Ian Dewhirst

You're WAAAY too romantic Paul! I want a vinyl record to be as near to the original recording as possible. I can't tell you the amount of ticks, scratches, hisses, jumps and pops which have totally pissed me off on recordings I love - I have no fondness for fighting through beaten-up records to hear a recording. Also, most of the scratches have been put on by people who had the record before me and didn't look after it! The vinyl is merely a format - a carrier Paul, it's not an organic living breathing thing. You may be developing a very unhealthy obsession here LOL..... And you're being a little unfair describing someone who may use a laptop as some "lack lustre, chair bound, lazy, charlatan, downloading onto his laptop and pressing play at the event". Is this a million miles different from a lack lustre, chair bound, lazy, charlatan, with a few quid putting a stylus on a record at an event? Nope. Same thing. I think if you'd ever seen someone like Greg Wilson (who by the way has a huge vinyl collection) use a laptop creatively you'd probably think again. Vinyl is a very loveable format but it's only the means of getting the recording to the public. Let's not over-romanticise it. Ian D

20 years of waiting then the other half steps on it! Sounds like divorce material right there! Have you forgiven her yet? Or renewed your marriage vows LOL? Ian D

No wonder the title's "It Really Hurts Me Girl" LOL Ian D

You're absolutely right Spot. I was young and had rare vinyl blinkers on! I'd have been aghast at playing anything other than pure originals and rarities and I had very little respect for people who played boots or acetates back then. But when we're in an age of £10K rarities I'd certainly be thinking twice about playing 'em out several nights a week that's for sure. Wouldn't be able to afford it for a start! And the last bunch of Northern I've sold have been by far the most difficult with people's expectations of grading being sky high. I just can't get into conversations about grading and stuff like that. My attitude is the record's rare, it's 40 years old, it got played a lot, so let's be realistic on condition. But, no, people are incredibly anal about condition and grading. So back to why I started the thread - is it worth playing £10K rarities out when they're going to get devalued by maybe 50%? I pitched this thread because I have similar discussions with numerous people almost every day regarding the death of vinyl and I thought it would be an interesting thread because the Northern scene really will be the last bastion of vinyl I reckon. I thought it would generate some heated debate and it has. And I certainly wrecked a lot of very decent rarities on those bloody decks at Samanthas which were notorious for carving up vinyl....... Plus people like your good self would never have had it any other way wouyldja? Ian D

I think I may have been guilty of a slight exaggeration there Kev! I just worked it out on the train and even with my couple of thousand CD's chucked in the figure's far more likely to be 80-100K thinking about it. Including 7" and 12" B sides as well LOL.... We might just be the last generation of vinyl though. I'm not sure if tomorrow's audience will have the understanding for blips, jumps and scratches...... Ian D

Haha LOL! Agreed! I've already got a few so shall I press acetates? I'm getting the new set-up sometime between Boxing Day and the New Year so I'll let you know what I decided on.... Ian D

OK Barry, here's a situation to ponder. Right now I have pretty much everything I want right here, right now, on either vinyl, CD or a digital format - probably over 250,000 tunes in total. Yet, if I elected to use a laptop to play them @ a gig, I would accused of 'selling out', 'not being real', 'being lazy' or 'not committed' etc, etc. So if I won the lottery tomorrow and then spent £500,000 with Browny, Manship, Brady and E-Bay and amassed exactly the same records on original vinyl would that then make me OK and credible again? Whaddaya think? Ian D

Still got most of my vinyl Barry, but since I've over 20,000 records it's not always possible to take even 500 of 'em to gigs - especially 12"'s! I should make the point here that after over 40 years of collecting, I now prefer to do sets which are very eclectic and necessarily demand a lot of choice. It's a practical issue rather than anything else. I like a lot of music and don't particularly like limiting my choices to what I can physically carry. So just to make it clear - I LOVE vinyl. However I love music more. Vinyl is a brilliant format but that's really all it is. If I can only get a great tune on MP3 or CD does that make it any less of a tune just because it doesn't happen to be on a 7" piece of plastic? I've also released more stuff on vinyl then virtually anyone else over the years. I was Head Of A&R for the world's largest vinyl re-issue company - Simply Vinyl from 1997 to 2002 where I put out over 400 albums and 125 12"'s on vinyl, so rest assured I love the format! Ian D

