Ian Dewhirst

OK, this week's show came at the end of a hugely busy week what with Kenny Gamble being in town and 10 new Backbeats albums to finish. But I got there in the end even though it half-killed me. So, as a result, I was full of flu for this week's show so hope I didn't sound too dull. 'Twas quite exciting though as I was joined by Kev Moore for the duration which made me forget about how knackered I was. Also we got the chance to feature another great bunch of the usual re-edits and remixes plus some upcoming tracks from the previously mentioned forthcoming Backbeats releases, from which there'll be many more over the course of the next 4 weeks so stay tuned! Hope you enjoy! Download link after playlist. Six Million Steps Presents The Original Mastercuts Show LIVE with Ian Dewhirst between 2.00-4.00pm on Sunday 20th November 2011 on everyone's favourite Soul station www.starpointradio.com. Download link below! Featuring...... 1st Hour Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson - The Bottle - Daz I-Q Remix Gregory Porter - 1960 What? - Opolopo Kick & Bass Remix Angela Johnson - Better - Danny Krivit Re-Edit Plantlife feat Jack Splash - Someone Special 4 U 480 East feat Sean Oliver - You & Me Herbie Mann - Stomp Your Feet - Womack Re-Edit Slave - Watching You - Tony Johns Re-Edit Alex Wilson - Ain't Nobody 2nd Hour Archie Bell & The Drells - Here I Go Again The Formations - At The Top Of The Stairs Billy Paul - The Whole Town's Talking The O'Jays - Time To Get Down Leroy Hutson - Ella Weez Willie Hobbs - 'Till I Get It Right Gene Chandler - Don't Have To Be Lying Babe Pt 1 Brief Encounter - Human L.J. Reynolds - Come Get To This Aaron Neville - Hercules Betty Wright - Clean Up Woman - Frico Re-Edit The Intruders - Everyone's A Star Anthony White - Yes You Need Love Beyonce - Love On Top Eugene Record - Overdose Of Joy - DJ Colourzone Re-Edit https://www.sixmillionsteps.com/drupal/node/1521 Al's back next Sunday so I'll see you on Sunday 4th December @ 2.00pm LIVE! Thanks for listening! Ian D X

Good luck Ste. Not on vinyl yet so no chance of plays in O.V.O. venues which is a shame......... Ian D

Yep, that would make sense...... I've only just heard it and I've certainly never seen a copy 'cos I've got just about everything else he's ever done. A mate of mine in the U.S. sent me the files and they knocked me out........ Ian D

Very interesting album this. It appears to have mainly 60's recordings all presumably recorded around the same time as "Sweet And Easy" as well as "Just Another Dress Rehearsal". It looks as though this was a '76 release to cash in on his Disco success but it's got nothing but pure 60's vintage Van McCoy productions on it. https://www.discogs.com/Van-McCoy-Friends-Dancin/release/1789059 Standout Northern/Crossover vocal tracks are "Help Is On The Way", "What Kind Of Man", "The Woman Who Made Me A Man", "With All My Heart" and "Ain't No Love". But does anyone have any info on who the vocalists are? Ian D

Opolopo Remix here Kev. This is the one! https://rhythmandgroove.blogspot.com/2011/02/gregory-porter-1960-what-opolopo-kick.html Ian D

Played it on the show yesterday (the Opolopo remix of course) right after the Daz I Q remix of "The Bottle". Works like a dream. Great record! Ian D

I'm going by the Billboard Top 100 RnB charts which are the most accurate overall. I doubt if a record could have made the Top 100 without any physical sales back then........... Ian D

I think that's probably exactly what happened. By the time they got around to dealing with a single, people had bought the LP or moved on. They may have had a difficult time constantly re-pressing the abum which would have eaten their cash-flow and time (I think the originals were all gatefolds weren't they?). Ian D

No I don't think so. I should have said 'at the time of original release' perhaps. Maybe those were a later re-press perhaps? I just can't understand why I seldom see U.S. copies and virtually no promos. Weird...... Ian D

That Wikipedia info is wrong too. "The Bottle" didn't make the U.S. RnB singles chart at all until the live version was issued by Arista in 1977 and even then it only made No.98. Needless to say nothing on Strata East charted in the RnB charts, least of all a 'hit' single that was never even released LOL. Ian D

I think they confused 'hit track from the album' with 'hit single' LOL. "The Bottle" was never a U.S. Strata East single apart from the promo. Ian D

I'm tempted to put a call into Warners and ask 'em what they're up to with this. I think they're missing a trick here 'cos this has been huge for the last year. I even heard it playing on "The Only Way Is Essex" t'other week LOL...... Ian D

