Sweeney

Dylan have a look at the offerings of the Helson Watch Company. I think you'll like them.

Another Omega Seamaster (one is never enough!) This one's from 1958.

Yorkshiremen throwing money away? Surely not!

Bobby Sanders also re-used the backing track of The Delicates for 'Nothing From Nothing' - recorded by French Coffey (Pick-A-Hit) and Little Anthony (Pure Gold). My personal favourite though is the Delicates which seems to be getting quite hard to come by. The French Coffey version sells for a fair bit but the Little Anthony is still reasonable.

Or the Rolling Stones 'Street Fighting Man' US Picture Sleeve that went for £9650 in 2007?

Sorry to sound negative but I'm afraid this would be a quicker way of burning money than err... burning money.

A fantastic album.

I'll also give a mention to 'Just Loving You' by Ruby Andrews on Zodiac. It may be very played out and a tad groanworthy these days but I think it's an important record in the acceptance of crossover as a distinctive genre.

I'm going to suggest Bobby Hutton's Come See What's Left of Me as an archetypal crossover record.

I'll plump for "Pyramid" by Soul Bros Inc. on Golden Eye. Cuz it's like no other...

Pretty ropey I'm afraid. If you can find someone willing to pay £150 for this I'd take the money and run - and spend some of the loot on a copy of the Lenny Welch version on Kapp.

This guy is very highly regarded by us vintage watch lunatics. Very reasonable prices to boot. Link Breitling now has no link to the older incarnation of the company. It's another company that bought the name when Breitling went out of business back in the late 70s/early 80s. I'm not sure if they support older models in the same way that Omega or Rolex do. However, I don't think it will be too problematic finding a chronograph pusher for it.

Gladys Knight has still got the goods.

Surely the ultimate rarity for the lunatic hardcore fringe of Manfred Mann or Lulu collectors. I predict a bidding frenzy.

My Christmas present to myself - an Omega Seamaster 300. Movement dates it to 1962.

You are of course entitled to your opinion. Like it or not this is one of the biggest records on the scene at the moment. On top of that we have one of the members of the group that recorded it taking the time to come on this forum to give us an insight into its rather unusual history and other recollections of his time in the industry. As lovers and collectors of Rare Soul this is as good as it gets basically. How many times has that happened on this forum? less than a handful probably. The rest of the time we're subjected to threads that are too often dreary and banal. Given such a coup it seems laughable that some members think the thread is the ideal place to give their negative opinions on the record. I wouldn't be surprised if that as a result of such comments Steve told us to stick it where the sun don't shine. Which would be a shame as we'd potentially miss out on a lot of valuable first hand knowledge about the music we all love from someone who was responsible for making some of it.

It really is extraordinary (and possibly mental) behaviour to order things you're either unable or unwilling to pay for. How difficult is it to send an e-mail telling the seller you no longer require the item so they can put it back up for sale. It's the least one can do - they won't bite and will be pleased to know where they stand. Another forum I belong to has a 'Heroes and Villains' section where people can relate their experiences buying and selling with other forum members. Whilst such a section is obviously open to abuse it gives folk a good idea of which way the wind blows as certain names (either positive or negative) tend to crop up again and again.

Hypocrisy how? The vast majority of records we all stupidly pay astronomical amounts of money for are second hand items. Any money due to writers etc. from sales of the vinyl records (or not as is the case) was hopefully paid to the correct parties involved long ago - similar to stamp collecting or any other form of collecting. On the subject of cover ups commanding higher prices - welcome to the world of Northern Soul. If people are daft enough to pay inflated prices for said cover ups then more fool them, but it's been part and parcel of the scene since the start and again - no crime has been commited other than that against vanity. I can't see how you can try and use either scenario as a justification for copyright theft of someone's currently available product for personal gain.

Fascinating Girl isn't the worst record ever made. In fact it's not even the worst record George Lemons made!

It's a blinkered view to think that the dwindling numbers of UK Rare Soul collectors are somehow losing out. I personally think that there's never been a better time to source elusive wants and that's purely down to the power of the internet. Effectively everyone can be a record dealer which leads to interesting and stupidly rare records at knockdown prices if you know where to look. You only have to look at the gems that have been turned up on Ebay to see that it's a very good thing for Rare Soul collectors as we don't have to rely on the same narrow (and I daresy expensive) sources we did say, 20-30 years ago. Where they come from is immaterial - the fact that they ARE showing up is the good news. I would also imagine that "our top DJs" as you call them have been sourcing their most interesting new discoveries from international sources outside of the USA for years already.

I've got a Vicki Williams A Do I Make Myself Clear B Best of Luck to You Big Beat BB-133-1299 Dist by Lynn's Record Dist. 551 N. Muscadine St Greenville Miss 38701

As a callow youth I had (still have!) all the usual suspects - the Casino Classics and the Grapevine LPs etc. They were fine and not a bad snapshot of the state of the Northern Scene of the time - both good and not so good. But the compilation LP that really changed and educated my view of how amazing rare soul could be was Kent's 'Pure Soul' (Kent 019). It blew me away - not a bad track on it.

One record that encompasses everything that's great about this thing of ours... I'm Gone - Eddie Parker

The bonkers everything but the kitchen sink style intro is one thing... On a minimalist tip please consider the simple but sublime intro that is: I Get The Sweetest Feeling - Jackie Wilson Instantly recognisable - tells you everything you need to know and all in about ten seconds. Job Done. Get in there. Or that type of thing...