Ian Dewhirst

Tim's book available from here for anyone wanting to buy. My copy should be arriving in the morning...... Outtasight Website Ian D

Weird. I just stumbled into a site that lists a load of purported Jimi Hendrix recordings which are in fact by some well-known names on the Soul scene. It seems there was a whole sub-industry in doing Hendrix soundalikes...... My link Ian D

Many thanks for all who joined me on Sunday afternoon for the LIVE party. And especially for the rest of you, here's the playlist and download link:- Six Million Steps Presents The Original Mastercuts Show LIVE with Ian Dewhirst between 2.00-4.00pm on Sunday 31st October 2010 on everyone's favourite Soul station www.starpointradio.com. Enjoy! 1st Hour Norma Jean Saturday Dimitri From Paris Remix Eddie Holman This Will Be A Night To Remember Black Ivory Mainline Butch Le Butch Re-Edit JD73 - Fantasy Fonzi Thornton I'll Change My Name Unreleased Full Version George Benson Love X Love Koko Southport Re-Edit The Rance Allen Group Reason To Survive Pied Piper Re-Edit Barbara Mason Yes, I'm Ready Handance Remix 2nd Hour Tavares & Freda Payne I Wanna See You Soon The Philly Devotions I Just Can't Say Goodbye Dionne Warwick Take It From Me Street People You're My One Weakness Girl David Ruffin I've Got Nothing But Time The Original Drifters Just Let Your Heart Be Your Guide Charles Drain Who's Gonna Love You Unreleased The Foundations Change My Life Sam Russell What's Usual Ain't Natural Sly & The Family Stone If You Want Me To Stay Paulette Reaves Let Me Wrap You In My Love Alton & Johnny Hang On In There Baby David Ruffin Everything's Coming Up Love Gladys Knight & The Pips Baby Don't Change Your Mind Lary Sanders Re-Edit https://www.sixmillionsteps.com/6MS-2010-10-31-Starpoint.mp3 Al and I will probably do a joint LIVE show this coming Sunday 7th Nov as it's his birthday, so we'll definitely be cracking a few open so come join us if ya can! Laters.... Ian D

Record hunting has gone on a long time. In the grand scheme of things, Northern is relatively recent. I haven't researched it yet but I'm willing to bet that music collecting started with the pianola and then every format and genre since. I'm acquainted with serious collectors of Blues 78's which probably go back to the late 20's, Jazz guys who go way back to the 30's and 40's and Doo-Wop collectors who go back to the 50's There's a guy at the end of my street who has a phenomenal collection of 40's and 50's crooners on all the original labels but, hey, there's only so much Mario Lanza a guy can take............... It's a good job there's people out there like us who are researching our international musical legacy throughout all genres and all decades. We're true historians and future generations will benefit from our knowledge. Music is like a time-capsule and a mini-soundbite of our history so it's important to preserve that slice of history 'cos it can say so much more than almost any other mass media medium. Ian D

"Dark Continent" perchance? Ian D

Hi Folks, Halloween already ay? Blimey this year has gone fast. Anyway following my interview on the Craig Charles Soul & Funk Show last week (https://www.sendspace.com/file/oyuqeq - open with i-tunes) and the fantastic plug we got for Starpoint and the show, it'll be great to be back behind the decks this Sunday between 2.00-4.00pm on www.starpointradio.com for another LIVE Original Mastercuts session. Open a bottle of wine, join the gang and kick back for a couple of hours! Plus this week we have a KILLER show, featuring a couple of cuts from the new Chic box-set including a stunning Dimitri From Paris remix and a brilliant unreleased Fonzi Thornton tune, some lovely new tasty re-edits on Black Ivory, George Benson and The Rance Allen Group, a classic remix on Soul chanteuse Barbara Mason, an exclusive unheard Charles Drain tune and an exclusive Gladys Knight remix that finally lets the tune breath properly as well as the usual brace of Soul Music gems throughout the eras. In short, a soundtrack for a perfect Sunday afternoon so hope ya can join me...... Featuring... Norma Jean * Eddie Holman * Black Ivory * JD73 * Fonzi Thornton * George Benson * The Rance Allen Group * Barbara Mason * Tavares & Freda Payne * The Philly Devotions * Dionne Warwick * Street People * David Ruffin * The Original Drifters * Charles Drain * The Foundations * Otis Williams * Sam Russell * Sly & The Family Stone * Paulette Reaves * Alton & Johnny * David Ruffin * Gladys Knight & The Pips See you @ 2.00pm! Laters... Ian D

Yep, will do. Hopefully I'll be able to nail Lamont down this week touch wood! I'll keep you informed..... Ian D

"I Can Take The World On" is the track for me! Ian D

:lol: "Bricks, Broken Bottles & Sticks"? Nah, no one will ever write a record about that! Ian D

Yep. I think I'd go along with that. Emminently sensible. There's a bit of a weird one at the moment with the Otis Williams record "Take Me Back"/"I Got To Have You" which was manufactured (hence a handful of copies got out) but by all accounts the rest never made it to the marketplace as the label was actually a tax dodge apparently. You can 'lose' a lot of money 'manufacturing' records which never make it to the marketplace, so it's never exactly black and white LOL....... I guess Frank Wilson would fall into a similar catergory but different if you see what I mean............. Ian D

Well I specialize in bumper packages baby! Glad you like 'em. Just spreading the goodness around......... Ian D

