Mark Baxter

My latest guest to be washed ashore on a lonely island in the sea is writer Mark Baxter... a former shop and club owner with a passion for '60s clothing, Tubby Hayes and Millwall Football Club.

Whilst employed in a succession of admin jobs in the newspaper and property industry, Bax has also lead another life as a DJ, event organiser, managing musicians and writer. 

"My mentor in the world of writing is Paolo Hewitt. I first met Paolo properly in 2000. Since then we have collaborated on three books. The first, 'The Fashion of Football', was voted as one of the top 50 football books of all time by 442 magazine. 

Our second book, 'The Mumper', has been made into a feature length film, called 'Outside Bet' which hit the cinemas in the UK on April 27th 2012. Starring Bob Hoskins, Jenny Agutter, Calum MacNab and Phil Davies. Distributed by Universal Pictures.

Our third book was published through Prestel in May 2012 and is called 'The A-Z of Mod' with a foreword by actor Martin Freeman

I have also had a local history book published called 'Walworth Through Time' written with Darren Lock. This looks at the area of SE17, and has sold extremely well locally. A second volume was published in June 2012 and a new third volume is due at the end of 2014

A six month exhibition based on our book The Fashion of Football run at The National Football Museum in Manchester til August 2013.

A new novel called 'Elizabeth, Peter and Me' was published on November 18th 2013 on Mono Media Books."

Tony Bennett - The Best Is Yet To Come

"My exposure to music in the first place, would have been through my dad. On Sunday mornings, he would put on the songs as he got ready to go out for a few pints of the lunchtime and among the tunes I would hear back then ( I was born in 1962)  would be the 'pop' sounds of the mid late 60s, such as The Beatles and Motown with all the stops in between. 

However, he was also a well known pub/club singer in and around South East London where I grew up and he loved the likes of Sinatra/Tony Bennett/Eddie Fisher and especially Nat King Cole. I would often end up at his  venues with him as a kid and was soaked in the standards that he would sing. A group of his pals would always be there and one song that has stuck as a sort of anthem for those days is 'The Best Is Yet To Come' by Tony Bennett, a song I still love and one that reminds me of the old man immediately (Sadly he died in the year 2000).  I constantly thank him for that musical education."

Gladys Knight & The Pips - Giving Up

"I have a distinct memory of running around my school playground in the late 60's singing 'Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch' over and over again, and songs like that one and others from the Motown stable still get me every time to this day when I hear them. 

One artist who I'm particularly fond of is Gladys Knight who along with her Pips, made some crackers, one of which I'm having as track two. 'Giving Up' is a song I have seen them do live (from gig in Harlem in 1969 I believe) and everything about it, from the dance routine, to the suits The Pips are wearing, to the vocal performances are different class. Great song too."

The Jam - Butterfly Collector

"By 1979, I was finding myself immersed in the second generation Mod thing. We saw Quadrophenia at the cinema and then I was identifying with the sounds/look and ultimately the lyrics of The Jam. 

Paul Weller became like the older brother I didn't have and I read anything about him in print religiously and through that I picked up on his nods towards other music and his influences, like The Small Faces and The Who. 

When I think back to The Jam though, it isn't the obvious songs I remember however, like 'Going Underground', 'Tube Station' or 'Eton Rifles'. I seem to think more fondly of 'English Rose' and my third choice 'Butterfly Collector'. Clever lyrics that showed a deeper depth and a sign of what was to come from PW in the future."

Tubby Hayes - Dear Johnny B

"I was by now also discovering Jazz and Northern Soul, being often tipped off on a tune by older lads I was now dodging about with and I was buying as much as I could afford. 

I became a member of Ronnie Scott's Club when aged 23 I think and saw many of the jazz greats there and at other venues. People like Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie and Art Blakey.

Jazz takes care of my third choice and I've gone for a UK player. I just love the sound of our guys. Ronnie Scott himself was a tremendous tenor man. Phil Seaman was an amazing drummer and Stan Tracey was a genius on the piano (please check out 'Starless and Bible Black') But for me the true great to come from these shores is Tubby Hayes. 

