Ian Dewhirst

A killer-diller Barry White production which I bought with my pocket money @ 12 years old in 1967. Still stands up today and I like it every bit as much as when I bought it. And long before the term 'Northern Soul' was coined.....here's a GREAT clip of her singing it on 'Beat Club' for German TV.... Ian D

Including myself and Neil Rushton. The only consolation for us, was that Soussan then got ripped by Soultrain Records when the company crashed within 6 months of Shalamar selling a million. As I said above, I was glad to be out of it by then because all I could see was years of litigation. In fact, litigation would become a key reality in the life of Solar records. They were always in court, right into the 90s and 00s even. The last litigation I read about was between them and Death Row records. As I said, sharks devouring sharks.... Ian D

Well, by the point that the album was approved I was long gone. I was only there on a 6 month visitors visa so they kicked me out by December 1976. In fact, because the whole thing happened so quickly, I never applied for a business visa so technically I couldn't do any work there. This was then used against me when the contracts were drawn up and that created some problems which Neil Rushton and I had to resolve in other ways. So, by the time the album was agreed, Neil and I had fallen out with Soussan big time. Truth be told, "Uptown Festival" was an uneasy alliance between myself and Soussan anyway. The record was always designed to be a Disco hit but sadly not one that I would ever play. Too commercial for my tastes by far, so I always distanced myself from it. There's little doubt that Soussan and I would have fallen out on any further productions anyway. The rest on side one is pretty much un-listenable and I suspect that Don Cornelius and Dick Griffey felt the same, hence the change in producers between side one and two. So Soussan was booted out and the next I heard was in litigation with Soultrain which made me smile. Sharks devouring sharks lol. I'm glad I was out of it by then. One year later and "Take That To The Bank" emerged which was EXACTLY the direction for the group to go. It was a bit surreal being back in Leeds and seeing a group I had created suddenly going on to better things but that's life. I don't believe the "Take That To The Bank" group necessarily included Howard Hewitt yet - I think line-up had solidified by the the "Big Fun" album was recorded. Ian D

Well by then it was a completely different band Steve. It's fair to say that I never had any dealings with Shalamar, Simon Soussan, Soultrain or Solar Records after 1977. I met Jeffery Daniels a couple of times in the 80s and mentioned that I formed the band but he didn't have any idea what I was talking about LOL... I met Howard Hewitt in the late 90s when Ralph Tee brought him round and Howard was fascinated by how the group started. But as far as Batley Frontier is concerned, nah, never saw 'em. The last group I saw there was the Stylistics in the 70s LOL... Ian D

That's a new one on me. I'll have to ask Levine..... Ian D

Hi All, For those who haven't received their orders, here is the Customer Service Team e-mail address:- Please contact our Customer Service Team directly should you have any questions regarding your order. I dunno what's going on but if you drop a line to the link above, then hopefully that will rectify any problems. Many thanks, Ian D

I'm told everything should sorted by next week Martin. Ian D

Yep. The original. A production masterpiece for me..... Ian D

Mmm. Now there's an idea....... Ian D

You watch Coronation Street? Ian D

Yeah, I've been watching the shows 'cos I'm interested in junk lol. What amazes me is the amount of stuff some of these people have in their warehouses and barns. There's probably more chance of getting a hit in one of those places then any record shops these days. I've seen it first-hand a few times, especially if I'd been to a flea market and looked through a box of records. Often the stall-holders would say that they'd got 1000s of records at home or in storage. On the few occasions that I followed up on some of these I had good and great hits. With records being relatively low cost items these people spend more time valuing other more valuable stuff and the records almost inevitably get forgotten about until some Brit hound turns up. This exact situation happened when I hit a flea market in Florida and was just generally looking around furniture stalls looking a for an original bankers light lol. I saw a box of records in the corner and found a couple of dozen decent items @ 50 cents each. The next day I went round to their house and they had 50K records just piled up in a room. Payday! Ian D

They already have legitimacy. I just looked at 'em again. That Natural Four looks bang on too. How many people would want to argue the toss with a top DJ at an OVO gig? These guys will all be competing as to who can get the best counterfeits. The fun is just beginning.......... Ian D

Not me Guv. I stole the Motown medley concept from the Richie Family who had just scored an international hit with the Disco medley "The Best Disco In Town". So it's their fault OK???? Ian D

