Really sad news this and you've described John just how I/we remember him....still bring him up in conversation regarding his Castle lists and the records he had and the prices!..also had the pleasure of him dj-ing for us when my brother,Stuart Marshall, and myself ran the Devonshire Arms soul nights in Skipton in the esrly to mid 90's...he'd bring a posse of geordies with him or probably more likely they brought him!!..Davey and Elaine Mason ,Tomma,Gazza White,Tim Carr and more....typical John though when we had any tune we thought rare/big he'd pull one out of his box in a rarer format..eg:playing his Channel 3 on a issue copy...and many others...never being a smart ass neither ...the place was always rammed when John was in town...he never wanted a penny neither..couldn't push money into his hand ..what a genuine North East guy he was..r.i.p John
Dave Longbottom