Magazine

Soul Source music magazine feature.

Soul Up North is Edited by Howard Earnshaw with help from Saus and Little John. Comes out every quarter and is packed with all sorts of articles. Latest issue contains Vinyl reviews, label listings, artist info, venue guide and planner, quizzes, mod article, reviews of loads of venues, articles etc etc.

Soul Up North - Issue 21 Review and clips

An indepth look at Soul Up North from a couple of years ago compete with clips and info

Please note this is from a few years ago

Soul Up North is Edited by Howard Earnshaw with help from Saus and Little John. Comes out every quarter and is packed with all sorts of articles. Latest issue contains Vinyl reviews, label listings, artist info, venue guide and planner, quizzes, mod article, reviews of loads of venues, articles etc etc.

Best recommendation I can give is that subscribe to it !

Heres some clips from recent issues to give you a taste:

CHICAGO SOUL – SHANE COX

Here we are again! Strolling through
the soulful sounds of Chicago! Checking out those Iittle gems which help keep these
dancefloors alive!!

We have a great little selection in this issue, a couple of pieces out of
the 'Chess' stable, a bit of crossover and some sixties rarities worthy of attention -
Read on!

FLORAIN TAYLOR- THINK ABOUT ME - CADET 5546

What a belter of a record' This disc is
a fantastic female ROB outing, its got pace and the uptempo speed is a killer! A really good dancer from this obscure artist who only had the one release on the label, (and I've yet to hear bout anything else she did, but info would be appreciated!).

It starts off with a bnilliant intro, then Florain kicks in with her high vocals telling
her boyfriend about how he should think about her and drop his bit on the side!! All while this is happening you've got a furious backbeat driving the record along, keeping a frantic feel to it!

A very nice piece, which should be quite acceptable dancefloor-wise!

THE WINSTONS – AIN’T NOTHING LIKE A LITTLE LOVIN – CURTOM 8546

An excellent record from the late sixties, on the first series of the Curtom label when it was independent. It's a superb mid tempo piece, it has a bnilliant and professional arrangement, blended with the Winstons laid back vocals, all moving along at a nice smooth pace - creating a beautiful floater.

The song is about how a little bit of loving is good for the guy, and how everything about his girl is 'out of sight', simple lyrics but they match the backing perfectly'

The record saw action on the decks in the late eighties, when my old pal VAL PALMER was a resident DJ at the 100 Club, but since she dropped out of the scene no one seems to have spun itl (although I hope I'm wrong!!)

The 'A' side to this is called 'Need A Replacement' and my copy is an A & B side demo (see illustration), but just double A side demo's exsist without the essential side in slightly larger quantity, so when searching and comes up check the side not listedl OKl!
(Shane Cox's tip no.507, for collecting records!)

Good hunting!

JOHNNY TWIST – NOBODY KNOWS LOVE BUT YOU – CHECKER 1139

Another nice piece from the Chess groupof labels, a great guitar intro, governed by deep horns and then it moves into Johnny’s high’ish vocals, telling us "nobody knows what love is" which is about his special love for his baby - all moving along at a nice mid to up tempo pace, giving us an excellent R&B flavoured dancer, with those high vocal accompaniments to the chorus typical of so many records we love on the scene, where for two or three seconds the groups do their 'lmpressions' bit!

it is a bit of an obscurity this, Johnny Twist - 5, which might mean that it takes a
little longer to track down, but it's a brilliant dancer with all the good bits in it, so
every effort should be worth it when you place it on the deck!

BILLY STEWART – LOVE ME – CHESS 1960

Just when you think you've heard everything an artist has done (which is quite a bit in this case!) then you either find something you haven't heard or overlook it thinking you have! Well this for me fell into both categories!! Now I feel it deserves to be written about. The record starts off with a slow intro which just builds and builds, with strings and things, until Billy bursts into songin his typical style, then the record moves into a crossover style, with powerful backing building up to a point and then moves into the chorus with Billy singing "love me" and keeping that late 60's crossover feel which keeps the whole thing going, climaxing into a fantastic break!

it's got a great production with everyone including Billy Stewart giving it all they've
got! With a thumping bass line accompanying Billy as he sings about how his girl can't
make up her mind about how she feels, and that he loves her so!

It's a great dancer, and an awesome record, get it and see for yourself !

BEN DE PORESS AND PASSIONS - I GOT A GIRL - BRUNO 5142

A brilliant sixties uptempo dancer from an obscure group on an obscure label It's got a furious beat and is packed with energy, treating us to a manic style of record, with those familiar hifg male vocals it's a great one to keep us up on the old dancefloor!

The song is about how the guys got got himself a girl and she is so fine! and that they've been together for a short while. Then the record moves into a great break where you just hear the driving bass line keeping everything in its place and losing none of the energy this incredible record has to give us!

As I said earlier the group is on the obscure side and even the song is written by Ben De Porress, so maybe this was their one and only chance of hitting the big time! Sadly I assume nobody picked up on it.

I presume the Passions were not (?) the group of the same name who recorded for Curtis Mayfield & Eddie Thomas (One of Chicago's other legendary producers) but I could be wrong!

Despite all these unanswered questions it is still a great record!

DESIRES –BABY WE CAN MAKE lT _- TAMBOO 2004

A real obscurity (again!) this one, but a great slab of Chicago Soul, it's got a powerful backing that drives the record along,creating a perfect mid tempo beat, which makes it a great dancer! Evidence of this exists as it was a big spin at Stafford in the golden days for newies, but because of its rarity it hasn't retained its status as a dancefloor monster- which is a bit of an injustice!

It starts off with a similar intro as the Trends - 'Not Too Old To Cry', but then moves
into its driving beat and the song tells us how "they can make it together if they
try" then comes the break with the thumping bass and saxophone solo, with chord
change; all the time keeping a certain rawness about it, which commercially might have contributed to its lack of success, but WE all LOVE that sort of stuff! So all we can do is give it a justified listening and know that the Desires efforts were not totally
unappreciated!

ANNA RAYE - I GOT LOCK - LOW 724

This really is a beautiful haunting record, mid tempo crossover soul at its very best Anna Raye has such a brillilant voice, it's high and clear, and really comes through nicely!

It all starts off with a laid back intro with plenty of "ooohs" and then kicks
in with a strong bass line and strings, then Anna sings 'I need your love', then it moves
an octave higher which tries to stretch Anna's vocal abilities, but she handles it in her
stride'

This disc has got all the ingredients that you need, it is a bit scarce, but it is pure
quality and should be a monster, all it would take is a few spins and.... you know the
rest!!

YVONNE CARROLL - PLEASE DONT GO - VEE JAY 592

Now this is one of those records that has been simmering for a little while until JOHN MANSHIP fumed one up and found its way into SAUS's DJ'ing selection, which is now making it into something of a very much sought after item! (lady luck and a phone call helped secure my copy!)

Okay, it's probably NOT a Chicago recording, but the label has all the right geographical qualifications for me!

The record starts off with a short drum roll, which sets the pace and then Yvonne jumps in with Please don't go" and the record moves along at a smooth but atmospheric mid tempo style, an excellent production, all nicely polished, giving it a great dance beat -in this mid sixties female mover!

The song is about the girt pleading with the guy not to go, even if there is someone else on his mind, then one kiss is all it would take to swing it Yvonne's wayl (she hopes!!)

DOWNSOUTHVIEW – whats hot UptownDownSouth

Russ Vickers & Keith Woon

Lori & Lance - I Don't Have To Worry - Federal

This infectious mid-paced duet is a gem. Lance is first into the musical fray - questioning his girl's feelings, Lori comes right back at him with, ° You don't have to worry!

Produced by Bobby Smith, this late 6T's belter comes on with similar exchanges thru' out - until Lori's final outburst pins your ears to the wall - WOW!

Definite dancefloor mayhem and soulful as hell! Critical plays suggest that this will
become a monster. DJ's & dancefloors get behind this...(RV)

Clarence Townsend - I Found A New Love - Clara

This hails from Greenville, Mississippi and first came to my attention via London's masses, main mover, Ion, initially played under the guise of Charles Brandy, this elusive Southem State dancer fairly shifts along, with horns and things, a big vocal, and a tale of Clarence leaving his girl and finding a New Lover.

The don't treat me that bad, or make me feel sad, I've found a lover.

Only a few copies have as yet surfaced, but with a little more exposure this one will
really take off- one to look out for (RV)

The Bitter & Sweet - I Won't Have Any Babies For You - Anything & Everything Records

Detroit Michigan, early seventies and a unique crossover dancer, it has an unusual latin intro, which leads into a mid-paced shuffler.First played in the 8Ts by Rod & the gang at the Canal Tavem, Thorne, this has lain dormant since then, as their advertising boasted

'Tomorrows Monsters Today!'

Resurrection long overdue - this is just right for today's more open minds (RV)

The Exportations, Featuring Ernestine Johnson - I Want You - Vir-Ro

1980 and a fine slab of Detroit soul, Dave Thorley mentioned that he had bought this as a new release, which indicates that it may have had a few plays at 'Stafford', although I can't recall ever having heard it.

Although released in '80 this sounds earlier, it's the first release on the label and
feature alternating male and female leads, it's not unlike the Lori & Lance number,
with a modem production, lots of strings plus a driving beat, this up-tempo modem mover is destined to go the same way as Barbara Lynn - 'Trying To Love Two' & 'Movin' On A
Groove'

Reasonably priced, now watch this one gal! (RV)

The Impressions - Whenever You Leadeth Me - Curtom (CR-1948)

At present, fairly hard to find, this piece of Chicago mid-tempo magic was lifted from the 1970 classic 'Young Mods Forgotten Story' album, incorrectly titled and stuck on the B side of a remake.

A single snare drum crack and then horns kick start Sam, Fred and Curtis into the first line; Wherever you leadeth me, I will follow, across the water blue, deep or shallow Even if the way is dark, we'll make it through, me and you...

Curtis' vocals are ably supported by the musicians, who play through some superb hom and string arrangements. A special mention must go to the drummer for maintaining overall control with a wickedly intricate snare pattern (KW9812)

Falcons - You've Got The Power/Innervision - I Just Want To Love You - Joe
Boy/Uptown Downsouth JBV4

The Falcons had recorded Power around 1967 for Detroit's, Big Wheel label but until now, it has remained unreleased. The mid-tempo pace and strategic low key breaks being the possible reason. Had it been released it surely would have been a precursor to the cross over sounds of a few years later. The only factor that anchors Power to the mid 60's in the degree of overall echo applied to the final mix - sure does make the finger popping zing.

Innervision, on the other hand, was released in the 'USA' only in 1976 as the 'b' side of a single that has remained hard to find. Again, the arrangement is ahead of its time, in that it sounds more like early 80's. a big production two stepper, with sentiments and pace that makes it perfect for a slow, end of night, grind.

Available now from all good traders!

(I0N9812)

Nigel Martznez - So Good - Expansion (EXCDP-18)

A UK release from around September thisyear, and an excellent mixture of mellow grooves (Just Another Night, Who Can I Tum To& So Good), jazzy (Hold On Me), mid tempo commercial (Dreams Come True & Shuda Cuda Wuda), fusion (Everlasting) and even a few instrumentals (Your Touch, With You & I've Been There), all in a Ben Tankard/Gary Taylor vein.

This set has a great, late eighties feel and there really are no bad tracks. I have left what I consider the best until last, which in this case are tracks 4 and 5. Special Way is a Barry White pastiche with a build up to an excellent instrumental break and close. Are You Ready, and the first time I played it, I wasn't! It's amazing, with Mr Martinez powering through it's clever arrangement of bass guitar under-pinning synthesizer guitar and horns all bouncing
off the percussion.

(KW9812)

Freddie Scott – Girl l Love You - Probe /ABC (CP481)

Probably from the late 60's, this marvellous big voiced ballad with a gritty down home feel to it shouldn't set you back more than about £10. As you would expect, superb vocals from Freddie, supported by a big rhythm and horn arrangement, punctuated with three breaks for absolute maximum impact.Worthy of particular mention is the drums and baritone sax.

Freddie has been patiently waiting for the right lady to come along, when unexpectedly he meets her, and bashfully whispers Girl I Love You.. She hesitates for a few moments and just as he is about to walk away, she replies with, Man I think I'm gonna love your.Freddie is obviously made up and being a sucker for this sort of thing, so was I. (KW9812)

VENUE
REPORTS

Winsford Civic Hall - November 26th N.Sadd

I recently read a venue report on this nighter in Soul up North so as I
hadn't been to an all nighter for several years and live in Cheshire I decided to brave
the trip.

I arrived and paid the entrance moneys and found a few friendly faces
talking and drinking coffee in the large entrance hall, and it was a good hour before I
got into the main room where the DJ (?) was banging out some great sounds and to my surprise I knew quite a few of them (I had heard that all righters now play loads of new stuff and I was a bit worried that I'd be out of my depth!)

Of course there was also plenty of sounds that were new to me, but the
dancefloor was always busy and the crowd were obviously being entertained.
I did venture into the modern room later on in the night but not being a
lover of the newer stuff, I returned to the 'big' room after taking in some refreshment.

I can't really remember who the DJ's were or list loads of sounds played,
but I can tell you that I had a bloody great night, and was totally knackered by the end of it!

If you haven't made the effort yet, then get down here, a great atmosphere, great crowd and a superb dance floor all combine to make me sure of becoming a
regular face there, and I'm sure a lot of you who don't do all righters would enjoy the
experience too.

It's northern soul as I remember it of old, but I can appreciate that new
sounds will be played (so I'm not that much of a oldies die hard!?) as long as it's
danceable it's OK(eh)

I might even try another nighter tool! my thanks to the person who wrote
about Winsford in that earlier venue report. Thanks to you I'm back!!

Trent University all nighter- May 23rd

Wayne Hudson

First time for this new nighter held in the buildings of the university
complex in the centre of Nottingham and as it's in the centre of the city it is a bit
difficult to locate, but we were OK as we had set off in the afternoon and spent the day at Dougie & Kate's (locals soul fan's!) so Dougie drove us directly to the university without the usual hassle of getting lost!

Memberships had to be applied for beforehand as this was a strict members
only venue.
The place itself featured a smaller modem room which appeared to be busy
all night and the main room which had a spacious dance floor and ample seating, and a record dealers area which was situated in a separate sports hall. There was a bar which was located in the modern room and when that shut there was a cafe cum' snack bar upstairs.

Musically it was a great night, leaning towards the current

And recent sounds with Djs Butch, Shifty, Soul Sam, Roger Banks,
Dougie,Steve Chadwick etc etc. You knew you were going to be in for some quality music,w hich we were - All night!!

Definitely a venue I'd recommend, with good quality music, big dancefloor,
plenty of punters and record dealers, a great night out so give it a try. Finally here's a
selection of 'some' of the top sounds heard on this night:

FOUR ANDANTEES-HIPPER THAN ME,
THE NEW WANDERERS-LET ME RENDER MY SERVICE TO YOU,
THE SAINTS-I'LL LET YOU SLIDE,
THE BUTLERS THINK IT OVER c/u,
VOLCANOES-IT'S ALRIGHT(vocal & inst.) clu,
LINDA & THE PRETENDER~BELIEVE ME,
CHARMAINES-STANDING IN THE NEED OF LOVE,
DYNAMIC THREE-SHE SAID YEA,
MATADORS-SAY YES BABY,
FAYE & THE HILITES-WHERE DID HE GO,
THE ADMIRATIONS-I WANT TO BE FREE
and DUSTY WILSON-TRAGEDY..
phew!

Station Hotel - September 25th Martyn

To reach the 2nd anniversary of soul nights here in Dudley has been
something of a minor miracle considering the music policy of the venue, but a no
compromise attitude along with a degree of flexibiliyv has ensured that this venue is now firmly established as one of the countries foremost progressive northern soul nights. DJ's for the night were specially invited from north of the border, being the two premier names at the moment, Kenny Burrell and Keith Money, along with local dj Ted Massey. The two resident jocks, Dave Rimmer and myself relegating ourselves to the first hour.

I'd really been looking forward to this night especially the visit of
Keith Money.

Dave kicked off the night, and I followed with some 70's and crossover
stuff, as the other dj's would ensure that the rest of the night would mainly be a 60's
affair. my spot was strictly left field, including of my current spins,
TERRY CALLIER-GOTTA GET CLOSER TO YOU (Cadet)
and the unissued but brilliant
SONNY MONROE WHY DO I LET YOU DO THE THINGS YOU DO.
The rest of the spot followed in the same vein and I'll
just mention a couple more that got their first airing at Dudley,
THE FALCONS-I'VE GOT THE POWER (to be given away free by the Newbury 1st Anniversary!) and another that is set to become a monster now that copies are available,
PEGGY GAINES-WHEN THAT BOY IS LOVING YOU
(100 Club freebie!!)
This one had Keith Money asking what it was, both the above were previously unissued

Quite a few were already in attendance then I handed over to Kenny
Burrell & Keith for their first spot, playing the various biggies that they are known
for, like COMPETITION TIMMY WILLIAMS, this certainly got the punters on the dancefloor and got things going.

By the end of their first hour (11.00pm) the night was progressing nicely and up stepped Ted Massey, who kicked off with JO BRYANT (Shrine), (alright it
might be rare, but it did nothing for me, or the crowd judging by the crowds reaction),
despite playing tunes like MELVIN MOORE and GLADYS KNIGHT and a busy floor to some of the stuff he played, I felt it was a bit of a hit & miss situation.

The atmosphere was good but never reached boiling point like it should
have (an opportunity missed?)

The last hour saw the reappearance of the Scottish lads playing some
more good soul. The best three of the night being
DEON JACKSON-SOMEDAY THE SUN WILL SHINE,
THE ROCKMASTERS-RAINING TEARDROPS
and
THE IMPERIAL C's-SOMEONE TELL HER.

120+ soulies made it down so another above average crowd, here's
looking forward to the next 12 months, why not join us on the 4th Friday of the
month (not December!)

Fan Trek by Karen Burke

Against all the odds I became "a Soulie". Living in the depths of Cornwall it was not the obvious teenage fad to follow. I was friends with the smartly dressed short haired 'IN CROWD' and surprisingly it was not just their company I enjoyed but also their passion for soul music. It was Danny Everard who encouraged me to go to my first AllNiter in 1977, along with a holiday maker he introduced me to called Pete Burke from Brighouse. That first 'niter got me totally hooked and since then I think Pete and I have probably travelled enough miles to circumnavigate the world several times, not just going to venues but getting lost almost every time no matter how many previous times we have been to the place! I could go on for quite some pages of memoirs but the idea I talked to Howard about was to express some current views of this years places I have been, sounds I have listened to and people I have seen friends old and new.Well enough background, Pete and I have been together ever
since and apart from a short gap from the scene when we moved from Plymouth to Beverley East Yorks, have always enjoyed going to Soul Nites and Niters.As years have gone by the excitement and anticipation when getting ready to go out hasn't changed, and the feeling of neck hairs prickling when a special sound is played is second to none. That doesn't just mean oldies but the first hearing of a special sound, like the first time I heard Sidney Joe Quails, WOW! And currently at Wilton just last Friday my ears pricked up to a very nice track which Nig Mayfield told me was My Dear Heart currently a cover up as Diana Ross ( I won't spoil it ) also there was a great Martha Reeves acetate which I look forward to hearing again.

Contact address is

Soul Up North
19 Rectory Drive
Kirkheaton
Huddersfield
W Yorks
HD5 OJT

By Mike in Articles · June 7, 200025 yr

Inside ...........Soulful Kinda Music
Edited by DJ Dave Rimmer

Published Date: 2000/8/28
As soon as you see this one you know its gotta be good - presentation is 100%, colour cover, good layout etc. Inside...?

.........well lots of stuff, Issue 36 had articles by Dave Godin, Dave Halsall and others features on O' Jays, Hesitations, Bill Spoon, good CD reviews, venue reports, playlists. Lots of vinyl reviews with scans and the chance to buy tape of sounds reviewed, good idea the way the reviews fit in with tapes, 46 pages in the last issue. So worthwhile, anyway must be good cause its another one I subscribe to and I'm looking foward to next one !

Here's the flavour of this mag: starting off with a few CD reviews, then some vinyl and more stuff.........

Various Artists - It'll Never Be Over For Me Stateside 7 24349 68302 0

This is what I mean about it being easy. Compiled by Richard Searling, with the liner notes by Richard as well. It's a much better compilation also, but why have seven of the tracks on the previous review been duplicated here ? It seems rather odd that the same company should simultaneously release two CDs when a third of one is on the other. This one works it's way through sounds that have been played at the various clubs through the years, fishing off, shall we say, with Teddy Randazo - You Don't Need A Heart, as a representative of today's sounds and clubs.

Various Artists - From Route 66 To The Flamingo - Stateside 7 24349 65012 1

The third release freon the new Stateside label and probably the best, although certainly not aimed directly at the 'Northern' scene. This is a revamp of the 1988 album of the same name (Released on the second reincarnation o f the Stateside label and features tracks drawn from the Sue group of labels. The original album is all here win an additional nine tracks, and represents a good cross section of R & B, Blues, and Soul music from the Sixties. The original sleeve notes are also here, completewith an addition from Dean Rudland, in which he waffles on about house music changing the face of British clubbing.Yes it did change the face of mainstream clubs, but it never had any effect on the scene that originally, and still does play these records. I just wonder whether he was wise enough to buy the original album release back in 1988 ? I did, and I've still got it

Various Artists - The Ultimate Rarities Collection Vol 1. Motown Sings Motown Treasures - Motown 530 960 - 2

At last. Someone working at Motown has a bit ofimagination when it comes to using all the material in thecan. The packaging is clever and original, the booklet,whilst it could have been more informative does give a lot more details than is usual even down to the authentictic looking coffee stain on the front cover. So what about the music I hear you ask. Well its a bit of mish mash. Some of the tracks are stupendous - Jimmy Ruffin doing 'Too Busy Thinking About My Baby", stands out a mile, as do the Temptations tracks, and the David Ruffin version of 'I Want You Back'. Otherwise the tracks vary from the good to average to 'I know why it wasn't released' type of thing. It is well worth buying though, and as it's only volume one, perhaps that means there will be an ongoing series of releases

Various Artists - Kris Records, Los Angeles' Showcase Of Soul - Kent CDKEND 162.

Another one label focus from Kent. I say one label because all the tracks on the CD are taken from Mel Alexander's group of labels Kris, Car-A-Mel, Space, and New Breed. Running from the mid Sixties through to 1994 all the tracks are Soul music of a very high quality, although the Blues tinge is present on several tracks. Whilst the obvious standout backs is Ty Karim's 'Lighten Up Baby' there are several other tracks which I didn't know before which are all just as likely to go on the dancefloors of the Northern Soul scene, what's more some of the Seventies tracks, in particular the first Cookie Jackson track. And doesn't the Pure Ice track remind you of the Staple Singers ? Of the later tracks Nadine A is the best by far, and I could see this being big in the various Modern rooms on the go at the moment Overall though, this was a CD, and group of labels which apart from the obvious tracks, I knew nothing. I'm glad now that I know considerably more thanks to the 24 tracks on the CD, and Ady Croasdell's usual copious and informative liner notes. Another wmner from Kent, put this on your 'Must Buy Soon' list, it's well worth the money if you like Soul music.

vinyl vinyl vinyl time:

Barbara Mercer- Happiness Is Here - Unreleased

I had an acetate cut from one of the tapes that Martin Koppel sent me about three years ago, and started playing it whenever I DJ'd. Eventually Goldmine put some white label demos out, and subsquently released the single on their Connoisseurs label. Great cover version of Tobi Larks single on Topper, and whilst I normally don't think cover versions are better, this one certainly is.

Jerry Jackson - Are You Glad When We're Apart - Columbia

I originally heard this on Ken Burrell's tape, when he said he didn't think it was rare. Well I've only ever seen one other copy, this one, in two years. Great out and out stomper, hasn't yet had the turntable action it deserves, but it will, and then we'll find out how rare it really is.

Christine Kittrel1 — Call His Name -King

A record I bought blind for £4, but what a record ! R&B,with a slightly jerky beat which might make it difficult to dance to. I've since seen it on Pat Brady's list for £40, so it must be known, although I've never heard it played anywhere.

Deena Johnson - The Breaking Point- Wild Deuce

The only demo I've ever seen, and the label is water stained, and there's a slight warp on the vinyl, but who cares ? It plays perfectly, and as such finishes side one off perfectly.

Reggie Alexander- It's Better- Boss

Starting side two off with a mega rarity that fully deserves it's place on the Millionaires CD. Midtempo magic from Detroit. Can anyone tell me what the connection between Boss record; and Sport records is ? Obviously they were owned by the same person, but which came first ? Did they rim alongside each other ? Who knows ? Who cares ? This is still one wonderful record.

Joe Douglas - Crazy Things - Playhouse

I originally tipped this as a future dancefloor filler about eight years ago. Wed, it's taken that long to get anyone else to play it. This ores one of the first tracks I played on PCRL, way back in October '91, and I said at the time that this record will eventually start to become played. Recently, I've heard at least three other people play it, I even heard it twice in one night at Albrighton recently. Well deserving of the attention, this is a Philadelphia recording, but with Detroit credits, and it just rolls along with a steady midtempo beat. Price wise I'm not sure these days now it's getting a few plays, but you will certainly be lucky to find one for less than £25.

Margie Joseph — One More Chance - Volt

One of the late Sixties releases from the label that is carried along by the hom section. Written by Willie T this is very much out of character for a Margie Joseph release. All I can say is it's a good job she did decide to record this track Not particularly rare, but having said that it's not easy to pick up either. One of those £20 - £50 records that you can never find when you want one.

Tommy Rodgers—I'll Tell It To The Wind - AJP

Another Roger Banks' play Hat has yet to reach it's full height of popularity. Still cheap, and you'll often see it listed for the over side "Pass The Word' which got plays back in the Stafford days. Very much a Crossover sound, and I'm not even certain which side of the '69 / '70 barrier this one comes.

Here's a bit of Dave Godin's column from SKM

IF IT NEEDS TO BE SAID, TRY STOP ME FROM SAYING IT...COLUMN

Various CDs which have appeared of late, have alluded in their liner notes to the practice of the "cover up" of a record's label on the Northern Soul scene, so that nobody knew what it was or where it came from. All very groovy for the DJ concerned, especially since so many at the same time, had the temerity to suggest they were "keeping the faith" and fully exploiting the natural, fraternal impulse of the Soul scene to their own advantage. Whilst their egos rode high on their "exclusive" sounds, did they give a damn about the artist who made it, or stop to reflect how, just possibly, a huge success on the Northern circuit might just have given a flagging career a much needed boost, or saved a small US record label from bankruptcy?

Were these people rule dedicated to the Music, or their own self-advancement?Many of these same DJs now have, (not in bank accounts, since that would be too risky for tax purposes), "savings" running into five or even six figures, and this wealth was built by exploiting creative talent that is perhaps now working in Woolworth's, the local garage, or wherever. Also, which of them meticulously logged the records they played so that the composers of the songs which were giving so much pleasure to so many people, enjoyed some sort financial reward for their creativity, a creativity which, had it not existed in the first place, would have given the DJs nothing to be creative with?' If that's "keeping the faith", then Wigan's Ovations are the greatest Soul singers of all time. These people may well have been excellent DJs, but they were, whichever way you cut it, carpetbaggers. And Blackamericans know all about carpetbaggers; it's part of their history!

PILING ON THE AGONY...The BBC's "Soul Night" as well as the recent Radio 2 project, fell into several traps which these sort of projects always have laying in wait for the unwary. Like a multitude of media projects these days, sloppy and lazy research produces something which, whilst perhaps annoying the minority who KNOW, will nevertheless produce something that is sound-bite enough to seem to fit where it touches for those who have only a passing interest in the subject matter. Thus, corporate interests are satisifed.What is its sting, is the confusion and timidity that nearly always penneates such purported "cultural overviews". Firstly, they fall into the deadly trap of equating chart success with artistic merit; something that can and does occasionally coincide, (but not THAT often, as all Northern Soul fans well know), but which should play no role in sociological, political, and psychological analysis of an artistic and cultural phenomena. Secondly, there is this ambivalence about resuming the music to where it belongs and the many, many divergent people who contributed to the creation of the whole. In my book, Soul music could NEVER belong to white vocalists who would rather like to carry the Soul moniker on their shoulder as a trendy marker or accessory, and who employ Black american musicians and backup singers to give themselves a cachet of credibility; it doesn't NOT belong to people who just happen to have been born with a dark skin pigmentation but who are not part of the Black american Diaspora; it is NOT just another commodity that can be packaged, marketed and exploited, but something that stems from a much wider, deeper and longer collective experience of a multitude of events, both historical and contemporary, and above all, those who control the power levers in society should search their hearts and ask themselves just why they can never QUITE manage to say in unequivocal and unambiguous terms, "This is the music of Black america. It is their gift to the world, it grew from their collective historic experience in the Confederate and United States, and we thank them for it and the enrichment to culture in general that it has brought." Sounds easy and simple enough to say from where I'm sitting, but then, we libertarians ain't control freaks t And it's a funny thing, but people who' ve lived the life always know these things instinctively, whilst those who are hung up on control rather wish they did... and never, ever do

'PROJECT " ONE(OR PERHAPS TWO) OFF WONDERS"

The idea came to me recently that we all of us must know of one or more recording artist who, so far as we Mow, made just one record (very often a masterpiece!), and then vanished from the scene. So, I thought what might be a good idea would be for us to try and pool our collective knowledge, and see if together we could shed some further light on the artists concerned, or their history.

LISA RICHARDS.

Recorded "Mean Old World" / "Let's Take A Chance" on New York based JOVIAL circa 1965. The record was subsequently leased to SURE-SHOT in Houston, Texas, who reduced the title of the official flip to "Take A Chance". Photo published in "Blues & Soul" when I nominated the Deep Soul side as one of my favourites of the year. Photo subsequently nicked. In the 70s, a disco record surfaced by a "Lisa Richards", but to my ears it didn't sound like the same person. (That said however, I realise styles of delivery and vocal chords sometimes change over the years). So, any intelligence on Lisa out there?

JAMES BOUNTY.

A household name in Northern Soul circles due to his smash "Prove Yourself A Lady" on COMPASS. He must, surely, have made other records, but if he did, I don't know of them.CANE BLACK Made "Hold On To What You Got" / "Sometimes" on OKEH in 1968, both sides penned by W. Blackwell and Jerry Long. Must exist in his own right since in 1969 I met the Vice-President of COLUMBIA/OKEH and mentioned how much I admired this record, and he said he felt Cane Black had a great future with the company! Was he conning me, or did the deals all go belly up?

MORRIS CHESTNUT.

The "Too Darn Soulful" man has almost certainly transformed himself into an acting career, since he has had name credits in Hollywood movies, and surely there can only be one "Morris Chestnut". Or maybe making a masterpiece record was just a one-off diversion from what was already an established acting career?

BRENDETTA DAVIS.

Recorded "I Can't Make It Without Him" / "Until You Were Gone" on LIBERTY in 1968, but from the label copy it wouldn't surprise me if it hadn't appeared earlier on a sma11er label and formed a pick-up deal. It was my own speculation when I first reviewed this record that originated the rumour that this was Brenda Holloway moonlighting, but Brenda denies this, although she did tell me she remembered recording "Until You Were Gone" but couldn't remember any more details. . ! Add to this the fact that one of the backing vocalists on the session confirmed to Ady Croasdell that it WAS Brenda Holloway, and we are as confused as ever... But, could a vocalist as great as this make just one record and never get offered a second chance?

SANDI SHELDON.

Recorded Van McCoy's incomparable "You're Gonna Make Me Love You" on OKEH in 1967. Van McCoy is sadly no longer with us, and it is known that he had a keen eye for discovering potential talent, but again, the old, old story; no photo, no subsequent releases known anywhere. Surely this can't be the sum total of her recording career? And if it was, didn't we ought somehow to let her know that she at least made a record that was a huge hit and subsequent legend on the Northem Soul circuit?

SHAWN ROBINSON.

Made the ultra-brilliant "My Dear Heart" on MINIT in 1965. The part composer on both sides was Robert Staunton, and he was put composer on Marvin Gaye's "Tank About A Good Feeling" in 1965 (left in the can until the advent of track-hungry CDs), and Stevie Wonder's "Don't You Feel It" (Ditto the above), in 1964. So a Detroit link is in there perhaps.

CAROLYN SULLIVAN.

Made the marvellous "Dead!", and then her career seems to have died

VALENTINO.

Recorded "I Was Born This Way" / "Liberation" on the GAIEE label in 1975. The first "out" gay record ever, and snapped up by MOTOWN who were more interested in acquiring the rights to a label which perhaps had future potential in a specialized market than in Figuring Valentino's career. A record way ahead of its time and the politically correct climate, Valentino's brave stand should never be forgotten. In 1975 it took guts to make a record like this, as opposed to 1998 when all it takes is a tattoo.Well, that's enough to be going on with, but there are more, and, most importantly, let me know those obscure and Wang heroes and heroines that you dig, and we'll see what we can discover on them.

COLLECTORS' CORNER

So many great CDs continue to be issued that it is difficult to keep pace and mention those that really merit it. But, I must mention Kent's "Serious Shades of Soul" if only for Robert Ramsey's ace outing 'Like It Stands"; a hypnotic number that might take some time to zonk you, but if you stick with it, it'll creep right up and haunt your head._ Westside Records are really getting their act together, and their latest compilation "Doctor Good Soul" (WESM 525) is a cracking set from the ROULETTE and associated labels' catalogues, with the exquisite good taste of Tony Rounce guiding the compilation of it, and the informed and informative good sense of David 'In The Basement" Cole providing the sleeve notes and overall commentary. Both major pluses in any undertaking. Any CD which contains The Delfonics despair anthem 'He Don't Really Love You" alone makes it an essential buy in my opinion, but there are many others here, although the trouble with writing about CDs is that they can contain so many outstanding traclcs that it makes it hard to list them all without making your article look like a sales catalogue. But, this is what buying CDs is all about, so let me name the sides that particularly caught my soul:

Peter Cooke's DIMENSION early Deep Soul wailer 'I Won't Cry', with a no holds barred naked emotional quality that people are altogether far too inhibited to express in this present day Designer-Emotion era;

A previously unissued Betty Lavette track from the CALLA library, a vocalist who will always have a special place in my heart

A lost Jerry Williams ballad, "Your Man", that only ever surfaced on the tiny 87.30 label, originally intended for a CALLA album that never materialized; a guy who really knows how to use his voice to emote, and with whom everything he touches always turns to heartfelt;

A diffrent take by Donald Height on "She Blew A Good Thing": not as good as the ..cont in skm dec 98 issue.

Well there you go, all I can say is..."highly recommended! "

Contact details, dont forget tell him soul source sent you.

email: dave@skmmag.freeserve.co.uk
or
Soulful Kind Music
12 Winchester Rise,
London Heights
Dudley
DY 1 SE

By Mike in Articles · June 7, 200025 yr

George Jackson Nite Review By Mike Hump 2000
thanks go out to another of out intrepid reporters for taking his life in hand and venturing to far off lands, EC1 in london, just so he can pass onto you details of what seems to be a excellent nite with a bit of a different flavour read on for the adventures of mike humphries at the george jackson soul nite
It always seems to me a tough decision deciding what type of warmer to go to before an event. Going to a strictly 60s Northern do before the 100 club seems like going to see a tribute band before the real thing. So when I read the flyer for the George Jackson soul night it sounded a decent alternative to some of the duff series of mod, psychedelic, school disco northern events put on prior to the 100. (more of this in a later posting). I arrived about 1100 so the place was busy. First surprise was the beer. Good selection of Belgian beer at reasonable prices. So after a few sips of Hoogaarden it was down stairs to the basement bar. Smallish room probably 50-60 people, young crowd - in the main not soulies but still taking in the sounds. When I arrived Gareth was on the decks. I hadnt realised it but I had met him before at the Dome. On the strength of my conversation with him I went out and bought a couple of Soul Children CDs (highly recommended). What more can I say a soulie who knows his stuff. I can now say he also knows how to put a well thought out set together. Next up was a guest Gordon who played some fine stuff too. Finally David put together an excellent mid and uptempo session.
Those of you I have met will know that I am useless at the hard facts, however David has promised to put a playlist together for me, as soon as I get it I will pass it on. All in all if you like quality soul with a refreshing soul mix of mid-tempo, beat ballads, classy 60s and 70s sounds and a few from Memphis then this is the place for you. Great as it is, the biggest problem with the 100 (and the Dome for that matter) is that there is nowhere to have a reasonable conversation whilst being able to hear whats going on in the hall. As a result it is difficult to catch up with a bit of chat and check out the latest gossip. As a meeting place "George Jackson" is just right. The music doesnt completely dominate so conversation is possible without bursting your lungs and the beer is top notch.
So if you want some top soul in a comfortable meeting place to start the night then this is the place to meet up, catch up and then move on to the nighter. I had intended to check it out then move onto the queue for the "100" at 1230. The sounds were so good that I stayed for the duration and didnt get to Oxford street till 0200pm. David, Gareth and their crowd are a friendly bunch and they were happy to discuss their plays, give the low down and provide back ground. Check them out - you wont be disappointed. The next George Jackson Night is in a month Check out their flyer on Soul Source.
Mike Hump

event-reviews

By Mike in Articles · June 6, 200025 yr

Review of Terrys Chocolate Soul Nite

Always good to get stuff from the man on the street and heres a good one a review of last Fridays - Terrys Chocolate Soul in London town - by Dave Dixon sounds like a good one -read on......................

I arrived at 9.30pm, walked up the stairs of the Catch bar where Chocolate Soul is held. I paid the an at the top of the stairs and I was in. My first thoughts were that its much smaller than I imagined it would be. The room is L shaped, with a bar to the left and the DJ stand and dancefloor at the back. There was also, for the first time, a record/CD dealer positioned at the front. Very reasonable his prices were too. There were not many people in at this time but this was probably due to the football still being on. I knew it was going to be a packer as it was Terry Joness birthday, Gavin Paiges wet the babys head night and also several other regular punters birthdays. In fact, there were a variety of cards at the front door for signing. The music at the beginning was great modern soul i.e. new stuff from the last couple of years. TJ came on afterwards and it was suddenly very busy and played his usual very high quality set that included brand new sounds (Janita) and old classics (George Benson - "Love Ballad"). Mike Stephens was the nights guest DJ and played a set that most people would normally expect from - mainly brand new stuff, most of it not very well known although he did slip in a few very popular tunes. I did hear some people say they felt that the tempo of the stuff he played was a bit slow and verging on RnB (Im talking Jaheim here, not Charles Sheffield). Having said that, the dancefloor was still bust throughout his set.

He also got more than the customary hour that guest DJs seem to get. I reckon it was 90 minutes which I thought was good because theyre are usually the most interesting sets of the night. TJ finished off the last hour with a storming set of northern and modern classics including The Constellations, Voices of East Harlem, Ace Spectrum, Tavasco, B.G.L., Drizabone, Barbara Acklin, Jackie Wilson, Bobby Reed, Beloyd and 4 Below Zero. The place was absolutely rocking with hardly any room to dance anywhere. There were people there from different soul backgrounds but all appreciated the same fantastic music and really enjoying themselves in a very friendly atmosphere. .
I had a great time. It was my first visit but it wont be my last. .
Dave Dixon . .

Event details . Terrys Chocolate Soul. Last Friday every month. . 9.00pm-2.00am. £5 + usual concessions. . Terry Jones, Sourmash and monthly special guests .

event-reviews

By Daved in Articles · June 1, 200025 yr

Next in line with this series of interviews is Irish Greg DJ and CSC co-promoter
Man of today Irish Greg -1999
Q Ok Greg, to start us off, for people who don't know you, how did you get into northern and end up in London?
I first got into northern when I was young Mod all of 16 and was living in Galway (Ireland, hello guy's) but it was really when I moved to London in 1987 (was only 17). I remember going to Mod clubs and hearing things like Ron Baxter, Liz Lands etc etc. But it was when I went to the 100 Club and heard that magic mid-tempo sound of things like Bobby Kline, Magnetics, Danny Moore, and Kell Osborne - I had found my church to worship at.
Q. You're one of the main people behind the Capitol Soul Club and it all seems to be going well, what is the idea behind the club?
I had left the 100 Club as a resident D.J. and The Scene for about 2 years (you need a break ever now and then), on my return I found that nothing had changed, same D.J's spinning the same stuff (one or two exceptions of course). I meet up with my good friend Alan Handsome (D.J. and Collector) and decided to start up the C.S.C with the intention to get some of the best and entertaining D.J.'s who would spin quality newies and current big sounds (Oldies are played and always should be because we are here to entertain but we must also look to the future). The C.S.C is about the future and including the past all in one. D.J.'s like Carl Fortnum, Dave Flynn , Shifty , Andy Rix etc have shown it works. I must mention also Matt Jahans, who keeps doing a great job on the promotional front - he is totally into it and we couldn't do it without him.
Q. With the dome being a mainly upfront sixties soul venue, what are your views on events/djs that stick to classic oldies formula.
I think events that just play oldies have got to move on and oldies D.J.'s should not be playing so safe - otherwise the punter will go elsewhere. Also I think the punter should go and speak to the D.J.'s or Promoter if he or she is not happy, remember the punter pays the wage and without them this scene will DIE. Speak up-don't shut up.
Q. What would you say to critics of today's sounds saying they don't match up to the classics of yesteryear?
That is total bullshit, these people should listen to the sounds on your site and wake up. I wonder if they are the same people who just want to hear what they heard in there youth and are forever moaning. Yes some of the greatest records are classics but some of the unreleased stuff (small example) that are turning up are awesome.
Q. As said before at dome you do get a mixed age group, and have used methods such as free tapes at events and the GLR radio show. To spread the word, do you reckon this is the way ahead?
Yes, the idea of free tapes was simply to break new sounds. The punter would pay £5 in and was handed a tape of sounds that will be played at the club, they go home listen to it and the next time they come its like they know that record backwards (it's broken before it hits the turntable). G.L.R was a massive help to the club and was fantastic, we could advertise to a massive amount of people and spread the word in a way I could only dream of. I think more Promoters/D.J.'s should look to giving the punter more, we have given T-Shirts away for nothing because when they wear it we get The Capitol Soul Club promoted everywhere they wear it. We don't have loads of money (far from it) but it got the punters in and made them feel part of something, they are the capitol not us.
q. Next month capitol soul club are holding a event in Newton le Willows, how do you think this will go, and what have you got to say to people to may be thinking of going?
I hope it's a success; we will stick to our guns, play quality sounds, lots of new things plus old and hopefully entertain. To the people going to the venue I would like to say thanks and hopefully you will be entertained and come away from the event hearing sounds you liked. I think the promoter Alan has pressed up free tapes - now that's what I call a promoter who wants to move on and cares about his crowd.
Q. Capitol Soul clubs Plans for the future?
We have got lots of stuff but until all is ready I can't say as some people might just nick one or two ideas. Radio show on Internet is one.
Q. As said rarely hear any post 69 stuff is this a deliberate choice or just way it works out?
It's just the way it is, 75% of the D.J's are hardcore sixties (oldies and newies) and we have found that works great. We do play some crossover stuff but when you have new sixties things then that gets prority. The crowd is a great mix (soulies, mods etc) but in London we have found a mainly hardcore sixties following and we are more than happy with that.
Q. Ok Greg onto dj-ing side of life, how did you first get into it?
I started in Mod clubs in London and then Val Palmer packed in her set at the 100 Club (early 9'ts, so Adey asked if I would step in and of course I said yes (you don't say no to that). At first it was great but it upset some people that they were not asked and got quite nasty, it left a bad taste with me because I'm not into this ego D.J. bullshit. I remember going on to D.J and offering out these people in front of a packed 100 CLUB (my mates looking around for the first person to move) but this one person in particular just put his head down and I ain't seen him since (moaners etc). I then went on to work with some bands who are now very famous and I must say a big thank you to Adey because he stuck right by me and was always fare.
Q. What are your top 3 sounds at moment that are getting the most dance floor re-action?
1.Other Brothers - Nobody but me - Unissued
2.Jimmy Hughes - It ain't what you got - Atlantic (Thanks to Mick Smith)
3.Tyn Tymes - Baby I love you - Music box
Q. Have you ever done a spot that has totally bombed, like tumbleweeds blowing thru the dance floor during your spot, and why did it happen?
Not really, once or twice the dance floor would go quite but only when trying something new, a D.J should always have back up just in case (Luther Ingram and Gene Toones is mine)
Q. As said at beginning you've been recently signed up to dj at ocean colour scenes concert, how did this come about?
I have worked for many well know bands and we did interview Steve (O.C.S. guitarist) for G.L.R - So I got a call and was told they wanted me and if there's free beer and the rest !!!! then I'm your man. Party on Noel and Liam.
Q What do you reckon you be playing there, current stuff or well known stuff?
Plenty of Northern plus some British rnb and Indie stuff. This is the way to get the kids into it. What I love is seeing young kids heads moving when your playing something like Edwin Starr, Miracles etc - they fuckin love it to death.
Q. Radio show on GLR, where's Wigan seemed to go down well, how did that happen any plans for more shows?
It was a big success, everyone who knew about it tuned in and you could hear things like Gary Dean, Little Ann, Doni Burdick, Jimmy Burns, Pat Lewis, Vivian Carroll etc all on the B.B.C - wow. We would get people like Mark Lamar and other celeb's phoning in for request's and wanting to know about record's that we were playing, it was great fun. O'ya it came about because the lad's from Dodgy wanted to do a Londoner's guide to Northern and one of my best mate's is Nick Abnett the bass player - so in I go to oversee everything and end up one of the host's. No more show's planned as G.L.R are going for a talk station with very little music.
Q,. You recently did 100 club, how did that go? Any more appearances planned?
It was ok, the sound was very bad (deck's blew up at one stage) and the crowd seemed a bit quiet. The problem I found was that the regular D.J.'S are sometimes just going through the same stuff when everyone knows that they have loads of great new records in reserve, dig them out and play them. Otherwise what's the point in bringing a 200 box of single's when your playing the same 20 records every month, they might be very rare but a sound is a sound and if you have another 180 then for fuck sake play them over the year. The 100 club is still one of the best all-nighter's in the country and still leads the way on the soul road but the lights sometimes change. I mean poor old Adey is the only one over the last few years that has played a substantial amount of new disc's (Rca stuff etc). Come on boy's dig deep and mix it up - I think Shifty was a good signing and always put's a bit of passion into it. No plan's to return, as I'm busy enough with the C.S.C and other musical interests.
Q. Thanks so far Greg, few odd ones now! If during an event a guy wandered up stage and said, play some proper northern like out on floor or I do you! What track would you play next and has similar ever happened.
No but if someone make's the effort to ask for a track and I got it with me then I'll play it. If I put it in the box in the first place then I must think it's good enough to be played, otherwise I shouldn't have it in there. We respect everyone who come's to the Capitol for a peaceful soul night out - no bullshit - no snobs - no egos just a great celebration of the music we all love. Now if a piss head starts and is taken the piss then I'm not one to hold back.
Q. Heard a rumour that Ian Levine wouldn't mind doing a spot at the dome, how do you feel about that?
We are Booked solid - sorry. I spoke to Ian at the 100 Club and let me tell ya that he still has some great records and I found him quite a nice guy to talk too. I would still ask him for a tape though.
Q. London seems to have a 101 soul events on a month apart from 100 club and dome, where would you head for, for a great nite out?
Drinking with The Boy's from Dodgy is always a mad one, especially with Nick or maybe the nearest hardcore punk event, maybe to see The Business or a great new band called The Solar Flares (Medway band). Soul wise well These Old Shoes is a good one.
Q. Greg say you just discovered a great lp track, trouble is its by a uk white 70s pop star, and has no real soul connection, would you play it?
No, but I heard Rod Stewart's version of First cut is the deepest the other day and that's not bad? I'm joking of course - his balls must be a mess with all those tight trousers he wore.
Q. Cover ups- in old days were to stop bootleggers, nowadays... what's your view?
I do it for a laugh but really I think it's very bad because these artists have never received any recognition and then someone come's along and say's its someone else. I think C/U's should be done for a short while (give a D.J. an edge on others) and then uncover it and at least give something back to the real artist by saying who it really is. It's an elitist thing really.
Q. What's the greatest soul record you ever had pleasure in playing? What a Question?
I think it would have to be Jimmy Ricks "Oh what a feeling" because I just love his deep voice and also the line "came home with kisses that you never will forget" - we've all been there I think.
Q one the worlds been waiting for, now known here as Irish Greg, but do they call you cockney Greg when you go home?
It's funny, because that does happen but I do live in east London and have been in London now for 13 years but I'm still 100% Irish and proud of it.
Q. To finish off Greg, last two what's the most memorable northern event you ever been to and why?
My first visit to the 100 Club all-nighter (I still get that shiver now thinking about it) and also seeing Ray Pollard singing The Drifter live (I had tears of joy in my eye's that night - passion that's what it's about for me).
Q. How do you see the future of the current scene?
I think we need to get young people into the scene, I don't have the answers but we need them badly. Also the price's of records needs to slow down because it's just going mad, I think some people are just taking the piss. I also hope the older crowd that have returned to the scene will stay and encourage the next generation of D.J.'s and Collector's and Dancer's etc. Remember to win the race we must keep the faith and stand together and stop bitchin. Later Greg.
well all i can say is, thanks a lot for that greg, some top wear it on your sleeve stuff there, and find myself agreeing with a lot of it, he asked me to mention that for those who life up in north west, capitol soul club is holding a event in
Newton-le -willows at the viaduct, featuring carl f, dave f, irish greg, alan h - sounds like it be a killer, telephone alan on 07930 240 732 for info/ directions 31 mar being the date
for more info on capitol soul club check out their online home at matt j's site

