Ian Dewhirst

Nah, you gave up too early! No one's infallible and I've made loads of mistakes. I've left stuff in a place many a time because I was maybe going out later and couldn't be arsed lugging records with me. And then I'd promptly get waylaid or chased out of town and end up forgetting about 'em completely LOL..... Shifty looking English guys carrying a bunch of records @ 11.00pm at night in the middle of Buttfuck, Tenessee can get you arrested mate. So there's always a chance of copping someone else's mistakes or leftovers. How many times have you maybe run out of dosh and stashed some goodies away in a corner of store where maybe no one will find 'em? I found the Sweet Things on Columbia and the Sweets on Soultown in a Kid's section! A serious vinyl hound never gives up Good Angel. Get your arse back there and do the job properly LOL! Ian D

Go get 'em Rob! Who knows what else may be there? You KNOW it makes sense! Ian D

Cheers mcleanmuir, The book is kind of writing itself mate. I'm merely the conduit LOL! There's so many untouched hauls still in lock-ups in the U.S. that it's frightening. I can't tell you the amount of times that similar situations to yours have happened to me. That place in Brooklyn with the Rock Candy on the floor that I never got into still haunts me even though it almost got me killed three nights running! Likewise a few garages in L.A. which were packed to the brim with great stuff but I could never seem to get the guys to take the time to let me go through 'em. There always seemed to be a multitude of reasons why it wasn't "convenient" - problems with access, ex-wives, distance, drugs, mother-in-laws, keys, storage charges etc, etc. Or maybe they just did it to torment us LOL..... Similarly at some U.S. record fairs I've found several great records and asked if there were any more where these came from only to have the guy say something like, "oh, you want THAT shit? Yeah, I've got a couple of hundred thousand of them but they're in storage in Phoenix right now" or something similar. I'm sure everyone's got stories like the above. Talking of record-hunting stress, has anyone ever been to Ray's Records (?) in the village in New York? I've been in and out of that place for 30 years now and the conversation has never changed. Ray even recognises me these days and expects the arguement as soon as I walk in. It goes something like this:- I walk into the shop and see circa 200,000 45's BEHIND the counter. So, I just casually casually browse through the albums and 12"'s which are on the customer side of the counter and Ray will say; Ray: "Are you looking for anything in particular"? Me: "Not really. A little bit of everything really" Ray: "Ah English ay? You must be looking for that Northern Soul stuff"? Me: (somewhat enigmaticly) "I look for a lot of stuff...." Ray: "Well, OK, whaddaya want then"? Me: "Well I'm really looking for stuff I don't already know, if you see what I mean. Y'know interesting looking 45's." Ray: "Like what"? Me: "Well, I don't really know until I see it. For instance, if I could just, like, flick through the 45's some stuff would probably jump out.." Ray: "No. The 45's you have to gimme a title 'cos they're behind the counter." Me: "But I don't actually know what I'm looking for unless I, like, SEE it". Ray: "Then tough shit buddy. NO ONE looks at my 45's. You gotta have a list". Me: "But how can I have a list when I don't know what I'm looking for.............."? Etc, etc, etc, yada, yada, yada, blah, blah' blah. It's like one of those chinese-torture like phone systems that keeps going round in circles and you never actually get through to anyone. It's just a constant loop............ U.S. record dealers can be a tough bunch, as many of the above stories have demonstrated. But YO! Most of 'em will be shutting up shop soon. And a number will be dillusioned with selling records from commercial premises to a declining market. Plus a lot of the older guys will be retiring and a lot of old-time record dealers will be calling it a day or passing away, so there could be some good hits coming up again. I can feel it in my blood! Someone, somewhere as a result of this thread, will be inspired to go digging or checking out a previously unexploited lead and find a brilliant haul. It may even be me LOL. Maybe I should give that guy Mick a ring that used to have that shop in the mid 80's......? Or whatever happened to that guy Darren who had a shop in Morden filled to overflow with British stuff......? Is that local car-boot sale on tomorrow........? For we are not professional vinyl hounds for nothing. No sirree. "I believe that the soul consists of its sufferings. For the soul that cures its own sufferings dies". - Antonio Porchia Who dares wins. Res Ipsa Loquitur. Ian D

