Ian Dewhirst

I think you're over-egging the situation James. I actually quite like your 'angry young man' stance and I think you're a much-needed shot in the arm for the Northern Soul scene plus I love your gigs @ Soul Revolution but saying that records like Rose Battiste, Frank Beverly, Bobby Garrett, Lada Edmond Jr, The Detroit Executives, Richard 'Popcorn' Wylie, The Carstairs, Lee David, Sons Of Moses, Salvadors, Robbie Lawson, Jimmy Mack, Ila Van, Jodi Mathis, Earl Wright, Roy Hamilton, Sweet Things, George Blackwell, Don Gardner, Velvet Satins, Epitome Of Sound, Mike Post, Bob Relf, Tony Middleton,Fuller Brothers, Len Jewell, The Anderson Brothers, Maurice Williams, Jimmy Raye, Earl Jackson, Sam Ward, Bobby Hebb, Tobi Legend, Rosey Jones, Just Brothers, Billy Woods, George Clinton, Tony Clarke, Eula Cooper, Marvin Holmes, The Modern Redcaps, Harold Melvin, Tony Clarke etc, etc are irrelevent to your interest strikes me as being a bit disingenious to say the least. I heard a couple of 'em at the last Soul Revolution for a start so they're hardly irrelevent in your world mate..... Much as I like your attitude, you'll have to do better than Kings Go Forth then to constantly try and belittle someone who discovered a list like the above. They're the rock-solid foundation of Northern Soul make no mistake. If you can match the above in terms of sheer scale of magnificence in your set @ Essex I'll be dead impressed. I'm looking for first play discoveries here, OK? No point in baiting Levine. Waste of youthfull energy IMO. Levine is bulletproof in terms in terms of insults and concerted campaigns against him because he's had 40 years of experience in deflecting 'em LOL. He's had the 'spoilt kid' jibes, the 'fat kid' jibes, the 'gay kid' jibes, the 'crap productions' jibes and the 'arrogant twat' vibes and seems impervious to all of 'em. The funniest thing is in all my years on the scene, is that the only person who matches Ian Levine's level of self-righteousness and arrogance is YOU James! Peas from the same pod? Do you wear white-socks? How do you find your recent fascination with 'Dr Who'? I think we should be told. Ian D

Now there's a name from the past! Hi Andy, hope you're well mate! You and Kegsy both joined SS in the same month, so the Bradford old firm is back! Ian D

It's pointless playing CD's @ Northern venues because the stylus just seems to slip across the CD....... Ian D

Yep, pretty damn good. Helluva voice and nice production...... Ian D

"Baby Boy" and "A Love Reputation" were both 60's recordings and "Keep On Keeping On" was a 70's recording which sounded 60's. I can't see any similarities to the Carstairs/Montclairs both of which sound archetypical early 70's and much more sophisticated arrangements and recordings to my ears........ Ian D

For sure Bri, you can never say never really. But generally you'd get to know if somone slightly outside of the scene had a rare record, a couple of examples being Dave Godin's "Your Autumn Of Tomorrow", John Abbey's "Seven Day Lover" and a Welsh Detroit collector's "Spellbound" (sorry forgotten his name but apparently he had Tamiko first)....... I've certainly bumped into a couple of none-scene people who've had big records in their collections without knowing it..... Ian D

First heard it @ The Mecca when Dave Godin brought his copy along I believe........ Ian D

All bold choices whether we like 'em or not. Didn't like "Shake N Bump", "Ladies Choice", "You're The Cream Of The Crop" but curiously I do like "Music Maker" and "Do What You Feel". And it's fair to say that nowhere other than the Mecca would have played these at the time.......... Ian D

Ian D

I don't recall ANY records sounding like the Carstairs and Montclairs @ the Torch and Va-Va's. What I heard were monster frenetic stompers and hardly any mid-tempo floaty things.......... Also disagree totally on "My Baby's Coming Back To Me" which I always saw as a 60's mid-tempo good-time tune but I wouldn't put it anywhere near the Carstairs or Montclairs production-wise. Different decades for a start surely? I agree that Bobby Franklin was ground-breaking - I never particularly liked it though - too funky for me LOL.... Ian D

I'd go as far to say that it's extremely unlikely that any other DJ would have played a record like "Hung Up On Your Love" at the time, crazy as it sounds. The Montclairs even more than the Carstairs was not a immediate hit, as I can remember it clearing the floor the first few times Ian played it. Once people got used to the intro and the song it caught on but it wasn't an easy sell at the time when it was competing with traditional stompers. It was a bold record to play and just one of many that the Mecca used to play which probably wouldn't have worked elsewhere at the time. Not arse licking here, just wanted to put some of these records in perspective in light of their popularity these days. The Montclairs was a floor-clearer on the wider scene until it's sheer brilliance overcame the objectors......... Ian D

Yep, that's what I meant really. The scene was almost the complete opposite of what it is these days, in terms of the fact that there were really only a handfull - say a couple of dozen key DJ's and the same amount of big-tune/unknown collectors. So generally we knew who had what and where it came from. If another copy turned up then it was big news back then..... Ian D

