Ian Dewhirst

Who pressed this up then? I actually found a copy somewhere and thought it was a real record albeit slightly oddish...... Ian D

A big fave of mine since it was first issued. Quite simply one of the the best 'duets' ever released. Such a great, great song and it's unfathomable how it was never a hit or how it's never been covered. Brilliant! Ian D

Blimey. Those were written 42 years ago. Sentiments spot on though! Ian D

Collecting is a form of disease I think. For sure, not a bad disease to have, but a disease nonetheless. I'm almost 62 and have been collecting for about 52 years. At first it was all about having everything and I had to auction my first collection in 1975 to finance a trip to the U.S. where theoretically I could re-build the collection I'd just sold and add several thousand for mere cents back then. And I did. The lust for record acquisitions continued unabated. Somewhere along the line I did a physical count and I'd spent half my life lugging 40,000 records around. Some of which I'd never actually played, some of which I played a LOT and the majority of which I'd played just a few times. So I got into the habit of doing collection culls every few years because I realized that I didn't really need to keep a record that I wasn't that bothered about. I now have a few thousand records left and I'm trying to whittle those down too. It doesn't help that last year I decided to replace all my favorite records with better copies. I thought I had the discipline to keep that under control but I was wrong. It just got me back into that bloody frame of mind again........... Plus, over the years I've found my musical tastes have tended to bounce around over several genres. At different times I've collected 60s Pop and Rock, 60s Soul & RnB., Motown, Northern, Funk, Jazz-Funk, Disco, Dub Reqqae, Glam, Electronic and Pop Rock and lots of other genres which are too numerous to mention. It's a rich tapestry out there and I love most of it depending on my moods. So I have the curse of having a wide palette too which simply magnifies the problem several times So it's a disease. Like a virus in your blood basically. Once your brain is hardwired into music acquisition, there's no easy cure. I have more music now, then I've ever had at any time in my life. If I get the time to even re-listen to 20% of my current collection (which is across several different formats and probably 250,000 songs) it'd be a miracle and I'd have to live to 90. I have unopened Miles Davis and John Coltrane box sets because I think I should have them because there may come a point when I'll have the time to listen and appreciate them and maybe get into Jazz a bit more. I don't know if that will ever happen. Haven't had the time or inclination to devote to Jazz yet. I think the older you get, the more you have choose carefully what you want to listen to. Right now the 3 minute single suits me just fine so not much has changed in 52 years really. Ian D .

I've known Paul 40+ years and he's always been a total gentleman and soul aficionado from day one. RIP my friend. Ian D

One sold. Four to go..... Ian D

Just found 5 x copies of this 2014 Record Store Day Limited-Edition 7" of James Fountain "Seven Day Love"/The Montclairs "Hung Up On Your Love" all in lovely pic-sleeves with clear plastic record wallets. £12.00 each + £2.00 P&P. First come, first served. PM me. Ian D

Ian D

Which is 3000 x what John offered it to me for in the early 70s............and I turned it down! There couldn't possibly be a rare Sussex record could there? You could build houses with the amount of Sussex records that were in the UK at the time..........:) Ian D

Millie of "My Sweet Lollipop' fame may have something to say about that, having had a No.2 in 1964, plus, not to be dogmatic, "Al Capone" wasn't a UK Top 20 hit until February 1967. Ian D

It was a Frank spin at Sams. Ian D

Raw Soul was probably a Cleethorpes first play (Poke or Rick I think). And yes, I did discover the French Fries - found it in Paul Schofield's collection and realized it was Northern. But I always thought of it as being a sort of novelty record at the time. 20 years later I found it was Sly's backing band rather than a French novelty record! Ian D

Actually I may take you up on that. I do most stuff in Excel but it's always a pain converting bad databases with lousy formatting. An accountant could probably do stuff in seconds that could take me hours. I'll yell if it gets to that. I have a sneaking suspicion that I may be asked to get further involved and it's a massive job so who knows? I'll holler if I need ya OK? Ian D

Fundamental stuff innit? Yet, just today someone sent me a database that is sorted by forename Grrrrr. This is because the guys that are designing the database aren't conversing with collectors or compilers. Crazy ay? Ian D

Yep. Love it. This is pretty much the kind of soundtrack that'll be happening at the BolBeats Festival in May next year. Opolopo could be playing too! Ian D

I think it was Freddy Bastone from memory....... Ian D

Tom Moulton's remix is 17.02. 5 minutes longer than the original lol. Typical Tom!

Sams was first believe me. It was covered-up as James Lewis and the Case Of Time. Bought the record off Bob in Louth on the Thursday night at a gig and then played it at Sam's the very next night. I remember it well as JV was drooling... However, since they all came out of Soul Bowl anyway, most of the copies would have dripped out over the next few weeks I'm sure......... Ian D That razor-sharp Bradford wit comes to the fore again young man...... Ian D

Yep. Ian D

Lou Pride and the Pointer Sisters got their first ever plays at Samanthas. The Yum Yums was another key Sams sound - I think the only other person who had it was Pep back then. Also stuff like Frankie 'Loveman' Crocker, the Tomangoes, the Carstairs and the Detroit Executives were all played at Sams when there were only a handful of copies. Ian D

12/03/66 and the #47 are the date and the chart position and this is the official Billboard chart. Apparently it spent 2 weeks on the chart. It's much more than a typo really as neither the group or a verified copy of the record exist. I've not really caught many typos in that book, if any, so this is a real weird one. How does one just invent a record like that? Weird. Ian D

One thing that should be pointed out, is that remixes and re-edits aren't designed particularly for OVO enthusiasts or collectors particularly. They're not aiming at that audience. The reason why some things are extended is because they work better in terms of DJ mixing and working with a lot of stuff that may currently be in vogue. It's a different dynamic entirely from people who prefer shorter 7" mixes and edits or the original single versions. Two different audiences entirely. I doubt that many on the Northern scene will be in the kind of environments which would play these remixes anyway which generally appeal to a younger and probably more Housy type of crowd. The "Down To Love Town" remix has probably played to 10 x the audience that the original was played to and it's fits perfectly with the rhythms of the 00s rather than the 70s. To each their own I guess. I like both. Ian D

I'm doing some research at the moment and I came across the following record listed in Joel Whitburns RnB Chart Book:- 12/03/1966 No.47 The Indigos - Tired Of Crying Over You - Date 1531 Does anyone know this record or ever seen one? I can't find any trace of it anywhere nor does the catalogue number make sense in the Date discography. I doesn't appear to exist, yet it's there in black and white. Does anyone know anything about such a record? Ian D

The benchmark for truly brilliant remixes are some of The Reflex's Motown remixes which he's virtually created a new art form. Here's his revision of Stevie Wonder's "I Wish":- And here's my all-time fave of a Motown remix. I think Dimitri From Paris made this into a work of art:- Ian D

Most dance records are edited down from the studio versions for the 7" mixes or Album mixes, so in many cases the original recordings were much longer than the 7" or Album versions anyway. Some of those Philly International tracks were 10 minutes plus and had to be edited down to 3 minutes for the 7". They were still great records before they were edited down. As it happens I'm not a fan of the extended Motown versions for the most part, as I'm not a fan of remixing 60s records in particular as the remixing phenomena really started in the 70s and the recording techniques favoured the art more at that stage because there were many more options than the original 4 track takes from the 60s. So It tend to prefer the 60s Motown stuff as it was. 70s Motown is an entirely different kettle of fish for me and I love some of THOSE remixes. Ian D