Amsterdam Russ

Here's a link to the broadcast scheduling. However... at the moment the link to the northern soul prom on Saturday is not working. Should be worth checking back later. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/Nv86dGXjPQr1GQxQTfgWYS According to the Royal Albert Hall... But that doesn't say if Saturday is being broadcast on telly or not! https://www.royalalberthall.com/about-the-hall/news/2023/april/programme-announced-for-bbc-proms-2023/ <Added> Just checked the Saturday iPlayer schedules for BBC 1, 2, 3 & 4 and there are no proms that I can see. Will have to wait for that broken link to be fixed!

Oh, please, no dancers! They’ll only be portrayed in baggy trousers, vests and circle skirts - exactly like the float on the Queen’s Jubilee. We can all do without that! Good interpretations of classics, and a crowd that dances in whatever way they like as they feel the music - that’ll be plenty.

As I mentioned a few posts ago, there are going to be five singers. There might be a couple of instrumentals, but anticipate most will be sung.

I see from the event page info that where we initially thought the programme would consist of just orchestrated instrumentals, there will in fact be singers. They are: Vulu Malinga, Brendan Reilly, Nick Shirm, Darrell Smith, Frida Mariama Touray That's two black female singers and three white males. Can't say I've heard of any of them. As per the link above, songs will include You're gonna make me love you, Open the door to your heart, It really hurts me girl, Hold back the night (?), Time will pass you by, and Just like the weather.

Already discussed awhile back…

For such a small city, Amsterdam is stuffed with record shops - 27 at the last count! https://www.plaatzaken.nl/overzicht-platenzaken/nederland#amsterdam Of those, preferred choices would be: City Records, Record Mania, Redlight Records, Waxwell, and Zap.

What makes you speculate that?

Please do excuse my ignorance, but what is a "Funeral Celebrant", how do you get a diploma in it, and what does a "Northern Soul themed celebration of life..." including "Sharing the wonderful experiences of the soul scene" involve? This is completely new to me, so I'm really curious.

I did the same some years back with an issue of The Imaginations ‘Strange neighborhood’. Damp tea towel over the vinyl and the iron on the lowest setting. It worked!

This has been discussed before and I found a few threads… https://www.soul-source.co.uk/search/?&q=Insurance&type=forums_topic&quick=1&nodes=2,1&search_and_or=and&search_in=titles&sortby=relevancy

I'm still not convinced.

I disagree. The shoulder markings identify it as a chaffinch. And it's overall size and particularly its shape are not that of a gold crest. But, up to you - much like the wasp in an earlier pic - what you think it is, is what it is. No worries.

The first of your two unidentified is a chaffinch - possibly a juvenile bird not in full plumage. Can't quite make out the second, but likely a common species such as a chiff-chaff, sedge or reed warbler.

In the days when the P&O northern soul cruises organised by Keith Fletcher used to come from Hull to NL midweek twice a year, a chum here always organised a mini dayer in Amsterdam for anyone interested. They were invariably packed with punters from the boat. That took place on a Thursday afternoon (12 til 5pm when those on the cruise had to head back to the boat), so afternoon soul events are nothing new as far as I'm concerned. Always great fun, the mini dayers also gave me the opportunity to take a sales box and make a few Euros. Happy days!

And on the left-hand side it states “Manufactured by Artone Holland”.

Didn't know it was 30 years NOW - thought it was later in the year, as per the 25th anniversary, which was in November! Congratulations to you both - 30 years of broadcasting soul music over the radio airwaves of Amsterdam and then reaching global audiences through the internet - it's a phenomenal achievement!

I see no reason to believe this is not a genuine test press. It's been suggested that the 'wonky' (my word) stamped matrix number is suspicious, and indeed the fact the matrix is stamped rather than etched raises further concerns. However, if you look at the image below of the runout on Billy Butler's 'Found true love', you can clearly see that a) it is stamped, and b) it's wonky. In fact, it's almost identically wonky on both horizontal and vertical planes as the test press. It's as good as a fingerprint at a crime scene. Beyond the similar wonkiness, we also know as fact from this scan, the one uploaded earlier, and relevant comments, that OKeh 45s did have stamps, thus the stamp on the test press isn't without precedent. The scan of The Vibrations 'Soul a-go-go' is from 1966, and is stamped. My copy of The Vibrations 'Together'/'Come to yourself' is also stamped and was released in 1967 (and prefixed with a 'J, as is my 1965 copy of their 'Finding out the hard way'). The Seven Souls is from 1967. Further: The label release number of The Seven Souls is 4-7289. The label release number of The Vibrations 'Together'/'Come to yourself' is 4-7297, thus indicating it was released after the Seven Souls. My thinking is that OKeh used more than one pressing plant at which 45s at one would have a stamped matrix and at the other plant (presuming there were only two) the matrix was etched in. Alternatively, there could have been a period of transition where the label was moving the pressing of material from one plant to another - but did a phased move over a period of time. Possibly 'Pressing plant A' was scheduled to press The Seven Souls, but at the last minute it went to 'Pressing plant B'. What is puzzling is the fact that the test press is single-sided. It could simply have been a quality control issue where someone at either the plant or the label though it worth double checking the sound fidelity of the B-side and requested a 'from the press' cut of it. It could be that single-sided test presses were not uncommon when coming from Plant A or Plant B. That said, one would have anticipated more single-sided test presses from OKeh to have surfaced. Regardless, we might never know the exact details, but to me all the info points to the disc being a genuine artefact, one that is highly unusual and possibly unique.

I think I could stand the loss of any material objects, although the burden of the loss would be greater for some things than others. The loss I'd feel the most would be for photos, specifically the 1000s of digital pics (close to 200GB) I've taken over nearly 20 years. Storing them on a Cloud server is a simple solution, and I've had a 50GB free account with Mega for a number of years, so I guess it's just a case of getting round to upgrading that account and ensuring digital peace of mind.

Just posted it to throw into the mix as no one else had. As you say, lots of confused connections and assumptions. "Maybe or maybe not" sums it all up in a nutshell

Don't think I've seen this 1958 publicity pic of Big Chuck Wood posted in this thread. Apologies if I missed it. Source: https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/big-chuck-wood-of-big-chuck-wood-and-the-woodchuckers-poses-news-photo/74301444

RIP - one of the greatest. Interesting but uninformed perspectives on her huge legacy from various new sources, including one from the BBC (see below). I read one that stated her name was Anne Annie Bullock! Like all news sources, they only see Tina in terms of her chart success, and not the impact she had across her whole career (including the advancement of the careers of the various Ikettes), whether in those early hard, hard times, or as her fantabulously reinvented self. RIP one of the last great legends. https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-65672639

Euronews has compiled a list of what it considers to be the best European films of the 21st century so far. An interesting selection. I've only seen seven of them, so plenty to catch up on. What about you? https://www.euronews.com/culture/2023/05/15/celebrating-the-best-european-films-of-the-21st-century

Popsike listings for this show just four copies since 2007. The last one sold in 2015 for £2601, which is a bargain compared to yesterday's copy which in GBP went for £8,125.13...

They all work for me via Safari on my iPad. Maybe a browser issue on your laptop. But, at least you found the on Mixcloud.

Here you go... Taco Fett - set 1: Hans Diepstraten - set 1: Mark Fisher - set 1: @Tlscapital Timmy - set 1: Taco Fett - set 2: Hans - set 2: Mark Fisher - set 2: Timmy - set 2: PS: I'm not involved with these events - just wanted to make sure the links gave access to the excellent music played.