I discovered Tubby on a Paul Murphy compilation album in the mid 80s and have steadily bought his vast back catalogue ever since. His ultimate album is 'Mexican Green' and the tune from that, that I used to play at full volume on my early shifts when I was working in a West End mail room is 'Dear Johnny B'. 

I am in the middle of making a documentary on Tubby to coincide with what would have been his 80th birthday in 2015."

Sam Fletcher - I'd Think It Over

"I always love hearing a new Northern track and I heard my final choice when I saw the play 'Once Upon A Time In Wigan' at The Greenwich Theatre a few years ago now. I knew a lot of the tunes in the show, but 'I'd Think It Over' by Sam Fletcher hit me like a bolt out of the blue. I love the simple but oh so plaintive arrangement and the sumptuous strings backing that great vocal. I NEVER grow tired of it."

...

'Hello, my name's Vinny, Vinny Hawkins. I'm an old man now, in my seventies and live in sheltered housing, but when I was twenty-one in 1962, I was out and about, ducking and diving. One day I was dodging about in Soho back then and bumped into an Italian hotel porter mate of mine who told me about this world famous actress who was well known for being, shall we say, casual with her jewellery. Always leaving it all over the place she was. Anyway, up a drainpipe I go and I managed to get my hands on some of those gems. This was the best result I'd ever had. These beauties were worth a fortune and would be my pension. Only, things then went all wobbly on me. All going well and then bosh! My 'fence' has a death in the family with his old mum passing over and my gems seemingly going with her... I got my collar felt for a previous job that earned me a ten stretch and me and that jewellery parted company. When I left prison, I went straight, then retired and moved in here. But, fifty years later, those gems suddenly became important to me and I need to get my hands on them again. To do it, to get them back will involve grave robbing and cracking a safe, but you know what? I think I can do it... The question is, do you?' 

'Elizabeth, Peter and Me' is published by Mono Media Books and is available from Amazon and other major booksellers...  follow the link below :

Mark continues to PR for Bar Italia, Threadneedle Tailors, Delicious Junction Footwear, Gibson London clothing, John Simons Apparel Company, Gama Clothing, Peckham Rye clothing and Nicholson and Walcot 'Hand Made In London'. He also specialises in Brand awareness through the use of social media on various short term contracts.

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Vincent The Soul Chef

I am honoured to have Baltimore's Vincent The Soul Chef as my latest guest castaway, washed ashore on a lonely island in the sea.

Who is The Soul Chef ?

"I'm just a cratedigger who broke into the game way too late as I've said many times before. Although my musical education began with a stack of 45's given to me by my mom and uncles some four decades ago, there are still so many more lessons yet to learn. That first box of records I got as a kid brought so much joy for many years until I finally wore them out...

...and then I started to buy my own records.

I would spend my weekly allowance buying the latest soul 45's from the local department store. It was a ritual that would serve me well for many years to come. Whenever I would go to someone's house, I would always ask if they had records. If they did, I would gravitate toward the collection and study them like textbooks, looking at all the information contained on the labels and covers. I soaked it all up like a sponge, waiting for the golden opportunity to go to the stores and buy my own copies of what I saw.

...then I needed a quality record player.

My mother gave me her old Panasonic. It was a start, but then my uncle came home from the service with his amazing Pioneer components which he still owns to this very day. He boasts about the fact that he hasn't turned them off in decades and they still perform as good as they did when he first took it out if the box way back in the 70's. I would beg him to let me use it, but he said no. Being young and stupid, I would sneak a play or two in when he wasn't home. Of course I got caught, and I got in trouble to boot...

...the education got serious.

