Ian Dewhirst

And weirdly enough I've just done the label copy for this as it's on one of the next 10 Backbeats CD's - BACKB029 "Lost In Time - More Northern Soul Treasures" coming up soon folks........ Ian D

Most of the ones that I sold very cheaply 'blind' in the 70's and 80's are the crossover monsters of today! Ian D

My record room is upstairs so no chance of letting loose up there at this time of night! That's why the lappy option suits me just fine these days..... Ian D

Oh I'm not bored of playing music by any means. I'm bored of the pulling out and re-filing records all the time LOL. It's the physical labour part of maintaining a record collection that I don't have time for these days. I seem to spend most of my time staring into my laptop and listening on cans whilst reclining on the sofa if the truth's known which means that I don't have to spend several hours re-filing stuff like I've done for the last 40 odd years...... Listening to the L.J. Reynolds album as I type this in fact...... Ian D

I still maintain a huge collection but simply don't have the available time to enjoy it anymore. For me to enjoy it, I need a dedicated few days where I can go through the shelves at leisure and remind myself of what's there without being bothered by anything or anyone, which simply doesn't happen these days. I'm in the process of whittling it all down apart from a thousand or so that I'll be keeping. I started listing with UK 12"'s and albums over 3 years ago and I still haven't listed 'em all plus I keep buying stuff for some reason...... I'll be starting on U.S. and U.K. 7"'s this year hopefully. My philosophy is that I'd rather pass 'em on to people who can use 'em rather than let 'em keep gathering dust on my shelves which is boring. Also, I think age, circumstances, domestic conditions and other responsibilities have a huge bearing on whether you can spend the time to maintain a huge collection. Space is becoming a real issue these days too. Plus, to manage a huge collection properly is almost a full-time occupation these days what with filing, maintainance, space, shelving etc, etc. And the dust mites are annoying too...... Ridiculous pastime! Ian D

OK download links now back to normal. Many thanks to all who joined this Sunday’s show in the Starpoint chatroom. The show is dedicated to the memory of Tony “T.C.” Coleby who sadly passed away at the weekend. Our thoughts are with Rani and all who knew Tony. Six Million Steps Presents The Original Mastercuts Show LIVE with Ian Dewhirst between 2.00-4.00pm on Sunday 9th October 2011 on everyone’s favourite Soul station www.starpointradio.com. Featuring…… 1st Hour Barry White & The Love Unlimited Orchestra – Always Thinking Of You – Pinky Velazquez Re-Edit Sly & The Family Stone – Family Affair – BP’s Twisted Family Re-Edit Jestofunk – For Your Precious Love Donny Hathaway – The Ghetto – Suonho Reloved Re-Edit Pleasure – Let Me Be The One Main Ingredient – Work To Do Leroy Hutson – Lucky Fellow The Spinners – Could It Be I’m Falling In Love – Womack Re-Edit The Chi-Lites – Stoned Out Of My Mind – Scratchnsniff Re-Edit 2nd Hour Freddy Chavez – They’ll Never Know Why Len Jewell – Bettin’ On Love Aldora Britton – Do It With Soul Lou Ragland – I Travel Alone Otis Smith – Let Her Go Little Johnny Blair – Momma’s Gone Bobby Patterson – I’m In Love With You J.C. Brooks & The Uptown Sound – To Love Someone (That Don’t Love You) The Lovelites – You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling Blue Mink – Stay With Me The Sons Of Champlin – Here Is Where Your Love Belongs Des’ree – You Gotta Be The Human League - Human Change – Let’s Go Together Alexander O’Neal feat Cherrelle – Never Knew Love Like This https://www.sixmillionsteps.com/6MS-2011-10-09-Starpoint.mp3 Al is back next week and I’ll hopefully catch everyone on the 23/10/11 @ 2.00pm LIVE! Ian D

Yep. Same elsewhere Marc. I've been having these arguments with the majors for the last 20 odd years. Quite often the company isn't even aware of the catalogues they own or the paperwork isn't there anymore. I have these conversations with Ralph Tee all the time. Just last week he was tearing his hair out about an album that a major owns that he wants to license but that the major refuses to believe that they own it, even though they do. This company simply won't clear anything unless it's 'on their system'. It doesn't go on their system at all unless they have the original paperwork and have checked all the legals. If it's not there, then it doesn't exist in their eyes! Ian D

