Ian Dewhirst

A ridiculous bootleg. No there was no demand at the time to my recollection and I think it was the only album track on OOTP. Might be an idea for another thread though: "Ridiculous Bootlegs For Which There Was Never A Demand" For instance, Lou Courtney "Me And You Doing The Boogaloo" which was a Selectadisc boot. I never understood why this was bootlegged........ Ian D

Only by a technicality John. Selectadisc and our French Moroccan friend were in business for years. He pressed 'em in the U.S. and Selectadisc distributed 'em in the UK exclusively I seem to remember. You're quite right though - it wasn't as blatant as the O.O.T.P. stuff which I hated because even the labels were uninspiring..... Ian D

Yep, the early U.K. Invictus pressings of "Why Can't We Be Lovers" all seemed to have the same problem - must've been a pressing fault.......... Ian D

75p @ Jim Wilson's in Shoreditch in 1973 LOL.....he had a few water-damaged ones. A lot people missed it originally 'cos they thought they were a doo-wop group......... Ian D

Also worth noting that the UK white-label promo-only 12" of the Originals "Down To Love Town" is a different mix from the US 12". I think the UK pressed up the album version and put it on the promo 12", so that's definitely an oddball rarity...... Ian D

It's done well for an old Soul Bowl cheapy hasn't it? Used to be 75p I think. Wish I'd bought a box of em LOL..... Ian D

Always a good idea to do 'due diligence' I think. The Ringleaders was a common record in the early 70's - it used to be in everyone's sales boxes and was routinely listed @ anywhere between 50p-£1.00. Mind you, I wish I'd kept a copy of every cheapy over the years! There's loads of hugely expensive records now which were cheapies on Brian '45' Phillips lists and also lots which were cheapies on Soul Bowl's 70's lists as well. Fascinating subject though. Plus you can't always make assumptions about the rarity of certain labels either. I famously turned down one of the first Billy Woods for £3.00 because it was on the Sussex label which generally pressed everything in massive quantity - The Soul Searchers, Bill Withers, Creative Source, Dennis Coffey etc, etc, so I just figured that there'd be at least a few thousand of 'em knocking around..... Sadly for me I never did find another Billy Woods on Sussex - EVER! It's always pissed me off - I even spoke to the owner of the label, Clarence Avant and he couldn't even remember it........ Ian D

Haha LOL. This is so typical of the wonderful world of Northern Soul. Firstly a record get covered up as The Masqueraders. Then the Masqueraders gets uncovered and turns out to be The Parliaments. But it's the 'wrong' Parliaments. In 1974 we used to play George Clinton's "Please Don't Run From Me". But it turned out to be the 'wrong' George Clinton.... Quelle coincidence. Only on the Northern scene......... Ian D

There seems to be a ton of glitches in the ebay system these days! If they put some resource into sorting them out properly there would be a lot less frustration IMHO. Sometimes it makes you lose the will to live....... Ian D

Must be a test press from the record plant - that's really the only explanation. Also Salsoul ran through a few majors at different times - generally it was RCA in the 70's so maybe they switched to Columbia for a while in the 80's which would make sense..... I'll check in the next few days - I ran the UK Salsoul label from 2002-2005 and I'm still in touch with 'em so I'll let you know what the prognosis is....... Best, Ian D

Ouch. I'm bitten LOL..... I actually found the first 3 copies of the record and sent 'em over to the UK from L.A., but I never actually played it - not my kind of record at all. But it went massive the same way as Paul Anka, Beverly Anne, Larry Santos etc, so it's just part of the weird and wonderful tapestry of Northern Soul. Didn't help when Soft Cell covered it and had a massive hit as well. Obviously a popular song whichever way you look at it......... Best, Ian D

Haha LOL - I just wrote a reply on this on another forum. It is coming out on CD, apparently with extra tracks but find a link yet but I'm sure it's true..... And here's what I just wrote...... Always one of the greats. 'Bout time on CD! Buy it while ya still can - a lot of stuff is getting deleted or out-of-stock quite quickly and not getting re-pressed unless there's a decent demand. Plus a lot of dealers don't bother re-ordering slow sellers, especially in this climate. Moral: Have a CD spree this Xmas/New Year (especially the sales) and pick up all those things you kinda need, like the above 'cos you may not see 'em again. Plus they'll become RARE in a few years! A digital master of "The Show Must Go On" with extra tracks and notes! Buy 10 and sit on 'em. Someone will always want this @ top CD quality! Ian D

