Ian Dewhirst

Yep, it's got a lot of 70's influence in it. Gonna get the album tomorrow just on the strength of this tune..... Ian D

Yep, one to get I think. I'm hearing great things about the other cuts. The only one I've heard is "That's Still Mama" but there seem to be several key cuts which are buzzing others.... Great name isn't it? A cross between Cody Black and Morris Chestnut...... Ian D

In that case, they'll be published then. If you PM me the titles I'll do a search under the songs on the MCPS database and see what it throws up if you like, i.e. other versions of the song that the publishers or MCPS registered. It may throw up the artist. Whoever financed the master owns the actual recording rights, so it may be worth trying to track it down. If it's a publishing house and only a demo, then they'd probably let you put it out for free these days..... Ian D

Not bad for a new release.......loving the horns...... Cody ChestnuTT - "That's Still Mama" https://youtu.be/fjisiV_A42I Ian D

That's great Chalky, but it'll cost me a fortune for 3-4000 45's! @ £7 per 100 singles. I need bulk storing options and something that holds 200 a time I think.... Ian D

I'm about to move house and will have to start thinking of a different way to store my 7" vinyl. I'm thinking of simple 200 count cardboard boxes so I can stack 'em if need be. Does anyone know where I can get these in bulk (20 probably) at a good price? Any suggestions? I may even have to store some in a dry garage or shed? Are the cardboard boxes suitable for this or would plastic ones be more durable/better? Anyone got any tips? I'm effectively losing my record room and my CD collection is taking over the rest of the house, so space is becoming a real issue. Any advice muchly appreciated..... Ian D

It's a phenomenal Northern Soul record in the way we understood the term in the early 1970's. I actually remember hearing this first at a Stafford all-dayer in the early 70's - either Pep or Sam playing it I seem to remember. Back then, we embraced full-bodied instrumental productions like this and "Afternoon Of The Rhino" was the best of the lot in my opinion. There was a point where every DJ at the Casino would end their spot with it because it was simply the biggest record on the scene and difficult to follow unless you gave 'em a mid-tempo breather afterwards....... I still can't believe how good this is. It's Mike Post who produced Mason William's "Classical Gas" in 1968 which is a similarly brilliant instrumental record that also managed to hit No.1 in the U.S., so I guess Mike got the opportunity to produce more stuff using a full orchestra. Lucky for us.........they couldn't give it away in the U.S. at the time. Virtually every copy I've ever seen has been a U.S. cut out....... Ian D

Yeah, but part of my service is protection and presentation of my humble goods so I can't snap 'em in half as much as I want to on occasion. Single 12" packages to Australia and Canada are a bitch where I lose about £2 a pop so I'd love to snap the bastards in half if I could but common sense and some intact loose morals prevent me from exploring such a ridiculous option.... Ian D

I'm not selling Northern but generally lots of 12" and 7"'s across the spectrum with roughly 35% UK, 35% Europe and 30% Rest of World. Postal charges are a bitch....... Ian D

It's definitely a curse Greg. I've majorely scaled down my LP's and 12"'s over the last 4-5 years and now those particular sections have become easily manageable again. I'm finally getting to my 45's and doing the same operation again which will run for the next few years before it's in a similar state. I'm moving house at the moment, which is a major focus in terms of what do I need to actually lug to another location at the risk of filling 2 rooms with physical plastic. My problem is that I've also been collecting CD masters for the last 22 years and now the sheer scale of my CD collection is challenging the sheer scale of the vinyl collection. I've been running out of room for the last 40 years now I think about it...... Ian D

Great 2 page article in the Guardian today about 25 years of Acid Jazz..... plus a fitting tribute to Terry Callier from Eddie Piller..... https://www.guardian....01/acid-jazz-25 plus a fitting tribute to Terry Callier from Eddie Piller..... https://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2012/nov/01/acid-jazz-terry-callier Out on Monday! Ian D

12" is super rare and in-demand..... https://www.discogs.com/Brainstorm-Were-On-Our-Way-Home/release/386315 7" is easily available....... https://www.discogs.com/Brainstorm-Were-On-Our-Way-Home/release/2336099 Ian D

Yep I guess so. I also think there was a significant juke box market. When I first went to states in the mid 70's, I never used the term 'oldies' whenever people asked what I was looking for because they'd always lead you to the re-issue 45's sections. Most of the Motown 60's hits were being re-issued by the mid 70's. I eventually knew to ask for the 'junk' or the 10 cent box because that's where the goodies always were........ Ian D

I thought your work with Oasis had led you to an early grave! Welcome aboard Brian and good luck with the project. Best, Ian D

Original release was on an e.p. in 1983. Even the 12" boot from 1990 is going for £40 these days....... https://www.discogs.com/Lenard-Lidell-Keep-It-Secret-When-Youve-Fallen-Out-Of-Love/release/1762428 Ian D