Very true Paul. I've lost count of the amount of artists/groups or acts who seem to think that they can produce/arrange/play and write songs themselves and then hope to find an audience with 'em when the material or productions are quite obviously inferior. Full productions with proper musicians, great arrangements and great lyric writing are just three of the main casualties in this day and age and some of these areas will go the way of dry-stone walling if we're not careful. Elsewhere I have constant arguements vis a vis the appeal of 'new' releases versus old releases and the arguements keep going in circles. I'm of the opinion that the amount of genuinely great releases per year might boil down to 10 tunes a year these days if you're lucky (and 5 of those would be likely to be Pop releases if the truth's known). Compare that the mid 60's to mid 70's and you can see how far apart the eras are. I can vividly remember having to do my record budgets reallly carefully because it seemed like there were 5 great records every week back then or aound 200-300 great releases every year. I now look back to that same era and realise how blessed we really were. Real musicians, real instruments, proper producers, arrangers and musical directors, great lyricists, great melodic song-writers and often full orchestras. It's hard to compare with that array of talent with a laptop and a bedroom studio ay? The Tobi Legend work of genius is obviously a masterclass of Soul and if that Guardian article encourages more people to listen to this music, then I'd say that's a good thing. Finding pieces of writing as good as that in the mainsteam media these days is almost as difficult as finding a genuine 100% breath-taking classic new release in a sea of bland computer-driven mediocrity. But, hey. That's what we live for innit? As an aside, I can remember hearing Tobi Legend for the first time ever in a pub in Huddersfield circa 1972 - I think Howard Earnshaw brought it in and it's a credit to the track that it still moves me as much today as it did the first time I heard it. Everything but the kitchen sink on that record! Ian D

This whacked-up to the max @ around 12.30am.......... ....neighbours weren't too impressed though....... Ian D

Can't remember where I got it from either! Ian D

Ian D

Yep. Very eloquent. Good to see someone in the mainstream media so visibly moved by the lyrics of the song plus she made some valid points re the Shakespear connection. I always thought the song was an absolute masterpiece and the lyrics were exceptional - almost like poetry really, so it's kind of cool to see it still making waves some 40 + years later. Good stuff. Ian D

You see, I always had your number right from the word go Dave. F*ckin' far too calculating and obsessive for my own personal wellbeing in those days LOL. So this Japan thing was a long-term game-plan right? Brilliant strategy. I gotta hand it to you but it doesn't surprise me one bit. The very first shop I went to when I got to L.A. in '76 had two Japanese Soul collectors who were obviously examining the same type of stuff as me. They didn't know "Seven The Loser" by Eric Lomax so luckily I scored the 6 copies. But they got everything else 'cos they bought it all. The buying power of the Japanese and their interest in obscure Soul music was already a pain in the ass (for me as a digger) in the mid 70's, but now I hear stories about Japanese collectors who were trawling Detroit in '69 and, in some cases, getting mailed new releases from labels like La Beat etc. You seem to hit stuff out there almost on a weekly basis, so I'm almost beginning to wonder if there's a better hit-rate in Japan than the U.S. these days? Is Japan the Bostocks Market of the Far East I ask myself? I'm curious as to how many serious Soul collectors there were in Japan in the late 60's and whether any sort of Soul collectors scene existed. It's not an area that's been extensively documented (unlike, say, Jap Prog Rock or Jap Jazz-Funk etc, etc), however, rumours of bespoke fantastic personal collections and warehouses continue to persist. But hey. You've been out there for a while so it's gotta be OK hasn't it? You should start a great finds in the Far East thread! Ian D

I'd hazard a guess that there could even be a few promos over here from the 60's since SSS licensed Gloria Taylor to Polydor so no doubt there'd be a few UK companies and/or personnel who were on their international mailing list. Digging 'em out now is another thing entirely though.......... Ian D

Nice one Baz. Well done! When I was last there in '89 it was a running battle with the Japanese and their U-Haul trailers to see who could get to the good stuff first. At the time the Japs would just go to a stall have a quick flick through and simply ask, "how much for everything"? The yen to dollar rate was crazy at the time I seem to remember, so those guys were just buying up everything in bulk......... It looks a lot more civilised these days. Brought back a lot of memories of getting back to the hotel room with the haul and playing through 'em! Great stuff! Ian D

Oh I'm sure he'll manage LOL. I know him from years ago and he coldn't stop blabbing then, so it'll be a battle of the voices. Should be fun - I'm looking forward to it!. Should be a nice boost as we're in @ No.26 on the Amazon comp chart! https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/new-releases/music/386760011/ref=pd_nr_pg_2?ie=UTF8&pg=2 Ian D

Whoops. Did I say Brothel? I meant Broker! Freudian slip............ Ian D

Yeah, quite a funny story behind it, in that the records got pressed in Chile and took an age to reach the U.S. by which time the Boston Celtics had been bounced out of the final, so basically the records got there too late to be sold! The majority of 'em were dumped and the producers ended up with a box or two each at the time. However, that was 30 odd years ago so probably most of the others have been dumped too. It was sheer chance that the record came up in conversation and the producer mentioned that he'd still got few at home. He's away until Saturday but he'll let me know how many he has then....... Ian D

Don't you start! Serves me right for spending the 80's in clubs and brothels I guess......... Ian D

Yeah right. With a large hook............ Mmm. Probably L.A. I think. Still some scope there I reckon in lock-ups in Compton and Watts. And rumour has it that S.S. has renounced his former life and found religion and is a practising orthodox Jew these days......... Ian D

Cheers mate. Soon as I see exactly how many there are I'll PM ya but that sounds perfect. This came about completely out of the blue when I bumped into one of the producers t'other day and he said he had a bunch of copies at home....... Ian D