Ian Dewhirst

Nah Matt, The perfect person to play him is here:- https://www.superseventies.com/10_78.gif Can see the credits now.... Franki Valli IS Simon Soussan in "Do It The French (Morroccan) Way....... Ian D

My kinda House Simon! Are ya gonna send it me then? Ian D

Wow, just played this on the show today and it's still breathtakingly magnificent. A superlative slice of stomping Northern with some unbelievable harmonies and wailing. Many thanks to Phillydaveg for hooking this out of retirement for me! Used to LOVE this from the album in the early 70's and then managed to get a Philly International 45 of it but wasn't around to play it out at the time. And I think it's RARE for a Philly International 45. Would love a white demo of it if anyone can oblige....... So has it ever been played out? I'm still filling in gaps from the 'lost' years LOL...... Ian D I_m_So_Glad_I_m_Me.MP3

And following on from the Soussan/Benny Curtis "Dirty Hearts" dillemma...... Have a listen - see attached. You can imagine everyone thinking that Simon was the vocalist! It sounds exactly like a Soussan produced tailor-made Northern stomper with him on vocals - even the phrasing is exactly how he talks LOL....... Ian D 02_Dirty_Hearts.mp3

It wasn't you that clobbered me was it Ernie? Good. At least that's verified then. It was also the first time that I'd ever seen a ruck happen @ the Mecca. It's a shame I had to be in the middle of it.......... Plus it took me years to get rid of that Shona Springfield record LOL..... Ian D

Great story Malc. Thats put a few more facts into his earlier years. And he was always evasive when it came to actually showing anyone his records! The more I think about this, the more it looks as though Soussan was really an opportunist. He probably wanted an excuse to leave Leeds and Northern Soul gave him the perfect opportunity. He was an arrogant prick anyway, so I imagine his No.1 intention was business related first and foremost with Northern Soul providing him with the opportunity to go the States. And I just remembered that his favorite record prior to coming to Leeds was Los Bravos "Black Is Black" which he says he first heard in his native Morrocco which actually makes perfect sense as Los Bravos were from Spain and "Black Is Black" was a massive hit throughout the world in 1966, so he almost definitely would have heard the song in Morrocco in his late teens/early 20's. He always used to say that "Black Is Black" was his favourite record and he got frustrated that he didn't hear more records like that until he discovered Northern Soul in Jumbos that day. So it's all beginning to fall into place now. One listen to Los Bravos and you can see EXACTLY where Soussan's influences came from - see file attached! Pure Northern in a Spanish kinda way LOL...... Plus does anyone on here remember when we all thought Soussan was the vocalist on Benny Curtis's "Dirty Hearts"? To this day I can remember Snowy from Doncaster introducing "Dirty Hearts" as being Simon Soussan.......... Ian D Los_Bravos___Black_Is_Black.mp3

