Ian Dewhirst

Jean Wells an exclusive? Is this the one on Calla or a different recording? Ian D

Hi All, OK, as to the numbering system, these are what I have down as unreleased. I'm in the process of putting some of the jigsaw together, for instance, there is a little doubt that Eloise Laws "(You're Mine) Baby Doll"/"Stay With Me" should have been Invictus 9127 since it made to a test-pressing with that catalogue number, but if anyone else can add some meat to any of these other numbers that will certainly be useful :- Invictus Records — 9127 Unreleased - Eloise Laws (You're Mine) Baby Doll 9131 Unreleased 1261 Unreleased 1262 Unreleased 1266 Unreleased 1270 Unreleased Invictus Records — The B Sides 9127 Unreleased - Eloise Laws Stay With Me 9131 Unreleased 1261 Unreleased 1262 Unreleased 1266 Unreleased 1270 Unreleased Hot Wax Records — The A Sides 6905 Unreleased 6906 Unreleased 7002 Unreleased 7101 Unreleased 7107 Unreleased 7203 Unreleased 7304 Unreleased Hot Wax Records — The B Sides 6905 Unreleased 6906 Unreleased 7002 Unreleased 7101 Unreleased 7107 Unreleased 7203 Unreleased 7304 Unreleased Many thanks in advance. Ian D

There wasn't! Well spotted Jerry. I think this was a nefarious attempt by someone who shall remain nameless trying to pass it off as the Invictus House Band! Ian D

Hey Lars, A scan of the Lucifer Test Press would be great. I'm accumulating quite a bit of interesting looking stuff now mainly courtesy of Phil D and Rob Moss, so if you could e-mail me a scan to Ian.Dewhirst@Demonmusicgroup,.co.uk (300dpi + if poss) that would be great mate! In fact, does anyone have a pristine vinyl copy of the Lucifer album that I could borrow? I had it at one time but I seem to remember that most of it was unlistenable....... Ian D

I think you'll pretty much have to auction it Pete, especially after the ridiculous price of the one above..... Ian D

Wow, back behind the radio desk after a 15 month break. There’s nothing like a LIVE show to get the blood flowing. Also this is the show where we’ll be trying out some potential new features. ‘Rant Of The Month’, which will be me moaning about something, ‘Monthly Issues’ where we’ll be discussing some of the major talking points of the last few weeks (and there’s plenty of those LOL) plus the usual interactive random chattering via the Starpoint chatroom. Did we mention that it’s LIVE by the way….? Also, tomorrow we’ll be having a special guest dropping in! All will be revealed when you tune in @ 2.00pm sharp! Six Million Steps Presents The Original Mastercuts Show LIVE with Ian Dewhirst between 2.00-4.00pm on Sunday 23rd February 2014 on everyone’s favourite Soul station www.starpointradio.com. Featuring…… Mass Production * New York Port Authority * Eleanore Mills * Crown Heights Affair * Val Young * Kleeer * Madagascar * Aretha Franklin * Al Hudson & The Soul Partners * Freddie Hughes * Casanova Two * Eddie Bo * Velvet Hammer * Garland Green * The Chi-Lites * Buddy Miles * The Main Ingredient * Broken Glass * Tony Gregory * The Real Thing * Ayah * Kylie Auldist * Ashford & Simpson See you @ 2.00-4.00pm! Ian D X

But that's the whole point really. All I've ever really said is that, whether we like it or not, the Pharrell Williams record has demonstrated that there's still a huge audience out there for up-tempo commercial Soul tunes which may lead some of the audience into digging deeper and getting into the scene. Better "Happy" than Rap/Heavy Metal/Dubstep/Tuneless Pop etc, etc. Is Velvet Hammer getting re-activated anywhere yet? Ian D

Yep, you're right. F*ck all this. Let's get back to the upstairs of a pub again with a couple of dozen old blokes talking about labels. That'll scare this commercialism away quick..... Ian D

