Amsterdam Russ

I saw the news of Her Majesty’s passing about half an hour ago and must admit to having shed some tears. Although not directly of course, but Queen Elizabeth II was a part of probably every single day of my 57 years of life on this planet. She was perpetually on the news and in the papers - opening this, visiting that - doing her God-sworn duty and serving her people tirelessly til the end. I’m neither profoundly monarchist nor profoundly anti monarchy. Her Majesty gave a life-time of devoted service - quite literally - and the world is a much sadder place with her demise. God save the Queen.

Just to add something more, next year - 2022 - marks the centenary of the birth of Johnnie Mae Matthews. No better time for a radio-docu and/or a full-blown biopic!

That would be fantastic. She’s long overdue some mainstream recognition.

If you're looking for other ideas/stories to pitch, you could do worse than dig in to the life of singer, songwriter, producer and record label owner, Johnnie Mae Matthews. I've always thought that her life story would make for an excellent biopic - strong and ambitious Afro-American woman trying to make great strides in the male-dominated music world in 1950s/1960s Detroit. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnnie_Mae_Matthews And I'm sure there are members on here who have contact with family members/friends - and indeed, I'm sure some on here would have met the great lady herself.

A few pics from last night's firework display in Aalsmeer. It takes place every year on the first Saturday of September (lockdowns excluded of course!) and is one of the three largest displays in the Netherlands. The fireworks are launched from a barge anchored about 50 metres from shore. It's well worth seeing if you happen to be in the Netherlands at that time of the year. The quality of my pics isn't brilliant as they were taken with my iPhone.

Never experienced that at all. As above, not in my experience.

Background hum? Can't say I've ever noticed a background hum when playing tapes - no matter what the tape player.

Cassettes never completely went away, did they? They just lost popularity over the years and, like vinyl did a decade ago or more, are now enjoying a resurgence of interest and increased sales - as a blog post from Discogs points out: Given the significant growth in interest, particularly among younger music fans, it makes sense that Ace should target the cassette sector. That said, while I still have a twin tape deck as part of my sound system, I very rarely use it, and thus won't be adding to my meagre collection of about 60-or-so aged cassettes. https://blog.discogs.com/en/cassette-trend-popularity-sales-2021/

More info on the show here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001bkr3

Yes, and to the best of my knowledge was put out before the pic sleeve 45 from the box set. On that basis it is therefore the ‘first release’. But others might disagree, and I stand to be corrected.

A family member posted about Johnny McCall's demise on my YT vid of "I need you". Upon replying to the family member with "Sad news. RIP", the response was: "Naw he was a mf..."

Amsterdam IJzijde (waterfront) the other night...

@Fingerpoppinsoul - thanks for inviting me onto the show. Really enjoyed it and hope you, Harry and all the listeners enjoyed my vinyl selections.

1/ You don't own the publishing rights or copyrights. 2/ There's more than one copy of the 45 (NFTs typically work best when the item is unique). 3/ Audio files of the track can be easily had - YouTube and Spotify, for example, and files can be easily copied/shared - thus making the money-making part of the scheme a non-starter. Next...

No!

Insuring record collections is a topic that has been raised on here before. Here’s one thread: And another when you asked the same question back in 2018: And there are a few others to be found here: https://www.soul-source.co.uk/search/?q=Insurance&updated_after=any&sortby=relevancy&search_and_or=and&search_in=titles

Good luck with it. I'm sure it'll sell very well.

All seems straightforward lyrically... Black wings have my angel Satan in high heels Doing the devil's will A walking lesson in love She's got a talent for loving That's my baby But black wings have my angel She's a devil (?? something something??) If she wants to be Giving just a taste of love That she says belongs to me But her smile becomes her so How can I ever let her go Although I know That black wings have my angel Would have been better had I never known her love Or heard her whisper in the dark Could have been better had I never shown my love Or given her my heart Shouldn't have given her my heart She makes my life a (?? something, something?? - could be "a heavy load along a crooked road") Yes she does But she loves me twice on Sundays And thrice on stormy Mondays And I love her Oh, I love her Although I know That black wings have my angel But she's my baby But she's my baby (Fade out on "Have" version) But black wings have my angel But she's my baby Aw, but she's my baby

Congratulations. That’s a remarkable achievement!

After all of that, let's hope you don't POP!

A mighty fine selection from Tom de Jong.

There's a better definition of popular music, ie, pop music, on the Encyclopaedia Britannica website. The bit I'm quoting below is just the part that's directly relevant to this current discussion. https://www.britannica.com/art/popular-music

No, I respect fully - and completely admire - hooker51's perspectives on music and their personal and long-lived experiences. In fact, hooker51 (sorry to talk about you in the detached 3rd-person) comes across as the sort of person I'd love to have a lengthy afternoon's drinking session with. Different opinions on music - discuss. Different backgrounds in terms of youthful musical evolution - discuss. Different perspectives of what "Northern Soul" is based on age - discuss. Give it a few pints and - I like to think - we'd probably find ourselves coming round full circle and agreeing with one another.

So a hopefully chart-bound pop tune becomes "Northern Soul" just because some people on drugs 1,000s of miles away decide so after "they" invent the term long after he recorded his tune?

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pop_music There are better definitions out there than that offered by Wikipedia, but it serves to reinforce the point that all the music we embrace on this forum is pop music first - and soul/R&B, etc, second. Again, the music we celebrate and discuss here on Soul Source is pop music - its just those certain sub-genres of pop music we love.