And two more pure Northern tracks from Mr Bataan are "Continental Square Dance" (the original version of Laso Square by Laso but recorded in '69) and "Johnny" both on Salsoul........ Best, Ian D

Hahaha LOL! There's always a 'rite of passage' on most scenes I think. Because the Northern Soul scene was very exclusive when I arrived (circa 1970), I had to go through a few months of being a 'div'. The Wheel boys saw us snotty-nosed kids as an embarassment at the time and so we had to keep a respectable distance. It was a bit like "Quadrophenia" when everyone looked up to Ace in the film. The Northern Soul ecquivalent to Ace, were the Wheel veterans. I was lucky 'cos I stumbled into a tight bunch of Torch regulars from Heckmondwike and Liversedge - Sid, Rod, Smithy, Twink, Alan and they introduced me to the heirachy LOL.. I think that passion should be encouraged whatever a person's age is. If some kid of 16 has the same kind of passion that I had at that age, then they should be encouraged as much as possible. Someday those snotty-nosed kids will be the next generation of DJ, Collectors, Dealers, Writers and Fans. One thing's for sure - the Northern Soul scene sorts out the wood from the chaff. That's why it's still here and thriving! Ian D

Never seen it ever. Weird. Ian D

Walters & Sisters "How Long" I haven't ever managed to find another copy of this since I sold mine to Sam. Can anyone oblige with an MP3 via PM? I don't think it's ever been on a comp has it......? Thanks in advance. It'll make an old man very happy LOL..... Ian D

Haven't seen Clarky in years! I used to catch him @ record fairs now and then when he was working for some guys in Guildford in the late 80's. I first met him circa 1972/73 whenever I travelled down to London record hunting. He was always @ Cheapo Cheapo in Berwick Street and we'd natter for hours about Northern Soul whilst I'd pick up stuff like the Ideals, the Heartbreakers and the Vontastics for 25p a pop from the stall - I think this may have been even prior to Ady working there..... So I've actually known him 35 years gulp! I did hope to see him @ the Forum the other week - Mike Ritson hinted that he may make it but 'cest la vie. Hope he's OK. He's always been a top Soul Man as long as I can remember! Best, Ian Dewhirst

Yep, Champy rang me yesterday so I've put it in my diary! Be great if we could get Stuart Cosgrove and Caesar down as well - that'd make for a great night I'm sure! Best, Ian D

Hi Steve, Yep, saw Tommy @ the Kent 25th Anniversary @ The Forum - looking very dapper for a 74 year old! But didja know that Paul Schofield used to be his Road Manager in the early 1970's? Small world innit? Best, Ian D

I can remember this being on the Global wholesale list @ 75p a copy in the early 70's, so there's loads of 'em out there somewhere.......... And why are the horns so off-key on the Towanda Barnes version? Must have been a quickie session or something...... Ian D

Isn't there a decent 'younger' Northern type scene going on in the States at the moment? I've received tons of U.S. Soul Club MySpace adds - there seems to be one for every city and the music seems to be a blend of Northern and local R'n'B for the most part. The funny thing is they seem to know quite a few of the greats and current biggies but occasionally slip up on other stuff. The one in Chicago had never heard of "Do The Pearl Girl" and "Libras Really Do Run It" for instance but seemed quite knowledgeable on lots of other stuff..... I even had a major L.A. female Mod DJ asking me if I could recommend some 60's L.A. Northern stuff as she wants to start featuring it in her sets. Different scene altogether but still encouraging I think.... Also presumably the young Americans won't be carrying the same kind of baggage that we have over here LOL..... Ian D

Brilliant Thread this. I could do with a compilation of this stuff NOW! I'm going to dig around and see if I can find a few - I know they're in there somewhere........... Ian D

If I remember rightly the Demob lot were well into Northern Soul. They were involved in a band from Scarborough called The Friday Club in the early 80's who had a Northerny vibe about 'em. Ian D

And that was a pretty snazzy red outfit you were wearing down @ Cork's the other month guvnor...... Ian D

"Santa Clause Please Listen To Me" - Artie Fullilove Best, Ian D