Instant gratification? Ian D

I think his best tune is "Happy" but I think I have very commercial tastes. My two favourite Pop records from last year were both featuring him and also the two biggest-selling records from last year. I was so confident of "Happy" being a No.1 record that I took a bet on it for Xmas No.1 against the X Factor @ 33-1. Missed it by a week but my instincts were bang on. The stuff that happened with the You Tube clip of Levanna dancing to the Pharrell/Velvet Hammer mashup which kicked things into gear is interesting. Who did the mash-up in the first place I wonder? Levanna obviously knew the sequence 'cos she's singing along to both tunes. Plus Pharrell used the clip in his 24 hour video for "Happy". The clip was absolutely pretty inspired as Pharrell was an instant hook but how many people are now also hooked on Velvet Hammer as a result? The two songs have now been bootlegged on a 7" which kinda shows how quickly things work these days. Whichever way you look at it, it's a very interesting phenomenon. The Brits thing was simply the cream on the top of a perfectly executed campaign which has resulted in the biggest selling international single of 2014. The exciting thing to me, is that there's still clearly a huge international audience for up-tempo Northern Soul-like music. Amy Winehouse, Duffy and now Pharrell Williams have all demonstrated that millions of people love this sound. So clearly there's a huge and enthusiastic international audience out there and hopefully from this a new fan-base will emerge and keep the music going. I've been listening, collecting and releasing this music for the last 50 years and, right now, I feel that this is one of those points where Northern Soul will catch the zeitgeist and attract a lot of new young fresh disciples at the very point when the scene needs a new generation to adopt it. In many ways this has simply proved the continuing appeal of the scene - genuine young Northern Soul dancers in the climax of the Brits, Pharrell Williams giving respect to Northern Soul to an audience of millions and a world-class film about Northern Soul about to launch. Arguably, for the first time in 38 years, Northern Soul will be setting the media agenda again and I think that's a good thing for the future of the scene. Ian D

This was a big Tony Banks play @ Leeds Central circa 1972. It was a big record back then. Ian D

I spoke to the journalist on the 29/01/14 - just over 3 weeks ago and, at that point, "Happy" wasn't really on the U.S. radar but remember by that date the record had been No.1 in the UK twice and was No.1 in every country in Europe, so it was a valid question at that point. The record has leapt spectacularly in the U.S. in the last 3 weeks probably as a result of it's European success. It should go No.1 over there next week which puts it 8 weeks later than the UK. It's a phenomenon when a record rebounds back to No.1 on it's first release run. You can probably count on one hand the records that have managed that feat. The UK sales patterns on this record are off the scale. The record will sail past a million copies in the UK next week which a real rarity these days outside of charity or X-Factor releases. Ian D

Actually I agree. The Brits is probably one of the most stage-managed events out there. This year's edition lost 2,000,000 live TV viewers but has also become the most-tweeted show of all time and is generating an incredible churn rate on You Tube (269,900 views for the Pharrell Williams performance in 24 hours). The face of modern media ay....... Ian D

OK, looks like the U.S. finally smelt the coffee. Massive worldwide smash in every territory then. Berry Gordy couldn't even have planned it better! In 2064 they'll all be file-digging for "Happy" sound-alikes then....... Ian D

Honestly I don't mate. As of 4 weeks ago it was unknown over there when it already was No.1 over here. I know this because I was contacted by a U.S. journalist who was investigating how come. Luckily it's all on record, so I guess we'll read about it soon. However, this is a U.S. record and it's been @ No.1 twice over here already and big since early December 2013, so it's taken 'em a while to catch up ay? Ian D

Echoed around the world mate. All the conversation at the office today was based around the impact of the Northern Soul dancers behind Pharrell. We've been lamenting about the lack of young people coming through and we just got thrown a terrific bone in front of a huge international audience. Another perfect example of Northern Soul's wide-reaching appeal and ability to organically evolve with the times. Ian D

Well, yeah, I am in a way. Pharrell Williams is merely the 2013/14 version of the above. Not only was he the featured vocalist of the two biggest-selling records of 2013 ("Get Lucky" and "Blurred Lines") but he kicks off 2014 with his self-penned (I think) and biggest-ever hit with "Happy". It's not really about personal taste here. All of the above artists you mentioned are among my favourite artists musically, no question. And I wrote off Pharrell many years ago because I disliked his N.E.R.D. stuff. But he's finding his groove now in my opinion. So I'm beginning to come around. I like his records. When they look back @ 2014, like it or not, "Happy" will be the biggest-selling record of the year. Y'know, it could be much much worse.......... Ian D

Nope. Wax Poetics magazine rang me a few weeks back to try and get a grip on this. According to Monk from Wax Poetics, as of late January, "Happy" was totally unknown in the U.S. and this led to a discussion as to how this could happen and then to a wider discussion about the cultural differences between the UK and the USA. I haven't seen the resulting article yet, but I talked with Monk for almost an hour about the differences between the countries and how "Happy" was the perfect record for UK audiences based on cultural history. At that point it had only hit No.1 once I believe. Since then........stratosphere. I bet the U.S. release it soon. I think we were first on "Tears Of A Clown" weren't we? Ian D