This in a way is an even nastier twist on the theme because you never really had the time to enjoy your extraordinary find! It reminds me of when I when to Cheyenne, Wyoming once to see an original Rodeo - I was frog-marched there by an American friend to 'get me away from record shops and see the real America' LOL. Naturally I found a record shop in town had a quick look and found an Al Wilson "Help Me" and a couple of other bits. Several hours later as we staggered out from yet another bar I realised I no longer had the records with me. We couldn't remember which bars we'd been in, so there's a nice Al Wilson promo still knocking around Cheyenne somewhere........... Keep 'em coming...... Ian D

More pain! Somehow I feel slightly better about my own mishaps now. But this confirms my theory that everytime you leave the house with a box of valuable records there's always the potential for disaster. Plenty of human error instances here too. Seems like the elation of a great gig or a great record find can cause momentary loss of normal controls LOL...... Ian D

Hey Joe, I meant to ask you - do you know whatever happened to the record library when Polygram (now UMG) took over Decca in the late 70's? The room used to be down at Albert Embankment and it had mint promo copies of every record both UK and US ever issued on London, Decca, Coral etc, etc. I just wondered whether the stuff went into storage when Polygram took over? Might be worth investigating....... I think we're coming down on Saturday although Champy's being a tad unpredictable at the moment.... Promise I won't mention laptops LOL..... Ian D

I'm just talking on the scale of records (Lord knows a lot worse things can happen as we can see on other threads) but would you say it's haunted you ever since? I'm being serious here. I cried when my Joe Mathews snapped because I knew I'd probably never get another. And I haven't since. But I couldn't keep the snapped one either. Too painful. I ended up taping it back together and ended up flogging it to Gary from Leeds........... Ian D

Cheers Cel - good job I checked. I remember him even though senility starts creeping in when you get to my age LOL..... RIP Dave. Ian D

Very painful! I've never had one so that would've killed me! Those styrene ones break too easily (like the Joe Mathews above). Did you claim for it by the way? And did you find another? Ian D

Go on. Tell! Please. I know Sam but I haven't heard this story......... Ian D

Ouch. Human error though! Good job he didn't do with Christine Cooper LOL...... Ian D

Are there any stories about terrible accidents which have resulted in the breakage or devaluation of a rare record? I'm thinking of the all-time classic example of when Dave Withers (I think it was Dave but please correct me if I'm wrong) borrowed Richard Searling's copy of the Jades "I'm Where It's At" after months of begging (so he could tape it), only to stop at a chippie on the way home where he layed the record on top of the metal thingy which keeps the fish and chips warm and WARPED THE RECORD!!! Cue one very pissed-off Richard the next day. I think it was the only copy at the time..... Also I did hear an unfortunate story about the 2nd or 3rd copy of the Invitations which was found and was destroyed in a car accident on the way to a gig. The worst for me was when my daughter stepped on my original Joe Mathews "Ain't Nothing You Can Do" and cracked it in half. Plus a Bobby Hutton on Phillips got totalled when I crashed the car coming back from Cleethorpes one morning. But there must be other stories which are equally as horrific, so anybody got any? Ian D

I spoke to Mike this morning and he's now aware of the problem. I think he's going to join-up to Soul Source so he can deal with people directly. He's a bit of a techy-phobe hence the reason he hasn't been on here to date. Hopefully all will be sorted shortly! He's the only magazine publisher I know that makes it difficult for people to subscribe LOL! Regards to Gail Spot! Ian D

Acetate. The album version will probably be too thin and result in horrible feedback if you jack the volume up! Ian D

