Sweeney

Anna Records

There will never be 'uniform' prices - there's probably never BEEN uniform prices. There are too many variables to take into account. The fundamental problem is this - we as members of the Rare Soul scene are perfectly happy to pay ridiculous amounts of money for records. The more inflated the better. You could argue that people see it as a badge of honour. What does £50 get you? or even £100? in most cases it would seem not that much. People outside of the scene must think we're all eccentric millionaires! Do dealers reflect demand? do they create (sometimes artificial) demand? How rare are the so-called rare records? Are dealers of the opinion that there's a finite amount of time left for the scene, and they wish to maximise profits while they still can? Who knows. There's a real lack of perspective, I'm afraid. People mostly chase after the same in-demand records, and as a result prices become inflated and volatile. As a result there can be no quantifiable measure of market value.

They're called the TORONADOES (named after a car, of all things). It's actually Texas SOUTHERN University (in Houston), where they were students, and some would say that Billy Ball and The Upsetters were responsible for Tighten Up - it appears on the reverse of You've Got Me Digging You (King 5173).

Hi Headsy This was played quite a bit at George Jackson! in London a couple of years back. A fantastic record - I wonder how many people have seen this in a box and been put off by 'Look at Granny Run Run' on the other side! Shouldn't be more than a tenner.

I know USPS postal rates have just gone up, but I still think this is excessive. $7-8 for a single 45 would be more like it. Unscrupulous sellers ramp up the P&P charge to make extra as I believe that Ebay's cut of the final auction price doesn't take Postage & Packing into account. I'd definitely question the charges.

Pete Smith makes an interesting point about Northern Soul and its positioning as an alternative to perceived mainstream music in the 70s. I guess for a lot of people on this board who have a similar background on the scene (atttended Wigan and/or the Mecca etc.) there is still a sharp dividing line between the traditional 60s sounds which were no longer being made (and therefore unlikely to ever find favour with a more mainstream audience) and the new releases being played, which to a lot of ears sounded suspiciously like the contemporary chart sounds of the time, especially as quite a few records of that type were played on the more underground scene first before "crossing over" to more mainstream audiences. For those of us who came to the scene post-Wigan and Mecca in the 1980s, it wasn't necessarily so clearly defined. Venues like Stafford were possibly a reaction to both the "Old School" Northern scene which by many accounts had lost its way and the more mainstream divvy discos that I hated going to as a youth. Other forum members may have different experiences, but essentially London was pretty much a Northern Soul backwater at the beginning of the Eighties. We were pretty happy to attend anything that sounded like there was a possibility of Rare Soul being played! There wasn't a vast choice of places to attend within a relatively small geographic area like I imagine there was "Up North". This obviously shapes your view of the scene as a whole - it was only later that you become aware of the history of the scene pre-1982 and the factionalism that was and (I'm afraid to say) is so prevalent on the scene even today. I remember going to the 100 Club Allnighters and hearing everything from records made in the early 60s to new releases - the defining principle being quality (rarity was obviously important as well!). To this day I just love SOUL music, I'm not that bothered when it was made, how much it costs or who made it (although like many others here my preference is for Black America). So in answer to the question: A pile of PIR or a pile of Thelma? - A selection of both to include both "I'm Lonely" and everything the sublime Martha ever did plus "The Love I Lost" and other fantastic gems from a label that largely defined the sound of a new Soul sensibility in the same way Motown did to Soul Music in the 60s. Add these to the best that a diverse and fantastic scene has to offer us - and no bloody white Pop Stompers!

Judging by the flotsam and jetsam gracing our TV screens in efforts such as the current Celebrity Big Brother or I'm a Non-Entity Get Me Out of Here, I'd say the term is incredibly elastic these days. If Jodie Marsh can be considered a celebrity, theoretically anyone can!

I believe that's him. Now Head of Programmes at Channel 4. I believe he was responsible for finding Glenda McCleod's "No Stranger to Love" back in the day.

Male: Marvin Junior Female: Linda Jones

Bad news on the Bidpay front. I went to pay for something today and apparently they ceased operations on Dec 31st.

The jury seems to be out. I've done some googling and the findings are inconclusive. There are as many claiming the marriage story to be false as true. Any boxing related site I looked at fails to mention Ernie Terrell's marriage to Tammi Terrell, which seems odd. By the way, she died on March 16th 1970, not 1979 as your unattributed quote states. A quote from https://www.tammiterrell.com (below) "Ludie confirms that Tammi received abuse from both Brown and Ruffin. Contrary to popular belief she was never married to boxer Ernie Terrell (although she was engaged during the last year of her life to one Dr. Ernest Garrett). Instead, she adopted the last name Terrell because it was shorter than Montgomery." Does anyone have a definitive answer? Is it detailed in the book? I guess the moral of the story is just because it's on the internet, it doesn't mean it's true.

Nope, not her brother, I'm afraid. She only had a younger sister, Ludie. She wasn't married to Ernie Terrell either, Terrell was a stage name, her real surname was indeed Montgomery, she recorded under this name earlier in her career.

https://www.gemm.com/ddc/search.pl?&a_refno=GML760372464 Still there (when I looked) priced at $3110.94. Maybe you could haggle him down to $3110!