Hi Rod, No it was me that had the priviledge of being smacked in the kisser with a 1 pint pebble-glass beer mug! Simon and Richard (Searling) arrived at the Mecca fairly late-on and I was at the bar on the right-hand side of the Highland Rooms with a box of records when Simon and Richard came over and Simon introduced himself and asked me if he could look through my box. Naturally, I said yes and he started going through my stuff and asked me if I'd be interested in any trades. Knowing this was Soussan and also knowing that he had some great spares I said yeah, so he started pulling stuff out.... ...and I couldn't believe it. He pulled out two or three oddball things - Shona Springfield "I Need A Rest", Denise Keeble "Before It Falls Apart" etc, etc - stuff which was actually around at the time but wasn't actually super rare. So naturally I was anxious to get a deal consumated and try and get my hands on a couple of Soussan's goodies. The only problem was that Simon was by now attracting a crowd - maybe about 20-30 people at first, then more.... And people were basically starting to create a crush plus there were murmurs from the crowd saying things like, "is it really Soussan", "that twat ripped me off for £30" and "wait til I get my hands on that French f*&k" etc, etc. All I wanted to do was get this deal done and then bugger off quick. But I couldn't because now Simon and myself were virtually being crushed against the bar and some prick was digging something into my back....... I can remember Richard saying something like, "eeerrr, Simon, I think we'd better go......" At that point I kind of lost my rag and pushed back from the bar, mainly to stop this twat digging into my back whilst I was trying to get a deal completed.... As a result of me pushing back there was a kind of 'mexican wave' of people falling backwards and I reckon that was the trigger which peaked an already volatile sitaution into overdrive. I turned around from the bar and said ". c'mon guys, let's have some room here................" And out of nowhere someone hit me full-on in the face with a pebble-glass beer mug. I was hit so hard that the handle snapped off the glass and continued round my face and sliced my ear lobe into the bargain. Surprisingly, although it hurt like a bitch and I knew I'd been really slugged, all I could think of was that some twat had disrupted a potential record deal and now I'd been hurt into the bargain. Meanwhile Soussan did a hasty exit. I went to the loo and surveyed the damage. One broken nose, two black eyes and a sliced ear lobe. Blood all over my nice shirt as well, bastard! I think I want to Blackpool Hospital, got patched up and still went on to Wigan 'til 8.00am. I used to be hard in those days......... Ian D

Hi Julian, I think the club was called either Nouveau or Madisons from memory. He was quite tight with the Persian community in Leeds at the time and several of them remember him well from that period. I think it's fair to say he ripped EVERYONE off once he got established on the record side of things! Ian D

Probably known to most SSers but....... I keep seeing these localised blogs springing up in the U.S. Good to know there's some serious collectors keeping tabs on their local scene...... https://www.ohiosoulrecordings.com/a.htm https://www.indiana45s.com/indiana45s_a.php Any others out there worth looking at? Ian D

LOL! I'd NEVER wear a tie like that Rog. In fact, I wouldn't wear a tie at all.......... Funny episode that one...... Ian D

Oi! I always knew the Bobby Taylor on Mowest was a goody! But my philosophy has always been that I'd rather have a record being used by someone who can really appreciate it rather then being stuck on my shelves gathering dust until I have another clear out. It was great that Blake picked that up and I was happy that he got it 'cos he's always been serious about his records. I think the bugger's sold it now though hasn't he? Anyone got a clip? It's a belter.... Crazy as it may sound, I quite often GIVE records to people who I know will really appreciate 'em if I think they deserve it! Usually it's artists - George Clinton got my Shirley J. Scott, Roy Handy and Tamala Lewis promos in the mid 90's 'cos he didn't have 'em. I've known him a long time - I was in the studio when they were recording "Flashlight" in the 70's. In fact, he gave me a typical L.A. bolivian welcome, so it's all his fault LOL.... I also gave Val Simpson a very rare Capital promo-only album at Birmingham last year which contained a dynamite live performance of "Found A Cure" which she'd never heard before (apart from when she sang it of course). And I ALMOST gave Gloria Jones a weird 12" promo of "Tainted Love" I have @ Prestatyn (it's got the "Tainted Love" instrumental on). But she refused and signed it for me it instead. I think a lot of karma is involved. Quite often records find me or I get access to a stash which hasn't been plundered, so I work on the basis of 'what goes around, come's around' and that's usually put me in good stead over the years. I've probably had 40 different collections. Also I like to revolve my listening habits so I generally have a pretty good choice and range of stuff kicking around over here. As you can see, I'm going through a bit of a Nothern renaissance at the moment which is great 'cos I'm listening to lots of stuff which I haven't heard for years...... And if I speak to any ex-collectors 'who've had their stuff in the loft for 30 years' I'll let ya know. Never seen another copy of that Bobby Taylor though. It's deffo a RARE Mowest. Who did Blake sell it to? Ian D