I just checked my Deon Jackson CD and it's a bloody bootleg! How ironic. I'm pretty sure I bought it from a reputable dealer too. Who owns these tapes anyway? I'm not sure what the deal is Carla, or Karen, for that matter since the stuff seems to be all over the place. Maybe Ady or Rouncy know....? Ian D

Nail hit precisely on head Chalky. The problem usually turns up when someone decides to use the track on an ad which could trigger a £60K synch payment, which is happening a lot lately. Where there's a hit, there's a writ. Ian D

Times have changed Chalky. Universal will not license tracks anymore unless they have access to the original contracts. That's why you won't see Rubin on any Northern compilations anymore even though it was on a UK cat food ad in the 90's! They've obviously junked the original contracts of all flops from the 60's and so they're scared stiff of getting embroiled in old contract disputes. The artist or managers and/or their estates could well have access to the original paperwork and could easily get 'em on a clause! So it's just easier to say no. I wonder how much of the synch fee for the Felix ad went to Rubin..........? In fact does anyone even know who Rubin is anyway I ask myself? Ian D

Yeah but that's 'cos they either bought or licensed the rights surely? My point is basically whoever legally owns or has legally licensed the masters is the only entity that can authorise carvers. I take Simsy and Wiggyflat's views that the scene could be deprived of some great sounds if carvers were outlawed though BUT (and it's a big but), the owner may have their own valid reasons for not wishing the recordings to be heard or exploited. Both myself and Ralph Tee have recently had situations where we both wanted to license certain material and were happy to pay the advances and royalties but the owners did not wish for the recordings to ever be available in any way. They also don't have to give a reason why. I've just had exactly the same situation for some 70's and 80's recordings which we wanted to license for the Disco Discharge series and we were given a straight 'no, not interested under any circumstances' answer. Quite often the exploitation of unreleased recordings can trigger certain clauses in the original contracts and creat legal problems for the copyright owners. I currently have one situation where there is a wealth of incredible unissued stuff but the owners are rich enough that they're not bothered about opening a potential can of worms legally. It's not worth their time, money or stress levels. So those recordings will probably always remain unheard. Sad but true. For instance (and I don't know the ins and outs of the Deon Jackson/Carla situation), but if Deon Jackson's estate (assuming he has one) decided to appoint a red hot lawyer to investigate this record 'that's huge in the UK', it could trigger $1000's of dollars in legal and accountant fees to investigate the situation. Which will probably be more than any earnings from the legal re-release of the record! Bummer ay? So, in a worst case scenario, Simsy could have U.S. lawyers on his ass enquiring as to how he got hold of the acetate and where from. Can 'o worms I tell thee....... Ian D

Will also be on the forthcoming "Mod Life Crisis" Backbeats CD compiled by Dean Rudland. Ian D

Totally. I think most acetates are only good for about 30 plays aren't they? Also, as I've said a zillion times before, anyone with a major league rarity can only ruin the record by playing it on a variety of different decks, many of which will be shockingly maintained. I learnt the hard way. Ian D

The answer is: the person/company who financed and paid for the original recording session owns the rights. Easy. Ian D

Surely "Footsee" by the Chosen Few was the first Northern Soul re-edit wasn't it? Didn't S.S. slow it down a tad and add the car horns? Ian D

Thanks all. By the way, here's the tracklist which is a bit like a list of my most played records at the time but the whole thing was really designed to explain what Northern Soul was all about to people who don't understand what it was all about...... Four Tops - I Can't Help Myself Bobby Treetop - Wait Til I Get To Know You Salvadors - Stick By Me Baby Alexander Patton - A Little Lovin' Sometimes Lou Pride - I'm Com'un Home In The Morn'un Tobi Legend - Time Will Pass You By Tomangoes - I Really Love You Detroit Executives - Cool Off Frankie Beverly & The Butlers - If That's What You Wanted Bob Relf - Blowing My Mind To Pieces Invitations - Skiing In The Snow Mel Britt - She'll Come Running Back Duke Browner - Crying Over You Kenny Smith - Lord What's Happening To Your People Jodie Mathis - Don't You Care Anymore Patrice Holloway - Stolen Hours Billy Woods - Let Me Make You Happy Frankie Crocker - Ton Of Dynamite Carstairs - It Really Hurts Me Girl Richard Popcorn Wylie - Rosemary What Happened (instrumental version) Timi Yuro - It'll Never Be Over For Me Jimmy Radcliffe - Long After Tonight Is Over Ian D

