Ian Dewhirst

Coulda fooled me....... Prices for personal customers - April 2012 Our regulator, Ofcom, has now published its final decision on the future regulation of postal services and we can now confirm our new prices, which will be effective from 30 April 2012. Key price changes Our stamp prices are increasing from 30 April 2012: 1st Class stamps for letters weighing up to 100g will increase from 46p to 60p 2nd Class stamps for letters weighing up to 100g will increase from 36p to 50p. Packets weighing up to 750g will be charged at one flat rate price: 1st Class packets weighing up to 750g will cost £2.70. 2nd Class packets weighing up to 750g will cost £2.20. Since 30/4/12 my personal postage charges have risen by a mimimum of 30%. Ian D

Yeah, it's ironic isn't it? Great vinyl albums and 12"'s are the cheapest they've ever been but the postage costs are taking a lot of the fun out of it! Ian D

Maybe he knows that you're the Asda of Northern Soul sellers and he's trying to clip your wings with your bargain basement postage costs.... Ian D

You should try compiling some albums Sean 'cos that story would make for some great sleeve notes! Ian D

I bet it probably cost him not far off that with a bit of padding for packing. That's what I mean about it becoming uneconomical. Another round of rises could kill the bottom end of the market completely which would be a shame because these are mostly young people who are dipping their toe into buying records...... Ian D

It's not. You should get a break on a multi-item package in line with what it costs. I have a massive amount of international buyers across all formats, many of whom order multiple 12"'s which can cause headaches cos' often it's cheaper to send two seperate packages rather than one heavy one. I had to raise my P&P charges just recently when the UK prices shot up and postage charges are often more than the bloody record's worth, especially if someone from Brazil, Australia, Argentina or Canada orders an old 12" cheapie. I do often 'lose' on P&P on Australia/Canada packages I've noticed, but I don't think people will accept higher P&P charges, so one has to take the hit. It'll soon be uneconomical to post cheap records internationally. No shortage of customers but consistently rising postal charges will put many people off. Bearing in mind that most of my customers are overseas, these are my P&P charges which only the occasional dickhead/tightwad challenges........ UK & NORTHERN IRELAND 12" & LPs £3.50 and £1.00 each thereafter. CDs & 7" £2.00 and £1.00 each thereafter. (Recorded Delivery - please add £1.00) EUROPE 12" & LPs £4.50 and £1.50 thereafter CDs & 7" £3.00 and £1.00 thereafter. UNITED STATES & REST OF WORLD 12" & LPs £6.50 and £2.50 thereafter. CDs & 7" £3.00 and £1.00 thereafter. I know you're the Asda of Northern Soul sellers Pete, but do they look reasonable to you? Ian D

There's several levels of twats in this world:- 1) The OCD Condition Freak This is the type of buyer who will ALWAYS find a problem with a record no matter how mint and unblemished it is. They usually preface their order with phrases like, "I am a serious collector", "I've been collecting records for 20 years" etc, etc. Several times I've sent records out which have never been played ever only to have to have them contact me complaining about condition probably in order to get an extra discount. These people probably never actually play the records but probably just like moaning. Avoid at all costs as they'll tie you up in long-winded arguments which are always a pain in the ass. The SECOND they start I always offer them a 100% refund if they send the record back which is when they generally back down. 2) The Hot-Headed Foreign Buyer With Bad Etiquette These guys are looking for a fight from the word go. Even though everything I offer on Discogs is fixed-price only with no offers they'll still offer 50% of the price and when that hasn't worked they'll then 'forget' to add postage which will then add more stress in terms of spending time having to deal with 'em. Once the right money has finally been sorted out, they'll then start bombarding you with messages saying, "Hey Mister. Where's my record? I want refund!" even though the postal systems of the countries in question leave a lot to be desired. 3) General Congenital F*ckwits These are the ones who can't figure out that I need paying in £ sterling rather than pesos and which will often take half a dozen messages with precise instructions to sort out. These same guys generally always moan about the postage costs to their country and accuse me of over-charging when I actually make a slight loss on most long-range destinations. They are also the type of guys who will raise a dispute if they haven't received their package within a week even though I've known it to take 6-8 weeks to reach some places. All the above accounts for 0.8% of the hassle. The other 99.2% of customers are fine. Ian D

Tut tut......just not good enough Bob. We expect olympian-level accuracy every time from your good self........... Ian D

Yep. It didn't make much sense to me either. I was cross-checking the track-listing info for the box set with the Arctic discography on Soulful Kinda Music (see - I can be kinda sad too) and nothing about the Derek Martin record looked right to me, so Dave probably needs to remove it from the main listing. I take it that it's a messy early to mid 60's New York dirge then? Ian D

I have the Carstairs instrumental. I'll do an MP3 for Pete....... Ian D

I've got a Gloria Jones autographed copy for sale if anyone wants a 'lil piece of history......... https://www.discogs.com/buy/Vinyl/Gloria-Jones-Tainted-Love/48359470?ev=bp_titl Ian D

Actually I've got the track listing and sleeve notes to this package and it's pretty comprehensive - people are going to love Bill Dahl's sleeve notes! Frank Lipsius is actually a major anglophile and I generally hook up with him and his wife whenever they hit these shores. I think Frank wanted to hold on releasing the info until he's 100% happy for it to go out so as soon as I get the OK I'll post the full track listing. Needless to say, it contains every Arctic and Frantic release except that weird Derek Martin release that was on some kind of reactivated Arctic which doesn't even look like it's from the same stable...... More news when I speak to Frank...... Ian D

