Ian Dewhirst

Agreed! Can't remember how many venues I've stepped into, only to step out of again because of the mind-numbing boredom of what was being played, which I personally wouldn't want to listen to again anytime soon. I've then usually gone to a far musically different alternative venue and at least seen some energy and a younger audience having fun! Ian D

LOL. I've NEVER seen a pair of technics @ a Northern gig! I actually think more of an emphasis should be put on the equipment. It's just nuts to think that people entrust £5K rarities to most of the equipment I've seen being used on the Northern scene. All this talk of OVO reminds me of being in Somerset at a party a couple of years back and in one of the marquees there was a guy playing 78rpm records on an original gramophone. Interesting bloke, in that he was partial to 1920's, 30's and 40's big band tunes but ONLY providing thery were the original 78's and ONLY if played on an original gramophone player (like the one used as the old HMV logo with the dog - remember). It was good shooting the breeze with him. He was obviously an eccentric because he was dressed in top and tails for a Summer party and the wind-up gramaphone player wasn't very loud so he wasn't exactly at the epicentre of things. He obviously believed in what he was doing plus he was obviously a highly unique DJ so I bade him and his two companions a fond farewell and went to join the other 500 people mashing it up in the main marquees. A bloke out of time. Touching but sad. I'm kinda split on this whole OVO thing. When I was deejaying on the scene 35 odd years ago, any deejays who played bootlegs were considered 'C' listers. However there was still a huge local audience for 'C' listers 'cos the scene was much bigger. And there weren't that many bootlegs/reissues back then either. But the scene is a lot smaller now and just seems to be fragmenting further with some areas almost disappearing up their own arses. Plus the standard of deejaying isn't tremendous in so much as most DJ's these days are essentially collectors first and foremost and thus have a very good reason for propogating OVO policies. Plus, as always, there is a certain amount of elitism/snobbery around concerning the value of most records played. I'm wondering whether this scene is comparible to the Premier League, where anyone who gets a sudden injection of cash and has a modicum of decent taste can immediately propell themselves into the Top 5? In which case, is this OVO thing more about the money, then about people's tastes? I think Northern Soul needs to propell itself into the future and right now it's not doing that. 'Format policing' and bad equipment doesn't exactly help the situation if the scene is to move forward. Right now the scene seems to be heading along the same lines as my guy in Somerset with the gramophone! The fact that so much great undiscovered stuff is now turning up on CD and cannot be played because of the bias against anything other than vinyl is just plain ridiculous to me. It's about the MUSIC full stop. If a mind-numbingly brilliant unreleased Bob Relf track suddenly appeared on CD only, are the OVO guys saying they won't play it simply because of the format it's on? Ian D

Eloquent and on the button as per usual Jocko. I see the OVO arguement clearly but there's an awful lot of nonsense played in the name of OVO - stuff that really doesn't deserve to be played at all IMO. OVO doesn't make a record good and I've been to too many sparsely attended do's which are like the British Legion too! Ian D

And the proof of the pudding - sounds just fantastic on the radio IMO. It's about 1 hr 22 minutes in.......... Gratuitious plug over now! Here we go........ 1st Hour Will Powers - Smile Crown Heights Affair - Foxy Lady Ray Munnings - Funky Nassau Al Marshall - Let's Get Down Jimmy & Vella Cameron - Be Fair To Me Robin Thicke feat Mary J. Blige - Magic (NYC Remix) Chew - I Like It Mo Grazz - Some Things Never Change Jeffrey Osbourne - I Really Don't Need No Light Steve Arrington - She Just Don't Know Johnny Hudson - Better Love 2nd Hour Lee Andrews - I've Had It Ila Vann - Can't Help Lovin' That Man Bob Relf - Girl, You're My Kind Of Wonderful Al Mason - Good Lovin' Towanda Barnes - You Don't Mean It James Perry - April Lady Gary The Master Blaster - Caf Reggio's Voices Of East Harlem - Wanted Dead Or Alive Stevie Wonder - Knocks Me Off My Feet Stevie Wonder - Superwoman Jeannie Reynolds - The Fruit Song Tommy McGhee - Now That I Have You Clausell - Let Me Love You Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway - Back Together Again https://www.sixmillionsteps.com/6MS-2008-09-14-Starpoint.mp3 Best, Ian D