LOL if she's anything like my daughter she's expect no less! Don't let 'em anywhere near your Northern though 'cos they'll use 'em as frisbees! That's how my Joe Mathews got cracked! Ian D

That could be me LOL! I've never deejayed using a laptop but two recent events have made me reconsider the whole thing:- 1) I caught Greg Wilson doing a set on laptop (and reel-to-reel tapes believe it or not) and he made his choices by judging the mood of the club and played records I haven't heard in a club for 30 odd years! When I raved about some of his choices he showed me how many tunes were on his laptop (about 8,000) and said he never does the same set EVER. That way he stays completely fresh and never knows what he's gonna play next. The sheer choice was unbelievable. Plus the gig was brilliant - mainly because he steered the music so beautifully because he had the CHOICE! For me to have done the same thing, I would have had to transport my entire record rooms to the gig - a physical impossibility! That made me think....... 2) I recently had to do a lecture in Toronto which required me to use music. My laptop has a couple of thousand tunes on it from all genres, so I took it with me. Thank God! When people wanted to know the differences in certain productions and producers I could play them loads of examples. When someone asked what Northern Soul was, I had a few hundred examples. When someone wanted to hear various mixes I had 'em all. When people were asking me if I had certain re-edits or rare productions I had 'em with me and could give them copies. When I did a 2 hour radio show I could play more or less whatever I wanted. I had CHOICE! So these two things made me re-think my views very seriously. I mainly DJ at Rare Disco gigs these days and I always need at least 2 crates or 400 records to feel comfortable and I ALWAYS wish that I'd have brought some other records which would have worked brilliantly. Now I can! I've just got to learn the bloody software and get a music-only laptop, so that's my project for the New Year. And that got me thinking that if acetates are acceptable on the Northern scene, then why not other formats? Interesting though innit? Best, Ian D

Cheers mate! It's really where the vinyl-only argument kinda comes a cropper if you see what I mean. If an unreleased brilliant Frank Wilson was found tomorrow would people really ignore just 'cos it's not on vinyl? Don't think so..... So then what? Do you have to invent a new set of rules which says that unreleased stuff is only allowed to be played on acetates only? Actually, on this scene that's probably exactly what would happen since it's essentially a vinyl-only scene but it will be a problem when you can no longer cut acetates....... Ian D

Listen, if Sam's confined to a hospital bed in his 90's that's EXACTLY what he'll do LOL!

I think you've misread me Dave. Remember I started on the Northern scene back in 1970 long before I joined the Music Biz. I was merely pointing out that I have an overview which is different to many regulars on here because I've enjoyed a few different scenes and worked 'on the other side' as well. Let's not forget that the 45rpm record was the main format for the mass market in the 60's and 70's and when Northern Soul artists released the records originally they were all looking for big sales and a hit in the commercial market. Which I guess gives me a bit of a problem with your statement - "The main point (or ethos, the word that many people band about), of the scene in the first place was/is to find our own route and AVOID the mainstream 'music biz" surely". Surely Northern Soul was founded on the Motown principal originally wasn't it? And Motown WAS the mainstream in the mid 60's - Berry Gordy basically invented a lot of the 'production line' principals as you well know. So, no, I don't think we were necessarily finding our own route - we EMBRACED what was a mainstream sound and kept embracing it long past it's commercial sell-by date for everyone else. I guess that's the beauty of Northern Soul! Also I guess I'm saying that it's only us that puts the emphasis on the format. The artists are seldom bothered how their music is heard as long as it finds an audience. By the way, how's the mag going? Loved all the issues I've read to date. Do you have a decent U.S, audience? Best, Ian D

Nah it's not void Davie. You have a very bespoke system by the sound of it. Standard decks are SL1200's which only have the option of 331/3 and 45rpm. I've done thousands of gigs and you seldom see 78 as an option - at least not in the gigs I play...... However, whilst we're on the subject I did go to a brilliant outdoor Summer gig last year where a guy was playing 78's on an original HMV type player, you know, the one with the horn loudspeaker with the dog looking in it...... Ian D