Some great points there Richard, the "researching and hunting down" aspect applies to a lot of genuine soul buffs but as has been previously suggested, some people don,t have an ear for a sound and just follow what the so called names play, its always bugged me when so and so plays a record, the response seems to be "well if he's playing it it must be a good record" when in actual fact a "lesser name" can play the exact same record and it goes almost ignored, example being The Flairs, "You got to Steal it", I have immense respect for the guy who played it, but its a record that has been around for years (flip is incredible) and aired numerous times by collector/ DJ,s, then all of a sudden theres a mad scramble for it, sad really.
Kev