Well after a few weeks out of the saddle, I found myself flying solo for the Original Mastercuts show this week (Al has switched to the Saturday Football Show 3.00-6.00pm). In a couple of weeks time we should have a new sponsor on board and possibly a new co-presenter so I can banter with someone again! In the meantime here's this weeks show packed full of the usual Original Mastercuts brand of Soulful gems! Six Million Steps Presents The Original Mastercuts Show with Ian Dewhirst Sunday 14th September 2008 on www.starpointradio.com. To download the show simply hit the link below! Or for this and all archived shows please pay a visit to www.sixmillionsteps.com where you can download the last 4 weeks worth of all Six Million Steps produced shows. That's 16 hours of free music over the last 4 weeks alone! Plus, loads of new fully downloadable KILLER mixes in a variety of styles! So let's go with this week's show:- 1st Hour Will Powers - Smile Crown Heights Affair - Foxy Lady Ray Munnings - Funky Nassau Al Marshall - Let's Get Down Jimmy & Vella Cameron - Be Fair To Me Robin Thicke feat Mary J. Blige - Magic (NYC Remix) Chew - I Like It Mo Grazz - Some Things Never Change Jeffrey Osbourne - I Really Don't Need No Light Steve Arrington - She Just Don't Know Johnny Hudson - Better Love 2nd Hour Lee Andrews - I've Had It Ila Vann - Can't Help Lovin' That Man Bob Relf - Girl, You're My Kind Of Wonderful Al Mason - Good Lovin' Towanda Barnes - You Don't Mean It James Perry - April Lady Gary The Master Blaster - Caf Reggio's Voices Of East Harlem - Wanted Dead Or Alive Stevie Wonder - Knocks Me Off My Feet Stevie Wonder - Superwoman Jeannie Reynolds - The Fruit Song Tommy McGhee - Now That I Have You Clausell - Let Me Love You Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway - Back Together Again https://www.sixmillionsteps.com/6MS-2008-09-14-Starpoint.mp3 Best, Ian D

And none from the 69 downloads on the track so far either! Nice of Ian to OK us to be so cavalier with the music he's financed and still trying to recoup on! I reckon a voc/inst 7" of this would sell like gangbusters if it was limited..... Ian D

A salutary lesson for people who hammer their OV, would be the other week where a famous name DJ had to have his records valued for legal reasons. Condition was marked out of 10 and he was averaging around 5-6 out of 10 on most of his top tunes. In real terms, this meant that his £200K book price of the records was reduced to circa £100-120K because of the relatively poor condition of most of them! This is because he is an OVO DJ and wears his records on his sleeve. I would have thought that many of these records were really too valuable to be played on an assortment of decks which can only devalue them massively. And collectors and buyers put such a premium on the condition that I'm surprised people would actually risk playing a 5K rarity out on wildly differing equipment. They must be nuts. It's not much fun listening to 'em if they're beaten up or have 'styrene burn'. Also, I'm noticing a few people now playing boots of their own rarities becuase they don't want to risk wearing out the originals. So if someone has an original Billy Woods on styrene and obviously doesn't want to risk ruining it so plays the bootleg instead, is that acceptable? Also isn't the whole OVO thing really about money? Namely, whoever can afford to have a boxful of the the most valuable records? If someone won the lottery tomorrow and went on a huge buying spree they could be challenging Butch by mid next week couldn't they? Playing the format game can only restrict the scene in a wider sense. It strikes me as being elitist for elitist's sake if you see what I mean and will eventually fragment the scene even further because really, 98% of the customers don't even know whether OV is being played or not. They don't mind! I think that it's really different strokes for different types of events. On the cutting edge of the rare biggies scene naturally everyone would be expected to play OVO. That's the nature of the beast and the kind of gig where an OVO policy possibly makes sense. Although I'm increasingly seeing boxes of carvers at quite a few different gigs these days. As one famous DJ from another 'Rare' scene told me, he doesn't spend £2K on a record to wear it out in a few months. He makes carvers of EVERY rarity he owns and keeps the originals at home. But you'd seriously have to be stupid to be playing OVO rare oldies on a regular basis. To risk wrecking a Joe Mathews, Billy Woods or Mel Britt to different needles every week is either just plain stupid or a great way to depreciate both your financial and emotional investment by 50%! Ian D

Yep, agreed. I'd go for that. It'd work nicely and I think it would appeal to a few different scenes. In fact let's give it another listen - 52 downloads so far.......... Gary The Master Blaster "Cafe Reggios" https://www.zshare.net/audio/183698315b8bc59d/ Ian D

