Ian Dewhirst

Hey, I can do a better V sign than him any day of the week mate! Ian D

Nothing fazes Keith. Even the Stoke guys shrugged and said Keith's a law unto himself. He's unhinged in the same way as many of us, but luckily, we tend to be battle-hardened on this scene to the extent that someone like Keith seems kinda normal in an ocean of characters. But we really appreciate that kind of intensity. Whenever I see Keith at a gig, I immediately feel at home and that's a quality that's almost impossible to quantify. Like you say, a legend. ian D

Naturally the physique's pretty accurate........ Actually, you're not far off Barry. Ronaldo's the sort of guy I just want to punch in the face, the cocky twat and it struck me, that I am that type of guy. The type of guy you want to smack in the face. So then I thought about it and decided that, actually, I want to punch myself in the face because I remind myself of Ronaldo and I can't stand the arrogant b*stard. . So I actually just punched myself in the face with a bit more venom than usual because I imagined that I was actually Ronaldo and I wanted to wipe that stupid smile right off my face. Or his face. Whatever.... I wonder if we all fall into basic stereotypes? I think I read somewhere that there are essentially 48 different stereotypes in the human race and we all match one of 'em and Northern Soul obsessives are particularly fertile ground LOL. Great thread. Ian D

LOL, sensational skills there mate. You should be in central casting! I love Keith dearly, but I gotta be honest he used to un-nerve me back in the day. He'd ask me what I had for sale and I'd say "nothing Keith". He'd then ask if he could look through my box and I'd say, "sure". He'd then fixate on a record, look at me with an Uncle Fester-like intensity and say "how much"? I'd then explain that this was my playbox and, actually, nothing was for sale. Keith would continue to stare deep into my eyes and say "how much"? etc, etc, etc.......this could go on for hours. Sometimes I'd sell him the bloody record just so I could get away. Keith Minshull. Dangerous f*ckin' guy. Don't wanna meet him in a dark alley with the Tomangoes under my arm........ Ian D

Phew! At least it wasn't Alan........... Wicked observation skills Barry. Those are hilarious. I also think the Keith Chegwin/Mike Walker pitch is bang on if you can find the right image. What about Sam? Ian D

Yep, weird. "Beggin'" was a Top 40 UK hit in 1968 - I used to hear it regularly on Radio One and this would have automatically barred it from any Northern playlists at the time. Same with their cover of "Girl Don't Make Me Wait" which I heard long before Bunny Sigler. Too poppy for the tastes back then Kev as there was an embarassment of undiscovered proper Soul records coming from the U.S., so Brit cover versions didn't make much sense at the time......... Ian D

Yep, I get it totally. But if anyone was wanting to score a point, then why choose a so-so Showstoppers record? Where's the value in that? Ian D

Bugger! And I can't even grow a bloody tache.... Ian D

George Clooney's OK for these days but surely John Travolta for the 1970's............? Ian D

Amateur time. I'd have typewritten the instructions......... Ian D

No, I was talking about the second copy found after Soussan. Believe it or not, "I'm Not Strong Enough" was only ever played on carvers in the UK. No one had even seen an original until Arthur turned one up in the U.S........ Ian D

Now THIS is Disco! Crown Heights Affair - Dreaming A Dream https://youtu.be/ZXvhYuCaPZ4 Ian D

I really believe the 'Disco' era ended in '79 - by 1980 the traditional Disco sound was over and the 80's productions became more machine-led and sophisticated in production terms. Sure I guess you could still call it Disco but by the 80's most people were simply calling it Dance in my world. Disco was a dirty word by then. Ian D

I thought they did. I seem to remember 'em playing the old Northern cabaret circuit in the early 70's too...... Ian D

Yeah, but that's 10 years AFTER they had a No.11 UK hit with "Ain't Nothing But A House Party". I just wondered whether they ever came over in the 60's.......? Ian D

