Ian Dewhirst

I'm exactly the same. Whenever anyone asks me where I'm from and I tell 'em I spent all my formative years and youth in a mill town in Yorkshire called Mirfield and they say, "Oh my God. That must have been awful", I give them an enigmatic look and say, "Au contraire my friend, it was the eighth wonder of the world"....... Thing is, it was! We were lucky enough to be there and get on the ride......... Ian D

I doubt it's the same Cisco Ganesh. The Cisco I'm thinking of was more like Johnny Baker's own little label I think. I bet virtually all the copies of the record are over here too since you couldn't move for 'em at one time...... Anyone remember 'Disco' Bob Cattaneo from Daly City? He was the main contact for Bay area records and I think all the Johnny Baker's originally came from him....... Ian D

Bingo! Right answer Chorleysoul. Well done. (I never actually thought of that ). Actually that's exactly how it happened for me thinking about it. I heard all the Motown hits as a kid growing up and I guess it was a natural path to eventually go deeper. Also it helped that I was in Motown/Northern friendly place where every Youth Club played Motown, Soul and the 'available' Northern and there were whispers about this place in Manchester called the Wheel - so it wasn't too hard to gravitate towards Northern being in the middle of Leeds, Wakefield, Dewsbury, Bradford and Huddersfield - all ferocious Soul havens in the late 60's/early 70's. It's interesting how some people moved deeper into Northern travelling around the country whilst others chose to keep to a more local level and just go to the local Soul nights though...... Golden gateway is exactly the right term! Ian D

Nothing in the Demon listings either Dave....... Smith Connection - You Ain't Livin' Unless Your Lovin' Smith Connection - (I've Been A Winner, I've Been A Loser) I've Been In Love Smith Connection - Angel Girl Smith Connection - I Can't Hold On Much Longer Smith Connection - I've Come To Stay Smith Connection - My World is Empty Without You Smith Connection - Rainy Days & Mondays Smith Connection - Til There Was You Smith Connection - Under My Wings Smith Connection - Wish I Had You Smith Connection - I'm Bugging Your Phone (Parts 1 & 2 ) Smith Connection - The Day You Leave Not surprising though. I'm awaiting a list of a load of unreleased Invictus/Hot Wax/Music Merchant stuff which should be with me soon. Phil Dick also found a load of unreleased stuff on the H-D-H labels on a Detroit visit so the story's still unfolding on these labels..... Ian D

"Operator Operator" - Johnny Baker. From memory a tiny San Francisco indie called Cisco. Ian D

'Twas more of a late Friday night muse after seeing a ton of recent threads which appeared to attack a lot of previously successful records, venues, promoters, businessman and almost anything which has been a commercial success at some time or other, so just interested in people's views Ady. I've certainly seen a ton of comments deriding many aspects of the scene but the ones which seem to come in for the most stick are the ones which achieved a massive degree of commercial success or, as you say, overexposure in some cases with records. I guess it's hard to be objective when you've heard a record a zillion times but sometimes it seems to me that big success can be a minus on this scene, which is perhaps understandable I guess. Great Lou Johnson CD by the way! A case in point when you think of all the hits other people had on his songs...... Ian D

Here ya go Dave..... Jazz-Funk https://www.amazon.co...sl_76l8ba6a3e_e Rare-Groove https://www.amazon.co...ercuts&x=8&y=24 Or currently available from all good record stores.... https://www.amazon.co...23&sr=1-1-fkmr2 Ian D

Coming up LIVE @ 2.00pm today on www.starpointradio.com - another Soulful strut through all the eras featuring..... DJ Jose Burgos feat Sigma 2 * Al Green & Ann Nesby * Light Of The World feat Cylena Cymone * Randy Crawford * S.O.S. Band & Switch * Steve Arrington * The Jones Girls * First Circle * Wornell Jones * Otis Clay * The Steve Karmen Big Band * Barbara McNair * Edward Hamilton & The Arabians * Chico Lamarr * Carol Anderson * Clifton Dyson * Don Covay * Marvin Holmes & Justice * Tommy Tate * Ronnie Laws feat Randy Crawford * Gerry Deveaux * Carlton J. Smith * Gentlemen's Agreement * Shirley Slaughter * Cool Million feat Eugene Wilde See you @ 2.00! Ian D

OK posting early this week 'cos I'm out boogying this weekend in downtown Chichester at the final Chi-Soul which we just know will be a gas. So, bearing in mind that I'll be in the 'totally out there weekend zone' pretty much from early Saturday evening 'til just before the show I thought I'd better get my shit together early...... A KILLER show this week folks! I'll be tender for sure but the line-up this week will keep me trucking nicely until my whole world collapses around 4.05pm Sunday afternoon! Six Million Steps Presents The Original Mastercuts Show LIVE with Ian Dewhirst between 2.00-4.00pm on Sunday 28th February 2010 on everyone's favourite Soul station www.starpointradio.com. Featuring..... DJ Jose Burgos feat Sigma 2 * Al Green & Ann Nesby * Light Of The World feat Cylena Cymone * Randy Crawford * S.O.S. Band & Switch * Steve Arrington * The Jones Girls * First Circle * Wornell Jones * Otis Clay * The Steve Karmen Big Band * Barbara McNair * Edward Hamilton & The Arabians * Chico Lamarr * Carol Anderson * Clifton Dyson * Don Covay * Marvin Holmes & Justice * Tommy Tate * Ronnie Laws feat Randy Crawford * Gerry Deveaux * The Pacesetters * Gentlemen's Agreement * Shirley Slaughter * Cool Million feat Eugene Wilde See ya @ 2.00pm sharp! Ian D

