Howdy from the Big Apple, y'all! (Typing in a light Southern US accent because I'm originally from Nashville, TN. )
I'm a lifelong professional drummer based in NYC for many years. I play a mix of jazz, pop and commercial gigs - and that's a reflection of my voracious appetite for nearly every genre of music known to man and woman. I'm also a major vinyl/analog sound enthusiast!
And vinyl is how I found my way to this forum: Not too long ago I was given a box of records by a family member to keep, sell, or toss at my leisure. Several 45's were in the mix, none of which was particularly noteworthy except for one, which was - drum roll, please - a promo copy of Lonnie Russ' Say Girl / Something For My Love! Had never heard of Lonnie Russ, looked it up, realized it was very special, cleaned it, played it and HOLY COW! It exploded from my speakers and I jumped lol. That thing was pressed good and hot. I couldn't understand how I had never heard of these killin' tracks!
One internet search led to another, and I ended up going down the rabbit hole finding out about the whole Northern Soul phenomenon. Fascinating. Just perusing and sampling the goodies on John Manship's website alone was enough to keep me occupied for hours on end. I "Flip-Flop"-ed around and added a 4-J compilation to my Apple Music library, among whatever other hidden gems I could find. How did so many great tracks fall under the radar here in the US?!?! I have never once heard any of my fellow musicians mention the phrase "Northern Soul". So, that Lonnie Russ 45 was my introduction to the whole thing! Hell of an intro, right??
FYI, as I am not a 45 collector, I will soon be offering it up for auction on Ebay. Of course, I made a very decent hi-res audio rip of both sides which will be available to anyone interested. If I kept this thing, I'd be tempted to play it until it was worn out!
Final random stuff: Speaking of all things "45 RPM", I recently obtained new 45 RPM double-lp analog pressings of Masterpieces by Ellington (Duke, of course), Crying (Roy Orbison) and the soundtrack to Hatari! (Henry Mancini). Pure bliss! Also, very much on a Northern Soul-related note: you guys may want to check out the PBS multi-part in-depth series on Gospel music that is now streaming on PBS (dot) org, hosted by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. It is extremely well done.
Mr. Admin Mike, assuming you read this, please feel free to msg me with any tidbits/advice/etc. you may have!
-Tom
