Ian Dewhirst

Well, I have a flawless WAV Steve, so I'm OK on that score. But can I take it from the above that you've had this track for a while? I'd be curious as to the source. I mean,this instrumental never came up when Goldmine had access to the Don Davis masters and there's no history on this instrumental even existing prior to now. So where did you get it from out of curiosity? I'm interested 'cos none of the serious Detroit collectors that I know had ever heard of it's existance. This is the original instrumental backing minus Darrell Banks. Are you sure yours is the same one...? Ian D

Copy that. A major achievement by any measure. She has my unconditional support forever after this. Thank F**K we were lucky enough to have a serious talent like Elaine to corral this project to conclusion. This film is an incredible achievement and I'm seriously humbled to be involved. The fact that the soundtrack album has hit the UK National Top 10 Compilation Chart TWICE in the last 4 weeks without any TV marketing confirms the national appeal of this music. The Salvadors in the UK National Top 10 TWICE in 2014? Nah. You couldn't make it up....... Ian D

Well the fact that the current repertoire owners sent a previously unheard instrumental of such a legendary classic indicates that they must have the original master tapes. I'll drop 'em a line tomorrow and see what other surprises they could be holding and I'll bet a pound to a penny they have an instrumental of "Our Love Is In The Pocket". Any other Revilot contenders I can pitch at 'em? There is a You Tube clip of the Lebaron Strings "Hit And Run" but it doesn't seen to want to play...... Ian D

Blimey, you're right. I just did a search and nothing came up. I've just discovered the never-before-heard instrumental of "Open The Door To Your Heart" goddammit! Not bad for a rainy Wednesday evening ay? Ian D

Talk about coincidences. I've been going through masters all-day for a forthcoming huge box set. The collection kicks off with Darrell Banks "Open The Door To Your Heart" and I got sent the master and blow me if it's not the instrumental! I've never heard this before but I presume it's popped up sometime....? Ian D

If only. BBC wages unfortunately which are pegged at 'medium market level' except for the rarified few at the top. Just like everyone else then.... Ian D

The soundtrack album has flown back into the UK Top 10 on the midweeks today! No.8 with a bullet. Not many albums do that. Two Top 10's in 4 weeks! Yippee! Ian D

Mmm. I should really take my 19 year old daughter. Right now she's a Deep House diva but the film puts her dancing to shame..... Ian D

The soundtrack is back in the UK National Top 10 again on the midweeks this morning! No.8 with a bullet and now available via Asda, Tescos and Morrisons.... Ian D

You'll love it Spot. Remember the days when we were all athletic and slim? Ian D

It is unique. It's been a real grassroots campaign and I'm delighted that the buzz has now carried it to so many screens. A gigantic effort by everyone involved and a real boost to Elaine over the last few weeks! Ian D

Not pissed Swifty. An INCREDIBLE quantity haul of PIR white promos was sourced in Holland a few years back. My pal Reggae John got 'em. PIR white promos are irresistible in my view....... Ian D

A little bit of leeway in attracting new blood to a 50 year old scene is not such a bad thing in my view. We were all newbies at one point were we not? This scene has always been good at sorting the wood from the chaff. If they get past the series of hurdles like we all did, then great. This film seems to appeal to young audiences especially, which I suspect is what Elaine wanted. Go see it Toad. It's hard not to warm to this film mate. It perfectly captures what got us all into it in the first place in my opinion. And I'm impossible to please. Ian D

Thought as much. Cheers Steve. That's a confusing number system for Chess isn't it? Ian D

I'm buried in label copy today and had cause to check the Chess listings and suddenly bumped into this on an official Chess discography:- 2016 The Matta Baby Do The Pearl, Girl - Part 1 Do The Pearl, Girl - Part 2 1967 I've never seen this record on Chess. I presume the listing is wrong but it makes me wonder how it got there and what Chess 2016 actually is, assuming it's not Matta Baby. Anyone know? Ian D

Different book Steve. These are stills from the film especially selected by Elaine. It's just beautiful photography. Ian D

