Ian Dewhirst

Mmm. Well that's curious is it not? Where did "Grey Skies" come from then? Has anyone seen a copy of Sandy Golden with a song called "Grey Skies" on the flip then? Just gets weirder.... Ian D

Doesn't get much better than this for me........ James Brown & Lyn Collins - This Guy - This Girl's In Love With You https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-n4mraKjZKw Ian D

You're welcome dude..... James Brown & Lyn Collins - What My Baby Needs Now Is A Little More Lovin' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43lziAgIdM8 Ian D

There' some beauties out there..... James Brown - You Took My Heart https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRgR3W0G_8o James Brown - People Wake Up And Live https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AH1iP8kx5nQ And 'cos it's coming up to Christmas and it's on the new Harmless Soulful Christmas album...... James Brown - Santa Claus Go Straight To The Ghetto https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fgph7Umkt08 Ian D

Archie Bell played the O2 last Friday night you nutters! Apparently he was the star of the show.... https://www.facebook.com/events/404731269631230/ Ian D

Actually, they had a pretty good run in the 70's and 80's with Philly International too don't forget. In fact, all their UK Top 40 hits came in the 70's..... 11 Archie Bell & The Drells Here I Go Again Oct 1972 36 Archie Bell & The Drells There's Gonna Be A Showdown Jan 1973 13 Archie Bell & The Drells Soul City Walk May 1976 Ian D

Yep, Mike Ritson's mentioned his collection. It's meant to be unbelievable. He has no connection with any scene as far as I know and he's a very private guy by all accounts..... I know a couple of other people in this category who have shown me handwritten books with all the records in their collections and left me gobsmacked with their depth of knowledge. Never see 'em at Northern do's though........ Ian D

A genuine Ondioline presumably? Ian D

I hope you can locate him Andy. What's the betting he can find some assuming he's recovered from the stroke? I don't why but I have a strong feeling that the plates and masters for Nate's recordings could still be around. Could be completely wrong, but a lot of the sussed guys from that era held on to the tapes and plates etc..... Best of luck and you could even ask him who Sandy Golden was..... Ian D

LOL, someone's been busy! Unfortunately a lingering nasty chest infection will be keeping me from imbibing @ the Majestic tonight Steve but I'll be thinking of you as I slake another Hot Lemon down........ Ian D

Only in the summer when the tourists pass through. Rest of the year would probably be a struggle I think..... Ian D

There's many more stories like this Glynn. There's a couple of guys I knew with phenomenal collections in the 70's who dropped off the scene in the late 70's but as far as I know, have still kept their record collections. I know what's in some of 'em because I sold 'em records including originals of many which were pressed at the time. I shudder to think what they'd be worth now. There's collectors in London who are not connected with the Northern scene that also have phenomenal collections including many labels or records I've never seen before. I know that there's hundreds of copies of some current big hitters out there. I would often lift 10 copies of something out of a 100 count box and buy 'em on spec and then sell them on. Wish I hadn't been so tight and bought the lot instead! Hindsight ay? Also, it really wasn't uncommon for the L.A. indie labels to be badly distributed in my view. The labels with a bit of clout would turn up in the ghetto shops but most didn't make it, so it wouldn't be uncommon to find several hundred count boxes of a record. I would guess that most labels would have pressed at least 500 but probably 1000 with most of 'em unsold after a year and then either returned to the owner or dumped! Ian D

Holy shit! Was this recorded in France then.....? Ian D

Will the real Sandy Golden stand up please......? Ian D

Purely out of curiosity, what instrument makes the electronic 'whoop' sound on "Satisfy Me Baby"? I always thought it was an early moog but I'm not so sure now...... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOVeNWoXre0 Ian D

LOL, don't shoot the messenger. I have no idea why someone would go to the effort of creating a blue label with different credits to the original yellow label, but if anyone thinks that is an original label, I kinda give up. I've studied L.A. presses for the last 40 years, spent a lot of time examining L.A. local releases and know first-hand many of the characters and plants involved. All I was pointing out is that it seems a strange coincidence that a new, never seen before label of an old record with different publishing credits that's not in any of the guides or, in fact, anywhere other than Discogs, should suddenly pop up after some 40 odd years. Too much of a coincidence for me I'm afraid. Given the fact that the same people are involved with the Sandy Golden record which prompted this thread, it's surely food for thought isn't it? Anyway, I guess the real answer to all this, will be whether any of these alleged fresh copies actually exist or not. I wouldn't mind seeing the scans of the two fresh copies if the people who mentioned them could oblige. The one that cost 8 euros in France especially! Ian D

They'll be on a hiding to nothing in my view. It's very easy to waste several thousand pounds with trademark and copyright specialist lawyers and even once you've done all that, it's still open to interpretation and the whim of the judge on the day. A good way to go bust. Ian D

If the brand new The Phoenix re-press of Great Expectations is in fact an original, then you would have expected the publishing credits to be the same as both the original Phil LA Of Soul release and the yellow label The Phoenix release. After all, why would the credit suddenly change to Masterpiece Music? Also, Discogs is a pretty reliable source in my view. Not so much for the super rare stuff but more generally. Let's put it this way, it's the only source on the web that actually shows and acknowledges the Great Expectations re-press, which has thus far eluded all collectors and all price guides for the previous 45 years. Ian D

Oh come on Steve. You honestly don't think something dodgy is going on? How come it's suddenly appeared as a re-issue with the original blue The Phoenix label then? Is this another one that we somehow managed to miss over the last 45 years? Must be 'cos it's not in Manship or Brown's guides either. Strange that. Anyway, it's been good fun this thread. I am firmly of the belief that there is something very very dodgy about the Sandy Golden record. I've seen similar things happen with other records - all strictly behind-the-counter stuff at certain record shops in the U.S. where the owner will wait until no one else is around and then pull out a stash of rare or obscure records which are obviously brand new. Time will tell no doubt.... Ian D

Chalky, Bobby Sanders has always had the Soultown masters whether he owned 'em or not. Everybody claims their old masters back for sure, but Bobby Sanders controlled Soultown with an iron fist believe you me.... Although, in light of that Great Expectations re-press and the fact that Bobby Sanders died a few years back, it looks like someone else has got busy... Ian D

It's not the Soussan connection Steve, it's just that I can tell a dodgy pressing when I see one and that Masterpiece pressing does not look like an original record to me. Please see the Great Expectations post above to clarify that someone in L.A. is messing around with re-presses. How many more hints do you need? Ian D

Mmm. This is really really weird. I was just looking up Nate Fortier on Discogs only to find a copy of the Great Expectations record which sure looks like a recent re-press/boot to me LOL... It even has the obligatory typeset error - prt. 1. Someone in L.A. has been busy re-pressing records! Anyone wanna take any bets now? Ian D

He did. He's always controlled the Soultown masters. He was still licensing Soultown repertoire as late as 2002...... https://www.discogs.com/Various-California-Soul/master/404082 https://soundboutique.blogspot.co.uk/2010/08/sweet-stuff-freaky-to-you.html Ian D

Well, Soussan got the instrumental from the masters when he re-issued the Sweets, so not much speculation old bean...... Ian D

LOL......but since Bobby Sanders controlled Soultown and hence the master tapes, it would be he that was in control of the backing track to "Something About My Baby". Ian D