Nope, I heard that wasn't working out. Bit further North than Hayes......... Ian D

Ms Ross defines the word Diva with her general stroppiness. I've never taken her that seriously as a vocalist but I admired her star quality and she does look fabulous. I broke "Chain Reaction" in the UK by mailing it to every commercial DJ in the UK and plugging the video relentlessly which eventually provided her last UK No.1. That video was pehenomenal though - I don't think she ever bettered it...... Surprised she lasted 8 hours in the sack with Berry though. She looked a bit scrawny for any serious action back then LOL....... Ian D

Yeah, probably. I think we could do this through a mutual friend. I just think it could hit the spot with lots of people. JJ Barnes for the 'B' side..........? Ian D

No she isn't! She's an arrogant bitch who stopped the live show in front of 10K fans who were soaking wet in a torrential rainstorm @ Petworth Park to complain that people were filming her on their mobile phones and that the clips would be on You Tube the next day and she wouldn't get paid! Bitch didn't do an encore either! By the way I played "Cafe Regios" - Gary The Master Blaster on the Origional Mastercuts show today and it sounded just fantastic! Took a couple of calls asking who it was. I can see a limited-edition 7" of this doing really well if you put it out there......... Ian D

No mate. Luckily I can tell the difference between a Swedish boiler and a secretary from Mitcham. Come to think of it, closer than you may think........ Ian D

Well obviously it's highly embarrassing to not be able to recall the label colour of a Nosmo King record Malc, but we build in a bit of leeway for our senior citizens luckily. Ian D

Errr. Not quite. Mary J. Blige is signed to the Universal stable and "Rubber Band" - The Trammps is now owned by Sony-BMG......... Actually whilst we're on this subject does anyone know what sample the GREAT Robin Thicke record which is currently out uses? Ian D

Well, I reckon the No.1 job in the world has to be curator for the Northern Soul Archive. Imagine spending your life looking at people's collections and then walking out the house with 'em for FREE! I'm sure this could be an excellent way of circumnavigating various laws surrounding divorce proceedings, inheritance taxes or even bankruptcy. I'll set it up as a historical foundation, probably register it as charity whilst I'm at it (for deaf DJ's, 70's speed freaks or 'baggy' victims) for instance) and blag a couple of mill from the lottery and bob's your uncle! So how about treasurer Harry? I need someone who's good with figures! Plus I think we still owe your other half a trip to Beverly Hills following the Soul Train litigation don't we? We could do that easily on the basis that the foundation needs to contact the likes of Leon Haywood, Jimmy Conwell and the various estates of the singers we love. Right. Will register everything on Monday......... Ian D

Yeah! The one on the right was OK wasn't she! Ian D

Well, if it's really been a labour of love it would be nice to share them with a new audience wouldn't it? He could look at them as being his legacy of a lifetime of passionate collecting. This has given me an idea. I'm gonna set up a charity called The Northern Soul Archive (© Ian Dewhirst 2008) for future generations to witness the beauty of the scene! If I become the curator of the archive, then I'd use my powers of persuasion to convince all these collectors to leave their records to the official Northern Soul Archive for posterity and the future of the scene. If they left 'em to the archive it would prevent their money-grabbing relations splitting the collection for financial gain only. There could also be some interesting tax benefits/inheritance implications. I'll research it and find out....... This way I would accumulate all the great Northern Soul private collections and take over ze world hah............ Ian D

Hence my point earlier. The whittling down method means that your precious collection at least passes on to other fanatics. Sold my "Return Of The Moonglows" - The Moonglows RCA LP the other week to a collector in France who'd been looking for it for years! The fact that I'd only played it a couple of times in 40 odd years made the decision to pass it on easier, but the fact that I passed it on to a good, appreciative home somehow made the whole thing more emotionally rewarding. You see, I think all the records in my collection are blessed, so when I pass them on to a new, good owner, then they too become blessed with the magic of the record........ Well, that explanation fits my comfort zone! Ian D