There's a TON of material Baz. This one could run and run...... There's probably not a single West Coast record dealer from the early 70's who doesn't have his own raft of Soussan stories. Even when I've been back to L.A. and chatted to some dealers at a record fairs, the Soussan stories start emerging - usually a rip-off LOL... I'm mean, he'd already pissed-off every dealer on the West Coast by '76. I always used to know if he'd hit a place when I find broken funk records in the racks. I'd say to the owner, "has a French-Morroccan guy called Simon or Michel (Michel was his real name and the one he used in L.A.) been here"? And the owner would generally say, "Oh THAT little Motherf*&ker! If I ever see that French f*&k again I'll kill him"! And that was 31 years ago! Ian D

Copyright that title quick mcleanmuir or I'll nick it LOL! And you're right. The adventure of it all was what got my veins pumping. I get bored incredibly quickly with most normal everyday routine stuff so I'm always on the lookout for some action and one of the things which fulfilled my needs was 'Crate-Digging In The U.S.A.' - sing along to Debbie Harry's "French Kissing In The U.S.A. if ya like LOL! © Ian Dewhirst 2008 So routine, boring everyday life really didn't suit me in those days and generally made me lethargic and lazy. But crate-digging had the opposite effect and energized and focused me in ways I liked. It's that feeling that the very next record could be the one.... It's probably similar to gambling or situated in the same part of the brain. Nothing like the adrenalin rush that you get when you find a totally unknown record which has all the right credentials. That's how I found Ronnie & Robyn on Sidra, Lennie Curtis on End and Wilbur Walton Jr on 123 all at different places, all at about 10p each and all within 20 miles of where I lived in Yorkshire at the time. I think there's some good stories here and it's good to get 'em down anyway. Must be good for the brain 'cos every story I remember often triggers another one I'd completely forgotten about. In fact Blake Halliwell mentioned one earlier in the thread which I can't remember - something about a pizza on a plane or something? Oh I just remembered! That one was from the 80's and not a Northern related fable......... But that's what I mean. It's actually pretty theraputic getting all down anyway 'cos otherwise I might forget a lot of it. However, the real credit to Soul Source for giving us the means to natter away. What a resource! Much better than TV LOL...... Ian D

Yep, I remember him well. Very shy and he think he had a stammer which obviously inhibited him but, boy, he knew his records and always had great spares, most likely from Global. He was also the first person I heard play Al Kent's "The Way You've Been Acting Lately" - a giant of a record by any standards. Wonder if he's still about? Ian D

Did you know him when he was in Leeds Julian? The only N.S. person I can remember who knew him from back then was Al ??????? from Halifax - the recreational rock climber who was always pretty zapped up but knew his British stuff especially well. Apparently he met Simon in Jumbos whilst listening to Jimmy James "A Man Like Me" on Stateside as a new release and Simon came up to the counter saying "excuse me, excuse me but what ees zees record? It elates me, it excites me, it unblocks my nostrils!" Simon repeated the above story to me in L.A. and said that Al ?????? introduced him to Northern Soul following that meeting and within months he was off to New York hunting for Northern............ And the 'unblock my nostrils' quip was pure Simon and he built it into his routine everytime we went crate-digging. A typical exchange would be when Simon would suddenly stop digging and pull out a record.... He'd then hold the record directly in front of his eyes and say "Hey, baby boy. Are you're nostrils blocked my friend? Well, you will breathe forever when you hear this baby boy. I have just found the ultimate sinus-deblocker"! And he'd usually be right. He had a photographic memory for label credits and could usually spot a 'good possibility' Northern unknown immediately, usually from a tiny credit buried away on the label. I have to give him that. Anyone got any scans of his lists handy? The sheer scale of some of them was daunting. Also I haven't mentioned it yet, but his personal collection was staggering when I was there. He didn't have quantity but, boy, he sure had some quality there. He kept the collection in his office at his Hollywood pad which was directly next to the pool and they were all housed in wooden, lockable cabinets right the way around the room. He reckoned that he also had over 100,000 records in storage but I never saw 'em. But the stuff in his office. Phew! Every so often I'd be in there and he'd say, "are you ready for a sinus-deblocker that will rip your nose to shreds baby boy"? And he'd put a record of staggering brilliance on. I'd say, "Jesus Christ. What the F*&k is THIS? And he'd say "a very, very rare record baby boy. I have zee only one and I must find another one before I unveil zees record to England". I'd then jump up to look at the label and he'd snatch it off the turntable..... And I'd say "C'mon Simon. You're nuts man. This is a huge record!" And he'd look at me, smile and say "sinus-deblockers don't grow on trees baby boy". Ian D

