Itv S.o.u.l Sounds Of Underground London Ep 7 - Rare Groove

Norman's contribution is disputed, mainly by this  guy. Couldn't find the clip I'd previously seen but its strange this Barry isn't mentioned in the list above, he was as certainly a main player when I was kicking about the west end in the mid eighties. 

Thanks for posting these. There's an interview with Dave Dorrell from 2010 where he's asked ...

So lets go rare groove. Who was the greatest DJ on that scene and why? (Chart above from i-D September ’87)

I’d have to say Barrie Sharpe. I used to warm up for Barrie when the rare groove thing was really kicking in and Rene Gelston had just set up Black Market records, I don’t think it was even a shop, he was a hairdresser and it was just a label in his head at the time, and we got a night at the Wag called Blackmarket and Barrie was the main DJ, Lascelle was playing upstairs and I would warm up downstairs for Barrie, and he would play pretty much two hours of James Brown productions and the full breadth of that was eye-opening. I mean you can’t forget Norman Jay and the Soul II Soul boys as they pulled out some utter gems but in a funny way they weren’t as purist as Barrie. You know if you went to Africa Centre you’d hear Will Powers next to some obscure African funk track and they were throwing things in the mix so they had their own sound so it wasn’t strictly rare groove but Barrie was utterly strict and totally pure.

https://testpressing.wordpress.com/tag/shoom/

I've recently finished reading Norman's autobiography, enjoyed it a lot. Don't remember him mentioning Sharpe though. Will have a closer look.

11 hours ago, Mickey Finn said:

Thanks for posting these. There's an interview with Dave Dorrell from 2010 where he's asked ...

So lets go rare groove. Who was the greatest DJ on that scene and why? (Chart above from i-D September ’87)

I’d have to say Barrie Sharpe. I used to warm up for Barrie when the rare groove thing was really kicking in and Rene Gelston had just set up Black Market records, I don’t think it was even a shop, he was a hairdresser and it was just a label in his head at the time, and we got a night at the Wag called Blackmarket and Barrie was the main DJ, Lascelle was playing upstairs and I would warm up downstairs for Barrie, and he would play pretty much two hours of James Brown productions and the full breadth of that was eye-opening. I mean you can’t forget Norman Jay and the Soul II Soul boys as they pulled out some utter gems but in a funny way they weren’t as purist as Barrie. You know if you went to Africa Centre you’d hear Will Powers next to some obscure African funk track and they were throwing things in the mix so they had their own sound so it wasn’t strictly rare groove but Barrie was utterly strict and totally pure.

https://testpressing.wordpress.com/tag/shoom/

I've recently finished reading Norman's autobiography, enjoyed it a lot. Don't remember him mentioning Sharpe though. Will have a closer look.

There's just a hint of a grudge about who started it I think. It seems odd he's not acknowledged, bet he's not that bothered, must be minted from owning Duffer. 

8 hours ago, Geeselad said:

There's just a hint of a grudge about who started it I think. It seems odd he's not acknowledged, bet he's not that bothered, must be minted from owning Duffer. 

If you dig around online you'll find this story repeated in various places:

Barry was invited by Bobby Byrd and Vicky Anderson on their Japanese tour as a support act DJ accompanying Norman Jay, Jazzie B and Aich B (Soul to Soul). On the tour Bobby Byrd said to Barrie,"I got thank you man, you brought me back from the dead."

http://www.hedonistmagazine.co.uk/barrie-sharpe

Norman tells the story of bringing over Byrd and Anderson to the UK and driving them around in his dad's Cortina. Marco Nelson and Femi Fem are part of all this. This was after a bootleg of "Cross the tracks" b/w Jackson Sisters' "I believe in miracles" had been put together by "Femi, Marco and myself - the Ealing posse" and was so successful it made it into the chart. Off the back of that they contacted Cliff White at Polydor who put them in touch with Byrd and Anderson in Cincinnati. During one of their car trips in London Eric B and Rakim's "I know you got soul" is playing on the radio and the hosts are going crazy about the Bobby Byrd sample, with Bobby sitting in the back quite chuffed about it while Vicky is quickly taking notes about how to get royalties. Off the back of a highly successful UK appearance at the Town & Country Club there's a European tour organised by a German promoter who was at the London gig. At this point in the story Norman and co. seem to drop out. Nowhere is Barrie Sharpe mentioned.