Yep. Great post Rob. Lots of food for thought right there mate. Ian D

LOL, you're probably right Dave, but I'm just a mere vessel when organic creativity beckons........ Plus I'm pissed which probably helps......... Ian D

Truer words were never spake. What is it about us that loves to moan about success? Up until now I thought Northern Soul was bulletproof within it's own circle but if the truth's known this scene is probably the most ferociously difficult to survive within itself than any other scene I can think of. When I started off circa 1970-71, it was accepted that newies to the scene were 'divs' until they'd stayed around long enough to be accepted by one's elders. However, back then, no one was even thinking about looking forward. But here we are some 40 years down the line and we're dealing with a whole new set of issues. For instance:- 1) The evolvement of the scene. Those who were around in the 70's didn't necessarily experience the Stafford/100 Club 'lean' years and so a culture gap exposed itself. 2) The evolvement of the music. Northern Soul didn't get easier to find in the 80's, 90's and 00's, so the sound necessarily evolved way beyond the template which was popular in the 70's. 3) Age. Just like any other musical scene, the stuff which appealed to earlier generations wouldn't necessarily translate to a new, younger audience who preferred to forge their own identity with their musical preferences. However, the consistant theme throughout, is that if a record was a failure it would probably be embraced by the Northern/Rare Soul scene BECAUSE it was a failure. And the bigger the failure the better. Right? So we celebrate failure, yes? Ian D

Good point also. Are the Brits so idiosyncratic that this scene would probably not have thrived without such idiosyncracities? In other words, our love of commercial failure built the scene in the first place? Ian D

Including "This Old Heart Of Mine", "Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)" and "She's Fire". But does that make Jackie Wilson's "I Get The Sweetest Feeling" or Johnny Johnson's "Sweet Inspiration" less credible records? Ian D

A whole heap of recent threads on S.S. have lead me to believe that it's currently much more fashionable to ridicule success of any sort and applaud failure. Why is that? Some recent instances could include the following examples:- 1) Take such phenomenonally commercially successful Northern Soul records such as "This Old Heart Of Mine" - The Isley Brothers or even the completely reviled "Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)" - Frank Wilson. Both records are absolute pinnacles of everything a Northern Soul record should be, yet because the Isley Brothers was eventually a UK Top 10 hit and because Frank Wilson has become something of a cliche on the scene, both records are scorned and treated with disrespect compared to a no-hoper recorded in a shed in Carolina which always had little or no chance of any success. 2) Previously phenomenally successful Northern Soul venues such as, for the sake of arguement, Wigan Casino, which arguably did more to spread the popularity of Northern Soul then any other venue ever, are derided because of their success and the influence they had on the scene at the time. Likewise certain DJ's from certain eras. 3) Certain promoters who have had a long time career (in some cases all their lives) being involved in Northern Soul are derided for catering to large audiences, being commercially successful and essentially making a success of their efforts. 4) Even Berry Gordy, arguably the most influential person in Northern Soul history, is looked upon with suspicion because he was a successful businessman first and foremost and thus not so fashionable when it comes to icons of the scene. The consistant thread which comes out of all this, is that it would appear that anyone who has any kind of commercial success within Northern Soul circles is treated with suspicion or dread. Which is weird. Why on earth would anyone decry success in a given field? So my theory is that failure is fundamental to the popularity of certain areas within Northern Soul circles. Success is frowned upon whereas failure is applauded. Would this be an accurate statement? Ian D

I think this was a legit Audio Arts re-press with Soussan's early involvement I believe. Another one of those Selectadisc imports which jumped the gun somewhat since "Love Bound" hadn't taken off to any degree at the time (like Eddie Parker & The Sunlovers (sic) and Lou Courtney "Me & You Doing The Boogaloo"). As far as I can remember "Love Bound" was featured in some of the early Wigan B&S ads but never got established to my knowledge...... Ian D

Also when Sigma Sound closed down they had a wealth of 2" Masters stored there from various companies. They called up Salsoul and asked them if they wanted the Salsoul masters back and Salsoul refused because they didn't want to pay the courier charges for a stack of heavy 2" masters from Philly to New York! To be fair, at the time, Salsoul was defunct and no one could see a future in reissues at that point. Several years later, Tom Moulton got a call out of the blue and was asked if he wanted to purchase some Salsoul 2" masters for $500 each. He managed to get "Dr Love" and "Let No Man Put Asunder" - First Choice and I think "Love Sensation" - Loleatta Holloway back but the seller disappeared as quickly as he'd sprung up. So no one knows if those original Salsoul masters that were junked by Sigma are still around or not.... Ian D

