Vintage 45s are the tools of the soul/funk DJ’s trade. Groovy Times chats to the vinyl-spinners from Hipshaker about their relationship with the precious artefacts lurking in their record boxes

Starting out as a Portsmouth-based club night, Dave and Simon, the Hipshaker DJs have been persuading people to get up off their arses and onto the dancefloor across the south coast since 1998. With seven-inch singles at the centre of what they do, Groovy Times was curious to quiz them about all things vinyl.

Possibly a daft question to start, but was it always going to be vinyl?
D. For me, not necessarily. I grew up collecting vinyl (mostly punk when I was a kid and then later soul and funk once I started getting into other stuff) but I started DJ-ing using CDs. I used to DJ at a mid/late 90s indie/britpop/60s night in Portsmouth called Modernworld. That was all CDs, we used to get sent loads of promo new releases. Our first Hipshaker night I used CDs, but after that it was vinyl only. There’s no going back.
S. For me it was always vinyl for as long as I can remember. Ever since playing my dad’s records when I was young.

Is the 45 the greatest vinyl format?
D. Undoubtedly, yes. As a DJ it’s so easy to use.
S. I believe it is for certain styles of music, certainly with Northern Soul it has always been about the 45. With progressive rock music and some psychedelic music, you can understand why LPs became prevalent.

Why does soul suit the 45 so well?
D. For me, it’s simply because it is the original format. /A lot of great soul tracks are a couple of minutes long too./
S. 45s are forever linked to the long history of three-minute ‘dance’ music and labels such as Motown. Also the format was developed for jukeboxes in the early 1950s. Rock and roll music in the US was the birth of the 45. Before that you had Bakelite EPs that played at 78.

How many 45s currently reside in the Hipshaker collection?
D. A few thousand, maybe 3,000 or so at a guess.
S. God knows, I have never counted them, but it’s a fair few.

How many did you start out with?
D. At the start, very few really… although I’ve had a punk collection of a few hundred singles since I was a kid.
S. Probably about 600 or less, back then I was playing stuff off LPs and 45s.

As they are now the tools of your trade – is it possible for you complacent over handling vintage 45s? Or do you still regard them with a sense of awe?
D. Sort of, although I often use a sleeve within a sleeve for the 45s that are worth a few quid. But I don’t actually get in awe about them to be totally honest.
S. For me, it depends on two things: how much you paid for it and whether you have multiple copies!

Any Holy Grail 45s still out there for you?
D. Not really for me, but to be honest I’m still hearing new stuff to me all the time. Sometimes they’re already a bit out of my price range. Maybe I need to sell a few bits.
S. There’s two that stand out for me. Calum Bryce, Love-Maker/I’m Glad (Conder, 1968) and Birds Birds, Say Those Magic Words/Daddy Daddy (Reaction, 1966).

Where do you acquire your 45s these days?
D. These days it’s a mixture of online, Discogs, mostly, and still a few record shops.
S. Discogs and just popping into record shops wherever I find myself. Got some bargains at the Antwerp record fair.

Are you fussy about early pressings on original labels? Or can you live with UK pressings and reissue labels?
D. I like to buy original pressings where possible. Having said that, there are still things coming out for the first time on new pressings in 45 format… album tracks and unreleased stuff. 
S. Yes, for certain things 

What are your favourite labels, both US and UK?
D. With US labels, you can’t go too far wrong with Motown obviously, then there’s Philadelphia, Curtom, People, Cadet etc., plus new labels like Daptone. There are some great UK labels as well, like Acid Jazz, Talkin’ Loud, and new ones like LRK, Original Gravity, and Suit Yourself Music.
S. US it’s Cotillion, Okeh, Marmalade and Youngblood. In the UK, for me, it’s most definitely Sue and Buffalo.

What is the most you have shelled out for a 45?
D. Three to four hundred quid I think. Pretty sure it was Charles Sheffield It’s Your Voodoo Working.
S. I once parted with £400 for Jimmy Winston’s Sorry She’s Mine on Decca.

Do you play your expensive 45s at gigs or do you have back-ups?
D. I usually take originals to play. Unless it’s something like Coffee Pot by Bo Jr where I actually got one made as the original pressing is so poor.
S. I play my originals at gigs, but the soul stuff reissues if it’s a radio show or at a Butlins weekender. 

I realise 45s are your main focus, but what are the great soul albums out there?
D. Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On is one of the all-time greats.
S. You can’t go wrong with 10% by Double Exposure.

What 45s would you select for aspiring soul DJs as a starter pack?
D. Not specifically just soul … but this lot are in my box for most gigs at the moment, although that may change in future. They are all great tracks, but none of them particularly rare. Ought to be enough to get you going.

The Love I Lost (Part 1)
Harold Melvin & The Bluenotes
Philadelphia International Records (1973)
£5

I Believe In Miracles
Jackson Sisters
Mums Records (1973)
£100

Move On Up
Curtis Mayfield  
Buddha (1971)
£15-£20

No No No
Dawn Penn
Jammys (1994)
£15 

(Are You Ready) Do The Bus Stop
Fatback Band
Polydor (1975)
£5

In Orbit
Joy Lovejoy
Chess (1972)
£30-£40

Ain’t No Mountain High Enough
Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell
Tamla Motown (1972)
£30-£40

Dakota
Melbourne Douglas
Original Gravity (2021)
£10

Always There
Side Effect
Fantasy (1976)
£15*

Stoned Love
The Supremes
Tamla Motown  (1970)
£3

Beggin’
Timebox
Deram (1968)
£50 

S. Anything on a classic Northern Soul compilation will get you started. The Casino Classics compilations are really informative. To Dave’s list starter pack list I’d add…

What
Judy Street
Grapevine (1978)
£10-£15

Red Light Spells Danger
Billy Ocean
GTO (1977)
£8

Love Train
O’Jays 
CBS (1972)
£3

That’s My Girl
Dee Clarke
Constellation (1964)
£70*

He’s Coming Home
Beverley Ann
RCA (1967)
£20*

US version*

For a good night out or some Hipshaker merch you could do a lot worse than to go to linktr.ee/hipshaker