A happy accident Agent Smith... Ian D:)

I gotta hand it to you Steve. What a bang-up job you're doing mate. Things are beginning to go gangbusters now. There is a serious vibe happening now. Incredible support from HMV, Asda, Tesco and Morrison's plus incredible coverage from ITV - check this:- https://www.itv.com/news/granada/story/2014-10-03/northern-soul-film-premiere/ Phew. Everybody's finally waking up. The way the screens have built in the last week has been nothing short of incredible. Great great work Steve. Ian D

Yeah, I've been hearing about this from a few people. Typically I haven't had time to even go in an HMV so, yes, I too wish you'd taken some pics! Ian D

I can only concur with the above. I did two sets, one in Reds and one in the Skyline Pavillion and I came off several pounds lighter with two drenched shirts and I was only putting records on! I can't imagine how hot in must have been on stage what with the lights and all....... Ian D

I just heard that Sharpees track! What a monster of a record! Can't believe a song that good has been buried that long. If they keep digging out stuff as good as this and that Valdons record then more power to 'em... Ian D

He was a cynic like yourself. And no need to be nasty about someone you probably don't even know. Who exactly are you and what have you done lately? Ian D

I'm pretty sure it wasn't designed for the critics and I'm pretty sure they wouldn't really get it anyway. This film has had zero support from the UK film business as far as I can make out and I think it's been pigeon-holed as a little English film about a quaint sub-culture which will have minimal commercial appeal and a limited audience. Which is entirely predictable in my view. That's what I expected them to think. So no surprise there. But it's difficult to ignore a little English film about a quaint sub-culture when the soundtrack has entered the UK Top 10 album chart with minimal marketing spend. Not so little anymore. And watch those screens grow. 3 weeks to release. Blackburn premiere this Saturday and London premiere on 2nd October. Lots of PR and Radio coming up and hopefully more and more people will embrace this film. The grass-roots support has been nothing short of incredible. Great stuff! Ian D