A key thing is that we don't know what the long-term effect will be from this practice. We could be at the last stage of serious record collecting and I'm being 100% serious here. I have no axes to grind as I've had several incredible vinyl collections over the years but I stopped collecting rare original Northern vinyl 45s around 35 years ago. I still stumble into stuff but I tend to move it on to those who can get more use from them than I will. However, in the last few years, I've looked through some boxes of well-known DJs from across the scene and spotted some very, very good boots. I knew they were boots 'cos I've had the originals and can tell. When I pointed out that a certain record was a definite boot, the general reaction was a shrug and 'OK. C'est la vie. Life goes on.' No big deal. So the lines are getting blurred. Something very very near to an original seems to be acceptable in many quarters. I know this first-hand 'cos I've had that Mel Britt 'oh so close' boot and the Miki Farrow boot which was good enough to pass muster and had people begging to buy them because they were near as dammit to the real thing as the real things were way beyond most people's budgets. Plus, the percentage of qualified people who can be bothered to tell the difference is diminishing every year and has little relevance to a younger audience who just want to dance to great records anyway. So it doesn't surprise me that 'superior counterfeit' operations are springing up. The water's are muddying all the time. That Del-Larks counterfeit looks spot on to me. In fact, it's BETTER than the water-damaged one I bought for £2 in 1975. Forget ever finding an original and being able to afford it. That's simply not an option to the numerous people who would like that record in 2015. So, a very, very good boot is the next best option. Future Manship Price Guides will have to acknowledge this area and prices will be dictated by how close the boot is to the original and how many were done. It's a whole new area. The strange world of Northern Soul ay? Ian D

Well, this is Simon Soussan. Anything's possible. He could be one of those guys who burnt bright but burnt out eventually. He may have opted for a less stressful life or found religion or solace or something. No one's heard of him for a long time so who knows....? Ian D

LOL, this thread made me try and dig up a video or something. I did find a clip on You Tube of the Soul Train dancers..... Ian D

Yep, there's another one coming up soon I'm reliably informed. The Acid Jazz box is deffo in there so let's wait and see what else gets added.... Ian D

Yeah. Plus, whenever he's come into conversation over here, no knows his whereabouts or has heard of him for probably the last 10 years - even people he was close to at one time. He's always bounced around a lot though. Morocco, Leeds, Mexico City, L.A. and so on. Last I heard he'd become an Orthodox Jew which is entirely possible. Do you know any different? Ian D

Well, I asked and I got a complicated explanation back, something to do with warehousing and efficiency and skiffs (?). All is OK. Sounds like there was a hiccup but they've now sorted it apparently. Give it up to another week and they should all be there touch wood. If they're not I'll really raise hell! Good things come to those who wait. Ian D

Phew. For a minute there I thought Eddie Parker had been offering sexual services on e-bay.... Ian D

No one seems to know. He seems to have completely disappeared. Ian D

His enthusiasm and ear for Northern Soul has never really been in question. He was a true enthusiast. It's all the other stuff that left a sour taste with everyone. But credit where credit's due, he got me laid within hours of arriving in L.A. He was good at that kind of stuff......... Ian D

Don't blame ya Steve. I'm not exactly a fan of him myself which is why the only record I ever did with him was Shalamar which was my idea in the first place. Neither of us got paid properly when Soultrain crashed (thanks a bunch Don) but a million-seller is a million-seller. Overall a great experience for a kid of 21 from Leeds. Hanging around with Ike and Tina in their room above the studio was an eye-opener too...... Ian

A who's who of Northern Soul were involved on the sessions. Jack Ashford and Eddie 'Bongo' Brown for a start. Pat Powdrill was one of the key vocalists. Mike Lewis and Laurin Rinder from El Coco were on drums and keyboards. I'll check the album credits when I get home. Oh, and the guy who did the arrangement and charts was Don Hockett who did the string arrangements for the Four Tops stuff on ABC. Not a bad resume and I see that Soussan used him for multiple projects after Shalamar. Hope he got paid! https://www.allmusic.com/artist/don-hockett-mn0001668133/credits Ian D

Whoops, forgot to insert "Dance Chart"! No.1 on the Billboard Dance Chart. Apologies. Might have sold 2 million if it had gone to No.1 on the Pop chart! Ian D