Ian Dewhirst

Yep. It's always been a beauty. Would fit in right next to the Anderson Brothers or something of a similar ilk. I'd love to hear this out over a great system........ Ian D

Fantastic tune! I've had around 3 copies over the last 35 years and they've always been prised out of the shelves by people who bent my arm, much like that Bo Cooper record "Don't Call It Love" on UK Bell (which recently turned up on a Levine podcast), Marva Hick's "Looking Over My Shoulder" on UK Infinity and Darlene Love's "Lord If You're A Woman" on UK Phil Spector. Just great records period. It's actually pretty rare. I presume most copies are secure in people's collections......? Alas, I can't seem to locate a copy right now........ Ian D

Damn. I can't even remember that Dave Rene record...... ....is it any good....? Ian D

Brilliant! Great story and exactly what this thread is all about. Sometimes you know you may have a major item which in my case, in the late 70's, happened to be Si Hightower's one-off test-pressing and Willie Tee's "I'm Having So Much Fun" on Gatur. I moved them on because, frankly, I was way off the scene at that point and those records were more use to the people who REALLY wanted 'em, i.e., the next generation of people like me who were deep into the scene. But what's your excuse LOL? Ian D

Yep, I'll always be grateful to Bob from Louth for turning up with the then unknown copy of "I'm Com'un Home In The Morn'un" which I almost didn't buy 'cos the title looked country and western.......... ....but then I heard the record over the cans and changed my mind right sharp! Ian D

A lovely early online review for Holy Spirit...... https://www.soulandjazzandfunk.com/reviews/1781-various-holy-spirit-harmless.html Ian D

Who'd have thought that a record I bought for £4 in Louth one winter Thursday night in the mid 70's would go on to become one of the most loved Northern anthems of all time. RIP Lou. Ian D

Not quite Chalky. I definitely got this in the early Wigan era. In fact, unless I'm mistaken, the deal actually took place there. I'm pretty sure Kev was the first one @ Wigan to have it as I'm sure he'll confirm....... Ian D

Yep, the Pipkins got around a bit. They did some Motown stuff for Little Lisa, Oma Heard (and Marvin Gaye), Martha Reeves etc plus Brice Coefield, Vicky Nelson and Tate. Busy guys. I always bought anything with their name on it.......... Ian D

OK. Weird that I've never seen this anywhere but in the UK and it was always cheap as chips. I think it must have been mass imported at some time. What's it worth these days? Ian D

That wouldn't surprise me. I was always seeing this around, especially in some of the bigger second-hand stores and market stalls. It always looked like a pressing and there were loads of 'em around at one time. I always wondered how come there were so many pressed and how come they ended up everywhere...... Ian D

Wow, 2 weeks in a row is a real rarity for me these days. However the patchy nature of my shows over the last couple of months means I'm making up for it now! Besides it's Jubilee day on a long bank holiday weekend and this is a perfect way to gear up for the next 36 hours of partying! We have the usual musical odyssey that carries us through the eras - everything from a couple of new releases, the best of the latest re-edits, some unbelievable slabs of incredible soul and the usual Sunday afternoon killers. Come join the Sunday afternoon regulars us in the Starpoint chatroom on the home page of the Starpoint website! Six Million Steps Presents The Original Mastercuts Show LIVE with Ian Dewhirst between 2.00-4.00pm on Sunday 3rd June 2012 on everyone's favourite Soul station www.starpointradio.com. Featuring...... Barry White * Roy Ayers * The Sunburst Band * George Benson * Gregory Porter * Cameo * The Pasadenas * Armed Gang * Zalmac * The Four Tops * Jimmy Helms * Jr Walker & The All-Stars * Bobby Womack * Sister Sledge * Audio * Dorothy Norwood * Stanley Winston * The Delfonics * William DeVaughn * Dionne Warwick * Eugene Record Also, for anyone in London this weekend, don't forget the Six Million Steps gig down @ East Village today with special guest Red Greg and the Six Million steps posse. Catch you @ 2.00pm today! Ian D

All of us did Roger! I was earning £22.50 a week from my job and some pocket money from deejaying but I was always broke because there was always another record. I'd regularly spend a couple of weeks broke because I'd just layed-out on a record or two. I didn't really drink or smoke back then so that's obviously how I afforded it all LOL.... Ian D

Great signing mate. I didn't even realise they were British until recently. They seem to be getting the most attention in the U.S. Good for them. Is the first single any good? Ian D

Blimey, this has just turned up on the new Strongbow TV ad. Maybe it'll be a hit finally! Ian D

