Seano

I used to help Gary on the early spot, not sure if I'm the Sean you're referring to or if there was another guy playing later. Gary had been looking for people with a few records who could do a spot, and whilst I had some good records from soul packs and junk shops, I didn't have the confidence of fronting it! Loved these days - not just the buzz of playing records, but just the fact that new stuff was coming out all the time and not just new releases. Your list of Keb's cover ups gives a great feel of the time - he gave me a tape from a guy called Steve Pullman that just had the most brilliant stuff on it that took years, and even decades to actually hit the scene in a big way. I wasn't that into the Mod side, but everybody was into the music and Notre Dame was a magical little secret bang in the middle of the city! I remember my sister and her boyfriend coming up one night to stay over, parking optimistically in a side street, getting towed and and us all having to get a cab out to the lockup area, not being able to pay the fine and having to walk from Elephant and Castle (or nearby) back to Woolwich. I've link to a few flyers from the time and other bits on Flickr. Sean

Back in the day of tape-swapping I found myself making a compilation aimed at friends and people at work who wanted to know what Northern Soul was; we all know the thing - "So who's your favourite group?" "What tunes would I know?" and of course "Yeah but that was all over in the 70's wasn't it?" So I tried to pick ones I felt epitomised the variety and continuation of the music. I put things into 'boxes' to give it a bit of logic, even though as we see in the ever-evolving scene this doesn't really make sense. At the time I had a few in each of these categories: 60's stompers 70's and modern Motown Known artists Oddities I guess an updated tape these days would have to expand that quite a lot, stuff like Jazzy, Latin, R&B, Funk, Crossover, Shufflers, House and a whole lot more. To be honest it just means that you get closer and closer to just saying each sound is unique and unless you're into it there's no verbal description that fully captures what makes one record work and others get ignored.

62 doesn't seem that old does it? Very sad to hear this news, I didn't know much of his music and poetry, but enough to respect his work and know it was worth listening to. That helped with a recent find in Head in Leamington, "Me and the Devil", a 2010 track. I posted it a little while back in February: https://www.parkroadict.co.uk/Site/Soul_Blog/Entries/2011/2/6_Gil_Scott-Heron.html No question this man's work will live on beyond him, irrespective of how the US media may be treating his death I'm pretty sure musicians and music lovers will continue to be influenced by him and no doubt sample and rework his writings.

Sounds like a great night, heard about it at the Banbury Soul Night last week and hoping to get tickets sorted - just sent off the email.

I'm getting my order in.

I got a copy way back in a soul pack, on Andee. It's the b-side of "Don't let the green grass fool you" which is a sort of Otis Redding wannabe record with a slow Southern churchy feel. "No one to love you" always sounded good to me, though the sound is fairly sparse and speed sounds a little wavy at the start - don't know if that's just my copy or the recording itself. Definitely worth a listen if you like crossover style sounds. Sean

Like pretty much everyone else I found Rooky Ricardo's the best shop and the most friendly. Looks like you've got most of the references you're going to need with limited time, but if you want to check out some photos of many of the shops mentioned: https://www.flickr.com/photos/seanosullivan...57600068849250/ Have a great time! Best, Sean

Picked up a demo copy of this great track at Rooky Ricardo's in San Francisco in 2007 for $2. It's in decent condition but sadly doesn't have the instrumental, just the mono and stereo versions. Great shop, I found lots of stuff here (and elsewhere), very well organised and very reasonable prices. The guy even gave me a neat cardboard box designed for 45s to take them all away. I got 29 from Rooky's, all at $2 each. Stuff like Tony Troutman "Your man is home tonight", Cornelius Bros "Too late to turn back now" (DJ) and Tyrone Davis "Are you serious". Getting back to Edwin Starr, another great one from 1973 is the 'B' side of "You've got my soul on fire" called "Love (the lonely people's prayer)". Well worth checking out. Sean

Just thought some on this thread might like to see the disc being played: https://www.flickr.com/photos/seanosullivan/90971872/ and a nod to Eddie, having started the whole thread: https://www.flickr.com/photos/seanosullivan/90971858/

As Boba said about the flip side of the bootleg, "Bet you're surprised" is a lot like "Tell it like it is" in its opening, but make sure to give it a listen right through. Great track, especially the changes in key towards the end. I'm not sure now, thinking back to the distant past, but I know I got mine in a soul pack. Although I bought quite a few of 100, I seem to remember this one, along with Gwen Owens and a few others, being in a pack of 40 that I got from a guy in Godalming in Surrey - does that ring a bell with people?

Not just Liam featured dancing; the guy with the grey top and shaven head looks and dances a lot like Keb Darge. Personally, I like the track.