I learned those lessons well. I saved my money and bought some better equipment, and of course, I bought more records. At this time, MTV was a brand new invention which opened my eyes and ears to a wealth of new sounds... I learned about New Wave, and surprisingly, I went back in time and discovered the classics, rock and jazz to be specific . My taste in music matured, and subsequently my record collection grew. Even better, the public library turned out to be a valuable reference point where I could borrow lots of vinyl and make good use of the "try before you buy" credo. Eventually, I got a part time job which allowed me the luxury of buying way more records than my small bedroom could handle comfortably. I didn't care though, I wanted the records, and they sounded great on my equipment. Of course, as luck would have it, I had to have better. I started to learn how to mix records like the Hip Hop DJs I saw on television. Sadly, I only had one turntable at the time, but that would soon change...

I bought my first kit...

I started off with two mismatched decks, a cheap mixer and a reasonably powerful system, most of which was secondhand or donated. My taste in music had continued to evolve by this point. I had all the tools necessary to do it just like the personalities I heard on the radio, and I also frequented the nightclubs too, so I quickly became fascinated by watching the DJs up in the booth... I discovered more new and exciting genres, especially Gothic and Alternative, thanks to the circle of friends I hung out with at the time. Compact discs were also coming into their own, so as luck would have it, I grew a huge collection quickly. It didn't hurt that I had landed a dream job working at a record store! I learned about even more different types of music as a result of that experience; it certainly helped that I could afford buying all these new sounds because I got a great discount.

When digital recording became affordable...

I immediately bought a machine. I had been making cassette tapes for over a decade by this point. Tapes sounded great, but when I heard my first mini disc recording... WOW! I could manipulate the recordings after they were done to make them sound just right, too?!? Before, if I made a mistake on a tape, I had to start over. That was so frustrating. I am so glad that someone took the time to develop the technology that would carry me into the new millennium and the future...

Here is where all of my hard work finally pays off...

I finally learned about the power of computer technology, and how to use that power to make my music sound even better by restoring scratchy records and creating high definition audio files, and that subsequently led to crafting high quality mixtapes. That elevated my game in ways I couldn't have imagined just a few years prior, Surprisingly enough, the internet also gave me the opportunity to come full circle, meaning that my music tastes evolved to the point where I rediscovered the old sounds that I loved so much as a kid. That of course is largely due to the countless number of blogs that I had found and continue to follow wherever possible... Not only was I able to restore most of the old records that I destroyed back in the 70's, but I was privileged to meet a whole lot of good people from every corner of the globe who have the same common goal as I do.

That brings me to right here and now. After close to seven years of blogging, learning and sharing, here (www.fufustew.com) is my lasting contribution to the cause; a hopeful legacy that I am extremely proud to have built from scratch. I sincerely hope that you all enjoy the content found within the pages as it is truly a labour of love."

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"Call me an armchair DJ, yes. Call me a lover of music, definitely. I've been collecting music in many and varied formats seriously since I was fifteen, but my real education began when I was five. I've told that story more than once, and will tell it again in its entirety very soon. For all intents and purposes, and to seriously limit myself to five records, I will try to choose one tune from each decade that just floored me and changed my life."

Gladys Knight & The Pips - Got Myself A Good Man 

"In the 70's the one disc that got me started on my quest would have to be 'Got Myself A Good Man' by Gladys Knight & The Pips. It was just one of the many 45's that were handed down to me by my mom and uncles back in 1973. The funk that emanates from this side still just does things to my soul after all this time. The other side may have been the hit ('The Nitty Gritty'), but good God almighty... "

Cocteau Twins - Lorelei

"In the 80's, the amount of music I was exposed to was so varied that it is really hard to pinpoint just one tune. New Wave and Goth permeated my very being during this period, so I will have to choose one of my all time favourite tunes featuring my all time favourite singer, Liz Fraser. At that time the Cocteau Twins were basically all I listened to, so 'Lorelei' has to be the obvious choice. From arguably their best album 'Treasure'."

Spanky & Our Gang - Like To Get To Know You

"In the 90's, I met a woman who introduced me to what we now know as golden oldies. The local station at the time forced me to spend a grip on reissue 45's, all of which I still treasure to this day. The one that stands out above all the rest has got to be Spanky & Our Gang's "Like To Get To Know You". It could have also been "Pretty Ballerina" from The Left Banke, but that would go against the format... "

Rotary Connection - Respect

"At the turn of the century, I was still enamoured by the oldies, but it was then that I discovered and started to acquire Rotary Connection albums and 45's. Without a doubt, the most important track from this grossly underrated Chicago outfit has got to be their cover of Otis Redding's 'Respect'. This version fits in right nicely with the Neo-Soul tunes that were also dominating my listening time, and rightly so since I still contend that the late Minnie Riperton is the unnamed godmother of the movement."

