Ian Dewhirst

OK folks, here is our trailer hot off the presses and on here first......... Ian D

We're very proud to announce that the forthcoming 'The Odyssey: A Northern Soul Time-Capsule' will contain a DVD with an exclusive Richard Searling interview with John Anderson which we filmed at Prestatyn last year. It's a spellbinding interview with one of the most enigmatic characters who has been involved with the scene for the last 45 years. And it's LONG 'cos we had a lot of ground to cover. I think we're releasing the trailer for the project tomorrow, so that'll give everyone an inkling of the mind-set of probably the most influential record dealer in Soul Music history. It's a must watch believe me. Ian D

I know too well Geoff but I see the stats every day and if you look at what's happened in Sweden and Norway, the explosion in streaming has reduced the physical business by 65% in a year. If that happens in the U.K. - and all the signs are that it's happening right now - then the main physical business will be dead in a few years. As per usual the music industry has killed another golden goose. I'm sure there'll always be a die-hard physical market but the days of mass-market physical sales are fast-declining. I hope I'm wrong but experience tells me otherwise.... Ian D

I'm completely the opposite as I collect CDs religiously simply because I need the best possible quality masters which you can't get any other way as all digital downloads are crap quality and cannot be used for mastering. It's a great time to collect CDs! Ian D

Finally some validation LOL. Seriously great news. Good for NME and great for Elaine! Couldn't happen to a better project. Ian D

I guess they could but to do that effectively it would probably take a couple of full-time 'copyright detectives' to compile the information. The only time this ever happens these days is if someone just happens to catch something and then forces someone else to chase it up. Also record companies are consistently shrinking these days. Demon has halved in size since I joined in 2009 and those that are left are increasingly having to do much more monotonous work - endless form-filling, online data inputs, ISRC code registrations, internal compliance etc, etc. It's an endless nightmare of administration and much more work for far less return. The physical music business really is on it's last legs in my opinion, despite Harmless just having probably its biggest year ever in terms of revenues. The ridiculous push towards streaming will finally kill-off what's left of the physical market if what's happened in Norway and Sweden happens here, which seems likely. I'd say Northern Soul bootlegs on e-bay are probably the least of the record company's worries right now Mike. So my guess is that they'll continue to ignore it! Ian D

Well that sounds eminently sensible to me. However, all the big record companies retain plenty of legal counsel so there's no real reason why they wouldn't have considered this route. It's probably all about about money, as are most things. I've got a leaving do tomorrow so I'll target a couple of legal types and interrogate 'em and try and find out why they're not bothering. As long as I don't get charged! Ian D

Bang on Russell. Ian D

In short, no Mike. I've been following bootlegs since I worked @ Decca in the mid 70s. Back then it was the MCPS's responsibility to hunt down and prosecute. However, nothing much happened - they seemed to be waiting to catch the big boys at it and every so often, they would. These days, the bootleggers operate from dubious addresses and always seem to stay one step ahead of any potential law suits. Truth is it costs far more in legal costs then you would ever recoup from a successful prosecution so it's simply not worth pursuing these people and they probably already know that. Basically the legal system is too expensive to bust anything less than a major player these days, so it's likely that they'll carry on indefinitely unfortunately.... Ian D

Yep, we're getting across the board great comments on pretty much all the tracks. Pretty amazing reaction for a debut album from a brand new name. Radio has also been fantastic with support across the board. I'm dead chuffed! Amazon reviews all 5 star too! Most Helpful Customer Reviews 2 of 2 people found the following review helpful Young Hearts Run Free By Karl I Winter on 16 Feb. 2015 Format: Audio CD Verified Purchase We’ve waiting a long time for this but it has finally arrived and is well worth the wait. I’ve known Mike for more than 10 years as we are both avid Disco record collectors but this is a new string to Mike’s bow and boy is he good at it. Just as the Godfather of Mixing, Tom Moulton, has his own way of doing things I can now tell a Mike Maurro mix when I hear one. A lot of these tracks have been done before but Mike does them in his own way and does them very well indeed. The stand out for me has to be Candi Staton’s “Young Hearts Run Free”. Although a rare and highly sought after 12 inch single exists of this 1976 track the original 12 inch is no longer than the regular 7 inch. Finally we have a longer version, beautifully done and a sure fire winner. Great work by Ian Dewhirst too and all at Harmless to get all these tracks licensed and at £10.99 for a triple CD containing 3 and a half hours of music it’s an absolute steal. Highly recommended! Comment Was this review helpful to you? YesNo 2 of 2 people found the following review helpful Mike Maurro's Mixes are the bomb !!!! By Michael Williams on 16 Feb. 2015 Format: Audio CD Verified Purchase brilliant re-imagining of these classic tracks great job Mike familiar but refreshingly different and hearing vocal refrains not heard before but somewhat the same as originals great mixes and long to fully immerse yourself in travelling back in time they sound as if they have just been recorded fantastic remastering job done too wow Comment Was this review helpful to you? YesNo 1 of 1 people found the following review helpful Well worth the wait! By martin southcombe on 16 Feb. 2015 Format: Audio CD Verified Purchase It seems like an eternity since I ordered this gem, but after the wait it finally dropped on 15/2/2015, all I can say is the wait was worth it. Not a bad track or filler to be found, and all served up in the usual Mike Marro way, no loops, beats or gimmicks added, just staying true to the original components, but allowing them to breathe and grow. Here's to volume 2 1 Comment Was this review helpful to you? YesNo Remix Heaven By S. Mccartney on 16 Feb. 2015 Format: Audio CD Verified Purchase This has got to be one of the best remix albums out there. Mike starts of with I ll be Around at ten minutes and I have to say the mix is perfect. the Candi Staton mixes are just sublime and all through the 3 cds the quality is superb like listening to the actual masters a great selection. loved every minute hope he does another. A GREAT addition to my club collection. Comment Was this review helpful to you? YesNo Without a doubt, this triple album will appear in ... By JB on 17 Feb. 2015 Format: Audio CD Verified Purchase Without a doubt, this triple album will appear in my end of year round up, and it's only February. Check it out. Ian D