Probably the classic case of life catching with him in the end. I know he was on the skids 'cos Les McCutcheon had to pay for some stomach surgery he had in the mid 90's but predictably hasn't heard from him since....... Cheers Johnny! Ian D

Hey, c'mon! Does ANYONE remember that third-copy of the Invitations "Skiing In The Snow" story? It was the original 'cursed record' tale and would have been a best-seller for Steven King if he'd ever heard the story. This is the 10 cent Woolworths U.S. find when the Invitations was the most sought-after record in the world and the guy who found it was travelling up to Stoke when he totalled his car, all the occupants and the 3rd "Skiing In The Snow" went up in smoke too. Is this a myth, or did it really happen? Can anyone out there verify? Ian D

LOL. Great stuff Johnny but can you at least PM me with who he pissed off? It was probably the mob in one form or other....... Sounds like he cheesed off the wrong people.....again! Simon sailed close to the wind. I got his ass out of the jammer on a few occasions. He was also banned from just about everywhere - Reddington's Rare Records in Glendale being just one of many places he couldn't go along with Major Bill's warehouse in Texas and a heap of other warehouses up and down the West Coast. He had to send his wife Sabrina down to Reddingtons with lists of records to buy everytime new titles popped up in England. One of the reasons he kept getting banned was because of his legendary arrogance and impatience when going through thousands of records. There are stories of him flinging priceless Rock/Pop rarities across warehouses because 'they weren't Northern'. I seem to remember rescuing a Primettes Lu-Pine actetate which he'd thrown across a warehouse because he said it was '50's garbage'. It may have been 50's but it was an acetate I later sold to a serious Motown collector who considered it priceless. There's also a great Kev Roberts tale of when Simon broke into the Reddingtons Warehouse through a skylight in the roof - are you reading this Kev - we need this for the archives mate! I think that was the time when Kev had found around 30 copies of the Casualeers "Dance Dance Dance" BEFORE it was known and Simon took all of them claiming that he had to go through all of them 'in order to find the cleanest copy'. Naturally Kev never saw any of those copies again. Also his hatred of funk was legendary. If he hit a load of funk in a place, he'd start snapping copies of the records in half! I'd say 'oh c'mon Simon, you don't have to break the bloody records do ya"? And he just keep snapping 'em and say "it's repetetive garbage (pronounced REPET-TAT-TIVE GAR-BAAAARRRRGE) baby boy, they just get in the way"! One time he was in real snit - I think he'd had a bust up with Sabrina and he was really pissed-off. We were driving along Sunset Boulevard in his car and he switched the radio on and the Isley Brother's "Fight The Power" came on and he went "F*&king FUNK! I HATE "f*&king FUNK"! and he jabbed the car radio's pre-set buttons to another station and the Ohio Player's "Love Rollercoaster" came on - steam started coming out of his ears and he screamed " "F*&king FUNK! What ees wrong with zees people? F*&king FUNK Motherf*&kers! Why can't zey play some Northern instead of this motherf*&king FUNK all ze time"!!! He then furiously jabbed the pre-sets again only for the Brothers Johnson "Get The Funk Out Of My Face" to come blasting out of the speakers. He looked at me, "OK, that's it now"! He then just jerked the car to a complete hault right in the middle of Sunset Strip and started smashing the car radio with his fists. When his hand started bleeding, he got out of the car, took off one of his shoes and continued smashing the radio until parts of the radio were all over the floor of the car. He then physically tore the radio out of the car and threw what was left of it onto the road and then started stamping on it with his other shoe-clad foot. By this point there was a half-mile tailback on Sunset and the horns going off were almost deafening and the driver of the car behind us was just watching all this with her mouth wide open in shock...... I said "err, Simon, maybe we'd better go......" He just got back in the car, slammed it into gear and said "well, at least we won't have to listen to that REPET-TAT-TIVE GAR-BAAAARRRRGE anymore!" Ian D