Lyman Woodard Organization - Creative Musicians

"Finally we come to the present day, and my current collection of rare Funk and Soul 45's are basically all I play anymore. There's no conceivable way that I can narrow it down to one favourite track from the assortment of records I've bought since 2003, but if it were an all or nothing decision, I would have to choose 'Creative Musicians' from The Lyman Woodward Organization. Hands down, it is the embodiment of what makes rare funk 45's so appealing in my opinion, plus it has such a wonderful organ groove... "

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If you have enjoyed Vincent's distinctive music choices, then you will love picking up on his mixtapes... click on the banners below to visit some of his excellent sites :

The Soul Chef's Fufu Stew on Mixcloud

The Fufu Stew Blog

Vincent The Soul Chef on Facebook

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Robin McKelle

My latest guest castaway to be washed ashore on a lonely island in the sea is the wonderfully talented Robin McKelle.

 

Born in Rochester, New York and influenced musically by her church-choir-member mother, Robin first began to reveal her talent by performing in local R&B groups from the age of 15. 

After taking up the piano and French horn, she would go on to study Jazz at the University Of Miami before attending Boston’s prestigious Berklee College of Music, graduating in 1999. Moving to the West Coast she would regularly perform as a backing-vocalist for both Michael McDonald and BeBe Winans before subsequently returning to Berklee as a teacher. 

After being placed an impressive third in the widely-respected Thelonius Monk International Jazz Vocal Competition in Washington, DC, Robin finally begin her recording career – first coming to the public eye as a solo jazz singer with her 2006 debut album “Introducing Robin McKelle” and its 2008 follow-up “Modern Antique”, both big-band swing sessions which would in turn precede the 2010-released set “Mess Around”, which, with its more soul-jazz direction, marked the first hint of Robin’s personal yearning to return to her original R&B roots. 

2012 saw the release of Robin McKelle & The Flytones "Soul Flower", with Robin writing most of the songs.  “The Flytones acknowledgment sets this project apart from my solo and previous jazz work, and also stresses the joint effort on this album with Sam Barsh (Avishai Cohen’s former pianist) and Derek Nievergelt (her current bassist). They’re from the jazz world, but they love this music. We worked on the tracks together, some even on stage when we were touring.”  The album includes duets with soul veteran Lee Fields and with jazz vocalist Gregory Porter.

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"As an artist I am often asked the question of who my greatest influences are and what are my favorite albums or singers. I always cringe when asked this question because I feel that aside from being influenced by so many singers and musicians, I am inspired by different artists/music at different periods of my life. This makes it hard for me to pick 1 or 2 people when asked. 

Over the past year I’ve been focusing on writing and recording a new album in Memphis. While writing and researching for this album I listened to so many of my favorite artists and discovered new ones too !

I’ve compiled a few of my favorites so I hope you enjoy what I’ve been diggin’ on !"

Donny Hathaway – Live

"Donny is one of the most influential singers in my life. His tone, feel, and passion are so incredible. His phrasing is so in the pocket and yet so free. 

The band includes legendary musicians, Willie Weeks (bass) and Cornell Dupree (Guitar) on this live recording… and make no mistake, they are all killing it! 

I love all the tracks on this album but What’s Going On, The Ghetto and Jealous Guy all hit a soft spot in me and take me back to the time when I discovered Donny. He changed my life."

James Brown – Get Up (I Feel Like Being a) Sex Machine

"What can you say about JB ! I remember hearing this at a young age… I didn’t even know who JB was. I sang I Feel Good in a cover band when I was 17 and I had NO idea how much this man would end up influencing my musical path! 

