Ian Dewhirst

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

By complete default, I have suddenly developed a HUGE interest in the current state of play on this situation. Can anybody bring me up to speed with what's happening right now? Is the location still for sale and how much is it I guess are the two key questions. Can anyone help? Ian D

You don't think it's got a Gil Scott kinda vibe to it? Ian D

Could happen Steve. He didn't press enough of the 2nd issue either! I've insisted that he does the 3rd issue on a slightly different Expansion label and I've bet him that he'll repress at least another 5 times LOL....what a REKID! The 5th issue will be the one to get though. A one-off pressing with strands of Gregory's hair within the vinyl and Gregory's blood infused within the label. £2K....? £3K.......? See if Steve Woomble will buy that back! Ian D

Wanna know the funny thing? The 2nd pressing on the normal Expansion label has now sold out. In a matter of days. I understand what people are saying but had Ralph not taken that demand, then the record would have flipped to another company which would take the demand, so the record was always going to be available on 12" one way or t'other. To have a numbered edition of the first 500 is a very desirable item anyway so I really don't think anyone's missed out here. It'll probably end up selling 10K. Makes a change 'cos most 12"'s are lucky to hit even 500 these days! Ian D

I've still my Contempo red promo which I think is better mastered than the U.S. pressings. A cracking record which would probably work nicely with some exposure. She's fantastic........... We've got a nice-price Tommie Young comp coming up in the Backbeats Artists series in a couple of months too........ Ian D

Good investment all round. I wish I'd got one! Ian D

Wow, you really know this shit dontcha? Sounds mouth-watering! I seem to be getting a taste for this stuff for some reason.......? "Holy Spirit" has gone back a week to 25/6/12 and we think is now mastered to super-human standards! Best, Ian D

I think the Record Day editions are always great to have aren't they? Whichever way you look at it, any one who owns one has one of the first 500 copies on 12". I know they went like wildfire 'cos even I, the king of the blaggers, couldn't get one and Ralph's a mate LOL........ This is a difficult release to guage demand for though. The record is crossing over to a number of different scenes both here and abroad and has even become mainstream in some areas, so there is a much bigger demand than usual for a 12" of this record. It's probably the best Jazz dancer of the last 20 years or so and people are responding accordingly. If it keeps crossing over to wider audiences then it should be available for sure and rather I'd rather have Expansion market it rather then other labels. Records like this don't crop up that often and will probably drive a lot more people to both the music and record stores which in my opinion can only be good for everyone. Gregory and his record company probably won't complain either! Ian D

Johnny Ross & The Soul Explosions? Ian D

Out of curiosity was this ever booted/re-issued on a Landa white promo by any chance? Ian D

Afternoon all! For those of you not sunning yourselves in Morcambe, come join me LIVE @ 2.00pm today for a Sunny kinda show LOL.... It's a very spontaneous show today and kinda has a Sunny theme....perfect barbeque listening! www.starpointradio.com Ian D

It makes perfect sense I guess, but I just never heard it. How was it found and where did it come from out of curiosity? Ian D

I'm not sure if Tec would have been any different from Roxbury to be honest. At least Roxbury had strong national distribution and promotion operations, whereas Tec was another local Philly label without the same clout as Roxbury. A great song is a still a great song whichever way you look at it. As an aside, when I was a local radio plugger for UK Decca/London in the mid 70's, I had to take Hodges, James & Smith around the country on a radio tour. I can remember taking 'em to Piccadilly Radio then out for a meal @ Mario & Francos and then ferrying 'em back to their hotel. I had William DeVaughn on my car stereo, so in a bid to show them my 'right on' credentials, I cranked William DeVaugnn up full blast as I cruised through Manchester with the three ladies in the car. They went nuts and told me in no uncertain terms to change the track! I said, "are you serious? You really don't like this tune"? and they said that it was banned on any tour buses they went on as the song glorified pimps and ultimately denigrated women! Ian D

Actually I didn't know that Dee Dee did do a version of "I'll Do Anything". I missed that completely. However, in the whirlwind of the day of that particular interview, I do recall Kenny holding and really studying Richard Searling's UK Cameo-Parkway promo of Doris Troy, looking at his own name on the credits and shaking his head trying to remember that session...... ...but now that you've mentioned Dee Dee's version it's making me wonder whether the competing Dee Dee/Doris versions of the tune may have caused him some anguish at the time, considering one of the versions was his wife's LOL. I'd love to hear Dee Dee's version, mainly in order to question why it was never released. I LOVE the Doris Troy version to bits - it was one of the key records that welcomed my arrival to Northern Soul, but I like it mainly for the production and arrangement rather than Doris's vocals to be honest. The good thing is that now we have close dialogue with Kenny and Leon and this whole current campaign around their work is spurring them to reach deeper into their memories to try and remember these instances. I'm pretty sure that PIR have plans to document all this stuff so it really is an ongoing process. I'd like to think that the UK's faithful and passionate audience has provided a massive amount of momentum to the process! Ian D

Thanks! Also I think it's only fair to point out that this interview was the fourth one that day, if my memory serves me correctly. Kenny was earlier grilled by Andy Peebles @ Smooth, then Trevor Nelson @ Radio 1, then Richard Searling for a further 2 hours before Ralph got his slot. After Ralph there were a further two interviews with Mojo and Blues & Soul. Kenny worked his ass off from 10.00am through to 8.00pm but probably remembered a ton of stuff he'd previously forgotten by the end of the half day of PR in France and 2 days of PR in the UK. I'm incredibly grateful that Kenny was gracious enough to give us his time. He also told me that he was knocked out by the level of knowledge and respect for his work in the UK which we could all see really moved him. His support for this campaign has been fantastic and I'm incredibly grateful that we got the chance to get to know him better. He told me he was so busy from the mid 60's to the end of the 80's that he never had time to experience the cultural effect that Philadelphia International had across the world because he was always in the studio keeping the machine rolling. A true gentleman and icon. I still find it incredible that he couldn't remember anything about writing and co-producing Doris Troy's "I'll Do Anything" though! Ian D

You're absolutely right Dave. It was bugging me as well LOL..... Ian D

To bolster this week's release of "Philadelphia International: The 40th Anniversary Box Set", here is an exclusive interview with Kenny Gamble with Ralph Tee, compiler of the box set. Enjoy! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PH2lnRspq0M... Tap to view this Soul Source News/Article in full