Ian Dewhirst

Are you getting out enough Bob? Ian D

OK gotcha. Let's have a Scottish Philly-Fest I say! Ian D

Yep. The Soul content was negligable. It was OK for me from a commercial viewpoint 'cos I've got another 4 Disco Discharge albums coming out (no pun intended) so it certainly hit that audience head on (once again no pun intended). However, at least Kenny Gamble and Earl Young were featured early on, which were the best bits of the show for me..... Ian D

Just an update to the tons of enquiries I've been fielding about this album since it was posted up in early January. Despite thinking that everything was OK due to all the meetings we had in mid 2011 with various parties, it still transpired that there were some incredibly torturous licensing issues to deal with on this project which have taken the best part of the last 8 weeks to square away! I'm happy to say that everything has now been finalised to everyone's satisfaction, all the parts have gone to manufacture and this incredible project will now be released on:- 26th MARCH 2012 This is the biggest ever pre-sell for any Harmless album since I've been here, so the demand has been absolutely huge. I'm just so fantastically relieved that we've managed to overcome the obstacles and get the bugger out! Best, Ian D

Also, Val being Val, who was no slouch when it came to spotting vinyl junkies, would have sussed English hounds like me and Kev a mile off, so it would be almost disrespectful to get the sleeves rolled up and start digging where John Anderson had already dug LOL. This was the guy who told me all the stories about the SERIOUS Doo-Wop collectors for records that were worth thousands of dollars when the Northern scene was still in it's infancy. I couldn't see any bargains being there so I just kicked back and listened to Val's stories which were good enough for me. Bear in mind that both Kev and I had been spoiled by finding unbelievable finds of records @ 10 cents apiece elsewhere so Val Shively's store was never going to be a goldmine for us (no pun intended). The real gold was in that Baltimore cellar that Kev found and some of those garages in L.A. that I went through...... Ian D

I didn't even bother looking through the shelves. Back then we were looking for 100% driving Northern Soul and I believed that Val's stock had been comprehensively picked through already by several knowledgeable people so I knew that Philadelphia had been combed for several years by then, so since I was just passing through I didn't bother digging the shelves 'cos the hit rate for what we were looking for at the time would have been nil. I'd have had a better hit rate at a thrift shop down the road to be honest. Naturally there would have been TONS of current rarities in there but none of 'em would have made sense back in '76 believe me. Plus, naturally, we thought we knew it all back then.......... Ian D

I was there in 1976 and he'd already been cleared out by John Anderson unfortunately. Nevertheless, I had a great couple of days in Philly and Val was gracious enough to put me up for a night. Didn't get any serious records from Val, but the trip was worthwhile because of the fabulous stories which Val related about nutcase record collectors. Also I witnessed Val kicking out someone from his store which is a whole other story in itself. Priceless. Ian D

Also the smart money will always take age into consideration. I can party with the best of 'em as I've consistently proved over the last 40 odd years. If I'm particularly energised and of a certain frame of mind I'll happily party all night and into the next day no problem. But at 57 years old these days, I'm more likely to knock off at 3.00-5.00am because I'm not 18 anymore, so these mini-nighters tick my boxes. I start slowing down @ 4.00am anyway as miuch as I hate to admit it... Ian D

"Sweetest Thing" is a great track. Very nice on a 45. I've only ever had it on a 12"........... Ian D

It's pretty rare but also I wouldn't imagine there's much demand either. I managed to find a pretty worn copy in the mid 70's which has since fled the nest but must admit I've not seen another one since on my travels....... Mind you, that was a new release in the 70's. There should be TONS of 'em LOL...... Ian D

Yep, there was a nice clip on "Something For The Weekend" yesterday showing a short interview with Kenny Gamble. Additionally, Alan Jones (who writes the sleevenotes for the Disco Discharge series) is also featured heavily. Should be worth watching! Ian D

I think Brian was being 'creative' 'cos at that time there were tons of Persians and Debbie Taylors on GWP knocking around. It never took off. Some did though like Sterling Magee, Tobi Legend etc....... Ian D

The money talk was relating to the complete value of Colin's old Mecca records between '72-'76 at todays prices had he been able to retain them for 35 years. I could list all the rare as hen's teeth originals Colin had including the Inspirations, Don Gardner, Joe Mathews, Eula Cooper, Bernie Williams, Del-Larks, The Crow plus the other few hundred knowns, semi-knowns and still virtually unknowns which still command ridiculous prices but I fear it'll go over your head.......plus the last couple of Mecca slots I've seen Colin do have been 90-120 minutes apiece......... Ian D

Yep, that's right. Serves 'em right for flogging off £250K worth of originals when they could have sat on 'em for 35 years to play a couple of gigs a year in 2011. Bloody amateurs........ Ian D

Yep. Scam city. They should be ashamed of themselves. It's basically fraud. Ian D

I took it to mean that integrity can be bought? Ian D

At last a sensible comment. Hopefully this will now be the last word on this thread. Ian D

Do it the other way around Pete. 99.9% of all DJ's use CD's and the other 0.1% are Northern Soul DJ's or the occasional Rockabilly/Jump Blues DJ's - scenes where the format is more important than the actual music. Ian D