His voice is so powerful and stage presence is undoubtedly amazing! THE hardest working man in show business people!!!

It was hard to pick one song or album, because I love them all so I chose this iconic tune but I especially love the live recordings because I feel that is where you can feel most of his energy and the band !"

Aretha Franklin - Live at the Filmore West

"Just so ridiculous ! 

I mean… the voice, the band, the energy is just incredible ! I would have given anything to be at that show! 

‘Nuff said !"

Gladys Knight & The Pips - Midnight Train to Georgia

"I just love Gladys’ voice. Her phasing and tone is so gorgeous. I could listen to her forever. 

I also love the lyrics because they speak about life and trying to manage your dreams and relationships. 

Gladys is one of my all time favorite singers ! 

This tune just makes me feel good !"

John Coltrane – A Love Supreme

"I had to include this album because it was the first instrumental jazz record that I really connected to. Jazz is such a part of my musical journey and it’s helped me to become a better musician and shaped my sound along the way. 

Love Supreme is so beautiful in so many ways. Coltrane’s tone is unmistakable and he plays with such passion. On the first track, Acknowledgement, the variation on the motif evolves with improvisation and groove and I found that really kept me interested and helped me understand a music that was probably way too deep for me to get as a young musician. 

Every time I listen to this album I hear something new and I hear it in a different way. It’s just a timeless album."

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Vinyl junkies will be delighted to learn that Expansion Records have released "Fairytale Ending" (for me, the standout track on the "Soul Flower" album) as a double A-side 7" c/w "Love’s Work" featuring Gregory Porter.

 

January 2014 will see the release of "Heart of Memphis" : An album recorded in the city of Soul and produced by the legendary Scott Bomar... the man behind the mixing console for many of Isaac Hayes’ and Al Green’s recording sessions.

 

Use iTunes link to to pre-order "Heart of Memphis"

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Johnny Pearson

My guest castaway this week is Johnny Pearson, presenter of one of my favourite weekly soul shows, the 'Record Room' on Starpoint Radio.

Johnny's show features rare soul from the 60's, 70's and 80's on it's original format.......vinyl. Podcasts of the 'Record Room' episodes are made available on Podbean.

"Five deserted island discs, easy right?   No........

I have one all time favorite record that hasn't changed for years, so that's a start, the other four are causing me all sorts of trouble.

So I've had to think what to me makes a great soul record, first off the lyrics have to mean something the song has to connect with a feeling within, sadness, happiness, anger, it must hit a nerve.

Secondly the vocals must be top notch, for me this is very important, they have to convey the feeling of the song add in the arrangement of instruments and Bang there you go!

With that in mind, here we go....."

David Ruffin - Walk Away From Love

"My all time Deserted Island Disc, so much so I wanted to have this as my 'First dance' at our wedding. It was vetoed, quite rightly.

No other record has hit me quite like this one, David's vocal is superb and Van McCoy's production hammers home the sentiment of the song."

William Bell - Man In The Street

"Why is this not being played on National radio? 

Timeless : Written as a comment on the economic situation in 1970's America, this could easily have been written yesterday.

We are all 'the man in the street'."

Gladys Knight & The Pips - It Takes A Whole Lotta Man For A Woman Like Me 

"This incredible song had passed me by, until a few months ago, so I'm eternally grateful to Sean Hampsey for posting this on YouTube... where would we be without it!

It's a great album but this track stands out a mile for me."

Shirley Brown - When You Really Love Somebody

"Just beautiful, brings a lump to my throat every time I hear it."

Shades Of Blu - Waiting For The Last Goodbye

"If you can get to the end of this record and not feel totally moved, then I would say Soul really isn't for you.

I could of gone for Gladys's or The Ebonys version, but this is the boss, sweet soul at it's best."

"No need to add any more comments to these, the records speak for themselves."

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I know that if you liked these tracks then you'll certainly love listening to more of the same. Listen to Johnny Pearson's the 'Record Room' on Starpoint Radio or on podcast :

Starpoint Radio

Johnny Pearson presents 

the 'Record Room'

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