By Mike in Articles · December 10, 199925 yr

TOO DARN SOULFUL - The story of Northern Soul by Dave Nowell
Publication Date: 10th December 99
Well its getting near that time of year, just as the summer memories are being slowly added to the pile of long gone ones, the adverts on the television remind you that yeah christmas is around again, and if like me you've just released that there are no more paydays till the next century, thoughts of presents to buy spring to mind.....
Well there you go seasonal intro or what, onto the main purpose of this page ..well recently as in this morning a review copy of dave nowells book landed on my doormat, well that took care of plans for tonight. Well after reading the first half, was that impressed that thought well no time like now, so have thrown up thoughts of the book to let you know what's the book about and my thoughts now. Understand some may say well you should read it all, think about it , write about it, leave it for a day, re-read what you wrote and so on before publishing. Well bollocks to that here, internet is about instant info so here's some instant info for you-
Now I know that this year has seen a lot of media interest into the rare soul scene with videos, mag articles, and other books, so what else can there be left to cover.
Well first I put up the publishers view on the book ,
Northern Soul has been described as the longest running fad in the history of British music culture, frequently misunderstood and tarnished with an unwanted drugs reputation.
In this book, author David Nowell takes the first ever in-depth look at the culture, the music, the DJs, the artists and the people who frequent and have frequented the all-night venues which are synonymous with the peculiarly British all-night soul scene.
Packed with memorabilia, behind-the-scenes facts and interviews from Motown artists to current chart acts like Fat Boy Slim, Too Dam Soulful is the definitive history of a dance scene that refuses to die.
ok set the scene, first think that hits you is the weight of the thing, hardback 332 pages, about 3/4 of a4 size. Cover well see above for the cover photo, great title "too darn soulful" (be a great name for web site that eh). Inside the jacket sleeve notes start of with a quote that could sum up a northern fan
"yes, we are a little bit eccentric. Yes we like being diffrent. Yes our families and work colleagues think we are barmy. But if our obsession with Northern Soul consitutes madness, then long may we remain insane."
And then the sleeve notes give a quick intro "passion for the music of black america" finishing with .... "Too Darn Soulful is the definite history of a dance scene that refuses to die"
The meat of the book itself is split into 12 chapters of 4 parts, each chapter having a title which matches the content, "boogaloo party", " turn the beat around", "it'll never be over for me", are a few, no prizes for guessing which eras they cover. The introduction is just what it says with dave trying to explain the mystery of soul music and its power, including a great story of how driving to work a recording of Walter Jackson, forces him to pull over off the road.
Rather than be trying to be analytic and a critic, I will just go through for now so you know what each chapter covers with brief info on each and put up "my final view" with part 2 of this review...
Part One
So onto the meat, part one of the book starts off with the first chapter entitled "I can't help myself" basically this lays down the pre- wheel history, covering the late 50s to the early 60s, R&B, flamingo club, early motown, with recollections by Brian Rae and others.
Chapter 2 "boogaloo party" concerns itself at first with the "mods a go go " and then onto the Twisted Wheel era with some great stories of events, and info and gives a good insight to what it was like to be in the swinging 60s at the ground level.
On to part 2 and I suppose this covers the "start of the golden era " titled "a little togetherness" so no prizes for guessing what this covers, yeah the Torch,
............"The dance floor was like a well, when it was full it was like a sea of human excitement",
the chapter here covers the history of that era complete with many fascinating facts and stories, simon soussan, white pianos and $20000 for example.
............`Sliced Tomatoes" was the record. When it came on you couldn't get on the dance floor,' he said.
Although the Torch Djs were finding lots of rare imports they played many new and nearly new releases. Colin played First Choice and 'This is the House Where Love Died' three weeks after its release. The very 70s 'Nightlighters' with Kay Gee was a massively popular instrumental.
The Torch is also where the Djs encountered the now infamous record collector Simon Soussan. The immaculately dressed Frenchman, whose roots were in America and who also had contacts with French record collectors, amazed soul fans when he appeared with his record box crammed with just about every rarity Northern Soul fans craved.
Simon's sources and ear for music were impeccable and he became a friend of the Torch Djs. Once Colin Curtis went to visit him at his flat in Leeds and was astonished at what he saw. In a white flat with white carpets and a white piano, he had a sideboard crammed full of rare soul 45s in mint condition in cardboard sleeves.
Simon made it clear he did not want to sell? he wanted to swap records with his fellow connoisseurs. To emphasize the point that he did not need the money, he dumped £20,000 in cash on the bed.
Said Colin: 'We were discovering more and more rare records but he was coming up with some other really great stuff. He took it to a different plane.'
The Kingspinners were joined each week by lan TNT Turner, Alan Day, Martyn Ellis, and Johnny Beggs. Chris Burton recalls: 'Musically I loved the scene, but, more importantly, the energy created by the crowd was incredible.'
Suddenly the Torch acquired a national reputation amongst the Northern Soul fraternity, and the 680 capacity venue was creaking under the weight of far too many punters for its own good. Chris estimates the Torch pulled in up to 1,400 on an exceptional night, which, along ......
After that interesting bit where next , up the road to Blackpool in chapter 4, is now the stop, now this chapter covers a lot of stuff which might be unknown to a lot of people who just know the mecca from the "horror" stories from certain people. Hopefully this will put the record straight to those who may not know what a part it really played in the development of the scene. Again stacks of fascinating facts, info, stories and quotes such as cover ups were "purely to stop the bootleggers". Also parts on the so called wigan mecca war, the so called split and the reasoning behind the policy of playing ever increasing more funkier sounds. Obviously this chapter covers Ian Levine and his "works" and to me gives a fair and balanced view, which people should read before jumping on the bandwagon of criticism his name usually brings. So all in all a great chapter with again a lot of info to take in.
...........in demand dancer, robbing the DJ and the venue of their exclusivity.
That's when the practice of 'covering up' records came into full swing. The only way to protect the identity of a record was to literally cover the label and invent a fictitious title and artist. In that way the DJ could hope to keep the real identity of a record secret for weeks, if not months. But Northern Soul fans are nothing if not resourceful and determined, and the secret usually came out eventually.
In the meantime, the Djs could buy time by calling the Coasters' 'Crazy Baby' 'My Heart's Wide Open' by Freddie Jones; Edie Walker's 'Good Guys' became 'Patricia Valentine's "You Can't Tell the Good Guys from the Bad`; Melvin Carter's 'Midnight Brew' became 'Shing A Ling at the Go Go'. 'Breakaway' by the Steve Karmen Band became'The Black Ship of Hell'. Sometimes, if the bootleggers were really baffled, they would press the disc with the fictitious title.
lan and Colin devised a numbering system Secret Sounds 1, 2, 3, etc to cover up all their one offs. Using a piece of patterned wallpaper, they would cover front and back of the label. Then just to make sure there was no tell-tale information in the runout groove, they would add small pieces of Sellotape.
'We didn't cover up records to prevent other Djs from finding out what they were, it was purely to stop the bootleggers,' said Ian. 'But there were a lot of knowledgeable people around and eventually someone would come up with the real title. We used to have grand "uncovering ceremonies" in the Highland Room when it became pointless trying to keep someone a secret any longer!'
Even today lan is fiercely proud of the records that he played first at the Mecca which became anthems at the Casino. 'Afternoon of the Rhino' by the Mike Post Coalition is seen as synonymous with Wigan Casino. 'I played that first,' says Ian.
........R D Taylor's 'There's a Ghost in My House' was also aired at the Mecca. But Wigan Casino founder Russ Winstanley's argument,.....
After that worthwhile chapter the book moves onto part 3, well you must know what's coming at this stage , yes its the wigan chapter, a lot has been written about this venue, and to be fair I suppose people who didn't go might be tired of hearing about it, but such is the interest still in this club, and its part in northern history, and as there will never be a place like this again its good to see some fresh info and antidotes. Well glad to say that there is here a lot of interesting stuff, starting off with ave Nowells personal recollection of his time at the venue, then onto more snips of stories , info and antidotes, lots of stuff again here, with many new (to me) bits, Simon Soussan's influence, Russ and Richards relationship, Derek and the Dominoes! and more. A interesting comparsion is how clubs in the 90s such as Ministry of Sound are now doing what wigan did 30 years earlier , own label, own magazines, own sounds etc etc.
In at this point is the photo section 16 pages of black and white glossies covering the cast range of the spectrum, mods,100 club, with all stops in between, quite a few unseen (by me) before there as well.
Next chapter "turning my heart beat up" was a bit of a surprise to me until i remembered the "warts and all" quote, all about the often unsaid side of the northern scene - the gear. And to tell the truth it does cover almost the full spectrum, from personal stories to medical experts views.
.....Much later Steve looked at his watch for the tenth time in as many minutes. Surely it must be later than 7.30 am? It had to be bloody 7.28 am last time he looked. He felt like shit. His mouth certainly was dry and furry and tasted of too many cigarettes. He took another swig of Coke but it couldn't quench his thirst. His shirt was drenched with sweat and it felt clammy. His heart was thumping ten to the dozen, and when he went on the dance floor could go his legs felt like lead and he was breathless within seconds. that hour. He could no longer think of anything witty or interesting to say as the all-nighter entered its final half hour. He desperately....
Ok that's it at moment as said will post part 2 in next couple of days, about halfway through the book at moment and from what I've quickly looked at in rest of chapters it all appears good stuff.
Part 2 Intro
So far am very impressed by the book, the press release says " a definite history" well that might be a hard claim to live up to as nearly everyone has their own view on what the northern scene is about and hence their view on the history, however going by what I read so far it seems that Dave is getting close to that statement, and all the views seem open and cover all sides of the many points of view, without the normal biased opinions that sometimes crop up. And going by amount of info in first half, would say its looking like a great buy, information not just from the "normal" well known names , but a lot of "ordinary joe's " have their bit as well, as said up to the late 70s at moment and it appears that the second part should cover the 80 and 90s in depth.
Part 2
Into the second half, now the era is the late 70s and we're into chapter 7 entitled "Don't take away the music" and as the title suggests we're off to the ritz, covering the start of them famous dayers thru the days when Soul Sam played "Philly dog around the world" and next spin following was Ian Levine with Rose Royce and "car wash", could there ever be two contrasting spins and most of all it seemed to work, upto the gradual end at the 80s. Next stop - Cleethorpes and the going ons there, bit from lead singer swing out sister, who used to go, (never knew that but always thought their stuff had a bit of an influence with one sounding like "you took our heart" ), west midlands, notts and more info.
with the 70s drawing to a close and people like Neil Rushton being left with 80 000 records to flog, the book takes us to the early 80s in part 4 with chapter 8 entitled as "the panic is on" covering Morecambe , yate and onto Stafford with stories about the "soul fascists" and up to the 100 club.......
........Room in West Hampstead, and the Last Chance in Oxford Street, the 6Ts soul club attracted a mixture of soul stalwarts and Mod revivalists.
Then Ady got the venue that appealed to him most ? the 100 Club. Small, atmospheric and with a wealth of musical history from blues and jazz to beat groups. The allnighters began in August 1980.
Ady said: 'It's a basement venue, which 1 like, and it has a terrific history. It has a nice size dance floor, although possibly a little small for an allnighter, and it's ideal for me. I don't particularly like the big monster allnighters.'
The neatly sized venue did not suffer from the same drastic fall off in attendances as suffered in the north in the 1980s and was able to press ahead with its progressive music policy. Like the Stafford all-nighters, the 100 Club is famed for its love of 'new' 60s discoveries, mid-tempo items and beat ballads.
Said Ady: 'Being in London we have always had a slightly trendy aspect, sometimes we're in fashion and other times we're out of fashion, but we've always had a very loyal following and a high standard of Djs.'
Its current resident Djs of Butch, Mick Smith, Shifty and Ady have ensured the 100 Club has a reputation as a connoisseurs, venue. Its location in the capital means that showbiz celebrities occasionally drop in. Liam Gallagher of Oasis once paid the 100 Club a visit before the band achieved world fame, and Shane McGowan used to work in the cloakroom. Once when soul singer Doris Troy was appearing at the venue a promotion on which Ady lost money a fan tried to jump the queue for autographs. A slightly ill tempered Ady told him to get back in line. The fan was Van Morrison.
Regulars come from all over the south, Midlands and Wales, with French visitors hopping on to the Eurostar to enjoy the allnighter. The 100 Club had the first female Northern Soul resident DJ in Val Palmer, and also pioneered the 'guest night'
Now up to chapter 9 "time will pass you by" being the title, with a chapter on the revival side, searling, chris king, kev roberts ady croasdel all featured here, covering radio shows and cd side, dave rimmers view, then fatboy slim, paul weller, kenny burrell and last of all in this chapter ian levine.
chapter 10 kicks off with a quote " i certainly don't feel forty three..." and is entitled "i'll never forget you", here we have a lot of tributes and stories from well known to normal joes, soul sam, dave evison, terry jones, dave thorlety, edwin starr, ginger, brenda holloway, kev murphy, to name a few not so much a look back but a look at people on scene now.
.................oldies brigade, at a time when the scene suffered something of a split between the traditionalists and the modern soul/jazz funk fans.
Martin himself admits that maybe he went too far. 'On reflection, I got it wrong. I should have been playing 60s stuff alongside the modern things. The modern stuff went down well at Wigan and I went off at a tangent: I loved the modern stuff but maybe I should have played more across?the?board stuff.'
The North Wales based soul spinner has never stopped Djing and liking black music and is now firmly back in the non-disco soul groove. His spot could range from the most obscure £2,000 1960s stomper to 70s 'floaters' to 90s items. He will also play oldies if the crowd demands it, but he refuses to be complacent. 'What I don't like about the Northern scene is that at certain venues you are obliged to play the same records, he said. 'There aren't enough people that want to hear new records. Don't get me wrong, I still like to hear oldies, but I couldn't be a DJ if I had to play the same spot everywhere I went.
'The people that worry are the ones that won't listen to anything new. They are the ones that are just reliving their youth. They just want to hear the same old records. I sometimes wonder if they were ever into real music at all. For instance Drizabone's "Can't Take the Pressure" is huge, not because it's a great record but because it's played to death. There are many people on the scene who haven't got a mind of their own.'
Martin uses his plentiful supply of Northern Soul classic oldies to trade for newer items at venues around the country. Through his network of contacts like record dealers and collectors Jolinny Manship, Tim Ashibende, Tim Brown and John Anderson of Soul Bowl he will be alerted to the latest 'finds'. One of them may play him a record down the phone, or Martin will take a trip down to scour their collections. A few plays by Soul Sam and a favourable dance floor reaction is often enough to elevate a record to cult status.
Martin is, however, reluctant to take all the credit for 'breaking' new sounds. One of his biggest current records, Chuck Holiday's 'Just Can't Trust Nobody', he has since discovered was played and virtually forgotten at the Stafford all.....................
internet and soul.. interesting stuff? well chapter 11 - soul self satisfaction, a chapter mainly concerned with the internet will let you know, in this chapter dave looks at the online and worldwide side of the scene, a few of the sites and online people get a bit here with their stories from usa, germany australia and more countires, quite a few online people are featured through out the book
enough of that boring internet stuff, onto the next chapter no 12 and the last one... is entitled "it'll never be over for me".. and quite a good to way to finish, the chapter concerns it self wholly with a night out to a niter, in the present day..
.......................CDs are much easier to negotiate a deal over. The prices are all marked: £6, £10, £15. More and more punters are selling their vinyl collections (very profitably, too) and re-acquiring the same sounds on CD. OK, the purists may not approve, but the convenience, longevity and cheapness of a CD compilation of tracks that might otherwise cost you literally hundreds of pounds to own is very attractive to many soul fans.
In the midst of all the bartering and to-ing and fro-ing from the main hall to the entrance hall, the doormen look on bored. This is probably the easiest night's wages they will earn. No one appears drunk, no one fights, no one throws up over anyone's girlfriend. The bouncers look on bemused as soul fans of all shapes and sizes and ages stay up until dawn listening to the obscure offerings of otherwise long-forgotten American artists.
The laid-back attitude of the bouncers is entirely appropriate and appreciated by the soul crowd. Cash-strapped soulies take empty bottles with them to the toilets to fill them with tap water. The odd can of beer or Lucozade is smuggled in, but there is no paranoia about getting caught, beaten up and thrown out in the 1999 soul scene. The bar is doing a roaring trade in soft drinks anyway, now the licensing hours have expired, and the queue for tea, coffee and snacks is constant all night long.
In the gents the entertainment continues, with guys of all shapes and sizes in various states of undress. In the centre of the lavatories there is a bank of back-to-back sinks in a manner that reminds me of my primary school days. Holdalls are scattered around as guys grab fresh shirts, spray on the Lynx (whatever happened to Brut?), and splash water on their faces before rejoining the fray on the dance floor.
In the corner a tall, gaunt guy in his thirties is doing karate kicks and stretches while his fellow soul fans continue their ablutions, hardly giving him a second glance. If you weren't just a little bit eccentric, you wouldn't be here.
Handshakes and words are easily exchanged as you try to edge your way back towards the door, but almost inevitably a familiar face appears, flushed, and eager to chat.
It's the same story in the corridor skirting the whole length of...........
well thats my show and tell bit done, hopefully the above bit will give you an idea of books content
Endword
My final verdict well as said it's publishers gave it "the definite history of northern soul" tag and to be truthfull its a statement which I would say is impossible to live up to. Because such is the diversty of the northern soul scene that to produce a definite history you would need 5000+ pages. Now as a history of northern soul then yes the book lives up to it. It startes off in the pre-60s era and covers all the main parts that have made the scene what it is today. Covering every era from wheel, the ritz in 70s, the "golden years" and wigan, cleethorpes, stafford, 100 club and bang up to date. Each chapter is full of recollections from all sources, information, antidotes, views, stories etc
Good to see a lot of input from the "ordinary punter" as well as the more "well known names" plus also good is the openess of it all, as you know there is a lot of "different" views on the scene, and dave has presented most times both views of the story, be it soul sams views on oldies "they just want to hear the same old records, I sometimes wonder if they're into real music at all" to kev roberts "people just want to go out and have a good time".
As said lots of good info in between the covers, a lot of it new to me, and a lot of behind the scenes stories plus loads of top tens as well. The turning my heart beat up covers one of the unsaid sides and does it well.
negative points, well as I said to produce a book that covered everything, you would need stacks of paper, I would have preferered to see a bit more on the other clubs from 80s onwards stafford and 100 club and so on, both are featured and covered but i feel more coverage could have been given, and helped the books claim to be the defInite one. Suppose it depends where you come from, and where you went and go to now,
also it was good to see the internet and non-uk people get a mention and the use of their stories help show the full diveresty and how world wide the soul scene is.
final word - "too darn soulful is a great book , its well researched, and clearly shows the amount of effort put in, full of useful stuff, great recollections from all sorts of people on the scene, covers the whole spectrum of the scene, and most of all important is a fascinating read, I say buy it, I reckon its worth the money and makes a welcome addition to the current inprint collection of books"

TOO DARN SOULFUL - The story of northern soul
Dave Nowell
Publication Date: 10th December 99
robson books 10 blenheim court, brewery road london, N7 9NT
020 7700 7444
price £17.95

By Mike in Articles · December 1, 199925 yr

Capitol Soul club - Dome - Second One Nov 99

Well another Saturday trying to pull my head together after a soul night out, the cause of this repair session was the second dome event in london. After the success of the first one back in October was wondering how this one would go, well after the trip up from chatham and the tube journey, found me self in the pub next to it talking to matt j (who along with capitol soul club , puts it alltogether) after hitting me with the "can you get the drinks in, I've gotta do some promoting stuff" trick at bar, told me that he's had hell of a lot of phonecalls about tonight, and has sussed out the next dates, jan mar and may 2000, as now going for the bi-monthly approach.

Onto the event, apart from not being let into till 9. 45, queuing outside in the rain, then on the stairs, reckon someone was trying to throw in a "no pushing at the back" scenario, but it didn't work as only about 10 of us in queue. As last time a bit quiet till 10 ish and then people poured in, reckon round about 400 in at a guess. What I would like promoters to do is stick all the big names on before 1000, cause after 11 the alcohol kicks in and, looking back sound and play details are a bit blurred, so apologies for that will do next one alcohol free just for you! honest.

DJs first on were the resident capitol soul players alan and then irish greg, alan again , greg again, then shifty then andy rix, with final 15 min spot irish greg finishing the night. Sounds, well some great stuff was thrown at us by all of them and the crowded dance floor lapped them up, standouts ( or could be called ones I remember) were instrumental version of "she's wanted" this was first hear for me and well impressive a "powerhouse" of a record, also jimmy radcliffe acetate- the thrill of loving you, man o man, jimmy burns, leslie tipton, cashmeres, j d bryant, brand new faces, and stacks more quality stuff

Crowd wise again a fairly mixed bunch of young and old, met up with a quite a few people, talking to martin and paul who do the old shoes event and they were telling me about their forthcoming xmas event, on before the suffer no fools niter, so could be a overdoes of soul that weekend, as always met a few online people for first time, always good to put a face to that email address.

So that's what happened last nite ( won't bother telling you about the adventure getting back to victoria, or the wondefull time waiting for first train at that time of morning) according to my worn out brain, may not be 100% like, my view on night, yeah it was another great event, good quality sounds and great venue, obviously it was going to be a hard task following the first one which had such a solid dj line up, but the sounds were up to it and the good atmosphere made it 2 out of 2
Roll on the next one...

other views on last nite, if you were there throw yours up via email

....the Dome last
night was absolutely f*cking brilliant and if you weren't there you don't
know what you missed...probably one of the best nights I've been to this
decade and easily the best soul night in the country IMO...incredible
atmosphere, dancers were up for anything, good tunes...couldn't fault it at
all,,

By Mike in Articles · December 1, 199925 yr

Northern Essence edited by Pete Coulson - Review 1999
site note originally up in 1999
Well here you go, yet another classy fanzine that s dropped thru my letterbox. All I can say is that the amount of worthwhile fanzines/mags dedicated to soul music is awe inspiring, the time and effort that must go into them must be enormous. (not just taking easy way out if I got a shite one I would say!). Each one I've ever read has its own style and format but all achieve same results a f*cking good read and a goldmine of information.
Latest example of the passion is Northern Essence edited by Pete Coulson,
ok start with boring details first address is
Northern Essence

Farnworth
Bolton

UK
subs £3.50 issue, £12 for 4 UK; (£4 for one , £16 for 4 - europe)
ok that bit over, into the pages, main meat of the July issue concerns itself with Eddie Holmans recent appearance at Lowton , there's a exclusive interview where Eddie gives a lot of historic background to some of his sides, a piece by greg tormo (heard of him somewhere before) on the Masqueraders, venue reports by Big Mick , 16 pages spanning the world (almost) good informative guides there. Normal stuff like vinyl reviews whats on, a billy backdrop column, keeping this short so you can get onto interesting stuff, overall another outstanding fanzine, the eddie holman interview is/was a great piece and venue reports should go next to your encyclopedia Britannia as a well good reference, more of a sit-down read, than a pick it up and flip, but thats just me...
Here a few articles starting off with a few reviews from Big Mick as said before these are a well good reference, not just what sounds are hitting you, but what time bar shuts, food on offer, all good background stuff thats good to know, along with all normal review stuff , then some vinyl reviews by DJ Harris.....onto the meat.....
TONYS' EMPRESS BALLROOM
WARM-UP & ALL-NIGHTER.
'It's been quite a while since I climbed these stairs to the ballroom, bleedin' ages in fact. Due to the BOUROUGH ARMS once again being gutted and refurbished, the warm-up is now here along side the niter.
If the response is anything to go by, this is the best move yet and certainly encourages more to turn up early. I believe that once the all-nighter finished previously, everyone left to stand in line once more to await the doors opening for the start of the all-nighter, tonight things were to change and all that pissing around may not now be necessary. LITTLE SCOTTY says he felt that it was better for him to collect the entrance fee for the all-nighter from everyone just before reopening the doors to admit the 'second wave'. Now it works like this, in you go for the warm-up and you pay your dues of £2.00 to JULIAN & co. Then near to midnight, the arriving all-nighter crowd is asked to queue up as SCOTTY walks round and politely asks the early warm-up patrons to cough up the fee for the all-nighter if they are staying 'on'. Great, if it's pissing down like tonight as no one gets cold or wet and has to mess around lugging their belongings back and fourth, makes sense to get there early and stay put if you can.
I missed JUSTINS' spot but JOE was about half way through playing some exceptional R&B and a few obscure sixties, which warmed the cockles of my heart. Record dealers were already doing business and I managed to grab a couple of gems myself 'ED BRUCE - see the big man cry' was just one I've chased for some time, thanks to DAVE & BABS from Crewe. If you managed to read the venue report in ISSUE 5 on the BOUROUGH ARMS then you'd know what to expect, there's some brilliant sounds played from every direction of the 'soul' scene as new and established DJs slap on the placcy discs for your entertainment. It was whilst waiting for SCOTTY to collect his fee for the imminent all-night stomp-a-thon that we learned about the sad loss of one of the scenes' most noticeable and loveable characters - BUD. I must admit, the news of his death knocked the wind out of me. One more with a membership tightly gripped in the hand standing on the stairs to the ultimate of all-nighters in the sky. I bet he's not straining to walk now, once he's put his record box down on the nearest cloud to the decks he'll be bopping around and doing the back drops which he could only sit back and watch others doing when he was with us. He'll be loving every second up there, just think of all the artists who have passed away and be rubbing shoulders with him JACKIE WILSON, MARY WELLS, MARVIN GAVE, MAJOR LANCE. CLEETHORPES just ain't gonna be the same next year without you mate, we'll see you again, one day, leave my name on the door and I'll do the report. MARTIN PITT was just one of the DJs tonight who had everyone up and giving it some stick on the floor. The majority of the sounds played were oldies /classic oldies with a sprinkling of R&B and crossover just for good measure. MARTINs' selection reflected this theme to a point, 'SOUTHWARD SYMPHONY - comin home . 'SAND PEBBLES - you turn me on'. 'THE CHARADES - the key to my happiness CECIL WASHINGTON - I don't like to lose'. What a good spot he played, it was certainly appreciated by all who attended, the vibes just resounded from the walls. MARTINs' partner, CAROL, was here celebrating her birthday along with a friend, LINDA. They were presented with a birthday cake covered in candles and shaped like a huge prick (no, not in the shape of TONY BLAIR, the other type, you know - the useful one).
One thing that got up my nose was the price of my coke (pardon the pun). For a can of coke (or any soft drink) I was charged 90p. This was disgusting we are refused the opportunity to bring in our own cans to cool us down just so the management can rip us off with 'jacked-up' prices when they only pay around 15 - 20p per can. Come on SCOTTY, either re-negotiate with 'der management' for fair prices or allow us to bring in our own drinks, with reduced prices the management will certainly sell more and still_make a respectable profit. (This is a point with a few venues, not solely BLACKBURN). I have to hold my hands up, that was my only gripe on the night and I think if SCOTTY had his way the cost would be more reasonable, he's not a bad lad -i just can't understand a bloody word he says.
Meanwhile back at the decks, BRIAN RAE was keeping all entertained with the oldies. GERRI HALL - who can I run to, EDWIN STARR - way over there, DON COVAY - its better to have and the song about 2 Irishmen, 1 Scot and a guy from Liverpool - 'NICK LAWTON -Mick, Mac, Paddy and Wack' (suit yourself).
STEVE Whittle was also chucking out the oldies like an overzealous bouncer at a bingo club with the usual GLADYS KNIGHT and WILLIE MITCHELL etc. but for me the spot of the night went to 'GENTLEMAN' JOHN MERCER He had the dancers were he wanted them, the mixture of sounds was a pleasant change and was received by all with claps, whistles and cheers. We all needed cheering up tonight and JOHN did exactly that. His selection consisted of 'VERNON & JEWEL - HOLD MY HAND', ' WILLIE WILLIAMS -have you ever been played for a fool, IKE & TINA TURNER - Oh baby, BILL WITHERS - HAREM and LITTLE JUNIOR PARKER - These kind of blues
I must admit, a few of these are favourites of mine and bearing someone else playing them was a buzz, what a selection amongst the others played by JOHN, let's see more of him in the North West.
Other DJs tonight were NEIL RUSTON, MICK LYONS, MARC MAC & LITTLE SCOTTY himself When the lights went on and people prepared to make their way home, LITTLE SCOTTY and BRIAN RAE put one last record on for BUB, 'THE ARTISTICS - I'm gonna miss you'. But for the record, the room was silent. A few put their bags and coats down only to return to the floor once again and remember BUB with the assistance of a fitting sound, one or two quietly and slowly made their way to the door - the ones who stood around the dance floor remained silent.
As the last few bars faded out the atmosphere was sullen and respectful, then we all showed our appreciation with dignified clapping - you could almost hear the MIGHTY BUD saying "reet that's it now I'm buggering off home" Me too mate, me too - enjoy
BIG MICK.
Dance floor 8/10. sound system 8/10. no car park atmos 7/10. Venue 9/10. Total = 32/40.
260299. YORKSHIRE RIDERS, HALIFAX.
I'm finding myself here quite a lot over the last few months, I've even done a dj spot here in January. I got to play most of my CLIFF RICHARD's and MAX BYGRAVES stompers along with the gem of my collection, KEN DODD's 'Happiness', what a record (CARL WILLINGHAM's not got that on a white derno). Wellies are a 'must' when taking your life into your own hands and travelling into darkest Yorkshire. The folk are friendly enough, just don't understand what they're saying some of the time. On this particular visit the EDITOR and GOD himself PETE 'GHANDI" COULSON after dusting off the years of fluff from his gramophone whatsits is booked to 'do' a DJ spot. "Right fat boy, you're doing the write up and if you cock up you'll never work in magazines again', says GHANDI. How did I know he'd seen those full frontal shots of me posing in 'PLAYWHALE 'Anyhow, the gaff has been 'going' for 8 years now and the anniversary is on the 8 july.
There's a 'hard core' of regulars who attend and typical of this strange Yorkshire breed they certainly love their ale. The gaff opens it's doors at 8.00pm and things start to get into something near 'full' swing' just after I0.00pm. Last orders are around 1.30arn and the proceedings finish about 2.00 am (ish). Bitter £1.70 and larger, £1.90 mint sauce 50p. The venue is the last Friday every month, admission £2.50 and the average attendance is 150 -200 on a reet grand neet, see th'. Apparently, things started to 'get a bit stale' as the DJ line up hardly varied until the policy changed and guest DJs are in attendance each month now. This seems to have done the trick with CARL WILINGHAM, STEVE CONNOR and STEVE GARNER being the first, which drew record crowds.
The music policy is predictably across the board with a liking for modern, MECCA and the inevitable oldies, but saying that, there's quite a few old gems played here which I've never heard at other venues. There's a good selection of sounds played by the resident djs which are certainly a welcome change from the 'norm' which also gets a play on request. CLARKIE was warming up and one of his tracks, 'The Blue Notes -standing by you girl emphasised the forthcoming evenings' entertainment as an uptempo x-over track which is certainly a 'knock-out' and one I'll be looking out for in the future. Unfortunately, I had to 'nip out' and so missed a brilliant spot and when I returned, JOHN PURVIS was in the 'driving seat' and spinning the likes of 'Ike and Tina Turner - somebody somewhere', Phil Flowers-discontented and Bobby Treetop -wait till I get to know you"'.
The evening was shaping up very nicely, even though most were deep in conversation with just a few on the dance floor. It was going to be a memorable tonight, the wife was giving me 'the eye', problem was - I had to give it back to her due to the way see looked just like her mother with only one eye - in the middle of her head. No one was ignoring the music offerings but rather 'taking in' the vibes as normal for regulars who don't need to go out of their way to appease the DJs For the most part, the regulars were content in just sitting around and listening rather than dancing at this early stage of the evening. This is accepted here as it's the 'Yorkshire' way and every one is comfortable knowing that these soulful tracks are certainly, very much appreciated.
There isn't any bar scran, apart from crisps, not even any traditional Yorkshire culinary, such as chicken masala, It was just as well GHANDi is 'doing' a spot tonight because he managed to get us all through customs halfprice. JOHN PURVIS put on an excellent show tonight before handing over to GHANDI. GHANDI a-go-go opted for a fighter approach with the tried and tested sounds of Bobby Womack, Gene Chandler and the Spinners, slapping them out like red hot chappattis. He was a mere blur as he placed his choice on the decks then spun round to pick out the next offering his bald dome was spinning and reflecting light not unlike those mirrored balls hanging above most dance floors. His red dot on his forehead looked as if he had been 'targeted' by a sniper. Yet again, here is a venue worthy of a visit, down to earth gaff comfy mid main stream sounds guaranteed to get you up onto the floor. GHANDI certainly got the floor filled, his followers kicked off their sandals and boogied on down. CLARKIE followed up with some ready fine tracks, some of which I didn't know but fitted in just as he meant them to, perfectly. One track I thought was "brill' was the GYPSY BAND - coz it's you girl, the band looked like a bunch of white hippies - but what a fabulous modem track it turned out to be. GIBBY finished off the night doing his impersonation of CHRIS KING or did CHRIS KING do GIBBY impersonations? Anyhow, he looked and sounded as if he'd been on the 'happy' pills, the guy was in high gear and no one knew how to stop him an hour later. He was playing the tracks in a blur, in the DJ 'box' he resembled one of the two old geezers in the Muppet show, remember the old guys at the end taking the 'Mickey'? His final track was Rance Allan - reasons to survive, that summed it up, just to get down here next month.
A few of us later went on to JOHN & DAWN PURVIS's home type gaff in the middle of God knows where. Very adapt is r'DAWN at frying oven chips to perfection with lashings of brown sauce, I enjoyed every panfull. But for being an old git and a bit on the tired side, we would have stayed and partied on down till the early hours, cheers JOHN & DAWN.
Atmos 7/10. sound system 7/10. car R&rk 6/10. dance floor 7/10. venue 8/10. Total = 35/-50.
Enjoy, BIG MICK.
The Fat Boy's Bits and Pieces (ooh - er).
TRENTAM GARDENS, 060399. R&B ALLNIGHTER. - This visit was my first and is guaranteed not to be the last. The venue (Highland suite) superb, the whole gaff is plush to say the least. This was one of my 'nights off but I still remembered to make a few mental notes. The music was advertised as R&B and for the most part this is what we were treated to. The only down side was when PID chose to play oldies towards the end of his spot, don't get me wrong the selection of oldies was fine even if I had beard them a million times before. What got me was actually playing them at an R&B venue. ROGER (didley dodger) BANKS was outstanding as you would expect, MARK (big daddy) BICKNEL fuelled up, played an excellent selection of class R&B, ROB MESSER, MACE and MARTIN MELLORS all put in a damn fine performance on the night. RACHELLE PILPER was by far, for me, the star of the venue, she excelled with a selection which emphasised the reason for even attending. It was also a change to see a pretty face up there on the stage as opposed to those ugly great mugs with 4 days stubble growth (sorry MARK). I for one would like to see RACHELLE do a few venues in the Northwest, and soon. She must be one of the future star DJs on our scene playing a variation of uptempo sounds, and 60s mod/scooter R&B offerings which poured the 60s atmos over us like a tidal wave. Before... cont in latest issue of Northern Essence
NORTHERN ESSENCE PAGE 42
Well it's here 1999 the year "prince" makes a packet on his re issue, was that good foresight or what ? 1 have a feeling we might just hear it once or twice this year. Anyway we have another year to look forward to on our beloved scene, with hopefully some more new sounds being discovered and reactivated. The CD market is also bound to continue it's burgeoning of various labels, and continue to release otherwise hard to get tracks, so lets face it things can only get better. right then on to the reviews. The Royalettes on MGM its just brilliant man ! and what do we have here , yet an other Tobi Lark track, which is very interesting. Mr Hatcher on Soul, not surprising but a great forgotten oldie, and finally Garnett Nfinuns holding up his very reputable reputation. And just for you sassy soul surfers out there a few interesting items off the web. On the subject of the internet have you come across the FAQs, better known as the most Frequently Asked Questions, If not here are a couple of the most FAQs for collectors of Northern Soul records.
1 "That's nice, where did you get it from?"
Which really means, You lucky bastard !
2 "How much?"
Which really means I'm £ 10 short
3 "Can you get me one?"
Which really means, If 1 can get these gold teeth out I'm laughing, but will he swap ?

Some interesting Northern Soul sites to log on to.
1 www.Northern Soul.clara.net
2 www.soul-a-go-go.demon
3 www.soultime.demon.co.uk
4 user.fu-bertin.del-rosenhag
My current E~ address is dj.harris@cablenet.co.uk so drop me a line!
Next issue the KTFers
Spread the faith, Dave.

GARNETT MIMMS "PROVE IT TO ME"
J RAGOVOY - E MARSHAL
2:15
US UNITED ARTISTS UA 995This guy needs no introduction, a true soul stalwart who has given us many a great side. A few years ago while raiding the boxes in Manchester's Goldmine store a chap came in and asked for this but at the time there was none in stock. Anyway I kept a lookout for it and picked one up for about a fiver, since then I've seen quite a few, It's another one of those records you've seen but not heard. All to often you can get bogged down searching out the rare sounds and totally ignore an item as good as this. Good old Garnett doesn't disappoint either, as this sixties mover kicks off with a belting guitar intro where you can just hear Garnett clapping the tambourine in unison with the drummer, the bass and guitar work are sure to make those toes tap, and with the backing girls coming in during the bridge with 'PROOOVE IT BAYBY" this is just superb soul.
EDWIN STARR "DON'T TELL ME I'M CRAZY"
P SAWER - L WARE
2:36
SOUL 35100
I know, I know, another Edwin Starr record, but this has definitely been forgotten and ignored.
The label says 1970 and I wouldn't argue but I'm pretty sure I've seen this on two different SOUL labels. This starts off at a fairly leisurely pace with pipes and bongo's before the rest of the troop join in the festivities and DO THEY. In almost Gospel style the message gets across that this guy is no fruitcake. No indeed and Mr. Hatcher proves himself once again with this bouncy little number. Priced around £5-£10 and worth every penny, or should I say Euro? I came across another ace track by this guy recently on an album, can't remember which one, but the track is "24 Hours To Find My Baby". Reminiscent of "I Want A Love I Can See" but much, much better and would go down well on today's dancefloors.
ok thats it just enough to whet your appetite yeah....

By Mike in Articles · November 9, 199925 yr

Ian Levine Interview Part 1 from Manifesto
site note orig up in 1999
From the time before SWONS
Reproduced with kind permission from Manifesto mag, see fanzine section for details
Note the layout of these articles is text only and doesn't represent the mags layout
In the seventies you either loved him or hated him such was the strength of feeling caused by this man. His crime? tantamount to breaking one of the ten commandments, he played records that had a beat not instantly recognisable as northern soul. Yes it's him, the men behind Blackpool Mecca, Motorcity and even Take That! Ian Levine.
Those of you who were around in the mid seventies will no doubt remember the ridiculous 'Levine must go' campaigns that were raging in the music press, Wigan Casino and anywhere else that feared change, no matter how slight. I say ridiculous because let's face it, it was. But whichever side of the fence you were on, one things for sure, time has proved lan Levine right. Records like The Carstairs 'It Really Hurts Me Girl' that caused such stir when he first introduced them have gone on to become northern soul classics and get played nowadays side by side with the likes of Eddie Parker, Little Anthony or Major Lance. And despite all the warnings our world has not come to an end.
lan's love of the music should never be doubted, ask anyone whose worked with him. This is a man who in his early teens was luck, enough to be taken on regular holidays to the States with his parents only to spend the entire vacation, much to their dismay, rummaging around backstreet record stores. On one such occasion returning with over 4000 singles!
His ear for music made him a natural producer and in the 70's he had hit's with The Exciters, Evelyn Thomas, James Wells, Doris Jones, the list goes on and on. In the eighties he pioneered and dominated the high energy disco scene. He also formed the Motorcity label gathering together a stable of soul artists the like of which had not been seen since the heydays of Motown and together they produced a staggering 800 tracks!
In the nineties he's produced records for the likes of The Pasedenas and most famously of course Take That.
So that's the brief history. Neil Rushton whose a good friend of lan's had kindly set up this interview and together we travelled down to meet lan at an Italian restaurant in West London where we got aquainted and chatted for a while before going back to lan's amazing house (complete with it's own cinema and original Dalek.) where prior to recording this interview I was treated to some of the yet unheard Motorcity tracks. Ian is in the process of re-recording many of the backing tracks to get better 'live' sound quality to them and believe me some of the tracks I heard that day were absolutely stunning and had 'northern soul dancefloor hit' written all over them. More news about them later On now to the man himself.....
IL: I started off collecting Motown at school in about 1966/7 when I was about 13 years old. Kenny Everett was playing a lot of Motown on Radio Caroline at the time and I got really potty over it but couldn't find out where to get it from. Eventually I found a little record shop in Bond Street in Blackpool. the girl there knew a little about Tamla Motown and told me almost it. Whilst they would stock all the things like The Supremes etc. they never used to bother stocking the more obscure stuff which I sometimes got to hear on the radio.
By the time I was 14 I was busy collecting everything I could on the Motown label. I'd noticed the release nunnbers on the labels and was busy trying to fit in the missing numbers. There was this cigarette kiosk on Victoria Street in Blackpool run by a guy called Gary Wilde who was a Dj at the Casino on the pleasure beach playing Motown and commercial soul. He'd sell Silk Cut by the 20O and Tamla Motown singles to the lads who went to the Twisted Wheel. On Saturday afternoons the Blackpool contingent who used to go to the Wheel would hang around Garys stall on the street corner tallking about records. I used to go to school with one of of these guys by the name of Stuart Bremner. I got very friendly with him, he was like a mentor to me at that time. He was very into Curtis Mayfield and played me all these Impressions records like "You’ve been cheating" and "Cant Satisty" which got me into the music and made me aware of what else was coming out of Detroit. I used to be envious of these lads getting on the train down to Manchester and hearing all these great sounds. But I was still a kid and too young to go.
However 3 years later I was 17 and finally got to go myself. When I first went Brian Phillips was the main Dj, people wrongly credit Les Cockell as the Dj at the Wheel but that was later in around 1970. It was at the Wheel that I met the man who should be credited with creating or masterminding what became northern soul, Rob Bellars was his name and he was the guy that supplied both Brian Phillips and Les Cocked with most of their records. He had a great collection and went out of his way to discover new records and then brought them down and lent them to the Dj's. So when Dave Godin went to the Wheel and did his famous 'northern soul' article those records were all supplied by Rob Bellars.
When I arrived at the Wheel the big records at the time were things like 'Baby Reconsider' by Leon Haywood on Fat Fish and 'More More Of Your Love' by Bob Brady and the Concords. These were the new wave of northern records because they weren't British releases and were all down to Rob Bellars.
When the Wheel closed down he got very disheartened and fed up and vanished off the scene, that was in the beginning of 1971. Many years later Tony Cummings who was the editor of Black Music decided to write a book. At that time there was a battle going on between Black Music and Blues and Soul with Black Music championing the side of the Mecca with Dave Godin and Blues and Soul being very anti Mecca . So Tony got very interested in the northern soul scene and decided that he wanted to write a book on the subject. He'd already written a very good book called 'The Sound Of Philadelphia' and this was to be his next project "The Strange World Of Northern Soul"
As part of his research I'd agreed to take him up to Manchester to seek out Rob Bellars one Sunday night. We had no idea were he lived and I don't think he was even on the phone. So we had to drive around the streets in Wythenshaw where I knew he last lived until we eventually found him. So we then took him out to a pub and Tony sat there with a tape recorder and reams of notes and interviewed him for two to three hours about how the northern scene started. So I think if you ever want to credit where northern soul really came from it should be Rob Bellars. It would be interesting to find out where he is now, this interview was twenty two years ago, and at that time nobody had seen him for about five years.
Unfortunately 'The Strange World Of Northern Soul' never did get published and Tony Cummings went on to become a born again Christian and the editor of Buzz Magazine.
Anyway, back to the Wheel. I remember Les Cockel playing things like 'Agent Double O Soul' and one night I went up to him and said 'I've got an instrumental of this' at which he burst out laughing and said "so has everbody mate, it's on the B side". No I said it's another version, I'll bring it next week. So the next week I turned up with my version by Sonny Stitt, and Rose Batiste's 'Hit & Run' and when Les put that on he practically fell to the floor clutching his head in his hands shouting ooh.
I was still a kid at that time, around 17 years old but for the past few years I'd been going to the states with my parents and trawling through thousands of records in hundreds of backstreet stores and finding some real gems whilst in the process of looking for my missing Motown records. I remember one such holiday, it was a hot and muggy 110°c in New Orleans and there was I hunting around the junk shops for my Motown collectionwhen I found my first Ric Tic record "Please Let Me In' by J.J.Barnes. I got really excited on finding this, I'd known about Ric Tic prior to this but this was the first actual Ric Tic record that I'd found.
Back at the hotel I had this little battery operated thing that you dropped the records into in order to listen to them and as I dropped the record into it I remember thinking 'J.J.Barnes, hmm, sounds like J.J.Jackson. It's probably going to be one of those earthy gutteral kind of memphis tracks'. Then came the voice and I just melted. I must have played it over 50 times in a row.
Suddenly my life changed. I went from the commercial sound of Motown and the
Four Tops, Temptations etc and had gone into this more underground world of Detroit which was responsible for artists like JJ Barnes, Pat Lewis, Rose Batiste and all those other wonderful artists. So by the time I got to the Wheel in '71 I had reams of these records. I had J.J.Barnes, The Fantastic Four, Pat Lewis, Rose Batiste, Sonny Stitt etc. etc. I know these records are common place now but you have to understand that at that time nobody over here had even seen any of these tracks and they were still playing things like 'Mr Bang Bang Man'. Even Rob Bellars hadn't seen these records before at that time.
So there I am in '71 at The Wheel with about half a dozen records and Les is practically kissing my feet. So the next week I turned up with a whole box full. Suddenly the word had got round that this kid from Blackpool had turned up in Manchester with all these fantastic rarities and the next week the place was packed and it went nuts. I can still picture these lines of people, all with their stupid one black driving gloves on. And the ferocity of the claps to 'Hit & Run'. You have to remember that The Wheel wasn't like The Torch or Wigan, it was a little narrow place with about 250-300 people max and the main dance floor was probably no bigger than this room but the atmosphere down there was electric.
Sadly not long after this the Police closed it down and for a little while the scene went into mourning. Then two things happened, an all-nighter opened up in Wakefield called The Metro but the bulk of the crowd didn't want to go there because it was really crap and so they started flooding to Blackpool Mecca because it was the nearest thing in the area.
At that time Blackpool mecca had two Djs Tony Jebb and Stuart Freeman. Tony Jebb was leaning towards Motown and the peripheral edge of northern soul and Stuart who was just playing commercial pop records. So I went along there and said to Tony Jebb "if you get rid of this idiot they'll flock here, you need to get a Dj from the Wheel on. Get Les Cockel on with you and I'll lend you my records. So I did.
I the meantime I'd gone to Wakefield and had the unpleasant experience of being busted which didn't go down too well with my parents as I was still only 17. But eventually the whole Wheel crowd ended up at Blackpool Mecca. Tony Jebb and Les Cockel were Djing with of course the help of my record collection, and then eventually they started to give me money to go to the states and find more records for them. Only about 200 quid but that was enough in those days to finance such a trip.
After one such trip I returned to find that Les couldn't make it one week because he was ill and Tony along with the very boisterous Wolverhampton crowd persuaded me to do it. I was shitting myself but they convinced me to go on. Of course with their support by the end of the night I was liking it so much that I didn’t want to give it up. So Tony said to me "your much better than Les Cockell why don't you do it every week'. Ok said I and then when Les turned up the next week I said "look Les I've got some bad news for you Tony has asked me to Dj" at which point he burst into tears and got really upset insisting that everyone had shit on him etc. In the end I felt so sorry for him that I agreed to do alternate weeks with him, and I stuck to that agreement for another 18 months. Everyone kept telling me I was an idiot because I was spending a fortune tracking down and buying new records while Les was still surviving off his records from The Wheel and not keeping up at all.
While all this was going on I was finishing my schooling and my father was desperate to get me into University and at the last minute I knuckled down and got two A's and a C in my A' levels which secured me a place. However by this time the only place my father could arrange was at Manchester University studying Greek Civilisation and Drama! neither of which I was remotely interested in. But I was such a bastard. My father used to give me ten quid a week for train fare and he'd drop me off at the train station every morning. The minute his car was gone I'd start hitching to Manchester so that I could keep the train fair and use it go around all the Manchester junk shops finding all the rare records I could.
But I soon got caught out, as I hadn't been going to any of the lectures I couldn't sit the exams and got expelled. This plus the Wakefield thing led to my father saying "right then you'll have to come and work for me". He had a casino/nightclub and I used to check off the wines as they were delivered and little odd jobs like that. In the meantime however I was making money as a DJ. Not at the Mecca because believe it or not we only ever got ten quid a night there but later we became more shrewd, and Colin and I eventually got very shrewd and used the reputation of the Mecca to get better paid work elsewhere. For example we'd still be on only ten quid at the Mecca but then we'd do a gig at say The Top tank in Hanley and get many times that so it worked out ok in the end.
I was still going to the States to find more records, often these trips would be paid or by other collectors and they used to get really good value for money. For about a fiver each they'd get The Larue's and the Lee David's and all the other great undiscovered records that I brought back. Of course I was getting these for about ten cents a piece and with the profit was able to build my own collection at the same time so both parties were getting a good deal. In the end I had built up a collection of around 60,000 singles.
And so Ian Levine the DJ was born and with it came the problem of how to make a living out of it. Fortunately this was now 1972 and the northern scene was starting to build up nicely and then Tony Jebb got poached and even though I stuck it out with Les at the Mecca I soon realised that we could compete with the Torch which was now a major force on the scene. Chris Burton had been trying to persuade me for some time to go down there and join the team and so I eventually gave in leaving Les in the lurch and started working at the Torch.
By the time Major Lance made his famous appearance at the Torch the line up consisted of Colin Curtis, Keith Minshull, Tony Jebb, Alan Day and Myself with Martyn Ellis doing the warm up spots. Then in 1973 Colin and Keith left the Torch and went back up to restart the Mecca. So I was now in the bizzare situation of driving down to Stoke to work each week whilst they drove up to Blackpool. I remember kicking myself because I had been booked to do the Top Rank in Hanley after it became obvious that the Torch had to close and I therefore missed out on the chance getting back into the Mecca.
However, Keith was only at Blackpool Mecca for a short time, I went to Miami in June and July 1973 and when I came back I went straight into working back at Blackpool Mecca along with Colin, Keith was already gone by this time and Colin desperately wanted me back for my records. By this time I could look at a record and instantly tell if it would be quality just by the publishing details etc. the only thing that I couldn't tell was if it were a ballad or not.
But you know if you see a track called 'Standing In The Shadow Of Your Empty Heart' and it's written by George Kerr and produced by Mike Delvano on some obscure Warner brothers subsidiary like Loma you've got a pretty good idea that it's gonna be a blinding stormer. I just made that up by the way but you get what I mean. When I saw Len Jewel 'Betting On Love' written by L.J Smith etc. I had a pretty good idea that I had something special.
Now I've never told anybody this before but one of my the greatest finds ever was in 1973, a place Flagnor Street in downtown Miami which is no longer there called Goodwill's which is the equivalent of our Salvation Army shops where people could give things to be sold to help the poor. Anyway, this place had this wall of records, all 45's with no sleeves, I was there from 9 in the morning till 7 at night every day for a whole week and went through every single record. They only had one copy of every record but I found things like The Glories 'I Worship You Baby' The Sweet things 'I'm In A World Of Trouble' there was 'The Larue' and 'Temptation Is Calling My Name' you name it I found it there they must have had just about every northern soul record that you could name. I managed to negotiate a brilliant deal, they wanted 20c each and I got them down to 5c each. There was no air conditioning and the temerature was in the nineties and there was me with this mountain of records to get through and I kept on finding more in demand things like Linda Jones'Just Can't Live My Life' and 'Mister Creator' by The Apollo's and most of these were white radio station copies.
From that one find it wasn't the records that I've mentioned that I already knew that proved to be important it was all the others that I brought back that nobody had yet heard of which kept the scene going for another couple of years. And all white demos left in that one same place it was incredible. I would write to Colin telling him of what I was finding and he couldn't believe it. In fact he kept those letters and showed them to me several years later. It was a real time of discovery, but you had to have the knowledge, without that you'd end up with Country & Western and all sorts of shit but I knew what to look for.
Those next couple of years with Colin and I really were the hey days at Blackpool Mecca.
In our next edition Ian talks frankly about his life since the early Mecca day's the ups and downs, Motorcity, Take That, and the very interesting story about THAT record, The Carstairs, and the effect that it had on his sex life!
ORIGINALLY PRINTED IN MANIFESTO MAG AND REPRINTED BY PERMISSON.