I refer the honourable gentleman to the previous reply above. BIG F*CKIN' HIT RECORDS as you're growing-up are very influential and create future collectors and committed musos, who all have to start somewhere. Many of us weren't all blessed with hearing "The Young Mods Forgotten Story" as we exited the womb Sutty. Some of us had to put up with "My Guy" and "Baby Love" before we found the good stuff. It's a learning process. Hook a million kids up with "Happy" and 1000 future committed uptempo Soul lunatics will emerge believe me. It's elementary maths innit? Beer soon right? Ian D X

Actually I get your point but I think it could very much be a generational thing. I'm 58 going on 59 in two weeks. As a kid of say, 12 years old in 1967, I started hearing songs like "I Can't Help Myself" - the Four Tops, "Love Is Like An Itching In My Hear" and "You Keep Me Hangin' On" - the Supremes and "This Old Heart Of Mine" - the Isley Brothers on UK mainstream radio. All were Motown and all were million-sellers I believe. So, for my generation, we eventually got into Northern Soul because we were hearing incredible records that were mainstream UK hits at the time and designed by Berry Gordy to be big hits. Round my way, every youth club at the time was hammering the Motown hits. We listened, we assimilated and eventually dug deeper and discovered Northern Soul. On our doorstep luckily. So million-selling pop records were exactly what Motown was pumping out and, as we all know, Motown was the template for Northern Soul. The UK audience has always been incredible at picking out the gems and it heartens me to see that, in 2014, we're still every bit as good at picking out the gems and expressing our individuality to the rest of the world as we ever were. Pharrell Williams can probably not believe his luck at making the right record at the right time for the perfect audience. Records can still sell a million in the UK in 2014???? Yep. How many 5-15 year olds in the UK right now will be reacting to the appeal of "Happy" and go on to become serious collectors and train-spotters in the future, like everyone currently on this forum? F*kin' LOADS! It's in our culture and long may it continue. Ian D

I take your point Sutty, but I kinda disagree. For sure, musically, we'll both agree that "Move On Up" is obviously the better record (after all, who could beat Curtis)?. My point was that "Move On Up" was an uptempo Soul tune with a falsetto lead which became a hit BECAUSE of the UK/European reaction, in exactly the same way that, 40 odd years later, "Happy", another uptempo Soul tune with a falsetto lead, has done exactly the same thing but to a much greater extent. Both records were essentially unknown in the U.S. at their time of release and both record's successes have come from the UK and European markets rather than the domestic U.S. market. This stuff interests me for the reason that there's a long history of similar things since the late 60's - Felice Taylor, Johnny Johnson & The Bandwagon, The Elgins, Rodger Collins, even William Bell's "Happy" come to think of it. For a record like "Happy" to sell a million in the UK alone is quite some achievement in my opinion. It was written as part of a soundtrack and not even intended as a single (and in fact it hasn't even been released in the U.S. to my knowledge). Any similarity to "Church Of The Poison Mind" is entirely within your mind IMO. It's a ridiculously commercial record which happened by accident and a million people in the UK will buy it and love it enough to hopefully dig deeper and find the real stuff, in the same way that when people heard "Band Of Gold" or "Tears Of A Clown" they eventually progressed to the Northern scene. Isn't that what pretty much happened with all of us? Ian D

In that case I misinterpreted your point. I guess it all depends on one's interpretation of what constitutes commercialisation of the scene. I think this "Happy" phenomenon has come about totally accidentally as opposed to being pre-meditated. I don't think Pharrell Williams had ever heard of Northern Soul until he saw the You Tube clip with the sprightly lass. Since then, the record has become something of a phenomenon, in that it's already been No.1 on two separate occasions in the last 6 weeks, and, as of today, it's back at No.2 and threatening to be No.1 yet again. It's now sold close to 900,000 copies in the UK alone and should pass the million mark in the next 2 weeks. It was originally written for a film soundtrack so no premeditation there. Interesting fact: no one in the USA knows this record. It's not even available as a single over there. This is a purely European phenomenon. Personally, I think it's great. Once again, the British (and European) public have taken a U.S. Uptempo Soul record to their hearts and made it a massive smash. Not that different to what happened with Curtis Mayfield's "Move On Up" in the early 1970's. If nothing else, it show's that the UK public can still massively react to great uptempo Pop/Soul records, which I think is a good thing! ian D

Clever! Ian

No commercial value? All I can remember from 1968-75 were lots of Northern Soul being in the UK charts - "This Old Heart Of Mine", "Breaking Down The Walls Of Heartache", "Heaven Must Have Sent You", "Hey Girl Don't Bother Me", "There's A Ghost In My House" etc, etc. I think there's always been periods when the scene has been 'on the radar' of the general public before slipping back underground again...... Ian D

She would look good in one though! Ian D