I'm here! Oh boy, there's enough material about Simon Soussan for another monster thread. Drew came up with a blinder here LOL....... I will write at length about Simon because he does have a place on the scene without a shadow of a doubt. There's no doubt that he was a serious hustler and chancer - that was the nature of the guy. He couldn't help himself as Ady rightfully pointed out. These days they'd put it down to an ego disorder or just bad genes but Simon was basically a very slick French-Morroccan confidence trickster - if you've ever been in a Morroccan street market you'll know the type. But he was also blessed with a lot of intelligence, confidence and passion so it was hard not to like him, even though you knew that the guy would screw you at some point 'cos he screwed everyone. Even though he ripped myself and Neil Rushton off on the Shalamar record, we kinda both saw it coming so we only had ourselves to blame LOL. But there was a weird upside to knowing him. I had a stack of adventures with the guy and hung around with him in L.A. for a few months. I also had a million-selling record with the guy - "Uptown Festival" by Shalamar (where do you think THAT name came from) and packed a wealth of experiences into a few months in L.A. He got me into the Dramatics, all the best clubs in L.A., he hooked me up with Don Cornelius, Ike Turner, El Coco, Jack Ashford, Solomon Burke etc, etc and got me laid a few times. I liked him. Anyway, I'll expand on this thread, but in short and in answer to Drew's original points:- Where was he from and what was his background in soul music? A French-Morroccan who moved to Leeds, Yorkshire and worked designing suits for Burtons. He discovered Northern Soul in Leeds and became quite passionate about it very quickly. What contributions did he make to the scene, good or bad? Where do I start? He discovered literally hundreds of Northern Soul records and his knowledge and memory retention was phenomenal. But he ripped-off a lot of people and didn't give a shit about it as long as he was OK. Where did he go and what finished his involvement with the NS scene? Still in L.A. with new wife and new kid when I last saw him in 1990, but in vastly different circumstances to when he was flying high in the mid 70's. I think he'd burned all his bridges and there was no one to call anymore. On the skids basically. I couldn't get out fast enough. But there again, I was on my way to Vegas to get wed at the time...... A star who burned bright, but burned out quickly. Is he still involved in music production? Nope. He's probably somewhere in vastly diminished circumstances. I think he sold his music catalogue to Unidisc at some point. Is he still alive? Good question Drew. Dunno. Does anyone else know? I actually have some phenomenal Soussan stories. They're just incredible really. Here's a quicky....... When I arrived at L.A.X., Simon came to meet me and this is what happened within the first 2 minutes of meeting him..... I passed customs and walked through arrivals and immediately spotted Simon. I vaguely knew what he looked like - smooth, chiselled Middle-Eastern hustler and there he was right in front of me. We greeted each other and sort of embraced. The last time I saw Simon @ Blackpool Mecca I got glassed and had my nose broken. No big deal and I kind of peaked the situation and gave Simon the chance to slip away. Which he did. Totally vanished LOL... So he believed that I'd saved his life. So we kind of embraced, weird though it was and he said "welcome to L.A. baby boy. We're gonna have fun"! And with that he starting leading me through the airport telling me that America was 'the land of opportunity' and that there was 'pussy everywhere' and he was 'going to get me laid' etc, etc... I mean I was jet-lagged, knackered and still getting adjusted to things and I have this silver fox like cartoon character speaking ten to the dozen and I'm just trying to keep up with the whirlwind......... And, all of sudden, he smashes me in the ribs and says, "hey baby boy....look at THAT"! And the greatest looking female I had ever seen in my entire life was approaching us... And Simon said, "watch this baby boy........" And he went up to her and said, "Hello madame. I couldn't help noticing you because you are beautiful and I notice beauty because I am a fashion designer. I run the company called "Our Love Is In The Pocket" - we're the ones who put the pocket in between the breasts to give the illusion of accessibility to the male species. The pockets themselves are designed by J.J. Barnes of the Revilot organisation - you'll have read about him in Vogue I'm sure, so I was wondering if you'd be interested in modelling our new Summer line which is coming up. We're going to call it "Sweet Sherry" and I think you'd be the perfect girl to front the campaign. Would it be possible to have your number so our business affairs people can contact you"? By this point, both the greatest looking female of all time and me were absolutely mesmerised. A FANTASTIC spiel. Right up there with Mussolini and Hitler in my opinion...... So the greatest looking female of all time gave Simon her number, smiled seductively at him and said "make sure you call me. Quick!" She walked off and I looked at Simon and said, "Wow. I'm dead impressed. When are ya gonna ring her"? And Simon went very serious for a milli-second and then smiled, ripped the greatest looking female of all time's number into tiny shreds and threw the pieces of paper into the air. Then he looked at me and said, "Baby boy, this is L.A. There are a million beautiful women here and you're gonna f*$k 'em all"! THAT was within the first 2 minutes of being with Simon in L.A. It was hard not to be impressed by the pure bullshit approach. He was the grandmaster of bullshit. On the other hand, if I was going to be honest, the thought of f&%king a million women at that point was pretty appealing. So he suckered me into the bullshit. Welcome to Hollywood. Ian D