By Mike in Articles · November 9, 199925 yr

Beating Rhythm Fanzine Review Feat Clips of Jan 97 Issue
site note originally up in 1999
Beating Rhythm - Edited by Pete Smith who should need no introduction to regular soul fans on net and was one of the main contributers to the rare online soul scene getting to where its at today.
The mag itself is "one of the worlds most erratic fanzines (thats erratic not errotic)" - thats his own words not mine, due to its release schedule. But it is well worth the wait. Past issues have been crammed full of usefull and interesting stuff. CD + vinyl reviews, old rare press clips and adverts. And with his vast knowledge on soul things a lot of the facts and info if not all can be taken as gospel. A lot of articles on this site were from this mag such as film and cd, vinyl reviews etc plus a lot of info and lists,so highly recommended this one, I would subscribe to it if I could, but its a bit like hunting a certain rare sound you dont know when it turn up , but when it does it be worth the wait.
The next issue is due out shortly and contains articles on The Astors, History Of Northern Soul, cd and record reviews, loads of rare label scans, new guide to soul surfing, worst
50 Northern records of all time...etc etc sounds good so email Pete for details and costs at
{pete.smith4@virgin.net}
Here's a few clips to give you a taste of the pie:
Note: these articles are taken from the Jan 97 issue hence a bit dated but should give an idea of expertise expected.
Vinyl reviews
Before I begin this small UK 45's reviews section (Glen Walton has done the main part elsewhere), I've just remembered that I promised to uncover a couple of things from previous issues, so here goes.
The Jackie Edwards Band - "Jerkin' Time" from a few issues back was from a Trojan LP called Millie And Her Boyfriends by Mille Small. It was supposed to be a duet with Jackie Edwards called, I think, Never Again, but for some reason the vocal was left off, leaving a cracking Northern instrumental. It also came out as a B side on Island, but I 've lost the info on that one.
The lovely "Give Him Up" by Sonya Kaye & The Ebonies (last issue) is actually "Give Him Up" by First Generation on the reggae label High Note and is the B side of "She Want It" by Dave Barker. You find a lot of soul on the flip sides of reggae singles.
Also Steve Aldo - "These Same Old Things" is Bobby Shafto -" The Same Old Room " on Parlophone, though I think I may have uncovered that before. This is a cracking little UK dancer and I sold it to Mick Smith so it might start appearing on a few people's wants lists.

Speaking of cover-up' s.....
JUDY JACOBS - "DANGER TO MY HEART "(UK c/u )
This is the most recent British thing I 've discoverd and after an initial "Erm, it's okay I guess" response from my inner self, I now think it's bloody brilliant and would definitely go - or have gone. The intro is very much like Peggy March - If You Loved Me or Shirley Abicair on Piccadilly, with what sounds like a zither or a strange electric keyboard hammering on one note while the bass guitar picks a tune, then in comes the sweet voiced "Judy'' and the beat really begins to become insistent. Now, after a verse or so you can feel that you're being set up for a drum roll and then all hell will break loose, with chimes and trumpets and God knows what - but it doesn't! It just stays 4-4 and builds very slowly, until three quarters of the way through when we get the instrumental break, where, bizarrely, the beat stops and there's 10 seconds of jazzy playing. However, out of the instrmnental the big build up really starts with a thudding drum adding to the proceedings and a little bit of jazz trumpet making itself heard also. The song is minimal "He's a stranger in town" seems to be the gist of if but whatever, this is a smashing little record, absoulty unknown and by the most unlikely artist(s) you'll ever imagine - clue: it's not listed as a girl singer and one of those which is going to make a lot of impact over the next couple of years. Was I wrong about Ketty Lester? **** (Check this out on one of the tapes)
MARIAN ANGEL - A LITTLE BIT OF SUNSHINE (CBS 202391)
This is a Brit girl singer who had a fair Northern thumper entitled Tomorrow's Fool on Columbia or Parophone (God my memory!), anyway, this is a later disc whicl will certainly appeal to the army of 60's UK girls fans although it's certainly not to everyone' s taste. Nice big orchestral intro with multitudes of shimmering strings, and a great beat ballad first verse with a trumpet answering Marion's vocal, but sadly at the end of the verse Marian tries to become an opera singer and warbles the words where she should have shouted them. Full orchestra comes in for the chorus, the vocal becomes double tracked, then it calms down a little and goes back to beat ballad, and so on and goes back to Beat Ballad, setting the format for the rest of the record. A few years back I'd have raved over this, but in all truth it's a nice little pop/beat ballad ruined by over orchestration and double tracked vocals. The flip side, All The Time In The World (sadly not the Stevie Kimble beauty) is uptempo and sounds like it should have been recorded by Tom Jones!
**GENE PITNEY - LAST CHANCE TO TURN AROUND (Stateside SS420)
Look, stop laughing, this is a fantastic record! Okay, it's not but neither was anything by Slade and they were all great. I'll get me coat! No, honestly, this is just about the most dramatic record you'll ever hear, what an intro, it sounds as if a train is coming through your living room wall, the drumming sounds exactly like a locomotive doing 100mph, then all of a sudden, in comes everyone else in New York on accompanying instruments, and Gene's all too distinctive voice pleads with his girl, then decides to forget and take the "Iast exit to Brooklyn, last chance to turn around". Now, this was probably arranged by Jimmy Radcliffe, so the question I pose is; did Jim do a version, if he did, did it get a release? What a sound! I tell you, if this wasn't by Gene Pitney, who has a voice unlike anyone else on earth (meaning cover-up's are useless) it'd be a big sound. It's cool, really.
***TOM & MICK - SOMEBODY'S TAKEN MARIA AWAY ( Olqa 014 )
This must be the f irst time anything on this label's been mentioned in this mag, I can only think of one other record from this source and that's Yesterday flas Gone by Lena Junoff which is fairly well known. This is a Swedish recording from the bizarre Sonet label, and boy, is this gonna be hard to describe. First; somebody crashes their hands down onto a piano keyboard while someone else blasts away one note on a trumpet. This lasts for 2 seconds.Then the vocalists come straight in with the title, while Animal from the Muppets hits the drums and symbols causing irreparable damage, meanwhile someone's blasting the horns like nobody's business, oh and there's a steal from Keith West's Teenage Opera record "She won' t come back no more, oh no no no". Sounds good? No. But it gets better. The verses are quite restrained, with only Tom (or is it Mick) singing and Mick joining in to harmonise on the last line, but then here we go again, that chorus is very very powerful with a pounding piano, loads of brass, wailing girls, the lot mate. This Chris Andrews production has about as much to do with soul as John Major has to do with charisma, but what a mental stomping record. I personally absolutely love this, but that's just me. I actually picked this up blind about 5 years ago because I liked the label, played it and thought ''Er, no way", so I sold it in with a job lot. Last week I found the exact same copy, still with my writing on the sleeve, in a record shop about 15 miles from here! By the way, this is on a few of my tapes as Tommy & Tony, slightly better than the real artists but only just. *** (Actually this isn't a Chris Anfres production)
BARBARA MASON - AIN'T GOT NOBODY (Direction 3382)
Okay, onto a real soul record this time, this is the flip of Oh How It Hurts which I knew was a ballad but thought I'd pick up for 20p or whatever just because it was a demo. But wow, check out that flip, presumably from the same label as her other goodies such as Bobby Is My Baby, this is classic stuff. Drum roll, horn rift, a tune very similar to Patti Austin's I've Given You All Of My Love, oh, and this little fingersnapper has the same burping sax in the background that adorns her other dancers. Big production, lovely girlie backing singers, a swinging little record that must surely/is surely getting some action, a very worthy addition to your UK collection.
**CHARLES MANN - I CAN FEEL IT ( Probe 006-9577 Germany)
Now you'll have to excuse my ignorance on the subject of 70's soul, but I'd have thought that you connoisseurs of that particular style of music would be well into this little number as it's prime mid-70's Mecca material, if I had to pick out. it's main feature it would be the very heavy bass drum sound which powers it along. I don't understand this kind of music at all so to my ears it has nil appeal, but if you like the uptempo 70's soul sound, may as well check this one out. Not sure if it got a UK release, this ones on German Probe. By the way, i t was produced by Dave Crawford who's name crops up on many soul sides .

CD REVIEWS
OUT ON THE FLOOR TONIGHT (GSCD 107)
At first glance I thought this was a reissue of an old GM/SS title, Out On The Floor, but no, this is Out On The Floor Tonight. The concept is a little different too - the first CD conatined 24 or so classics, I mean extremely well established sounds, hear them at every oldies night you go to kind of classics like Queen Of Fools, The Snake, What's Wrong With Me Baby and so on.
This compilation, doesn't really include any early classics but concentrates on the mid to late 70's biggies. There are also a handful of UK releases thrown in including Kiki Dee's On A Magic Carpet Ride which to these ears is beginning to sound quite nice (after 18 years of it sounding like shit).Other UK's come from John E. Paul, great at the time but sounding like like something from another planet now, can you imagine them laying this at Albrighton or some other 'soul connoisseurs' venue? Ditto Five And A Penny's awful version of Dana Valery and Tony Blackburn's shocking cover of I'll Do Anything. John Drevar's Expression still sounds okay I suppose, as do The Flirtations and Timebox, but the best of the UK recordings is Dusty Springfield's What's It Gonna Be which sounds as authentic as anything else here. But it's not just the UK recordings that provide the shockers here: Otis Leavill's Boomerang sounds like a Gene Chandler/Major Lance recording but is hideous, and is apparently a Twisted Wheel classic, Jeez! One of Levine's old biggies, The Petals - You Can't Close The Windows To Your Heart is bad beyond description, Susan Farrar's The Big Hurt was big for literally two weeks at Wigan before it was pressed then thankfully we never had to suffer it again, and as for Keith, Brian Hyland, Eddie Garrigan and so on, they're records of their own era and just don't fit in today. Strangely enough, Many's The Slip by The Present, although being a semi-psychedelic record, still sounds good but that's probably because of the memories it inspires rather than the quality of the record. Worst of the lot, and perhaps the worst record ever to appear on a GM/SS CD is undoubtedly Marc Copage's Who Can I Turn To, a dire recording by a 6 year old TV star who sounds like he was having his foreskin chopped off while recording this turd. Far and away the best track is He Loves Me by The Chalfontes which is a Detroit sounding dancer I've loved for years but never seems to be remembered with any fondness by anyone else. Oh, and whoever mastered this needs a severe beating around the head with a 3 week old pork chop because, okay, occasionally it's acceptable to miss the first split second of an intro to a track, but there are something like 15 seconds cut from the intro of Jeanette Harper's Put Me In Your Pocket - a small mercy, some may say, but there's just no excuse for it, it actually begins more or less on the vocal when there's a perfectly good and quite exciting intro to the original recording. Remember when they cut off the intro to John & The Weirdest - Can't Get Over These Memories? Why do people have to tamper with things?Let's face it, this is a real mish-mash of sounds and styles and it doesn't come off, and when the likes of Kiki Dee are your saving grace, well perhaps it's time for a bit of a rethink in the quality control department. Having said that, there are probably many, many people who bought the K-Tel Soul Survivors package which was ten times worse than this, so I may be putting on a soul snob hat here to look 'cool' - so, let's end by saying that there's probably something for everybody here, but not too much for me personally.
TRACK LISTING
OTIS LEAVILL - Boomerang/
PRESENT - Many's the slip/
JOHN E. PAUL - I wanna know/
KIKI DEE - On a magic carpet ride/
SANDY & THE PEBBLES - He's my kind of fellow/
SWEET - Broken heart attack/
DUSTY SPRINGFIELD - What's it gonna be/
JEANETTE HARPER - Put me in your pocket/
JAY & THE TECHNIQUES - Baby make your own sweet music/
JERRY BUTLER - One night affair/
PETALS - (You can't close) the windows of your heart/
BRIAN HYLAND - The joker went wild/
NAT WRIGHT - Mr. Love/
EDDIE GARRIGAN - I wish I was/
NICKY NEWARKERS - Woman/
ARNOLD BRYANT- House in order/
SUSAN FARRAR - The big hurt/
GROOVERS - He will break your heart/
LENNY (TONY BLACKBURN) GAMBLE - I'll do anything/
TIMEBOX - Girl don't make me wait/
FIVE AND A PENNY - You don't know where your interest lies/
JOHN DREVAR'S EXPRESSION - The closer she gets/
FLIRTATIONS - Little darlin'/
KEITH - Daylight saving time/
MARC COPAGE - Who can I turn to (questions and answers)
THE GOLDEN TORCH REVISITED (GSCD 92)
I think that the mood you're in affects CD reviews - one day you might love to hear a CD of oldies, next day you think "Oh no, how many times I have heard these before?" I'm afraid that today I'm suffering from the symptoms described in the latter scenario and I couldn't wait for this collection to end. Why? Because I first heard Mamie Galore, Lenis Guess, James Bounty et al nearly 25 years ago and I'm just bored with them. Having said that, they're still good, great records, but familiarity breeds contempt.
The highlight of this CD is actually an instrumental (hello Andy!), Frantic Escape by The Innocent Bystanders which has no melody at all but is Popcorn Wylie and his session men cooking up an absolute storm on this vibe-laden Detroit crasher. Juxtapose this with the other instrumental selection, Bob Wilson's Suzy's Serenade and you get a chalk and cheese situation where you can't believe something as dreadful as that could ever have been played. Ditto The Dramatics' hideous Inky Dinky Wang Dang Doo, a record everyone went crazy over in 72/73, but the actual record is even worse than it's title, what a mess. Those two plus The Exciters' Number One which is a nothing song, are the only duds on this CD, but I have to say that there are at least 7 previously released on CD tracks here, so check the listing carefully.
So apart from Frantic Escape, the other main highlights are Lou Johnson's perrenial Unsatisfied, a record which sounded dated from day one but one that contains a masterful vocal performance and is worth the price of the CD alone; Jimmy (James) Conwell with Too Much, a terrific dancer which has the same backing track as Len Jewel's Bettin' On Love and was pressed many years ago but in such bad quality that it was barely recognisable - here you get it in perfect sound quality. Oh and there's Luther Ingram's vocal version of Exus Trek which isn't a patch on the instrumental but for some crazy reason is preferred by a few people, trouble is it's not a very good song.
So basically, this is another superb release, it just caught me at the wrong time I'm afraid. Incidentally, check out the accompanying booklet, centre pages, there's a photo of people dancing at the King's Hall, Stoke at the Togetherness allnighter and bugger me, it's your truly, bottom right of the pic with the blue and purple checked shirt - but wait, I've never noticed that sodding bald patch coming before!
TRACK LISTING
LENIS GUESS - Just ask me/
VIBRATING VIBRATIONS - Surprise party for baby/
DEE DEE SHARP - What kind of lady/
PHILLIP MITCHELL - Free for all/
MAMIE GALORE -It ain't necessary/
PROPHETS - I got the fever/
VALENTINES - Breakaway/
BOB WILSON - Suzy's serenade/
DRAMATICS - Inky dinky wang dang doo/
SUPERIORS - What would I do/
LOU JOHNSON - Unsatisfied/
ROSCOE SHELTON - Running for my life/
TYMES - What would I do/
SEQUINS - A case of love/
ROYAL JOKERS - Love game a-z/
JIMMY CONWELL - Too much/
OVATIONS - They say/
LUTHER INGRAM - If it's all the same to you babe/
JEANETTE WHITE - Music/
DYNAMICS - Bingo/
INNOCENT BYSTANDERS - Frantic escape/
PARLIAMENTS - Don't be sore at me/
JAMES BOUNTY -Prove yourself a lady/
EXCITERS - Number one/
TONY MICHAELS - I love the life I live.

By Mike in Articles · November 8, 199925 yr

From 1971 before Northern was even called northern this account of his trip to the sea side is a fascinating look back to those far off days, cover ups, pillheads etc all feature and to me a tribute to a place which nowadays doesn't get the recognition it deserves.Thanks to Katie and Chris for sending the scanned original in. Read on for a piece of living history and one of the best written articles on site............
site note - article reformated
From Blues and Soul - 1971 - Dave Godin Article on Blackpool Mecca
GOOD Soul times. like good Soul sounds. are difficult to convey and communicate in words without perhaps risking boring the reader with endless superlatives, and so when I reflect about the great visit I recently made to Blackpool's Mecca. I remember, when I come now to try and set down all my impressions that a golden rule is just to "tell it like it is". So here goes. and fingers crossed I can do it justice!
Having planned and talked about visiting Blackpool and seeing the Mecca's Highland Room scene first hand for about four weeks previously, when the actual day came I was excited and full of hopes and keen anticipation.The weather in London was miserable and wet after a week of uninterrupted fine weather but l refused to take this as an omen. Like dreams perhaps omens (if they exist at all) do go by opposites, because prior to setting out. I could never have imagined just how true all the good things I'd heard about the Mecca would turn out to be The previous Thursday at The Fountain a lot of interest had been generated amongst people there to visit the North and see if it is as good (or as bad depending on what letters you read!) as it has been cracked up to be and so travelling with me were Alf Billingham, Terry Davis (The DJ at The Fountain with Paul).his brother Pete. and their mates David and Arnold.
I was twenty minutes late. and as we walked the length of the train back and forth vainly trying to find seats (let alone seats all together), we had visions of standing for the entire length of the four hour journey to Blackpool! Luckily, a porter took pity on us, and soon took us to a flrst class compartment which he said we could have to ourselves, and on which was pasted the legend "for the use of second class passengers"
Soon we were moving on our way having had some very bad luck with my camera when I went to The Wheel with a faulty and seldom reliable flash, I started taking some photos straight away just to check out that it was working OK. It wasn't. Wasted bulb after wasted picture, so out of the window it went, whilst we were making about 90 an hour. Always throw your bad luck away from you, and that camera had bad luck on
it anyway, so, take my tip If something brings you bad luck throw it! We all had some good talks about Soul matters on route. but this was but a mild prelude to what was yet to come! As we went along, through unfamiliar countryside, so the weather suddenly began to change and brighten up! The camera incident was obviously paying dividends already! Some Soul brothers had arranged to meet us at Blackpool station. and when eventually the train pulled into the monstrous Gothic-Victorian enormity that is known as Blackpool station. Within seconds we were all introducing ourselves to all, Alf and Harold Grounds who had come to meet us. along with our old friend Led Cockell (who I had met at The Wheel when he was doing a DJ spot there) Despite the fact that there were six in our party. Harold insisted that we all go to his house for tea and soon we were listening to some of his prize sounds. revived and fortified by tea and sandwiches (Cheese for me. and cooked corpse for the others!) By this time it was getting close to seven, and as the Mecca starts getting

Alf, Dave, Led, ]an and Steve by the "Rare SouI '71" sign
underway about 730, we decided that we'd have to start moving in order not to miss any part of the evening By this time Led and the others had come back to Harold's place, and started taking us in his car by shuttle service!
I had never fully appreciated that The Mecca is such an enormous place. The huge building stands in a wide road, and it seemed from the crowds that were making their way there, that just about every person who likes a good Saturday nlght was converging on the place If you can imagine the crowds going into a football match, then you'll have a pretty good idea of the front of the Mecca on a Saturday night. They came by foot, by bus (unforlunately the remaining trams in Blackpool do not pass the door or I'd have insisted on arriving by that esoteric mode of transport) by coachIoads (apparently some of these coaches are hired by Mecca to give free transport into Blackpool to people from outlying places. and they return at a set time afterwards which struck me as a very good and emerprising ideal, and in cars. The broad front sidewalk was full of young people milling around. and already people were coming up to us and saying 'hi" and introducing themselves Some old friends from Manchester way and some people that I have only known previously through letters, but mostly new readers who I was meeting for the first time The poster on the outside proclaimed the attraction of the Highland Room "Rare Soul '71" and we took some photos in from of this historic legend
Little did I realise at that moment in time. that not only was this a true description of fact, but in actual reality was a sublime understatement Not only is the Soul they play there is rare some of it is impossible! But more of that in a minute Mr Pye (who is the manager ) had asked me to make myself known to him upon arrival, and he welcomed us. and not only let me in gratis but was also big enough to let in the dozen or some people who happened to be milling around talking with us. So to him I must give my special thanks for his great generosity The Mecca is divided into two levels. On the lower level they have a live band and singers, and on the Highland Room they have the Soul Sounds By any standard the Highland Room is large, and the decor is modern and clean cut with a long bar at one end (which sells all sorts of drink until about 12 after which you can carry on drinking via waitress waittres service if you want to, and a small rostrum which the djs operate their turntables.
On a Saturday night the sounds are selected and played by Tony Jebb with Stuart Freeman, and during the week Billy The Kid is added to the rostor. When we got in Tony was on stage and Denise LaSalle's never to be bettered "lovers reputation" was playing. It was a appropriate choice since the reputation of Blackpool Mecca has been growing and gaining pace all summer, and this is in large part due to the hard work and discriminating selecting that Tony and Stuart put into their work And they certainly work hard, but as they are both dedicated Soul brothers, they have energy and enthusiasm to spare, and it was great to meet them (and later Billy The Kid on the spiral staircase) and talk to them about the Soul scene in Britain.
The general layout of the Mecca is a great one, and there must have been something like 5,000 people there the night we went, and I reckoned that a good 2,000 were in the Highland room! And by 1130 it seemed that I'd spoken and and shaken hands with a good 90 per cent of them! If there is one thing we Soul fans like doing next to listening to Soul Sounds it's talking about them! But, even though there were that many people about, the place is so spacious, that it never seemed overcrowded and cramped
The highland room has a huge dance floor, dim lights as well as ultra violet (you know the sort that shows up all the dandruff on your shoulders, and the fillings in your teeth),and the music is loud with a predominant bass amplication to hook the dancers.Plenty of chairs and tables to sit around and rap and altogether I would say the classiest soul location discotheque I've yet visited Comparisons are of course fatal, and lots of people asked me if I thought it better than The Wheel, but it is a mistake I think to compare the two.The wheel well, it was The Wheel, and anyone who went there will know what I mean by that. It had an atmosphere and rapport that had slowly grown and developed over the years, and it was unique to that particular location, but now that The Wheel is no more a new and exciting scene is growing at the mecca.
To say it is slightly different is not to put it down - in their own ways they are both unique, but never, in my wildest nights of fancy even, did I imagine that I'd see so many people at one time grooving out to such esoteric and way out Soul sounds! And they are known and loved! About 3 or 4 years ago I included in my top 20 for that particular year a record by Barbara Carr called "Don't Knock Love" which at the tlme didn't arouse much interest as an import, and I had merely thought it was another of those odd and funny sounds that do things to me personal]y, (because I am, I know, a bit of an odd and funny person myself at times!), and part, my fatal infatuation with female Soul singers! I can't tell you how thrilled I was when it came on and the dancers really moved to it and obviously loved it as much as I do!
I mention this particular item because I think it shows how Soul music has become the only true "underground" music in the country now. 2,000 Soul brothers and sisters grooving out to a record that was never issued here, and which record companies continue to sneer at what we fans try to tell them, and if they issued it would take all the credit and the BBC DJ's would consider themselves way out super cool cats for playing it. Oh and ESMF,s they just don't know when to cut the mustard and each and everyone of the young together, hip young people at the Highland Room that night could tell them just where it's at and put them to shame in the process!
Meeting readers of this column is always humbling experience for me, because although one gets a lot of mail, it isn't until you meet a collective mass of the faithful as I did at Blackpool that you realise just how many Soul people there are in Britain. We are far more numerous than we think and perhaps the time is now right for us to capitalize on this fact and seize the time in our own Soulful way! Anyway, it was a great experience to meet so many readers and to know that we are all digging the same things and thinking much the same sort of thoughts. If I were to list all the names of the people who I was privileged to meet, it would cover a whole page of "Blues & Soul", but I must mention a few of the brothers and sisters who you will see in the pictures along side this article. Boogaloo (I never did manage to find out his real name could he really have been baptized that?) is a well known brother from Manchester and a way out character who has really got Soul power to spare and then some. He was trying to get me to start a fund to buy The Wheel to run as a Soul Co-operative (a cool idea that), which he swears is up for sale for a mere £5,000 (say it quick and it seems within the realms of possibility) He was there with his girl Lynn Garrrity who also knows her Soul and has wide knowledge and good taste in Soul Sounds.
Boogaloo was sporting a beautiful gold blazer badge which commemorated The Wheel with his name above it.Then there was the loveable Denise (who I remembered from The Wheel once met, how could anyone forget her) She's a great character, and was really having herself a ball. Then there was Tubby from Accrington who as well as being a regular good guy has the distinction of being probably the only person in the whole wide world to have the legend "Ric Tic Records" tattooed on his upper arm. Not only is this his personal tribute to his favourite record label, but the tattoos had managed to copy the type face of the

Alf Billingham and Lynn, with brothers and sisters at Blackpool Mecca
lettering on the record logo exactly! It really freaked me out and I couldn't get over it all evening! What a splendid way out crazy tribute to a whole attitude which is exemplified by Soul music! I jokingly teased him that he should have 'Keep the Faith - right on now" put on the other arm it'd never surprise me if when next we meet he's done just that. Little Chrissy (who is about exactly the same height as Rob Blackmore, and like him what he lacks in height he makes up for in Soul quotient!) asked me particularly to send his (and mine) greetings to his mates Gedd and Johnny who were unable to be with us that night. Maybe next time eh?

2 a.m.- --- time to go home.
Mick Blake and his Iovely wife had come all the way up from Leicester to be with us that evening, and it was really great meeting these two! It's surprising how many Soul brothers are lucky enough to marry Soul sisters! Maybe it's as well though, as I just cant imagine living with anyone who didn't appreciate Soul. Trevor Hall from BBC Radio Blackburn was there and we had a brief discussion about the new Soul show that he will be responsible for in the very near future. And so many others who I remember as people, but whose names are now lost in the sheer, overwhelming complexities of meeting so many Soul people in such a competitively short time, but old, regular friends like Fran Francisco, John Bollen and Jacckie, and Steve Craine and Lynda and their friends were all there too, and I can honestly Say that I felt completely at home Perhaps more so than in many other places I have been to somehow, there was a special Soul magic and atmosphere about the friendliness of their reception. It was(sincerely) too much.
FUNNY though how some people mistake what they read someplace else for what they read in my column I was hurt when someone said that I had written (and you can search my every published word and you'll not find it) such insensitive and unfeeling prose as to ever refer to a fellow human being as a "pillhead" Certainly I'll take the can back for what I do write, but that sort of jargon (and all the bigotry of attitude that goes with it)just isn't me. But on the other hand some people reminded me of bits I'd written and records I'd mentioned that I'd forgotten all about - it's a simple fact and truth that they just know and love their soul in the North!
Well, with all this rapping to be done, I was hardly in a position to listen deeply to the Sounds that Tony and Stuart were laying down, but I heard enough to realise that this probably was the esoteric and knowledgeable selection of soul sounds being put out anywhere in Britain that night (if not the world).
There were well known favorites of course, but there were lots of specials too, and digging up and discovering these neglected sounds and helping and watching them grow in popularity is all part of the fun of the Soul scene There were few secret Sounds but those people who get uptight about special secret sounds should remember that good DJ's need just a few "specials" to get a following, and also, what secret sounds remain secret for long? Eventually we all find out what they are, and there are always more waiting to move on up to take their places! Such is the vastness and complexity of the wealth of richness of Soul music, that no one person could ever know all there is to know about Soul music, and we can all (myself as much as anyone) learn by listening and grooving.
BY 11:30 I had just about talked my head off, and Fran, Alf and myself slipped downstairs to the coffee bar for a good strong black coffee, and a five minute breather Just before this I had managed to have a chat with DJ Tony Jebb and his charming young lady He told me how hard he had worked in The Highland Room to present just the sort of programme that Soul people wanted, and I could tell he was dead sincere in what he was saying and in his dedication to Soul and The Faith. When Tony is resting, Stuart takes over with a slightly less esoteric selection, and so a real balance is achieved to please nearly everyone Coming back from coffee, we bumped into Billy The Kid who DJ's there one night during the week and is also a dedicated Soul brother. All too soon we had to split, and I didn't see him again untill we were all leaving, and he told me of the super itinerary he'd planned himself to continue the rest of the weekend in the most Soulful way I know
We were now into the final couple of hours, and still there were people I wanted to meet and speak to, and we managed to get some pictures on the camera that Ian had so kindly lent me As the lighting was comparatively dim however, this was very much a hit and miss affair as there was insufficient light to compose the picture through the viewfinder, and so I just took potluck. In the event, I think all things considered they came out pretty well.
Everyone was dancing to a superb version of "Angel Baby" by The Dilutes, and all too soon the last and final record was played Not before Tony had given me a great dedication however and played my all time favourite side. If you know Soul people what more could you really want for in the way of friends and acquaintances?

Billy the Kid, Stuart Freeman, and Tony Jebb - DJs in the Highland room
Soul is more than just music it is a life style I too Not an easily identifiable one since more than in any comparable field there is far less rigid conformity (which is great, and again, typical of the style itself), but the Soul way is a definite way, and I think this is an element of our music that does bring all closer together far more than non Soul people could ever realise or appreciate Outside, the comparative coolness of the two am air was very welcome and the sweet soul soundswere still buzzing through our heads. So many brothers and sisters tp say goodnight to and as Alf, Harold, Elaine and I strolled through the empty streets. I remembered something that Boogaloo had said to me during the course of the evening. He'd said that instead of ending with "Keep the faith", I should say "spread the faith" and I couldnt help but think this made a lot of sense, because people like those we met at Blackpool Mecca are all in their own wayspreading the faith of good soul music, and they know as well as I do that there is something so unique, so magical, and so fantastic about Soul records that somehow all other forms of music seem to fade into insignifigence when you compare them!
Maybe there are some who read this in the southern part of Britain who find it hard to understand just why I rave so much about the northern soul scene and oerhaps this because they've never been there and seen it first hand for themselves, because believe me there is no equivelent in the South , and untill you've been there I dont think any mere written word can fully convey to you that special and unique vibration that generates amongst the brother and sisters there. I only wish it was easier for people to get there so that they could expeirence it themselves, but if you do decide to make it to the Blackpool Mecca one weekend then take my word for it that you you'll find a warm welcome there and a nicer crowd of swingers and friends it would be harder to inagine. Untill Aug 21st 1971 I always thought of Blackpool as The Tower but from then on I shall always and forever remember it as the Mecca Soul Heaven here on Earth, and a pious pilgrimage that i would urge all the faithfull to undertake as often as they possibly can.
Keep the faith - right on now! Blackpool and the Mecca await you, my deepest thanks to you all
Dave Godin 1971- Blues and Soul issue 67

Well there you go, he has a way with words yeah? Thing that strikes me reading this article 28 years on is the passion for the music that stands out, the almost religious feeling about it all change a few words and it could almost be a preachers address.
Thanks again to Katie and Chris for scanning original and sending it in, if you yourself have anything knocking around similar that you want to share , let me know and we can get it up here.
As he said spread the faith...

By Mike in Articles · October 28, 199925 yr

Dome Oct 99 - The First One
So along came the night that launched a 1000 flyers, the Matt Jahans along with Capitol Soul Club organised event at the Dome in North London. First impressions not as easy as flyers made out to find, getting out of tube was expecting to see a large modern multi entertainment complex shining on the horizon, well just say theres a irish pub on the corner and around the back theres the enterance to the dome club. Once thru doors and up the stairs though any doubts flew away, fairly large dancefloor, decent bar and lots of room allround, first 30 mins and place filled up quickly.
DJ line up, well if you're gonna do, do it big - a cracking line up Shifty, Andy Rix, Keb Darge, Dave Rimmer. Irish Greg. Sounds played , well due to my other job as a lager sampler details a bit hazy, usual floor fillers delarks cover, love slave, barbara lynns Im a good woman, man o man, jd bryant, milton parker, stacks more decent new stuff and some decent oldies.
Dancefloor was packed almost from kick off to end, the atmosphere was well electric and a good mix of people there as well. Any downers, nah .. can't think of a bad thing, even bar prices were lower than usual london rip off prices. Dave Rimmer and Roger Stewart were flogging their wares also Neil Bently had a stall there with the book cracking up. Overall a great nite, sems this venue has a lot going for it, Matt J (whos one of under 30 gang) is sussing out next dates, reckon if this gets regular could become a massive thing, all I can say on the nite is when the next ones on get down there, if its half as good as first nite still be worthwhile.

Other memorable remarks heard on nite and since by others were:
"best soul nite this year" from Dave Rimmer
"great nite, great venue great music great company..."
"another pint of lager"
"what a tenner for a bloody taxi to victoria"
"do you know what time in morning it is ? and you expect me to pick you up from station"

dome playlist

how many times have you been to a event and the next day when ears are ringing think.. facking hell what did they play last nite, loads yeah ... same for me, anyway to help you out and for those who were not there to see what you missed here's some info from andy rix who took time and effort to sort
I've been computerless since The Dome but now I'm back in action I have to say what a brilliant night it was...those London do's always have a great atmosphere partly because of the young element in attendance...I saw a few questions about a few of the tracks I played as 'exclusives'....well they were...
The Commotions - Sock it to me - RCA Custom acetate but recorded for Blue Rock...they did have a 45 on BR and are the same group who cut 'Motown' on La-Ro-Ke. This is a traditional in-your-face Northern stomper
Jimmy Radcliffe - The thrill of loving you - another unreleased track...this was actually a demo for the Drifters and is a typical New York beat ballad...wonderful vocals from Jimmy tho
Royal Five - Don't stop - this is again unreleased...acetate actually belongs to a group member and mine is simply a copy but it's too good not to play simply because I don't have the real thing...they had one 45 on Tyler which used to get played and they may have done something else...Greg do you know ?...again it's uptempo 4 beats to the bar Northern...one for the traditionalists amongst us
I hope there are more Domes to come...certainly one of the better nights I've been to in the last few years
Andy
andy also laid down playlist of the nite using mark hanson's soulville site and black echoes review as a jogger:

Irish Greg
Nolan Porter - If I could only be sure - ABC
Little Ann - Who are you trying to fool - Kent
Vivian Carol - Oh yeah yeah yeah - Merben
Hytones - You don't even know my name - Bell
JoAnne Courcey - I got the power - Twirl
Trends - Thanks for a little loving - ABC
Younghearts - A little togetherness - Canterbury

Shifty
Wade Flemmons - Jeanette - Ramsel
Walter & Admirations - Man Oh Man - La Cindy
Gwen Owens - Just say you're wanted (and needed) - Velgo
Salvadors - Stick by me baby - Wise World
Aspirations - You left me - Peaches
Mellow Souls - We can make it - Mello
Lester Tipton - This Won't change - La Beat
Sam Dees - Lonely for you baby - SSS Int
Jimmy Burns - I really love you - Erica
Al Gardner - Sweet baby - Sepia
Patti Austin - You'll always be in style - A&R acetate
Clara Hardy & Magictones - It's you - Cover-up
Magnetics - I have a girl - Rasel

Keb
Fortson & Scott - Sweet lover - Pzazz
Pat Lewis - No one to love - solid Hit
Del Larks - Job opening - Queen City
Mayfield Players - Don't start none - Mayfiels unreleased
Professionals - That's why I love you - Groove City
Nomads - something's bad - Mo-Groov
Lou Pride - I'm Coming home in the morning - Suemi
Capitals - Can't deny that I love you - Omen
Al williams - I am nothing - La Beat
John Wesley - Love is such a funny thing - Melic
Honey Bees -Let's get back together - Garrison
Timeless Legend - I was born to love you - (Keb Darge remix)
Milton Parker - Women like it harder - Closet
J. Jocko - I'm gettin over - Kama Sutra
Detroit Sounds of Friction - I'm leaving you - Heavy Sound

Irish Greg
Sandra Stephens - I really love you - Daran
Tony Clarke - Wrong man - MS
Herb Ward - Honest to goodness - RCA
Tomangoe's - i really love you - washpan
George Blackwell - Can't lose my head - Smoke
Dynamics - I need your love - RCA
New Wanderers - Let me render my service - Ready
Gary Dean - you can say - Young
Tyn-Tynes - Baby I love you - Music Box

Andy Rix
Jimmy Radcliffe - The thrill of loving you - Jaysina acetate - unissued
Herman Lewis - Wh's kissing you tonight ? - Bell Sound acetate
Chris Bartley - I go out of my mind - T.M. acetate - unissued
Gloria Edwards - My love keeps getting stronger - UK Edsel CD track EDCD 611
Phonetics - Just a boy's dream - Trudel master tape
Wallie Hawkins & Rose Marie McCoy - Switch around - Beltone acetate - unissued
Masquaders - That's the same thing - Soultown
Appointments - I saw you there - De-Lite
Fascinators - In other words - Bombay
Dynamic Three - You said yeah - Del Val
Jean Wells Band - With my love & what you've got (inst.) - Select Sound
acetate unissued
Jesse James - Love is all right - Virtue acetate - unissued
Royal Five - Don't stop - unissued Tyler
Bobby Reed - Baby don't leave me - Shrine unissued
Commotions - Sock it to me - RCA Custom acetate - unissued
Harthon Band - She's wanted (inst.) - Virtue acetate - unissued
Cashmeres - Don't let the door hit your back - Edgewood acetate - unissued
version
Cindy Scott - I wish you the world of happiness - Virtue acetate - unissued
J. D. Bryant - I won't be coming back - Shrine

Dave Rimmer
Patience Valentine - If you don't come - SAR
Bud Harper - Wherever you were - Peacock
Cody Black - I'm slowly moulding - King
Barbara Lynn - I'm a good woman - Tribe
Enchanters - I'm in love with your daughter - Faro
Major Harris - Call me tomorrow - Okeh
Seven Souls - I still love you - Okeh
Falcons - good good feeling - Big Wheel
Doni Burdick - Bari track - Sound Impression
Fiestas - Think smart - Old Town
Lillian Dupree - hide and seek - D-Town
Vashonettes - Mighty good lover - Checker
Kenny Wells - Isn't it just a shame - New Voice
Sparkels - Try love - Old Town
September Jones - I'm coming home - Kapp
Jimmy Wallace - I'll be back - Alpha
Reggie Alexander - It's better - Boss
Sam Fletcher - I'd think it over - Tollie
Bobby Hutton - Come see what's left of me - Philips
Johnnie Mae Mathews - I have no choice - Big Hit
Jimmy Ricks - Oh what a feeling - Festival

first up in 1999

By Mike in Articles · October 12, 199925 yr

Shades of Soul July 1999
Recently had the good fortune for this to fall through my letterbox, yet again another excellent mag authored by Derek Pearson. 60 pages jammed full of stuff. Highlights in the Jul 99 issue are 5 pages on parkers in manchester, a excellent article on life after wigan, loads of vinyl reviews, label listings,interview with Andy Rix ,willie t thing, and loads more. Has a wide spectrum of coverage on all things soulful, with many contributors, mark hanson, john pugh and one I'm sure I've heard of before a pete smath from st rossiters or somewhere, my view on "Shades of Soul" is its one that you keep picking up and picking at it, know what I mean a few minutes there and a few there, and always find something new each time, full of info.
Enough of my words here's some clips to give you better idea of content:
Interview with Richard Searling, vinyl reviews and info clips
'Derek Pearson interviewing Richard Searling 5th May 1999
DP 'What was early nineties background to why you started Parker's ?
RS 'Well the Expansions shop had opened in Manchester through John Anderson's inspiration in 1987 and we had a couple of fairly rough years but none the less we survived. Dean Johnson become Shop Manager in October 1989 and around that time someone had pointed out that there was an hotel in central Manchester available for functions so I popped up to have a look as it happened to be close to the shop anyway. I felt I could work there, you usually get a feeling in these places whether you can work with the management or not straight away. I encouraged Dean to have a look at it with me and I remember the first night we went down there into basically what was a cellar, albeit a large one. The first night I think I remember it was about January 1990 we played Jelf Redd "Love High" and got a good response. There were about 160 people in for a first night, although a lot of it had to do with the fact that Manchester had heard nothing like this before, it was that we were supplying the right kind of music, easy listening lounge music I call it and getting a very nice up-market mixed race crowd in there.
Apart from numbers growing the profile of the crowd did not change over the next four years apart from when we did a northern night or when we had an artist on. It was amazing really the crowd that were attending were just the kind of people we were looking for, we were not haunted by any of the trouble makers getting in.
The reason a lot of people liked the place was for the atmosphere and the music, you don't find many people going somewhere just for the music alone its got to be a bit of both really. I do know people that have tried other places just for the music, but I reckon if you can have both then you have cracked it.
DP 'As I've pointed out before you've got to have the music, the venue, the DJs willing to play plus importantly the crowd have to be willing to listen. "what would you say was the reason for your success at Parkers? "
RS 'Well Dean and i have always worked well together because basically we play different stuff, there is nothing worse than working with a DJ that you feel all the time wants to be you and attempt to spoil what you are doing. Dean would play things that I would think 'Christ that's brave' and he would drive me on, we work well off each other, the chemistry was very good- I think with DJs there's an element of envy and if they see someone who is successful they think he's successful because of what he plays when in fact its not what you play it's the way you play them. It also boils down to what type of a crowd are in, if they're difficult you can end up playing what you consider a very ordinary set. With the right people in the right room and the right music and you can go onto another level".
DP Where as Parkers was only once a month it saddens me that there no where else you can go to nowadays once a month
RS "If i was getting more people in at The Howard then I would probably run it once a month, but as it is I've got two rooms going which I think is right and we attract about 250 people, If I was getting 400 1 would probably run it once a month".
DP "Is it a case of we're all getting older and money's tighter ?
RS 'No i don't think it is that, Its very difficult to say really because on the face of it there are still as many people chasing the records and talking about it. But they do seem to be more selective about the venues they go to, I've still not done the night that 1 really want to do do. I've got so many fantastic records which just never ever touch in the box.I just think if I could ever get a scene going at the Half Way House again where we played nothing but ballad's all night but they were up dancing, there's still a wealth of that kind of music being recorded today, but to get away with that in clubs is very difficult and even at the Southport weekender although I still play them, I always have to have the Futures "Ain't got time for nothing" lined up, great record that it is I don't want to be playing it when there's other quality record from an album to play".
DP I suppose with dJing you never know when you are going to stop and if you're still buying, you've got all that great material and you'd cry if you never got the chance to air it.
RS "I know I'm very lucky, I've got the radio show for that, I think I've played most things on it, but first of all its got to be the radio its got continuity and basically it gives me a lot of satisfaction doing it. But there must be a time to get a club going playing radio music and attracting 2 or 3 hundred in on a weekly or monthly basis.
DP "Going back to Parker's many people went to hear your exclusives ? "
R8 "I recall The Affair's 'New Life" remix which i don't ever think came out in the end but that was a lucky streak that we were going through which happened to coincide with having the club, at that time I used to spend alot of time chasing the record companies, because i had the time to do it, I worked in an office where I could spend a couple of hours a day ringing EMI, MCA and all these people or going to London. Right now I don't have that time so yes I was..
continued in issue
JOE & MACK - DON'T YOU WORRY (One-Derful 3099)
One of the more elusive sounds on a label which is fairly easy to collect - there must be millions of One-derful imports in the UK, seemingly not many of them are this duet from a Sam & Dave type pairing. At first listen, it's in one ear and out the other, but the more you hear it, the better you get, mainly due to the insistent horn riffs throughout. Listed at £100earlier in the year, did Anglo American ever sell that 1 wonder, as I've had this listed for half that amount for 6 months and it hasn't moved. $
BRAD LUNDY - (I'M AT) THE BREAKING POINT (Julmar 2647)
An absolutely stunning beat ballad, perfection in fact, but marred by the fact that every pressing I've heard of this - and I've had three this year - are appalling quality. I'm told that the blue label copies are second issues, if that's the case, they must have dubbed it from a scratchy original, because even mint copies have surface noise and are recorded at too low a volume. As for the record, it's a big voiced vocalist backed by a full orchestra and some wailing girlie back-ups, great song (written by Brad himself and a real kitchen sink production. If you like the beat ballad sound, 1 can't recommend this highly enough, it's stunning. Label was based in New York. Price from £30 to £45. $$
(Additions: even before the mags out - Karl Mitchell writes: It first came out on Lundy which presumably was Brad Lundy's own label, the sound quality on this is superb but on the Julmar release it's very Lo-fi, don1 forget Denna Johnson's version on Wild Deuce.)
LONNIE LESTER & CHUCK DANZY - AIN'T THAT A SHAME (Nu-Tone 209)
One of a pair of Lonnie Lester singles on Nu-Tone doing the rounds at the moment, this one's a minimal r & b stomper with a driving guitar backing, ifs uptempo and repetitive and, apart from a messy middle section, is just right for a scene currently dominated by r & b dancers. miminal production values, this is obviously a five take but nonetheless, this is how music is meant to sound, raw and alive. Was on a certain dealers fist for £5 fast year but price is now £30 to £40 and that can only increase as it picks up spins.
DELLA REESE - BLOW OUT THE SUN (RCA 8070)
An early dancer circa 1963 I'd say, similar in style to something like Ketty Lester's "Some things are better left unsaid". Echo laden production, nagging but effective backing vocals, some great timpani and a fair song - and Della Reese always had a strong voice. Typical of today's type of newie, this is well above average and a very enjoyable couple of minutes listening. As with the aforementioned Ketty Lester disc, all copies seem to be issues, which is strange for RCA- $
UPTONES - TAKEN FOR A RIDE (Watt's 901)
Well 1 thought this sounded a bit familiar, and lo and behold, ifs The Saints"I've been taken for a ride" - and when 1 say it IS The Saints, that's exactly what I mean. This must have been the local label issue before it came out on Kent, but why the group name was changed I've no idea. A very slick production, a catchy tune and a great arrangement with chimes, brass and a nagging guitar lick throughout, plus great vocals too, this is an excellent midtempo dancer which really is excellent. $
CHARLES BERRY - NEIGHBOUR NEIGHBOUR (Jet Stream 708)
From Huey P. Meau3Cs Jet Stream label comes this - possibly original - version of the well known Jimmy Hughes/Ad Libs number, and it's a rollicking r & b dancer with a throaty vocal and excellent brass and organ backing. It's all a bit minimatistic but the guy's got a great voice and this is tailor made for today's scene. Pretty hard to come by, seen listed for £40 recently. $
JOE DOUGLAS - CRAZY THINGS. (Playhouse 10008)
Onto a bit of real class now, and this is a number thats been reactivated over recent months and has consequently doubles in price from the £25 it was selling for last year. Playhouse is a Philadelphia label - note the Swan-style checks on the label - but the Detroit credits (Jack Ashford and Mike Terry) assure it's collectability. Not only that, there are two cracking sides here. Originally spun for the uptempo "Something to brag about, connoisseurs will now appreciate the dreamy midtempo sounds of 'Crazy Things", with it's chugging backbeat and stylish brass interjections. Nice vocals and an excellent production, with some clever lyrical couplets to boot. There are two different pressings of this, differing only in that one is a darker shade of blue than the other and the typeface is slightly different. $$
DRAKE & THE EN-SOLIDS - PLEASE LEAVE ME (Alteen 8662)
An old-school style stompalong from a group who sound years behind the times; hard to believe that people were still making records such as this as late as 1968. That's not to say it's bad record mind, far from it - ifs one of those 'instant' records which propels you to the dance floor the second you hear that drumroll intro and it charges along at breakneck speed, propelled by an insistent rhythm guitar. Superb harmonies abound, often drowning out the lead singer, and do my ears deceive me or does the whole thing actually accelerate towards the end? Brilliant stuff.$$
more 45 reviews
VALA-QUONS - WINDOW SHOPPING ON GIRLS AVENUE (Tangerine 951)
This lovely mid-60's dancer begins a la "Expressway to your hearC with various traffic sound effects added, before turning into a catchy clip-clop dancer. Strong lyrical hook in the chorus "Go window shopping on girls avenue, til you find one who's good for you". Can't tell if this is a black group or a white one, but whatever, this has had a few spins on and off over the years but never really risen to any great heights - it deserves more exposure. Note that this song was published by Jobete Music so there's probably a Motown version of this rotting away in the vaults somewhere. $
ROSE ST.JOHN & THE WONDERETTES - MEND MY BROKEN HEART (U.A. 997)
Detroit magic from the group that bought us "I feel strange", though this major label release has no Detroit credits whatsoever, which I find strange, especially as Mike Terry's trademark baritone sax is way to the fore. Both sides are very strong, "Mend" being the preferred side but the flip, "And if I had my way" is also awesome, slightly slower pace but equally as good. Two perfect examples of Detroit Northern Soul of the female variety. Add to this their Veep 45, and you have a handy little C.V. for Rose and the girls. Price-wise, anything from £50 to £75 for a white demo.
SKYLINERS - EVERYTHING IS FINE (Jubilee 6606)
Surely one of the most underrated records around at the moment, this first came to light on the Soul Underground 2 CD, since when several people have picked up on it, though ifs yet to make a big breakthrough. A truly majestic performance from this legendary doo-wop group in the twilight of their career, and this is a real feel good record, midtempo and mellow, with handclaps and fabulous harmonies to give it an extra something. Absolutely brilliant, buy it if you see it, should only cost around £15. $$
THERESA LINDSAY - IT'S LOVE (Correc-Tone 1053)
Here's a gem among gems, what a record this is, and how fortunate I consider myself to have managed to pick up a copy. Last seen for the extraordinary price of £ 140, 1 picked this up in a job-lot for a couple of quid where it was listed as the other side, "Good idea", which is very similar to her "Gotta find a way'. However, my eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when 1 saw what was on the flip; sounding poles apart from the messy upternpo A side, this one is a Van McCoy composition and is notable for a very sympathetic, string laden Dale Warren arrangement, and those violins soar in and out as Theresa finds true love for the first time and sounds well pleased about it. "Say it, say it over and over and over' she pleads in a heartbreaking voice towards the end of the record, reducing the listener to a quivering wreck with her intensity. What a record this is! Never will this one ever leave my collection!
MARVELOUS RAY - WHIRLPOOL (Abner 1004)
Richards old Baby Washington cover up, Ray is a female, albeit deep voiced, and this track turned up on the Thelma cd by Pat Smith as "Going through a whirlpool". Midterapo stomper with a Detroit feel to it, this never lets up from the off, and should never have been dropped from the playlists so quickly because it's got just about anything you could ever ask for in a Northern dancer. All copies seem to carry a "Chips" sticker (presumably the record plugger), peel off to your peril - that's why there are so many "tear on label" copies about. Price, £30 to £40, worth every penny.
BARBARA LYNN - THIS IS THE THANKS I GET (Atlantic 2450)
No apologies if I've reviewed this before, and I think I did, many years ago, but now it seems that people are finally sitting up and taking notice of fins magnificent beat ballad item. It goes from a whisper to a scream m mere seconds, with ifs seemingly innocuous intro suddenly becoming a heartfelt plea from Barbara telling her man to treat her right. It builds and builds, instruments being added every few bars, until the kitchen sink is in there at the end, along with girl backing and Barbara m fine form. heard this spuri at the 100 Club in November, apparently it was also spun there in December, so nows the time to buy it while it's still relatively cheap.
The $ signs are ratings out of 5.
Hope you enjoy these. Cheers. Pete Smith