LOL. Nice one Welshruss! It just shows you it can happen anyplace, anytime mate. And holidays can be the real surprises. You're relaxed, beginning to unwind from the stresses of life and you're in a new place with lots of leisure time on your hands. Perfect conditions for an easy going vinyl hunt. So, as per usual, here's another example since you've now bounced me into holiday mode. Last July when it was pissing down in torrents in the UK as it had all Summer, I got incredibly depressed and just wanted to go somewhere else. Anywhere would do as long as there was some sun knocking around. Just then, Mike Ritson from Manifesto rang and he was feeling exactly the same way. So we both thought f*&k it, let's go down to the South of France for 10 days.... So we got down there, dumped our bags, unpacked and decided to head into Antibbes and get some lunch. Mike knew the turf, so he said let's head down to the harbour area 'cos there's plenty of restaurants down there. So we wondered down to the harbour area, had a look at a few boats and then headed along the harbour towards the restaurants.... As we were walking, I took a huge breath of sea air and said something like "it's good to get some fresh air innit" and then I stopped and looked at Mike... I said, "can you smell that"? And he looked at me and said, "smell what"? And I said, "I can smell vinyl". He laughed and said, "you're a head case" I said, "No, I'm serious mate. I can actually smell vinyl". Just to make sure, I took another huge sniff of seaside air and smelt it again. No doubt. I said to Mike, "I really not shitting you mate, I can really smell vinyl. And there tons of it". Just then we rounded a corner, and came to an outside record fair which was on Antibbes harbour outside in 100 degree sunshine! I turned to Mike and said "I TOLD ya! I TOLD ya"! I went to the first stall started flicking a through a rack of French pic cover 45's @ 2 euros each and within 10 seconds had a French pic cover copy Billy Sha-Raes "Do It" in my hand. I said to Mike "f*&k lunch mate! Let's dig." Ian D

Tell you what's weird though Sean. The first U.S. V.I.P promos of "Ghost" were white label promos with "Ghost" on both sides weren't they? Yet the scan shows a normal V.I.P. issue but with promo label copy on it. Were there two lots of promos on "Ghost" then? Bit of a mystery to me. Can someone explain? Also whilst checking on this I just found a copy on Rare Earth!!!!???? See attached scan. Where's this one from then? Boy, it just never stops does it........? Such fascination with a record. I seem to be coming down with CVD - 'Compulsive Vinyl Disorder' again. Took me 30 bloody years to kick it, then a few months of Soul Source and I'm infected again! Ian D

Blimey! Dementia is finally creaping in on me by the looks of it Michael. It's all downhill from here mate. But did the drawing of his face look a little like a map? Does R. Dean Taylor's face look like a map of Indiana, or was it just creative revision on my part? You're right mate! It was a map-like characature of R. Dean Taylor's face wasn't it? Anyone got a scan to put me out of my misery? Rockin' thread. Thanks to all! Ian D

