What a fabulous site, nothing better on the net, absolutely wonderful!!!

With a start like that you've got to question my impartiality and being the honourable man that I am I have to confess a certain bias. Much as I'd like to continue singing its praises I've decided that reviewing my own website is hardly fair. OK I'll forget the review and simply tell you what it's about then leave you to make up your own minds.

As its name implies the main purpose of the site is to review Soul merchandise. It already contains a reasonable 'database' of what is currently available, but hopefully it will continue to grow into a more comprehensive reference of soul memorabilia. Eventually I hope to offer a fast service telling people about latest releases, but much will depend upon how quickly I can acquire the items myself.

From my 'Home Page' the surfer is offered the choice of 'CD's', 'Books', 'Magazines', 'Films', 'Websites', 'Clubs', 'History', 'Record Collecting', and 'Personal Recollections'. The first five (CD's, Books, Magazine's, Films and Websites) are review pages whilst the last four (Clubs, History, Record Collecting and Personal Recollections) are articles. The review sub-menus are organised into a matrix of scanned images of front covers. Clicking on these images will take you to a review of that item or alternatively you can access them from the menu down the left-hand side of the screen. I am particularly pleased with the books section because although they are not as plentiful as CD's I have still found a wide variety of soul literature which should be of interest to most people. The Website reviews are copies of these 'Cybersoul' articles, but these will not be posted until after they have appeared in Manifesto.

Unlike the 'reviews' the 'article' pages are aimed at different audiences. The 'Clubs' pages for example contain information on Soul's most influential clubs, Wigan Casino, Blackpool Mecca, The Torch and The Twisted Wheel. The Record Collecting page is a basic explanation of the significance of record collecting to the soul scene. These pages contain nothing that the Northern Soul veteran does not already know and are aimed at the casual browser or people who are new to the scene. The history section is exactly what it says, a brief recap on the history of Soul Music. Most of this should also be familiar to the soul veteran although there may be a couple of interesting snippets, particularly those relating it to funk at which he might be surprised. The final section 'Personal Recollections' is my own reminiscences about soul moments, which I hope will be of interest and amusement to everyone who reads them.

At the time of writing the Website has been up exactly one day and there are still some technical problems with it. Although it is basically sound I am having problems with a 'Hit Counter' and a 'Feedback Form' on my 'Home Page'. Although I hope to have these problems sorted out by the time this article appears in Manifesto I cannot guarantee it, so anyone wanting to contact me should use my E-mail address which is also embedded in the home page.

As I have already acknowledged, it would not be right or proper for me to review my own site, but hopefully you are now all aware of its existence and I cordially invite you all to have a browse, then you can make up your own minds.

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Soulfully Yours

John Ponomarenko