I think Morning Star (aka the veteran DJ Lary Sanders from San Francisco) is a genius when it comes to tasteful re-edits of the PIR stuff. He always seems to be musically bang on the money. I always wanted a 12" of "If You Wanna Go Back" and now I've got one! Also Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff listened to this album in full and authrorised it's release so hey, if it's OK with them, then who are we to argue? Ian D

Not grinning at the moment Jocko. I have to get in a flu incubator every day just to get to work so suffering right now. Toothy grin should be back by the weekend touch wood..... Ian D

I'm not so sure how acceptable the re-edits thing is to a traditional Northern audience. "Soul In The Sun" is more of a dubbed vocal rather than a re-edit so it's not a great example and was done without any authorisation from Cream records - the owners of Hi. But that's not unusual since 99% of all re-edits are unauthorised anyway. Northern Soul has always been about short records so there's not a lot of reason to extend them really. However, for the more mainstream 70's stuff there's every reason to re-edit them for today's audiences and in my experience a decent re-edit can totally revive a great tune and bring it to a completely new audience. For those of you who are into it, I have the first Philadelphia International Re-Edits double CD (and vinyl) coming out in 5/6 weeks time, officially sanctioned by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. This went through a torturous 8 month approval process and we had to lose Julien Love's brilliant re-edit of the Jackson's "Living Together" and Onur Engin's beautiful 8 minute re-edit of the Jackson's "Show You The Way To Go" due to clearance issues, both of which never had 12" mixes and both of which have become huge records again around the world. A shame. I can't even post the You Tube clips because they've been removed. Michael Jackson's estate is hyper active at the moment so no quick remedies here unfortunately. Maybe for Vol 2.......... In the meantime no complaints from me. Some of these re-edits have been crafted over years by people who know the records backwards and have superb skills......... Philadelphia International: The Re-Edits – Track Listing CD 1 Uptempo Good Time Philly 1) Satisfaction Guaranteed Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes 7.22 Morning Star 2) Only The Strong Survive Billy Paul 8.19 J*Ski 3) Save A Place The Trammps 6.37 J*Ski 4) Free Love Jean Carn 7.04 Victor Rosado 5) Do It Anyway You Wanna People’s Choice 6.35 Keep Schtum 6) Life On Mars Dexter Wansel 5.35 DJ Mila 7) Mysteries Of The World MFSB 6.00 J*Ski 8) Ain’t No Stopping Us Now McFadden & Whitehead 7.30 Noodleman 9) Dance Turned Into Romance The Jones Girls 6.55 DJ Friction 10) Be For Real Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes 7.43 Tim McAllister 11) Message In Our Music The O’Jays 9.16 Jimmy The Twin CD2 Mellow Slinky Philly 1) If You Wanna Go Back Jean Carn 6.46 Morning Star 2) Darlin’ Darlin’ Baby The O’Jays 8.08 Deep&Disco Rework 3) You’re Gonna Make Me Love Somebody Else The Jones Girls 8.36 Henry Greenwood 4) Strategy Archie Bell & The Drells 6.05 Touchsoul 5) Let The Dollar Circulate Billy Paul 6.41 scratchandsniff 6) Easy Money Dee Dee Sharp Gamble 6.56 Todd Terje 7) Was That All It Was Jean Carn 7.59 Morning Star 8) Nights Over Egypt The Jones Girls 6.59 Womack & TOT 9) Don’t Let Love Get You Down Archie Bell & The Drells 8.00 Ed Zone 10) Wake Up Everybody Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes 9.31 Apt One Plus, for anyone who prefers the more traditional remix, we have a 3CD Philadelphia International Tom Moulton project coming in January, where Tom finally gets to mix 14 PIR tracks that he never got his hands on first time around. A mouth watering prospect! Ian D