Sydney Joe Qualls I don't do this" (20th Century LP)
reviewed: Issue 1 (Jan'84) Darren Harden Not as instantly memorable as records such as the Four Tops*, but this mid tempo floater is certainly picking up much interest. Taken from his 1979 album 'So Sexy', under the guidance of Carl Davies, this track may take a while to sink in, but is well worth the inclusion in any 70's spot. * let me set you free" Casablanca LP
Jimmy Cobb "So that nobody else can hear" (Contempo Vibrato LP)
reviewed: Issue 2 (July '84) StuartRaith
As Jimmy is a jazz session drummer, this late 1983 album is as one would expect jazz orientated, but wait! The title track on side one is brilliant soul, the slow shuffly intro reminds me of Nina Simone's "My baby cares". Greg Hines and Marilyn Redfield are the two singers and the overall structure of the song is in the classic Marvin & Tammi boy loves girl mould! "Speak softly darling, whisper gently in my ear.... so that nobody else can hear". Greg and Marilyn's mellow voices blend into each other so skilfully they tend to distract the listener from the distinguished backing musicians, who include Freddie Hubbard and Pee Wee Ellis. 1 hope you all get to hear this, it could just have easily come from 1963 instead of '83.
Mandrill "Love Song" (Polydor album 5059)
From the album 'Just Outside of Town' which provided the northern side Never Die', comes a quite brilliant deepie which stands out like a beacon, in an album full of so many different styles from this Multi-Racial group. Well, what's it like? if you can imagine the best 70s ballad's from groups like the Dells, Bloodstone, or the Dramatics, then you're pretty close to guessing the pedigree of this epic track. The cut starts quietly enough, just tinkling piano, then horns, flutes and strings are added to the 'Melting Pot', before the stunning 'lived in' vocals appear, 'If the world was to end tomorrow would we have reason to live, no flowers or trees, just a sad lonely breeze'. Cool harmonies, and imaginative strings abound throughout, together with a great drawn out sax break, I can't recommend this outing highly enough, thankfully the album has never been that scarce, so check it out now!!
Eddie Hubbard (March'99)

Greg Tormo (New Jersey,USA) writes:
Lynn Vernado lives in Oklahoma where she is an ordained minister. She still sings and records, but it's all gospel stuff. She sent me her latest CD about a year ago, along with a load of her Jesus literature with her photo m the pamphlets. She couldn't remember much about "Wash and wear love" or "Second hand love", except to say that Miles Grayson was the guy to talk to about them. She had no copies of either record- And believe it or not, her nephew is none other than Snoop Doggy Dog.
Mel Brit is a really great guy, very friendly and Ul of interesting info, and he currently works in a "Chicken & Rib restaurant in Michigan. I gave Ian Levine his phone number so that he could be filmed singing " She'll come running back" for his movie.
Did you all know that the group The Exciters who had a hit in 1963 with "Tell Him", well two members of that group got married and became parents of a son, known to the world as songwriter producer L.A. Reid. For those that need to know, when you hear of the swingbeat and R&B producers LA and Babyface he's the LA bit. They've produced Bobby Brown, Blackstreet, R Kelly, Michael Jackson and many many others. Herb from Peaches & Herb: A recent interview with Herb revealed he is now working as a security guard in a court house protecting judges. He says he has found another Peaches and is now looking for a record company to sign them. He wants to get back into performing and recording.
Heard that the Rev. O.C.Smith is doing well in California and has been a full time minister for over 25 years. He performed the marriage of MarilIyn McCoo & Billy Davies Jr (5th Dimension) and then renewed their vows for them 25 years later.
"Wade Flemmons, who was on Vee Jay Records in the 50's and early 60's passed away approximately 4 years ago, his funeral which was held in Battle Creek, Michigan (Wade's home), was financed by the Rhythm & Blues Foundation. Wade Flemmons was also an original member of Earth, Wind and Fire. He and Maurice White formed the group m Chicago, there was also a female member of the group Sherry Scott who is still singing jazz today. She and Wade were married, however wade left the group with a broken heart. He never recovered". mmdells DP adds: Maurice White learned his trade as session drummer at Okeh during the 60's playing on all the Radiants recordings and on Ramsey Lewis's 1966 hit "Wade in the water". source: R Pruter 'Chicago Soul' book.
Ron Kersey is a keyboard player and original member of the Trarrimps. He wrote and produced their smash, "Disco Inferno. " He also arranged for the likes of the O'Jays, Norman Harris, Love Committee, the Temptations, Billy Paul, First Choice, Major Harris, Dee Dee Sharp and others. He moved to the West Coast in the early'80s and produced a number of acts including Stephanie Mills. Norman Harris died in April of 1987. He had heart problems. He, incidentally was a cousin to Major Harris.
Details for ordering are :
Derek Pearson
30 henry st
thornton
bradford
w.yorks
UK
BD 13 3 JE
email d.pearson@bradford.ac.uk
subs £10-3 issues UK,overseas contact at email address

By Mike in Articles · August 9, 199925 yr

Soul Galore - Dave McCadden - Review with clips, please note this was posted in1999
Soul Galore
If vinyl is your thing this is a mag for you, all it contains is vinyl reviews vinyl reviews and vinyl reviews. But heres the sting it is well entertaining and a good reference.
Reviews range from a sharp few liners to a full page. A good reference guide and interesting read. Edited by Dave McCadden highly recommended. Find out yourself, here's some clips of reviews taken from a back issue No 8.
Note don't think its still going as still awaiting issues, still a good read below though!
Details of mag at end:

MISS D D PHILIPS Hey little girl (Evolution)
Forgotten pop stomper with few redeeming feature. Entertained the ugly ones for a few months in 77 until the pirate jumped ship to deliver boxes of boots to Russs stall on the balcony at Wigan. Ironic really - it was Russ who was responsible for making it a biggie in the first place. Remains hard to find an original for under £20, but the pasty looking boots have all been sold to clay pigeon shooters. Click click boom!

TRADITIONS *** My llife with you (Bar Clay)
Steamy uptempo chugger doing the rounds at a tenner. Good for a workout before the serious dancing starts, but the sparse production work leaves you feeling theres less to this than meets the ear. Had spins in the eighties at around the same time as the next one...

GORDON KEITH *** Look ahead (Calumet)
A rousing Metal Mickey of a stomper, with some serious horn blowing on a riff which has you nodding your head like Bill Clinton interviewing an au pair. 80s spins, initially for Keb, made it de rigeur for up and coming jocks before its untimely demise as the flip to a boot of Lee Bates Oh, why dont you write on Dragon. Those are easy to find at £5, and the original will only set you back £25. Hard core Northern uproar.

JAY + AMERICANS Got hung up along the way (United Artists)
Innocuous pop ditty which had a following of sorts in the seventies. Imports still command £25, while the 1967 UK issue (UP 1191) is hard at £30. No soul - so no chance!

LAVERN BAKER *** Im the one to do it (Brunswick)
Currently enjoying a renewed bout of interest amongst the more selective clobbers. For those bored with Jackie Wilsons original, its worth noting this one has the same backing track but with added pzazz. By the 60s her voice was magnificent and Im perfectly happy to have shelled out £75 for this piece of soul perfection.

BLUE JAYS *** Point of View (Jay)
Still a much sought after rarity, but nowhere near as exclusive as we once thought. In 1982 I saw somebody swap their mint copy of Al Williams on Palmer for this. Theyll look back on that deal with a heavy heart, as its now down to a mere £150 while the Al Williams disc just continues to rise and rise. Fabulous dancer. The vocals sound like theyve been fed through some kind of megaphone, but its as catchy as hell.

CARL DOUGLAS ** Marble and iron (Buddah)
Easy listening black pop. Recorded a few years before producer Biddu would make the big time with Tina Charles and others, but when you listen to this alongside his later productions such as Jimmy James A man like me and Johnny Johnsons Honey Bee you can see the man had a real feeling for soul music. He was never going to make the genuine article but at least he gave it a real good shot. For me, this is his best thing he ever did. Its still a hard item at £20, and would probably fetch more but for a competent version by Jimmy James on EMI. Carl Douglas - what can you say about him? He was all over the place. Which other artist can claim to have records released on Okeh, toured with a young Elton John, and sang bare chested on Top Of The Pops! Rare sound - but still pop.

JEWEL AKENS *** Sukiyaki (My first lonely night) (Era)
Superb strolling midtempo number had a few collectors going slightly moist before a premature Goldmine release made them lose interest. Pity for you when he leaves you behind: this will be massive in about ten years. The original song Sukiyah (Ueo Muite Aruko) - "Walk with your chin up" was A 1962 hit for Kyu Sakamoto. An instrumental version by Kenny Ball made it a US and UK smash in 63. Despite the fact that it had sold a million on two separate occasions Jewel was straight in the studio to record his version. It appeared on his Birds arid the Bees album - BEWARE!! - its not the same recording as his Era 45; its much slower and consequently far less danceable. Goldmine issues still carry their retail ceiling price and only time will tell which ones start to go for money in the future. One thing the history of our scene has taught us about reissue labels - from MCA to Grapevine -there are always some releases which will turn out to be worth far more than the others. An original Era issue will set you back a hundred nicker and, as mad as this may sound, it probably represents a good investment.

EARNESTINE EADY *** The change (scepter)
Another one likely to go up in price. Staple diet down south and caught on in a big way for a few years before finding its way into my box. Gotcha sister! Great tune and a sexy, swinging beat - £30 to hep cats.

STRIDES ** I can get along (Without your love) M-S
Old Wigan sound, now changing hands for fifty bars, and not turning up in any great quantity. Never took off in the seventies, but we appreciate this kind of sound far more today. There are far better Detroit records which only sell for half the price, but deserves its following. Flipside carries the backing track instrumental. The group mutated into CJ + Co and recorded the dreadful Devils Gun for Atlantic. That was a fave at Blackpool Mecca at about the same time as this Strides record was being ignored at Wigan. Aint life spooky, folks?!

KELLY ST. CLAIR ** Hear that beat (AMM)
Former seventies spin, originally covered up as Ian St John. Or was it Holly St James? Quite atmospheric in places, with all that stopping and starting, but it'll never make anyones Top Ten. Prices vary on this one- from £10 - £25. Almost makes you think somebody might be playing it in some remote corner of England. Stop it now! It may seem like a bad dream when we look back at the atmosphere which prevailed when we played all those terrible pop records, but I personally hope that we may one day feel the same way about some of the early 60s dancers weve decided to include under the banner of Northern Soul.

GENE CHANDLER I can take care of myself (Constellation)
Sprightly thumping Chicago beat, Genes usual impeccable vocals, lyrics courtesy of Van the Man. A real soul cocktail to drown those blues and get your feet jumping. Surprisingly issued here in 69 - many years after it was recorded -on Action (ACT 4551), as the flip to the frenetic I can save it. Despite its lack of rarity it was a popular sound in the mid 70s. It still only sells for £20 on issue, but the white demos are proving hard to get hold of. That UK issue is no great prize and shouldn't fetch more than £25. Not his best effort, but somehow they all sound like they were recorded in the summertime.

FANTAISIONS Unnecessary tears (Satellite)
From the same city comes this under-rated double eider. Although its more liked to be found on somebody's tape than heard at a venue, it has to be good value for money at £15. I'm more impressed by the sound of the go-go flipside That's where the action is, which conjures up images of girls dancing in cages and people wearing polo-necked sweaters and doing ridiculous dances.

FIVE AND A PENNY * You dont, know where your interest lies (UK Polydor)
Lacklustre British version of the Simon and Garfunkd song. If we hadnt found Dana Valerys excellent rendition we might find a little more pity in our hearts for it, but only collectors of UK releases will have a gleam in their eye when this one pops up for sale. Used to be pricey but the marginalised market means its only a £15 yester-groove, for this 68 recording on Polydor (56282)

SPINDLES ** Ten shades of blue (Abe)
Average uptempo soul sound which has perched on the edge of the swimming pool of collectibility for too many years. Unlikely to make much of a splash now with anyone but local midweek DJs w ho lack either the finances or the commitment to buy the more expensive sounds which will launch them on to the national circuit. Anything from £5- £10 and easily double that for the demo.

LOU EDWARDS TALKIN BOUT POOR FOLKS /THINKIN BOUT MY FOLKS
Is it just me, or do you also think that's too long a title? Why, its the whole damn chorus, Lou! But I digress. A rarity in the history of the Northern Soul scene of the early 70s, as it was one of the very few to be played as a new release. Surprisingly it never attracted the animosity directed at later new releases gaining turntable action. The stompers took it under their bags and made it one of their own. By the mid 70s the scene had wearied of the sound, replacing it with Baby boy and Mommas gone, but it was still a good seller when US Columbia got their fingers out of their arses to launch their Special Products logo. (Hey Columbia were still waiting for your next release Its been twenty years since the last one you dont want to lose arty momentum) The recent Goldmine CD Soul Time has mopped up much of the more popular material on this label, but there are still loads of good 45s knocking about to choose from e.g. Beverly + Del Capris, Bonnie Herman, Ray Jimenez etc. Those reissues of Lou Edwards can be had for a snip, while the rare issues pop up for £30. White demos may look more appealing but they're to be found everywhere for an easy £25. Thumping soul music with a social commentary. Oh yes!

HOT TAMALES Loves Invention (Detroit)
You must be joking! Far too frenetic for me to even consider a leg-shake. Crikey, Id have struggled to dance to this when I was only 17. Having said that its a cracking piece of soul music with a party atmosphere and a good time feel. The only copy Ive seen recently was owned by Ray Saunders in Coventry; and if youre telling me you can dance to this Ray, then 1 suggest you get yourself over to Highfield Road. Theyre desperate for a speedy winger with two good feet. Last seen for sale for £45.

HAL MILLER *** On my own two feet (Amy)
Typical you wait years for a Hal Miller record, then loads come all at once. This was the one that started the ball rolling though, as it leapfrogged its way from venue to venue in the 80s, winning new friends in every town and city. Early 60s New York feel, with beat ballad overtones, and a simple pop score from Bob Crewe and Charlie Calello. A recent auction saw it go for £150. Truth be told its a bit dated and lacks the sophistication of many of the beat ballads were turned our attention to. Despite the presence of a UK cover version by kipper Lynch, it has remained stubbornly elusive. There are even those poor souls whove told me they prefer the British version - and they don't all live in Hastings!

HIGH KEYS**** Living a lie (Verve)
Another early victim on the Northern Soul hit parade. Considered too cheap, too common, too available for mass exposure in the 70s. It was starting to command a hefty £8 in 77 when Pep found a load of waterdamaged Verve demos and flooded the market with them. I cant believe I just said that. Lead singer Troy Keyes named the group after himself but decided they should drop an E. Then he found them at rehearsals, dancing on the tables and swigging bottles of Evian, and wished hed never bothered. More George Kerr magic where is he now? Id love to see his face when I tell him one of his old productions is going for a ton. Records like this should not even be soiled with something as sordid as monetary value. Its priceless.

MONGO SANTAMARIA * The Now generation (Columbia)
Old Mecca instrumental which would kill off any clever-arse contestants on Name That Tune - there isnt one! Had a minor following in the squid 70s, but would attract little interest now, unless it was sampled by some youth wearing a baseball cap back to front and in need of a good wash. £5-ish.

CARSTAIRS *** He who picks a rose (Okeh)
Proof positive of the pulling power of Blackpool Mecca in the very early 70s. This thundering stomper was ruined only be their insistence on keeping that awful guitar lead, an instrument that has no place on a soul record! (I blame the original arranger Norman Whitfield. He was getting ideas above his station by now and trying to mix it with the psychedelic rock fraternity.) Quite why the normally smooth and groovy Calello and Sandy Linzer kept the intro I cannot think. But it spoils the record for me. (yeah, well we like it Dave, so shut the Duck up and tell us how much its worth Disgruntled Reader). Oh. its like that is it? Fair enough. Issues are mere working girls at £15, while the white DJs are saucy little numbers at f30. The popularity of this particular foot tapper led to the Whispersman on your hands being covered up as The Carstairs.

JAY LYLE ** How good can it get (Angel City)
Unattractive and aggressive West Coast soul. Its surly attitude makes it ultra danceable but there's no emotion to make it tug at your heartstrings. Finds itself collectable at last and goes for about £30.

CHRIS BARTLEY *** Sweetest thing this side of heaven (Vando)
More sophisticated production work from the Coy Boy. Chris doesn't have the best soul voice but its such a cracking song that even l could have sung it and it would have sounded good! Er, well - maybe not. US copies have tucked their feet under the tables of the poor house for more years than I care to remember Domar once made a nice coffee table out of his stock copies - and you shouldnt be asked for more than a bluey. For some unknown reason it was given a UK release circa 65. (Take no notice of the UK dates for this label in the Record Collector Price Guide - theyre hopeless). That Cameo Parkway (P101) issue is far rarer than its price tag of £50 suggests. Ive only had one copy in the last 25 years.

PAT LUNDY ** You hit me where it hurts (Leopard)
Early 60s roller from a lady who has always been of interest to soul collectors. Turns up on tapes quite often but rarely goes out to play in the clubs. These dated sounds have a following all of their own so £30 doesnt seem unreasonable. Shall we speed up?

SHIRELLES * March (You I// be sorry) (Scepter)
Not half as sorry as l am for hearing it. Has to be one of the most grotesque numbers Ive ever danced to. Dave Evison played it at Wigan one night when I was so off-my-box I would have danced to anything. This sure tested me - I failed miserably. Luckily, noone noticed (I hope) so l may have got away with it. Apparently, some people consider it worth buying so I should tell you its market value is a stunning £4. It is some time since my heart was broken by the sale of my Disco Demand collection but I seem to recall it was also on the flip of the DDS 115 Last minute miracle-a more realistic £2.

ERNIE ANDREWS** Fine young girl (Capitol)
Had this been an 80s discovery, collectors would have been doing cartwheels all the way to the record bar. Instead it had the misfortune to wake up one morning and find the mid-70s Northern scene shining a torch in its face - and pouting. Sure, there was quite a few mid tempo records being spun, but they were a damn sight classier than this one. Made a UK issue alongside Reggie Garner in 76 on Capitol (CL 15873) - both records received the same promotion despite one being a national monster and the other a virtual unknown in many parts of the country. That reissue was a poor seller and may catch us out one day if some cheeky saucepot gets behind it, but for now its virtually worthless and only goes for a couple of pounds. Originals can still be found for a bargain £15.

LORRAINE CHANDLER * Love you baby (UK Black Magic)
Tee hee! You Nottingham wags, what will you think of next! As you sat in your dream little pubs thinking of ways - any ways - to make money, who came up with this one? Lets take a copy of Love you baby to a recording studio and get some woman to sing over the flipside backing track. Hey, well call it Lomine Chandler! Selectadisc will chuck it out on Black Magic. And to make it seem more authentic well stick her authentic recording of What can I do on the Beside. Chortle, chortle! Grow up, saddos. This technique was used a few times in the eighties, which is why you'll never be able to find a Ric Tic release for the supposed Little Ann version of The way you're been acting lately. And there are even worse examples than that. (Cassietta George "Theres nothing else to sat" - get real, Kev! She was a trained gospel singer. That woman you got to sing for you sounded like she worked in the local cake shop.) The travesty of a record, which Lomine Chandler swore she never recorded, may be worth £4 simply on the strength of What can I do Obviously there are no US originals of Lomine Chandler singing love you baby, so save up your money and buy one of her original records. After all - you only live twice!

5 STAIRSTEPS + CUBIE .** Stay, close to me (Windy C.)
Exhilarating foot-tapper. As our taste broadens and we move on up to rarer records, and we tend to dump things like this. We shouldn't. We should remember how GOOD it is before we remember how CHEAP it is. Otherwise well fall into the trap of spending hundreds of pounds with dealers on records that are designed to impress other collectors, rather than continuing to do the Vega thing that brought us onto the scene in the first place -buying great soul dance records. Period! Its probably become something of a cliche to you readers out there by now, but this one hovers at a bluey. First UK issue in 69 on Buddah (201 026) is less common than the 1971 issue of the US Curtom release (Buddah 2011 092) credited simply to the Stairsteps (without the Rubik Cubie) Neither issue b rare, so don't be a Burke if you see it under a fiver.

JAYNETTS ** Peeping in and out the windows (Tvff)
Late eighties spin which seems to be a forgotten tune these days. Sparse, moody and slightly fretful, but it must have had something if it got me on the dancenoor. The longer it goes on the more powerful it becomes - youre hooked by the end. A mere £15 and its yours governor. Sorb, we dont take fifty pound notes, got any less?

MILLIE JACKSON *** A house for sale (Spring)
Many months before its belated UK issue this was a surprise floorpacker in Mr Ms. For a 1976 release that was a unique achievement, and it remains something of a soft classic even today. In the early 70s she took up where Laura Lee left off and released several love triangle concept albums. An x-rated stage show filled houses wherever she went, but sales never passed beyond her R+B audiences. (I'm still filled with a sense of wonderment whenever I hear her version of Loving arms) Whereas the roots of My malt a sweet man lie with Motown, A house for sale is a pleasant Philly inspired disco sound which is well worth the fiver you're likely to be asked for it.

JOHNNY WILLIAMS *** You're something kinda mellow (Babylon)
Deceptively hard to find now. There was a time when this was all the rage, and sold for two pounds. Early 70s soulful thumper and a cut above the disco sounds of the time. Picked up by the sirloin for a chance at the big time, circa 76. Had its seven minutes and promptly said, Ill get my coat. Aches for another chance. Still got your copy. Pull it Out and listen again -its better than we thought. I met Searling through this record. In a whim of juvenile fancy I suggested in my column in Hot Buttered Soul that hed waited for the UK issue to be deleted before playing it. In those days it was insulting to accuse a man of un-soulful behaviour, and on my next visit to the home of the ugly ones I was summoned behind the stage to have my legs slapped. I muttered my apologies and left with my tail between my legs. (Quite right too McCadden you ve got for too much to say for yourself ) Both US copies and UK issues on Polydor should be bought on sight at anything between £5 - £10.

TIM TAM &TURN ONS * Wait a minute (Palmer)
Utter rubbish. With my hand on my heart I can say I never danced to this, even when it w as a Wigan floorpacker. Its astonishing to think that it came from a label with we associate with such soul excellence as Jimmy Mack, Al Williams and the Peoples Choice. They made at least three singles for the label - all pop nonsense of course - and (tears out hair in frustration) of all the great records on Palmer this was the only one given a UK release by the British bootleg company Island Records. (Surely you mean totally legitimate record company who like their forerunners Sue records released US recordings from labels that were so small they couldn't find them again to pay any royalties t) Er yeah, I probably do. That UK release from 67 (W16007) can be found (but don't look too hard please) on the pink label design and sells for about £15. The US issues once fetched money at the height of Wigan Britpop, but now sulks moodily at £3. Such was the mood of the times it was even bootlegged - 50p please and Ill throw in a packet of Revels.

SHARON SMITH *** I m Waiting (Venus)
A difference of musical opinion amongst the musical maestros of Chicago saw the deepthroated Miss Smith walk away from a contract with One-Der-Ful. She'd been employed as a session singer and sang back up on many of the great Otis Clay sessions. This organ-drum-and-bass stroller has all of the guts and glory we associate with the label. A clumsy sensual dance beat and that superb bluesy guitar break that has becoming something of a hallmark of Chicagoan R+B. Copies are starting to stand up and be counted as collectors get wise to its enigmatic appeal, so anything under £30 should be considered a bargain. Its a One-der-Ful life!

ADAMS APPLES **** Dont take it out on this world (Brunswick)
A friend of mine in Oakland who is part of the 60s garage psych collecting fraternity tells me this is a hot potato for his gang. It made me wonder if they're white? Are there any white artists on Brunswick? Quite simply a phenomenally popular stepper which is so contagious you have to listen to it from the next street. A big mid 70s sound, and potential bootleggers were given a bloody nose when it was issued here in 77 on UK Brunswick (BR 42). That demands to be bought at £5, or you may prefer to pay £40 for a US copy. It's up to you. Petula!

There you go and that was just from 4 pages as each issue is over 30 plus you can imagine how many reviews packed in. Contact details :

note: originally posted in late 90s since this was published sadly Dave the author has since passed away

By Mike in Articles · August 6, 199925 yr

FALLING INTO THE SOUL NET - Soulful Kinda Music Article
Looking back bit dated but guess thats expected as it is a bit dated
FALLING INTO THE SOUL NET - From Soulful Kinda Music Mag
Hey here's an article in latest soulful kinda music on soul on the internet thought it might be interesting to errrrr soul fans who are on the internet....
Looks like more and more soul people out there are finding themselves on the internet, at moment it seems to be booming with all kinds of soul content on there for soul fans. For those who have resisted the march of new technology, thrown together here’s a bit of a insight to let you know what you’re missing, Myself, I first came across soul side of internet about 4 years ago, then there were just a couple of sites concerned with northern soul, stumbled across one, Glyn Williams I think, and was inspired to start my own up, started it and was amazed at how many soul fans where on online then, and since then the numbers have just kept growing, with more and more soul fans turning up on there every week, hard to tell how many but I know a few sites get around a 1000 visitors a month, also another indicator of growth is about a year ago it was hard to find a well know name online, nowadays its not whose on but who isn’t, with top DJs, promoters, record sellers, collectors etc all there online. WEBSITES Have found there’s three main areas of the internet that get my soul attention, first up is the websites. On the web at moment there’s stacks of northern/rare soul related sites, majority UK based but a few in world wide places such as USA, Germany, Canada, Sweden and so on.
If you never seen a website, they’re a bit like an electric fanzines, but with a bit more. Main thing about these sites is the variety and content, ok you can’t take em into the bath with you for a relaxing read, but if I list some of the stuff you can find, it will give you a idea of it all, start off with normal stuff like reviews of events, vinyl and even videos! label and artist info and listings, then there’s articles ranging from thoughts on current scene to interviews with various soul people, on vinyl side theres reviews, records for sale records wanted, ok not much difference from your local soulmag, but hang on as we get up the high tech ladder, can get scans of record labels you only dream about, sound clips some in near CD quality of current top sounds, cover ups, rarities, little known, classic decent oldies and so on, there’s video clips of northern TV stuff and radio shows knocking round as well.
So as you can see there’s a fair bit of stuff there, and the best thing is that its all free and more likely than not, bang up to date. This is where these soul sites are going to come into their own as more users get on, fancy going out, don’t know where or what soul event is to you, check one of the sites out, it all be there, where, timings, costs and so on instant info. How did last nite event go, yeah could be up there, what sounds did soul sausage play last nite, chances are could be up there as well, no more trekking to newsagents to see what echoes hasn’t put in this week. Who runs these sites then? Well that’s another good thing, ok have well known names such as John Manship, Pat Brady, Dave Rimmer, Bernie OBrien, and others, but majority of them are done by ordinary Joe’s, which has gotta be a good thing Ok hopefully got your appetite going, so you’re likely thinking yeah where do I start, where to go, well you could visit a search site and enter a search for northern soul, may find some but that’s a bit like going to woollies and asking for a northern soul CD, you may get a couple but won’t get em all. Suggest try this link out, as it’s a collection (35+ at moment) of northern sites all linked up, plus a lot of sites have links to others, http://www.ringsurf.com/netring?ring=nsoul;action=list
Ok overdosed there, yeah? Well as said there’s something for everyone’s taste from latest 60/70s rare stuff to memories from Wigan, plus the dirty vixens when need a break! And haven’t even mentioned the US mainstream soul sites covering every thing from 50-90s VINYL SIDE 30 year old scratched vinyl and shiny hi-tech machines don’t seem to go together, but tell you what, they were made for each other. Remember those old days when only a few people with money could get to USA to dig out the gems, or waiting for those lists with funny stamps on to arrive and then after sending the order in and waiting a couple of weeks for the reply and finding all the stuff you wanted has gone. Well lets just say nowadays, you can now browse through that far away record seller from the comfort of your home, read his latest list as soon as it comes out, pick what you want and even pay for it there and then, he’s got nought worthwhile? Ok check out that Los Angeles one. Though might be a bit hard nowadays to find the bargains cause a lot of record sites have been plundered, and also a lot of us dealers are sussing out 60s soul = big bucks, but there’s still a few good deals to be had and lots of unheard stuff, if you fancy building up your “title sounded good but the tracks shite” pile. If the thrill of record hunting doesn’t do anything for you, can always check out UK dealers online as in john manship, pat brady and loads of others out there, again quick instant buying is the thing.
One new thing that’s exploded on vinyl side online is the Ebay record auctions, this is a site where dealers put up a record for 7 days or so, visitors bid on them with the highest bidder getting the record. A while ago many bargains could be grabbed, but as with all good things more and more people found out about and more bids started coming in. So if any well known rarity comes up, the guys with the big wallets move in and the one with biggest wins, nowadays you can find stuff like imperial C’s going for 1800 dollars, (the seller who I think first listed it at $5 was a bit surprised but then come out and said, due to the bids I gave it another spin and realised what a great doo wop record it was, finger on the pulse springs to mind) and obviously a lot of us dealers are getting wise to what a “northern” soul record means cashwise. Can be enjoyable and expensive, great when you get a bargain, shite when someone bids 50 cents more1 minute before auction ends and gets the record.
Ok spent all your time visiting sites and all your money on vinyl, better half giving you a hard time cause of phone bill and you haven’t spent any “quality” time with them, just check your email before you go… fatal mistake. Email lists, way they work is there’s a group of mail all on a list anything that is sent to the list is read by everyone else, don’t sound much, but in practice works well, got a vinyl query just ask, if anyone knows they give reply, someone from York reckons answers wrong sends his bit, someone from Australia used to go the same club as guy from York, gets in touch with him, someone wants to know what’s going on in area visiting, guy answers him and tells him of a warm up and pub to meet in and so on. There’s quite a few lists on there, ranging from biggest one ktf to more specialised soul ones like raresoul and soulnorthern, plus some by invite ones as well. Highly recommended on both soul and social side if you can put up with 100~+ emails a day, though one of entertaining bits is when two members have online argument, been some memorable ones.
All right just giving you a quick idea of what you can find once you get online loads more than mentioned here. Never beat getting down to a local event, but for that Wednesday night when corries is on or you’re too skint (cause had to pay phone bill) to get anywhere, you’ll find a thriving group of soul fans from all over the place, hear some great sounds, and can discuuss all things soulful so can’t be bad eh. But just to let you know that the internet soul side has started being taking seriously, two well known people on UK scene have recently been slagging it off, as you know nothing on northern scene is worthwhile till its been slagged off must be a seal of approval. Though both the two main critics of it though aren’t online yet which tells you something.
Mike h
Soul Source – a site for soul

By Mike in Articles · June 30, 199926 yr

Top Dog Label

The label was based at 9430 Woodward Ave. Detroit and owned by Artie Fields.
101 DON RONDO JUST BEFORE THE BATTLE ??? 102 KRIS PETERSON JUST AS MUCH (G.Terry & M.Terry) (2:25) Producer:Artie Fields Artie Fields Pub. & LeBaron Music. UNBELIEVABLE (G.Terry & M.Terry) (2:32) Other credits same

103 THE CAMEL DRIVERS SUNDAY MORNING 6 OCLOCK (John Rhys-Don Dominguez) (2:40) Producer:Artie Fields.Rocking Chair Music Pub. GIVE IT A TRY (Gec.Saul) (2:15) Producer: Artie Fields. Artie Fields Pub. Note:Also issued on BUDDAH #61 and U.K.PYE INT. 7N 25471.

104 THE CAMEL DRIVERS FORGIVE US (A.Fields,R.Phillips,N.Schneider) (2:45) Producer:Artie Fields.Pelikan Pub.

105 J0E TOWNS TOGETHER WE CAN MAKF SUCH SWEET MUSIC (R.Drapkin & M.Coleman) (2:55) Producer: Arty Fields.Arranged by:Dale Warren. Artie Fields Pub. Note: This was later covered by THE SPINNERS and SUPREMES. DOWN AND CUT WORLD (R.Drapkin & M.Coleman) (2:45) Other credits same as A

106 JOE TOWNS TAKE THAT WOMAN OUT THAT SHACK DOWN AND OUT WORLD

107 JOE TOWNS YOU CANT HOLD ME BACK (R.Drapkin-M.Coleman) (2:45) Producer: Artie Fields.Arranged by Marty Coleman. Artie Fields Pub. BUSY SIGNAL (R.Drapk~n-M.Coleman) (2:05) Arranged by Dale Warren. Other credits same as A 108 JOE TOWNS LOOK AROUND AND YOUlL FIND ME (R.Drapkin & M.Ccleman3 (2.55) Producer :Artie Fields . Arranged by :M.Coleman . Artie Fields Pub. DOWN AND CUT WORLD A1l credits same as on #105

109 THE PUSHCART IVE GOT A TICKET TO THE WORLD [bUT I DONT LIKE THE SHOW] (R.Drapkin & M.Valvano) (2:43) Producer:Artie Fields.Arranged by The Pushcart & Mike V~lvano.Artie Fields Pub. YO-TE-AMO (D.Kovarik & D.Kovarick) (3:26) arranged by The Pushcart.All other credits same as A

200 THE CAMEL DRIVERS YOU MADE A BELIEVER OUT OF ME GIVE IT A TRY

201 THE CAMEL DRIVERS THE GRASS LOOKS GREENER IM GONNA MAKE YOU MINE

This article was ripped from Detroit City Limits Magazine by Graham Anthony (who also does a good record list) who can be contacted at: 103 Buxton Road Chaddesden Derby DE 21 4 JN

By Mike in News Archives · June 22, 199926 yr

Published Date: 1999/5/28 18:30:00
nick gilbert takes us on a trip through the last decade right up to the present day with a look at the last ten years of the scene
the turning point
before I was relocated to green belt suburbia, Herts. I had been attending the 100 Club since Ady had first started there with a Friday night evening do. Anyway Sean came along with me expecting a good night. I was embarrassed, there was probably less than 100 people in that night, and it was a disaster, there was nothing wrong with the music, it was the lack of people, a main ingredient for a good atmosphere and therefore a good night. As I sat at home later on that weekend I realised the northern scene had reached it's nadir, it was either sink or swim from here.
the turn around
I carried on attending the 100 club and soon noticed more younger faces attending, I heard about successful all-nighters at Keele and the Ritz; although it was really noticeable at these two venues it was more of the old crowd. Come 1992 and Ady , via his Kent records label released his first rehash CD of his successful LP formula, something was stirring, attendance's were still on the up, more and more youngsters; pissed off with what was on offer at other types of dance venues, were attending the 100 club, and with that, not carrying excess baggage of old, so more receptive to fresh new sounds, none of this oldies v newies etc. Ady held his first weekender on the wettest October weekend on record (in my opinion !!) It was only attended by about 250 hardy souls but everyone thoroughly enjoyed it, a couple of points that stand out in my mind about that weekend; Willie Tee pulled out at the last moment; Ady personally gave everyone a fiver back in cash as compensation, now ask yourself why people attend his dances. I came across my first overseas northern soul fans, I believe it was Spanish & German in attendance that weekend.
So what was the catalyst that caused this upsurge in interest ??? I don't think there is one simple answer, was it the advent of the compilation CD ? It has certainly made the job of listening to your favourite sounds at home a lot easier, I personally know a lot of people, particularly females, who don't have the confidence/knowledge to go trawling through records boxes looking for there favourite tunes, buying a ten quid CD and getting 24 tracks is a whole lot easier. I don't think the mod scene, especially in London, ever died, I think it went on the back burner just waiting to be turned up. Then there was the media, we went through a phase when you couldn't pick up any "style" magazine without a picture of a lad or lass giving it all on the dance floor and an article about northern soul, this obviously awoke more interest. Even the fashion companies joined in, Levis introduced the "Northern Soul" range at a lavish party in West London (free beer all night !! God there was some sore heads the following day !!!) A lot of old faces began to re-appear at venues, kids had grown up, few quid in their pockets, good night out. One medium I believe has caused a lot of people to become more involved in the scene has been the advent of the internet, people buying new PC's, putting the term "Northern Soul" in to a search engine and hey presto.. no end to read and hear about. I personally have been on line for about 3 years now and I have certainly noticed the increase in web sites & message boards dedicated to our favourite type of music.
Added to all this there is regular fanzines/magazines dedicated to the scene, a twelve hour film extravaganza (some people loved it, some hated it) 3 to 4 books all tracing the history of the northern soul scene, all including some excellent anecdotes and brilliant photos. And last but not least, dozens of CD releases making our favourite type of music easily accessible to all.
the present
At this stage I could say the scene has gone from strength to strength, which it has, but I will give an overview of my favourite clubs today.
As far as I am concerned the 100 club always ploughed a furrow as far as introducing new sounds, with it's younger, more receptive audience it was probably easier, but another venue with an upfront music policy was the Wilton Ballroom in Normanton West Yorkshire, and along with the 100 club came to be one of my most visited venues, along with odd visit here and there to the Ritz and maybe Keele. Due to a change of job and relocation back to Peterborough I hadn't attended a Wilton since last November so I really looked forward to attending last month, to my horror it was one of the worst nights I had had in ages, apart from Roger Banks (who actually played a couple of duds as well) the music was dire, one couple played what was supposedly R&B for an hour, well I'm sorry, to my ears that was nothing more than rock'n'roll/doo-wop for an hour, I went away very disappointed. I hope that was a minor blip, the Wilton has been running for around 7 years and has always adopted an up front music policy and I would hate to see it's high standards slip. Back in the south, the Capitol Soul Club, based at The Dome in Tufnell Park North London regularly attracts crowds of 350/400, playing a cross section of class oldies and the odd new discovery thrown in, and is a brilliant night out, any event run by the Uptown Down South Soul Club on the south coast can be more or less guaranteed to be a favourable night out. The Cleethorpes weekender is always sold out now well in advance of it's June date, with a 1000+ people immersed in northern soul for the weekend (the only problem with that is, you need a week off to recover afterwards !!) with some top drawer live acts.
conclusion
I love northern soul, and the northern soul scene it has been a major part of my life, and I still believe there is a lot of legs left in the Northern Soul scene, my only concern is the scene ends up like the rock 'n' roll scene, where it is the same 500 or so records played so effectively becoming a retro northern soul scene, I have heard stories from friends who have attended the bigger venues and come away complaining about "same old records as usual". I believe this would be the death of the scene.
The scene has got to become more adventurous in it's music policy, I'm sure there are a lot of unplayed 70's 80's & 90's and to some extent 60's tracks sitting there waiting to be played, in my opinion, that is the only way forward. We must also try to attract more younger faces to the scene, how I don't know, over to you people !!!
thanks go out to nick for taking the time in sharing his outlook on the scene, as always stuff like this appreciated, always good to get points of views up here from soul fans, lots of good points in there, especially with some of the current talking points, oldies, R+B, 70-90s spins, the way forward, young blood etc etc
what do you think ? agree ? disagree ? well don't just sit there pass your thoughts on and let people

By Mike in Articles · June 18, 199926 yr

This was originally wrote for the Togetherness Mag a few years ago -1999, after criticism of the mag by myself as it did not feature any events "south of brum" I was invited to do something about it. The below was the first one, think were another 3 before a move back up north, meant no more. ( Which was a good thing as .... edited as out of date... Excuse the few odd glitches in article, combination of word, frontpage and life

