1.
AIN'T NOBODY - RUFUS AND CHAKA KHAN
Picture the scene...its 1983 and the barn
in braintree is typically primed for an almighty punch-up, suddenly
something heavenly is heard over the sound system and all bottles
are gently placed back on the tables...this pissed over everything
i heard for the next seven years, apart from JB of course who could
easily fill my chart by himself.
2. IRON LEG - MICKEY AND THE SOUL
GENERATION
Fast forward to 1990, a garry dennis essex
knees-up is in full swing when the cheeky chappy drops this and
i'm left scratching my head. Sweaty palmed fever quickly followed...
3. BOLD SOUL SISTER - IKE AND
TINA TURNER
See above.
4. REACH OUT (AND GIVE ME YOUR HAND)
- TICKLED PINK
Still my favourite tune of the last year,
possibly of all time, i had trouble keeping calm when this was played
down the phone to me by ben downing a couple of years ago. Thank
god it was a bit too 'weird' for him so it was very shortly winging
its way over to essex, and contrary to some reports always packs
the floor.
5. BABY DON'T CRY - THIRD GUITAR
I've always pointed the finger at keb for
starting the price explosion in funk 45's, but maybe me paying john
anderson £50 for this in 1993 didn't help much either. Stupid
boy.
6. THE HATCH - TMG'S
Which ultimately leads to this, the most expensive
45 i've shelled out on. Hopefully there aren't too many like this
lurking round the corner.
7. DON'T GO - ARISTOCRATS
After failing to trade a copy of 'the hatch' from matt weingarden
in NY three years ago, i descended aggressively on another collector,
the notorious glenn bivens, who had just got this in. It ended up
costing me my spare copies of salt and soul generals, pretty hefty
at the time but then no-one has managed to turn another copy up
since and nailing this haunting 45 made compiling Sister Funk a
lot sweeter.
8. YOU BETTER STOP IT - BARBARA MASON
Upon hearing this i decided that maybe northern soul wasn't so bad
after all, except that of course this crossover masterpiece is probably
rarely played at northern nights. Why? Because its too bloody good
for 'em, and yes, its about time i got some hate mail.
9. THE DANCE MAN - KEISA BROWN
For some unknown reason keb quietly traded his copy of this, my
favourite female 45, to snowboy a few years back and i was not amused.
So when it popped up on ebay out of the blue one sunday morning
last year, the mantis quickly went to work and secured a offline
deal with the helpless seller. Sister Funk 2 could not go ahead
without this, that's of course if it ever comes out.
10. SHE'S GONE - HAMILTON MOVEMENT
I must confess some of these soul-y tunes usually take time to grow
on me, but the minute i heard keb play this it all fell into place,
the heartfelt intro had already grabbed my attention and the tune
itself is pretty damn funky anyway. Acquired at a pre-hype price
last year, on ebay naturally.
city you live in?
chelmsford
how long you have been collecting?
funk 45's 15 years everything else 30
most heart stopping find on a digging session?
carleen, salt, king cain and believers in a collection in boston
.
Top spots for record hunting?
ebay, where else?!
ebay. good or evil?
very, very good
motown or stax?
definitely motown
sneakers or shoes?
being a essex boy, shoes (grensons)
creole or gumbo?
i eat anything.
favourite tipple?
at the moment hoegarden, jd + coke
where can people see/hear you play?
most friday nights in a drunken mess at the 2 brewers, chelmsford,
occasional nights at saks in southend, next big gig at powder rooms,
barcelona 19th june
anything to add?
when that sweaty palm fever you get when you're waiting for a tasty
tune to come through finally wears off, its time to call it a day...
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