At least we can now use S.S. to co-ordinate our trips so we don't all land at the same spot! I'll be checking out a lead in Minneapolis/St Paul, then down to Madison where I clashed with some Japs in the 80's, then over to a basement in Fargo, then scooting over to Salt Lake City to have a sniff around there. They still had juke boxes in Salt Lake City didn't they? I won't just find Osmonds records by the ton will I? Mind you, I found an Al Wilson "Help Me" promo in the middle of Cheyenne, Wyoming which is real cowboy country, so who knows? On second thoughts maybe I'll just go to Florida as usual. I forgot about the missus and precocious 14 year old daughter so it looks like beaches and Bananas again LOL...... Ian D

Yep, very good point mcleanmuir! It's funny how merely looking at a record can trigger the memories. I always remember where I got the most influential records in my life, if not all of 'em. The best moment for me is getting 'em back to the hotel room and just studying 'em like mini works of art. Phew, I'm getting hot under the collar just thinking about it LOL..... Ian D

Not strictly S.S. stuff but nonetheless...... I'm sure many Soul Source readers will be sad at the news that the legendary Sound System and DJ pioneer Froggy passed away last night from a brain haemmorhage. For those of you who may not be aware of the influence that Froggy had upon both Soul Music, Live Events and eventually the Mixing scene in the UK, then please check the following link for some history on this influential guy. https://www.soulpranos.co.uk/djfroggy.html Froggy's Sound System was THE No.1 Sound System in the UK as many on here will probably know from Froggy's set-ups @ the Caister Soul Weekenders and various other events. At one point Froggy's system was used on the Radio One Roadshows and the term 'Froggy's System' would regularly be cited on national radio and thus into our conciousness. Froggy's Sound System eventually became synonymous with the best events and the crispest sound in the UK. His contribution to the evolution of the sound system in the UK cannot be under-estimated. Once Froggy arrived, everyone else had to up their game! Our thoughts are with Froggy's family, friends and colleagues. R.I.P. Froggy.