Southern State of Soul - Togetherness Mag 1999
By Mike H, Keith Woon and Winston Heath
Welcome to the first of "Southern State of Soul", hopefully this will be a regular thing, designed to let you know what's happened, what's gonna happen and also a bit of a southern view on current topics. Quite a lot to get over to you, so no hanging around, straight into it
It seems that one of the main subjects knocking around recently has been the discussion of how the rare scene should "move on", it seems that everyone is searching for the "holy grail" of a scene which features a great selection of soul played, well attended venues, a mixed crowd of young and not so young, no politics, or no infighting, just a great enjoyable soulful scene in the best traditions of northern soul, .... Well what I say to this, is simply if you want experience a thriving northern soul scene as just stated ... get your arse down south!!! Moved down here only about a year and a half ago but what a eye opener, have found events of a top class nature, happening nearly every fortnight, being attended by some of the most friendly and atmospheric crowds, and no matter what soulful mood you're in, you can get it down here, hardcore 60s, modern, top current rare sounds, r+b, classy low play revivals, across the board, classic oldies, left field stuff, live acts, radio shows etc its all down here, and have found the hardest thing is not to find a event to get to but to actually decide which one to go to!
As said seeing as it's the first one, going to give you a quick view of what's been happening, and hopefully prove that living down here isn't all about choosing between Old Trafford and Caister at weekends. Kicking off, the first stop has got to be into the capitol London, recently claimed by some down here to be the current capitol of Northern Soul, such is the confidence and the upbeat mood down here, and tell you what, it puts up a pretty strong claim at the present moment. If the first stop is the capitol, then first stop here has got to be the top allniter in the UK, the 100 club which recently celebrated its status as the UK's longest running niter and what a way it celebrated with an anniversary that was, if you're idea of heaven is great soul music in a hot packed club with a great atmosphere and crowd, as close as you can get to it, a tremendous night which was the climax of a great summer of soul down here. There's been quite a few other highlights earlier over the last six months at the 100 club, mainly due to Ady C's willingness to try new ideas out or do the suprising thing. One nite which fits one of these categories happened around May time with a appearance for the first time of Ian Levine on the decks at this venue, now no matter what was said before or after this nite (and a fair bit was), the end result was Mr Levine packed the floor. The "normal" nites continued as always with some great guest spots through out this term, from the likes of Saus, Terry Davies, Mike Wilkes and others, mention must also be made of Russ Vickers appearance who took my ears to soul Valhalla with his mix of great soul regardless of the ÃÆ’£ date. Again showing that who dares...... the 100 in August put on what has got to be a first for a major venue, a nite with an all-girl line DJs wise apart from your man Ady, some might say a bit of a risky decision, but the girls pulled it off big style with a excellent nite of soul of all sorts assaulting your ears, credit to Jo Wallace, Jodi, Nicola, Christina, Heather and Maxine for delivering the goods on a great nite and could say that it proves that you don't need balls to play fresh rare soul. Mustn't forget though, that the main reason the 100 is so strong, is due to their backbone of the strong regular dj line up. With the top Northern DJ Butch still doing the business and giving us top quality fresh rare soul, Shifty and Mick Smith giving us more good stuff and of course Ady C still surprising us with an ever ending amount of quality unheards, another 21 years? Well wouldn't bet against it. Also proving the current high, the warms ups before the niter also reflect the pace of the scene down here with often more than one warmer being put on, and the events being packed, or even sold out, and many of them being quality worthwhile soul nites on their own standing.
Sticking in the capitol with a new venue that has quickly made its mark, the Dome at Tufnall Park, North London. Matt J and the Capitol Soul Club over the last few months have built on its cracking start last year, going from strength to strength, with some great nites with their own unique style of rare sounds, quality new discoveries and one offs mixed in with quality fresh revivals and a great "up for it" crowd, (one of few events where I feel old!) To me a great example of how to take hardcore 60s northern forward, credit goes out to CSC DJs Irish Greg, Dave Flynn, Carl F, Alan H and all the guest DJs who have kept the floor busy, and the place buzzing, Andy Rix - what a set he delivered at the last one, one of best ever to my ears, Dave Rimmer, Shifty and all the other guests great stuff and well worth checking out. Well that's the two well known events, in the capitol would mention the vast amount of other events that have happened, from small local nites, new venues, live acts, events mixing northern with deep funk and more space and word count won't allow. Though gotta find space to mention "These Old Shoes", London's biggest little soul club with it's midweek event that every month seemed to get better and better.
Not just the big city boys doing great things, the Uptown Down South Crew are still keeping the soul flag flying high and proud in the south west area, provided quality nites and events at Newbury, Gosport, and more, they've delivered their trademark of a great mix of soul from all eras, across the board at its finest, the night at Miss M's at Newbury in July was the perfect example of true masters of the art of combining all era soul in a great style (that a few others could take lessons off) with Maxine and Keith Woon, Lloyd, and Russ Vickers being the masters.
Moving upwards a bit the Bedford area is yet another hotbed that is thriving, more quality nites have been happening there with "soul on the real side" nites at the Blue Lagoon getting a big name and interest amongst modern fans through out the country, while "Kempston Rovers" in the same town has been doing the business for northern fans and has been attracting some of the biggest DJs knocking around, both from north and south, another in area which has picked up a reputation is Kettering leisure village with a 500+ capacity
Heading for the finish via a quick visit to the seaside to see what's been going on down the beach, with good reports coming in from Bournemouth with the nites at Cagneys going strong and a new nite at Mayfair hotel recently started, a recent dayer at Brighton went down well, so well in fact that two more happened within 7 days of each other!
Mention must also go to the loads of other events that have happened through out the South from East Coast all the way to Cornwall and South Wales, must be hundreds of top quality soul nites, all doing the pyramid thing and keeping the scene and the soul fresh and ever moving, would like to mention all but space has run out, hopefully in the future be able to give fuller coverage and credit
Onwards and upwards. Well there you go, as said just a quick look back at some of the main events that have gone down, check out Keith's Woons guide for some of the main down south events happening in the near future. Hopefully this quick trip will give you an idea of just how strong and soulful the scene down south is at the moment. And believe me it is just the tip of iceberg, let's just say if Richard Searlings radio show was picked up further south than Birmingham they would have to extend it by 3 hours just to fit all the southern events in the "What's on" bit. Final word by me on it all is; if you're idea of utopia is a soul nite with atmosphere, a great friendly mixed crowd, and most of all a great choice of soul sounds, that follow the best of northern soul traditions, well do yourself a favour, hang up your hang-ups, jump on that train, get in that car, hop on that tram climb on that bike, and get your self down south and give today's thriving scene a go,
Mike h
email:
credit goes out to all organisers, DJs, soul fans, etc
By no means exhaustive, here's a round up of some of the more major soul events happening south of the Watford gap). If you run a regular Soul event south of the Watford Gap, and would like to be included in this listing, send all the relevant details to
London
6T's Rhythm 'n' Soul Society (aka 100 Club)
The longest running regular monthly all-nighter in the country (or perhaps the world). For those who don't know, the venue is the 100 Club, 100 Oxford St, London W1, and is promoted by Ady "Harboro Horace" Croasdell.
The regular jocks are: Butch, Shifty, Mick Smith and Ady himself, however, about 1 in every 3 or 4 Ady rests the regulars and programmes an all guest line-up. The next one, on 12th August, is an eclectic, all girl line-up (ooooh).
It helps if you are a member, and membership is freely obtainable by tel: 0171 636 2622, fax: 01858 468020 or by sending SAE to: Flat 9, 61 Riding House St, London W1W 7EQ.
It's not hard to imagine why this club has been successful for so long, Ady has always tried to stick as close as possible to the 6t's roots of Soul and R&B whilst including crossover and northern classics and unissued rarities. Quite rightly, the 100 Club is widely regarded as the country's number one venue for 60's newies.
Capitol Soul Club
Regular and, by all accounts, successful events held at the Dome in London's Tufnell Park, N19. The regular DJ's are Carl Frotnum, Irish Greg, Alan H and Dave Flynn, normally with one top name guest.
Dates are: 28th July, 29th September, 7th October (@ Togetherness weekender), 24th November (1st anniversary) and 8th December (Xmas party).
9:30 to 3am, Adm £5 otd members only but you can send SAE to MJ Promotions, 5 Mount Pleasant, Reading, Berks, RG1 2TF for membership applications.
For more info tel Matt Jahans on 0118 9541 314 or mailto:
To preview photos, directions and real audio sound bites visit:
These Old Shoes
An event making a good name for itself is These Old Shoes, downstairs at the River Bar, Tower Bridge Road (nearest tube: London Bridge on Northern Line or Tower Hill on the district & circle line). For a mere £3 regulars Jo Wallace, Martin Thomson and Paul T-P, plus a guest DJ, will keep you entertained with an imaginative mix of 6t's Soul, Motown and Northern Soul.
The next date is Thursday 10th August, 8pm to midnight, and the guest for this one is Benji Schlamp from Germany.
For more details check their new web site at xxx their email address is: xxx tel: 07881 626210.
Terry's Chocolate Soul
The inimitable Terry Jones makes a welcome return to his old stamping ground on the last Friday of every month at the Orange Bar 22 Kingsland Road, Shoreditch. You can find Terry and his guests upstairs, while downstairs the entertainment is supplied courtesy of the Sourmash collective.
Dates for your diary's are: 25th August - guest dj: Andy Davies and 29th September - guest dj: Gavin Page. Doors open at 8pm to 2am, admission £5/£3 concessions. More information at: xxx
Da Doo Ron Ron
Upstairs @ The Garage, 20-22 Highbury Corner, London N1 (nearest tube Highbury & Islington) every third Friday playing girl group sounds including (but certainly not exclusively) northern. For more info telephone: 0171 607 1818. 9pm - 3am. DJ's are Chris D King and Declan Allen.
Purple Pussycat RnB Club
At the Cask & Glass Cellar Bar, Orchard St (Off Oxford St), London W1 (Nearest tube Marble Arch or Bond St).
9.30-2.30am Adm £5. DJ's Dr Robert & Vic Ranger spin 1st class Club Soul, RnB, Beat.
More info. Contact Rob Bailey at: new.untouchables@virgin.net
or check out their web site at xxx
Soul Traders
Hold regular events in London, approx. every 2 months. The next one is set for 12th August at the Jay Cubed Wine Bar, White Lion Street, Islington, London.
Music Policy is a mixture of northern soul and sixties & seventies soul. They are currently updating their mailing list so anyone who wishes to be informed of their next event should mailto: soulmusic@essents.demon.co.uk. DJ's: Jim O'Reilly, Chris Corbett, Bill Shannon and guests. For a small (£2.50) cover charge on the door, the minimum running times are 8 - 12.30 with regular lock-ins until 2am. For more info, contact Jim Oreilly on 0208 299 4989.
On the Rocks
25 Kingsland Road, London E2. Nearest tube: Old Street or Liverpool Street Top drawer 6T's and Northern Soul from Irish Greg (Capitol Soul Club, 100 Club), Rob Messer (Rhythm & Soul Set), Jo Wallace (These Old Shoes) and Yann (Million Tears). The next do happens on 12th August 8pm-1am and amazingly, admission is FREE! There is no better way to warm up for the 100 Club (and Jo will be on the decks there later on as well).
Can't Be Still
@ The Standard music venue, 1 Blackhorse Lane, London E17. The music policy is Northern and Rare Soul, including newies, oldies, and some class crossover type sounds. DJ's: Adrian, Dizzy, Jan, plus special guests. 3 quid gets you into this event, which runs from 8pm till 1am with strictly no entry after 11pm (this stops the drunks from ruining your night!). The venue has a car park at the rear, or if you prefer public transport Black Horse Rd Tube (Victoria Line) is located directly opposite the venue.
Their next event takes place on Saturday 19th August Contact information: 07946-0851534.
Future dates are Sunday 22nd October (6pm-12am) and Sunday 26th November.
All Shapes & Forms, For All Shapes & Sizes!!!
The appropriately named Can't Be Still crew pop up again on Friday 25th August at the Alice Rooms, above the Princess Alice pub, on the corner of Romford Road & Woodgrange Road, Forest Gate, London E7. The music policy here is pure northern soul, newies, oldies plus some classy crossover. DJ's: Adrian, Dizzy, Jan, plus a host of guests. Only 3 quid in all night at the door from 8pm till 2am. Contact information: 07946-085154. The venue will be undergoing some repairs in September so they should be back some time in October.
Newbury
AFC Faraday Road, Newbury, Berks
Two events are run at the AFC to cater for the diverse range of taste in Soul music in the Newbury area.
Miss M's features Soul from then to now (6t's to Y2k compliant) rare and current biggies with a dash of northern for good measure. The next event is scheduled for 11th November when the guest DJ's will be none other than the Soul Heaven crew (see Portsmouth below).
Northern Soul Specials featuring 6t's & 7t's northern and rare classics and current biggies.
The next event is set to take place on Friday 29th September, and the DJ's for this one will be none other than 100 Club regular Shifty, ex Yater Shay, John Browne (Cardiff), Simon Green (Swindon), Simon Preston (Newbury), Maxine and Keith Woon.
8pm to 1:30am, £5 otd
Future dates: 29th September (Northern Soul Special) 11th November (Miss M's) and 1st December (Xmas special)
Info 01273 833394 or 01635 30633 or mailto: kwoon@publiconline.co.uk
Brighton
Soul Citizens
soul all-dayer Sunday 30th july @ the Volks, Madeira Drive, Brighton Seafront.
soul music on 2 floors 2pm to 11pm FREE admittance all day
Downstairs: "Soul Citizens" Modern Soul from 70's to Y2k with Gavin Paige, Stevie Cee, Ian Spittle, plus Soul Citizens: Paul Sutton, Derek Jack.
Upstairs: "Keeping The Faith" Northern Soul and RnB with Dave Flynn, Pete Smith, Jo Wallace, Paul Peter-Thomas, Mark Freeman, Kim Styles, Simon Bridger plus guests.
info: Modern Room Paul on 01273 389504 or soulcitizen@yahoo,co.uk
Northern Room Simon on 01273 731466 or si.soul@virgin.net
If this goes well it will become a regular free monthly all dayer, the Volks is on the seafront 2 minutes walk east of the palace pier.
Also Paul and Derek host a weekly Thursday night soul session at Brighton's Ricky Tick club.
Bournemouth
On The Soul Side
@ Cagney's (under the Hilton Hotel), Westover Rd, Bournemouth.
8:00pm to 2:00am (no adm after 12:30), £5 members, £6 non-members.
An adventurous across the board northern soul policy is being pursued at these regular monthly events run by promoters Jason Desmond and Nick Churchill and regular DJ Steve Lyons (who we will be hearing more of later on). The music policy is play what you consider worthy, no matter how well known (or not) it is, so be ready to hear some quite wonderful fresh stuff.
Reviews of OTSS events so far, can be seen on www.northernsoulman.com
The next 3 events shape up as follows:
19th August, DJ's: Russ Vickers, Gary Todd, Matt, Johnny Clark & Steve Lyons.
30th Sept, DJ's: Ben Summers, Simon Bridger, Mike Lefkon & Steve Lyons.
21st October, DJ's: Keith Woon, Colin Baldock, Rik Collins & Steve Lyons.
18th November, DJ's tba.
More info on: 07967 833585 or mailto: Jason.desmond@virgin.net
InCrowd Soul Society
@ The Mayfair Hotel, 27 Bath Rd, Bournemouth. 8:00pm to late. £5 otd.
Now in its 8th year is this Steve Lyons promotion. Steve is from somewhere up north, so it is not surprising to find out that the InCrowd soul nights focus primarily on classic northern soul, and as Steve says "now that's what I call music".
The next event is 12th August and for this one the DJ's will be: Steve Lyons, Rik Collins, Dave Morris, Ian Spittle and special guest Shay. More info on: 01202 743536.
Bedford
Soul "On The Real Side"
An across the board Soul music policy is pursued by Mark Turner with the help of Dave Fleming and Sid "Tank" Clayton at the Club Blue Lagoon on the first Friday of every month. The regular DJ's are supplemented by Brian Goucher and Steve Jackson, and guest DJ's have included Cliff Steele, Gavin Page, Terry Jones, Andy Davies and the Woons' (Maxine & Keith). The Club Blue Lagoon is in Tavestock Street, which can be found by heading north out of Bedford, following signs for (A6) Kettering. The soul starts at 8pm to 2am and admission is £5 otd. More information, including directions, guest DJ's and play lists can be viewed at www.Soul-Net.co.uk or you can phone 01234 626478 or 07771 690482.
Soul at the Rovers
At the Kempston Rovers Football Club, Hillgrounds Road, Kempston, Bedford. 8pm till late. Admission of £4 on the door gets you into this small venue with lots of atmosphere and bags of soul. Cheap bar, and record dealers welcome. Resident DJ's Hamie, Pete Hulatt, Steve Cooper and Geoff Ware. Guests for September are Mick Smith and Simon Hunt. Future guests TBA and dates include; 29th September 17th November and 15th December. Further info from 01234 340408 or 01234 841654.
Burgess Hill
In Orbit Soul Club
@ Checkers Club, The Martlets, Burgess Hill, West Sussex which is 5 minutes from BR station with its regular service from London and Brighton. The In Orbit events are run by, southern stalwart Andy Crane as Sunday all-dayers from 3/4pm until 11pm and feature northern and rare soul from across the years. Admission is £5 and memberships are available at the door.
The next event is tba, but likely to take place either September or October and feature the BeeCool team of Mike Ritson and Stewart Russell. For more info, contact Andy on 01444 245232.
Portsmouth
The Blue Lagoon
South coast rhythm and soul society promotions (aka Johnny Rolfe) have been holding regular monthly events for nearly 9 years, which is a pretty impressive record for the transient south to quote the late Roger Eagle.
Always on the 3rd Friday of the month, from 8pm to 1am, £5 otd, the regular jocks are: Johnny Rolfe, Keith 'n' Maxine Woon, Shay and Barry Willmore plus guests.
The music policy has gone through several changes over the years, and is now moving from fairly straight ahead northern toward across the board.
For more info, contact Johnny on: 01974 821644 or mailto: johnnyrolfe@supanet.com
Uptown Down South Promotions
Back in the mid nineties the Uptown Down South events at the Abshot country club (near Portsmouth) were tremendously influential. Pursuing an across the board music policy similar to Soul Essence at the time, but on a regular monthly basis. After a year these events relocated to Newbury where it was possible to run regular all-nighters along with the soul nights. As far as I am aware, prior to this, there had never been a single dance floor, all-nighter programming 4 decades of Soul.
Owing to the number of other events in the area Uptown Down South events are now run as Bank Holiday Sunday all-dayers under the banner of Soulicious. The next one is scheduled for 5pm to midnight on 27th August at the Sidewalk club 111-112 High St Gosport, Hants, when the regulars Russ Vickers, Keith & Maxine Woon, Ben Summers and Lloyd Attrill are joined by guest DJ's Shifty and Shay.
Soul Heaven
With 2 very successful events under their belts, the first, was a warm-up to the Uptown Down South event on 30th April, and the second, a charity fund raising all-dayer held at the Swordfish in Lee-on-Solent on 2nd July. Clive and Suzie look set to consolidate their position on 27th August, when they once again provide the official warm up for the Uptown Down South event later on that day. Details for this one are: 12pm to 5pm, entrance is free, DJ's Mark Gentry, Suzie, Ray New, Terry "Tee" Davies and Clive Portious who will be spinning an eclectic mix of 70's, 80's & 90's soulful vibes, classic modern and Y2k compliant grooves. The venue for this one is the Budweiser Beach Bar, Pier St, Lee-on-Solent, which can be reached from M27 J11 travelling south and then follow signs for Lee-on-Solent.
Solent Soul Club
The next event @ the Thorngate in Gosport is set for 2nd December. Promotion is undertaken by Steve Csordas and Molly, guest DJ's tba.
Molly writes that he and Steve have decided to put this year's Soul-Nites on hold until Steve's return in November (he's away serving Queen and Country). The only date they have planned this year is the 2nd Anniversary on Saturday 2nd December. Molly should have the final DJ line-up in a couple of weeks, and at the time of writing Russ Vickers is guesting with one other TBA. The night will run from 8 till 2, Admission will be £6.00 for Members and £7.00 for Non Members. For this one Molly and Steve have decided to use the smaller Thorngate Theatre to try and generate a bit more atmosphere. The full address is The Thorngate Halls, Bury House, Bury Road, Gosport, Hampshire.
They are hoping to have three more dates booked for next year, prior to this years Anniversary, I will let you know the dates as soon as I have them.
Guest Dj's in the past have included Dave "soulful kinda music" Rimmer, Saus, Tony Warot, Rob Messer, Gavin Page, Al Kent, Gary Todd, Rik Collins, John Mills, Barry Wilmore and Maxine.
Contact details: Molly: 07836-705877, email or Steve: 0410-246652, email SOUL@csordas.freeserve.co.uk
Farnborough/Aldershot
Soul Clan
Following the SouthSide recess, The Soul Clan, namely Mick Reynolds and friends Moody Woman, Martin C, Dave D, Tom Powers and Mouldie have picked up the baton. There is a large pocket of northern fans in this area, so attendance is always good.
Two venues are used, depending upon availability:
The Leisure Centre, Junction of Fernhill Rd & Hawley Lane, Farnborough, Hants.
The Victoria Club, Victoria Road, Aldershot, Hants.
The next soul night is at the Leisure Centre, Farnborough on 12th August, and the guest DJ for this one is Barry Willmore. Other information is: 7:30 to midnight, entry is £3 otd, or £1 if you can show your entry stub from the Aldershot soul night. Further info on: 01420 479613 or 01252 663806.
Strings a Go Go
Who's 1st anniversary will take place on Sat 23rd September at the Victoria Club, Victoria Rd, Aldershot, Hants. Music Policy is across the board. The DJ's for this one will be Matt (Blue Lagoon), Rids (SouthSide) and Moldie plus more TBA. The first 50 people through the door will receive a free CD and patch. Doors open at 7.30pm until 1am, drinks are cheap and there is ample car parking around the back of the club. For more information contact 01252 663806 or email moldie@ntlworld.com.
Fleet
The Nightshift Club
Just down the road from Farnborough/Aldershot is Fleet with its 300+ capacity Harlington centre. Here regulars: Pete Kelross, Derek Mead, Dunk and Brian Lee play host to well respected guest national and local DJ's such as Roger Stewart, Brian Rae, Barry Willmore, Keith Woon and Dave Evison to name a few. The venue has a huge wooden dance floor, perfect for the music policy of Northern, R'n'B and Motown.
£5 will get you safely through the doors, which open at 8pm until 1am (bar until midnight).
More info is available on 01932 402667 or 01252 319768.
Southampton
Soul Shoes
Gary Todd's Soul Shoes is another long running promotion. Now located at the Unity Club, Eastleigh. For more info contact Gary on: 01703 325938.
Swindon
Soul Club 11
@ Swindon Town Football Club, Executive Suite. From 7pm to 12:30am regulars' Vod, Speed and Baz together with their special guests will be spinning the best in Northern and rare Soul from the 6t's to 9t's. At £4 otd be sure to get there early, as there is no admission after 10pm.
For more info phone Keith on (01793) 723320 or email Baz at: Barry.Davies@epsrc.ac.uk.
Contacted Simon Green (2k0802) ... waiting for reply.
Abingdon
COME GET TO THIS
At the Peachcroft Community Centre, Abingdon, Oxon, these regular bi-monthly events are promoted by Steve Farthers and Graham Hilsdon.
The next event is set to take place on September 8th, and features 5 hours of Northern, Motown, 60-70s soul. Doors open at 8pm to a 1am finish and the regular DJ's are Steve Farthers, Graham Hilsdon, Rusty, Trevor Jones, and Simon Preston.
Current power plays are:
Steve - Carstairs - It Really Hurts Me Girl - Red Coach
Graham - Jan Jones - Independant Women - Day Wood
Rusty - James fountain- Seven Day Lover - Peachtree
Trevor - Velveleites - Lonely Lonely Girl Am I - VIP
Simon - Vangaurds - Gotta Have Love - Lamp
Contact Steve Fathers on 01235 534048 for more info.
Cardiff
M4 Soul Club
At the Riverbank Hotel, Despenser Street, Cardiff (on the River Taff, opp the Millenium Stadium). Regular DJs include Mark White, Mike Wilkes (Lea Manor, 100 Club), Edwin, John Browne, Tony Voyce, Eddie (Porthcawl Northern Nights) - local collectors have DJ'd and they have had Simon Preston guesting and hope to have Jerry "Hippo" Hipkiss in October.
The event runs from 9pm to 1am, 1st Saturday on alternate months - next date is 5th August, followed by 1st Saturday in October, December, February and so on. Entrance is £3 before 10pm, £5 after 10pm.
Music policy at this superb little venue - a bit like a mini-100 Club, is primarily 60s with a dash of 70s and X-Over - quality and imaginative oldies and current big niter spins.
Mark White is the main contact on 01446 746893 or email Mark@white498.fsnet.co.uk.
Gloucester
Soul Night
Now on the last Friday of the month at Crackers Night Club, Bruton Way, Gloucester (beneath NCP, opp railwat station) from 9pm to 4am. Yes, 7 full hours of quality Soul music from 3 decades comprising the best in Tamla Motown, Northern & Modern Soul, and all for £4 otd before 11pm or £5 after. Regular DJ's are Ian 'Polly' Palmer, Leon and Meg plus a special guest. For more info, contact 01452 545523 or 07977 459403.
Plymouth
Northern Soul Ark
Happening on the first Friday of every month at Noah's Ark, Courtenay St, Plymouth, Devon. Music policy: sixties, crossover and seventies. The DJ's are various local lads. £4 gets you through the doors, which open at 7.30pm until midnight. Contact: Simon and Jo, via soulmates@eurobell.com. If success continues in the future the dates may change to first Saturday of every month.
Ipswich
Northern Soul - Revisited
East Anglian Daily Times Social Club, Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, where the music policy is mostly oldies. DJ's are the Suffolk Souls Crew, plus guests. The next event is set for Friday 6th October, when the doors swing open at 8:30pm until 1:00am (bar till 1:00). 3ukp on the door (sorry - cost of venue has risen!!). For further details visit the web site at http://www.geocities...ouls/index.html or email suffolk_souls@yahoo.com or phone 01394 670404.
(KW 082k)
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"STARTING THE HURT ALL OVER AGAIN" by winston

Many years ago when Dave Godin coined the phrase Northern Soul, it wasn't without good reason. The north at that time was in the middle of a
revolution. New rare soul records were being discovered at an amazing rate
of knots, they were quickly finding their way into the hands of the
influential DJs who were playing them to the eager dancers. This epitomised
the soul scene throughout the early 7Ts and quite rightly the term "Northern
Soul" was adopted and universally accepted as the correct way to describe
this type of music. If this was your chosen genre of music, you had to make
the trip up north to hear it, in all its glory.
Whilst the major DJs of the time would play tunes that you were familiar
with, they would always be prepared to throw in new sounds. This for me
worked perfectly, the DJs would discover something new and the jury (the
dancers) would pass sentence. Using this format the scene was never in
danger of stagnating, this however isn't the case now in my honest opinion.
For many years now, a lot of the DJs in the north have sat on their laurels,
nothing new seems to be filtering down from what was traditionally the home
of Northern Soul. A menu of oldies is normally the fare on offer nowadays,
there are obviously exceptions to the rule, but I'm making a general
observation. Let me make it clear at this stage that I still love oldies,
but because I visit a lot of venues I get a little bored hearing them over
and over again. I like to hear fresh sounds or indeed have my memory
pricked by records that I haven't heard in ages and are not currently on the
playlists of the North's finest. On the plus side, a lot of the bigger
venues up north have included modern rooms (not my personal cup of tea) but
at least it is a form of progression.
What I really enjoy are new 6Ts s there were a lot of records
overlooked in the "Glory Years", probably due to the fact that that they
didn't fit the perfect description required by the dancers and DJs alike, of
that particular era. Nowadays things have changed greatly. The soul scene
is a much broader church now, gone are the days when you shouldn't dance to
a record because it was discovered at a rival venue. Whilst most of us
retain some allegiance to our favourite venues of yesteryear, most of us
have grown up and refuse to get involved in the petty politics that still
infest our scene, at the highest levels.
Bearing all this in mind I would like to draw your attention to the 100
Club, which has already reached legendary status, and to the Dome, which is
well on its way. Both play predominately 6Ts music, which is very often new
to even the most regular of all nighter goers, they still play classic
oldies, but not to the extent that tedium sets in. Over the years different
styles of music have crept into the "Rare soul" scene and all are
encompassed at these two venues. The regular DJs are still working on the
premise that their audience are an intelligent soul loving crowd, who still
want to hear something that will stimulate their senses. Consequently the
100 club and Dome goers are regularly treated to undiscovered new 6Ts sounds
and rediscovered oldies that perhaps didn't get the reception that they
deserved first time around. Surely above all else this was the very essence
of the "Rare Soul" scene in days gone by, and an edict that both the
aforementioned clubs proudly adhere to.
You may have become aware that my terminology, describing the soul scene has
changed over the last paragraph. This is because I feel that describing the
scene as a "Northern Soul" scene is no longer correct. Without doubt it's a
useful handle to describe a soul night, and will usually have the desired
effect of bringing in the kind of punter that the promoter requires and of
course its traditional, but it's just not accurate.
Over the last few years soul nights and nighters have sprung up all over the
country, mainly because we no longer have a weekly central meeting point,
(such as Wigan) and the desire to travel has lessened. It's nice to have
soul on your doorstep, and local collectors and promoters have become
increasingly aware of this and have catered to our needs. Indeed in my local
town of Bedford there are three soul nights every six weeks (one a modern)
and it would be an outrageous presumption (on anybody's part) to assume that
local collectors, when they get together cannot produce the goods. As an
example one of the local promoters/collectors in Bedford currently numbers
amongst his personal collection, between 10 and 15 sounds, that are all
featured on the current Goldmine "For millionaires only" series. I'm sure
that instances of this sort are not confined to my home town, but are
repeated country wide. This upsurge in the fortunes of local soul nights
could also go some way to explaining the current down trend in attendances
at certain all nighters in the north which I have witnessed first hand.
As well as regularly going north to visit Keele, The Ritz, Alfreton, Derby,
Winsford and Stoke based nighters, I've also been to quality events in
Ipswich, Lowestoft, Bournemouth, Brighton and of course the London area.
The 100 Club and the Dome are always well attended, with rarely an inch of
space on the dance floor, just how it used to be and in my opinion exactly
how it should be. Recently I even had the joy of discovering a mid-week
event, held on a monthly basis. It's called "These Old Shoes", a couple of
minutes walk from London Bridge, on a Thursday night and you're back in the
land of soul. What more could you ask for, and apart from seeing one
midweek night advertised in Scotland, exclusive to the London area. I
arrived at These Old Shoes, to find once again a packed venue, with an
enthusiastic crowd, something so indicative of the London soul scene. The
credit for setting up a thriving mid-week scene must surely go to the
promoters, but could it survive anywhere else.?
But the big question is why is the "Rare soul" scene so excellently
supported down south.
A major factor has to be that the scene down south is still attracting new
blood, a younger generation, willing to treat sounds old and new with the
same reverence. There are no preconceived ideas of what is the right or
wrong sort of sound that should be played, fresh ears making fresh choices,
a direct comparison to us "older types" in our long forgotten youth. This
younger generation, whilst still appreciating our "Anthems" are busy
creating their own, and quite rightly so. So what if the new favourites are
not all in the "Traditional" mould, over the years things change, it's
natural progression. The constant desire for exclusive records led to more
R&B and mid-tempo sounds finding their way into the DJs and collectors
boxes, and has only gone to improve our scene. This youthful element so
prevalent in the London area, has that secret ingredient that we all had in
our younger days. They are massively enthusiastic, it's not a fad, you can
see that by looking into their faces as they dance, that same intensity that
once consumed me, for example, is there for all to see. Personally I
thrive off their fierce love, of what I'd long considered to be my
generations musical legacy to the world and am once again inspired.
I can't believe that the North and South of the country are unique in their
love for the "Rare Soul" scene, but unfortunately as yet I haven't been to
enough places in other parts of the country to make an informed judgement.
What I am sure of however, is that the soul scene is no longer the exclusive
property of the north, and shouldn't be perceived as such. Everyone
involved in the resurrection of the "Rare Soul" scene, should be given the
same amount of credit, from the promoters of small soul nights, to the major
players, currently promoting the massive all nighters and weekenders. All
have had an active role to play in the rebirth of the soul scene and their
efforts should be similarly lauded. The alternative is to recreate the "Us
and Them" situation which was so instrumental in dismantling the soul scene
in its previous incarnation. We must try not to alienate anyone because I
for one am not convinced that our beloved scene could survive another civil
war. If you have read this and it's left you feeling angry, please don't
be, I'm only trying to redress the balance. Read it again and try to accept
that I'm really not trying to start a war, rather prevent one.
KTF Winston
site note
out of date weblinks removed

By Mike in Articles · June 17, 199926 yr

BRENDA HOLLOWAY INTERVIEW
Thanks go to Soul Essence Mag (see fanzine section for more details) for letting Soul Source use this great interview

060998.
CARLA GRAN WITH BRENDA HOLLOWAY.

BRENDA OPENS HER HEART IN THIS EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH BIG MICK.

BM. Your first single for MOTOWN was 'every little bit hurts' back in March 1964 which was released in the UK in June 1964 but prior to that your first label was DONNA with the track 'the Del Viking'.

BH. That was a hit by my sister (PATRICE), I used to dance. She was only 12 and I was about 17, so I'm 5 years older than PATRICE. I was doing the dancing, so then at 12, see, she wanted to eat, she used to be real chubby then as she got older she lost weight, she stayed on a diet. (Years later I used to weignuke_storiesh 230 pounds and I was at 'weight watchers' and I kept gaining weight because I was frustrated). But I used to do the dancing and she used to say , "I just wanna sing and eat that's all I wanna do" so I said ok, I'll go show them how to do the dancing. So when I got 18 they said, "well PATRICE is still a baby, let's try BRENDA". So they started working with me and they formed a group called the WATTITIONS cause we were out of WATTS CALIFONIA (a suburb of LOS ANGELES). So we started touring and like RICHARD SEARLING gives a lot of these, we call them 'record hops' were they play the records and every one dances but over here these are the all-nighters. That's what I was doing, a lot of those locally and they were in schools and the auditorium. So then HAL DAVIS discovered me and after that they took me up to MOTOWN to the disc jockeys' convention which was held in LOS ANGELES in CO-CO NUT GROVE and I sang and sang and now you know the story.

BM. You come from a very rough area were the WATTSTAX venue was staged back in the seventies with the major STAX artists and ISACC HAYES.

BH. That's where the riots were, actually I moved out of the WATTS in '65 and BERRY (GORDY JNR), he gave me a down payment on a home on the west side of town and my Mother lived in that house until she died.

BM. How did you find the inspiration for your song writing.

BH. Through my family history and my background of sadness and never wanting to live in WATTS because it was a 'ghetto'. I've always approached my music as a business, even as a little girl, I was either going to be a concert violinist or a singer. I didn't know I had a lot of talent in singing even though I knew that I loved to sing, so I just approached it as a business. My inspiration was all the sadness that I saw, living in a ghetto, my friends graduate from 'high school' and then end up on the street corner drinking wine. I just knew that you could stay in the ghetto here or you can reach for excellence and then go there to the other side of the tracks and that was my inspiration, getting my family out of the ghetto. The ghetto was good because it showed me just how far down I could go and how far up I could go. I didn't know I could sing until they would tell me I could and the violin was the love of my life until I had my first kiss. I didn't want to play with dolls, my mother used to say, "do want dolls for Christmas" and I would say no thank you I want real kids. My sister, PATRICE got pregnant with her son before me and I was so jealous I said, 'she's younger than me how can she have a baby', you know so my first dolls were my children. So that where I drew it from, seeing my mother doing what she had to do to take care of us.

BM. What do you want to 'major' in if you do go back to college.

BH. I want to major in Theology, it's always around me, that's my principle where ever I go - I just prey. I came with peace and when I go I will leave with peace. I've always been a Christian, that's the way I was brought up, prey for the Jews, I just know every things' going to be ok. I've just seen so much to see that the Christian way is the right way for me.

BM. You wrote for quite a few artists including the SUPREMES.

BH. Yes I wrote for the SUPREMES, it was hard to give records to people, in that day because you know, women's lib hadn't come. Women were supposed to just take orders, in the 50s and 60s we were mostly housewives and everything. When women started going out to work we started to be more liberated, that's what was going on at MOTOWN. They said, "you can't write" and when they tell me I couldn't write I had to write because they told me I couldn't. I said I'm gonna write and so EDDIE and I , EDDIE HOLLAND would joke with me and say, "you can't write, just sing, just sing these lyrics don't even try to write". So when I wrote 'you made me feel so very happy' it was because my boyfriend had quit me.

BM. That was the song written by yourself, PATRICE, FRANK WILSON and BERRY GORDY JNR.

BH. When I first wrote this song it just came to me, I was at the piano and it came. Everything, all the melody and the story line and what I wanted but my sister's more of a lyricist; and then in the middle I got stuck and I couldn't go any further so I called BERRY GORDY. I said, "BERRY, I know this song's a hit because when I started playing it I called BARRY WHITE and I said listen and he said (BRENDA tries to take on BARRYs' voice), "ok", then he says, "I think you have a hit, I'll be right over". So we played and played around with it when we got stuck on the 'bridge', FRANK WILSON, he wrote that 'bridge', "I love you so much it seems" he did all that, he's something else he's special.

BM. You went to DETROIT to sign for BERRY GORDY JNR and you were quoted at that time as saying he was very suggestive and a womaniser (BRENDA laughs) and you said, "I either sing or I'm your mistress but it's one or the other".

B.H. That's right I told him, " I've got to be your mistress or I gotta sing so he said, " I'll let you sing"
(BRENDA laughs). I was going to be hard to get along with as his woman. You see everyone wanted to be his because he was 'over' everything and if they (other women) got with him they would go 'up'. But I wanted my talant to get me 'there' and I'm happy I did because everyone in MOTOWN respects me now.

BM. How did you 'get on' with BERRY.

BH. BERRY loved me, BERRY was very good to me, when I went to DETROIT instead of staying in a hotel I stayed with his mother and 'POP GORDY' and GWEN, because HARVEY and GWEN lived with MA and POP GORDY so I stayed with them. It was like, it was fabulous.

BM. You got to tour with the BEATLES back in '65.

BH. That was the height of everything, I couldn't believe it, I was in shock, for 40 days I was in shock.
I didn't know what to do because we idolised all their music and it was a period of time when there was a lot of unrest socially with the race riots and MARTIN LUTHER KING. They helped us get through that period because they spoke out about it, you know, even if it was about Dr PEPPER, you know whatever. They spoke about it and it gave us some thing to listen to, gave us hope and that's what the BEATLES were- they were hope for us. There was nothing like the BEATLES in AMERICA.

BM. Do you have any stories about the BEATLES.

BH. Oh, when we were on tour, well we used to have pillow fights in the aeroplane (BRENDA just cracks up) you'd see all these feathers and they'd say, " those people in there are crazy" You know the pilots and stuff, "they're crazy". We'd just have pillow fights because we were just young people, miles up in the air we'd just pillow fight. JOHN would come and asks us everyday, because he was the executive who took care mostly of all the business because everybody else was being silly like me. He would come in everyday and ask, "what do you want" because you must understand that I came from a poor situation, I came from a real dis-functional family because my father was never in the home. So my Ma, she had to do everything and we were poor but we didn't know it. My Mother could sew, she could cook she was like a carpenter, she could do everything. We just didn't realise, one day we said, "Mom they're having a drive (collection / jumble sale) for the poor kids and she said, "you'd better be quite, you're the poor kids" we were stunned we said, "we are?". I've seen my Mother take card, sketch the bottom of my brothers' shoe, cut it out and put it in there and make him a soul. My Mother would work and she worked in a 'fibre-glass' factory and we would actually have to pick the fibre-glass out of her body when she came home, but she was wonderful, she was a beautiful woman. I came from humble beginnings so getting back to the BEATLES, when they came everyday and asked me, "do you want anything" because I never seemed to get enough food.

BM. That would have suited PATRICE wouldn't it.

BH. (laughs) PATRICE did those sessions and worked so's she could eat enough, "all I wanna do is eat, you do the dancing, I'm not gonna have time for that - I'll sing and eat". But my Mom, we'd have one serving and then she'd start putting things away, we'd say, "wait, wait let us eat" and Mom would say, "no, that's for tomorrow". So I'm saying, "oh my God, when I get married I'm going to buy me 10 pound of 'chicklets' (pork soul food made from pigs intestines) and I'm going to cook them for myself and I did the day after I got married. I couldn't eat them all, I had to invite a lot of people because I said I'm gonna have to get firm. My Mom said, "you have to have a figure and you sing". In order to get extra food we would wash dishes, I would always be the one washing the dishes. You know, because my Mother was always afraid, "I'm not going to have enough and I have 3 kids, and I'm by myself". She never got 'welfare' and always lived in a house. That's why we didn't know we were poor because our cousins who didn't have anything moved to the 'projects'. My Mother said, "no, you always live in your own home because you have to buy somebody a house, you either buy your landlord a house or you buy yourself a house, it's better to buy yourself a house because you have something, you have equity". But back to the BEATLES, they would say, "what do you want, you can have anything you want", I was just thrilled about that. Then one night we were in VANCOUVER, CANADA and RINGO, he came to my room and asked to borrow my hairdryer and the next day it was on the front page of the newspapers. And one time I was with the BEATLES the crowd broke loose and we were running for our lives, we threw our instruments down, wigs went flying - we were gone. It was like a stampede, but those were just some of the hi-lites, I couldn't believe it, it was fabulous. The BEATLES asked specifically for me to do the tour with them. DEE CLARK was another one, he used to always ask for me too. When he asked for me BERRY GORDY said, "if you take BRENDA you'll have to take the SUPREMES". That was before they got their hits and he used to say, "well we don't want the SUPREMES, we want BRENDA", well they said, "you can't take her unless you take the SUPREMES", so when he took the SUPREMES from then on - well that's history. Everything they touched went gold and platinum so that was great because I enjoyed working with them. DIANE (DIANA ROSS) was a little hard to get on with because she has her own little set of problems but I love DIANE, that's what I want to say because I know where she's coming from. I know of her insecurities that's she discussed with just the inner circle, she has a lot of insecurities.

BM. It wasn't all that smooth for you in DETROIT, you had the feeling of being ignored.

BH. I think it was logistics I was in LOS ANGELES and based there and when I came to DETROIT I was already groomed. I had come from a musical background and I had already done sessions, I was already trained. There was a dress shop I could walk in and if I wanted the whole rack the lady said, "take it", you know. So I came dressed and the only thing BERRY did for me was to send me to charm school because I wasn't used to big audiences, I was only used to small audiences.

BM. Did you feel intimidated.

BH. I was scared when I saw all those people and the stars too PATTI LABELLE, THE CRYSTALS, THE BEATLES, JERRY BUTLER and MARVIN GAYE, just star struck. They kinda intimidated me too because I'm saying, 'how could I be on stage with these people', I used to go to bed listening to JERRY BUTLER -'I'm never going to give you up'. So I was afraid of everything but BERRY sent me to charm school. When everyone else was taking a break back stage when I did the Uptown Theatre and the Apollo, I'd be walking with a book on my head to help me stay focused and help me not be afraid. I'd walk across the stage, I wouldn't walk straight and they'd say, "where in the heck is she going". So BERRY had to send me to charm school because you had to have confidence to get out there in front of people, every time I get out there to perform I get nervous, if I'm not nervous then I'm not doing too much. If you're not nervous going out in front of great people such as the BRITISH audience then you're not doing anything, you gotta be nervous. I'm so nervous a lot of times, I think, 'I want to go back home' but I want to sing, really.

BM. One of your influences was TINA TURNER but SMOKEY ROBINSON took you to one side and told you not to mimic TINA, just be yourself.

BH. SMOKEY didn't want me to, he said, "you have a voice, don't you ever - you use your voice - you don't need to use your body, I don't ever want to see you move like that on stage again", and I never have from that day on. If I want somebody to dance with me I'll hire a dancer.

BM. You were upset when the songs you were supposed to do were given to GLADYS KNIGHT.

BH. Because they would fly me in and say, "this is your session" and then when I got there they'd say, "well GLADYS was here for one night and we just had to…". I'd say, 'you had to do what', I'd go through the roof, I was so upset I'd say, 'you guys are making me sick' and they'd give my songs away. You see the writers' weren't writing fast enough for the demand and I didn't understand the 'mechanics' of the business, I only understood I wanted a hit out there. I wanted a record like DIANE, I wanted a record like MARY WELLS, I wanted a record like TAMMI TERRELLE. I didn't understand that even with all the writers and the talent, they were exhausted. They would pick an artist they could really, really work with and was convenient and would work with them like SMOKEY would with MARY (WELLS). The FOUR TOPS were with HOLLAND, DOZIER and HOLLAND and the SUPREMES and they were just over loaded because every time they put out something it was a hit and it was more advanced. And they were just giving me all the unknown writers, they were like, going out there and see if it was going to be a hit. But I wanted someone writing for me and know it was going to be a hit who was an established writer and that was the conflict - they just didn't produce like they said that they would like the contracts stipulated. I gave them 3 or 4 years, I needed to give them a longer time. Looking back, after I had my children I slipped away from church. I wanted to really, really be there for them but I realise now, they could have grown up in a very good atmosphere if I had the money to do things for them and then to show them instead of telling them that I was BRENDA HOLLOWAY, you understand. My kids, up until 6 years ago, through the Northern Soul and all the travelling, to my kids I was married to their Dad and my name was BRENDA DAVIS. They'd say, "you're not BRENDA HOLLOWAY you're BRENDA DAVIS and you're not singing so how do we know you're BRENDA HOLLOWAY". So now, it's coming and they're understanding, "oh you are, my Mom I'm so happy". They'd be so excited and, you know, being new for them it's like it's all new for me too. But going back to the spiritual side, I'd let people dictate to me, I'd let the Mothers in the church dictate to me - I just 'suppressed' BRENDA. Finally I realised that God made everything, he made everything beautiful, he gave me a talent to use and it was a sin not to use it. If I don't sing then I'm not doing what I'm supposed to and that is a sin. I thought that some people in church used to think, 'I'm gonna look Holyer than you and I'm gonna do more Holyer things than you'. It's not that, it's what's in your heart, it's giving your love, giving your gift, people want to hear me sing -- i gotta sing. I'm so free now, so free, you know, I was in bondage to religion not God. So now I understand I was able to get a divorce because I was unhappy, why would God want me to be unhappy with a man I didn't love for 18 years. But the church said, "you gotta stay with him, if you divorce him you'll never be able to re-marry". I divorced that man - I still love him, I like him but he's not my husband now - he's not for me. He's married to someone else now, they have a child and I'm happy (BRENDA laughs nervously) I'm happy. You know, he's the Father of all my children so, you know, I'm happy. I can move about, I'm not restricted I'm not bound up - I'm free, that's probably why you say I look young - because I'm free. Like my friend here (one of BRENDAs' crew) we were out at the mall, where were we? (he answers Deansgate Manchester) and he just got to the elevator and started jumping up and down and I said 'I love it, just love - I like to be free' just like a kid - I love children. If I want to dress in a clowns' outfit and put on clown make-up, I wanna do that, you know and it's crazy.

BM. You looked as if you were really enjoying yourself on stage last night.

BH. The people, you just don't understand because you can't see what you look like to us, you look beautiful, it's like a beautiful flower all different faces and it's like rows of people - beautiful live rows. I always say I love you because I do - you bring so much love, especially this audience, they know your songs and, they know you and they accept you, I don't know if it'll ever be like that in AMERICA.

BM. Do you remember giving MARTIN a kiss from the stage last night, the guy in the wheel chair, he writes for NORTHEN ESSENCE also.

BH. Oh yeah he's so cute, my husband was in a wheel chair for 2 years just before he past away, I married an elderly man and he helped me to understand a lot. Mr KELLY was about 44 years older than me, I fell in love with Mr KELLYs' spirit, it wasn't the out side like a package it was the inside. At first it was like being his nurse and helping him then one day he said, "let's get married" and so I married him and I just fell completely in love with him I was with him 24 hours a day, although he had servants and everything, he'd talk to me and he'd let me know what real 'woman hood' was and to respect myself because I'm a woman and to make men respect me too - he taught me so much about life.

BM. Going back to the MOTOWN era, did you not feel slightly intimidated by being the replacement for MARY WELLS.

BH. Not really, it was like an honour because MARY WELLS to me was like 'MISS MOTOWN' there was no other artist that could compare to MARY WELLS as far as establishing the MOTOWN sound. Because even DIANE (DIANA ROSS), when MARY left, she was like filling that slot and it was an honour because I got signed by MOTOWN for singing 'My Guy' because I didn't have a record out. At the convention I was like singing (here BRENDA stuns us by singing 'MY GUY', brilliantly and with style) for about 4 or 5 hours and they said, 'she can really sing, but that's not MARY WELLS' (BRENDA chuckles) 'no I'm BRENDA HOLLOWAY' so it was an honour. And before MARY died, the guy that helped me into singing, this guy who was my boyfriend - he's my ex-boyfriend right now (RICHARDSON), I love him so much, he's going through a lot of 'head trips' right now. So we're just gonna push him to the kerb and wait for him to get himself together. He is the one who put a concert together in school because he's a teacher, and there were MARY WELLS and myself and that was the first time I was ever in MARYs' presence and when we weren't working we were being honoured. I got to really meet MARY and that was a wonderful day and I had a watch on and I took it off then said, 'MARY, I want you to have it, I want you to keep it'. She requested that she be buried with that watch, so she took the watch with her (BRENDA pauses for a moment and looks down, voice shaky). MARY was the type of person that, everybody looked up to her because she did start 'the sound', she and SMOKEY, she was a person that was very quite and now I understand she was very troubled. I thought that if anyone was better than anyone it was MARY WELLS. The SUPREMES were just a 3 girl group who had good people backing them, everything that HOLLAND- DOZIER - HOLLAND wrote was going to be a 'hit'. Anyway, the thing is, they were good - DIANE - I loved her voice at first when she had the 'sound' like ERTHA KITT, you know she had a little purrrrrr in her voice but BERRY wanted her to pronounce her words. Actually, she would go in the vaults in the studio and study my pronunciation, my diction - he would tell her. "You go study BRENDAs' stuff" and that made me angry too. Because if it was good enough for her to study to get my diction then I could have put some more of my own out, you know. But back to your question, I was happy to fill MARYs' shoes, I was happy to sing in TAMMI TERRELs' place when she got ill. It was an honour to do anything I could because anybody I could sing for were idols, I idolised MOTOWN too.

BM. How was your relation with HOLLAND, DOZIER, HOLLAND.

BH. I had a crush on EDDIE HOLLAND because he was so fabulous, so cute everybody had a crush on him, oh I just loved him but he was married so that's that. LAMONT was ok but he wasn't as cute as the HOLLAND brothers, oh, they were like, hunks. And then there was MARVIN, (BRENDAs' eyes close as she thinks back) ohhh, when I got the chance to sing with MARVIN I felt like falling in his arms thinking, 'eat your heart out everybody', you know. He was the most fabulous man and before MARVIN died he was going to do a gospel album with me.

BM. What a tragic way to die, arguing over some insurance policy and then being shot by his own father who was a 'lay preacher'.

BH. MARVIN had a death wish, MARVIN was very unhappy, everybody knew that he loved TAMMI (TERRELL), everybody knew it (BRENDA now close to tears, the emotion in her voice) so whilst we thought it was a big secret it seems everybody knew it. After that he just went down.

BM. When he came back with 'sexual healing' after spending so much time as a recluse following TAMMIs' death, that was to be his comeback but that proved to be untimely and short lived.

BH. You have to live everyday to the full, I didn't go to MARVINs' funeral. I was at home when I heard the news on the radio, there was a 'flash' and it seemed that everything just stopped for me. You know, the way I left MOTOWN they never included me and this has to stop and I have to just get in there. I'm a part of that history and it has to be where I'm visual also not just here but in AMERICA.

BM. Do you think it might be a touch of jealousy because you were from the West Coast and they were predominately East Coast.

BH. They gotta merge that thing together, but now that we're that bit older and mature I'm, like, fitting in now. Now is the perfect time to get them to do this, to get them to include me because we all realise that we've got to hold on to each other. They're dying, the old MOTOWN people are dying so we've gotta be together and so I'm gonna talk to MICKEY about this MOTOWN revue. MOTOWN created the music scene and people can draw from it because it's good. It's like the 'blues', the blues is the blues, you can't take it and make it something else that's the way it is.

BM. Who were your main influences.

BH. MORGANA KING , I have a little 'cry' I practice by TRACY BREWER, you've probably never heard of her, she's an Italian lady and she had a little cute thing were she would go 'oooo' like that. My sister and I, we practised it. MORGANA KING is so hot, she's a Jewish lady who is just like SARAH VAUGHN, if not better. ARETHHA FRANKLIN influenced me, JERRY BUTLER, the BEATLES and now SADE, MARY JANE BLIGHE, the FOUR TOPS, I loved them, the SUPREMES, MARY WELLS, MINNIE RIPPERTON and my violin.

BM. Do you still play the violin.

BH. I hate that thing (cracks up laughing) but I'm gonna cut the finger nails off and I'm gonna start practising again. Everyone wants me to play that violin again and I do have a 'feel' for it so I'll probably take some lessons.

BM. We'll probably get to see you play it on stage.

BH. I'd love to, I want to play the 'Hillbilly' violin because there's a technique were you can play on 2 strings, I'm gonna start studying my violin again, everybody's requesting it.

BM. You later walked out on a recording session with SMOKEY ROBINSON and turned your back on MOTOWN.

BH. I walked completely out of MOTOWN because I was fed up because they had promised me so many releases and I didn't understand that it was a small company even though it was big musically. It was a small company with one man who had worked at General Motors and he just couldn't, no matter how hard he tried, make everyone a star. I was upset, I didn't understand because I was young and 'hot headed'. When I look back, retrospectively, I would have stayed with the company. I would then go to church, I kinda like, hid all my feelings and I would, basically, worship. I didn't really worship God I was just looking for an answer because I came from a dysfunctional family and there was a history of mental illness in the family. My Father has a mental condition and my brother and several other people. So when I was singing I was singing from the sadness in my life and I didn't discuss it with my Mother because I didn't want to worry her, she'd had enough but I could always draw from that. That's how all that experience came through in my voice. It was due to all the sadness, I'd think, 'if my Father were well where would we be, you know, that was just - in a way a blessing because I was able to pull on my voice with the soft moans. That would even go back as far as to tribal Africa - those moans in the black voices. It was also back to the slavery days when we used the 'blues' to communicate, we wouldn't say anything, we would do codes through music. We'd sing a song that only we'd understand so it goes way back, black music, black America. So, you know, I just pulled from all the things I needed to.

BM. What about your relationship with KIMBLEY (KIM WESTON).

BH. I love KIM, that's my 'sister', she's my 'sister' she's in LOS ANGELES now. She's living with her sister in L.A., she's doing so good, she's 'into' herself - she's loosing weight, she says she wants to come up so we can go on the 'track' together. She's got a little car and she's doing much, much better she's not with the ISREALIE people now, she's doing much better and she's just working on KIM - she's focusing on KIM and it's so beautiful. KIM's not wearing a turban anymore, she's wearing a little short 'Afro' and it's just 'tapered' to her face, it's fabulous. She used to complain, "you're always doing things and moving around" and now she's doing the same thing, you gotta do it, because when you get older it's about health and nutrition. It's not about being a 'beanpole' and being so skinny, it's about being 'fit' like pump up those 'Thompsons' (eh?) you know, exercise - 'sweat 'em out'(BRENDA breaks into a fit of laughter).

BM. So you get to see KIM quite often.

BH. If I don't see KIM, I'm on the phone with her. She's trying to get some parts in movies and stuff, she's working on her weight. And 'they' have a MOTOWN review around this time going from out of LAS VEGAS and MICKEY STEVENS is the producer of it and a guy named EDDIE ADAB (?) and they're going to be taking it on the road. I'm interested in being with the review also it's gonna be a great tour. Back to KIM, you see we're like hand in glove and especially when CHRIS (KING) did those songs on us, it gave us an idea. We're gonna be doing some work, there's gonna be KIM and me and FREDA PAYNE. We'll probably be doing some armed forces things, and also I want to tell you about doing the backing vocals for BARRY WHITEs' next album so listen for that.

BM. Do you talk to FREDA much.

BH. I don't get to talk to FREDA because she's always on the road, she's with the same agency I'm with so she's always on the road but I'll probably see her this Christmas when we do the armed forces thing.

BM. There's a track she simply must do when she comes over, not 'Band of gold' but the track being played at the moment on the 'Northern Soul' scene by O.C.SMITH - 'On easy street'. I've just sold an acetate of FREDA PAYNE singing 'On easy street' for £200.00, O.C. Smith's version is very slow and moody but the FREDA PAYNE version is a very much an uptempo stomper, what a track, it's currently in a collectors' box in Warrington.

BH. You know, my manager is FREDAs' manager also, she was here with LITTLE RICHARD wasn't she? He doesn't look well lately, he doesn't look a very well person, he's up in age too even though he still looks good for his age.

BM. What plans have you for the near future.

BH. I'm going to be doing an exercise video.

BM. I've got to get one of those (heart racing, mouth foaming).

BH. I'm going to have all races, all nationalities. It's not about being fat it's about being fit, that's what I'm working on. I need to loose about 10 or 15 more pounds so I've got to work on that and I love to eat but you look so much bigger on video and on t.v. I want to loose weight but I don't want to be skinny, I always had 'curves' as young girl (Big Mick starts to drool) so I don't want to take those away. So I have an exercise video in the works and I'm doing a lot of things with the schools because I'm promoting education, helping with my grandkids. I have a daughter RICHARD (SEARLING?) has a tape on and her name is CANDY HOLLOWAY and in the STATES her name is MASHOO and she's currently working on a recording deal with BLACK STREET. I'm going to get her before she goes to NEW YORK to write some songs on me and to update 'ever little bit hurts' and 'you made me so very happy'. If I can do that then that's what I plan to do so I can get some records out and maybe, write a few new records. I want to maybe do a new record my daughters' doing that you're going to hear on the radio shortly, I want to put out another cassette or CD to sell at my venues. I have a new CD coming out that I cut when I was here in February for IAN LEVINE and it contains all of the Northern Soul records on it that you would ever want, I did 29 tracks. I don't know when it's due out IAN's keeping it close to his chest, he's very, very quite because he knows he has a big hit on his hands.

