Stuart Russell

Hi Chalky, I'll have a hunt through the loft... it's up there somewhere. Although going by the comments so far there's a lot of places I'd never even heard of. Cheers Stuart

Hi Mick, The original intention was to write the 'whole story' but it soon became obvious that would never happen - it was simply too big a story to cover in the depth that we wanted to. We were up for doing it but we didn't have the time, The In Crowd took eighteen months pretty much full-time to research and write. Once the first volume had gone off to the printers I started to put together a timeline of events, clubs, records etc that would bring the story up to the present day. I've got transcripts of interviews somewhere. But then we started publishing other authors' books (Keith Rylatt's Central 1179, Dave Shaw's Casino and Dave Rimmer's Soul Bible) and then took over Manifesto magazine from Ian... So that was that. We were approached by a very good writer who wanted to continue the story but that didn't happen. Perhaps I should ask them if they're interested? Cheers Stuart

There are no plans to reprint it at the moment. The prices on the net are crazy though. I should have kept a few copies... Stuart

It was the telephone number for the Twisted Wheel. When we published it we wanted a title that was a bit more intriguing than The Twisted Wheel Story. Perhaps it was a bit too smart arsed! Stuart

SANDY WYNNS THE TOUCH OF VENUS/A LOVER'S QUARREL CHAMPION 14001 Excellent condition white promo copy £60 UK Recorded delivery included. PayPal as a gift. Thanks for looking Stuart

Motown studio charts would be extremely rare and hard to come by. Guitarist Dennis Coffey, who played on many Detroit sessions told me that musicians were forbidden to take the charts away. I spoke to Dennis at some length about the recording side of things in the city for Keith's book Groovesville USA, but unfortunately a lot of it was left out due to lack of space. Songwriters would get arrangers to produce charts for them - the majority of the songs recorded at Motown had detailed arrangements with specific parts and lines written out for individual musicians. There would often be up to four guitarists on a session so obviously it made sense for all the musicians to have a clear idea of what they would be doing. Stuart

Thanks Dave and Gilly for your kind comments. I agree, Keith's research was amazing. We received a box of the books in advance of the main delivery and these were sent out to contributors and helpers. The bulk have now arrived and those who registered for a discounted copy will by now have received an email. Everybody else can buy it now, but priority will be given to the pre-registered folk. The book is paperback only, and you can also buy it together with the CD. It should all be on the website www.groovesvilleusa.com Cheers Stuart

This is a subject that Keith Rylatt goes into at some length in his book Groovesville USA. 'After ten years of non-stop vinyl output, the US record mountain was colossal, particularly Detroit's, as very few locally produced discs made it beyond the city's boundary. By 1970 something had to give as record stores, juke box operators, radio stations, record companies and warehouses were now fit to burst with unsold, deleted, returned and ex-juke box 45s which were then as much use as yesterday's papers.' Martin Koppel told Keith about the vast quantities of vinyl he picked up in Detroit in 1971 from guys like Coachman and Bob Mays. Don't forget that these were regular record stores (still selling new vinyl) and they were glad to see the back of old records they couldn't shift. I'm sure this was the same story across the whole of the US. That's not to say there weren't dedicated 60s soul fans in the States but they weren't as voracious or as fanatical as their UK counterparts! And the fact that the Northern scene was compact and fairly centralised helped concentrate awareness. I remember Blues & Soul interviewees in the early 70s were bemused at the interest the UK had for their older recordings when all they wanted to talk about was their latest release. When the Dramatics were big with 'Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get' why the hell should anybody care about 'Inky Dinky'? Hardly any of the records that the Northern crowd picked up on were hits, so without a similar scene as that in the UK it's very unlikely that they would have survived. Golden World dumped thousands of records when they sold out to Motown, as I'm sure did other labels. The proliferation of price guides and the internet have made dealers more aware of record values, so you can't blame the Northern collectors for inflating prices. If you're interested have a look at the Metro Times 100 Greatest Detroit Songs Ever! My link As well as Iggy Pop, Alice Cooper and Co there are of course lots of Motown and local R&B like the Falcons, Nolan Strong, Nathaniel Mayer etc but very few Golden World or Ric-Tic. Darrell Banks 'Open The Door To Your Heart' doesn't get a mention. Stuart

Glad you enjoyed it Daz. The first volume took ages to research and write, it was a full-time job for almost 18 months. Mike and I had good intentions of doing a second volume - I still have a folder of notes, fanzine articles etc in the loft somewhere. I've just spent six months editing and designing Keith Rylatt's Groovesville USA which will be out in February. Books take such a long time to put together, but you never know I might give it a go one day! Stuart

Hi Julian I have an excellent condition copy of Smokey Joe's La La on black Atlantic issue for sale at £35 inc postage. Cheers Stuart

Cheers Paul, That's great. I've got a scan now coming of the sleeve - thanks for everyone's help. Stuart

Hi Steve, Yes I would still like the LP scanned please. Two halves are fine - Photoshop can do the rest! Cheers Stuart

