Amsterdam Russ

Macca's clarity of insight and well constructed points remind us that having a world view, or at least an historical view of the music we love and its context in the greater scheme of things, is absolutely essential. Anyone who has read Stephen Calt's sharply observed and highly cynical biography of 'lost blues legend' Skip James and what effectively was a man hunt of an effort to track him down (he wasn't lost at all, obsessed fans just couldn't find him), will shudder at the nefariously self-serving nature of blues fans. Without a doubt, the Northern Soul scene is unique in so many ways, but let's not forget that the blues scene has a history that stretches 40 years further back in time (longer, depending on when and where you consider those roots to begin). The musical genre 'blues' has had its own section in record shops years (decades) before Northern Soul went mainstream pre-millennium with its limited, but inspiring back catalogue in what were the high street entertainment emporiums of the day. And let's not forget Jazz. Without it, how would Motown have found its supremely talented musicians? How, 30 years later, could the 100 Club all-nighters exist - housed as it is in a jazz club that, courtesy of its progenitors, has its own roots in the London music scene that developed with the aid of radio and the 'Yanks' (over paid, over sexed, and over here) who came to be based here during WWII. Northern Soul is unique and merits the mainstream praise heaped upon it, but as has been pointed out, Blues and Jazz have long been established as academic and musical fields worthy of serious study. 'Northern Soul' isn't even a musical genre, it's just a cult that has as it's essence all sorts of tribal indulgences, one of which is the music (see 'All Our Yesterday's'). Any professor of 'Northern Soul would need to specialise in the origins of the music and its many variations; the depth of its obscurity; it's peculiar resurgence 'only' in the North of England (cos, of course, nobody outside of 'the North' was ever listening to the same sort of music); the development of tribalism and factionalism in the cultures that brought the music back to life - fashion-wise and culturally ; the origins of negro and popular dance; organised crime and drug distribution - and its petty criminal consequences (have you read some of the threads in 'All our yesterdays'?). And that's just for starters... Oh, and as a professor you would be expected to author and get published a minimum of two academic papers on your chosen subject during your three-to-five year tenure. Could you imagine having to present that to the participants here for constructive comment?

Perhaps someone can confirm whether The Vibrations - Come to yourself / (Let's find love) Together (Okeh 7297) got a UK release?

Out of interest, how is the distinction being made here between 45s that 'don't exist' and recordings that were never released?

Following on from the Bob & Earl and adding to the mysteries on Loma, there is one 45 on the label for which I'm certain no demo exists, and that's Lucky Carmichael - Hey girl / Blues with a feeling (Loma 2006).

This is exactly what DJs have been doing for years!

Not so. Last time I used Vinyl Carvers I uploaded an aiff file to them that was approx 25mb in size.

I made the mistake of buying one of their soul packs half a dozen years ago. What a waste of money. First off, it was a general soul pack and not a Northern one. At the time of buying there was nothing to indicate that this was the case. As I recall, condition was supposed to be vg+ to ex. What turned up was crumpled box of the cheapest, softest cardboard. Worse, it was too big for the contents and there was no packing materials stuffed inside. This meant that 100 45s, many without sleeves, were unprotected and rattling around freely. Whether this lessened the condition of any of the 45s, I could not guess, for I'd say they were vg at best. Many looked as if they'd been under a steam roller or had been picked up from the fast lane of the motorway. I still have them, forgotten and neglected in a box. I look at them every now and then and wonder what to do with them. The lot included seven crackly 45s from Joe Simon as I recall, and many duplicates. Even at 50p each (or was it a quid a piece?) I felt as if I'd been had. I've never bought from Anglo American again. Looking at the shear numbers of 45s out there now, and the decreasing desire for anything but mid-to-top end items, I think that soul packs are just about to make a come back. The 'job lot' is a regular feature in the sales section nowadays and these will increase as demand continues to fall away.

Agreed - it's a great double-sider. To the best of my knowledge, the promo of The Invincibles - So much love / Can't win - is the same as the issue. Not seen any European releases of it. Not long ago found a French EP of four Loma releases by The Olympics, which I'd not seen before, so there could well be others from the label out there. All Loma releases are styrene. The one you're thinking of is Carl Hall (Loma 2086 - Nov 1967). The promo has long and short versions of 'You don't know nothing about love', whilst the issue comes with the long version on one side and 'Mean it baby' on the other.

Soul and Funk are but two sides of the musical coin that is Boogaloo. A few years earlier and it all went under the catch-all term of Big Beat. There are no clear lines that bisect the musical genres, and so many tracks infuse aspects of more than one style and cross over from one artificially constructed genre to another with great ease (remember that musical genres were propagated by music companies and retailers so that they could stack everything into nice sections and charge accordingly). The artists invariably have no problem with how their music is labelled or categorised, so why do punters obsess so? And I've yet to see any discussion or argument that has come anywhere near close to delineating in any meaningful way what Soul is or isn't. As far as these type of discussions are concerned I'm reminded of the lyrics, "Let's go round again... one more time..." Yawn...