BM. Are there any tracks from yourself that we haven't yet heard.

BH. I don't think so, CHRIS KING has found everything that I ever did even stuff I don't remember, when I hear it I'll have to think and decide if that's PATRICE or is that me. In fact he's doing 'my kind of fellow' for a Northern Soul CD and I'm so thankful for the lot of them. You know, I never used to do 'reconsider' on stage but I'm gonna have to do them more because they're my songs too. I'm going to be travelling with BRENTON WOOD and I'm working on a show of my own. I have 2 ladies that sing with me that used to sing with TINA TURNER. They are beautiful, they're black girls but they're very, very fair and it's just like, the chocolate between 2 vanillas, they're just gorgeous women and we just make a beautiful visual and we've been working with BRENTON. But I want to do my own show, I want to some of the 'supper clubs' in LOS ANGELES and just work my show up to were I can work on my own. I've been booked with BRENTON for the last 3 ½ years and so I want to be able to be booked on my own and that's what I'm working on. I do want to go back to school because I want to get a degree, there's so many things I can do now because I don't have any little children. I do have my grandchildren but I'm not with them all the time because their mother loves kids, my children love kids so they're having them and they're taking care of them. I can take my grandkids when I want them actually, I have so much time. When I go home I'm gonna sort my paperwork and then, just go for it. I have an assistant now and his name is JOHN and he can help me get everything organised.

BM. Touring in the STATES, how does it compare with the UK.

BH. Well, after you get to a certain age, in acting, singing they just don't want to touch you. You have to be, like 17 to 25 so now I'm doing the 'old school', sixties stuff, that's what the call it. I'm singing with BRENTON because when I 'dropped' out of MOTOWN they stopped pushing, playing and letting me be visual. So right now I'm just letting the people become familiar with me again through singing with BRENTON so he's been so kind to take me on all of his tours. So now when I was going to the airport this guy said, "your name is familiar, BRENDA HOLLOWAY I know that name". Before it wasn't like that and people were saying, 'BRENDA HOLLOWAY's dead so I said I'm gonna live forever if you think I'm dead. So now they're realising I'm out there again but it's nothing like this (BRITISH soul scene) they were there to see BRENTON and now after 3 ½ years people are coming to see me working with BRENTON. It's an uphill journey but it's nothing like this (BRITISH soul scene), already established, people are ready for you. I'm trying to prepare me an audience, trying to pull out an audience - a following.

BM. How are you received in the STATES.

BH. They love me and it's mostly Hispanics, BRENTON has a total Hispanic audience - he doesn't know how he got it, the Latinos - they love it. He (BRENTON WOODS) packs them out, he fills the shows and they're all Mexicans so now more 'blacks' are coming around and it's good and it's a balance, a lot of 'blacks' come to see me.

BM. But I thought the Mexicans are proud of their own musical style.

BH. That's right, they must think I'm a 'chocodile' or something (BRENDA cracks up laughing). I love that name, I love me some BRENTON because he's a businessman and he's really fair.

BM. Is there any chance of the BRITISH soul scene seeing BRENTON over here.

BH. He makes so much money in the STATES, if he could make enough money to bring his singers and his band and to bring me - he would, he probably won't need me - he has a wonderful show.

BM. Do you ever get tired of singing your old songs repeatedly.

BH. I never get tired of singing because it's like, a part of me - it's just like waking up in the morning and brushing my teeth, you know, something I have to do. I love to do it , it just makes me feel better, so I think I'll always be singing because I have a 'voice' and I want to keep that as long as possible.

BM. If there is anything you want to do what would it be.

BH. I want to let ENGLAND and the BRITISH people know that I love you with all my heart and with all my soul and I thank you, I thankyou, thankyou thankyou for everything you've done for me and for remembering me and for keeping me alive when I was even dead to myself , just thankyou.

BM. You're beautiful, thanks a lot BRENDA. ENJOY, BIG MICK

By Big Mick in Articles · June 11, 199926 yr

Interview with the author of "Too Darn Soulful " - Dave Nowell
Dave nowell has been busy over the last year, collecting information and details for his new book, Too Darn Soulful, with books final release date now sorted, he has took time to give this interview. Dave has been on soul scene since early days and recently was involved with another book. Anyway enough of my stuff ...read on

Q. Allright dave, for any new visitors can you give us a quick run down on your soul
background so everyone knows where you're coming from...

DAVE.......I'm orginally from Burnley, Lancs, and more latterly Chorley and
Blackpool. I got into the northern scene when I was 16/17 in 1975. I went to
Wigan Casino in April 1975 and stayed the course until its closure. After
another couple of years trying other venues like Rotherham, Stafford, etc I
gave up and got married and raised a family and concentrated on my career as
a journalist. I was astonished in 1992 to find something like the Keele
all-nighter still going. That was the start of my second childhood and I
have been a regular on the scene ever since.

Q. As most people may be aware you have a new book on the northern scene
called -Too Darn Soulful, its coming out in December, whats it all about?

DAVE.........It's called Too Darn Soulful and is published by Robson Books in
hardback at £17.95 (tel 0171 700 7444). As many people will know, I co-wrote
Soul Survivors with Russ Winstanley in 1996. Doing that project made me
realise what a rich heritage of music and clubs we have on the northern
scene, so I set about doing a follow-up.

The result is Too Darn Soulful - four decades of clubs, music and people
from the Twisted Wheel in the 1960's to the present day. It's informative,
gritty, realistic, funny and enlightening. It's the first ever in-depth look
at OUR scene and incorporates all views and opinions on the state of the
scene.

Q. ok dave obviously main thing you and visitors be interested in is the
book so a few questions on it, research is always a main thing, where did
you get all info from and how hard was gathering that?
DAVE..............Having a long soul background myself, a lot of it was second
nature. I used the usual routes of newspaper and magazine articles, searchin
g out archive material all over the country and copying pictures etc. I have
also interviewed dozens of DJ's past and present and loads of regulars from
home and abroad. Many of them are on the internet so it has been a godsend
in that respect. I also got access to artists like Brenda Holloway, Edwin
Starr and Fatboy Slim to ask them about their perspective on the northern
scene. (Norman Cook is chuffed to bits that most soul fans seem to like what
he did with Sliced Tomatoes). Some people proved very elusive, but many were
very happy to co-operate.

Q. recently there have been a couple of books out already what would you
say to soul fans out there is a good reason for buying yours

DAVE.......................As I have already said, this is the first in-depth
book covering EVERY aspect of our scene right up to the present day. Modern
soul, jazz-funk and the disco fodder of Blackpool Mecca are all covered as
well as every northern venue of the last four decades. If you only ever
bought one book on the northern scene, Too Darn Soulful has it all, and at a
very reasonable price I might add!!! |(End of plug)

Q. what was the highlight of writing this book.

DAVE.......Finishing it! I'm knackered. It has taken about two years of hard
slog. Seriously, though, the highlights came when soul gurus like Richard
Searling, Ian Levine ,and Colin Curtis took the time out to let me grill
them on their vast knowledge of the scene. They were all very informative,
good company and entertaining.

Q and any low points

DAVE........Being mucked about and stood up by people who make and break
appointments. Chasing around the country in my spare time at night and at
weekends for pictures that might or might not exist.

Q any chance dave of a few clips or photos to give soul fans idea of what
its all about

DAVE............A review copy is on its way to you, Mike.

Q. you were involved with russ winstanly's book a couple of years ago,
which was criticised in some quarters as painting a false picture, what
would you say to those criticisms?

DAVE.......Criticised by who? I have only ever seen one negative review, and
that was on a web site. The vast majority loved it, and it has been
responsible for bringing a lot of people back onto the scene. No-one has
ever told me to my face that they hated it, (apart from Ian Levine!) and
believe me they would.

Q. looking back would you do it different if you had the chance?
DAVE........Yes, I accept that it was a slightly biased and rose-tinted view
of things, but I was working with Russ, so what would you expect? Levine's
film has been accused of being Mecca biased. We maybe did concentrate too
much on some things to the detriment of others, hence my decision to do a
follow-up on the wider picture.

Q. onto other things dave whats your favourite current tracks being played
at moment

DAVE...........The Tangeers, the Gladys Knight motown tracks, Herman Hitson,
the Spinners I Just Want To Fall In Love.

Q what are your views on current v oldies debate
DAVE ......I get sick and tired of hearing the same oldies at virtually every venue.
Let's keep it fresh. We've all been back into the scene for a while now,
let's move on from reliving the Wigan days.

Q would you agree that there are still new soul sounds being discovered
today which are at least as good as any played in past ?

DAVE............They aren't there in quantity, but the quality is still there.
As I said above, stuff like Herman HItson, Jesse James, the Gladys Knight
and Jimmy Ruffin stuff get the adrenaline going. There is, however, a lot of
mediocre crap being sold for £1,000 and £2,000.

Q lots and lots of politics going round at moment , how would you cure all
the problems?

DAVE........I would get all the soul promoters of the UK together in one room
and force them to listen to Steps records or something equally horrible for
eight hours. Then perhaps they would stop bickering and realise what a great
and unique scene we have going and work together without cutting each
other's throats.

Q favourite venue at moment dave and why?

DAVE................The Ritz all-nighters in Manchester. The venue, the crowd
and the music is always bob on.

Q things that jack you off?

DAVE..........Guys who stand around pulling faces whenever a DJ strays away
from the tried and tested oldies. Let's be more open minded, like we were in
the 70's. A lot of the modern soul stuff is brilliant, too.

Q heres a cheesy one dave, all time favourite northern sound

DAVE......Yvonne Baker- You Didn't Say A Word. It has just about
everything.

Q back to the forthcoming book, whats the price and where can i get my
hands on it??

£17.95 from Robson Books of London (0171 700 7444). It should be in most
good book shops.

Q, ok dave thanks for that, last one any future similar projects or is it
back to your south sea island to chill with jackie collins and rest of gang
of writers?

DAVE.............Absolutely not. I'm having a nervous breakdown, I've earned
it! The next book I write will be a fiction bestseller that Hollywood will
pick up and turn into a film and make me very rich.

Q Cheers dave for that and thanks for time.

ok there you go, sounds like its going to be a good thing, doesn't it.
Once get my hands on a copy will post a full review, but for now it looks like one for the list to santa

The book is called Too Darn Soulful and
is published by Robson Books of London on December 10 price £17.95. Tel 0171
700 7444.

interviews

By Mike in Articles · June 11, 199926 yr

Heres some worthwhile info/background gear by Keith Hughes
Taken from Detroit City Limits by Graham Anthony
(also has a good record list)
who can be contacted at:
Derby
Does anyone out there know anything about Motown acetates? A recent article in Detroit City Limits listed the contents of some Motown acetates that appeared on the market a couple of years back (and then rapidly disappeared), and invited info. Id seen the same list around the time they were advertised, and recognised the "JD" prefix from other acetates Id come across in my research, but it wasn't until another collector tipped me off and I started looking at the listings more closely, that I realised that this series of acetates is rather remarkable. So in response to the invitation, let me take you on a short journey of discovery. A word of warning before we start, however. The Editor has spoken to me sternly, and I will do my best to avoid references to boiler pressure and double chimneys, but I advise you to keep your pencils sharpened and your lan Allan ABCs at the ready; the train will be moving at speed, and there's a lot to see.
First lets try to reconstruct the recording process at Hitsville. From mid 1961 up until the end of 1964, sessions at Hitsville were identified individually, at least by number, and probably by producer and artist as well: some days there were no sessions, and some days there was more than one session sometimes more than one session with the same people. See the session numbers on the recent CD Amos Milburn - The Motown Sessions 1962-1964, for examples. The highest session number known from this period is 1432; this numbering series probably started on 1 Jan 1962, but see the other recent Motown CD, Motowns Blues Evolution, for some earlier session numbers. Session numbers were used for paperwork only; they dont appear on record labels, and until very recently didn't appear on liner notes either, other than for a short period only, in France. (An example was reprinted in an issue of Detroit City Limits: the French outlet for Motown in the sixties also had access to details of the session musicians, and frequently printed them.)
Back in the 1960s, three track recording tape (Mike McLean upgraded the Motown desk from 2 track to 3 track early in 1962) was an expensive item, and Berry Gordy ran a tight ship. Ive heard a number of "unissued" Motown tracks over the years, and the only studio atmosphere I've ever picked up is a count-in at the start, or an excited "Do it again!" at the end of the take. If there was a false start, a fit of the giggles or a serious bum note, then the engineer would stop the tape, spool back and everyone would start all over again. If the producer (or possibly the artists) decided a better take could be had, once more the tape was rewound. And, at the end of the session, either the tape was left mounted or it was rewound to the top and stored, ready to be brought out and wound on to the next available spot at the beginning of the next session. 3 track tapes normally had about 30 minutes playing time, so they could hold 10 or 11 typical sixties performances: except for their jazz cuts. Motown seldom broke through the 3-minute barrier. So after 10 or 11 tracks –perhaps every 2 or3 days, depending on how productive the sessions were - the tape was numbered, catalogued and filed, and a fresh one was loaded.
Naturally, many producers will have felt that 2-3 days was too long to wait to listen to their work; consequently the practice developed of copying tracks from the session tapes on to master tapes, from which acetate disks could be cut as and when required. This copying process evolved into an editing and mixing process as time went on; further alterations in sound could be made as test acetates were produced, and many Motown acetates contain hand-written notes of the level settings used to produce that particular disk. The master tape system seems to have come into use around the same time as Motown moved from 2 track to 3 track: the first two master tapes (DM-00 1 and 002) contain mixes of 2 track recordings, but DM-003 begins with Eddie Hollands "Last night I had a vision" and the B side, which were cut in 3 track around March 1962. The master tape number frequently appears on record labels (the session tape number never does); it also appears on many acetates, and is a rough and ready Motown fans guide to whether the track is an alternate take or an alternate mix to the version finally released. For full details of how the 13M numbering series works, see the introduction to Reginald Bartletles monumental Off the Record - Motown by Master Number 1959-1989, Volume 1 (wheres Vol. 2, Reg?); suffice it to say here that not only were DM tape numbers not assigned sequentially, but that moreover tracks were not copied in the order they were recorded, as we can tell from the many instances where recording date and 13M tape number are known.
Do you feel a headache coming on? Feel free to stretch your legs and feed the cat. Were getting there, I promise you. Get a cold beer while you're out there. Now then. A couple of years ago while I was preparing the third edition of my small contribution to the literature, Don't forget the Motor City (thanks for the publicity, Ed.), I received a letter from someone who'd bought the second edition and thought he had some information that might be of interest to me. For reasons that will become obvious, he will remain anonymous here, and you have only my word for it that he knows what hes talking about : but for what its worth, you have it. What he was able to tell me included session and master tape numbers for individual tracks - not a complete listing, I hasten to say, but a sufficient number of tracks for me to draw a very interesting conclusion. Before passing on to that, and just to complete the advertising spot, my correspondent did say I was welcome to incorporate the info in future editions of DFTMC, and although it was too late in the day to bring in the session tape numbers, I did manage to add a substantial number of Motown recordings that neither I nor anyone I know were previously aware of, and they're all there in the third edition. Lets just hope they all still exist, and are in a much better condition that the last track on the Amos Milburn CD mentioned above.
Lets just take another look at the the listing for Side 1 of disk JD 084: 1. Im gonna tell my mama (#3084-07) Amos Milburn 2. It took a long time baby (#3084-08) Amos Milburn 3. One Scotch, one Bourbon, one Beer (#3085-01) Amos Milbum 4. Timbuktu (#3085-02) The Groove Makers The information my correspondent furnished me with enables me to tell you with some certainty that the number in brackets refers to the session tape number. So "Im gonna tell my mama" was recorded on 3 track session tape number 084, track T( And after thirty-three years, its finally appeared on the Amos Milburn CD, and very good it is too - better than the awful jam of "Money" which came out on the album but which Motown wisely decided to leave off the CD). Well, Im really glad to know that, I hear you murmur to yourself, as you rip this page out of the magazine preparatory to staggering off to the outside privy with it. But stay a moment, smooth out the page and look again. Tape 084 track 7 is followed by tape 084 track 8, which is followed by tape 085 tracks 1 and 2; flip the record and you find tape 085 tracks 3 to 6. Furthermore, all the disks show tape/track numbers in order. And finally, the tracks run in order from disk to disk (you have to be prepared to believe that "JD 1 2V on the listing is a mistyping for "JD 13 Y to accept that, but having seen the listings for many more of these disks than appeared in the original advertisement, and bearing in mind the other numerous misty pings of song and artist name that occur in all the listings, 1 personally am prepared to believe it). And what that adds up to, taken together with the knowledge that "Mastered by George Fowler appears on most of the disk labels, is the supposition that it was Mr Fowlers responsibility at Motown to transcribe ALL the Hitsville session tapes to acetate disks, and that the complete series of J13 disks would comprise a complete history of Motown recordings from at least late 1960 (J1)007 contains Mary Wells first record) to late 1964 QD273 contains Junior Walkers "Shotgun").
Well, thats the story, But since no-one likes a smartass, and since there may be some really serious spotters out there who already knew all that, or else have been following me from the start eagle-eyed, with all the relevant material spread out around them (you must have a big living room), Id better make a confession. The draft of this article was written before the issue of the Amos Milburn CD, to which this rewrite makes frequent reference. And in the booklet accompanying the CD, it is clearly stated that It took a long time baby" (actually Its a long long time") and "One Scotch, one Bourbon, one Beer were recorded at Session #217, on the 7th November 1962, and "Im gonna tell my mama" was recorded at Session #218, on the 8th November 1962. Yet "I'm gonna tell my mama" appears on session tape 084, and "One Scotch on tape 085. Oh well. You go figure it out. Im off to check the session dates on the Beatles "Anthology .
Keith Hughes March 1996

By Mike in Articles · June 10, 199926 yr

Scottish Herald Article - 100 Club 1999
Here's a article ripped from scotlands top broadsheet - the herald
A few odd things in it but overall a good outside view, thanks to Frank Murphy for pointing it out
Still trying to save soul
Twenty years of dancing and forgotten American singles are celebrated this weekend. KEVIN McCARDLE sets the mood
There must have been times when the most enduring youth cult ever to have flourished in these isles must have seemed to be on its last legs. Few could have dreamed that it would last this long, including one Adrian Croasdell, the man most responsible for its longevity - indeed, for its current good health and its excellent prospects.
But this weekend sees a significant anniversary, as the 100 Club in London's Oxford Street hosts its twentieth anniversary soul all-nighter - 20 years of high kicks and back flips, of Oxford bags and penny loafers, dogtooth checks and rara skirts, of forgotten American 7in singles trading hands for the price of a mid-range BMW.
Not that the 100 Club was the first all-nighter venue, not by a long way - nights at the Twisted Wheel in Manchester, the Mecca in Blackpool, and the world-famous Wigan Casino were all flourishing long before Croasdell and fellow enthusiast Randy Cozens spun those rare, searing pieces of Black American pop to an audience of 200 in a basement club in 1979.
But what the 100 Club has is staying power - and Croasdell's guiding hand. He became interested in promoting all-night dances because "there was nowhere else to go and hear these records in London", and for someone with no experience of club promotion he's rightly chuffed that 20 years later the club is still going strong.
There have been some lean times, however. "In the early to mid-eighties, crowds were very sparse - sometimes only 100 people - and there were times at eight in the morning when everyone had gone and we were playing records just to the bar staff. One time we made £15, and I went with two of the bar staff to the Savoy, and splashed out the £15 on breakfast, looking out over the Thames."
That things picked up again is due in no small measure to Croasdell's day job, as the prime mover behind the reissue supremos, Kent records. Kent's series of reissues began in 1981 with For Dancers Only, a compilation of rare, up-tempo dance records (with outre sleevenotes from "Harbro Horace", Croasdell's compiling alter ego) that appealed not just to the die-hard soul fan but caught the fishtail parka of the early eighties Mod revival, a piece of good fortune that allowed Croasdell to keep on compiling LPs of sixties and seventies rarities with the knowledge that an eager audience existed. It's not unusual nowadays to see the rarer of the Kent LP releases on sale at record fairs for £15 or £20 or more - still a bargain when the original 7in singles of the tracks contained therein can change hands for several thousand pounds in some instances.
As Kent's reissues percolated their way into the hands of a new generation of fans, the Northern and sixties soul scenes have undergone something of a rejuvenation: Croasdell says that there are 10,000 members on the books for the 100 Club's nights, with members as far afield as the antipodes and back again. For this weekend's anniversary, one woman will be travelling from Australia, other revellers will be coming from Germany and France, the Scots will number in their dozens.
What draws them may be hard to explain but is not hard to fathom: Black American music of the sixties and seventies came so close to perfection at times that it inspires nothing short of awe-filled reverence. And to be in the company of several hundred dancers united in a common love of this terribly overlooked music is something close to heaven. For those for whom a mere all-nighter is not enough, Croasdell also organises soul weekenders at a holiday camp near Cleethorpes, where 1000 fans enjoy 72 hours of non-stop soul.
And there's so much quantity, of so much quality: for every hit by the Supremes or the Temptations or the Impressions, there were a hundred, a thousand records that never got beyond the test-pressing stage and more likely found their way across the Atlantic as ship's ballast than as items for retail - and Croasdell, owner of an estimated 50,000 singles and growing, has no doubt that there are still records waiting to be discovered. "I got a mail order list this morning with at least two dozen records on it I've never heard of."
Croasdell collects and compiles these days by label, particular favourites being the polished gems put out by the mighty RCA-Victor organisation (Kent's Rare Collectable and Soulful Vol I is representative of that company's thrilling output), and Atlantic, the cream of whose back catalogue will appear on 25 Kent CDs over the next few years.
And for the next 20 years, Ady? "More of the same - so long as I can still stay awake all night."
For more information on the next 100 Club all-nighter (October 16) or Cleethorpes weekenders, send an SAE to Flat 9, 61 Riding House Street, London W1P 7PP.- Sept 10

By Mike in Articles · June 10, 199926 yr

Off top of head not 100% sure of orgin - please shout if know so can add credits etc

Mary Love Discography by Paul Dunn
MODERN
1006 You turned My Bitter Into Sweet I’m In You Hands
1010 Ive Got To Get You Back Hey Stoney Face
1020 Let Me Know Move A Little Closer
1029 Lay This Burden Down Think It Over Babv
1033 Baby Ill Come Satisfied Feeling
1039 Talking About My Man Dance Children Dance
1042 Is That You (Duet by Arthur Adams & Mary Love) Lets Get Together (Duet by Arthur Adams & Mary Sandy Wynns)

JOSIE
630 The Hurt Is Just Bcginning
631 If You Change Your Mind

ELCO
444 Born To Live With A Heartache Theres Someone For Me

MAGIC DISC
215 Joy (Solo by Mary Love) Santa Claus Is Coming To Town Disco (by Santas Disco Band)

INPHASION
7204 Turn Me, Turn Me, Turn Me Dance To My Music

JAPANESE ADVERTISEMENT SINGLE Sweet Taste Bamboo Inn (Unknown Label) U-TONE 2. Liquid Fire Tit For Tat

MIRAGE 7-99720 Save Me (Demos double-sided. Issues probably had instrumental flip as Mary only recorded the one track for Mirage)

MARY LOVE COMER CO LOVE RECORDS
100 1 Come Out Of The SandboX Instrumental
1002 (12") Caught Up - Caught Up Instrumental Standing On The Edge Of Time — Instrumental
1004 (12") Understanding - In My Life ( Mary Loves Comer solo) More Than Enough Love - More than Enough Love (Rap Added) Mary Love Comer with her son Derek Versev

LPS
Peady Wheatstraw Soundtrack Album Various Artists in. 5 Tracks bv Mary Love (Label Unknown) Mary Love Comer - His Servant Am I - Co Love Marv Love Comer - Sin No More - Co Love

artists

By Mike in Articles · June 10, 199926 yr

Pete Smith: Here's the first of the fresh soul source online interview series
Pete Smith - Interview 1998
Starting of the first one is Pete Smith, now thats a name regular visitors should be familar with as in the early days of Soul Source he contributed hell of a lot of articles, info and data. Read on...
Ok Pete can you give us a bit of your background just so all visitors know where you're coming from
OK well I was born in 1960 and bought up in Wolverhampton, home of the legendary Catacombs Club of course.Unfortunately for me, was born about 2 years late to have been able to attend that place, and it was closing just as I was really getting into the Northern scene.
My first exposure to soul, or any other type of music really came from my Mum's record collection, which I used to play from the age of 3 upwards apparently (my big likes being Elvis and The Beatles and Cilla Black apparently). I started going to the Wolves football matches in late 1966 and the warm up music was always Motown, especially in 1968-69, so thats when I first got to hear things like Dancing in the street, Get ready and This old heart of mine. I was buying records of my own in early 1969, the afore mentioned Martha & Vandellas track, Rolling Stones, Beatles etc.
In 1971/72 I started attending the youth club in Wombourne where I lived and it was here that I heard a lot of "discotheque" records, Motown, Atlantic etc. By then I'd decided I was into reggae though so I was finding the soul music boring and asking them to play "Liquidator" and stuff like that. About a year later and I was now into the soul as well as reggae and had got a few of the records I'd heard such as In orbit - Joy Lovejoy, Festival Time - San Remo Strings. The watershed I think was one night when I heard The Joker by The Mylestones (aka Butch Baker) which nearly blew my head off, that incredible driving beat. So I would think that that was my first true Northern purchase. In early 1974 these 4 or 5 lads visited out youth club and bought their own records for the dj to play, I remember they were Tainted Love, Love Feeling (Val McKenna) and Girl Don't Make Me wait, anyway, these guys started dancing and I'd never seen anything like it in my life - talk about culture shock.
A few days after that I'd located a pressing of Tainted Love and was well on the way. The summer of 74 saw Disco Demand start up and I bought all of those, and by Autumn 1974 I had actually danced to a Northern record for the first time, after weeks of practising in front of the mirror. The record was There's A Ghost In My House, incidentally. Anyway, 1975 and I was allowed to go to my first allnighter at sammies (St. Giles) Willenhall, which was very good for a while, then in early 1976 I decided it was time to go to Wigan Casino. I was still at school and very young looking for my age, so I was pleasantly surprised to actually get into the place. I went to Wigan fortnightly for the first few months, then every week consistently for 2 years. The last ever Saturday night I went to was in September 1978.
I stopped going for a variety of reasons, mainly because I started going out with a girl I met at Wigan and we decided to give it a rest, secondly because of the ridiculous amounts of barbiturates going around, and thirdly because the music had deteriorated somewhat, with a lot of UK label stompers on the playlists. I only attended Wigan twice after that, once to the last oldies anniversary and then of course to the last night, the end of an era. I still attended the odd soul night back home, mainly at the Old Vic, but didn't collect records at all having sold all mine in 1979. I just kept a box of 50 or so pressings, all time favourites
.In 1984 I met a girl from Hastings so I moved down south, taking my trusty 50 box with me. Obviously, this is the South East and there is no soul here whatsoever, so it was only by chance I came across Kent's "Floorshakers" album in the local record shop, and it was this LP that really revived my interest in the Northern scene. I quickly bought as many Kent LP's as possible and started buying singles by mail order.Having always been interested in UK releases, I started to concentrate on those and in 1988 sold my US records and bought only UK things. By 1992 I'd got practically every rare UK release, but I was to sell those too when redundancy caught up with me.
Also in 1988, I began publishing the fanzine Beatin' Rhythm, the title of which was recently plagiarised by a Manchester record shop. This mag dealt 100% with rare UK 45's and myself and many of my readers discover several excellent items which are now big collectors items. The mag is still running today, albeit sporadically. Between 92 and 98 I was picking up records and moving them on, mainly cheapies and British, but in March 1998 my girlfriend (I was now divorced) gave me the kick up the arse I'd been needed, so I got off the dole and I set up Planet Records. I now buy and sell rare soul records for a living and it's a great job, even if finding the stuff can be difficult. I do the pricing for the Record Collector Price Guide and do articles for various magazines, fanzines and websites. Pretty busy really.
You've been classed in past , record collector, UK soul expert, fanzine editor, record dealer etc etc how would you describe yourself now
Record dealer who is far to handsome to be losing his hair prematurely. Although 39 years old is near to middle age I suppose.
Bit of a memory thing, what era would you say was the "golden" era of northern soul ?
Everyone has a different idea of the golden age. My favourite time would have to be from early 1976 to early 1977 when Wigan was at it's peak and every visit was a joy, rather than the chore it came to be a year or so later. And also 1975, when literally everyone in the country seemed to be into Northern. You'd see kids at the youth club, shy types who would never say boo to a goose, suddenly coming out of their shells and expressing this new found freedom by dancing. Before this, it was extremely uncool for the boys to dance at all!
Still on memories, whats your personal northern all-time top five records
Hmm, the worlds most difficult question. I couldn't possibly name 5 all time favourite records, my actual all time list would be about 25 titles. But as you want answers, here's 5 magnificent records which I would consider to be among my all time favourites: Monique - If you love me (show me)(Maurci) (same backing track as Tobi Lark's Challenge My Love, this is a super-emotional vocal performance) Yum Yums - Gonna be big thing (ABC) (lovely memories of Wigan and still popular today) Cajun hart - Got to find a way (Warner Bros) (one of the best of the big post-Wigan monsters) Doni Burdick - Bari track (Sound Impression) (the greatest Northern Soul instrumental ever, and perhaps the most "Northern" sounding record of the lot - describe Northern Soul, if you had to describe Northern Soul to an alien, you'd just put this record on - even though the alien would probably say "I don't like oldies") Charades - The key to my happiness (MGM) (absolutely sensational uptempo dancer first spun at the Mecca, this one has everything) see, very difficult to pick 5, I've missed out things like John & The Wierdest, Yvonne Baker, Herbert Hunter, Lost Soul, Carolyn Crawford etc etc.
Nearly everyone has got a fave "record story" whats yours?
One of the most recent that springs to mind is this one; about 18 months ago we'd been to Ashford and decided to drive down to Hythe so we could come back along the coast. I remembered there was a record shop there, so we popped in and started looking at the singles, which were all in boxes behind a curtain. I found this box saying "demo records", and the owner promptly says "You won't find anything in there mate, you should have come a year ago when it was full". So this box once contained about 100 demos on UK Decca, Atlantic, London and RCA, but now it contained the massive total of 12 records. First was a Bachelors demo, then a Louis Armstrong, and obviously I'd given up, but I came to the last record and it was an unplayed UK RCA demo of Ketty Lester - Some things are better left unsaid (a record original discovered in Beatin Rhythm 9 years earlier but now going for £50 on issue). So I said to the owner, "How much are these" and he goes "60 pence each". I sold it about 3 weeks later for £100.
Literally a week after that I went to a boot sale and found a UK Decca issue of Frankie & Johnny - I'll hold you (books at £125) which I've still got. Another time I found a copy of the ultra rare Artwoods album on Decca for 50p, and then there was the time I got two Elvis gold HMV's for 40p the two (I traded those for £500 worth of Northern). Then there was the time I found a copy of Court davis - try to think what you're doing, on a UK pop list - cost me £120 but I sold it for £620, the most I've ever sold any record for. But finally, I must mention the copy of Look At Me Now by Terry Callier which I got from a mates house for less than 50p, he'd bought it in a soul pack in 1975. Current price; £125.
You've been critical of the "current" scene in past, would you like to point out your current views on it Have I?
well my major moans at this moment in time are as follows: early 60's black pop masquerading as Northern (Soft Walkin, let me be your boy, take a giant step); crossover and modern soul - I truly believe that this music should have a separate scene of it's own and should not be integrated in with traditional Northern, one because 90% of the punters don't like it and two because most of it is unlistenable shit. I can't stand the influx of rhythm and blues 45's being played at the moment, maybe they could join a club with their crossover buddies.
Nowadays anyone can be a dj due to the availability of rare tracks on CD. This is fine if you're imaginative but it leaves the collectors who spend forever trying to find original vinyl feeling angry. I also hate people who become DJ's just because they have enough money to buy the big, expensive records. You should have to work at it, not buy yourself in.
How would you improve it, if you had chance
I'd ban all modern soul and crossover from being played at events advertised as being "Northern Soul". I'd also like to see a few different DJ's at events instead of the same ones over and over again. I'd also like to invent a time machine so that I can leave an allnighter whenever I like and be in bed 2 minutes later.
How/where do you see the scene going in near future
Well it looks as if the only way is up at the moment, it's getting bigger and bigger with the influx of "old" people coming back in after their 20 year hiatus and I think it will continue to grow without crossing over into the public domain like it did in 1975. What the scene needs though is another Wigan, a focal point where the whole scene can be based, a weekly event playing at least 75% 60's newies. A bit like to 100 club but more regular and in a much, much better venue.
Your knowledge of soul is well known , have you ever f*cked up, like sell a rarity for tuppence or let a £500 record pass you
Yeah but not to any great extremes, I've lost £50's here and there but it's swings and roundabouts. Plus if you find someone has turned you over, you tend to get them back eventually, by always adding on an extra fiver here and there, till before they know it they've paid you back the money they "robbed" you of without them noticing. I miss a few things on the net, mainly because people get there before me, but I did completely miss The Diplomats on Arock last year.
Others have been critical of the lack of soul content sometimes of some of your 60s tips in past , what are your views on that point
Well that refers to records discovered and tipped in the magazine by myself and others, and therefore we were looking for items on UK labels. Consequently if it's on UK it's a good chance it will be a British recording, therefore bypassing the soul content for the beat. Thats all I have to say on that point really. People can read the records I recommend on my sales list if they need any proof that I do actually like soul music. Otherwise they can fuck off.
Your dislike of anything post 69 is well known , there must be some northern modern sounds that have stirred your feet?
Yeah, well let me just clarify this. I love the modern sounds that were being played in 74, 75, 76, things like East Coast Connection, Todays People, Boogie Man Orchestra, Stanley Woodruff, Norma Jenkins, Skullsnaps etc, new releases but all with a good, usually 4-4 dance beat. What I object to are the later modern sounds, many of which don't use real instruments, are 'disco-fied', or are set at tortoise pace.
On Internet, you were one of the first northern fans i come across on net a couple of years ago, you've seen the northern side grow rapidly since , do you think Internet has helped the northern scene grow and if yes what do you think or would like it to do it can do in future
I don't think it's made it grow per se but it has certainly bought people together, you only have to look at the KTF group where I've become friends with many people from that list who I'd never even heard of, let alone met, and have actually met at least 15 of them in person. I suppose that websites do offer people who are in countries where the Northern Scene is in it's infancy the chance to learn a lot of history, and any education is a good thing. Also with the web being literally worldwide, it means that people can buy and sell the music very, very easily.
Planet Records appears to be going well, how much of your business comes from Internet, and could planet records survive without it
No it couldn't survive without it. It could probably survive without the website to be honest, but it couldn't survive without the KTF list and without my being able to e-mail my lists out to anyone who wants a copy. With something like KTF, you have a hundred or so people all into the same music, so it figures that at least half of these will be actively buying records. With e-mail, there are no costs involved except the price of the phone call, so I don't have to do paper lists, photocopying, buying envelopes and stamps etc, it's saving me a fortune. Having said that, it might also have something to do with the fact that I do find some decent records and I sell them pretty reasonably priced!
You're one of the regular voices on KTF soul list, whats your view on it at present time?
It goes through phases of being very very good and very very poor. Some of the best contributors also seem to be the ones who get criticised the most, and they often take sabbaticals. I hate all the off topic stuff that goes on but in many ways it adds to the banter. Put it this way, I've tried living without it and it can't be done!
Beating Rhythm ( see fanzine section for sample) , hasn't seen light of day for a while, what are the plans for it nowadays
I had an issue ready for publication at Christmas and the computer died so I just printed one copy off, I lost all my label scans and that meant doing it all again. I haven't summoned up the energy to do it yet.
You've done a few spots behind turntables in past, how did last one go, did you enjoy it , and would you be up for doing it on a regular basis
Yeah I did These Old Shoes and I really enjoyed it, playing what I thought were 'sensible' records, no Snakes or Footsees or 7 Days Too Longs, I played stuff like Jimmy Fraser, Seven Souls, terry Callier, Gino Washington and so on, I rally enjoyed it. I'm doing a gig in Brighton next month which should be good. Unfortunately I'm a bit remote stuck here in St. Leonard's - if I was back in the Midlands I would definitely dj more often, I think I've got enough quality records to do myself justice.
Last of all Pete, a twist on a old question, I would say going to a major venue and hearing a DJ play sounds of a northern compilation CD , would be same as going to a nighter in 70s and seeing a DJ playing sounds of a northern compilation LP- out of order! What do you reckon ?
Depends whether you are a dancer or a collector; if you are on the dancefloor, you can't see a label, you can just hear the record, and so consequently you don't care what label or format it is on. From the collectors point of view, seeing people spinning tracks from CD's strikes me as being very lazy and a shortcut to success without having to do any hard work. But if you ask me which camp I fall into, I'd rather hear the record than not hear it, so I wouldn't care too much if CD's were played. I mean, where else could you hear The Springers - Nothing's Too Good For My Baby, for instance?
OK thanks to Pete for the above, getting the first of the series off to a kicking start, lot of views coming out there, if you feel strongly about them or agree try the forum out in chill section or email them in.
Next "talk " will be up next week and will feature DJ/SKM editor Dave Rimmer Pete's email is pete.smith4@virgin.net and his Planet Records site address can be found in links in the triva section, or on the Northern Web Ring

interviews

By Mike in Articles · June 9, 199926 yr

A post that Derek p has kindly ok-ed to use here on soul source circa 99

Stafford - here's my two pee's worth.

There's much talk about the 70s and 90s on here but little chat about the decade in between when I suspect many KTFers for a wide variety of reasons put the soul scene on hold.

As a 20 year old I first started allnighters in 1977 attending anywhere from 15-30 all nighters per year. By 1984 after a 7 year apprenticeship, I was heavily (and I mean deep) into vinyl. Stafford called and at the time I was saving up for my first house hence I was down to only 10 allnighters a year. We hung out with George & Jackie Sharp at the time travelling all over the north as you do.
Anyway Stafford was a bizarre place. I thought I knew a bit about the music but as soon as I crossed the Staffordshire border I met lads younger than me that could kick my arse big time knowledge wise on midtempo 60s stuff. Remember Tommo, Ady Harley, Gis from Preston, Jock O'Connor, Jim Tennent, Cliff Steele, Rob Wigley. The gloves were off. Money was tight so we only ventured to TOTW every other one (think it started off monthly then went to every second week ?).
Now why Stafford was so exciting yet such hard work sometimes (and If you read early issues of Shades Of Soul circa 1984/5 I say exactly that in my venue reports at the time) was that both Guy Hennigan and Keb Darge were attacking the music policy with such ferocity that their playlists changed monthly probably weekly so if you missed one or two Staffords the next time you went you could sit there for hours and not know any sounds. It was such fun because you could hear so much new music, granted a lot have gained cult status but it had its fair share of turkeys just like any other venue past present and future. Plus Stafford at the time had quite an aggressive attitude - those that went considered themselves the flag bearers the saviours of the scene after the white pop shite that was played at the back end of the 70s early 80s. You were either into 60s newies or you weren't. You were in the Stafford gang or you stopped at home listening to Paul Anka.
A lot of quality modern & new 80s releases were spun there as well least we forget. Stafford kept the northern raft afloat as it careered underground in the mid 80s and turned what style of music was played on its head. All scenes undergo change to survive. And Stafford certainly left its mark on the scene we know. I guess the further we move away from the 80s the more Stafford will be revered just like people that say "yeh we used to go to the Torch or the Wheel".
When you do a long post like this even though I've read twice as soon as I hit that "send" button and read it tomorrow I just know I'll be writing a Stafford Part 2.

By Derek Pearson in Articles · June 9, 199926 yr

Jimmy Ruffin BBC interview
Thanks go to Mel for taking time in getting this sent in

The Jimmy Ruffin Interview
Part One
Born and brought up in Mississippi, Jimmy Ruffin was singing in his local church choir by the age of eight. He had a spell in the army before being signed up by the burgeoning Tamla Motown label in the Sixties and touring with The Supremes and The Temptations. His chart hits include What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted, It's Wonderful To Be Loved By You, I've Passed This Way Before, and - with Martin Ware and Glenn Gregory of Heaven 17 - The Foolish Thing To Do. He moved to London in 1970. His own show on BBC Radio 2 begins on Saturday 10 October.
When did you decide you wanted to be a professional singer?
I never wanted to be a professional singer. I wasn't ambitious - it was just that I loved singing. My father sang in a gospel group and I would hear him and my older brother and these teenage guys practising at our house when I was seven or eight and I decided I wanted to do that. Then later I heard Mahalia Jackson. We had no electricity in our home so I would hear records at other people's houses and at the local juke joint - a bar where you'd have gospel music on the juke box but also blues, and rhythm and blues.
How were you discovered?
I used to sing around the house and people could hear me - the windows and doors were always open. Then I joined the military and I was still singing gospel and R&B. When I was about 20 I started singing with a group touring the US service clubs in Europe. At that time I was going to make a career of the army and was about to re-enlist, when the woman who booked the acts said I should turn professional. We had little plastic recorders in the military so that you could send a message back home. I recorded myself playing guitar and singing Sam Cooke's She Was Only Sixteen. I played it back and darn if Ididn't sound better than Sam! We had a guy in our group used to play with a professional outfit called The Spaniards, and he couldn't sing worth a damn -I knew I sang better than him. So I began to think maybe I could do it. I went back to Detroit - my brother David was there - and Mary Wells heard me and she said go down and audition for Motown. Well, I didn't necessarily want to be discovered but I went and sang for Ronnie White of Smokey Robinson and The Miracles. He called in Ray Gordy, the wife of Berry Gordy [founder of Tamla Motown}. She heard me and she called up Berry and he came over. He rushed into the room, I sang and he was beaming and he said, "We'll sign him up and record everything he's got."
What was it like getting your first smash hit with What Becomes Of The Brokenhearted?
I'd been working for the Ford motor company around the time of the audition and I had a back injury that kept me off work. So I thought I'd use that year to see if I could make it as a singer. The first single, Don't Feel Sorry For Me, did okay. The second - As Long As There's L-O-V-E - was a smash in Detroit. Brokenhearted came out third and that was it. I didn't go back to the motor company, I can tell you that! But the pressure is incredible. A lot of people died from the pressure, including my brother David [singer with the Temptations before going solo]. Suddenly you're moving up in society, going to places you're not really prepared for - beyond your own race, culture and class, your own country. I was pretty well grounded, I'd got a philosophy of life from my grandmother. I'm an observer not a joiner, so I didn't participate in the drugs except in a minor way - I don't like being out of my mind. So I survived. I may not have had as much celebrity as people like Marvin [Gaye] but I'm still here.
What was it like taking part in the Motown Review travelling shows, with the likes of The Tempations and The Supremes?
Hard work. The only enjoyment was in the performing. There was a lot of learning the business, learning how to perform - Marvin Gaye never thought he was any good. I'd done it in the military so it was okay for me. In the early days with The Temptations you'd go by station wagon with your bags tied on top. There'd be six of us and we'd drive up to Baltimore then on to Washington and New York and Chicago and on and on. I could drive but I said I couldn't - man, I didn't want that responsibility. By the time I toured with the Supremes we'd progressed to going by coach. Well, Mary [Wilson] and Florence [ballard] and I went by coach - Diana [Ross] never took the bus. The problem there was that I was too good. They were headlining but I got the standing ovations - so they took me off the tour.
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The Jimmy Ruffin Interview - Part Two
Who have you been influenced by in your approach to singing?
It's less to do with influence than with the kind of singer I admire. I was real big on the opera singer Mario Lanza, for instance, when I was growing up. I like all kinds of singers but especially the big ballad singers Sam Cooke, Bonnie Raitt's dad John - he sang Hey, You With The Stars In Your Eyes - Joel McCrea and Frankie Laine. Then there was Mahalia Jackson and a Mississippi group, The Five Brown Boys.
Do you still keep up with pop music?
Sure I do. I like all kinds of stuff - The Manic Street Preachers, All Saints, Celine Dion, The Fun Lovin' Criminals - I got a big range.
Why did you move to London in 1970?
I moved because I was very popular in England and I'd benched my record company. I was too aware of the game and sometimes I didn't agree and I would say No so we didn't always see eye to eye. Plus I'm an ex-soldier, trained since the age of 16 to react aggressively in certain situations. In America those situations arise quite often. London is much more laid back.
How did your collaborations with the Bee Gees and Heaven 17 come about? And is there anybody you'd like to collaborate with?
I met Robin Gibb years ago - a really nice person, he was even more reclusive than I so we got on well. We talked a lot about working together, then suddenly with Saturday Night Fever they became so hot we couldn't work together until 1979. So we made an album, and almost immediately the record company went out of business. Then in 1984 I met Martin from Heaven 17 - he was producing a piece I was doing with Paul Weller for the striking miners.
Martin asked me to sing a song as a demo - he wanted to give it to a girl in France to record. And I decided to sing it so well he couldn't give it to her, he'd have to give it to me. And that's what I did. There are lots of other people I'd like to work with but the one I'm the biggest fan of - and I think she of me - is Aretha Franklin.
How do you feel about having your own radio show?
I'm very excited about it. It's easy for me to talk, I enjoy that. Since I was a young person in Mississippi people have been telling me I'd be great on the radio but I did that as a singer first. Now I'm looking forward to being a DJ, creating that sort of character.
What were the best and worst decisions in your life?
Will you take two best decisions? One was getting out of the army to be a singer - I'd intended to make the army my career. The second was NOT joining The Temptations. They were begging me to join but I wanted to be solo - I'd been used to having my own group, I didn't want to have another one. So then I spent time persuading my brother David that he should join them instead.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmy_Ruffin

By Mike in Articles · June 8, 199926 yr

Just a intro about myself as requested...(Posted originally to go with 6 pac sessions from Ian)
Ian Cuncliffe

Just a intro about myself as requested. I started to collect soul-r&b records around 1966 while at senior school, this was the music that was being played in the youth clubs around the northwest which I attended . I left school in 1969 around that time I started to go to Blackpool Mecca with all my skinhead mates, its around that time I started to collect and trade the rarer soul singles, at the time in Manchester there was three brilliant places to get imported soul 45,s from i.e. Ralph's records---Global and a place not many new about at the time Shudehill Market.

Over the past 30 years I have attended all the major all-nighters from the Twisted Wheel just before its closure , the Torch, Cats , Wigan Cas to the present day, my favourites being The Wilton in Whitwood West Yorks and Lowton Civic which run around four per year great nites!!..

In 1980 I became seriously ill at one stage was only given weeks to live but after major surgery I made a full recovery!, it was then I had to sell the main part of my collection, christ!! I look back Lester Tipton--La Beat £25.......Al Williams £30 but those where the prices in 1981 it was only around 1983-4 that I began to realise I had made a huge mistake when the prices started to go higher and higher !! and I had sold two years previously most of the sounds that where commanding high prices not a good feeling!!!.

In 1986 I along with Keith Brady, Carl Farrington & Kev Appleton started to promote 3 soul nites around the Leigh--Wigan area under the collective banner of The Sounds of Soul at the time their was only one other soul nite within 30 miles that was Barry Maleedys club in St Helens, so as you can imagine we used to get some real packers playing sounds that even today are classed by many of the average soulies as newies? i.e Imperial C,s----Ray Agee---George Pepp---Phonetics---Tommy Ridgley--Chuck Holliday --Ruby Sherry ect etc total magic nites , we stopped promoting these nites around 1994 due to the amount of soul nites that had started within the 30 mile radius soulies had seen our and Barrys nites become so successful they decided to get a slice of the pie!! some more great nites started and some sad sad ones.

These days I only like to DJ at the more progressive venues, I still buy and sell the rarer 60,s 70,s soul sounds, and as anyone who knows me will tell you I still find bargains even these days, in the past few years I've found Herman Lewis Who is kissing you tonite Mercury when it wasn't even known to be on the label? Tempos --Ill never forget -- Diamond Jim both for a few quid up to recently I've been finding quite a few rare 70,s locally but there seems to be more collectors targeting 70,s in the past year.

A few years ago a bloke came to live round the corner from me his name was Kev Barrett from Canada he told me that he was into soul music and that he had shipped over from Canada the contents from a radio station WSAY record library, 15000 soul singles & around 5000 c&w rock -pop records, Kev asked my help in pricing them up christ !! the stuff we found multi copies of sounds like Johnny Bartell....Freddie North The Hurt......Houston Outlaws...O.C Smith & loads of rare DETROIT CHICAGO & philly 60,s 70,s rarities , some of the best days of my life I spent going thro that lot, Kev also gave me first shot at the stuff he wanted to sell !!! Kev,s now one of my closest friends ,mind you he's going a bit strange recently he keeps buying 90,s garage & house I think he's just trying to look hip to his sons friends!!.

Anyway that's a little insight into the crazy world of Ian Cunliffe, people keep telling me to write a book about my life on the soul scene, I left home late 1971 just as the Northern Soul Scene was beginning to spread its wings, so I have many stories to tell some good some not so good!!!. The main thing that has come from my life on the soul scene apart from the wonderful, wonderful music!! is all the friends I have made from all over , each one of them has a special place in my heart, giving me some magic memories that will linger forever....SOUL MUSIC WILL NEVER DIE !!!!!!!!!!!!!! Soulfully Yours Ian C.

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By Mike in Articles · June 5, 199926 yr

Basically it's the history of Northern Soul in the 70's. This is what really happened. Grab a cuppa and hopefully enjoy this...
NORTHERN SOUL IN THE MEDIA - "BLACK MUSIC" by Pete Smith
Black Music magazine first hit the streets in December 1973, heralding itself as "the first complete black music magazine", probably in an attempt to distance itself from Blues & Soul which was ostensibly a soul/disco magazine.
BM's intention was to cover the whole spectrum from blues to jazz, gospel to reggae, African music and other ethnic styles...and Northern Soul. In this article I'm going to look at BM's coverage of Northern Soul, not in an investigative way but more of a blow-by-blow account of each issue and it's content which hopefully will be of interest. It reads just like a diary of what was happening on the Northern Soul scene in 1974-75.