Brilliant Jez! Your mention of the R. Dean Taylor album reminded me of another great story which has been printed elsewhere but I'll repeat it for this thread. When Levine came back from of his frequent U.S. trips we all used to get on the phone to him to see what he'd found. On this particular trip the buzz was that he's found a Holland-Dozier-Holland written Northern stomper by R. Dean Taylor, so I rang him to get the lowdown. Ian was predictably bullish - "it's vintage Motown, written by Holland-Dozier-Holland by R. Dean Taylor on V.I.P. and it's called "There's A Ghost In My House" and it's the greatest Northern Soul record of all time! I found just the one copy and I've never seen it before in my life, so it must be ultra-rare". The buzz without anyone even hearing it was massive, so EVERYONE went to the Mecca that Saturday, just to hear this new R.Dean Taylor record. And it was just indescribably brilliant. The demand for the track on the first night it was ever played was so huge that Levine had to play it 6 times! Overnight it became the most-wanted record in the country and all of us were chasing up any U.S. leads we had to try and track another copy down. And...........nothing. No one could turn up a copy - not even the key dealers at the time. It was exactly the same as the demand for Frank Wilson several years later! This went on for weeks and weeks and the buzz just grew and grew. The Mecca's audience went right up just from people travelling numerous miles just to hear this one record! Very frustrating for us DJ's. The No.1 Northern Soul record in the country could only be heard at the Mecca and we were all desperate to get a copy. Anyway, a couple of weeks later I'd spent a night @ the Mecca, then the Casino and the talk in the downstairs bar was almost exclusively about "There's A Ghost In My House". "It CAN'T be rare, 'cos it's a Motown label", "there must be hundreds of 'em somewhere", "I bet Levine found loads and destroyed the rest" etc, etc, etc. Anyway, on the trek home from Wigan we stopped @ Woolley Edge Services on the M62 for a coffee. I wandered into the shop to get a Sunday newspaper and as I bent down to get one I almost collided with a free-standing swivel rack of Music For Pleasure budget-price albums. We usually ignored these racks since they were often full of "Top Of The Pops" albums, Classical and Easy Listening stuff etc, so nothing for a soul hound. But something caught my eye and in the periphery of my vision I caught an album sleeve which reminded me of the U.S. Motown label because it had a map on the front, which was weird in itself.... It was a budget-price compilation of R. Dean Taylor called "Indiana Wants Me" on a label called Music For Pleasure - the sleeve had a map of Indiana on the front and obviously was cashing in on his early 70's UK hits with "Indiana Wants Me" and "Gotta See Jane"..... I flipped the album over out of curiosity and had a glance at the track listing......... And there, buried away on side two, was "There's A Ghost In My House". The No.1 record in the country, of which there was only one known copy, turned out to be in every newsagent and service station in the UK! The strange world of Northern Soul. Ian D

"Needless to say, he wanted a reasonable price for them (he was a record dealer afer all) but I left with a pile of Stateside Red & Whites and Green & Whites .... Incredibles "Nothing Else To Say", O'Jays, "I Dig Your Act" "That's What I Want To Know" "What's Wrong With Me Baby" "Breakout" etc. piles of TMG's "Why When Love Is Gone" "My Weakness Is You" "Lonely Lonely Girl am I" "Little Darling" etc and stacks of other 'random' label things... PP Arnold "Everything's Gonna Be Alright" Jerry Jackson "It's Rough Out There" and about a dozen more choice pieces... for less than fifty quid"! 'Vinyl Archaeologist'! Brilliant Sean. Great stuff - the kind of hits which make it all worthwhile These stories actually reminded me of a few UK hits around '77/'78. At this time I was a promotion guy for Decca and Richard Searling was a promotion guy for RCA, so we'd quite often see each other on the road in our daytime jobs and we'd (very cautiously) exchange stories about our latest finds. Richard had a couple of great hits via BBC Radio Sheffield and BBC Radio Leeds - the BBC Radio Stations in those days got mailed everything and had been on mailing lists since the early 60's, so you just never knew what would be in their libraries. Richard had great relationships with Liz from Radio Sheffield and Simon from Radio Leeds and consequently managed to be there when they were both 'having a clearout'. I think he cleaned up on both occasions! I also seem to remember Richard getting the 'first' copy Frankie & Johnny's "I'll Hold You" on UK Decca from Billy Butler @ Radio Merseyside when it was completely unknown. Jammy bugger. I managed to have a hit via Rick from the old Phonogram office in Leeds when he had a clearout and I got some killer mint promos - not quite up to Sean's standard but still OK - a Levi Jackson on Capital and Baltimore & Ohio Marching Band on Stateside promo spring to mind. There is more of this stuff still around I'm sure. Bear in mind that a few hundred promos were pressed of everything in the 60's and then distributed to all the BBC stations and the main DJ's at the time and most of BBC worldwide stations as well. Which means that there's a pretty good chance of rare UK records turning up in former colonial countries which had a BBC station! That next hit could well be in India, Australia or even Gibralter. Food for thought. I think that there is a great likelihood of some great stuff still being in lofts and garages from former record company promotion men, DJ's and record reviewers. Does anyone remember the Alexandria Palais Charity record fair in the late 70's? The place was packed with 100's of 1000's of records which had been donated from record companies and other donators. A absolute paradise! Everyone I know cleaned up there. There were literally so many records that everybody found something! Great stories Sean! That's EXACTLY the action of a true vinyl hound. Gotta admit that Vinyl Archaoelogist has a lovely ring to it! Keep 'em coming lads.... Ian D

