Ian Dewhirst

In the 70's there was a certain amount of derison for Soul Packs. It was thought that the only things which went in there were records which the seller had a few hundred copies of. So terms like 'it's a Soul Pack record' meant it was common and not that exciting at the time. Occasionally, someone would stumble into 'a Soul-Pack find' which were almost never taken seriously because there'd probably be hundreds of 'em..... But times change LOL.......The Innersection record was a 50p staple for years........ Ian D

Thanks Mark. In which I have it here - too many records, too many cd's............ Best, Ian D

I only ever heard this once or twice and I remember it as being 100mph stomping pure Northern Soul on some tiny L.A. label I think. Does anyone have an MP3 of it? Is it rare and was it ever played anywhere? Best, Ian D

Also there's a great million mile an hour poppy stomper called "It Ain't Gonna Happen To Me Again" by Paul Clemens on Playboy...... Ian D

Me neither! Used to be a £2 cheapie which was in everyone's box! Ian D

I'm Getting On Life - Wombat! Ian D

Hi Brian, Long time no see! Hope you're well mate and I guess the beard's grey now LOL! Best, Ian "Frank" Dewhirst

Do The Pearl Girl - Matta Baby Broadway Sissy - Roscoe & Co Ton Of Dynamite - Frankie 'Loveman' Crocker Wrong Crowd - Prince George Ian D

Oh you shouldn't believe everything you hear about Show Biz dearie! It's all quite innocent. I was talking to my associate Andre and he thinks you have a cherubic face which will work well in a video. We were wondering whether you may be available for some personal choreographing by our resident choreographers Lionel Blair and Wayne Sleep to be held at the Rainbow Hotel this weekend and then we'll all go dancing at the famous nightclub Heaven. Oh, by the way, could you please bring some leather undergarments please as we'd like to assess your body shape? Monty De La Prenuer

Clyde McPhatter "Please Give Me One More Chance" Bobby Hutton "Lend A Hand" Ian D

Bloody Hell. Haven't seen him since he sold me the Pointer Sisters at Burnley Cricket Club in 1974! Please give him my best! Ian D

Dunno where the 'all vinyl's were boots' thing came from. Hundreds of vinyl copies originally came from Bostocks @ Bradford Market in the early 70's (via the MGM warehouse in the U.S. I believe) and none of 'em were boots! Ian D

Blimey. Must've been lonely dancing by yourself in your bedroom all those years then? Ian D

Also let's not forget that the Northern Soul scene has always been full of cantankerous characters - it's part of the nature of what has always been an elite scene. When anyone came onto the scene in the early 70's they were automatically classed as 'Divs' or 'Wallies'. It was like a form of induction or baptism by fire into a scene, which, despite what you read on here, doesn't suffer fools gladly. Maybe it's because the Northern scene requires a bit of passion and dedication and that idealogy continues to this day as can be evidenced by this very forum. Also despite the harshness of some of the contributors on here, most people I think have a healthy respect for each other. It's 'the devil you know' and the 'he's a twat but he's OUR twat' type of syndrome....... All that's happened, is that Soul Source and the Internet has provided a means of people actually airing their views to all and sundry instead of just at various events or via fanzines, as in the past. So naturally the loudest, most controversial and most obnoxious ones among us tend to get in there quick LOL! Ian D

Hi Tommy, I just pm'd you 4 lots of sleeve notes I did for the Northern Soul Story 4 CD set I did earlier this year. This may help as it looks at Northern Soul from a hands-on personal perspective whilst it was happening at the time.... Hope it may help! Best, Ian D

Agreed! It's pretty failsafe if you have a lot of records. I do mine aphabetised in the following sections:- 1) Rock/Pop Albums 2) Soul/RnB Albums 3) Compilation Albums 4) Reggae Albums 5) U.S. Soul/RnB 7"'s 6) U.K. Rock/Pop 7"'s 7) U.K. Soul/RnB 7"'s 8) U.K. Reggae 7"'s 9) U.S. Northern Soul 7" 10) U.K. Northern Soul 7" 11) U.S. 12"'s 12) U.K. 12"'s 13) U.K. and U.S. Rock/Pop 12"'s 14) Reggae 12"'s 15) CD - Artist Albums 16) CD - Northern Soul 17) CD Compilations Always worked for me. I can generally go straight to what I need within seconds. I generally have a re-filing session about once a month which takes a couple of hours or so, but that beats the frustration of not being able to lay your hands on something quickly! Best, Ian D

Hey The Screamer! Yep, Gary Fields bought my cracked Joe Mathews bless him. Even though it played just fine it had a big wadge of masking tape holding it together. He bought it because of the history of the record and what it meant to him....... Next time you see him can you let him know that I've been saving all my cracked records over the last 20 years specially for him LOL...... Ian D

Now that would really be pushing it! Ian D

Blimey, definitely a ropy old mix though Eddie. Wouldn't have said no to a couple of your mate's copies though..... Ian D

With both these records especially, I just have a gut feeling that they were black/white combos since there are definite rock influences in both of 'em. At the time the likes of Sly & The Family Stone, the Chambers Brothers, Jimi Hendrix, Taj Mahal, Eric Burdon & War etc, etc were blurring the lines between Rock and Soul, so it wouldn't be unusual to have a black/white combo that were fusing the elements. But I guess this is all conjecture until someone can dig up some info......... Ian D

Nope. "Smoke Your Troubles Away" was by the Glass Family on Earhole Records. And this is a rare soul forum isn't it, hence the perfectly valid question as to whether there may be any other records on the Inner Ear label? If you're not interested, then maybe don't read the thread! So we're still down to whether the Crow were a black or white band? Likewise World Column.... Ian D

I reckon the Crow were a rock band and like the World Column from the same era. Great record. It was originally found and championed by the late Dave Godin and first played at Blackpool Mecca when Dave made one of his sporadic trips up there. Colin Curtis eventually prised it from him and the rest, as they say, is history! Inner Ear Records. Rare. Very Rare. Anyone know of any other records on the label? Ian D

Yep. That makes sense. Wish I'd have been around in those days but I was probably still playing with my action man LOL. Cheers Billy. Ian D