Firstly, the soul chart of December 73 contained a handful of singles which had made their mark on the Northern scene including Robert Knight-Mountain top (also a UK top 10 crossover hit), the Isleys-Tell Me It's Just A Rumor and Jimmy James - A Man Like Me. At this time both the pop and soul scenes were being flooded with reissues of classic oldies and in-demand club sounds, a phenomenon which continued well into 1976 as you will see as this article progresses.
Ian Levine is a name you can't escape from on the Northern scene and even today arguments persist as to the rights and wrongs of his musical policies.
Levine shared top billing at the Blackpool Mecca with Colin Curtis, and when he wasn't spending thousands of pounds of inherited cash on obscure US soul 45's he was writing a column for Black Music entitled 'Hey MR.DJ". His first column began..."Southerners are biased towards the Northern Soul scene and it's 190 mph dancers. It's true that a record has to have a consistent, fast beat to be danced to in our clubs..but there are good and bad Northern dance records, and the ones I mention here are the ones that I feel are the very best around at the moment. Certain artists seem to come up with many brilliant dancers to their credit, whereas others seem to make just one.
Singers such as J.J.Barnes, Patti Austin, Edward Hamilton and groups such as David & The Giants and the Ambers, are idolised as being leading exponents of Northern type soul records, just as James Brown, Lynn Collins, the Fatback Band and Jean Knight are leading exponents of funky music". A good link there as Levine then goes on to review some of his fave spins of the moment, kicking off with the pre-Fatback Band Gerry & Paul-Cat Walk (Fatback) plus the superb Linda Jones-Just Can't Live My Life (Loma), and a couple of hot tips in the form of Terrible Tom -We Were Made For Each Other (Maverick) and David & The Giants-Ten Miles High (Crazy Horse). Can anyone remember when those two weren't oldies?
Levine mentions that the Giants other disc, Superlove, was in the top 5 Northern sounds right now, as is Otis Smith-Let Her Go. Finally in this first Levine column, a few records that the man himself is trying to track down: World Without Sunshine by Sandra Phillips (Broadway), What Can A Man Do by Harold Melvin (Arctic) and finally the great Freddie Chavez-They'll Never Know Why (Look).
Black Music also provided an excellent guide to new Stateside product, much of which was available through semi-specialist shops in your local high street.
One interesting release which I spotted in the 'Hot Stuff' section of BM 1 was the Montclairs-Hung Up On Your Love (Paula), which soon became the no.1 sound in the country.
One of the most well respected voices on the soul scene, the legendary Dave Godin, was also a contributor to BM in it's early days. His first column was a kind of introductory 'what is soul' piece, but he also reviewed a few singles including Jerry Williams-If You Ask Me (Calla) which got a 4-star rating. There were a few pressings for sale in that first issue e.g. Rufus Lumley, Righteous Brothers Band, Shalimars, Kelly Bros, Dramatics etc.
Apart from being big Torch sounds,these discs have a common link in that they were all pressed on Out Of The Past and could be obtained through the Torch-based International Soul Club who boasted a membership of '30,000 and growing weekly!'
Onto Issue 2, January 1974, and. only one release of note in this months Hot Stuff, the Temprees version of At Last (We Produce) which was a big sound in 74. Levine gave mention to some real classics this month, viz. Gwen & Ray Build Your House On A Strong Foundation (Bee Bee), Janie Grant-My heart your heart (Parkway), Joe Hicks-Don't It Make You Feel Funky (AGC) and Leslie Uggam-Love Is A. Good Foundation (Sonday). Also mentioned: Chubby Checker- Looking At Tomorrow (Parkway), Ikettes-Beauty Is Just Skin Deep (Pompeii) and Mad Dog & The Pups-Why Did You Leave Me Girl (Magic City).
Dave Godin took a trip to the Mecca and wrote an excellent piece, giving mentions to some of Colin Curtis' tips, including Johnny Caswell-You Don't Love Me Anymore (Decca), Susan Barrett-What's It Gonna Be (RCA), Wally Cox-This Man (Wand) and Freddie Chavez on Look. Two reviews, the superb George Blackwell-Can't Lose My Head (Smoke) and Gwen & Ray-Build. Finally, a tip from Dave for all would be Detroit collectors: "The letters ZTSC on a record is merely a Mattrix code for the manufacturer and are in no way indicative of the style of the record".
Watch this space...
Black Music of February 74 kicked off with a full page advert for Selectadisc, a Nottingham based record shop who were responsible for a lot of pressings, as well as running the Black Magic label.
Selectadisc's top 10 sellers were the Gems, Sherrys, Didi Noel, Thelina Houston, Christine Cooper, Sweet 3, P.P.Arnold, Patti Austin and Tony Clarke-Landslide at no.l. The months new 45's included Ray Godfrey's 60's soundalike Candy Clown (Mercury) and a reissue of Jay & The Techniques-Baby Make Your Own Sweet Music.
Levine's column mentions a couple of discs, Billy Joe Young-I've Got You On My Mind Again (Paula) and Hang My Head And Cry by The Big Guys (Warner Bros). Two albums tracks mentioned too, Thelina Houston-I ain't going nowhere and Robert Knight-Branded, which was eventually taken off the LP due to Northern demand. Dave Godin's column deals with pressings and the never-ending argument about their merits.
Dave's opinion was that any-one who knows the people behind the bootlegging should report them to the BPI (which is exactly what did happen a few months later).
Godin's significant sides this month are Roshell Andreson-Know What You're Doing (Sunburst), Big Maybelle-Don't Pass Me By (Rojac) and the extremely strange Crow-Your Autumn Of Tomorrow (Inner Ear), which eventually came out on Godin's own Right On label. Godin describes the Crow disc as "Full of latent passion and anger, this one is a certain killer-diller which is mean, signifying and black, and as righteous as it wants to be" Yeah right. Always sounds to me as if they're all on acid!
Onto issue 4 of BM and a new regular feature entitled 1000 Giants of Black Music. This was an attempt at a sort of who's-who and was one of the best things to emerge from BM. Artists of interest to readers of this article who were featured in the first part of 1000 Giants, were Ernie Andrews, Lee Andrews, Barbara Acklin, Artistics and Darrell and Homer Banks.
New UK releases included Robert Knight-Everlasting Love and the Lorelei-S.T.O.P.
Selectadisc's new pressings included Melba Moore-Don't Cry, David & Giants- Ten Miles High, Watts 103rd St Band-Brown Sugar, Detroit Shakers (sic)-Help Me Find My Way and Magnificents-My Heart Is Calling.

Talking of pressings, Levine's column began...'With the bootleggers pressing up my records before I've hardly had time to play them, it's becoming increasingly difficult to tip new sounds in my column without putting money in the pockets of these racketeers. He ends..."I shall try my hardest to keep the faith" (spot the cliche?).
Once again, a good selection of records mentioned in this months Levine column; Van Dykes-Save My Love For A Rainy Day (Mala), Charles Mann- It's All Over (ABC), and Edward Hamilton-I'm Gonna Love You (Jameco). Also mentioned, Wlilbur Reynolds-Tenderizer (CB) & Shaine Hunter-Sweet Things (Aware), Jodi Mathis-Don't You Care Anymore (Capitol) and Bobby Taylor-There Are Roses Somewhere (Sunflower). Colin Curtis' big cover up of the month was Casino Brothers (aka Casanova 2)-We Got To Keep On.

Recycled vinyl, tax and racism make up a rather heavy Dave Godin column, and only two reviews this month: James Bounty-Action Speaks Louder Than Words on Compass and Barbera Lewis-Don't Forget About Me (Atlantic). The International Soul Club pressed it's latest batch of biggies, using the shooting star design. These included Nolan Chance, Patti Young, Jerry Williams, Ben Aiken, Mel Williams Vel-Vets, Steinways and Frankie & The Classicals. These are slightly rarer than the earlier white label OOTP releases. The ISC was busted very soon after this batch of pressings went on sale.

April 74's Black Music editorial was the first to concern itself with Northern soul: "Britain's notorious Northern Soul scene is getting so much publicity these days that you'd almost think they were MAKING the music up there!" It then goes on to pour scorn on the bootleggers and adds "As you groove to that rare Northern sound, does it make you feel good to think that the guy who poured his soul into it may be penniless and forgotten?" To be honest I couldn't give a toss, all I'm doing is dancing to a record in a disco.
This months Levine goodies: Watts 103rd St Band-Joker (Warner Bros), Art Wheeler-That's How Much I Love You (Cee Jam), Madeleine Wilson-Dial L For Lonely (Sanar), Storm-Sweet Happiness (Sunflower), Frank Beverly-Tomorrow May Be Your Day (Gregar), Petals-Windows Of Your Heart (Mercury), Lada Edmund Jr- La Rue (Decea) and Chips-Mixed Up Shook Up Girl (Philips). This months 1000 Giants included J.J.Barnes, H.B.Barnum, Chris Bartley, Big Maybelle, Bobby Bland, Otis Blackwell and James Brown.
This months new US releases included Melvin Bliss-Reward (Sunburst) which was played, plus quite a few names from the past including What More Do You Want man, Gene Toones billed as Gene Toone (the king of the Screamers) on She's My Girl (Thuinley). In the UK, Chess rush-released Tony Clarkels Landslide to stop Selectadisc making a killing from their pressing, and Motown issued the Contours-Baby Hit And Run due to demand.
As a footnote to Dave Godin's comments in BM 2 concerning the ZTSC mattrix, Fax 'n Info now publishes the following information.: "Further research shows ZTSC to be a fairly good method for dating the release of certain records, and determining the origins of discs with these numbers".
Black Music 7 (June 1974) was a real biggie for Northern 'fans' - a seven page investigation of the scene.
This is a massive piece which would take literally pages to analyze in full, but basically it's a guide to what the scene is, who the people are, the djls, what sort of discs are played, the venues, the bootleggers and the artists themselves.
Journalist Tony Cummings pays a visit to Newcastle Tiffanies where he describes Sam's set as "A downer" and adds "Many kids don't share my aversion for the Ventures and hicoughing pop discs which sound like the Nashville Scene (sic)'' (in other words, Sam only plays pop music). There's a guide to whos-who on, the Northern scene which makes interesting reading: Keith Minshull - "A rather unimpressive dj who encourages the market for pressings"; Pep-"Occasionally mixing a little too much pop into the dancing soul brew, he is respected and influential"; Kev Roberts-'His influence is considerable"; Richard Searling-'Seems to play mainly discs supplied by bootlegger Simon Soussan" (oh really??); Russ Winstanley- 'The most likeable of the Wiean crew" and finally Soul Sam "The joker in the pack, playing streams of unknown pop records which just happen to have the right beat".
For me though, the most interesting part of this 7-page feature was the inclusion of the countrys top 5 sounds for each years from 1967 onwards. The top 5 was listed, often complimented by sarcastic comments. This is how those top 5's from yesteryear looked:
1967 - Tony Clarke--Entertainer (Chess), Bobby Sheen-Dr.Love (Capitol), Little Hank-Mr Bang Bang Man (London/monument), Shirley Ellis-Soul Time (CBS), Major Lance-Ain.lt No Soul (Columbia)
1968 - Chubby Checker-Dischotheque (Cameo Parkway), Poets-She Blew A Good Thing (London), Flamingos - Boogaloo Party (Philips) ("An inane, mechanical stomper"), Contours-Misunderstanding (Tamla Motown), Bobby Freeman-C'Mon Swim (Pye Int)
1969 - Invitations-What's Wrong With Me Baby (Stateside), Tami Lynn-Gonna Run Away From You (Atlantic), Tams-Hey Girl Don't Bother Me (HMV), Earl Van Dyke- 6 By 6 (Tamla Motown), O'Jays-I Dig Your Act (Stateside) ("A dull stylised disc")
1970 - Alexander Patton - A lil lovin sometimes (Capitol), Leon Haywood-Baby Reconsider (Fat Fish), Bob Brady-More more more (Chariot), Bob Wilson-All Turned On (Ric Tic) ("Boring Detroit instrumental"), Ad Libs-Nothing, Worse Than Bein Alone (Share)
1971 - Prophets-I Got The Fever (Mercury), Sandi Sheldon-You're Gonna Make Me Love You (0keh), Richard Temple-Beatin rhythm (Mirwood), Bobby Hebb-Love love love (Philips), Hoagy Lands-Next In Line (Stateside)
1972 - Sam & Kitty-I Got Something Good (4 Bros)("Repetitive, boring and obscure Chicago dancer"), Chubby Checker-Just Don't Know (Cameo Parkway), Lenis Guess-Just Ask Me (SPQR), Soul Twins-quick Change Artist (Karen), Archie Bell & The Drells-Here I Go Again (Atlantic) '
1973 - Tony Clarke-Landslide (Chess) Damita Jo-I'll Save The Last Dance For You (Ranwood), Tempos-Countdown (Canterbury), Gems-I'll Be There (Riverside), Invitations-Skiing In The Snow (Dynovovoice)
1974 - Joe Hicks-Don't It Make You Feel funky (AGC), Salvadors-Stick By Me Baby (Wise World), Watts 103rd St Band-Joker (WB), Maurice Chestnut-Too Darn Soulful (Renfro), Louise Lewis-We Oo I'll Let It Be You (Skyway)
It's interesting to note that up until 1972 practically everything being played was on UK issue. BY 1975 the dj's obviously realised that to discover really new, unknown discs, they'd have to look to the original source, the USA.
Finally in BM's article on the Northern scene, we have another Wigan slag-off as our roving reporter visits Blackpool Mecca and describes the punters as "the connoisseurs of the Northern scene" and of their counterparts says "the black bombing, bootleg playing, dull brained brothers from Wigan".
It's strange how Tony Cummings keeps contradicting himself in this piece. On one hand he's praising the Mecca for it's policy of "no white stompers allowed" but then slags off almost every record he hears: Chris Jackson-Since There's No Doubt "Pleasant but just like a thousand others": Lydia Marcelle-Its Not Like You 'A Supremes ripoff". And to end the piece, one last dig at the Wigan Casino: "My brother heard them play the pressing of Eddie Foster at Wigan, bloody pressers ripping off the artists". Question is, how did he know they were playing the pressing???
Anyway, meanwhile back at the rest of BM 7, Selectadisc had a new full page advert with Butch Baker at number one with The Joker (Jocker?), along with new bootlegs of Moses Smith, Sandra Phillips, Audio Arts Strings, Fred Smith Golden World Strings (Total Eclipse) and Dana Valery. I should think that something happened to the Dana Valery pressings on Pussycat as I had to pay £4 for one in 75 and sold it at Wigan in 76 for £6! A lot of money back then.
New releases this month included Jimmy Conwell-Cigarette Ashes, Contours-Do You Love Me and Frankie & The Classicals-What Shall I Do on a new label called Pye Disco Demand. Over in the States, completely unnoticed in the Hot Stuff section was a new release on GSF by the Anderson Brothers entitled I Can See Him Loving You. Twelve months later it was big everywhere, impossible to find, and remains a classic today.
The 1000 Giants of Black Music this month included Chubby Checker, Tony Clarke, the C.O.D.s, Contours and Lou Courtney. Wigan Casino printed their first allnighter advert in this issue: "Visit the Heart Of Soul and listen to the countrys best sounds like Danny Wagner, Dena Barnes, Richard Temple, Shirttails, Al Wilson, Furys, Casualeers etc ' plus lots of SECRET SOUNDS!"
Ian Levine's column this month featured newies like Sam Ward-Sister Lee (Groove City), Jr.Walker-I ain't going nowhere (Motown), Sheila Anthony- Livin' In Love (Buttercup), Sweet Three-Big Lovers Come In Small Packages (Decca), Remarkables-I can't Give Up (Audio Arts), BK Marcus-Does She Care About Me (Gamble), Johnny Baker-Shy Guy (Fog City) and two versions of No Matter What You Do To Me, one by the LaVettes (Philips), the other by the Sherrons (DCP). So, June 74's, Black Music is certainly one to look out for, the best thus far.

July 1974 kicked off with readers letters debating the same subjects which Northern soulies argue over today, i.e. pressings, venues and drugs. A Mr.R. Winstanley of Wigan wrote to say that he was being unfairly treated and that 'Wigan Casino never play backing tracks with the vocals taken off (So what about the Mirwood Orch, Mirwood Horns, Mirwood Strings etc?).
New releases this time were the Fuzz-I'm So Glad on Pye and a couple of re-recordings by Major Lance on Contempo. The Inter-City Soul Club had just been formed and they took out a full page advert inviting people to join the club and gain many advantages such as discounts on records and other items which were vital to the Northern soul fan such as key rings, scarves and electrical goods!
Can you imagine wearing a Wigan Casino scarf?? The ICSC kicked off at the 67 Club in Temple Street, Wolverhampton, but that place was such a dump that it's hardly surprising that the venue was sparsely attended.
Dave Godin reviewed discs by Bobby Foster, Patterson Singers, Garnet Mimins, Vonettes,,Holland & Dozier and Dean Parrish's I'm On My Way ("Yet to find widespread acclaim" said Godin. Very soon after, Jonathan King issued the disc on his UK Records label (and Hoagy Lands too if I remember correctly). At this time, EVERY label was trying to jump on the Northern Soul bandwagon, even the majors like EMI, RCA, CBS etc. where rummaging through their dusty vaults in an attempt to do what Pye did with Wayne Gibson.
Over in the USA, new releases included Tyrone Davis-What Goes Up (Dakar) and the soon-to-be- huge Ladies Choice by Boby Franklin (Fee). Carl Davis, the Dells and Nella Dodds featured in 1000 Giants this month, while Ian Levine recommended that we check out the following sounds: Bobbettes-Tighten Up Your Own Home (Mayhew), Montclairs-Hung Up On Your Love (Paula), Conie Clark-My Sugar Baby (Joker), Herbs-Never Never Will I Fall In Love (Smoke) (incidentally, this was one of three big sounds currently being played oh the Smoke label, the others being George Blackwell and the Exsaveyons), Fay Ross-Faith hope & charity (Round), Pat Powdrill-Together Forever (Downey), Ithicas-Gonna Fix You Good (Fee Bee), Towanda Barnes-You Don't Mean It (A&M), Freddie Hughes-My Baby Came Back (Wee) and finally Ray Paige-Ain't No Soul (RCA).
August 1974 now, and first off is an advertisement for Track Records 'Allsorts' compilations, the only one of which is of interest to anyone interested in black music being Liquorice Allsorts which contained tracks from the Debonairs and Sandpebbles along others.
1000 Giants included the Dramatics, Dynamics, Earl Jean, Elgins, Shirley Ellis, Esquires and Exciters. Ian Levine's Hey MR.DJ column had now become the Rare Soul column (and was soon to become the Northern Soul column), and soon became an excuse for Levine to waffle on about obscure 70's releases which no-one had ever heard, would ever hear or would even want to hear. However, one goodie this month was Dean Courtney-(Love) You Just Can't Walk Away (MGM) which wasn't played at Wigan until 1977 (unless they tried in 74 but gave up with it?). Other sounds reviewed were Aldora Britton-No Cookies In My Bag (Decca), Pam Colquitt-It's Gotta Be Love (Jacklyn), Detroit Soul Masters-Stirrin' Up Some Soul (Jacklyn)(is this a real record or was Levine making it up - he says that he is 'yet to hear it'), Dean Courtney- We Have A Good Thing (RCA) and Lenny Williams-I Couldn't Find Nobody (Fantasy).
The letters page was handed over to Northern fans to have their say about the recent 7-page special. Several well known names replied including Russ, Les Cokell, Sam and (the great) Alan Rhodes. Winstanley accused the magazine of starting a feud between Wigan and the Blackpool Mecca. Cokell completely agreed with everything that was said, apart from the fact that neither venue was as good as the Wheel (well he would say that wouldn't he?). Sam reckoned that he only played Hawaii 5-0 at Newcastle as a joke, and Vicki Thorpe from Stamford said she was apalled that Sam had been treated in such a way, after all she'd been to many "discos" where Sam had played and had never heard him spin a pop record!
It was an extremely intense and angry debate, and it leads me to think that the whole thing was plotted right from the start to cause maximum interest in the scene which would in turn get the punters buying the rapidly increasing number of Northern singles being issued on UK labels. Plus the fact that probably 75% of BM's readership were those who bought it just for the Northern pages, in the same way that a lot of people buy Echoes these days. There was also the fact that a lot of 'soul' journalists and dj's went on to act as advisors for the cash-in companies.
Very little on the new release front except for Universal Mind-Something Fishy Going On (Red Coach) in the US and the Incredibles-There Is Nothing Else To Say (ContempoRaries) in the UK. Dave Godin. congratulated Pye on their first three Disco Demand singles, and paid a visit to Wigan Casino. His verdict: sounds played were variable but of a high standard, the DJ's delivered the goods and the best points were 'a soul laden atmosphere and intense enthusiasm. Worst point - lethal slippery toilet floor! Dave went on to give a very good and honest review of a night at the,Casino, exactly what it is and why it exists.
NORTHERN SOUL - BLACK MUSIC MAGAZINE
Onto September 1974 now, and a great letter from Alf Billingham of Cleveland: "Russ Winstanley states that soul people would complain if pressings were to STOP.. Russ obviously doesn't credit soul fans with any principles and integrity if he thinks this is so. He argues that because an artist like J.J.Barnes received little financial reward from Ric-Tic then the bootleggers are justified in pressing records. It just doesn't wash Russ".
Pye Disco Demand had got off to a great start, with the soul chart showing the Casualeers at 14, Jerry Williams at 15, Frankie & The Classicals at 25 and the Fuzz, at 32. All good stuff, but beware the Javells! The Rare Soul column was disappointing with reviews of Donnie Brookes-Satisfaction Guaranteed (Decca) (which didn’t go big til the Stafford era!) Koffie-Stay Here With Me (Bell), Towanda Barnes-You Don't Mean It (A&M) and a spotlight on the De-Val label. Very little in this months Hot Stuff apart from Brother To Brother-In The Bottle (Turbo), but there were quite a few new UK releases including the Casualeers,("Is it soul? Is it pop? Is it any good?" what sort of review is that BM?), Soul Brothers Six-Thank You Baby ("Paunchy aggression"), Little Johnny Blair-Momma’s Gone and Blilly Butler-.Right Track. IOOO Giants included the Fantastics, Fascinations, Flamingos, Formations,. Bobby Freeman, the Fuzz, Mamie Galore and Kenny Gamble. Sounds Around Records (who?) of Nottingham were sel iiig copies of Jo Ann. Kiiig--Let Them Love And Be Loved (Fairmount), Case Of Tyme-Manifesto (Legend), Larry Atkins-Ain't That Love Enough (Romark) and the Soulful Hounds-Why Did You Leave Me Girl (Magic -City), while Groove City Records (a.k.a. Soul Bowl) had Bobby Foster, Nat Wright and Arnold Bryant at 70p each.
Dave Godin took a trip up to Wolverhampton to check out the Inter City SC gig at the Club 67. He complained about the prices (20p for a cheese sandwich!) and the poor atmosphere, but was impressed by the enthusiasm of some of the younger members. (N.B.What Dave didn't know was the fact that the 67 Club was in the middle of Wolverhamptons’ red light district and was very rough, that's why I never went!). Godin also reviewed Popcorn Wylie’s Rosemary What Happened (Karen) and somehow managed to draw an analog with African music of thousands of years ago, and also Big Maybelles version of ? & The Mysterions 96 Tears (Rojac).
Onto Black Music 11, November 74, and another disappointing Ian Levine column with reviews of obscure discs by Jackie Montre El, Mary Alice McCall, Jimmy Hudson, Cleveland Eaton and Spice (not the UK outfit) plus a look at the Ambers. A few new UK releases this month, notably another winner from Pye in the shape of Al Wilson-Help Me plus Robert Knights Branded and a remake of Right Track by Major Lance.
Apart from a rather low-key Dave Godin column dealing with UK companies cashing in and bastardising Northern Soul music, and a DJ profile of John Vincent (easily the best dj at Wigan around 76), there's little else in this issue to concern readers, although there’s a good interview with Gloria Jones who reveals that she sang backing vocals on Brenda Holloway’s Classic Every Little Bit Hurts with Brenda’s sister Patrice helping out, that Sandy Wynns real name is Edna Wright and Gloria herself sang backing on Touch Of Venus.Wot, no Tainted Love?
New pressings on the market included Steve Karmen-Breakaway, Tony & Tyrone.-Please Operator, Coasters-Crazy Baby (which had recently been massive covered as Freddie Jones-My hearts wide open), Laura Greene-Moonlight, music & you, and Spiral Starecase-More Today Than Yesterday. Groove City were selling originals of the Gems, Bobbettes, Mighty Shane and United Four at 75p each.But, if you wanted to be the trendiest guy on the block you could buy a Soul Star t-shirt of JJ Barnes, Marvin Gaye or Northern Soul (wonder what he looks like?) in either white, canary or turquoise, all with a fashionable scoop-neck!
On the venue front it was a very busy time. The Northern Soul Club based in Whitchurch were running a Soul Train - literally I mean - picking up at Crewe, Stoke, Wolverhampton and Birmingham and ending up in Reading for an all-dayer. Anii Peebles was live at Newcastle Tiffanies, Sale Mecca had Levine and Curtis and there were ICSC gigs at Walsall, Sheffield, Malvern and Bristol. Top sounds at Wigan Casino in November 1974 were Eddie & Ernie, Fabulous Blades, Dena Barnes, Joey Dee, Detroit Soul and Michael & Ray- mond.
Issue l2, November 74, kicks off with another Mr.Angry type letter from David Cole of Cleveland...".The Northern Soul scene is the most insincere, pretentious scene in the whole of British music. The constant one-upmanship which seems so rife when someone has found a rarity and the fact that discs are covered up so no-one else will latch onto them is to me appalling. No TRUE soul lover would do such a thing. The enjoyment of soul music is something to be shared as any genuine soul lover who found a new or rare sound would want to turn as many people onto it as possible. (Yes, but the whole reason that discs were covered up in those days was because no sooner had they been uncovered that they were bootlegged, and consequently dropped from the playlists.
However, the points made in David Cole’s letter do apply nowadays though because dj’s cover-up simply to have sole ownership of the rarest sounds even though there’s practically no chance of the sound being bootlegged). The letter continues.."I’ve been to Northern clubs and I've been sickened by the sight of a high percentage of kids (and I do mean 'kids') doped up to the eyeballs on any kind of pills they can get their hands on. Could it be that those pills make the Northern sounds so palatable, as to my non-stoned ears 90% of Northern raves are nothing but badly produced soundalikes". What a dickhead! Everybody knows you don't get "doped" or 'stoned' at all nighters - you get smashed or blocked!
Anyway, some hot new sounds out in the States this month included Alpaca Phase III-I Like To,Party (Atlantic), Bill Harris-Uptown Saturday Night (Warner Bros) and the great Hundred Pounds Of Pain by Lenny Welch (Mainstream) which was massive 12 months later.
Levine's Rare Soul column looked at noted singer/ producer/composer/arranger George Kerr, and a group called the Icemen. New UK releases included the VelVets-I’ve Gotta Find Me Somebody ("A nondescript girl group") and the Exciters lacklustre remake of Blowing Up My Mind ("A good disc"). Selectadisc's top pressings were Roy Hamilton-Crackin' Up, Elsie Strong -Just Ask Me and the Adventurers-Easy Baby, while 1000 Giants featured Marvin Gaye, Berry Gordy Jr, Rex Garvin, Glories, Earl Grant, Dobie Gray and Garland Green.
This months Dave Godin.column dealt with the controversy surrounding' the Javells-Goodbye Nothing To Say which Pye had been circulating to Northern jocks on white labels under the pretence that they were a black group from US Roulette Records, when in fact they were white session musicians. There's also a Godin report on the Aquarius Soul Club in Retford where the big sounds included Dee Dee Sharp~What Kind Of Lady, Bobby McCLure-You Got Me Baby, Lester Lanin-Dizzy and Jo Ann King-Let Them Love. Onto the venues and there were Northern nights at Oswestry, Newcastle, Bristol, Southampton, Shrewsbury and what looks like it must have been a goodie in Bournemouth with sounds like Del Larks, Velvet Satins, Master 4, Dena Barnes and Little Rose Little.
December 74 now, issue 13, and BM's first anniversary. As far as the N.Soul afficionado was concerned the magazine had been, on the whole, excellent and there was no reason to feel that this large-scale coverage couldn't continue. However, midway through 1975 the Soul bubble burst and Northern Soul was back underground again. The record companies lost interest, and so did Black Music. That was to come however.
The anniversary issue kicked off with yet another this-is-crap-no-it's-not debate and who said what to who letters page. Two Northern sounds released this month, Ila Van's Can't Help Loving That Man (with controversy over the word "that" being printed as "dat" in a very condescending manner) and Danny White’s Cracked Up Over You on MCA. Roy Hamilton featured in 1000 Giants, and Selectadisc’s hot new pressings included Mylestones, G1oria Jones, Sounds Of Lane, Carl Henderson, Dirty Hearts and Gypsies.
Godin deals with the politics of the scene but apart from that there’s very little in this for the Northern crowd. However, in January 1975 things hot up, beginning with round three of Godin vs Pye in which our hero reveals that soul fans were polled to see which monster sound they'd like to be released on Pye. They picked Wally Cox, but this turned out to be the worst seller of the lot (which was hardly surprising considering A) it has already been pressed, and B) it's rubbish). Malc Burton from Doncaster writes to complain about bias towards kids on.the scene, something which happened an awful lot in those days and something I had to put up with myself (I was 15 in 75) but now, thankfully, age isn't important.
This months new releases included Bettye Swann's Make Me Yours, and the unfortunate Footsee, soon to appear on Top Of The Pops with a supporting cast of dancers fron Wolverhampton and Dudley (including Jethro). Anyone got a video of it?
In the USA, Snoopy Dean's Shake & Bump and King Sporty's Music Maker were released, both becoming big sounds. Levine was back with his rare soul column, becoming more and more 70's orientated all the time, but the real meat of this months issue was another Northern Soul 'expose' entitled 'Northern Soul Revisited'.
Once again, Tony Cummings was the intrepid reporter. Today he would probably be classed as a Sun reporter. The feature is basically yet another Wigan slag-off: "Spinning kids moving to the sounds spun by Richard Searling ... Lenny Williams-I Couldn't Find Nobody, Nancy Wilsons The End Of Our Love, Gloria Jones-Tainted Love, all discs first spun at the Blackpool Mecca and all now firm favourites". So, in the very first sentence, Cummings insinuates that Wigan simply plays Blackpools cast-offs. He then goes on to describe the soul fans desire to dance to discs such as Soussans home-made instrumental versions of Devil With The Blue Dress etc., which sets, the tone for the whole article, which is that Blackpool is IT, Wigan is where the divs go.
Cut to an interview with bootlegger supreme Simon Soussan. For the younger readers who may not remember Soussan, he is the guy responsible for the bootlegs on the Soul Galore label, many of which were performed by the man himself and did the reputation of the material played at Wigan an awful lot of harm. Having said that, Soul Galore also released a few crackers such as Doni Burdicks Bari Track, Jimmy Mack-My World Is On Fire. To his credit, Soussan also managed to get hold of Randy Wood, owner of the legendary Mirwood Label, who gave all his masters to him resulting in previously unheard instrumentals of the Furys, Jackie Lee, Olympics and Belles. But it was the custom made discs that were the bone of contention here, and Selecta-, disc were eventually busted for selling Soussan's product.
Russ Winstanley... "We are not going pop at, the Casino, but we are determined to keep playing the fast type of records which Northern Soul has always been, about. It's the places like Blackpool which are selling out, they are playing slower, funkier types of records which aren't. true Northern Soul. We are trying to keep the Northern Soul scene truly Northern.". If you think rationally about it, Russ was right because although the Mecca did keep finding great sounds like the M.V..P.'s and Lou Edwards, their musical policies took them away from 'real' Northern Soul and into a new scene built around the likes of Doctor Buzzard, Brass Construction and their ilk.
In years to come when people think back and discuss Northern Soul - as we are doing now - it will be Wigan that remains fondest in the memory simply because of what the Mecca eventually became. And before anyone asks yes I did attend both venues (though I must admit, I only went to the Mecca once as opposed to Wigan more or less every week). But staying with the article in question, there's a nice piece concerning 'Soul Supply' mainman Kev Roberts which basically says that while Russ is raking in £150 per spot, Kev gets a measly £15 and is banned from playing Mecca stuff such as Boby Franklin and Snoopy Dean. It also adds that Kev has a more dubious sideline - Emidiscs. (My first was Lou Pride b/w Reggie Garner - what was yours?) Enter Ian Levine to add his two pence worth... "Half the clubs and disc jockeys and kids follow Wigan, in other words stomp stomp dancers - some of which are pop records; and half follow the Mecca and are into rare, uptempo but black soul". Ian Levine now makes a living producing hi-NRG records for gay clubs.
Well, we're in early 1975 and the top Mecca sounds are King Sporty, Boby Franklin and the Perception Strings. The epitomy of the Northern Soul sound I don't think so. On the other hand.they're playing stuff like James Fountain and Life, great records but still 70's releases. Thus ends Blackpool Mecca’s involvement in Northern Soul. The big split took place in February 1975 and the scene would never be the same again. Onto our next issue of BM, and there's no let-up in the media coverage of Northern Soul. "How far have we really come from the bad old days of rip-off and plagiarism when the only 'Northern Soul' records to make a big impact on the pop chart are by second rate British acts, while the black originators remain in obscurity'' protests the editorial in BM 15.
Two pages are devoted to readers letters concerning the expose in the previous issue. Martin Clark of Sheffield accuses Tony Cummings of deliberately starting a feud between Blackpool and Wigan. John Maddock of Nottingham accuses Russ Winstanley of playing only sounds that he likes himself. A certain Dave Evison pleads for the return of the harmony that’s always surrounded the scene, and John Vincent corrects several innacuracies which make last months article look very silly indeed. Alan Rhodes protests at being called a 'second rate dj (i.e. anyone who isn't Winstanley, Levine or Cuirtis) and Ian 'Frank' Dewhurst puts forward the cases for both venues.
The months new UK singles included a belated release for Snoopy Dean’s Shake And Bump, a reissue of Jackie Lee’s The Duck (why?) and Sister Sledge’s pop dancer Love Don’t Go Through No Changes On Me, while in the States there were new releases by Graham Central Station – Feel the need in me, Margo Thunder-Expresway To Your Heart Thunder-Expressway To Your Heart, and one of the biggest sounds of the years newies, Paul Humphrey's Cochise. 1000 Giants Of Black Music featured Leon Haywood, Hesitations, Donald Height and Monk Higgins. Sanantha’s in Sheffield was now running regulars all-nighters, and there were dayers in Coalville and Nottingham. Current big sounds were Mandrill, Billy Prophet, Gary Lewis, and Eddie & Ernie. New pressings from Selectadisc this month included Laura Greene, Los Canarios and Soussans Love Sitars.
March 75 kicked off with a letter from an angry young lady from Birmingham who pleaded that Northern Soul shou1d be kicked out of the magazine because 'the people at Wigan and the Mecca are a bunch of hypocrites and false prophets whose only aim is to exploit black artists". There were several new singles this month in the UK including Eddie & Ernie, Lada Edmund Jr, Sons Of Moses, Steve Karnen, Rex Garvin and Jimmy Breedlove. There was an interesting piece on Frankie Crocker's Ton Of Dynamite (my second Emidisc,by the way b/w I'm Your Pimp-Skullsnaps) in which the real truth behind the disc is told i.e. Crocker sings on the A side whereas Dynamite is in fact by Lonnie Youngblood with Willie & The Mighty Magnificents. Soul Sam wrote in to call BM's recent N.Soul feature 'biased drivel' while Ian Levine actually reviewed some decent records in his 'Sounds' column including 'Harold Melvin, Topics, Marvin Holmes, Modern Redcaps and George Clinton. Just out in the States, Prince Johnny 'Robinson-That Girl Is Rated X, and Gwen Owens-You Better Watch Out, while in the UK Selectadisc had pressings of Rita Dacosta, Wombat, Carstairs, AI Wilson and Dean Courtney.
The next issue April 1975 had a batch of replies to last months 'hypocrites' slur, but more importantly it carried the first ever advertisement for 'three button high waisted cord baggies with 30 inch bottoms’! Two of the worst records ever played on the scene came out on Pye, the Fugitives-Human Jungle and the diabolical Kenny Bernard-What Love Brings. Disco Demand's Solid Soul Sensat- ions album was reviewed this month and received a three star rating, and Ron Holden, Holidays, Cissie Houston and Eddic Holman were among this month giants. The newly established 'Northern Soul' page featured Johnny Bragg and Lada Edmund Jr, and also had an interview with Kenny Bernard whose best quote was "I saw Wayne Gibson on Top Of The Pops and i thought, man, wouldn't it be great if 1 could get an oldie release like that...and now I have". Tough luck Ken, should've tried to get CBS to reissue Pity My Feet. Ian Levine described Diane Jenkns’ Towaway Zone (Creative Funk) as "the record to end all records", and also reviewed Robby Lawson-Burning Sensation (Kyser), Stingers--I Refuse to Be Lonely (Stax), plus 70's stuff from Johnny Robinson, the Virtues and LTG Exchange. Hot stuff saw new releases from Na Allen-Open The Door To Your Heart and the dreadful Mare Copage double sider Who Can I Turn To/Will It Be Me, Plus Bataan's instrumental of The Bottle. Again there were no shortage of soul do’s, with places such as Burnley Circulation Club, the fondly remembered Halesowe Tiffs, Derby Cleos, Yate Sterling Suite (with dj 'King Kojak’) and a dayer at Leicester with Paul Rudzitis at the decks.
Onto May 1975 and BM 18, and this months Selectadisc specials showcased their new Black Magic label, kicking off with a double sider' from Paula Rousell/ Bob Relf, and the infamous Sharonettes-Papa Ooh Mow Mow. If you thought those were bad, this month also saw the release of Wigan’s Ovation's Skiing In The Snow, and I had the misfortune to see them play live at a Northern night at W'ton Civic at the time. Levine was there that night, I wonder what he made of them? There were loads of new singles this month including Mitch Ryder, Dean Courtney, Devonnes, J.J.Barnes, Sax Of Soul-Sea Cruise (I bought that one!) and the nausiating Sliced Tomatoes by Sounds Of Lancashire. Disco Demand had a busy month because they also released the album Great Disco Demands, a compil- ation of some, of their singles. New singles in the US included Major Harris’ After Loving You and Lily Fields-Love Has So Many Meanings. The Northern Soul Page carried an interview with 'Cochise’man Paul Humphrey, and Ian Levine Amazed everyone by writing another good column with reviews of Holly Maxwell, Symphonics, Al Gardner, Tony Hester, Little Dooley and finally The Trip by Dave Mitchell and the Sceamers of which Levine wrote.."If only Wigan could get their hands on this". (Which they did almost immediately).
June 1975's new releases: and this was bad; a disco version of Dance Dance Dance by a group called Liquid Smoke on Roulette, plus an answer version to Prince Johhny Robinson in the shape of Ann Byers’ This Man Is Rated X. There was also the latest abberation from Disco Demand with the Sha-Na-Nettes version of Just Like Romeo & Juliet and a newie/oldie from the Exciters with Love You Baby. Sandra Phillips, whose disc World Without Sunshine had been huge a few months earlier, was featured in the Northern Soul column, along with the 'other’ George Clinton of Please Don't Run fame. Levine's choices this month were the brilliant I’m Spellbound by Tamiko Jones (Golden World), Leroy Britton- You're Never Too Young (Sound), Jimmy Mack-My World Is On Fire (Palmer), Free Form Experimentt-There Will Be Light (Inner Ear-same label as The Crow), plus the Anderson Brothers-I Can See Him Loving You (GSF), Melvin Carter-Midnight Brew (Trip Universal) ex Johnny Jackson Experience-Let's Shing A Ling At The GoGo cover up; and finally Ernest Mosley's Stubborn Heart (La Cindy). Hot Stuff carried a review of a current biggie, the Brothers-Are You Ready For This (RCA) and described it as "a couple of fragments of tape salvaged from the Sigma Sound waste bin". Also out in the States was a similar sounding instrumental effort by 3rd Time Around-Soon Everything Will Be Alright (Denine).
More letters concerning BM’s anti-Northern attitude kicked off issue 20 (July 75). Dane Smith from Northants: "Why do you not include sounds like the Philly Devotions, Johnny C, Capitols and Deon Jackson under the Northern section of your new releases? Is it because you like these records? And why include records like Sounds Of Lancashire when you darn well know that we Northern Soul freaks don't dance or listen to such crap?" Good point, and oddly enough this months singles were given much better reviews. The Temprees-At Last was "Marvellously swaggering", Jimmy James ’Help Yourself 'belts along", Tony & Tyrone-PIease Operator was "lovely, noisy, tinny, vintage mid-60’s soul.", Lorraine Chandler-Love You Baby was Black Magics best yet (not too difficult a task) and Gene Latter's Sign On The Dotted Line was "Among the best of it's type".
Tony Cummings wrote a short biography of Lorraine Chandler for the Northern Soul column, and Ian Levine reviewed some obscure newies with the exception of George Benson-Supership and Diane Jenkins-I Need You. The Other Levine sounds were by Crossfire, Barrett Strong, Cortez Greer, Chris Campbel1 and Kevin Drinkard. Feature of the month however was a special on Van.McCoy, then currently high in the charts with the excruciating Hustle. The article mentioned his work with many Northern favourites including Chuck Jackson, Shirelles, Drifters, Jay & The Americans, Barbara Lewis, Sweet Things, Spellbinders, Sandi Sheldon, Chris Bartley, Jackie Wilson and Brenda & The Tabulations. Incidentally, did you know that the lead singer from the Sweet Things, Francine Baker, teamed up with another Northern favourite Herb Ward to become Peaches & Herb? You did? Oh well.
August 1975 kicked off with a full page ad for three new UK Capitol releases from Earl Wright ("Back in the shops due to fantastic public demand" - it had never been in the UK shops before!), Jodi Mathis and. the Reflections. Top sounds pressed by/for Selectadise were Don Thomas, Nanette Workman, Capreez Ede Robin and Debbie Fleming. Black Magic released their next two singles, Dobie Gray-Out On The Floor and another Soussan recording, the abysmal Runaway by the Chantelles.
Of the aforementioned Capitol releases, Thumb A Ride was described as "put together in five minutes by a bunch of tired West Coast session men". This was in stereo and slightly remixed. Jodi Mathis’ Don't You Care Anymore was pressed with the slowie b-side "mama"as the A-side! Chuck Jackson's brilliant Chains Of Love was described as "painfully dated and lacking in grace and subtlety" but Maxine Brown’s One In A Million, T.D.Valentine-Love Trap, and the Cooperettes-Shing A Ling all got surprisingly unbiased reviews. The Fabulous Blades-Jerk Baby Jerk and Lenis Guess-Just Ask Me also got belated UK releases.
Over in the States there were Northern spins for new releases by Esther Phillips-What A difference, Boogie Man Orchestra-Lady Lady Lady, Eric Mercury-Pours When It Rains, and the Superlatives-I Still Love You (that's what it says here anyway, August 75’s Hot Stuff lists the Superlatives on Uptite as a new release. Maybe it was a legitimate repressing?)
Bob Relf and George Benson featured in Northern Soul this month, and Levine's new spins were as follows: Tobi Bowe-Groovy Feeling (Patheway), Vessie Simmons-Shiftless Shady (Simco), David Lenyard-It Could Have Been You (Flying Eagles), Black Truth Band-Butter Nut (Black Truth), Nat Fross-Too Many Skeletons In The Closet (How Big) (cover-up I think), Creative Funk-Moving World (Creative Funk), Famous Chromes-Teach Me (Drive), Jessie Fisher-You’re Not Loving A Beginner (Way Out), and finally Scott Brothers-We Like Girls (Zachron). Certainly looks as if Levine had decided to almost 100% 70's newies by this time.
The Yate allnighters were well established by this time, primarily run by the Inter City Soul Club who also had gigs going in Newquay, Leeds Cats Whiskers and Leicester Palais. In September 1975 Dave Godin launched his Right On label and kicked it off with a couple of goodies, the Jelly Beans-You Don't Mean Me No Good and the Crow- Your Autumn Of Tomorrow, a record which was unfortunately too far ahead of it's time in 1975 to be massive but has certainly grown in stature over the years - due for revival maybe?
Major Lance's Live At The Torch was released and Black Music described it as "the ultimate insanity" but awarded it two stars for "important historical value". Doni Burdick, Dave Mitchell and Ollie Jackson were all pressed this month, while Rita Dacosta got a belated UK release on Contempo. There was a mild controversy over the new single by comedy trio the Goodies, the chorus of which went something like 'Black pudding Bertha, she's the queen of Northern Soul" - it had come to this!
The Mecca playlist around this time included Mistura-Life Is A Song Worth Singing, Loletta Holloway-The World Don't Owe You Nothin’, Conquistadors-Sadness and Madness, 35th Street Gang-I Spy, Tax Free- Love Has Gone, Ballads-Lovin You Isn't Enough and Wade Flemons-Jeanette. Over at the Casino however, they were spinning Frankie Crocker-Ton Of Dynamite, World Column-So Is The Sun, Jeanette Harper-Put Me In Your Pocket, Willie Mitchell-Champion, Jades-I’m Where It's At, 8th Avenue Band-Whole Thing and even Billy Woods-Let Me Make You Happy.
Tony Cummings reported on Black Magic act the Sharonettes and asked "exactly who are they" Well, first reports (from Simon Soussan actually) said that the Sharonettes comprised a 17 year old Soussan discovery named Paula Roussell, plus Northern heroines Patrice Holloway and Clydie King, with Sherlie Matthews thrown in for good measure. It eventually transpired that the group really consisted of Sherlie Matthews, a girl called Becky Lewis and Carolyn Willis, whose That Beat And Rhythm had been a hit for Soussan using the old Cigarette Ashes backing track. Both Sharonettes discs, Papa Ooh Mow Mow and Going To A Go Go, made the UK charts.
BM October.1975, and new releases from the States which got plays on the scene were Revelation-Get Ready For This, and the Men From Macon-Salvation. In the UK, releases included Jackie Lee-Shotgun & The Duck, Mike Post-Afternoon Of The Rhino, Mr.Floods Party-Compared To What, RB Freeman-I’m Shaft and Debbie Fleming-Long Gone. Ian Levine's tips included True Pages Of Life-Truth And Love (Creative Funk), Val Palmer-Back In My Arrns Again (Twin Hits), Rising Sun- You're Never Too Old To Learn (Kingston), Jaywalkers-Can’t Live Without You (Swan), Carlena Williams-I Won’t Be Completely Happy (Erica), Joseph Moore-I Still Can't Get 'You (Marvlus), Jimmy Burns-I Really Love You (Erica)(which didn't go big til late 77) and Shelley Fisher-Girl I Love You (Dalya. The latest batch of Soul Galore releases featured Gloria Parker, Jimmy Mack and Keanya Collins.
September 1975 saw Wigan Casino’s second anniversary take place, with guest stars Tommy Hunt, the Chi-Lites and Otis Leavill booked to appear . Northern Soul - After The Goldrush was the title of BM’s final big expose on the world of N.Soul, written basically because all the fuss from January's piece had died down, and no doubt circulation had fallen! First off, the customary visit to the Casino, and the first put-down: "Rail workers from Crewe, packers from Preston, steel workers from Sheffield and factory hands from Burnley.. suggesting that everyone who attends Wigan is a thick manual worker. No doubt there are a few brain surgeons dancing at the Mecca meanwhile. After the usual white stomper slag-offs and drug references, there is a lengthy piece concerning tailor-made Northern sounds, and the relative merits of Soussan, Pye, Spark and Ian Levine. No prizes for guessing who comes out smelling of roses! Now it's over to the Mecca where Cummings explains just why Blackpool had to switch to obscure new releases rather than keep plodding along with the old type sounds, but then totally blows the piece by quoting the latest Mecca biggie as being the Idle Few -People That's Why (a cover of a PJ proby LP track). Cleethorpes is next on the agenda, and the place actually gets a good write-up, maybe because it provides a happy medium between Blackpool and Wigan. Biggest sounds over on the East Coast were Danny Monday-Baby Without You (Modern) , Five & A Penny-You Don’t Know Where Your Interest Lies (UK Polydor), Rodger Collins-You Sexy Sugar Plum (Fantasy) and Len Jewell-All My Good Lovin’(Pzazz).
The Inter City Soul Club held a soul convention in Blackpool, spread over three days. For £29.50 you got hotel accommodation, a soul exhibition (?), and a soul dance night, followed by a five-a-side football competition the next morning and a soul forum with guest speakers Mary Chapman (Cleethorpes organiser), Dave Godin, Andy Peebles and Tony fucking Cummings. At 8'o’clock, a soul concert featuring the Armada Orchestra, Chris Bartley, Fantastic Four, Tamiko Jones, Bessic Banks, Otis Leavill, Sam Nesbitt, Oliver Sain and Ultra Funk (in other words, the Contempo roadshow). Did all this actually take place, I can't remember. If any reader attended this weekender maybe they could write in and tell us what it was like.
Here's one for you: did you that Little Dooley of You Better Be Ready fame was the same guy who did Game Players as Dooley Silverspoon? Just one of the interesting facts in BM October 75. Very little new product released in the UK this month: Johnny Williams – You’re Something Kinda Mellow, Sisters Love-Learning To Trust My Man and Tommy Hunt’s cover version of Cracking Up Over You. In the States There was Barnaby Bye – Can’t Live This Way, Anacostia-All I Need and the Miracles- Love Machine. On the pressings front, Terry Jackson Soul of Leicester had copies, or one copy as the case may be, of Robbie Lawson, candi Staton, Flower Shoppe, Three Degrees, Bunny Sigler and Al Foster band. On the fashion front, no soulie was without his three button, high waist, side pocket 30" Karma Ghia cords along with bowling shirt and leather bomber jacket. I know - I was that soulie.
Well it’s now December 1975 and we come to the last Black Music to be featured in this article. In fact, this issue is perhaps the most interesting to record collectors as it contains a discography of every Northern sound currently available at that time in the UK. According to the uncredited writer of the feature all of the following discs were played on the scene At some time: 5000 Volts-I’m on fire, Chantelles – Runaway, Offenbach-Judy In Disguise, Northern Soul Inc-Something Keeps Calling Me Back, Jezzabells-Tainted Love, Spix'n’Spax-Follow The Leader, Etta Thomas-Just Ask Me, and many more of the same calibre.
Here’s the pick of the reviews: Shakers-One Wonderful Moment(''Dire stomp stomp"), Jackie Lee-Temptation Walk ("The epitome of Northern Soul"), Graham Bonney-Supergirl ("Thoroughly obnoxious pop disc" - here, here), Earl Wright – Thumb A Ride ("Repetitive, mindless"),Lada Edmund Jr-La Rue ("Absurdly stereotyped"), Sons Of Moses-Soul Symphony ("Inept"), Danny White-Cracked Up Over You (''Primitive''), Mr. Floods Party-Compared To What ("Dull instrumental"). That just goes to show how well they listened to these records, the fact that Compared To What is a vocal track!
The list goes on anyway. Just think though, in December 1975 you could have gone into any major record shop and picked up records of quality by Sapphires, Soul Brothers Six, Dobie Gray, Hoagy Lands, Williams & Watson, Major Lance, Sheila Anthony, Dean Courtney, Ila Van, Yvonne Baker, Incredibles, Bettye Swann, Dean Parrish, Homer Banks, Poets, Bunny Sigler, Lada Edmund, Jerry Williams, and on and on and on.
It certainly was an exciting time to be discovering Northern Soul as I well remember, with new records to hear every week, new venues and new friends. I hope you've enjoyed reading about the monthly life of the Northern Soul scene in 1974-75. Anyone wanting to use this article on a webpage or in any other format is quite welcome to do so as long as they credit me for writing it ok!
Thanks for reading!
Pete
Pete Smith
Published Date: 1999/10/28 18:50:00