Any chance of a scan or picture, Steve? Stuart

Thanks for that Ian. Blues & Soul might be a worth a call, although having trawled through their archive when doing The In Crowd I don't remember seeing many Invictus/Hot Wax pictures. Stuart

Hardly anybody has! I'm sure somebody will come up trumps though. Stuart

Hi Mike, In fact, the pictures are needed to accompany that very same article. Dave has given us the OK to use it for the book. I think Keith has already asked Dave for pictures. Cheers Stuart

Can anybody help with a picture/scan of the cover of the Politicians LP on Hot Wax? Or any good shots of McKinley Jackson? They will have to be high resolution images as they are for Keith Rylatt's Groovesville USA book. Cheers Stuart www.groovesvilleusa.com

A bit more from The In Crowd... 'These deleted UK releases had been popular in the soul clubs for the previous few years, but as US imports began to filter on to the scene, the more dedicated DJs like the Midlands' "Farmer Carl" Dene, became relentless in the search for the rare and unusual. Carl Woodroofe owed his agricultural nickname, to a farmer's hat he wore when he deejayed. Having first bought R&B in 1964 from shops like The Discery in Birmingham, Carl deejayed Sunday afternoons at the Chateau Impney in Droitwich Spa. The Chateau's discotheque was in the darkened basement, and every Sunday afternoon from four until seven o'clock, it became a favourite rendezvous for teenagers. By placing advertisements in Record Mirror, Carl managed to unearth copies of records which were gaining in popularity on the club scene. When Tony Clark's "The Entertainer" was a sought after item, he discovered the whereabouts of a copy by telephone, and immediately drove to the seller's house to buy the record. This same commitment was applied to discovering imports. Carl had heard, from a friend in the States, about Leon Haywood's "Baby Reconsider". Liking the Haywood singles that had been issued in Britain by Vocalion, Carl went to importer F. L. Moore and found a copy. "Baby Reconsider" was first played at the Chateau in 1968, and was the first of the big money records on the soul scene. Others, such as Jackie Lee's "Darkest Days", Edwin Starr's "Backstreet", the Sharpees' "Do The 45", Dobie Gray's "Out On The Floor" and the San Remo Strings' "Festival Time" became the original Northern Soul rarities. As they were heard, collectors like Graham "Docker" White and Richard Selwood would track copies down and introduce them to the DJs at the Twisted Wheel. Brian Rae deejayed at the club in 1967, and in an interview with Dave Evison on Radio Signal, he noted how on his return to the club in 1969, the music policy had changed.' Stuart

Thanks Nick.

I've been told there's an ad in Blues & Soul from 1970 so I'll have to go through the back issues to check! Thanks Stuart

Cheers Sebastian. Says here that it was issued in 1969, could anyone confirm that? Stuart

I'm tracking down images for Keith Rylatt's Detroit book, and was wondering if anyone could supply me with a scan/photo of the Non Stop Soul King compilation that came out on Polydor in 1970. The tracks are mixed so that they fade into each other but it does include a couple of minutes of Cody Black's Slowly Molding.Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers Paul. And thanks to those who registered over the weekend.

We're going to be running ads on Soul Source from December for Keith Rylatt's book about Detroit Soul 'Groovesville USA'. It won't be coming out until February 2010 but if you register (no advance payment & no obligation to buy etc) before December 1st you can get a discount on on the book from our website www.groovesvilleusa.com There's loads of stuff on the site and it's well worthing looking at anyway! Cheers Stuart

Thank you Paul for having the guts to reveal the shocking truth behind the Manifesto Brotherhood (yes, that is it's full name). It's time people were told! I was editor of the magazine and a former director of Bee Cool but managed to escape from its evil clutches after the facts behind this sinister organisation began to dawn on me. L Ron Hubbard & the Scientologists, the Branch Davidians, Jonestown... they've got nothing on the Manifesto Brotherhood! Like many others, I thought the pictures in Red Eye were of people having fun, but I was so wrong. These are broken, brainwashed victims of what I now know to be a treacherous cult. Those crazy dance moves, dilated pupils and demonic grins should have alerted my attention. I agree The Master (or Mike Ritson as he is known on the Northern scene) comes across as a lovely fellow, but don't be hoodwinked by his charm (He's clearly got you fooled Ken - the beard is a major clue!) He is nothing less than the devil incarnate! A soul charlatan - he won't be content until the whole of the Northern scene is in his powerful grasp. Tim 'Johnny Morris' Brown fled the roost for an issue or two recently but even he was 'persuaded' to return. I've since discovered that the spelling mistakes in the magazine were intentional. They are coded references inserted by The Master and his disciples, and as for the (metaphorical!) initiation rites, you don't know the half of it. Forget the Masons and their rolled-up trouser leg and oaths of allegiance this was truly terrifying. I've still got the emotional scars to prove it. I've said far too much now, but thanks for the warning about watching my back. Keep up the brave work Paul. The Northern scene is a far better place because of true soul fans such as yourself.