Ian Dewhirst

Yep, that's for me I think Chalky. I'm not doing anything next weekend so sounds like the place to be. Is it in Berkshire? And are there any local places to crash and get a hearty breakfast the next day LOL? I might try and get Mike Ritson along as he needs cheering up! Fingers crossed....... Ian D

Not if people get their heads together and start thinking objectively Des. Running such an event would probably require the resources of a collective of promoters, who would know how to run the event properly. These promoters should talk to each other, scout out potential venues and local authority co-operation and think about doing something that will be a catalyst for the scene instead of splitting their own audiences and fragmenting the scene, as is happening at the moment from what I read on here. Plus it would be a much-needed shot in the arm of a scene which appears to be getting slighly jaded in some quarters LOL... Yep, a BUZZY new all-nighter with all the best jocks would be a good thing right now I think...... Ian D

I wouldn't mind getting one-up actually LOL. I might give my mate Kevin a ring and see if he can't sort out The Rocket in London again but do it properly this time! Although I think a Midlands venue would probably be better from a practical point of view - Birmingham, Leicester, Nottingham, Derby areas would be more accessible for many people. Y'know, an exciting All-Nighter with a roster of all the top jocks on regular basis would get people off their arses I'm sure. But it'd have to be a big Ballroomy type place as that seems to be the best environment for Northern...... ...and have a number of cheap hotels nearby for those of us who like a more leisurely approach to such things LOL.... Ian D

The answer will be when someone sets up more of a regular weekly or monthly large capacity 'event' all-nighter again with the top DJ's and serious up-and comers on. You really have to have a solid base to work from as The Wheel, The Torch, The Catacombs, The Mecca, Wigan, Cleethorpes, Stafford proved in their respective eras. When you have a strong venue with a progressive music policy then those circumstances tend to unite a scene and provide a nucleus event to focus everyone. Also it makes breaking new tunes a lot easier - that's how you break stuff to a huge audience in a few weeks and get a real buzz going isn't it? This then builds into a self-fullfilling prophecy because everyone will want to check it out and the buzz would grow and grow. Also I would go for resident roster of the top 'progressive' DJ's aligned with the younger, edgier element with a sexy crowd. So that'll be Sam, Butch and Trouble headlining then! Now who else? In fact, what would be the optimim DJ line-up to create the right mix of top rare unknown goodies and deeper, unplayed oldies which haven't been done to death? Oh yeah, and there has to be a bunch of youngsters for the energy levels LOL..... Now THAT would be a night worth going to! Ian D

Hey Jocko, OK then, there's a few on tomorrow's show which I think will hit the spot for S.S'.ers (and they're not always the obvious ones LOL)... Featuring T.J., The Ritchie Family, J.J. Barnes, Brenda Jones, Scandal, One Way feat Al Hudson, Skool Boyz, Henry Thomas, Grady Harrell, Larry Wedgeworth & Clique, Veda, The Delfonics, The Dynamics, Solid Solution, Front Row, Billy Paul, The O'Jays, The Fantastic Johnny C, Sharon McMahan, Booker T, Collins & Collins, Ullanda McCullough, Gloria Scott, The Temptations & J.P. Rodgers Jr The Grady Harrell, Larry Wedgeworth & Clique, Veda, Solid Solution and Front Row may well appeal but there's plenty of other goodies tucked in there for lovers of soul from a few eras.... Oh, yeah, it's on tomorrow between 2.00-4.00pm on everyone's favourite station Starpoint Radio www.starpointradio.com! Gratuitious plug over but the show's definitely worth a listen! Ian D

Yep, for the first time in 3 weeks Al & myself are back at the helm of the ORIGINAL MASTERCUTS Show - Sunday 2.00-4.00pm on everyone's favourite Starpoint Radio - www.Starpointradio.com! Don't miss tomorrow's show - especially if it's pissing down LOL..... We're talkin' a FEAST of incredible music which somehow, we think you'll like LOL Featuring T.J., The Ritchie Family, J.J. Barnes, Brenda Jones, Scandal, One Way feat Al Hudson, Skool Boyz, Henry Thomas, Grady Harrell, Larry Wedgeworth & Clique, Veda, The Delfonics, The Dynamics, Solid Solution, Front Row, Billy Paul, The O'Jays, The Fantastic Johnny C, Sharon McMahan, Booker T, Collins & Collins, Ullanda McCullough, Gloria Scott, The Temptations & J.P. Rodgers Jr Don't miss! This one's a beauty - I spent a week compiling it LOL.......! Ian D