I do tons of gigs covering different areas 'cos I have eclectic tastes so yes, I use CD's all the time for the majority of gigs and especially for international ones. Also I personally need a HUGE selection because I just like a lot of choice, so I'd rather have a choice of several thousand tunes rather than a couple of hundred for sure. However, I also maintain a huge record collection including several playboxes of OVO of both Northern and Modern because I realise that's a key part of the deal. So, yes, I still lug around boxes of OVO for the gigs which expect it. Which is fine. Different strokes and all that.... Colin's always looked like a Grateful Dead roadie apart from a brief period in the late 80's when he sported a more conventional short hair style but still continued to wear the denims. When Colin deejayed at the Torch and the Mecca he looked more like a Heavy Metal fan than a Soul boy. But hey, he's always been a none-conformist...... Ian D

Yeah, but does that mean that we're valuing someone who merely has the disposable income to be able to just buy the OVO above the guy who put his balls on the line to both buy and then subsequently break the records in the first place? If we're saying that ownership of OVO is more important than the person who discovered and broke the records in the first place, then surely it's just all about money isn't it? It was very, very different 40 years ago Martyn. We used to have a go at Colin because he wasn't bothered about anything else other than getting new tunes 24/7. He never got much wedge from flogging records believe me because the turnover was nuts. I once spent a long weekend with him back in '75 and that was enough for me to never want to repeat the experience. I ended up staying at his place on a Sunday night and was astounded at the stuff that was on his shelves and not in his box. Records were the be all and end all with Colin. Wedge has never ever come into it with him. He's still wearing the same type of clothes that he wore 40 years ago. That should tell you everything. Ian D

Don't get me wrong, I see your point entirely but I just think you picked the wrong target. There's very few people I would jump to defend simply on the basis of past glories but Colin's the genuine article and pretty much impregnable in terms of lifetime commitment. He's actually in the hallowed 5% of those I genuinely respect in musical terms and I don't say that flippently. I always remember Neil Rushton once describing him as "Bohemian Lifestyle Jock Colin Curtis" in a Black Echoes article and Colin going nuts because he thought Neil was taking the piss. But hey, he's always dressed like a Grateful Dead roadie so it's understandable how he can be misinterpreted...... Ian D

Good point and that 100% covers Colin Curtis, who, quite frankly, couldn't have given a f*ck about retaining a record once it had been booted, became widely available or when he just got fed up with it. I know that because I bought one of the three Eula Cooper originals off him for a quid the week it got booted. And that's a record which stayed rare. His sheer turnover of stuff at the Mecca almost necessarily meant that his playbox changed on a weekly basis. It's staggering to see how many of those cult 'last hour' records eventually went on to become future monsters. It's all very well having a pop at the guy for playing CD's some 40 years later but I really don't think people appreciate the turnover or churn of otherwise unpopular tunes that he championed first, many of which are still going for megabucks today. Anyone who doubts his influence may do well to check out this previous S.S. thread:- Ian D

Colin's gone through numerous collections over the last 45 years whether they be Northern Soul, Modern Soul, Contemporary Soul, Jazz, Jazz-Funk, Latin, House etc, etc. He'd have needed a seperate warehouse and a huge income to have maintained all the records which have gone through his hands over that kind of time period. I actually can't think of anyone who has been able to retain every record they've ever owned from day one, leave alone someone with such eclectic and ever changing tastes as Colin, who has always been well ahead of the curve in all of the areas he's interested in. This is a guy who is still pushing the envelope today and whose sheer knowledge in his chosen specialist areas surpasses most other collectors easily. I'm not quite sure what's being said here unless it's the usual OVO arguement. If Colin was to re-create the record collections he owned between, say, 1970-1975 on OVO, he'd require somewhere around £250,000 and that's IF he could ever get some of them back, which is unlikely. Are we seriously suggesting that someone who was responsible for breaking more records than most over the years, should retain £250,000 pounds worth of records simply for the odd Mecca revival gig that he may do a couple of times a year? You'd have to be a very rich man to be able to do that. So it's basically just not practical for a couple of gigs a year which may net a few hundred quid. The maths just doesn't stack up does it? I've caught Colin doing a couple of Mecca revival gigs over the last couple of years or so and without exception they've been fantastic and the dancefloor was buzzing. Colin's current tastes are a million miles away from what he was doing 40 years ago but I still considered it a privilege to see a consumate professional getting the crowd off on the ground-breaking records he broke in the 70's. The Colin Curtis brand has always been about his musical taste rather than format. This is a guy who often GAVE away stunningly rare originals as soon as they'd been booted because he was always onto the next unknown record. So I can't be churlish about what format the guy is playing for a Mecca revival gig some 40 years later for f*cks sake. Too many people define themselves by their ability to buy rare records (which is all about disposable income anyway) rather than someone's individual taste and foresight in creating the demand for a previously unknown or underplayed record, which Colin has consistently demonstrated throughout his life throughout a number of different musical areas. If Colin really wanted to, he could pick up the phone and assemble a ground-breaking playbox of knock-you-dead OVO in seconds because he is held in high regard everywhere. But as he would say himself, really, what would be the point? Ian D

Funnily enough I was the first person to put out an R. Kelly record out in the UK - "She's Got That Vibe" on New Jack Swing Mastercuts back in '91. Blimey that 21 years went quick.......... Ian D

Never heard it before Pete but I correctly guessed the era and type of recording and then pumped in what I thought was the title and sure enough it popped up on on several You Tube clips so I guess it is known by that kind of audience......... Ian D