For posterity mate. Also it might save me a bit of time in terms of arguing with people where I heard something first or who discovered what etc, etc. Usually it was the Mecca and I know that most readers of this thread would be fascinated by that sort of info. It seemed that every week would throw up a bunch of great records, most of which are selling for £100's and £1000's these days as they're so cherished. Also there was a grapevine back then where as soon as you got back from a U.S. trip the word would circulate about what you'd found and the buzz before even hearing the record would be huge. Obvious contenders would be "Landslide", "Stick By Me Baby", "There's A Ghost In My House" etc, etc right through to "Seven Day Lover", "It Really Hurts Me Girl" and "I Can See Him Loving You". And all the rest LOL...... Also, it would be for the benefit of younger SS readers who may not realise the sheer amount of records you found. It would probably put thing's in perspective for many people! Ian D

Didja forget Emperor Rosko as well? At one point, the only bright spark on Radio One..... Also I think it's fair to say that the Northern towns and cities had a real affinity for Motown. There'd always be a few Motown records at friends houses, the youth clubs of the day used to hammer Motown and the BBC Light Programme (pre Radio One) was heavily playing stuff like "Where Did Our Love Go" - The Supremes ('64), "I Can't Help Myself" - The Four Tops ('65) and "My Guy" - Mary Wells ('64), - I can even remember my mum singing along to that! Ian and myself were obviously hearing these songs on the radio at a young age and identifying with something which made us want to go out and find more of it, which we both did in our respective areas for many years before eventually meeting. I think we were probably a product of the times. The UK was an incredibly exciting place to be musically in that period. We were watching the Beatles and the Stones conquer the world at the same time as the Motown acts were conquering the UK. 'Ready, Steady, Go' was a 'must-watch' in those days, even for a 9 year old and that was probably our first glimpse of black american acts, who were generally better than the home-grown ones in most cases. Dusty Springfield was also incredibly supportive of the Motown acts especially. All these thing had a huge influence on the youngsters who were seeing this unfold at the time and it obviously sustained the interest otherwise we wouldn't be writing about it some 45 years later. Co-incidentaly, Felice Taylor was the first record I bought with my own pocket money. Best money I ever spent as it's still one of my favourite records and really pure Northern Soul. It was also a No.11 Pop hit on 25th October 1967 which, I believe, was Barry White's first success as a producer. I think it's fair to say that if "I Feel Coming On" was unreleased and only just discovered, it would be hailed as one of the greatest Northern discoveries ever. As it is, it gets ignored as it was a pop hit at the time, but it was certainly a massively influential record for me and kind-of provided the sort of template that I wanted in music. In fact I'm listening to it now and it still sounds brilliant........ Ian D

There's a few campaigns being waged on here Davie! The funniest thing is I've heard, is exactly the same description being applied to both Ian Levine and James Trouble, i.e. "He's an arrogant prick". Could they both be cast from the same die I wonder....? It's a lively thread though innit? Ian D

Make it a long lunch then Steve! I don't know why you two don't get along. The pool of knowledge between the two of you must be awesome. Maybe you should pop along to one of Ian's pool parties LOL....... Ian D

Mean spirited and nasty. If you don't like the thread, then don't read it, OK? No one's twisting your arm...... Believe you me, I'm not Ian Levine's No.1 fan - we've had many differences of opinion over the years but if Levine never went to another Northern Soul venue again for the rest of his life, he would have still contributed 99% more to the scene than most of his detractors on here. One thing I'd like Ian to do is list his early discoveries, from '69 to '75. Once you read that list you'll realise the massive influence he had on the scene in it's formative years, where, incidentaly, he clocked up many thousands of miles playing at different venues. You may not like the fact, but for the period from 1970-75, Ian Levine was the arbitor of good taste on the Northern scene and for that he should be applauded. Plus plenty of people obviously want to hear about his experiences, so who are you to moan? Go read another thread if you don't like this one........ Ian D

Ah OK, I stand corrected ut I'm pretty sure Neil got it from Disco Bob didn't he.......? Ian D

I also remember sorting a deal with EMI on "All Over The Grapevine" which was meant to be J.J. Barnes but evolved into Steve Mancha instead..... I think J.J. just wasn't available, so Steve Mancha flew in and I seem to remember it being tough to get a decent vocal out of him and the extra overhead cost in keeping him supplied with liquor LOL..... And Ian's correct in saying that "On The House" - Midnight Sunrise was the first UK produced House record. A collaboration between Ian and Damon Rocheforte, who later went on the fame with Nomad's "I Wanna Give You (Devotion)" and who is now a scriptwriter for Coronation Street. The record came out on Crossover records which was a division of Serious Records. Ian D

The Inspirations : I think that was from 'Disco' Bob Cattaneo from Frisco if my memory serves me correctly...... Ian D

Plus I was there almost every week even when I deejayed at Wigan.......... Ian D

That's dead right Wendy. But they were thin 'needle-cord' 28 inch baggies with a 4 inch waistband which were much more practical. And yes they did come quite high up the waist. I think we were obsessed with buttons at the time. I also seem to remember 'Kickers' coming in at the time and they worked quite well with the needlecord baggies..... At least, we thought they did back then........... Ian D

LOL, that's funny Rod, but as poetically as you've put it, I don't really think that was the image I was trying to get across. Ian D

You sure this isn't a case of "irresistible force meets the immovable object" which I alluded to earlier James? We should get all the egos in a room whilst I keep Gavin in check LOL...... Ian D