I've sent some of my random media mates to see a couple of preview screenings and, without exception, they all said how much the film affected them. Terry Farley - Harmless's Deep/Acid/Classic House guru had some misconceptions about the film and was probably cynically inclined before he saw the film earlier tonight. His text message @ 9.29pm tonight:- "Wicked film! The Wigan scenes with dancers blocking up on speed actually made my heart race and I felt like gagging". Terry knows the symptoms to a tee, so high praise indeed. However, I think everyone involved with the film was incredibly touched by Mi-Soul Radio's incredible review from Ross Allen. Here it is:- "Right I can do this now… Apologies for the delay… This one has been way overdue. Thanks to the many people that have enquired as to what is happening with these mail outs/missives and whether or not they have fallen off the list or whether it has just stopped altogether. I had a break for a few reasons. It has been a manic summer, the time hasn't been there and when it was all I could really write about was going to sound slightly pretentious and a bit large. I don't want to be telling you about all the jet set travels with London Grammar I want to talk about things that mean something to me, are music related and hopefully interesting. It has been a fun summer, the globe has been trod and there have been great things to report but it hasn't felt right plus I have been on and off the radio with an annoying irregularity… for me and some of you. Well I am back and inspired ! I have just gotten in from a very small and intimate screening of the film 'Northern Soul' and it has blown me away. Not that I am the biggest Northern Soul fan, far from it, a lot of it gets on my nerves and just doesn't connect… Too fast, too mid rangy and just not my thing. Black music for white people is what I have regularly called it. Indie kids always like it and it is so far removed from much of todays music - it feels kind of safe, approved as it is a bonafide classic scene - I couldn't care less about that. I need to feel it ! Don't get me wrong there are many tunes from this genre that I love but never enough for me to really get excited about it. A few tracks, if any, on those many Kent compilations and lots of other ones that I have heard and liked but have been impossible to track down and buy. It took me about 15 years to find out what piece of genius Luther Ingram's 'If It's All The Same To Me' (featured in the film in its B side incarnation as Exus Trek) was and then to get it. Anyway, I had heard about the film being forthcoming and was intrigued. I then got sent a promo CD which featured a few tracks that I knew but I was loathed to play it as I thought it would be full of those uptempo stomping numbers that just go whizzing above my forehead. I was wrong, the compilation is possibly the best one of its kind. I don't like all of the tracks but some that I have discovered through being on the compilation are just amazing pieces of soul music. Uptempo yes but not as barn storming, they feel more groove based with a funk and some have an almost jazz feel to the instrumentation. Take Lou Pride's 'I'm Com'un Home In The Morn'un'. This tune is absolutely amazing… a funktified bassline groove with some amazingly out horns and an amazingly soulful vocal (that is a basic pre requisit for this music). Northern undoubtedly but not as I knew it. There are so many tracks on this double CD that have opened my mind to othersides of Northern Soul yet I am still not a 100% convert as ever I am magpieing my way through this and most other music genres (always with a foot heavily in the world of funk, soul and jazz leading me to it's modern derivatives) but I have been so wowed by so many tracks on this album some known and others new to me - Eddie Holman, Rita & The Tiara's, Sam Dee's, James Fountain, Darrow Fletcher, Linda Jones - I could go on. It's a great album and I would highly recommend it. Currently at number 4 in the compilation album charts as I was told tonight above 'Now 2306' or whatever they are up to and many other TV advertised albums - which is nice !! The album features a bonus DVD which I watched and got the back drop to the movie. A chat with Elaine Constantine the director about the making of the film and her inspiration for making it and a great interview with Richard Searling who was a DJ at Wigan Casino (and is a general all round soul legend) and one of the many inspirations for this film. So I was all set for the nights preview but wondering if it would be a good film or another one of those clubby/club based films where it feels nearly right but actually turns out to be crap, let down by bad acting or a bad script. It was neither and an all round triumph. Set in a run down part of Manchester in the early/mid 70's it follows the story of a young discontented guy (lets call him a teenager) who inadvertently discovers the sound and the dancing one night at a youth club's disco when his soon to be best mate is allowed to play one Northern Soul record at that youth club disco. He sees a great dancer doing his thing - the soon to be best mate - and then saves him from a beating from some non convert local kids who knock him for his dancing and clothes. A bond is formed right there, he is intrigued by the sound and the dancing, gets given some speed, a tape of Northern set from a night in Blackpool and then spends all night speeding his head of in his bedroom, freaking out to the music and by the morning he is a convert, keen to learn the ways of Northern Soul. The music, the clothes, the dancing... He is hooked. I wont spoil the rest of the story as it unfolds but he begins a journey into a scene that is not just specific to Northern Soul. The film captures the essence of the passion that music and their associated scenes generate. The kid falls in love with everything about the music. It takes over his life and his journey has begun. Its a troubled one but a joyous one, full of scrapes and encounters but music and dancing is at the core of it. As much as he was converted he starts to convert others and they develop their own scene and he starts to break through in the world of DJing albeit at a very lowly level as his music collecting grows It was brilliant, I could feel an affinity with him. The voyage of discovery, the addiction to it, the need to collect the music, to find out more, the need to be part of something that can and does change your life when you get that into it… The film just drew me in, it seemed very authentic as a period piece - it is meant to be set 40 years ago, not that I have any idea what those clubs where like but it feels like they should have been like that. So in essence I highly recommend it, and the accompanying compilation album. If you have a fleeting interest in it I'd pick it up. You'll discover some great music…and feel the passion"! What an incredible heartfelt review! This film is reaching way beyond the core audience and reaching many people in many ways. Killer film. What else do you need to know! Ian D

Also I just got sent another link from Ourscreen which gives more details about potential screenings. If you're from these areas, then sign up! https://www.ourscreen.com/search/screenings/?Req.CategoryId=&Req.SearchTerm=northern+soul+&Req.Date=&Req.Time=&Req.ScreeningStatusId=&Req.LocationText=&Req.CinemaId Ian D