Cheers Harry. We'll have to see. It could be a long wait! I actually wasn't intending to stick around this long to be honest. I thought I'd design my life so that I'd pop my clogs around 40, so I basically led a 'live fast, die young' type lifestyle and intended to pack a lot of 'Sex, Drugs and Northern Soul' into around 25 years, say from 15 to 40. All so I could get my money's worth before keeling over with a smile on my face if you see what I mean...... But I overshot badly. A serious miscalculation by 13 years so far and there's no immediate signs of a more peaceful, reflective life just yet. So I'm still in the fast lane despite my best efforts for a an early departure LOL.... And now I have to write about it dammit. So, in my case, it's more a case of... "Life's a bitch and then you live". Ian D

I've got a feeling it may have been Graham Warr. I think he was certainly the first everyday average Brummie Northern fan who decided to get on a plane and go look for records. I think Rick (I've forgotten his surname) from Global went out there for Global and hit the Philly stuff early on too. And of course Soussan went over from Leeds early as well. But we'll certainly get the info here, that's for sure. And I have had a book on the go for a few years now. Whether it'll ever get finished is another thing though. I seem to be spending a lot of time on these bloody intenet forum thingies LOL...... Ian D

Cheers Brian! I like writing and once I start it's difficult to stop LOL.... Incidentaly, for the sake of some of our younger readers, Brian '45' Phillips was an original DJ from the Twisted Wheel, a massive collector WAAAY back in the day and eventually THE dealer of choice for budding Northern Soul DJ's in the early 70's. His lists were legendary - I still have some of them some 35 years later. "Cool Off" - Detroit Executives on Pameline for 30p? The only copy! Believe it baby, just one of the hundreds of future gems which passed through Brian's hands into the scene. A large part of both Ian Levine and my own early collections were fueled by visits to Brian's house in Manchester on damp Thursday nights in the early 70's. I think the last biggies I got from Bri were "Gee Baby" - The Malibus on Sure Shot and "I Had A Good Time" - Little Eddie Taylor on Peacock. He always turned up phenomenal stuff! A pleasure to have you on the thread my friend. Do you like the way I designed it to LURE you guys in LOL? Also big-ups to Soul Source for making these kind of threads possible. I would never have bumped into Brian, Max, Julian Bentley and numerous other people from back in the day if not for S.S. This is a beautiful slice of Northern Soul history and running here LIVE! Thanks to Mike & team for keeping up with this! THIS is exactly what this thread is all about and Brian's story is invaluable to researchers like me. I'm obsessed with details that only guys like Brian can supply. So great stuff Bri. More please. Get the stories down mate, 'cos it is history and you were right in the middle of it! London would have been a treasure trove back then. Younger readers have to understand that, Northern Soulers apart, travel was a luxury rather than a necessity back then. Going to London from the North was a big deal, believe it or not and Brian's described the experience perfectly. I got lucky in London a couple of times too. I think I hit the same shop which Brian mentioned in Stepney. Myself and Phil Lynski from Wakefield found a Carl Douglas, a Levi Jackson, a Garnet Mimms and a bunch of other UK goodies from there. Also, that trip, just for posterity, I can remember buying The Vontastics on St Lawrence, the Heartbreakers on Derby, the Differences on Monca (?) and, at that point the undiscovered alternative version of "Cool Off" - "Mighty Lover" by the Ideals on Boogaloo ALL from the market stall on Berwick St where Ady used to work. I think this was just before or around when Ady and Clarky used to hang there. I think Dave Rivers worked at Harlequinn further up and he always had some goodies under the counter, in the true spirit of Soho. Berwick St was always the bee-line for Northern collectors. What could be better? Original U.S. Northern Soul Records @ 25p each, Strippers, Hookers, Porn, Pubs and Knowledgeable Enthusiasts in that one street. We thought we'd died and gone to heaven! Keep 'em rockin' folks........ Ian D