Well, that's the drug innit Bri? It's that finding of the complete unknown that get's the brain's synapses popping. First it starts with the SMELL of old vinyl, then you get a weird feeling in your stomach - that gut feeling you have when you feel you're about to hit something good and then.... What the f&*k is THIS!!!!! The Soul Connection featuring Angelo Bond? On Romark? "Don't Walk Away Baby"? Produced by James Gresham? Arranged by Miles Grayson? A light sweat breaks out across your head and your heart starts pounding as you squint at the label credits...... Song written by Leonard Jewell Smith........ Bingo! Ian D

Well, we need the bugger on here Chris! Can you give him a nudge? I'd like to know when he started going to the U.S. and what stuff he had when he was running the list from Scotland. Also, he knows the infamous John Lamont quite well I think, so he's bound to have some great stories about hunting in Philly.......... Now THAT would be worth reading! Ian D

No mate, it's great! I've done about 10K words so far in this thread alone, so don't start moaning! Actually, if you're anything like me, some of these stories really get you thinking and you start remembering stuff you'd forgotten about years ago, so let's just call it "Vinyl Therapy" LOL.... Funny how we always remember the good hits though innit? Lovely description of your financial woes at the time though. No wonder you were so careful when you did your list. Actually, I just remembered, I think you used to extend me a bit of credit from time to time if I remember rightly didn't you? Always a pleasure to deal with you Mr Phillips! Many thanks and keep 'em coming dude..... Ian D

Nope, always on the album. That's where I first heard it..... Ian D

Completely surreal Tabs! The stuff was everywhere! Sometimes a couple of us would just set off to different places, get there and just start hunting around - junk shops, record shops, wholesalers etc. You could almost certainly find U.S. imports throughout the country virtually anywhere in the early to mid 70's. Great hotspots were Nottingham - there used to be one road with loads of second-hand record shops and you could easily spend a day on just that one road. As covered in the Bradford Market thread, Leeds, Bradford, Wakefield & Huddersfield were ridiculously good because of the proximity of Bostocks - TONS of stuff came out of there and got wholesaled around the country as well, so you'd quite often bump into a Bradford Market load in Exeter or Southhampton or a loads of other unlikely places. Newcastle quite often had different stuff to anywhere else - there used to be a department store there which ordered from several different U.S. wholesalers so oddball stuff would end up there. Manchester had Global, so naturally tons of stuff around there. London had Record Corner, Contempo and Berwick St Market so EVERY trip to London would reap dividends. Brighton was phenomenal - lots of radio DJ's stuff because of the proximity to London. Birmingham had Reddington's and even Telford had a huge importer. Bear in mind that the U.S. rightfully saw the U.K. as being a springboard to Europe so the UK would be the recipient of more stock then most European countries. The UK also had quite a sophisticated audience for U.S. Soul/RnB acts right from the 60's, so I guess it was natural that much of the stuff would flow to these shores. Made for a happy time I gotta tell ya. I can even remember finding a junk shop in Batley, Yorkshire with literally tens of thousands of early 60's small U.S. labels which I never really bothered with because the stuff was too slow at the time. When the Stafford stuff started coming through I realised the wealth of stuff in that shop in Batley was sheer gold! But I was 200 miles away by then and the shop was probably long gone by then. But where did the records go???? I even stopped by a dodgy junk shop in Moss Side, Manchester and found a Dee & Joe on De-To and a Jo Ann Courcy on Twirl in a brown cardboard box! They even used to have import 45's being given away as prizes at fun-fairs - probably from Bradford Market! Even Beanos in Croydon and Record & Tape Exchange in London were goldmines at one time. and packed with oddball U.S. 45's. Can't tell you the amount of We The People's I found in London in the 80's, when it was worth nowt LOL..... Great UK hits are also worth talking about. Anyone remember the story about the guy who stumbled into John Abbey's (Blues & Soul's editor in the 70's) collection in the mid 70's after he's absconded to the U.S. with Tamiko Jones? Apparently his very pissed-off ex wife sold his entire collection to a second-hand record shop in Southport (?) and a driver from up North was making a delivery in Southport and popped into the shop..... The story goes that he took one look at what was in the shop and immediately went to a branch of his bank in Southend, took out a loan on the spot and went back and bought EVERYTHING! The best UK hit of all time apparently. John Abbey had UK promos of everything since the 60's AND all the U.S. record companies sent him stuff because of Blues & Soul. He'd already done the hard bit of collecting everything and then, by pure luck, a guy wanders into a shop and get's this phenomenal collection for circa 25p a record. Can you imagine THAT hit? Mind boggling. Pleasant Dreams! Ian D