Hercules is also available on the flip to the Aaron Neville UK 12" - Close your eyes (A&M 1991)...

If it's the track I'm thinking of I also had a 'lo-fi' copy on Paula years ago. However, they're not all like this as I have seen and more importantly heard a 'clean' copy.

Looks like the Belgian eBay sales technique so oft derided in this forum is catching on

If memory serves me well, this is something that was raised in Black Echoes donkey's years ago, possibly through Pat Brady's column. The point of discussion was whether the scene (at that time) was changing from a heavily dance-led culture to more of a listening one. I guess that with many people being of a certain age, and having little or no control over whether they let their backbone slip or not, the subject is nowadays much more relevant!

The name has been popping up on flyers increasingly over the last year. Not seen them, but they appear to be pretty popular in Belgium and the Netherlands from what I can tell. They will be appearing at the Paradiso, one of Amsterdam's main music venues, on Feb 24th, so might just give 'em a go.

Not quite sure how anyone could claim to have penned what in fact is an instrumental of an old spiritual called 'Elijah Rock'! Mahalia Jackson does a mean version of it... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZIhCYyK-ZI

Have to say I really do not like the later Turbo version. The arrangement is terrible, it's dreadfully over-produced, and it sounds as if it's an out-take that should have been left in the can. Sorry!

Thanks to all for posts. If you put the Canadian and American covers side by side, you'll see that the Canadian one has a purple-blue outer frame. On the American cover it's purple-red. The magenta colour of the inner frame is the same on both. The Canadian also has 'Printed in Canada' placed on top of 'Printed in USA'!

Linda Jones - Hypnotized - Canadian cover. Canadian Label - Side 1.

1) Refosoul version (From Loma Stereo LP?) 2) Mono Version from Canadian release:

Is this LP available on Loma in Stereo and Mono versions? I have the stereo recording on Loma and, to be honest, have always thought of it as a very weak sound in production terms. Although Linda's voice is without parallel, the backing arrangements seem rather thin, especially the strings. This was borne out recently when I got hold of the LP as a Canadian mono release (didn't know there was one until I got it). What a difference, what an improvement. Some tracks almost sound as if they are different versions, but are not. Instead the orchestral arrangements are brought much more to the fore, have considerably greater depth, as do all the instruments, and so give a much punchier and meatier feel and sound. One track in particular, the album only - If only we had met sooner - is, to these ears, absolutely stunning when compared to the almost insipid stereo recording. What plays as a potentially danceable, but pretty weak track in stereo suddenly becomes a mid-tempo dance floor gem with a years-ahead-of it-time crossover feel in mono. Magnificent! Is there a mono version of the LP on Loma, and am I alone in thinking the mono recording of this LP is far superior to its stereo counterpart?

I suspect they end up on Ebay...

Sorry for my confusion, but is this not a blog post written by Roy Mayall? >>> Link to blog here: https://roymayall.wordpress.com/ About Roy Mayall: The original posting of this article can be found on the website of The Guardian newspaper: The Guardian: Roy Mayall Says Whilst you're reading that, do tip your hat (should you still be wearing one 40 years after they went out of fashion) to the blogger's cleverly constructed name... Roy Mayall. Now say it faster... Go on, one more time, this time faster.... Again, my apologies for any confusion I may be under, but I thought it worth acknowledging the source of that finely written text.

Most people that come over here are looking for the seedy, not the CD. Reckon he went to the wrong places then...

I would advise the photographer that if they wish to capture the essence of the Northern Soul scene today then they should put away their camera and just exhibit this entire thread instead!

A package sent from UK to me here in the Netherlands on 15th Dec has as yet failed to materialise, but beyond that everything else expected has been received in good time - and that includes items sent from UK, mainland Europe and USA. However, I'm still waiting for a package sent to the USA by registered mail nearly eight weeks ago to reach its destination. I have a brother in the East coast of Scotland who has been a postie for about 25 years. He says that this is the worst winter he's ever experienced on the job. During the worst of it last month it was not possible to get post to and from Edinburgh and backlogs have been enormous. One of the biggest problems beyond the weather, he says, is the online retailer Amazon. They use the Post Office still and the volume of packages going through the postal system in the run up to Xmas is immense. Regardless of volumes or conditions, Amazon expects top service - their own reputation depends on it. Of course, the Post Office could increase its staffing levels, and the UK should be better prepared for wintery conditions - especially in winter! - but arguing around these points won't get packages to their destinations any quicker at present...