Ian Dewhirst

Maybe the way to go, would be to charge him for taking all that vinyl junk off him? He may see the sense in that. Charge him a mere 200 Australian dollars to shift the vinyl crap and he could take you up on it. Stranger things have happened........ Ian D

Good choice Steve! I think the reason why Salsoul kept on the ball for the 10 years from '75 - '85 was because they were constantly in touch with the clubs and the major U.S. DJ's and remixers at the time and this kept their ears attuned to the constantly evolving sounds from the clubs. Just the list of the remixers they used showed how the label evolved over that period - Tom Moulton, Walter Gibbons, Bobby 'DJ' Guttadero, Larry Levan, Francois Kevorkianm Shep Pettibone etc, etc. Also they started off in Philly basically using MFSB and producers Norman Harris and Vincent Montana Jr and other Philly production teams for the Loleatta Holloway, Double Exposure, Salsoul Orchestra, First Choice, Eddie Holman, Love Committee, Instant Funk etc, etc records whilst always watching other producers emerge mainly from New York like Randy Muller, Leroy Burgess, Patrick Adams, Stan Lucas, Greg Carmichael etc, etc. Philly International were routed from much earlier, 1972 in fact, and had the bulk of their hits throughout the 70's and were much more self-contained in Philadelphia with less exposure to outside producers than Salsoul. Also PIR were not as connected with clubs, remixers and DJ's as much as Salsoul but more towards the desires and control of Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff who, to be fair, were probably more focussed on sustained long-term artist careers and international successes like the O'Jays, Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, Teddy Pendergrass, Billy Paul etc, etc. The amazing thing about both labels is that they both maintained their independence until earlier this year when Salsoul changed hands after 36 years of being owned by the Cayre brothers. PIR continues to be 100% owned and controlled by Kenny and Leon. Watch out for the forthcoming Philly International 10CD box set compiled by Ralph Tee which should be with us by October plus a 3CD PIR Re-Edits and Remixes package coming shortly and a comprehensive 3CD Tom Moulton set including 16 new Tom Moulton PIR mixes coming for January next next year! Ian D

What! You haven't bought it yet????? Ian D

Mmm. I think I'd be targeting the landfill sites....... Ian D

Yep, saw Eddie earlier tonight @ Vintage and he's absolutely gutted, not least since he's got numerous gigs coming up. I've offered to let him borrow anything he can use from me but obviously if anyone hears of any records being offered around than please drop a PM to Steve or me. It's probably some quick fingered chancer in Soho so please keep your eyes peeled and let any dealers know. Cheers, Ian D

What's so wrong with being cosmopolitan and open minded? Those are qualities I admire...... Ian D

Yep. I agree. Ian D

Mmmm. 4/4 drumming with an impassioned vocalist wailing his or her heart out over a deadly rhythm track. What's so different apart from updated production values? I presume your personal cut-off point is circa '69 Pete? Is this really a question of modern production values rather than anything else I wonder? Ian D

Agreed. Incidentaly, I've really enjoyed the couple of Soulful House sets I've caught you playing @ Prestatyn by the way. It's refreshing to know you keep your ears open to this stuff alongside everything else. Ian D

For me there has to be a Soulful vocal over a decent rhythm. I don't personally get off on Rock & Roll, C&W, Rockabilly, Jump Blues or Popcorn for my personal needs and there's not much stuff prior to '64-'65 that rocks my particular boat, so it's pretty much '65 onwards, but really '67 onwards that I really like in terms of what we might call traditional Northern or Rare Soul. I think there's tons of great 70's and 80's releases which have yet to have their day. Many of 'em are relative cheapies now but I can see many of 'em eventually becoming anthems because, in terms of sheer quality, I think they're difficult to beat. Only a matter of time before they come through hopefully. I like Soulful House but the percentage of great stuff to mediocre also-rans is huge to my ears. I go through this stuff all the time and at best I maybe only get a 2% personal hit rate. But the ones which are great are right up there with my all-time faves for sure. So I wouldn't mind a night which concentrated on some great underplayed or unknown late 60's traditional Northern, tons of underplayed great 70's and early 80's gems and a smattering of the better 90's & 00's Soulful House killers. Plenty of scope there for me. Ian D

If you don't already have the original single CD's then it's a no-brainer. Several grands worth of nicely remastered oldies for £14 is a bargain if only to play in the car. Compiled by Richard Searling I believe, so you won't go far wrong with this. It's never been better for music buyers. Ian D

I dunno Steve. People harped on about the mod scene of the 60's, the Scene and the Wheel etc when we were kids and we accepted them as the legendary times and clubs that they undoubtably were. No one can re-write history. If they don't get it, then they're better off being elsewhere anyway imo. Ian D

Much less. No one seems to be buying House/Techno/Rave and 80's and 90's stuff generally. You could amass a great collection of that stuff right now for peanuts. Not that anyone on here will want it LOL..... Ian D

One thing I have noticed, is the sheer amount of so-so records priced at top dollar from most of the U.S. sellers. They seem to think the price guide prices are the norm for some quite common stuff. In fact, I'd say 80% of bog standard stuff is easily available over here for at least 50% of the prices I'm seeing and they still can't sell LOL. I reckon there'll be some price corrections coming in the near future, since with P&P from the U.S. many of those prices are just patently unrealistic. Ian D