You could well be right Mel. As I said in another thread, in those days, the Black Country was pretty much the southernmost point on the Northern Soul map in those days in terms of regular Northern gigs and a solid local scene. Also a journey to Birmingham took a LONG time back then. This was pre M62 I think, which, for me, would have been dicing with death going over the Pennines via the 'Snake Pass' - one of the most dangerous roads in the world, I shit thee not. And let's not forget that communications weren't what they are now - no internet, just Blues & Soul magazine and much more 'word of mouth'. So, often, records could be played in Birmingham, Wolverhampton and area and not necessarily go any further North for a while. Also difficult if the only copies of certain records were in the Black Country at the time - Little Joe Romans and the Mike Post Coalition being just two examples from other threads. Dean Parrish was around for sure. Most of us had seen it, but I'm pretty sure no one had heard it in a club up here prior to Kegsy's marathon weekend. Mind you, this is the whole point of these threads innit? To put a bit of meat on the bone so to speak. So who did play it first then? Let's get some statos on here with dates LOL! Ian D

OK Mel 'Black County' Brat. Point taken LOL... Interesting point about the Tuff stuff reaching the Black Country first. Why was that? And where did Max get that Little Joe Roman from? Questions, questions..... And I'm gonna take the credit for Lou Pride early plays. I bought it from Bob from Louth on a very foggy night back in '74 I think - maybe Bob can confirm the date - it was a Thursday night Northern do in Lincolnshire and there weren't many of them back then. I think I paid Bob £4 for it. I knew it would be a monster from the second I heard it but the title threw me slightly. What the hell was that all about? "I'm Com'un Home In The Morn'un"? Weird. I remember the night well - especially coming back from the gig. I'd set off with my then flatemate, Kelly, from Hudderfield and it was a LONG journey in those days. Getting there wasn't too bad but I wasn't looking forward to driving back in the middle of the night - too much room for error in my opinion. We got about 30 miles into some serious country 'b' roads and actually passed a hitch-hiker at around 2.30am, literally in the middle of nowhere. We didn't stop 'cos he must have been a weirdo! Driving along those long straight country roads @ 60mph @ 2.00am in the morning in deep fog meant that I missed a blind 90 degree left turn and went literally flying into a freshly ploughed field. Kelly and I got out and started trying to move the car but it was up to it's hubs in deep, sticky, freshly-ploughed mud and no matter how much I revved, the wheels just kept on spinning and only managed to send a huge wave of mud over Kelly. About 20 minutes later, the 'weirdo' hitch-hiker suddenly appeared out of the fog and offered to give us a hand in return for a lift. Turns out he wasn't a weirdo after all but just a guy who'd missed his last bus and decided to walk 25 miles. We used to do things like that in those days LOL... Between the three of us we eventually managed to get the car back on the road. There was little collateral damage apart from wounded pride and a carful of mud. We dropped the hitch-hiker off and continued through the night eventually getting back to Huddersfield at 4.30am on Friday morning. Just time to have a cuppa, scrape the mud off our shoes, whack our clothes in the washer, get a bath, clean down the car both inside and out and.....leave for work! So, with the best will in the world Mel, there is no way I'd ever forget the night I bought "I'm Com'un Home In The Morn'un". Never has a title seemed so apt. Ian D