Hi Keith, Funnily enough I was going to contact you on this very issue but events superceded us from moving too much further on the project. Yep. I knew it would be a thorny issue from the off when I saw the Lovelane listing as I'd seen quite a few of the tracks on other comps over the years. Frankly, for a Jerry-O release that's only got limited appeal it's simply not worth getting into arguements with people over who owns what so it's temporarily shelved for the moment. Also, when we tried to license in some of the other Jerry-O tracks we ran into problems there as well. Being a part of the BBC we play it strictly by the book so there's no way we'll ever release anything unless we feel 100% comfortable with the licensing. So it may be a while before anything happens on this one........ Ian D

That's good detective work fellas. We had a Jerry-O project scheduled for the next batch of the Backbeats Artists series as we had a deal going with Lovelane Music, however it's currently on hold due to us trying to verify the rights on certain songs and different people claiming ownership on some of the stuff we wanted to licence in I believe. So it's on hold for the moment I'm afraid........ I'll pass the above info over to Matthew who's dealing with the licensing and see if it helps him out.... Ian D

Yes, of course it is. The machines took over and recording went from analogue to digital thus limiting the influence of old-school 'real' musicians and arrangers. I've come to the conclusion that the 70's really was the peak in terms of brilliantly produced and arranged black music. The values that were predominant from the late 60's to the mid 70's were mostly gone by the 80's. Don't get me wrong though. I love many many 80's records but for me the key period in black music was 1969-1975. I simply don't hear the same standard of production values in most 80's recordings....... Ian D

It's a much maligned decade that has a horrible rep. However, I sell TONS of 80's stuff mainly to other countries so the 80's is popular internationally. So I have to listen to what people want and every so often a fantastic gem leaps out.... Leonard Lidell "Keep It Secret" Ian D

"Peace & Free" by Xavier feat 4 Real was a fantastic record. I put this out when we launched the Streethype label in the early 90's. It sold about 2 copies LOL. But what a brilliant record....... Xavier feat 4 Real "Peace & Free" https://youtu.be/V35AmtpyuU8 Ian D

True. Can't argue with that Barry. I deliberately did the New Jack Swing Mastercuts releases because I wanted to embrace all genres of music within the albums and not typecast too much so the series would appeal to multiple audiences. Following the doom and gloom about how I'd wrecked the series with the 5th release, I remember going down to HMV in Croydon on the Saturday afternoon at the end of the first week of release and seeing the HMV staff constantly re-filling the shelf every 10 minutes and a constant stream of mainly young black people grabbing 'em and going to the counter. I started breathing a bit easier once I'd seen that LOL. Also interesting is that New Jack Swing Mastercuts was the first compilation to ever license an R. Kelly track, so we were way ahead of the curve in many respects. Anyway, great thread. It's making me play other stuff from the era that still sounds great to me now..... Ralph Tresvant "Sensitivity" https://youtu.be/6AuslO9f2sE Ian D

Very possible. John Abbey would have persuaded Polydor that Mojo had better expertise in the UK soul market thus making the marketing of an old soul record an easier option for a major that was more concerned with selling shedloads of Cream and Jimi Hendricks albums......... Ian D

That Moses Smith mishap is particularly painful. "Keep On Striving" is the greatest record he ever made IMO. "Come On Let Me Love You" was the favoured side in the early 70's so I never even listened to the flip at the time, more fool me...... ......but at least I never broke the f*cker....... Ian D

I did New Jack Swing Mastercuts as the 5th album in the Mastercuts series way back in 1991 following Classic Mix Vol 1, Classic Jazz-Funk Vols 1 & 2 and Classic Mellow Vol 1 and everyone said I was crazy as the New Jack Swing thing was 'too new' for the Mastercuts audience in their eyes and no one in the UK even knew what New Jack Swing was - even the distributor said it would ruin the series. I'd just been in L.A. on a holiday and all I heard on the radio on that trip was Bell Biv Devoe, Johnny Gill, Guy, Today etc, etc and frankly it sounded like a breath of fresh air compared to what was happening in the UK at the time which was Rave and bad House. Anyway, New Jack Swing Mastercuts Vol 1 became the fastest-selling album in the series and entered the charts at No.8 - the highest ever placing for the whole Mastercuts series. What I liked about New Jack Swing was that it embraced Soulful vocals at a time when the UK charts were dominated by really really crap Rave tunes with catchy riffs and samples but nothing much else. There are some absolute masterpieces tucked away and often with different mixes to the U.S. releases. Out of 'em all, this is probably my favourite because the guy's vocals are just astounding and the song is great..... Basic Black "Whatever It Takes" European Mix https://youtu.be/JMLRddLGI9M A great record is still a great record whatever the genre..... Ian D

Finished copies arrived at lunchtime and it looks absolutely brilliant in the flesh! The first pressing has now completely pre-sold out, so if you want one of the first 3K off the presses, then order through Amazon or your local record emporium but make it quick! https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B009DW5Z2Y/ref=s9_simh_bw_p15_d0_i1?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=center-4&pf_rd_r=0TN1057Z2KQP1KD6JA3M&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=330698847&pf_rd_i=229816 Ian D