Result I reckon! I've just gone through my entire Discogs stock and re-priced everything. It's all LP's and 12"'s and the price on those formats has fallen off a cliff in the last 3 years. It's actually cheaper on there then in most charity shops now. Kinda frightening. I put it down to lots of mainly 80's & 90's DJ's and collectors cashing out their record rooms. Quite a few of the decent 70's stuff is holding OK but the rest....forget it! I've seen some previously highly collectable albums going for a pittance now. Northern is holding much much better, but I reckon only the right titles. All of those pretty common £5-£50 records will probably go the same way 'cos no one really wants 'em. The big titles and real rare stuff will still hold for a while. The next couple of years will be a bonanza for vinyl collectors as more stuff gets unloaded (like your mates). Interesting times we're in. Best of luck on the bay! Ian D

Mmm. Weird. I think that's a perspective that comes with deeper knowledge Steve. When "Ton Of Dynamite" first reached our ears the most common description was that it was the "Tighten Up" riff with a Northern beat, which is sure sounded like back then. Still does to me actually. Didn't catch the interview Steve but I'll listen if you can dig it out. Oh, and yes, of course I'm aware that there's different types of funky records LOL..... Ian D

Jesus! I take it all back. I just checked on 78rpm record players and there's tons of 'em...... https://www.smarterdeal.co.uk/smart/deals.jsp?ga=sfuk1&on=turntables+78+rpm So where the hell can I get some 78's then? Ian D

Well, that's a result Glyn. I dunno about thriving though? I only know 2 people who still play 78's. One's a serious Blues collector and the other's an old boy down the road who collects 30's, 40's and 50's crooners. Can't be too many of 'em around can there.......? Ian D

No B*stards gonna share my database thankyou very much! I'm gonna be using eyeball encryption for a start......... Ian D

That's because people are using 'em to build houses! https://www.vinylsidingzone.com/ Ian D

I can't see it personally Beeks. Who'd want to be running the section of a company making turntables, when it's nigh on impossible to buy new vinyl these days? There'll undoubtably be some bespoke high-end companies catering for the niche market but that'll be it. After all, they've discontinued the Sony Walkman and that wasn't even invented till the 80's....... https://technorati.com/technology/gadgets/article/sony-retires-the-walkman-after-31/ Ian D

Not true Boba. On any measurement possible the sale of vinyl LP's fell of a cliff a long time ago. I know this 'cos was I Head Of A&R for the world's biggest vinyl re-issue company from 1998-2002 and I still keep in touch with that market. There's a healthy little niche which has thankfully plateaued now, but that's really all it is compared to all other formats. The vast majority of vinyl album re-issues sell less than 1000 units each. Naturally I watch the figures all the time 'cos if I can snag another 1000 units here and there, then I'll take 'em. The stats are somewhat skewered because the sales are so low that even any minor increase is almost always hailed as a 'vinyl revival' by the papers! I actually went on CNN in 2001 talking about the 'resurgence of vinyl' because the BPI stats showed an upswing but that was against a previously disasterous year. I'm sure there wouldn't have been so many pressing plants closing down if the sales were that healthy mate. Now, I do kind of agree with you there 'cos I'm witnessing it myself across Europe. It's not unusual to see lots of student-aged kids plundering the record and junk shops picking up 7"'s. There's a healthy interest in all types of music on 7" vinyl and that really gives the collecting ethos hope. However I also think there's an element of finding interesting stuff cheap that drives it. Sales on most 7" re-issues are circa 500 with the occasional one doing a 1000 but that's about it. Agree for the most part. I've been to a couple of young people's parties where the format of preference is undoubtably 7" vinyl, but the music tends to career all over the place, from Pop to Soul to Beat to Reggae etc, which isn't such a bad thing. There do seem to be plenty of localised clubs in the U.S. playing Soul music which is absolutely healthy. I'm not surer what they're playing but some of the playlists I've seen, it seems to be a combination of Soul, Funk, R'n'B, Popcorn and old local releases, which is kinda encouraging. I doubt if you'll still be able to buy new turntables in 10 years time, leave alone 50 years though....... Ian D

I almost altered the 50 years to 5 Sutty, but I seriously didn't want to scare anyone on here LOL. Keeping pace with the scale of change is a challenge in itself for us oldies! And Alvin Toffler's the guy who wrote "Future Shock" isn't he? Some of those guys got it so bang on it's almost scary. Similar thing thing with Vance Packard's "The Hidden Persuaders" which was written over half a century back, yet it may as well be a textbook for phsychological marketing techniques! As I've said many times before, physical media collecting of any type will go the same way as dry-stone walling after our generation passes on. I don't know many people that still collect 78's these days do you? Ian D

I'm pretty sure it was the first. I never even realised it came out on Ovide and that the T.S.U. Toranados were the backing band or that Billy Butler co-wrote it! You learn something new everyday...... Ian D

Nope. Demos are royalty free because they're used for promotion. Bear in mind that 98% of all new releases lose money, it's only the 2% that actually sell that make anything for anybody. It's a high-risk game for everybody so rewards are slim unless you have a genuine big seller. Ian D