Agreed. And far too modest for his own good on threads like this as you say! But Dave has been plugging away at the U.S. very quietly as long as I can remember so I'm sure he'll let us have a couple of stories - at least he's aware of the thread, so hopefuly he'll bash a few words down. Actually, what I'd love to do, is take my trusty recording device and shoot round the UK interviewing EVERYONE who has been a regular stateside traveller and getting all their stories down for posterity. We are talking about another age where the UK record collectors were akin to the gold prospectors from earlier centuries. The book could even be called "The Northern Soul Prospectors"! I dunno if it's my age and suddenly I feel the need to get things documented. My basic job has always been doing the same thing for music, so I've been a Music Compiler/Researcher/Re-Issue Expert/DJ all my life. Most of you will probably have some of my releases in your house hopefully whether it's Stax Northern Soul LP/Decca/London releases in the '70's, EMI/Island/Serious releases in the 80's, Mastercuts/Deep Beats/Rewind Selecta/Warner releases in the 90's and Motown/James Brown/Simply Vinyl/Salsoul/Original Selection/Northern Soul Story releases etc, in the 00's, so I've got a pretty good track record on this kinda thing. It's HISTORY. And we don't want it warped by Duffy do we LOL...... So I think the timing for something like this now seems right. It won't be long before the Northern Soul scene is 50 years old and will be ingrained in history as being a totally unique part of British culture. It's up to us to make sure it's done properly and accurately. Shit, I want a Northern Soul Museum godammit, so someone keep MINT copies of the records please! We can dream! Keep 'em coming. You know it makes sense. I'm in scholarly mode today. I have to audit my collection because it's outgrown the house LOL, so it'll be bye-bye to a few hundred old friends which I haven't played for a long time. If I find something brilliant I'll let everyone know. So I'm kinda busy. So please someone boot Dave Raistrick, Kev, Graham Warr and the rest of the original prospectors into gear and let's keep this sucker rollin'........ Ian D

Get plenty of copy paper then Mel. Loads to go yet I think...... And a vexing question indeed: Where did that first Little Joe Roman come from? The first time I ever heard it was @ an All-Dayer @ Birmigham Locarno. The record didn't go North of Birmingham much in those days 'cos you Brummies had the only one for all those years. THAT was a rare record. I think we should be told Max....... Ian D

Hiya Bill, Still waiting for that TK comp mate LOL! For anyone on Soul Source who isn't aware, this is Bill Brewster owner of the website www.djhistory.com and co-author (with Frank Broughton) of the definitive book on the history of the D.J. The superlative "Last Night A D.J. Saved My Life" it is required reading and has a lovely Northern Soul chapter within it featuring one 'DJ Frank' amongst others LOL. Basically, an excellent history of the D.J. which Bill is always tirelessly updating. Plus he's a also a closet Northern Souler and is fascinated by the evolvement of the scene, so if you have any decent photos of Ian & Colin knocking around then Bill's yer man. Ian D

Hiya Mate, 800 copies of Frank Beverly?????!!!!! So, presumably there's at least a thousand of 'em buried away in people's collections then? Makes me wonder what it's worth these days. I still thought Sassy copies were pretty rare..... And Simon did do legitimate deals as well, strange as it seems. Neil cited the Mirwood deal, someone else cited the Doni Burdick deal and I know he paid Joe Robinson for the Frankie Crocker "Ton Of Dynamite" and Kenny Smith for the "Lord What's Happening To Your People" re-presses 'cos I heard him on the phone talking with them. Joe Robinson wasn't one to mess around with in those days - had Simon attempted to rip him off, there'd have been two Mike Tyson's on the next plane to L.A. LOL.... He'd often phone artists or label owners whilst I was there and always seemed to be sending payments out. Other than that I didn't really get into his personal business dealings, thank God. Also, he introduced me to a ton of acts - Solomon Burke, Ike Turner, Pat Powdrill and loads of others, as mentioned above. He'd often bump into 'em on the street and he had an almost photographic memory for faces (same as records). We met Solomon Burke going into a lift in a bank in downtown L.A. and Simon was his usual over-the-top self, "baby boy, we are in zees lift with one of ze legends of Black Music..." as he turned towards Solomon in the lift and stuck his hand out, ...."Mr Burke sir, my name is Simon Soussan and I am your greatest fan! I am blessed to be able to meet you. I am humbled." etc, etc, etc. And as Solomon left the lift, Simon would then say something like, "there goes one of the greatest sinus-deblockers of all time", somewhat destroying the moment LOL..... I agree with Neil totally that if he'd been a bit more honest he could have cleaned up legitimately in the 70's. Dave Raistrick's just been on the Greatest Record Finds thread and is threatening some stories, so I'm hoping we can squeeze the Monarch story out of him for this thread. I'm wondering whether that was the same trip when Arthur Fenn had his hit @ Monarch? Van McCoy was a right result though Neil. Almost (but not quite) made up for the Shalamar disappointment....... Ian D