Yep, it is a crime but the age old dilemma of who pays for the restoration/studio work/courier charges on the tapes keeps coming up. It's really quite expensive to restore these old tapes these days. I had a similar problem at Salsoul where we had access to the tapes but the sheer act of getting them into a studio, cleaning them up, studio time @ $250 per hour, Engineers charges, getting them transferred to digital and then getting 'em back to the UK essentially cost too much for the actual amount that the CD's or vinyl would sell. Also, as with many of the companies in the 60's and 70's, their contracts didn't cover digital media (i.e. CD's) so technically that would mean that the artists would all have to be individually contacted again and issued with new contracts and that could open a can of worms for many companies to say nothing of the legal costs. Sad but true. It all depends on the companies and the contracts they issued at the end of the day. It is possible and luckily companies like Ace/Kent and Numero do an excellent job with certain catalogues but the costs can be very prohibitive. Ironically, exactly the same thing seems to be happening with the majors right now where the costs of accessing the original masters from the U.S. and dealing with the attendant paperwork makes it not financially viable to licence certain tracks. Everything keeps coming back to the money and with CD sales receeding and Download sales stagnant it's very difficult to persuade people that it's financially viable to spend a lot of time and effort in investigating and restoring unreleased masters. Incredibly frustrating....... Ian D

So many people have tried to get access to them over the years, it's pretty much the holy grail of unreleased recordings IMO. I know of two people that have been close to getting access but got stalled at the last minute - Tony Rounce may be able to throw some light on this as he's put together most of the currently available Philly re-issues over the last 20 years. I've been told that they had a lot of contractual problems with their acts so didn't want to open a can of worms by releasing some of the previously unavailable stuff. Another theory is that Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff are so wealthy that they didn't particularly need the headaches, hassle and expense of digging into the unreleased stuff which is probably true as well. Talks are continuing and there could be some light at the end of the tunnel. One thing that concerns me is that the quality of the tapes will be deteriorating all the time - even now some of those master tapes from the 70's are virtually unplayable as the oxide is coming away from the tapes - in some cases so badly that even 'baking' them won't save them so it's a race against time really. Demon currently control the European rights to P.I. so hopefully there'll be some progress in this area soon. Fingers crossed. Ian D

Yep, a must-have purchase. He's right up there with the best of all time for me. He must be the most-covered of original Soul artists - such a shame that he never managed to get a decent hit with his own stuff considering the quality of the material. Ian D

F*ckin' typical innit. I'm trying to grill him about what incredible records passed through his hands and he was pissed at the time! The big mistake I made was getting round there too early! Trust Sam and Levine to be waiting at your door @ 10.30pm LOL...... 250 stamped addressed envelopes to mail out in the early 70's was a major operation in those days. I can't even begin to think what must have passed through your hands............ Probably just as well you were pissed Bri. If you valued those cheapies today what would they be worth I wonder? Assuming you can remember of course....... Ian D Ian D :smile:

Brill if you could Brian. I considered your lists to be right up there with the best ever. I think it was the sheer scale of unknown cheapies on small labels that made it a must-see list - it was almost more fun to go past the biggies to the cheapies at the bottom of the first page and beyond simply to imagine what they were like. Time's proved that there were tons of goodies there and I'm sure a lot of the S.S. readers would salivate if they saw some of that stuff. Also there were some major future rarities there and I wonder if any of 'em turned out to be one or two offs? It's 36-37 years since those lists were printed and I bet there's some titles that would interest people since so many of 'em went straight into some serious collections. Also would I be right in thinking that some people would get to the stuff first? I can think of at least one person that would have gone round to yours and spent loads especially on the cheapies.......... Also, if you don't mind me asking, did you have several sources? I remember buying the Malibus and Little Eddie Taylor off you and wondering if you had a Texas contact? Ian D

I don't suppose you kept any of your old lists did you Brian? Unfortunately mine all went when I moved houses sometime in the mid 80's - I had loads of yours, Soul Bowl's and Soussan's and I gave 'em all to a guy called Brian Hobson (who I haven't seen for 15 years or so). It'd be interesting to see what future gems were in your 30p section......from memory there were things like the Detroit Executives, Richard Popcorn Wylie, the Perigents and loads of Detroit and Chicago goodies but there must have been loads of others which went big over the years... Ian D

Actually it's across the road Malc. Best pizzas in the world there. Just the job after a day's serious digging........ Ian D

I'd say 1 in 3 is about right Dave. I've just had yet another Paypal dispute raised by a French Boogie buyer from Lille. This has been going on for ages now and it's getting beyond a joke. I just don't have time to keep dealing with certain French buyers claiming not to have received packages. It's getting so I can almost tell who I'm going to have a problem with before I even mail the packages out! So, yes, like you I'll have to pull the proof of postage and send off to yet another French buyer who says he hasn't received an item. These guys have been doing it for the last couple of years and some of my French contacts also know that there's a bunch of bad apples over there who are hell bent on ruining things for everyone. A real shame....... Ian D