Harry Balk had been famous in Detroit for being the manager of Del Shannon and Little Willie John (Mable John's brother).

Later, his record companies were responsible for some of the most lauded Northern Soul sides of all time, including Jock Mitchell's 'Not a chance in a million' on Impact1023 and Dena Barnes 'If you ever walk out of my life' on Inferno2002.

Harry also worked extensively with Barney 'Duke' Browner who produced many legendary recordings. Interestingly, Duke's own classic 'Crying over you', on Impact1008, was credited as a Harry Balk production.

Again, Berry Gordy, bought the rights of these two fabulous labels and it was probably the highly successful 'Oh how happy' by the Shades of Blue' which got him thinking.

While in Detroit, I gave Harry a quick phone call, and told him that his recordings were still revered on the Northern Soul scene. I asked him if he was still in touch with Duke Browner, but he said he hadn't seen him for years. It had also been a long time since he had been down on Third, so he was unable to confirm that the building was now a gas station!

Notes thanks to David Meikle