuesday this week. Dee sang with the group right from the start, recorded that wonderful album under the direction of Van McCoy, he toured with the group both in the US and abroad. 35 years after splitting up I organised a re-union of the group in New Jersey with Dee flying in from the southern states. This photo was taken on that day, seen here left in conversation with Norman Donegan of the Ad Libs. Dee leaves a daughter, he was married to Abby, they were divorced in the seventies. This promo shot with Dee on the far right Very sad. Chris L

Normally I would sit here and fight you to death with me handbag but off to Prague int mornin and remember it's already way past my bedtime, 23.16 here in sunny Belgium.

Naah............don't buy it, my reply was by far the best one Phil..........................

Ian Levine - for shifting the Wheel crowd over to the Blackpool Mecca, getting Jebb to play Northern, getting Les Cokell as DJ and very much putting NS on the map. Had this not have happened the NS scene may well have dissipated into oblivion. Let's not forget the huge amount of records he brought over from the US that got people spinning quite literally on the dance floors. Alan S - unsung hero from the Cats who was discovering and playing rare NS stuff whilst the remainder of the UK soul fans were still tuned into Chuck Wood. Richard Searling - the voice of sanity during the white pop blitz in the 70T's. Later with the Ritz and jazz FM. Trevor Churchill - one mega soul fan working for EMI and getting some cracking NS tunes released, a shamefully modest man. How many of us started playing those UK releases and wondering where and how we could hear of the same?. Chris L

I always recommend "Andy Rix Ears" best in the business......................

Pete, top of screen, grey tool bar click "photos" that's the gallery. BTW do you still love me ?

Up until April of last year I "didn't get it" as far as this record is concerned, strange messy backing and even weirder vocals. All that changed when I saw them sing it live. Chris L

Yes he was at the LA 2004 wearing a bordeaux mohair suit, glistening in the strobe lights. The first thing he said to me was "hey man where's my money !!" In terms of recognising his work was appreciated by the NS fraternity Bobby turned everything into "how much money will I get" Someone once wrote - If he sat next to the Queen of England, the first question he would ask would be 'How much do you want for Wales'. They don't make 'em like that anymore....................... Chris L

I'm not sure if this already got posted on this forum, if so please accept my apologies. I got an e-mail from Ian L telling me he thought Bobby Sanders had died, I checked with Arthur Wright in LA and he confirmed via this messsage : "Yes, I just found out on Tuesday. I had know Bobby since the early 1960's and crossed paths often in the years since then. The last time was at Leon Heywood's Studio in Los Angeles last year. I spoke with him on a few occasions during the past year but not since the early part of 2007. He was part of the music legend in the Los Angeles area. Good to hear from you. Arthur" Bobby Sanders as you probably know was responsible for some cracking NS tunes the most famous being those 2 Canterbury icons "A little togtherness - Younghearts " and "Countdown here I come - The Tempos". I was lucky enough to spent one crazy night with him whilst filming for Ians film SWONS. Bobby got the Tempos, Vel-vets and Bobby Sheen together to allow us to film, interview & record them. I could make a whole film about that night on its own, straight out of Hollywood for sure. Bobby was considered by many in the LA music scene to be a bit of a rogue, Ian aptly called him "The Del Boy" of the LA soul scene, he actually got shot once for not paying his bills. In spite of all the controversy he was a character, he did engineer 2 of finest Northern Soul sounds ever and for that we must be grateful. Check his performance on the SWONS film, filmed in a rundown LA theater just as they would have performed back in the sixties. Sad day, the soul scene loses another pebble from the beach. A very sad Chris L

Oi!! That's not fair, I want 3 wishes : 1. The Magnetics - I have a girl 2. The Servicemen - Sweet magic (sold mine 4 years ago ) 3. A very, very, long, wet, tongue kiss from Christine Cooper - all the time gurgling "Heartaches away my boy" Chris L

The truth of the matter is tht we all love Ian, think his music is tops, buy his CD's, wish we were hm, are jealous of his Superman comic collection, wished we'd DJ'd at the Mecca, Torch and others, were lucky enough to be born, etc, etc, etc.......................

I got to shake his hand at the Bournemouth Chelsea Village, he was leaving flanked by 2 huge bodyguards, my mate Nigel saw him shouted "Hey Curtis" he turned round, wrong footing his 2 goons and me and Nige got to say hello and shake his hand. I haven't washed it since that night Can't satisfy.................yes indeedeedoo................

One has to assume they were all in the military together, the words in "Sweet magic" contain 'way out of your range', in the 60T's the army didn't have laser rangefinders

No idea, did you know he used to date Christine Cooper of "Heartaches away" fame ? Not a lot of people know that Chris L

There were many venues playing soul music, The Marque club probably most famous, also all those Mecca/Locarno/Top Ranks played loadsa soul, all went pear shaped with the advent of funk, that's what drove us up north in '71. Yes "Spirit in the sky" "Fire" "Quick Joey Small" and others like them got a lot of play too I'm afraid. Chris L