Sadly I must relay the news that record collector and record dealer John Powney has died.
John had been ill for some time and was almost a recluse at his home in Hazlerigg just north of Newcastle. A hardy band of friends still rang him or visited, kept him company and helped with the bit of shopping he needed especially Dicka. A lifetime of smoking finally took its toll and recent medical help was to no avail. He was found today by close friend Paul 'Dicka' Dickson who called on Police to make a forced entry. Paul has asked me to do the social media platforms.
Details of exact cause, funeral etc are not at hand at the moment.
A short overview -
John had very few rivals when it came to a knowledge of all things soul. He was literally an encyclopaedia in relation to artists, labels, songs and the total history of everything from his own recollection. Believe me he knew everything from doo wop, r'n b, northern etc right through to modern and beyond !
As a collector he had every tune through his hands and eventually sold them. I mean everything - Shrine to whatever, he had them all. He wrote sleeve notes etc, discovered the James Lately, DJ'd for a while, did list after list to an ever eager customer base and you know what... Never had a mobile, put out paper lists, wasn't on the internet, never had a PC and didn't have an email address. !! But... that was John.
His lists right to the last one a while back meant ringing in at 8.30am on the date he advised. It was chaos every time but that's how it was. John also didn't give a jot for so called prices - he sold it for what he thought it was worth knowing a so called scarce record actually existed in its hundreds.
There's so much more of course, but you get the picture - stubborn ? Yes. Single minded ? Yes. But he loved company. Helped so many with records and knowledge. Anyone could go into the back room and play records for hours. Oh and it was sacrilege to leave without any records. Whatever he was, whatever you may think, or if you knew him from the past or recently, I have tried to be humble with my words. John I know would nod and accept that.
You're with a lot of those you told us about now mate - God bless.
Tony Fiddes 3/6/2016