When I first heard "Determination", Dean Parrish became my favourite Soul singer virtually overnight! I always assumed he was black until an older collector from Dewsbury informed me he was white! Didn't stop me loving his voice. Still brilliant some 40+ years later. In fact, I just used it on my latest comp..... Ian D

I'm exactly the same. I can forgive a white voice if the production is incredible -"I'm Gonna Change", "I Can't Help Loving You", "I'm On My Way" etc, etc, so the gap between great 60's and 70's Pop productions and traditional Northern Soul is not that wide to many from that era. In some cases, the UK production is vastly superior to the U.S. production, for example, the Love Affair's version of "Everlasting Love" kills the insipid limp original version by Robert Knight and I prefer Steve Ellis's vocals to Robert Knight's as well. Heresy ay? Ian D

Not known to me Kev.......so deffo not from the 70's..... Ian D

Interesting watch. He was a massive influence on Elliot Rashman (who managed Simply Red throughout the 80's) who is on the clip. Apparently Roger left the Wheel because of the all-pervading influence of Northern Soul and the demand for ever-faster tunes. I can understand that since he had a really wide music appreciation which went way beyond just Soul and I know many people who either knew him personally or interviewed him. Should be a great read! Incidentaly, this was a news piece in Mojo last month so hopefully they'll get a wide audience for this book. I'll certainly read it! Ian D

Yep. Copy that. I can remember popping into Polygrams regional office in Leeds and going through 1000's of "Alsatian" promos and probably a pile of Pioneers and suchlike. However I did still pick up anything that was halfway OK. I just hated those injection mould labels and pressings though, so I was a bit sniffy about 'em back then. Still am really...... Ian D

Yep, but watch the way he does it! He's an inspiration to us all! Plus he'd love the album of course! Ian D

'Must- Have Reissue' in the Culture section of the Sunday Times today! Fame at last LOL..... So along with Simon Rimmer plugging the M.V.P.s "Turning My Heartbeat Up" on Channel 4's "Sunday Brunch" this morning and Gordon Ramsey using "How You Like Me Now" on his new trailer, the mainstream is waking up nicely. Now if only my favourite Mod, Bradley Wiggins can win the Tour-De-France today then we'll be really rockin'! Ian D

Yep, probably is, although, along with Clydie King , it's not even on Discogs. Also, it's from his Laurie period (not Spectrum) and the 'B' side was never issued anywhere else, so it's a curious release. I bought my copy from a 10p clearout box in Jumbo Records in Leeds circa mid 70's because it was an unusual release and I couldn't see what possible market they could be aiming for. Dean Parrish and Brenda Lee Jones made sense but an old Hoagy Lands and a Clydie King? Weird. For that reason I don't see how they could have shipped many, which is why it went in the 10p box @ Jumbos. No one wanted it. Probably still don't. Ian D

Another one of my part-time summer jobs this year is to settle down one evening with a huge pile of white label 7" test-pressings and try and identify them. I did the same excercise with a bunch of 12" inch white labels that I'd accumulated over the years and found some very valuable records in there - many of which became 'secret weapons' on the rare Disco scene several years ago. Many of these I got in the mail because I was a working DJ between 1972-1975 and then again from 1977-1982 and I pretty got everything because I was on most of the mailing lists. On top of that between 1977-1980 I was also Decca's Northern Promotion guy, so I spent most of my time going around radio stations and shops and doing swaps with the reps etc, so I got TONS of stuff. Some of which I'm only just getting around to listening to again. I had Ted Ford and I'm pretty sure that got prised out relatively recently. I'll let you know what I find. The weird thing is, back in the 70's, I'd occasionally asign a sexier name on the sleeves of some white label promos because I'd lost the release sheet that came with it and there was so much stuff coming in that I'd never get around to actually tracing the record! So some of these tunes I only know because of the cover-up title that I gave 'em 35 years ago. Plus that Love Committee test pressing 7" I found, I always thought was merely a white label of "Law And Order" until I actually played the bugger! There's some pretty interesting stuff out there. I'm still bumping into weird labels from the 70's and 80's which I've never seen before...... Ian D

Correctomundo Steve. Ian D

Dee Dee Sharp Gamble - Just As Long As I Know You're Mine https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tcf54fjm4xg Ian D

The summer clearout continues, so this time I've selected 10 interesting U.S. promos which need to be re-housed:- The Intruders - "I'll Always Love My Mama" U.S. Gamble White Promo VG £15.00 Dionne Warwicke - "(I'm) Just Being Myself" U.S. Warner Brothers White Promo VG £20.00 The Shirelles featuring Shirley Alston - "Do What You've A Mind To" U.S. RCA Promo NM £15.00 The Four Tops - "I Just Can't Get You Out Of My Mind" U.S. Dunhill White Promo VG £20.00 High Inergy "Make Me Yours" U.S. Gordy White Promo NM £10.00 Nat Turner - "Ruby Lee" U.S. Philly Groove White Promo NM £10.00 Aldora Britton - "No Cookies In My Bag" U.S. Decca Promo G £15.00 Lorraine Ellison - "Many Rivers To Cross" U.S. Warner Brothers White Promo G £15.00 John & Michael Hill - "You're My Saving Grace" U.S. Salsoul White Promo NM £15.00 L.A. Genesis "Hands" U.S. Ame White Promo M £5.00 PM me if interested. All buyers on a first come first served basis. Free 1st class postage on everything. Ian D

But surely he was doing 'hard traction' physiotherapy in a desperate bid to get his back working again........? Ian D