One mans meat another man's poison, as they say. I too love Soul Music of all shades, I guess we agree on that. Never understood cover ups, I regard them as an affectation these days, although I guess 30 years ago they sort of had a point. Not too sure what the point is these days however. Strangely, I'm not particularly happy when a record I own and like becomes big (and expensive), it sort of takes the gloss off it for me and I tend to lose interest in it, but that's a personal thing, and I don't expect anyone to feel the same! I wholeheartedly agree that the technical qualities of a record mean nothing if it hasn't got that indefinable something, and I too applaud the gifted amateur that gives their all. One of my favourite records is Shirley Edwards - Dream My Heart on Shrine - the epitome of amateur, but it's an incredibly moving record. She gives it everything she has and rises above the crap production and so-so songwriting to produce something far greater than the sum of its parts. I'd part with a lot to own this, but try persuading someone to give one up! I'm afraid the Tearra record just doesn't move me in the same way. Again, a personal thing, but I guess that's why the tapestry of the scene is so rich. If everyone liked the same thing, record prices would be even more ridiculous than they currently are. I'm not quite sure what you mean by this. I'll take it to mean that you're happy that a fellow soul fan has found a record that they will enjoy at a reasonable price, in which case a sincere thank you, I hope you have similar luck in obtaining any of your wants (and they don't turn up in quantity once you've pulled the trigger). If, however as "Johnny One Trout" claims above it's "extracting the urine" out of me, I'll be a little disappointed.

My apologies Russ, I was naive to think that sometimes the Rare Soul scene cares more about things like rarity, exclusivity and oneupmanship over the soulful content of the music. What was I thinking? Obviously on this scene no-one ever pays inflated sums for records on the grounds of scarcity, no-one ever "covers up" the true identity of records in case others might find it and have the temerity to play it as well, and of course the scene has never been violated by records that are basically substandard trash pop on the grounds that they're virtually impossible to find. On a more positive note, I've just won a copy of Freddie Hughes' - I Just Found Out on Janus for a lot less than I was willing to pay for it. Compare and contrast the vocal performances, songwriting and musicianship on the two and work out which one costs £20 and which one costs £1500.

Increasingly I ask myself the same thing. I don't want to question anyone's taste in music, but this leaves me cold. It's pedestrian in every sense, non commital vocals with no passion, mundane lyrics and an off the peg backing track. But hey! it's super rare so it must be the best thing since sliced bread. If this was a £20 record no-one would give it the time of day.

Pete, I think you may be right!

I'm far from being "the self righteous and self appointed guardian of good manners" as you claim, just someone that thinks your actions toward a fellow forum member is unacceptable. Others seem to agree. If you think what you've said about Mikey (and now Tedsoul) is reasonable then fine. On other forums I participate in you'd have been banned by now for your behaviour. This board is one of the most tolerant I've come across - I really don't think you can claim any sort of favouritism exists.

Steady on. Regardless of whether or not Mikey's valuation of Dickie Wonder is accurate, he can choose to sell his property for any figure he wishes to - the market will ultimately tell him if he's right or wrong. His reasoning was sound. I still believe your actions in offering the record for less in the same topic is just plain bad manners. By all means offer it for sale in the Sales section in your own topic for whatever price you see fit, I don't think anyone would have a problem with this (except Mikey!) Your subsequent post where you use language like "rip off attempt" "piss take" and "big fucking joke" to describe someone's attempt to sell a record is completely unacceptable, especially given the fact that the person you're referring to would be possibly the last person to behave in this fashion. Seeing as you're the self-appointed guardian of fair record pricing are you going to be regularly undercutting people? I'd be interested to see how you get on trying it with the less reasonable members of this board.

No sane person should buy Terri Goodnight full stop. Pete's advice was very sound in this respect. Rare or not it's just one of those records that makes me angry when I hear it. It has no redeeming features whatsoever, except its uncanny ability to get collectors with more money than sense to buy it. Jackie Day is pretty poor too. Phelectron was one hell of a label! All IMHO of course.

I agree unreservedly. I'd say it's just about OK to comment on the price that someone's trying to get for a record, we're all grown-ups and can choose to buy or not. Although strangely enough I rarely hear anyone say 'that's too cheap' . But hijacking someone's thread to offer the record for less is staggeringly rude, IMHO.

I'd say reasonably good at it, although it's let down quite a bit on the vocal side. But I'm afraid I have to agree with Noss. I would defend their right to make any type of music they wish to make, and I'm sure that they're not making it for the jaded old buffers of the Rare Soul Scene specifically, but as it's beginning to be played out at soul nights, one has to ask the question - what's the difference between this and all the other tailor-mades/soundalikees that have dogged the scene throughout the years? Because it's a passably accurate pastiche of 60s Big City Soul does it really warrant the attention it's getting? Is it just a 21st Century version of Wigan's Chosen Few or EVEN worse - Phil Collins?

I know the last time Manship had a copy of Good Good Feeling listed on his site he wanted £150 for it, and obviously someone was willing to pay that as it's no longer available. Apparently it was very popular a few years ago on the European Mod scene, perhaps explaining it's elevation to the ranks of the Three-Figure Club, although I was told many moons ago that it's more difficult to get hold of than Love Look in Her Eyes, which at the time was a lot more expensive. I'd say a solid £150-£200, but put one up on E-bay and you might see it fly higher.

Please Take Me Back - The Masqueraders (Bell) (superior side of How Big is Big) Mirror Mirror on the Wall - The Saints (Revue) Mr Independent - The Soul Twins (Back Beat) Gas & The Funk Factory - The Goodnight Song (Brunswick)

Magnificent!