Well, what a week! I had the pleasure of hosting a visit to these shores by one Kenny Gamble esquire and what a gas that was. A total gentleman and one of the most inspirational people I've ever met. These are the things that make the job worthwhile. We got some killer interviews including a 2 hour filmed session with Richard Searling and Ralph Tee interrogating Kenny with EMS's Phillydaveg lurking with a huge smile on his face. What a brilliant day. Plus what a great gig @ the Bexley Holiday Inn a week on Friday back with Greg Edwards! Once again an absolute pleasure to DJ with Greg and my sincere apologies for strolling up to the DJ stand 10 minutes late! It won't happen again (Greg was playing "Jingo" so I figured I had an extra 10 minutes LOL...). Great week. Pretty knackered though. I'm so run down I've caught a cold as well. No rest for the wicked ay? Six Million Steps Presents The Original Mastercuts Show LIVE with Ian Dewhirst between 2.00-4.00pm on Sunday 20th November 2011 on everyone's favourite Soul station www.starpointradio.com. Featuring...... Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson * Gregory Porter * Angela Johnson * Plantlife feat Jack Splash * 480 East feat Sean Oliver * Herbie Mann * Slave * Alex Wilson * Archie Bell & The Drells * The Formations * Billy Paul * The O'Jays * Leroy Hutson * Willie Hobbs * Gene Chandler * Brief Encounter * L.J. Reynolds * Aaron Neville * Betty Wright * The Intruders * Anthony White * Beyonce * Eugene Record See you in the Starpoint chatroom @ 2.00pm! Ian D

For sure the only way to get it in the U.K. was on the album. However, we were lugging a few albums around at the time - Betty Wright, Bobby Hutton, Skull Snaps, Thelma Houston, The Miracles, The Moments etc, etc so it wasn't too unusual....... I don't remember this at all. Maybe it happened while I was away or off the scene but if this was the case you'd have thought that more of 'em would have surfaced since. In my experience I've never seen another U.S. promo anywhere and boy, have I been around LOL. I always thought it was rare, I never for one minute thought it was a boot or 'pressed for demand' reissue.Looks real enough for me. Now the French ones I'm pretty sure were pressed for demand, not least 'cos they were on Soulbowl's list at the time and I think 1000's of 'em came in. So sorry Purist. Mine's real, the only one in the world and not for sale LOL..... Ian D

I'm in complete agreement except I think the promo single may have come after the album. I think when the company realised that they had a potential crossover (in the old sense of the word) disco hit then they probably rushed to get the promo 45 to the none Jazz stations. Most club DJ's would have played the album cut (this was pre 12"), so I guess the U.S. 45 promo was the most efficient way to get the track to more people. I think they missed a trick actually. If they'd have promoted this to all the U.S. RnB stations at the time, I reckon they'd have scored a Top 20 RnB hit. These were Jazz guys and they weren't geared up for wider hits. Ian D

I picked it up in the U.S. from a load of promos in Highland Records (the main 'Disco' shop in Hollywood) in '76, so I'm reasonably certain it's kosher. Strata East being a Jazz label got taken by surprise when the album track started getting played in the New York clubs, so it makes sense that they would have pressed up some promos in the hope of picking up radio plays. Being a small label they probably only pressed a couple of hundred but I'm pretty sure that these would have been before the French 45. There's absolutely nothing to suggest it's a boot and if it was you'd have expected a few more to surface by now. Ian D

Not a bootleg but extremely rare. Ian D

That's Plantlife - Jack Splash's group. I'm playing it on the show tomorrow. Cute song but I think it's got a way to go to get up there with "I Want You" though (which incidentally is now in my all-time Top 100 LOL).... Ian D

Amost Russ. They clipped the beginning which is a shame........ Ian D

Actually, if it wasn't for all the brilliant contributors from various forums and my own personal archive, then half of this new set of Backbeats would never have seen the light of day. It seems to me that archiving masters is bottom of the list for many record companies (and that includes the majors too). I've had to replace at least 40 masters out of 200 because they just weren't up to scratch. I can't tell you the amount of times in the last couple of weeks that people have said 'why didn't I choose tracks that are easy to locate'! A lot of masters supplied were really bad vinyl dubs. Several tracks supplied were incorrectly tagged and were completely different tracks from the ones I requested. Master archiving is going the way of dry stone walling in my view......... I was still chasing down a couple of masters last night. Which reminds me, if anyone out there has a WAV on Eddie Billups "Shake Off That Dream" I could do with that right sharp! Thank God for technologically proficient Soul fans! Ian D

Lovely story and respect for Derek, but surely this was always going to be single wasn't it? It was an immediate smash in the U.S. and the standout commercial track of her career so Warners UK would have been insane not to release it on a single. I've never seen a UK promo though..... Ian D

The best one is the Jack Splash remix. Best record of the last year or so for me by a country mile....... Ian D

Wow. I'm amazed you said that Pete. I think the Four Season's version wins hands down. A much, much better production than the Velours and the right speed! Ian D

Please mate! The original recording is no great shakes but the master we received is just appalling, so yes, yes, yes! Please send a file. Best, Ian D

The short answer is, whoever may happen to have clean masters that they can convert to WAV files via either vinyl or a good digital source. The fact of the matter is that some of the companies who own these recordings don't have access to decent masters even though they're happy enough to take the licensing advances. Consequently it's only when we get to mastering stage when we realise something's wrong. On this series of Backbeats we're ploughing some pretty deep seams, so maybe we caught 'em out 'cos they weren't expecting to ever licence some of these tracks. Either way, the standard of some of the masters has been disgusting. Hence this request. It's ridiculous really that we should have to resort to begging for masters via Soul Source, but really where better? It seems the burdon has fallen on us to simply come up with decent masters. There's no one else out there who gives a shit. So get teched-up and start contributing Ken! Ian D