Northern Acetates?

[rprest]

I'm helping a non-vinyl mate of mine price up and make sense of his late fathers records. He's not planning on selling, but wants to know what he's got. His dad was one of the first Northern DJ's here in Cornwall and what he's got is a very fine collection of rarities, and surprisingly for a DJ they are all in great condition.

My question is about these acetates, of which there are quite a few. Does anybody know the story behind them? Are they likely to be mid-70s boots?






Tucked away in the boxes was this set sale list from 1976. I love the bit about snapping up the £2/3 priced records as they are likely to triple in value

[bongolia]

not sure you'd describe them as boots, but they are just copies, cut onto acetate for people who didn't own an original copy

[relkeel]

Also called carvers , no real intrinsic value.

[The Divine One]

Also called carvers , no real intrinsic value.

Well, strictly speaking a carver is a one-off vinyl record and is a fairly recent invention. Acetates are lacquer coated metal discs and have been about since the 50s. But, agree, the EMIdiscs aren't valuable like original artist acetates are (if they have different artists on each side, they're likely cut-to-order - although some publishers demos have different artists on each side...) - still quite collectable to northern soul aficionados and the infamous "Billy Bootleg" DJs...

[Felonious]

The set sale list might be of value. Contact John Manship.

[bongolia]

Also called carvers , no real intrinsic value.

Agreed, but they're not necessarily worthless - Northern dealers like Pete Smith still occasionally sell them. Imagine if the original is now a four figure record then some people would be happy to pay for the emidisc. Or sometimes they're copies of unreleased tracks - some of the big Northern tunes were only ever acetates or test presses themselves

edit sorry, just saw Mr Divine already said this!

[Saint Jude]

The set sale list might be of value. Contact John Manship.

Its an old Russ Winstanley list.

If anyone is thinking of complaining about the price of second hand records now they should check what he was trying to get for some titles in 1976. Shocking!

[SirSlim]

Its an old Russ Winstanley list.

If anyone is thinking of complaining about the price of second hand records now they should check what he was trying to get for some titles in 1976. Shocking!

Blimey! I just did!! £45 in 1976 was indeed a huge sum for a 7"!!! A Pre-release Jamaican 7" import cost circa £1.25 if memory serves, while the early Jamaican 12" singles cost a whopping £7.50 when they first landed...

Mind you that Len Jewell single does seem to still fetch the cash:

http://www.popsike.com/NORTHERN-SOUL...543621315.html

[bongolia]

with the old "specify alternatives" ruse...

[rprest]

Posted a reply which seems to have not appeared! Thanks for all the help!

[relkeel]

All the carvers/emi acetates that I have found sounded shite.
@Bongolia. I said they have no intrinsic value, didn't say they were worthless.

In other news : I found a South African Lou Lawton 'Knick Knack Patty Whack' on a Sceptre tri centre after rooting through a 1000 singles in a dump. VG+

As you were.

[The Divine One]

In other news : I found a South African Lou Lawton 'Knick Knack Patty Whack' on a Sceptre tri centre after rooting through a 1000 singles in a dump. VG+

Wow! That's an amazing find, would love to find something like that. Let's see it, then!

[rprest]

Found this tucked away in the boxes, which kind of answers my original question. Looks like the acetates came from Russ Winstanley