Now why would Butch retire to Columbia? He's not fronting a rare record mail-order scam to distribute coke in 7" record mailers is he? Or maybe he's checking out Andrew 'Loog' Oldham's (ex Rolling Stones manager and owner of Immediate Records) PHENOMENAL collection (including the unreleased P.P. Arnold acetates and unreleased Spector stuff) which is stored in a garage on the outskirts of Medellin......? Ian D

Hang on, that sounds like the guy from New York who I spoke to who say's this guy keeps 'em in his 'back-room' but won't let anyone see what's in the room for 'insurance and security' purposes. Apparently he's got every Motown, Gordy, Soul and affilliated labels ever made and blah, blah, blah........ Ian D

Yep, the wonderful world of the internet casts the Northern Soul rod of 'passion = potential customer' far and wide LOL. I wonder how many U.S. sussed crate-diggers are lurkers on here and every other site? 'Cos in their shoes that's EXACTLY what I'd be doing! I reckon there'll be a few things like this coming up as people dig deeper and turn-up more local leads. It seems that the appetite for almost any interesting looking rare U.S. record with Northern Soul possibilities has a premium in the market. So all our U.S. cousins must be having a ball right now LOL. And good luck to 'em. They'll probably turn up some interesting stuff. And probably in quantity LOL............. Ian D

'Cos he's a serious bloke! I realised his natural genius when he played a live mix of Serious Intention's "You Don't Know - Remix" and mixed "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" all the way throughout the long intro and came in beat perfect @ the sweet spot! His gig's were always rockin'! Where did you catch him Jocko? Were you living down South in the mid-late 80's? Oh, yeah, I'm digging out those 10 Northern/Modern tracks to post, so that'll be tomorrow 'cos I'm prepping the Sunday's radio show, OK? But I'm also having to go through the DJ International catalogue for a 3CD 'best-of' so I'm immersed in House this week LOL... So any hidden killers on DJ International folks? I've found a few already........... And 'Trouble's' great! He did Classic House Mastercuts 2 which I'm now gonna play for inspiration! Ian D

Whoops....wrong decade! Ian D

It's just the terminology James. No big deal really. Probably just slightly galling when one reads that Butch 'broke' a record which was an established floor-filler and £1 on Soul Bowl's lists some 30 ago LOL. But good luck to Butch for revitalizing it - it's a good record. Its just fascinating that there's such a feeding frenzy on the track. I'm just utterly staggered by the price considering that there's probably hundreds of copies of it around no doubt buried in many people's collections. Buy, hey, that's Northern Soul 2008 stylee........... Ian D

You beat me the punch Kev! I can clearly remember Lee Fields being a floor-filler @ Cleethorpes and a biggish record for me and most of the Cleethorpes DJ's at the time. So revitalised is exactly right! Ian D

Well that's me on both counts then! Ian D

Actually this wasn't aimed at you Epic. I happen to agree with your signature. I just thought that N.F. Porter and The Fuller Brothers were two good examples of 70's releases which were huge at the Torch and pure Northern Soul.... Ian D

And you'd be right LOL! Ian D

Also how would you classify N.F. Porters "Keep On Keeping On" and the Fuller Brother's "Time's A Wasting"? I seem to remember buying both of 'em as new releases from Record Corner in the 70's along with First Choice...... Ian D

I think a lot of people would argue that "Like Her" - Gentlemen & Their Lady is precisely the kind of disco shite you profess to hate Pete! Weird innit. I like a lot of Disco but I HATE Gentlemen & Their Lady....... Ian D

Hi Sean, Love it although it's a little Southerny nitty-gritty for my tastes if the truth's known. I can upload loads but generally Rachel nails my balls to the wall whenever I do but hopefully she's asleep now so how about these- The Dynamics "You Can Make It If You Try" https://www.zshare.net/audio/138926685728a03f/ Front Row "Wanting You" https://www.zshare.net/audio/138929979a5cc31d/ Paul Justice "If You Love Me" https://www.zshare.net/audio/138931202b8d588e/ David Oliver "I Surrender" https://www.zshare.net/audio/1389325612e13933/ OK, that's it for the night! Off to bed now with these great sounds reverberating throughout my brain...... All culled from blogs around the world. Pleasant digital dreams LOL........ Ian D