I dunno what happened to 'em actually. I pretty much stopped going around '75 I guess. I remember going to the Warehouse in '77/'78 or thereabouts and finding lots of modern stuff when I ran my Vinyl Junkie list, so there was still a nice amount of gear there. I remember getting lots of 70's stuff like Norman Connors, Brothers Guiding Light, the Futures etc, etc, so they must have been still buying bulk amounts from the states into the mid 70's. The passing of an era LOL.... Ian D

Yep, you need to be in there for posterity Dave! I KNOW you've had some brilliant hits but you probably don't shout about 'em like some of us! And you must have been trailing round a lot of the mid-west to have ended up @ the 1940 Jukebox Company in the outskirts of Denver in late '89! So I bet you have some goodies to tell.... Note: record hunters can be particulary shy about their hits - it's the nature of the beast. Professional record hunters don't generally run around advertising their best hits otherwise there'd be a stampede of people checking the same locations. So we're very lucky to have some of these stories! And the more the merrier! Ian D

Played it 5 weeks ago on the show! Love that video. Whatta cutie! Six Million Steps Presents The Original Mastercuts Show with Ian Dewhirst - Sunday 24th February 2008 (Alan away this week) Ist Hour Marilyn McCoo & Billy Davis Jnr - Shine On Silver Moon The Ritchie Family - Quiet Village Lucy Hawkins - Gotta Get Out Of Here Silvetti - Spring Rain Wanda Walden - I Must Be Dreamin' Curtis Hairston - I Want Your Lovin' (Just A Little Bit) Walter Brooks - Right In The Middle Caviar - Never Stop Lovin' You Leonard Lidell - Fallen Out Of Love The Wynd Chymes feat Alexander O'Neal - Festival Lamont Dozier - You Made Me A Believer 2nd Hour Christine Cooper - S.O.S. (Heart In Distress) Ila Vann - You Made Me This Way The Volcanoes - The Laws Of Love Bobbi Wells - Be's That Way Sometimes Don Thomas - Come On Train Carl Graves - Heart Be Still Jackie Moore - Both Ends Against The Middle The Philly Devotions - I Just Can't Say Goodbye (freakily digitally chop-segued with "Breakin' Down The Walls Of Heartaches" - Johnny Johnson & The Bandwagon for reasons which no one can explain!) Serge Ponsar - Out In The Night Ronnie Dyson - When You Get Right Down To It Sharon Paige & Harold Melvin & The Blue-Notes - Hope That We Can Be Together Soon Kleeer - Intimate Connection Steve Parks -Movin' In The Right Direction The Captain & Tennille - No Love In The Morning The Detroit Emeralds - Feel The Need In Me (Extended Mix) Gladys Knight & The Pips - Save The Overtime For Me https://www.sixmillionsteps.com/6MS-2008-02-24-Starpoint.mp3 Ian D

I can remember a few like that! I used to have a montage of 'ten-a-penny' stuff on my wall in those days....... Ian D

It wouldn't surprise me if Brad was there early as well. Sounds like Julian B had the local lock on it but I'd often see people from all around the North there. I was relatively late there compared to those guys....... Got some goodies off Brad over the years. Used to quite often pick up a couple of things from him on Tuesday night @ Burnley Cricket Club and play 'em the following weekend. That's where the Pointer Sisters "Send Him Back" came from for the record! Ian D

Make sure you play it before you buy! So many of those styrene presses are knackered from cueing at the beginning, especially if it's an ex DJ's copy! Ian D