There's never ever been a time when I haven't had copies of all my favorite records in some form or other. I held the top rarities of the time between the age of 16-21 when I was jocking and seriously collecting. I maintained several nucleus collections of decent originals from the age of 21-45. By 2000 I'd managed to accumalate pretty much everything I've ever owned or wanted on CD, so at the age of 45 I'd got several copies of most of my faves on vinyl 7"/LP/CD and Music Files, sometimes on U.S., U.K. and bootleg copies. All of which was a bit of a luxury and a pain in the ass to store. So I came to the decison that having shelves full of rare vinyl worth tens of thousands of pounds really didn't make a lot of sense for me personally. I had a wife, daughter, career and lifestyle which would hoover up any excessive cash and there were some other major priorities in my life. I also had to subsidise some other my other activities - e.g. launching Mastercuts, litigation on the Mastercuts name, launching a company, bankrolling the Salsoul reissue campaign etc, etc, so basically other priorities got in the way of my record collecting LOL... So in 2000 I made a decision to whittle down the excesses of my vinyl collection. And I'm still at it 8 years on. And having fun listening to 'em again before I make the decision as to whether I can justify keeping it on vinyl. If I did it would be 'cos it was a favorite or for sentimental reasons only. The fact is that my music collecting has become more about convenience of access rather than the way I used to collect, which was getting covered in cobwebs, rat shit and dust in the back of shop usually LOL. Plus you have to FILE records and keep the collection in order, which means countless hours spent re-filing stuff I'd pulled out 'cos I keep everything alphabetical by artist. It was like homework. Plus you have to pull the bugger off the shelves, pull the record out of the sleeve, put the record on a turntable, lift the stylus arm onto the record, listen to it, then lift it off the deck, put it back in the sleeve NEATLY and re-file the bugger back on the shelves ALPHABETICALLY. It was turning into a full-time job just keeping my records in order! I now have more music on tap then at any other point in my life. I'm surrounded by it and I have everything I want right now at my fingertips, which, is like IDEAL for me! But I'm whittling down for sure. By the time I'm 60 I should have REALLY whittled down to circa 5K vinyl, 10K CD's and 100K music files which I reckon will be more than enough to keep me happy. I'm actually saving the Miles Davis and John Coltane box-sets for old age when I'll finally have time to listen to 'em properly! So yes. Vinyl will drop in price, I have absolutely no doubt. I'm seeing it already. I actually left about 10 decent little US original items in a shop the other day because I couldn't be arsed carrying 'em! Stuff is turning up in all kinds of places. Lots of clear-outs going on - it's actually a good time to dig around I think. I can tell from what I'm selling at the moment that the market for lots of vinyl is wavering. The cheap stuff's not worth jack anymore and the rarities are still commanding a good price but only IF you can find the right buyer. We'd better recruit more young kids quickly and get some demand going for the 45's! I don't wanna see the Northern scene going the same way as 78rpm Rock N Roll.............. Ian D

Hey, another 19,999 Paup-ines and you could recoup! Ian D

I seem to remember you calling by my parent's place to see me just after I got back from the states in late 1976 (I played you the Shalamar acetate). I remember mentioning to my dear departed mum that you liked your food, so she whipped up her special Chicken & Mushroom flan which I think you devoured with relish. But I'm sure you were actually on the way to pick up a Dr Who episode from Carlisle or somewhere? The same single-mindedness was evident back then. It's a unique attribute which can often be a pain in the ass to a lot of people but I think you've always been pretty straightforward about your obsessions. I think you play by your own rules and refuse to get sidetracked by interference patterns, which a lot of people probably perceive as arrogance but I think it's because you don't like wasting time and prefer to get the job done. Which you have. Well done mate! I'm proud of you. If this brings about a re-evaluation of much of your work, that would be no bad thing. I independently found the J.J. Barnes "I've Seen The Light" and "Out Of My Mind" G.C. Cameron and played 'em both on the show before I knew they were your productions. Obviously there'll be plenty of gems in your catalogue that will re-emerge eventually. Speaking of which, how did the Sidney Barnes "Standing On Solid Ground" emerge? I hear it started naturally so I'm curious as to how that record evolved onto the Northern scene............ Ian D

Yep, a biggy @ The Mecca as well I'm pretty sure. I'm sure IL will concurr. It may have been a first-play there as I'm sure Dave Macaleer and IL were tight back then plus IL did the 'Solid Soul Sensations' Pye album for Pye, so there was definitely a conduit of some type.......... Ian D

OK, nice job Paul. Now can you get your finger out and locate Nosmo please? Ian D

Talking of which, Solomon King's version of "This Beautiful Day" is exactly the same recording as Levi Jackson's isn't it? I was never sure exactly what the story was there either.......... Ian D