OK, point taken Jocko. I've made a point of actually getting off my arse and visiting a heap of venues in the last year or so and I'm actually looking for a Lifeline (no pun intended). And you're right. I've only dipped my toe in and out of the scene since the late 70's but I do think that allows me a degree of objectivity which is maybe not possible for many others. That could be a good thing in that basically I can maybe say what a lot of other people wouldn't dream of saying, for better or worse. So, yep I'm still learning (as Simon M keeps pointing out) but I do bring a wealth of experience and an objective eye to a scene which is notoriously insular in many ways and an objective viewpoint may not be a bad thing ultimately. I'm bang into it actually. I still have my own views on what constitutes a great record but I appreciate and respect the knowledge that has accrued since I split back in '76 and I'm a willing pupil. So I'm playing catch-up Jocko, for no other reason then it genuinely interests me. It's actually the best scene of all-time and I've checked 'em all LOL..... Ian D

OK Jocko. Fair play, I'll whack Simon the links and he can do the rest. I KNOW they're great - whether anyone will agree or not is another thing. Mind you, I had similar problems when I found Toni Talent, Tobi Legend, The Pointer Sisters, Lenny Curtis and Gerri Grainger among others LOL. Also, some of 'em may well be known (you'd be hard-pressed to find any total unknowns within such a font of knowledge), but I'm talking records which I'd have played in a mili-second back then. So even if they're 'known', they're not being played or as huge as they should be, OK? And please don't compare me with the rotound one Jocko, That's just not fair..... Plus you've got it in for me - I can tell LOL! But I guess Southern media types are fair game..... Gimme a couple of days OK..........? By the way, I love your passion. The kind of postings you only get from a tortured soul........... Ian D

Agreed mate. Boots wouldn't come into it as the emphasis would be on breaking new stuff anyway. Nowt wrong with a well structured set which could incorporate OV and digital unknowns surely? It's probably the way forward. If something that has never been available before suddenly becomes available as a result of Kent or someone else finding a DYNAMITE unreleased track which has never been on vinyl, then I really can't see the problem. Phew. There's so much pent-up anger against progress that it's almost an uphill battle to get through. If someone suddenly came up with the greatest never-heard, never-released Duke Browner track which had never been on vinyl, then would it make any sense to ban it from ever being played? No. Of course not! The easy-option merchants wouldn't last 2 seconds on this scene anyway. People inherently know who is serious and who isn't and that's the beauty of this scene which doesn't suffer fools gladly at the best of times LOL! Ian D

Yeah. I know the OV thing is important and rightly so. But I have to tell you that I've found enough DYNAMITE Northern/Modern stuff via blog-digging over the last 12 months to make me wonder how come the stuff is not being played. You know that I'm digging around 'cos I post the occasional thing elsewhere and I'm finding STACKS of 'em. Some known, some not. If I was allowed to download stuff to SS (I'm not a fan of Refro thingy) I'd happily stick 20 killers up here right now. I'm STUNNED by what's out there and equally stunned by what's not being played. No need for robots Simon. There's enough unknown/underplayed killers out there to keep the scene going for the next few years, as you well know LOL..... Ian D

Absolutely Toad. I don't know about anyone else, but when I go out I want to hear a UNIQUE set played by an expert. I respect expertise. With the scene having something going on @ a zillion different venues every week around the country, I would personally like a dedicated venue that doesn't necessarily rotate DJ's willy-nilly but rather nurtures their own selected DJ's and allows them the freedom to build their sets accordingly. Like you say, anyone who doesn't deliver would be out on their arse pretty quick LOL! Does such a venue exist where the DJ's have a 2 hour minimum set apiece and can actually break new records on a regular basis? Ian D

Hey, I'm making it up as I go OK? I love the techy stuff obviously - it makes my life so much easier. But on the other hand, I also love the smell and feel of RARE vinyl. So a combination of the two is probably the way forward. I don't think anyone would decry a DJ who plays some killer OV combined with some killer exclusive digital files would they? And let me get this right - are you sort of agreeing with me on the techy front then LOL? Ian D