Coming up @ 2.00pm LIVE on www.starpointradio.com! Catch you in the Starpoint chatroom on the home page! Ian D

You're welcome Toad. I'm on the second listen and I think it comes across OK. Now, instead of having to spend half an hour trying to explain what Northern Soul was all about to people who don't understand, I can just send 'em a link...... Ian D

About two and half years ago I shot over to Essex to spend a day with my Six Million Steps colleagues...... Six Million Steps https://sixmillionsteps.com ......we're a collective of Black Music fans who got together about 10 years ago and decided to pool resources and do albums, radio shows, mixes, club dates and passionate recordings/podcasts and shows. One of the guys, J.J., likes nothing better than to spend 4 nights a week in a former mental institution which now houses the studio that the guys have used since the beginning. His workrate is prolific (check out the website and you'll see what I mean). Anyway, J.J. had been bugging me for ages to do a Northern Soul show that he could produce. So I did it. That was 3 years ago LOL.... Finally Part 1 is ready. I've just listened to it and it's like all my favourite records but interspersed with me waxing lyrical about the scene in the early 70's but J.J.'s somehow managed to dig up hundreds of interviews with both fans and plenty of stalwarts of the scene - I think I caught the dulcit tones of Keb Darge, Tim Brown and Richard Searling on there but I'm sure I've missed loads of others. It's very tasteful. God bless J.J. He did a lovely job IMO! Hope ya like it. Ian Dewhirst & A Cast Of Hundreds Talk Northern Soul History - Part 1 https://www.sixmillionsteps.com/ams/6MS-JJSmokingSessions-83.mp3 Ian D

First of all apologies for the lack of a download link for the last show. There was a technical snafu on the recording apparently (which sounds to me more like a case of el calapso situation following Al’s all-nighter @ the 100 Club). I’m pretty sure normal service will be resumed this week! A big Original Mastercuts shout out to all who attended the brilliant Love Soul Ibiza weekender last week, which was great fun in the sun with the perfect crowd, so big-ups to Lee Jeffries and Paul Dennis who were the perfect hosts and all the DJ’s and mates who made it a weekend to remember! And extra special thanks to Paul Dennis, Dan D, Vince from Drizabone, George from Nightmares On Wax and the rest of the gang for a truly historic final night on Tuesday which took in several clubs and bars and resulted in me barely getting back in time to pack and get to the airport! I’m still recovering LOL……. In the meantime, back to business! We have the usual array of stone cold classics, killer remixes and re-edits, a couple of new exclusives, a fantastic new release and the usual top quality soul music from across the last 5 decades! Six Million Steps Presents The Original Mastercuts Show LIVE with Ian Dewhirst between 2.00-4.00pm on Sunday 9th October 2011 on everyone’s favourite Soul station www.starpointradio.com. Featuring…… Barry White & The Love Unlimited Orchestra * Sly & The Family Stone * Jestofunk * Donny Hathaway * James Brown * Pleasure * Main Ingredient * Leroy Hutson * The Spinners * The Chi-Lites * Freddy Chavez * Len Jewell * Aldora Britton * Lou Ragland * Otis Smith * Little Johnny Blair * Bobby Patterson * J.C. Brooks & The Uptown Sound * The Lovelites * Blue Mink * The Sons Of Champlin * Des’ree * The Human League * Change * Alexander O’Neal feat Cherrelle Hopefully catch you @ 2.00pm LIVE! Ian D

Damn, you're right. So it did. That's probably what I played it off. However, the thing which intrigues me, is that this was a known track at the time which EVERYONE played from the album. The fact that Dave didn't know it was a single and the two key price guides don't list it either, suggests to me that the single is not widely known. The You Tube clip with the 7" label genuinely surprised me. You learn something new every day....... Ian D

It was. Even in 1976 we knew this was a rare record. By the time I eventually got it I'd pretty much dropped off deejaying on the Northern scene, so it just languished on my shelves 'til I moved it on like numerous others over the years LOL.... I'd completely forgotten what it sounds like 'til I just played it on You Tube. I don't think it was suitable in the 70's but boy does it sound strong now..... Ian D