1. "This is Soul"
an Atlantic compilation that my older sister got in the sixties and played to me over and over again. She was a Mod at the time, I wasn't, I did'nt like the clothes but I liked the music.



2. Rose Batiste "Hit and run"
The first real Northern record I ever heard. Played at a local RAF base Tae Kwon Do club Christmass party in 1973. I got very excited and asked the boys who had given it to the DJ to play what sort of music it was. It didn't sound like the Mod Soul my sister had played then given to me years before.



3. Ron Holden "I'll forgive and forget"
The first rare soul original I bought. It cost me £7 at the Blackpool Mecca in 1975. I had bought a lot of cheap records before this and had already started to DJ at a Sunday night Soul Club in Aberdeen. However £7 was a weeks' wages at the time,this was a big tune that the Wigan DJ's didn't have yet. I had stepped into the big league. People started to travel from Dundee and Edinburgh to hear me play. Oooh! it was exciting,there was no stopping me now. I was 18, I was a man, and I was going to take on the big DJ's down in England.



4. Lonnie Liston Smith "Expansions"
A mate of mine from Aberdeen bought it as an import at the Mecca. He told me this was the future of Black music and I should forget the Northern stuff. Well I couldn't do that,so many records yet to discover,I hadn't made a name for myself,and I loved the Northern sound. I did buy one when it got a UK release and didn't really like it at first,but the girls loved it,and I did want to impress the girls. The more I played it the more hooked I got and wanted more. Until this I had ignored all new releases but now I went daft on buying imports before they reached the UK so I could stay ahead of the other Scottish DJ's. Thing is all my mates with U.S. connections were doing the same. Jazz Funk broke out like a disease all over the Northern scene, it was great.



5. Flamin King " Oh happy day "
Hear we were at a normal Northern all nighter at the Carousel in Manchester. It was 1979,I had stopped taking gear because too many of my friends were dead already. I had just done a twelve hour hitching journey with my aptly named mate Speedy. They were playing all the big tunes from Wigan,all a bit too poppy,Quadrophinia had been out for a while and the place was full of tasteless Mods. Then on came Soul Sam,he made some speach about all the pop shite,and finished by saying all he was going to play was modern Soul. We thought "Aye ! what the fuck is that then" then heaven started to pour out of the speakers. A lot of the Soul scene poopooed this new stuff,but I loved it and started chasing it aswell. This was good timing as Jazz Funk was about to die in favour of the electronic sound which I hated.



6. Junior Thompson " Raw deal "
I was forced by my girlfriend at the time to go to a Rockabilly night. I went in sat down in a huff at having to listen to this rubbish. After about half an hour I thought this music is great. Then on came "Raw Deal". I lept to my feet (that is not an exaggeration) walked up the the record bar and asked one of the dealers what the tune was, how much I would have to pay, and if he had one. He produced a small box of originals,told me he could get me one for about £200,but he was supprised I had not heard the record if I was at the stage of collecting originals. I then explained I had never heard any Rockabilly before, I knew nothing but I understood collecting from the Northern scene,and was suprised that they had re-pros just like us. I then gave him all the money in my pocket and asked him to pick out a pile of the best re-pros including the Junior Thompson.



7. The Soul Saints.
They sent me 4 tunes in one go at first,and I thought Jesus this is mag-fuckin-nificent. These were new recordings of new tunes from Germany and we were in the 90's. Very inspirational.



8. Joseph Henry "Who's the king"
Same as above but this wasn't just good, this was one of the best records I had ever heard,and by this time I had heard a lot.



9. New Mastersounds "It's alright now"
This wasn't as good as number 8,but it was good,and it was the first good record that I had produced.



10. New Mastersounds "Nervous"
Just seeing thousands of people at the Miami festival going wild to it and realising that Funk was about to go
mainstream,Sharon Jones will soon be a superstar,and I had produced this one too.

city you live in?
I live in London

how long you have been collecting?
I started collecting properly in 1973. Before that it was Motown and Atlantic LP's and compilations.

most heart stopping find on a digging session?
Just a few years ago I found Patrinel Statton "Just a little love affair" while out in California with John Manship. He looked at it,didn't listen and told me not to bother as he was sure it was a country record. I listened and thought it was one of the best Soul tunes I had ever heard. I then forced him to listen. "Jesus Christ!" "Fuck me" were the next words out of his mouth. Sadly I had agread that on this trip I took the Funk and he took the Soul. Therefore upon his return he sold it to Soul Sam for a healthy four figure sum and it became a monster on the Soul scene. I got nothing but the thrill of discovering it.

top spots for record hunting?
Top spots now are Japan,Mark Dobson's house,or Lew Stanley's house.
Top spots then were all over the U.S

ebay. good or evil?
E-bay is bad for me as it gives everyone access to rare records but that is just me being selfish. I suppose it is good for everybody,and the prices were skyrocketing before it arrived.

motown or stax?
I've never really been a fan of big labels. Motown tended to be a bit too popish, Stax had too much of a country influence,but they both made some great records in amongst the mass of dull ones.

sneakers or shoes?
Shoes,in a Fifties two tone style.

creole or gumbo?
Anything with shrimp (big prawns to us).

favourite tipple?
A good Bourbon and lots of Coke.

where can people see/hear you play?
Madame Jo Jo's in Soho every Friday. Ceilo's in lower east side Manhattan on the first Thursday of the month. The Appolo in Barcelona on the last Thursday of the month. Then anywhere else I get booked.