Funnily enough, I think I met Trevor Vallis a couple of years back when we met up with Silvia Love who was included on some of the Disco Discharge albums. I think the Detours were a studio group and MCA just picked up the master. Funny that for a none hit it got released throughout the world - there's even a Chilean copy on e-bay at the moment! If you want anymore info on the band I can probably put a call in to Trevor (assuming it was him that I met)....... Ian D

Mmm. Interesting. I know they have a very sophisticated computer tracking system that works to certain patterns and automatically adjusts the Amazon price if a competitor has a lower price. So an Amazon price can swing around a bit depending on the level of interest in a release. I remember the price of the Backbeats releases dropping from £4.99 to £3.93 almost overnight. It's an efficient system for sure and Amazon's sales on Harmless releases have jumped circa 4-500% in the last year, so I'm not complaining. They're actually using the same model that the supermarkets used when they started stocking CD's, namely, trying to price everyone else out of the market. They're really the leaders of the new way of shopping and the more people order online, the bigger they'll get. It's sure changed from the 1960's ay? Ian D

OH, I didn't realise that they price-matched their lowest price and refunded early buyers for the difference! Is that what they do? If they do that, then that fits another piece of the jigsaw into place. Can you confirm that Roburt? Ian D

There's no such thing anymore Roburt. We can't dictate to Amazon, HMV, the exporters and the indies what profit margin they make on our releases. So it's like the wild west out there price wise. Our DP (Dealer Price) is £6.50. One hopes that it'll be a tenner on the shelves but the whole pricing thing is going through something of a revolution at the moment as there's a pricing battle between Amazon and HMV, so prices can change overnight. It's a bit like Soul Source every week right after the Manship auction! I noticed that Amazon have just dropped the price to £9.37..... https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Dpopular&field-keywords=holy+spirit ....which is really the area that I wanted it to sell for, so I guess HMV should price @ £9.99 or thereabouts. It's really difficult to predict anything at the moment. My recent 4 x Disco Discharge releases which have have a £4.86 DP were in HMV @ £14.00 which was far too expensive in my opinion and on Amazon for under a tenner which was about right. 'Philadelphia International: The 40th Anniversary Box Set' was priced at lip-smaking £42 on Amazon and £45 in HMV which again, is about right. However Harmless CD releases always increase in value and then leap in price once a title gets deleted, as Discogs, E-Bay and Amazon confirm. I'm still hunting for a couple of early Harmless releases from the 90's which I don't have but annoyingly they're too expensive for my tight pockets these days! So the moral is: "shop around" as Smokey advised all those years ago......... Ian D

That must've been a strong memory then! Ian D

Levine possibly? I dunno where Kev got his from but I suspect it may have been the other copy. Can't win 'em all. At least Twink got the United Four, Susan Barrett and the Salvadores off you though! Ian D

It's pretty much right up there as one of the greatest Northern Soul records of all time, has all the right credentials and has always been as rare as hen's teeth. I thought I broke the bank when I bought it for £40 off Kev in 1975 or thereabouts (the second copy I believe). When the deal was done and I actually got the record in my hands I knew it was a very very special purchase. Everything about the record is just perfect. I can't think of many records that can demand such an increase in value after 37 years but this is sure one of 'em. The perfect record in every way. Great song, great production, impeccable vocals and on a super RARE Detroit label. Worth every penny. I wish I still had it. I'll get it back when I get my next million....... Ian D

Yep, I figured you'd say that. On some of them I checked via BMI and Ascap and still couldn't find 'em! Still I've reaped as much as I can from the various databases and googling, so hopefully it's as spot-on as it can be. Many thanks for your help on this. Cheers, Ian

It was well worth it Greg. I don't anyone will have heard 'em this good before - especially if they're used to Jewel pressings! Right. Starting on the 45 today..........phew I don't have much time to breath these days LOL.... Promos going out to radio, press and online today so expect some great Gospel coverage over the next few weeks! Ian D

OK, I'm currently going through the THIRD set of masters of this album. The mastering budget has doubled over the last 2 weeks but I think it's 100% worth it. Some serious restoration work has been performed to bring these recordings up to 2012 scratch. These recordings have never sounded so good. Sensational listening for someone like me who has never bothered investigating this area before. It sure has touched a chord with me and I'm blessed to be involved with this release - the diametric opposite of the PIR stuff but so, so down home deadly. A serious album.If you love Soul of course. That's the beauty of this scene. You never stop learning and it's always pretty great! Ian D