I actually think it's real. After all, it took Arthur to find the second Four Perfections and that was after a while. "Ain't Nothing But A House Party" is difficult to find on Party Time too - I might have seen a couple but not until the 90's I think. Maybe the follow-up to "Ain't Nothing But A House Party" got buried in the U.S. whilst whoever owned Party Time chased up his royalties from the UK after the track hit over here.....? Did the Showstoppers ever perform over here? One for Roburt I think........Plus anyone got a Party Time listing? Questions, questions...... If the guy did fake it, he did a pretty convincing job for a You Tube clip. But why go to that kind of trouble....? Ian D

Not when I went it wasn't....... Ian D

Not beyond anything I've ever found, 'cos I've bumped into rarer stuff - the first copy of Willie Hutch outside of Soussan was a good one, the only test press of Si Hightower and a few others come to mind, but it's one I just never came across in my travels. I should qualify that by saying that I never did the East Coast much, so there's a lot of East Coast stuff I've never found. Also I think Tay-Ster was a rarish label anyway compared to many others. It's similar to the Little Joe Romans discussion a while back - that's another pretty rare record IMO in that I simply haven't seen many originals over the years. Mind you, you live and learn. I only found out yesterday that the Showstoppers "Gotta Get Closer To You" was issued on Party Time in the U.S. and I've certainly never ever seen that before and I bet many other people haven't either! Ian D

Actually the weird thing about this record, is it never went big first time around - there were only a couple of copies here and there, so you didn't hear it out much - maybe Pep and/or Sam had it so it may have been bigger in the midlands. I don't remember it being big anywhere to be honest. But it was always as rare as hen's teeth. I still dunno why anyone pressed it. Did it go big towards the end of the 70's or something.....? Ian D

It's mega rare and always has been IMO. Soul Bowl has never had this @ £3.00 to my knowledge. I've never ever found one and only seen a couple in 40 odd years, so that's pretty rare to me....... Ian D

Did you have a penchant for check shirts and brick walls Chris? Ian D

They actually had one of my albums from 20+ years in a plastic sleeve in fromt of the counter - Classic Jazz-Funk Mastercuts Vol 1 which was nice............. Ian D

I remember getting my first oxford bags made to measure from a local tailor in Dewsbury 'cos that was the only way to get them. When I finally got them it was almost a major test to actually wear them in public because, in my area, simply wearing anything different was an invitation for trouble. Plus, they obviously looked ridiculous with hindsight... I got a very snazzy dark blue suit jacket with a light blue border (I've forgotten the exact terminology) and that was a boss jacket. It looked great and I loved wearing it. But being tall and quite soft looking, it was effectively a beacon for attracting trouble from local dickheads with no style. I once made the mistake of wearing it whilst out with my new girlfriend and visting the Mitre pub just down the road from Wakefield Tiffanies on a Saturday night. A guy came over to my table, drank a full pint and then smashed the glass into my table and then ground it down into the wood for the next 30 seconds and then just stared at me. I got the message. Don't be too flash when you drink in the Mitre LOL.... The whole Mod/Rocker//Skinhead/Suedehead and even Hippy era was good because for the first time in the UK people were allowed to define their personal identities and that helped eventually ease the way to a wider acceptance of different styles which probably peaked with Punk in the mid 70's. The original mods defined my youth without a doubt. They seemed to carry themselves with a bit more panache and style and they grooved to the best music, so it was always a no-brainer for me. Ian D

I worked in John Laing's in Bradford across from the station in 1971. The manager was a mod who went to the Wheel in '67/'68 and still loved his Soul music. When I got there it was all patch jumpers, ben sherman's, sta-prest and bags. Oh, and Bradford market every lunchtime........ Ian D

I concur with Kegsy, 'cos that's pretty much how I remember it round my way. I mostly associated skins with Reggae. Most of the real mods stayed mods and listened to Soul and some veered into Northern. Ian D