Wanna get him over Neil? The album went in @ No.32 on the midweeks today! Glad ya like it. I thought it would be up your street.... Ian D

I had this conversation with Dan @ Above Board. I was under the impression that the TK group was bought by Roulette and then EMI bought Roulette and all the associated labels, including TK. In fact, I recently went through the Roulette catalogue listing of assets from prior to the EMI purchase and all the TK labels were included. Then Universal bought EMI and supposedly all it's assets. So how come TK managed to get free of all that I wonder....? Ian D

Yep, there were generally Northern nights going on most nights of the week in West Yorks too..... Ian D

Sure. That's what hit records do. Made a nice change from the likes of Clive Dunn, Rolf Harris, the Tweets and Rene and Renato though........ Ian D

They were all rare records at some stage and all started on the Northern scene and only became popular with the mainstream once they were released in the UK. U.S. soul records have always been released in the UK but in the late 60s/early to mid 70s they actually sold enough to hit the upper reaches of the chart. The 'disco' era didn't really start in the UK until circa '76 onwards, so the ones above were well before that period. Ian D

It was big enough to regularly break pure Northern records into the Top 30 on a regular basis in the first half of the 1970s... No.1 The Tams - Hey Girl Don't Bother Me July 1971 No.11 Archie Bell & The Drells - Here I Go Again Oct 1972 No.3 R. Dean Taylor - There's a Ghost In My House May 1974 No.17 Wayne Gibson - Under My Thumb Nov 1974 No.26 The Javells - Goodbye Nothing To Say Nov 1974 No.5 The Trammps - Hold Back The Night Oct 1975 No.22 Rodger Collins - You Sexy Sugar Plum April 1976 Ian D

I have the UK re-release with the correct credit and always wondered what was the point of Warner UK re-issuing it? There was no demand and no real reason unless it was in a film soundtrack or something. Anyone have any ideas? Ian D

I've known Stuart since early 70s Leeds Central. He's a serious guy and this will be an engaging read. He started off on the Northern Soul scene in the early 70s, spent 4 years at Washington University, became editor of the New Musical Express and is now a senior figure at Channel 4. Stuart's an intellectual and I'll be interested to see how he interprets Detroit in 1967 - I'll probably learn something that I wasn't aware of before. He's one of the few people on the scene that is capable of writing a book on this period and I can't wait to read it. Ian D

You should have done. I put up a thread on here about it a couple of years. In fact, I'm sure you replied....... Ian D

Yep lol. That's a great story. Mingering Mike's legacy is the rarest of the rare because it doesn't actually exist lol. What a tale....... Ian D

A friend of mine caught a Madonna concert where one of the DJs in the Top 10 list was supporting. He had to walk along a cat walk to a laptop setup on a kind of DJ Alter and press a start button and then pretend to be mixing. $250K. Not bad for 40 minutes 'work' ay? Ian D

So many people involved I thought I'd better list 'em all. I should point out that Ady helped out with some of our last minute license kerfuffles! Ian D

Thirded. No sweat on service either. Ian D

Smart move Jim. The costs of producing and warehousing these box sets is huge these days, so the early pressing runs are the only ones that are guaranteed since it's so expensive to do re-runs that they won't bother unless it's for 1K+. The early bird gets the worm mate! Ian D

Well free downloads are illegal of course and no serious collector would dream of ripping of the copyright owners, writers and artists I presume? Every track on here has been legally licensed for decent royalties and advances. For 8 x CDs, 230 properly mastered tracks, 2 DVDs of brand new content and a 160 page book I think the £49.99 Dealer Price is a bargain. When Amazon drop their price (as they inevitably will) their price will drop to something even better. Also this is not particularly aimed at people who already have the stuff. The Northern Soul soundtrack shows that there is a huge audience out there who want to learn, so this is as good a start as any. Ian D