New York - A City With Soul by Declan Donnelly

 New York. As far as I am concerned is one of the most fabulous cities in the world! Over the past few years I have been privilieged to visit this city. Luckily my visits there, apart from taking in the sites, doing the round of the shops on 5th Avenue has been to investigate what remains of New Yorks record stores. According to those in the know in the last 5 years or so alone 80 record stores have closed in that city. Quite a staggering amount to those of us interested in adding to our collections some of those more elusive vinyl 45's. In this context of course, I could only be talking about one of my favourite pursuits, collecting those Northern Soul 45's. As a result of collecting I have become become friends with a number of record dealers in that metropolis.

Located on what I think is classed as the Lower East Side of Manhattan at 521, East 12th Street is Big City Records. You will be given a warm welcome by Jared Boxx one of the owners and his able assistant Chris Barrett. This record store caters for most tastes in music, and both Jared and Chris are very knowledgeable. They also have lots of northern soul for sale. Now, before you try and buy your scheduled B.A. or Virgin flight and hot foot it out there to look in their store for those rarities, don't. You won't find them. Both Jared and Chris, are not only afficionados of that genre but they are also Northern Soul DJ's. So, they will have snaffled any of those real rarities that may find their way to that shop. But, do not let that put you off. I have found a number of excellent singles there in recent years, that still figure in Mr Manships guide books, and are reasonably priced. My advice, if you are in NYC, go pay them a visit.

I mentioned they are both DJ's of Northern Soul. They are both in their early 30's! Work out the dates for yourselves. I was cordially invited by them to visit and listen to their gig. This takes place every Tuesday, from 10pm-4am at Savalas' Bar located in Brooklyn at Bedford Avenue. Take the L train ( the grey line), alight at Bedford Avenue, turn left from the subway and it is about a 10 minute walk. I guarantee you will have a great evening. What I noticed was the apparent youthfulness of the crowd that was getting in to listen to the sounds being played. Top tune for Jared at the time I spoke to him was Frederick Hymes III, Time Ain't Gonna Do me No Favor" (Fab-Vegas). A great ballad, and one I have not yet laid my hands on. When I spoke with Chris, I believe his favourite at the time was "Put The Hurt On You". Trouble is I can't recall if he liked the Herbs or Little Herman's version. Still, he can tell me when I return. Savalas' itself is a cosy venue. A long bar area, seating and the DJ booth are off to the right. A dance floor similar in size to our own one at the City. All in all a pleasant evening was had. I have even been invited back to DJ! Can't be bad.

On the subject of buying records and Brooklyn. Last year I happened to buy a few records from Mike Vegh who is a dealer located in Los Angeles. He happened to send me a flyer for a soul event taking place in Brooklyn on August Bank Holiday Week-end. As luck would have it myself and my wife, Claire, were due to be in NYC that week-end. I was able to book tickets for the Brooklyn Soul Festival for that Friday. Heading the Bill was Barbara Lynn and supporting her was Roscoe Robinson and Herman Hitson. The promoter is a Michael Robinson. Now this gentleman also runs another soul night , appropriately called Dig Deeper at a place called the Five Spot. This is located at 459 Myrtle Avenue@Washington Avenue, Ft. Greene, Brooklyn. A full report on the venue and interviews with Mr Robinson and his fellow promoter DJ Honky was reported in the March 2009 issue of There's That Beat.

The venue for the appearance of Ms Lynn et al was also situated in Brooklyn, at the Bell House. Must be something about Brooklyn and soul venues. On our arrival the queues were out the door, the venue inside was packed. As I mentioned in the article above, regarding Jared and Chris, what really struck me was the youthfulness of those listening to the likes of Ms Lynn, Mr Hitson and Mr Robinson. Some would not even have been born when we were gyrating and back flipping at the Casino, Cleethorpes or wherever. Just goes to show, may be America is at last cottoning on to all that fantastic music that has been recorded there but never got played or even saw the light of day.

On entering the packed arena, Herma Hitson was just concluding his set. Roscoe Robinson gave us a few of his most well known songs and certainly did a powerful rendition of his Northern hit, That's Enough. Albeit I think he got annoyed with the band at one stage, as their tempo didn't quite synch with his notes! Still, I take my hat off he has still got it. On that same note, Barbara Lynn, what a really great songstress. Like you I will have heard many of her songs, and bear in mind how long ago these were recorded. Ms Lynn captivated us all with an energy that all of us would be proud to have. She strutted her stuff on that stage, white guitar in hand and boy can she sing. Her repertoire that night included gutsy renditions of "You Left the Water Running" (Tribe 8319), Take Your Love and Run (Atlantic 2812), Trying to Love Two (Ichiban 142) and of course many others and some that quite frankly I had not heard before. Whatever the song Ms Lynn got a very appreciative audience rocking. Hopefully this will not be the last soul event that Michael Robinson puts on. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and I think Claire did too. Remember if you go to New York, the Northern Soul scene is alive and well. Good hunting for those records too!