How long have you been collecting?
Since my late teens, so just over 20 years which, on reflection, feels very weird because on paper that is a very long time but in my mind, I still feel new to it all.
Do you remember your first buy?
I don’t, but I remember my first ‘significant’ buy, one that was over £50 (you know the panic and exhilaration you have when you breach a figure that years earlier you swore you would never do). That was Claude “Baby” Huey – Drifting on M.I.O.B. I played it at the close of the first Manchester European Soul Weekender in 2011. It was the final record of the entire Eurocultured Weekend, which the Soul Weekender was affiliated with. What a feeling that was. Sharing the decks with Liam and looking out at a packed room at what was then Pure Space on New Wakefield St, Manchester.
What’s your favourite record in your box?
Almost impossible for me to say, I like different records for different reasons and at different times. I suppose one I never tire of is Fred Moss – I’ll Always Love You on Vanessa Records or Bill Murphy Plus One – Ain’t no Big Thing on Detroit’s Martin Music Label.
Which record do you regret selling the most?
I was never one for selling records unless I had doubles. I tend to buy what I like and kept them. A few years ago though I did sell a few and bought a canal boat. So, I don’t regret the sales but I sold a few that now when I hear them mentioned, I wish I still had. Two that come to mind are, Boco – Running the Mardi Gras on Laughing Eye Records and Sir Henry Ivy – He Left You Standing There on Future Dimension Records, both very different but in the right moment are real head turners.
What’s your fave all time soul club?
Oddly enough considering the length of time I’ve been heavily involved in running and promoting soul nights/weekenders, I’ve never been one for travelling both regionally and nationally every other weekend to visit different soul cubs. That’s always been a part of this lifestyle I’ve never really been too active in for one reason or another. Saying that though, I have travelled to soul weekenders across Europe and have been fortunate to play at some of my favs, including Deep Cliffs Weekender (Albufeira), For Dancers Only (Hamburg), Pow City (Dublin), Soulastatic (Gothenburg), Soul City (Cologne) and various events in Zurich with Fu & Mad Mike. I really love the wide spectrum of music at these events, also the amazing venues and places the weekenders are hosted in and if I had to pick a fave… it would be when I visited Italy for the Lebowski Scooter parties with Aldo and his crew. Bellissimo!
What’s your all time want?
Sag Warfare – Don’t Be So Jive on Libra Records I remember hearing it at the Hamburg Weekender in 2013 and then Pat Bleasdale played it at a night I ran with Brett Franklin in Manchester, called Soul Explosion. Short lived but much fun.