By Pete S in Articles · June 3, 199926 yr

Mick Lyons - Manifesto Interview
Mick Lyons is about as far from the stereotype soulie as you can get but don't let his image fool you, this is a man who's passionate about music. As a Dj Mick can be heard at most of the top all-nighters and as an MC he's been long active on the rave scene. Add to this his track record as promoter of Blackburn and his involvement in the soul scene since the mid sixties and you soon realise that there's more to this man than meets the eye. Often misunderstood or misquoted we decided to have a chat with Mick and see what makes him tick. The following interview was recorded after Blackbum all-nighterin May of this year, this is what he had to say.
I've lived music all my life me, when I was young I worked on the fairgrounds, they used to call it 'The Soul Castle' cause we had all the American import records. Most of the records you'll still hear me playing today we had then and I still remember doing places like the Nottingham Goose Fair where all the black kids would go back in the sixties.
M. That's what surprised me about you. Brian Rae was telling me earlier tonight about how he first met you back in the mid sixties.
Yeh I remember Brian coming up to me one night and asking 'What was that record'. That was the first time we met, I think it was about 1967, that’s how far back we go. Working on the fairground and in the clubs meant that I have always been surrounded by music. Even as a kid of about 12 or 13, I always had a preference for American music. I listened to the radio stations like Radio Caroline and London and through the night they played loads of American music. Tony the Prince and all that lot. It was crossover but there was some really good powerful stuff played.
The first all-nighters I attended were at The Room At The Top in Wigan in late '65 which were on every Saturday night. They'd play a lot of American imports Robert Parker 'Barefootin' and loads of Otis Reading and that kind of stuff. In the middle of the night you'd usually get a live band that did Atlantic and Stax stuff. There was also the Iron Door at Liverpool which was a good club as was the Cavern Club which had all-nighters. Liverpool was a good place for soul in those days because of course it was all coming straight off the ships.
A lot of those records that we were into then went under and disappeared, reappearing around '72/3 and helped form the backbone of what became northern soul. At this time I was working as head doorman for Gerry Marshall at the Casino and when the all-nighters started there many of the punters thought they were discovering all these old tunes for the first time not realising they all been massive
I remember I used to lock up The Casino last thing at night and me and Gerry Marshall who used to sleep in the place would often sit down and have a drink and a chat. One night he said Mick what do you reckon we should do to get this place happening again. As I'd been watching how the crowd reacted when the Dj's who were on between the bands played soul music I said 'Mr Marshall, I reckon you should go for an all-night license. Thinking back to how popular The Room At The Top was. Soon after that Mike Walker joined the staff and everyone knows the rest.
Through my work as a bodyguard and doorman I've gotten to meet so many of the big names in fact practically all the big names of that era with the exception of Elvis Presley. I've seen em all Bo Didley, Chuck Berry, Little Richard and not just once but many times. I saw Bo Didley again in California in 1990 and I've always been influenced by his music, it's really soulful. This is my opinion of soul music, feeling it from the inside and not being superficial and copying anybody else. In other words, it's not the jokes it the way you tell them.
In '73 I went to work and live in Germany and they had a good thriving soul scene over there then. I came back in '77/78 and The Casino was still doing nothing for me. It was far too commercialized I've always been a lover of underground clubs. I went to a few things during the late 70's early 80's but nothing really caught me. Then in the mid 80's I started running all-nighters. Through my security job I had access to a lot of venues and so I started opening up some of them after hours for illegal all-night sessions. We'd get around 1/200 hundred in and then Bradford started kicking in and they had it half right over there. Then they lost their license which was a shame because that could have gone on to be really good.
I wish I could remember the guy's name i liked the bloke and he had a really knowledge of the music. Over there the northern was upstairs and they'd have Rave going on downstairs and the two mixed really well. I mean I can give tapes of our stuff to mates of mine on the rave scene and they can really get off on it, and vice versa. It just seems that too many people on the soul scene now have forgotten how to enjoy themselves. Their lives revolve around not being good themselves and getting praise for that but having a go at someone else to make them look bad. People's paranoia is their problem, most of the time they're just insecure and can only make themselves look better by making others around . them look worse.
Q. Has your work on the rave scene had an effect on how you view northern.
When I'm Dj'ing I'll talk at the begining and end of a set but not in the middle because I don't think you can complement the music. When I'm MCing on the rave scene I'll be shouting all over it, it's a way of boosting up the atmosphere. Bul northern doesn't need that, just let the music talk. This fashion of stopping the record and speaking in the gap is just to make it easier for the Dj. There's no point stopping the dancefloor and introducing a new record because if people realise they don't know it they might just use the break as an opportunity to get off the floor. The way I do it is to slip something in and let them think it's user friendly and dance to it even though they might not have heard it before.
On the same token if I play two or three of these new tunes and lose the flow I'll see it and bring it back. I've got loads of crowd have come to be entertained. It's not what you've got in your box but what you play in that sixty minutes and how you effect their emotions. It all about taking them on a little journey, touching their heartstrings and helping them leave all their troubles behind. If you can do that then you've succeded. By not interrupting the flow and talking between tracks I'll get to play probably 5 records more than some of the other guys, well over 12 hours that's 60 more records that those people will get to hear which is a hell of a lot of music.
As a promoter I like to get the Dj's working as a team, not everyone will do great all the time, but if one doesn't do well it should be the job of the next to pull it back, it's the night what matters. I also think it's wrong to try and plan a spot in advance. I'll get on stage a minute before a spot and my records are everywhere. I'll look at the crowd and see how there reacting to what's being played, if it's working you try and complement that record and continue the journey. If it's not you try and pull them back and take them down another road. But I often won't know I'm going to play next until the previous record's nearly finished.
It's like when people come up and ask for requests. If that record fits in with where you're going then fine but if not and it's anti, even though I may have the record I can't take the others off of their little journey, if the majority are happy you're doing your job.
M The starnge thing about the northern scene which doesn’t happen on say the club scene, this constant stream of requests which seems to be a tradition. Trouble is most of me time don 't you get the feeling that it's done to impress you with their knowledge or to try and catch you out with things that they know you probably haven't got
Yeh, you're right, or they'll come up and ask you what was that record you played 5 records ago! while I'm in the middle of working. They love to be able to go back to there mates and say 'Oh, he hasn't got it'. But like I said earlier it's all about entertaining, you can get the crowd up and then take them higher and higher. Then maybe drop them back down into
something a bit moody and mellow, and then back up again. I used to think that many of these big name Dj's could do it but just didn't want to. Now I've realised that in fact a lot of them simply can't do it.
Some of my mates from the rave scene will come to all-nighters with me and there baffled by some of the sets that they hear getting played. They simply can't understand why a Dj who has the crowd in the palm of his hand will then drop them by playing something totally the opposite next. I've taken Dj's off at Blackburn when I see them going down badly, it's nothing personal it's just that as a promoter that's your responsibility to give the crowd good quality entertainment. Your not responsible for that Dj's ego.
With Blackburn I've tried to take them back while taking them forward if you get what I mean, that’s why you’ll hear some really old and obscure tracks played there along with plenty of new stuff and as on any scene you sort the wheat from the chaff. The middle of the road people will end up going to middle of the road clubs, and the stronger and more open minded crowd will go to the stronger clubs and I think the Blackburn crowd are amongst the latter and that's because they been fed a diet of good quality music.
The thing is not many people realise what good records I've actually got and how long I've had them. And if I do play something they don't know they won't ask me what it is. Some of the ordinary punters will but not the Dj's, they'll normally ask Brian Rae, and usually say ask him. I often laugh when reading in some of these soul magazines about the latest big record that so and so is playing because I know that I've been playing for years but then all of a sudden somebody else has 'discovered' it!
One such tune is one that's proving very popular at the moment and it's the Pee Wee Montgomery record 'Crazy In Love'. Pee Wee was one of the Iketes and a lot of people think it's Ike and Tina. I remember being in Hyde all-righter one morning and Mark Bicknell and Saus were all there and on comes this record. 'Who's this then?' they start asking. So I said 'That's Johnny Nash. No no, they wouldn't have it, but it was. I remember seeing Gary Spencer at a venue in Carlisle and he'd been playing a cover up of a record that was supposed to be Lou Pride, so I said to this lad to go up and ask him for that Fats Domino record at which point he got a panic on. The point I'm trying to make is that people tend to dismiss what I actually know about the music.
At the end of the day soul is something that's inside you and once you know you've got it there all the bullocks that goes around with the scene just bounces off you. I live for music and can't imagine life without it. If I can make people happy by playing them records that I think they'll like then I'm satisfied. If they don't like them I don't need to be told, I'll see it for myself. Some people can never have that, they'll always need to be led.
Believe me Mick had plenty more to say that day but sadly this is all we have space for in this issue but we hope that this has helped give you a little insight into what makes Mick tick.
ORIGINALLY PRINTED IN MANIFESTO MAG AND REPRINTED BY PERMISSON.

By Mike in Articles · June 2, 199926 yr

Loaded Magazine does Northern soul with a visit to the 100 Club Allnighter just in time for the March 99 Issue
ADAPTED FROM LOADED MAGAZINE MARCH 1999
Thanks to Dave Cassidy for sending me this, photo's to follow......
"Keep your Wigan - Northern Soul is alive and well and living in London..."
You know something is happening when you get to the club and a man from the Guardian is waiting in the queue. Actually, it happens every five years or so, when the Northern Soul scene is dragged blinking into the spotlight, looking just like its dedicated followers do as they hit the morning streets after another exhilarating night of dancing to the most exclusive and best soul music around. Unlike other scenes, Northern Soul has never been dependent on a popular group or musician-a Soft Cell or a Kevin Rowland-to expose it to a wider world. It stays underground and thrives on a network of utterly dedicated followers. Then, once in a while, the media pokes its head.. around the corner. "It's a cyclical thing," Ady Croasdell explains. Ady is the man behind Kent Records' long-running and excellent compilation series. He is also the driving force behind the 6T's Club, an all-nighter which happens every month at London's 100 Club. He is not at all purist in his approach.
"Every five or six years there's a sudden upsurge of interest, which is great," he says. "It brings in new people, maybe younger ones, and the attention it gets reminds the older ones of the brilliant clubs they used to frequent."

Northern Soul's roots lie in the mid-'60s, when a major shift in club culture occurred. The mod scene, which had built its appeal on R'n'B music at places like The Scene or the Whiskey A Go Go (now The Wag), had finally died, and London's hip clubs started playing the newer and funkier sounds emanating out of America. Out went Motown and in came James Brown.
Up north, clubs such as The Twisted Wheel in Manchester (the first ever all-nighter) ignored the choice of the beautiful people and stuck to the soul tunes they adored so passionately. It was Dave Godin, writing for Blues And Soul magazine, who coined the phrase Northern Soul - noting that, as time progressed, the DJs and club runners were exhibiting a real dislike for mainstream soul music. As far as they were concerned, the more obscure the tune the better. At the time, such small American indie labels as Loma and Thelma could only find limited distribution within the States, thus bestowing a real exclusivity on their releases. So it was that Northern Soul fans would relentlessly hunt down copies. Meanwhile, groups like The Hesitations and singers such as Tommy Hunt became heroes-if not legends. When many of those artists played here, they did so at Northern Soul's most famed club, the Wigan Casino. The Casino exists no more (tragically demolished), but in the early thousands of kids from all over the country went to this small northwest town to dance the night away. Fashion was a major part of the scene. Kids would arrive at the Casino with a change of clothes. Some even took talc, which they sprinkled onto the floor to make it easier to slide across. Flares, tank-tops and sturdy shoes were all part of the look. Admission was cheap but, at the club itself, record dealers would set up stalls where singles would exchange hands for huge sums of money. One seven-inch single -for example Frank Wilson's 'Do I Love you? (Indeed I Do)'-could command a thousand-pound price tag; £200 is a common price these days for a rare slice of soul. And out on the floor, a new style of dancing, graceful, athletic and incredibly compelling to watch, was being developed. Dancers would execute amazing back flips and other exertions while others effortlessly glided across the floor.
Drugs played a part in keeping the people awake and on the floor, but it is a subject that all involved are quick to disassociate themselves from now. Unlike the E crowd, drugs - specifically amphetamine - were taken by some but never talked about by others. When Pete McKenna wrote Nightshift, an autobiography about a youth spent in clubs such as the Casino, there was a furore over the claims he made about drug use.
"Let's just say I never smelt any marijuana when I went to Wigan," Ady Croasdell tells me.
Instead, people tend to focus on the obsessiveness that Northern Soul brings out - a desire to own the rarest records and dance the best dances. "People realise its an authentic scene," says Croasdell, "with its own values and roots. Even if people aren't into the scene, it always gets an awful lot of respect."
Even, no doubt, from the Guardian.
PAULO HEWITT
For details on the next 6T's Club events call 0171 6362622.
Of the numerous Northern Soul compilations to choose from. Start with any Kent Records album - there'll always beat least two or three blinding tunes. On the CD front, my current faves are Goldmine's The Cream Of Northern Soul" and Hallmark's accessible Northern Soul Originals. One essential is Dave Godin 's Deep Soul Treasures, while Motown's This is Northern Soul! is well worth investigating too.
Specialist shops:
· Expansions, Manchester.Tel: 0161 8321364.
· Fopp, Glasgow. 01413570774.
· Division One, London.01716377734.

By Mike in Articles · June 2, 199926 yr

Thanks go out to Mike Lofthouse for this review on the Soul Essence weekender
Soul Essence 13 - 9 10 11 April 1999 - The Raynscourt Hotel Great Yarmouth.
The Event...
The Soul Essence Yarmouth weekender number 13. It is a twice yearly event held in Spring and Autumn with the first one taking place back in April '93 - check out 'Voices From The Shadows' magazine issue no. 20 for a full review of that weekend.
The Town ...
Gt Yarmouth is one of those typical British seaside resorts that are past their best - the lure of sunnier climes has long since taken the shine off the place and it's also bloody awful to get to from ANYWHERE in the UK - our journey took a good 4.5 hours (only 200 miles or so up the east coast).
The Venue.....
The hotel - like the resort is a little run down - it would be best described as 'small and homely'. Basically the event takes over the entire hotel from Friday through Sunday - which is great - no 'tourists' (of any kind ) wandering in and out. A tiny dance floor - ample for the shuffling style of dancing that you tend to get at less 'Northern' inclined do's - I'm not sure it is the slower tempo of the records or the geriatric state of the audience! There is a fair sized area partitioned of for the record dealers - Voices From The Shadows, Ian Clarke, Soul Bowl, John Manship and Steve Plumb all had large selections for sale. Record selling was restricted to the dealers until Sunday morning - which I guess is fair, they pay for the privilege. Food and beer is available round the clock (or at least whilst I was awake).
The 'Downbeat' lounge ...
In addition to the main area there is a 'Downbeat' lounge which as the title suggests features much slower and deep records throughout the day from a number of guests each doing a one hour spot, this goes on throughout the day until about 7 or 8 each night.
This lounge is a brilliant idea, although I did not spend as much time in there as I would of liked - football is always a bit of a distraction on a weekend. Saturday afternoon - sat with a pint reading a great Tom Waits interview in the Telegraph whilst listening to Hans 'n' Harry (from Holland) playing the likes of Gloria Lynn's - 'Don't You Pay No Mind' - sheer bliss!
It would seem to be something of a tradiition now for Scot Fraser Dunn to end the last downbeat spot of the weekend (on the Saturday night) with an absolutely stunning Gospel track - Tessie Hill - 'Never let a day go by' on ABC , it's awesome!
I know Han's and Harry make a note of everyone's playlist and publish them of their web site - I don't think they are up there yet but keep a look out (and check out those already posted)

event-reviews

By Mike in News Archives · May 9, 199926 yr

An extract from Lois Wilson - MOJO Magazine April/May 1999
Sent in by Dave Cassidy, thanks for the contribution mate, appreciated.
How To Buy...
Every month we navigate the high-water marks, rapids and stagnant ponds of the CD racks, so you don't have to. We continue with...
NORTHERN SOUL
It was the venerable Blues And Soul pundit, Dave Godin, who coined the term 'Northern Soul' to describe the rare soul sounds that were attracting fanatical crowds to the massive dance clubs in the North of England in the late '60s and early '70s. The key word here is "rare". In those days, DJs and collectors would think nothing of popping over to the US on the off-chance of finding that arcane "read about but never seen gem, or wading through the second-hand racks and parting with chunky bankrolls for a holy grail 7-inch. Thankfully, if you want to get into Northern Soul these days, all it takes is a stroll to your local record shop. The only problem is where to begin when faced with track lists of obscure artists whose songs are duplicated time and time again on a number of discs.
Your best bet for a comprehensive introduction and overview is Soul Survivors (Telstar, £18.49), which has become the biggest-selling album to document the scene.
Compiled by Wigan Casino DJ Russ Winstanley, it includes Tobi Legend's Time Will Pass You By, Jimmy Radcliffe's Long After Tonight Is All Over and Dean Parrish's I'm On My Way, collectively known as the "three before eight" - the last three songs to be played before the 8am wind-down at the Casino each week. It also features Do I Love You (Indeed I Do) by Frank Wilson, one of the rarest and most-prized Northern Soul singles (fetching around £5,000 for an original promo copy), and, for me, the genre's definitive classic, R. Dean Taylor's There's A Ghost In My House. Other, more famous luminaries, like Jackie Wilson, Barbara Acklin, Dobie Gray and Little Anthony And The Imperials, are also on board.
Soul Survivors Volume 2 (Telstar, £18.49) has a more mainstream selection that includes Booker T. And The MG's Green Onions and La belle's Lady Marmalade but also the must-have original of Tainted Love by Gloria Jones, Mary Love's You Turned My Bitter Into Sweet and Beverly Ann's insightful You Got Your Mind On Other Things. You'll also find here The Just Brothers' Sliced Tomatoes, which formed the basis for Fatboy Slim's Rockafeller Skank.
Dancing 'Til Dawn (Kent £14.99), compiled by Ady Croasdell (Harboro Horace), would cause mayhem on the dancefloor with its 25 non-stop frenetic dancers, including The Shirelles' Last Minute Miracle, Sandy Waddy's Everything Is Everything and Judy Clay's You Busted My Mind. Another essential CD, also compiled by Ady, is For Dancers Forever (Kent. £14.99). which combines the cream from the first two LPs released on reissue label Kent plus new findings and overlooked gems, among them Lowell Fulson's humorous R&B groover My Aching Back and Yvonne Baker's sugar coated My Baby Needs Me. Floorfillers! (Global, £16.99), is a fine compilation containing 45 classic tracks that span the scene from its early Motown obsession through to its later crossover leanings
If you're on a tight budget but still want more of that four-to-the-floor, check out Cooler Shakers! (Music Club, £6.99). Get past the dreadful pun and there are timeless classics, like The Wrong Girl by The Showmen featuring Norman Johnson before he, became a General and Chairman Of The Board), I'm A Fool I Must Love You by The Falcons (featuring a young Wilson Pickett) and the riotous high- pitched frenzy of Breakaway by The Valentines. Also mid-priced, Talcum, Soul (Stateside, £10.49), compiled by Dean Rudland, concentrates on the Um, Stateside label and collects the main movers in the Mod branch, such as Chuck Wood's frantic Seven Days Too Long, Garnet Mimms' achingly soulful Looking For You, The Poets' mammoth She Blew A Good Thing and Bobby Sheen's boastful Dr. Love.
From the Motown stable try This ls Northern Soul Volume 1 and 2 (Debutante, both £9.99). Volume 2 is best with choice cuts such as Lonely, Lonely Girl Am I by The Velvelettes and Spinners' I'll Always Love You.
The Golden Torch Story (Goldmine, £14.99) gathers together the floorshakers that packed out the Torch club every week, including N. F. Porter's catch-phrase coining Keep On Keeping On. Also worth investigating are The Wigan Casino Story, The Wigan Casino Story Continues and The Wigan Casino Volume 3: The Final Chapter (Goldmine, all £14.99), which spotlight the Casino's evolving taste in soul. For a variation on and Yvonne Baker's sugar-coated My Baby the theme check out Mo' Mod Jazz (Kent, Needs Me. Floorfillers! (Global, £16.99) is a fine £14.99) to discover Smokey Joe's La La by the compilation containing 45 classic tracks that curiously named Googie Rene Combo, which was reworked by David Holmes on My Mate Paul.
No self-respecting NS fan would be without some thing from the OKeh label, so check out OKeh - A Northern Soul Obsession Volume 1 and 2 (Kent £14.99) and hear Little Richard on top form with the stomping I Don't Want To Discuss It. OKeh was also home to one of Chicago's greatest vocalists, Major Lance, and it's worth tracking dawn his Best Of (BGO £11.99). It includes the fabulously titled Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, Ain't No Soul Left In These Old Shoes and The Monkey Time, written by Curtis Mayfield. Mayfield's own sublime voice can be heard on Definitive Impressions (Kent £14.99), which features the storming I Can't Satisfy and You've Been Cheatin'. Oh No Not My Baby: The Best Of Maxine Brown (Kent £14.99) shows the '60s soulstress at her most dynamic with the beat ballad that lends its name to the title of the CD, alongside the emotive intensity of All ln My Mind, the up beat lt's Torture and the classic One In A Million.
Other important releases: A Cellar Full Of Soul (Jan fm, £15.99), compiled by Richard Searling from tracks played on his radio show; Blackpool Mecca Story (Goldmine, £14.99) for that '70s crossover sound; Ain't Nothing But A House Party (Sequel, £10.49), which documents the Philly end of things; and Essential Northern Soul '60s Dancefloor Classics Volume 2 (Deep Beats, £10.49), a fine mix of classics and obscurities. Finally, check out Kev Robert's compilation The Roots Of Northern Soul (Goldmine, £1 4.99), which traces the early years, concentrating on the R&B tracks that kept dancefloors shaking throughout the '60s.
Beginners: Soul Survivors (Telstar, £18.49) A fine one-stop introduction to the Northern Soul scene.
Connoisseurs A Soul Celebration Of The World's Most Famous Club (Joe Boy, £16.99) Packaged with a free 7-inch single, contains prime tracks from the Wigan Casino playlist.
Avoid: The Northern Soul Scene (Deram, £12.99) An interesting CD but one that addresses the more bizarre side of the scene where anything with the right number of beats per minute was sanctioned, hence David Essex and The Brotherhood Of Man.

By Mike in Articles · April 7, 199926 yr

Ripped from Big Daddy Mag issue 3, (of course with permission from Mr Bones, no blatant stealing here ....!) got for your reading a Beginners Guide to Northern Soul
Big Daddies Guide to Northern
Yeah Yeah Yeah, know there's about 5001 "what is....northern" type things scattered all over the web , so why another one?
Well first of all it comes from a different angle, not a 40+ guy with too much time on his hands but from a younger guy and its aimed at a younger audience, thus comes from a different angle and has a lot fresher today sort of feel
Plus always be useful for visitors from mainstream sort of soul world asking about it, so hopefully by giving it a read will understand basics of it all

NORTHERN SOUL
A beginners guide
Few people of our generation and younger know what Northern Soul is. The scene is unlike any other, existing way outside of the mainstream. Since the early 70s, normal, unassuming British folk have been travelling miles from home to dance like the devil to long-forgotten, obscure soul music, much of it dating back to the days when your Ma & Pa just met and f you, like many, have ever wandered off the dancefloor in disinterest at a wedding reception when the Motown comes on, you must wonder at what the fuss is all about. Perhaps your notion of Soul music begins and ends with the Supremes (or Reggae with UB40). Not to worry. The lack of "popular" interest over the years has never hindered the real soul scene. It has survived nigh on 30 years pretty much untainted and is as healthy now as it was at it"s peak in the simply because of the unparallelled passion of the dedicated fans who just can"t get enough of a timeless music. It may even become "cool" amongst the young hipsters who are growing weary of the heavy-handed current club sounds - there"s most certainly increasing interest right now. And if it wanes for the trendy many, it will still be there for the smitten few. For those who appreciate a pulse-racing good time there"s nothing quite like it -you"ve only to watch the dancers to see that. If it's all just a mystery to you, here's a basic introduction...

The Roots Of Northern Soul in a peanut-shell
The history of this uniquely British phenomenon has been told from so many perspectives and with varying degrees of accuracy and conviction that its difficult for such a relative newcomer as myself to know where to begin. So I"ll begin where everyone else did. The Mods. You know that Black American music has always had a happy home in the UK, more so than in its place of origin usually. The original London Mods at the beginning of the 60"s had a taste for obscurity in their chosen nightclub soundtrack (The Crawdaddy and Eel Pie Island are just two of the legendary Mod haunts). Not for them the whine of Skiffle, "Golly Wow" Pop or faded Rock & Roll (can you blame them?). The fresh, "knowing" sounds of US R&B, club soul and Jamaica ska (perhaps even a little hip jazz too) were the purist"s bag before the additional influx of white groups onto the scene (Small Faces, Artwoods etc). Rare vinyl imports and British issues on Stateside, Bluebeat and Sue were discs to have bagged up under the arm whilst checking each other"s suits for the lengths of side vents etc. Their favoured music grew up and spread all over the land as the decade supposedly "swung" on, but as the original scene moved toward Psychedelia and more freaky rock styles, the subsiding Mod flood apparently left little pools of Black American Soul and Rhythm & Blues devotees dotted all around the North and the Midlands. Manchester"s Twisted Wheel Club, the North's premier mod venue, is the famous example to quote. A haven for the local happenin" hardcore, the DJ (Les Cockell - R.I.P.) generally ignored the then current soul music that was either too polished and poppy, or too funky and bumpy. Rawer, driving soul dancer tunes that had perhaps been overlooked at the time of release were brought to the fore and the fever quickly spread. By the time the venue and others like it were forced to close up by police drug raids in 1970 the hooks were already in. As the soul nights started to pop up all over, these powerful sounds that the all-night dancers demanded (and were prepared to travel for) were one way or another christened "Northern Soul" to differentiate from the R&B based "Stax" or perhaps "James Brown" type of soul that was more popular in the South of England. By happy coincidence, a great many of the striding "Northern" Soul favourites came from the North of America (Detroit, Chicago, NY) and the "Southern" sounds from the South.

The music
As new soul events began to crop up, especially in places like the legendary Torch club (Hanley), the DJ"s bore the weight of the burgeoning scene and used their resources in finding "new", rarer sounds with which to whip up the crowds. The mainstream, radio-supported ends of the soul spectrum (Motown at one, Atlantic at the other) barely hinted at what else might be out there. Every track that was big enough to warrant a UK release had countless others in its shadow that didn"t break the US borders. Many never even made so much as a hit in their home town. Contacts were made and dealers were tipped off and dispatched to unearth more of these examples of forgotten talent - as soulful and danceable as they could find, and the more obscure the better. The predominant sound of 60s Northern Soul is the sound of emotion in the raw. The intensity of a truly distinctive voice (rare these days) spinning a tale of heartache over a cookin" rhythm section still wreaks dancefloor havoc. In mono, my friend. The production values may have grown more sophisticated through the turn of the 70's, giving the "modern" soul sound an outwardly smoother sound, but the real stuff is no less powerful to the open-minded. If you tend to refer to this kind of magnificent music as "too girly", then you probably don't know how to listen to music honestly - shame. Rewrite your agenda. The bulk of the music played at the venues through the halcyon 70s was Black American soul vocals, but the mix varied widely from place to place. Some DJ"s swore by "true" 60s soul and would wrinkle their features at white artists or new releases - and like any other music scene, some were less bothered about the origins of the track so long as it was a beater and kept the dancers moving. The broadmindedness and ear for quality of the scene"s leading jocks has kept the scene alive throughout. A quality soul night in my mind ought to bring you it all - dip-dip-doo wop tinged oldies, stompers, floaters, screamers, instrumentals, crossover, modern, two-steppers and hopefully a big fat deep beat-ballad right at the sweaty end. What it never ought to bring is the "soul" you get in clubnights now. Swingbeat. Don"t try and call it anything else. Too much syrupy whining and not enough belting it out coz"-your-girl-left-you-for-the-guy-down-the-street-for-no-apparent-reason. Tim Brown tells that Dave Godin seemingly said it best - "The problem started when they took soul out of the church and put it in the penthouse." Tim himself came in a close second - "Anita Baker and Luther Vandross...so much to answer for." Fill in your own comments regarding R. Kelly and Mark Morrison.

The Records
Right from off, the emphasis was on finding rare 45rpm singles - for the simple reason that few of the vaunted artists or labels got as far as making a whole album. Groups would form, record a couple of sides, chip in to press it up on a small label (their own or a local independent maybe) and hopefully get airplay and be picked up by a bigger label. Most failed at step 3 and disbanded, leaving a few hundred unsold copies of their wannabe smash to gather cobwebs. Finding such soul gems to call your own in a huge country like the US is like locating a needle in Giant Haystacks, but the gatherers tended hard and pulled in more and more criminally ignored platters, whether they be one-off acetates, indie flops or big-label failures that never went beyond the demo stage. It"s quite remarkable that so many tracks made it as huge anthems to thousands of UK club goers without anybody realising just how rare they would turn out to be. Just as odd is the fact that nearly all the classic rarities are actually here in the UK, so intense was the hunting activity back in the day. Some lonely discs have only ever been known from the existence of a single copy and fans often have done ticklish things like sell their cars to own one (just the one, mind). With a poker-face, ask a specialist soul dealer if they, perchance, know of a genuine copy of The Turbines" "We Got To Start Over", for example. As you look sheepishly into the middle distance they"ll probably tell you not only who is known to own each of the documented discs, but that you"ll need five numbers and the bonus on the lottery to persuade one of them to part with one.

As far as eye-popping wallet activity goes there"s no other style of music like it (except maybe doo-wop & pre-war Blues in the US) and as far as the DJs themselves go, it hardly seems just. The heroic soul jock will tell you of the times they barely made enough from a gig to pay for their travel home for turning up and playing a boxful of tunes worth more than your house, whilst some "dance" club fools can command four figure fees for dishing out a pile of metronomic euro-cheese they got sent the week before....and yet the effort to turn up a fresh sound continues apace. Praise be. Previously undocumented releases are still showing up in 1999 and as impressive as anything that has gone before. Even the flipside of a "had-it's-day" tune may be successful revelation - once the "new" side picks up belated recognition and interest, perhaps the disc becomes in-demand once more. Such discoveries have long been kept secret by DJs and their cloak-and-dagger "cover-up" method - they usually will introduce their newie on the microphone (still a quaint notion to younger clubbers) under a false artist and/or title. Better yet is to actually stick a fake label on the disc itself, should prying eyes try to discover its true identity as it spins. What the original artists would make of this is anybody's guess, having lived and, sadly, sometimes died in obscurity, their only shot at stardom never truly revealed. As if to nail this point of occasional jealousy home, a certain top DJ recently purchased a semi-legendary unique record from a dealer in a quite private transaction. Before the package had even arrived in the post, another obsessive was 'phoning him with an intervening offer of £3000+ to get it straight off of him. Don't know how he found out about the deal, but "You what? I haven't even got the f***ker myself yet" seems more than appropriate a retort. Such is the demand for soul records, you see - the DJs and collectors all insist on original copies, even though so many goodies have been bootlegged or repressed.

The scene
The first time you wander into a Northern Soul do, it'll be a revelation. Couples of at least 40 years of age are performing feats of dancefloor skill that leave you feeling ashamed to be so unfit. You don't recognise a single track the DJ is playing, but everyone else does, and they whoop and clap in unison in all the right places. When the record stops, they applaud and the DJ unleashes another 7 inches of pleasure whilst you go "Damn, this is so strange." It kind of jolts you into thinking "Why haven't I seen this kind of thing before? Is this some crazy cult?" - you can see how it can become addictive and how it all grew like it did. The scene has now become so delightfully widespread that the "Northern" tag no longer seems so appropriate - it'll never lose it's distinction, but many just refer to it as the "Rare Soul" scene. Call it what you will, outbreaks of soul fever have appeared all over, with proper goings on throughout Western Europe, Scandinavia, Australia, Canada and even the US of sorts. News of the scene in Japan is a personal favourite. Their devotion and attention to authenticity is legendary (ever seen Japanese rockabillies?) and it just seems so right. A core of little noted old-school collectors have not long been introduced to a young generation of ready-to-go fans and a scene is set to blossom. The guys with the cool records are now out DJing and entertaining those who have been digging the import CDs, but may have lacked a venue to get out meet in and do it properly (good work, Kenneth). It probably helps the continuation of domestic and foreign scenes that every young new set of young "Mod" types ultimately arrives at Northern Soul music- the ever resurging fashions and phenomena like the cult success of the film, "Quadrophenia", accurate or not, may well have prodded youth interest everywhere into a scene predominantly populated by on older generation. The overall pace of many soul nights here has slowed a little - nicely I think - to allow more soulful tracks to shine once more, and give space to newer stuff too. Happily, R&B styles and hectic pounders still live on too and you can still hear the soul spectrum all over the UK. Almost every British Northwestern or Midlands dirtpot town has, at the least, a pub with a "Soul & Motown Night" with "DJs Bob & Terry" - I pass four in the short walk from my filthy home to this filthy office. All you really need for a soul night is a good room with a dancefloor (preferably wooden, sprung a bonus), a dedicated DJ (you may occasionally get to see an original artist at some big "national" nights), a record bar and the requisite number of soul-happy punters of course. Legends have been made out of such basic ingredients throughout musical history and the UK Soul scene carries a pretty large flag in the legend march.
The Soul venue
You must have heard of the Wigan Casino. Northern Soul's most celebrated WW1 ballroom, between 1973 and 1981 it drew both admiration and consternation over its music policy, but will always be remembered as the favourite venue - the room with the finest dancefloor, the people who travelled such lengths to attend, the charged atmosphere and the hole it left for so many dancers when it was razed to the ground by the council. It was voted (by Billboard) Best Disco in the world in 1978, famously beating NY's Studio 54, been the focus of a (rather shoddy) Granada TV documentary and provided a nocturnal weekly other-life for it's thousands of members. It's main "rival", Blackpool's Mecca received similar mixed views on its music, usually centered around the DJ Ian Levine's forays into New York Disco and Jazz-Funk (That offended a some hardcore soulies, did that). The mention of places such as Bolton, Yate, Woverhampton and Cleethorpes bring a snigger to some, but towns like these all had their legendary venues with their own anthems and championed local DJs more impressive than the Creams, Renaissances and Ministrys of recent years. The trousers just aren't so big anymore. The flag is flown high today by venues like the 100 Club in London (now the longest running all-nighter), Keele University, and the Manchester Ritz (the big three since the closure of the Casino) - compare the dancefloor antics to those in your "clubnights" and see the difference for yourself. Sorry Gatecrasher, but being subjected to relentless "DJ" Paul Van Dyk whilst having your crowd look like fancy-dress retards does not necessarily an atmosphere create. Let us demand respectful applause and DJ banter between the tunes. And of course, big trousers.

Soul folk
Back in the day it was possible in some parts of the Northwest to go to a soul bash every night of the week without travelling further than a few miles in any direction. Many did just so and often started in their early teens, making quick headway down that dark path to soul addiction. Youths that committed the crime of not being into the soul ("Divs") were usually mocked during school breaktime by the soulies who swapped the tapes and the knowledge. The music and styles of the outside "pop" world never has or had any effect on the dedicated core, even when great hoardes of sightseers slowly wandered onto the scene in the latter half of the 70s, trying to get a handle on what this mysterious "Northern" thing really was. These dedicated ones, who stayed with it through the dry 80s and are still getting out to do barrel-rolls at soul nights 25 years on, are obviously your hardcore. It's now up to the idler lovers of the music (myself included) to actually go to more of the decent events and give the scene a hot youth injection. It will ultimately need it, even if some of the more staunch "old guard" will still have their grumble about curious newcomers. These are the same snobbier sorts found in any type of music scene, who claim only to like a certain type of sound or perhaps tracks that are "rare and obscure" as opposed to just good. Thankfully, the body of the soul world are working class characters who leave the politics and backbiting by the wayside and are pleased to meet new converts - any age, colour or sex. Soul events are about music and a sociable time, rather than doing funny things to your head & liver and letching at the other half. Although having said that, a few more lithe young women wouldn't go amiss, if I must stick my oar in.

Periphery
Its customary to mention drugs, I suppose. To keep up-and-at-it, dancers use/used speed, if anything. Some take it to stay on their feet at long sessions, some don't, a few took it too far, most are more sensible - the scene has never actually revolved round drugs themselves. Subject closed. Oh no, hang on - don't try anything like LSD - the mind-blowing sounds and the sight of the acrobatics and the gents' white terylene socks are bound to set you off. For some grade "A" nostalgia of which you're probably too young to know or undersatnd, check out old photo's in the mags and on the websites. Ahh yes - pictures of memorabilia and obscure record labels, artists attired in shiny suits and conks (the black quiff-like hairstyle), fans sporting vests with sew-on patches and shlongs ("short on top, long at the back") - the sounds translated, the sharp style didn't. Its almost a relief to see a scene upon which the shallow notions of fashion haven't encroached. And believe me they haven't, not by any stretch of the imagination. So, anyway, back to the music - we're just trying to spread the good word. Everyone you play the sounds to finds something to like. Buy some. Go to a local do with friends. Enjoy. Meet veterans. Be impressed by newfound nuggets of information you will doubtless pick up from the older chaps hanging around the record stalls, like - "Nah, it's a bootleg. You can tell by the shiny paper they've used for the label", "Classic. I danced to this as a new release" or "Yeah, got this one. Well rare. The singer wasn't thought to have a solo career back then."

An Entry Level Northern Styles Guide
Chances are if you pick up a Rare Soul Compilation, none of the listed artists or tracks will mean anything to you. Yeah, same here to an extent - there"s so much of it to get stuck into. Here"s a few odd soul "styles" to drop into conversation and some basic examples to look out for when scouring for new sounds. I've just picked out common or garden stuff I like, really. Go forth and Soultiply.

Stompers
Before the advent of "Beats-per-Minute" the fast ones were referred to as "100mph". Chuck Wood"s "Seven Days Too Long" (as covered by Dexy"s Midnight Runners) is your basic stomper - great sound, still thrashed out at soul do"s in boozers and suchlike, but rarely heard at big nights because it"s considered a bit passe - a bit like "Sex Machine" at a funk night. There are countless tracks in this beating-snare-driven vein, nearly all 60s, but just three basics that Big Daddy are most fond of that you should keep "em peeled for are "I Can't Get Enough" - Johnny Sayles, "Life Goes On" - Fabulous Downbeats and "So Is The Sun" - The World Column.

Deep Soul
Tracks that are deep in emotion - slow burners, but never "mellow" or slushy like pop or rock ballads tend to be. These beauties are heart-rending and usually tear-soaked but ultimately uplifting because of it, I find. Dave Godin"s "Deep Soul Treasures" volumes 1 and 2 on CD (Kent) are unmissable for a route into this, the epitome Black Soul Music. Snooker ace Steve Davis (unlikely as it may seem to you) is one of the biggest Deep Soul collectors there is - he even fairly recently persuaded a large record company to release one certain track as a single at his behest. Good chap. Irma Thomas - "Anyone Who Knows What Love Is" and Frankie Beverly - "Love (Your Pain Goes Deep)" - they're the Daddy deep faves.

Crossover
I"d long assumed this term was meant to suggest that a track had pop appeal and could "cross over" into the mainstream market. Well, when you"re not quite right, you"re often wrong. It simply refers to a period (roughly "68-"74) when rhythms became "trickier" - crossing over from the simpler Motown structure towards a more sophisticated Philly/Norman Whitfield feel. The city of Chicago chopped out a lot of the classics of this type. Check Ruby Andrews - "Just Loving You", The Creations - "A Dream" or Celeste Hardie - "You're Gone".

Modern/70s-90s
Anything made between 1970 and yesterday can be classified as modern, really. Hmmm. A rather broad category, then. It ranges from featherlight velvet-beat "floaters" (Pffff! No jokes, please!) to the later incarnations of the old pounders, with ballads, Boogie numbers and instrumentals all in there, too. There's obviously more evidence of technology and musical progression in the later soul - synths here and there, more "popping" of the bassline and often a more sparse production feel. There's a deal of sophistication on show and I find some of the respected material a shade tame sounding. It's not really Jazz-Funk, though (too self-indulgent!), nor New York Disco particularly (especially the cheaper four-to-the-floor tracks that ended up as House music). Here's a varied bunch for the starting blocks - the "straight-up" classic "Moody Woman" - Jerry Butler, "It Really Does Hurt Me" - Carstairs, "For Real" - Flowers, "Can't Nobody Love Me like You Do" - Storm. The Soul scene has never been so 70s orientated - dive on in and do the breaststroke.

Instrumentals
I"ve no idea how you classify a track with no vocal as "Soul" exactly, but it don"t matter none. There are so many great instrumentals that power up a dancefloor - just don"t miss "Sidra"s Theme", Doni Burdick"s thunderous sax-appealling "Bari Track" by Doni Burdick or "Frantic Escape" by The Innocent Bystanders. Some will tell you that the old Northern Soul instrumental sound could be demonstrated in just one track - "Double Cookin"" by Checkerboard Squares. You"ll see what they mean when you hear it (!), but there"s a far greater range of voiceless dancers waiting to be heard by a new audience.

Group Sounds
Oh yes! Real voices in beautiful harmony, the stuff that makes you laugh out loud at "boy bands" or the likes of Boyz2Men. Male vocal groups are almost always called something like The "Reflections" or "Perfections" or "Something-Or-Others". The Doo-Wop-esque "Arabia" by Delcos is far and away my highest ranking oldie so far. Less obscure are the Incredibles or George Clinton's legendary Parliaments (a fine string of superb singles they released throughout the 60s, especially "I Wanna Testify" and "Heart Trouble") and of course the Impressions who shone from day one - "You've Been Cheatin'" is a classic. Girl groups ("the distaff side of soul" - if you've swallowed a thesaurus) tend more to be the "So-And-So-ettes", if that's not a dumb thing to say. Try to at least hear "Send Him Back" by the Pointer Sisters - I can't leave the track alone.

Mid-Pace
Another obvious and over-broad category. I think you're allowed to mix and match them, though - "Ahh yes, a superb mid-pace male group mover" for example. The average age of the Northern fan has reduced the dancing pace a little, the in-demand cuts are a shade slower because of it, and some of them are the best I've heard. Top of our oldies heap are the belting baritone of Doug Banks on "I Just Kept On Dancing" (me best mate Col's favourite), Betty Everett's "I Can't Say", "Got To Get To Know You" by Bobby Bland and "Peace Lovin' Man" by Emmanuel Laskey (not played enough these days).

"Enders"
Something special to finish off the night in style. Usually something with depth and a farewell feel, but danceable with it. My fave is Ray Pollard"s "The Drifter" - most Soul DJs have one of their own associated with them, such as the fine "What Difference Does It Make" by Kenny Sheppard or "You Better Go" by Derek Martin. Wigan Casino"s infamous "Three Before 8" - the last 3 records played just before 8am at virtually every one of the all-nighters - Tobi Legend, Dean Parrish and Jimmy Radcliffe - are all available together on the first Goldmine 45 (GS001). These type of records are played as a sort of "Thanks for coming, but it"s time to go", but they"re usually so good that you refuse to leave because it'd be very wrong not to stamp on the floorboards and demand more.

Blue Eyed
Around a quarter of the old dancefloor hits fitting into the Northern genre were by white artists, many of them bollocks. Skip the Jackie Trent and tailor-made nonsense like Wigan"s Chosen Few and look for the better work of artists like Johnny Maestro, Timi Yuro, Dean Parrish and Chapter 5 (The makers of one of the UK"s most sought after 45"s - the superb "You Can"t Mean It").

R&B/Modsoul
A lot of standard Mod-ish stuff is well oiled thanks to the British "Acid Jazz" type scenes. Head for early soul shifters like Benny Spellman"s classic "Fortune Teller", "Soulful Dress" by Sugar Pie DeSanto (real name Umpeylia Marsema Balinton), Ray Charles' 60s club monster "I Don"t Need No Doctor", the Hammond Organ grooves of Jimmy McGriff (such as the much-sampled "The Worm") or R&B like Slim Harpo and Arthur Alexander.. There"s rakes of instrumentals championed by the old scene - too many to mention. OK, then. Try Googie Rene"s "Smokey Joe"s La La" or Dynatones" "Fife Piper" and go from there. Proper rare danceable R&B is enjoying a resurgence on the Northern scene.

Published Date: 1999/3/28 18:00:00

By Mike in Articles · March 28, 199926 yr

Eddie Holman Interview by Big Mick
Eddie Holman Interview - Thanks go to Soul Essence Mag (see fanzine section for more details) for letting Soul Source use this great interview with the man who knocked Lowton dead!!
NORTHERN ESSENCE
"We don't compare our success with anyone else's success because no one else's success pays your bills"....
(EDDIE HOLMAN, Lowton, 270399)
27 March this year saw the highly talented and legendary EDDIE HOLMAN arrive in this country once again. Thanks to the dedication of STEVE FLETCHER, BERNIE O'BRIEN and KEV MURPHEY, we had the opportunity to set, hear and meet one of souls greatest icons.
The place was LOWTON CIVIC HALL, the time was dinnertime, everybody ate chips, I was left out. Undeterred, I carried on until the interview had finished. This is how it went ........... Immediately as the editorial team and I arrived at LOWTON we were, again, press-ganged into arranging the table and chairs for tonight's entertainment. The whole gaff was in the process of being re-decorated and the bar in the small modem room looked not unlike an MFI bedroom accessory. Once the management were satisfied with the arrangements we sat down and chilled out listening to Eddies session tape whilst the man himself was chauffeured from his 'digs' to begin rehearsals. BIG TONY (or so his wife JILL says) went to the chippy and on his return ate his no more than 3 feet away from me (his granny used to be in the GESTAPO, dead close her and TONY were). Soon, the moment came when EDDIE would stroll through the door and transform our very existence with his charismatic presence.
The band was the same as JERRY WILLIAMS was fortunate to have backed him. They were already practising, as EDDIE walked in the band were half way through 'hey them lonely girl. Not wasting any time, EDDIE was on the stage and after a couple of words to the band he broke into song. You had to be there, his magnificent falsetto voice hitting the first high notes of 'hey there lonely girl" sent an errie silence through the room. All who were lucky to witness this event were spellbound, the hairs on my neck and arms suddenly shot up and my goose bumps had goose bumps of their own. The air was electric, Eddie's voice had lost nothing over the years, rather, his voice was honed to perfection. The ultra soulful voice went through track after track drawing enthusiastic applause from the privileged few here including the band.
Eventually, I managed to steer EDDIE away from those who were left, but not until IAN LEVINE had filmed EDDIE for the documentary being made on northern soul. We found a room backstage, comfortable yet cold we began the interview. Soon the chill would disappear and nothing would matter but for the hypnotic persona of the man himself.

BIG MICK. Born in NORFOLK VIRGINIA, you moved over, with your family, to PRILIDELPRIA at the tender age of 3. A man of many talents, after leaving CHEYNEY STATE COLLEGE you attended the VICTORIA SCHOOL of ART and MUSIC in New York. You were in a number of musicals and in children’s TV for NBC. You certainly jumped into the world of entertainment with both feet, is this were you wanted to be at that time or were you still unsure in those early years in which direction you wanted to utilise your talents?
EDDIE HOLMAN I was sure at an early age that I wanted to be in the entertainment business. One of the greatest shows I had ever seen was at the APPOLO THEATRE in New York. When we moved to New York my mother and my aunt took me around the shows. Two of the acts we saw just blew me away, one was LITTLE RICHARD who I'd just worked with this past August at the FREE RIVER STADIUM in PITTSBERG and the other was THE FABULOUS FLAMINGOS. One of the original FLAMINGOS sings with the DELLS, JOHNNY (with the high voice). So here's a gentleman I worked with last January with the DELLS and he was the guy that inspired me with the high voice. I wasn't singing in the high voice then but just to hear him, I said, 'some where along the line I just gotta do it. (EDDIE starts laughing).
B.M. Not long after, success eluded you in NEW YORK with the LEOPARD label and then onto the ASCOT label were you worked with JOE RENE and the then JIVE 5 lead singer EUGENE PITT you possibly found the recording side of entertainment an uphill struggle around 1961/2. Looking back, could you say whether you found it hard to find the right music for you or were you still experimenting, not sure in which direction your artistic career lay?
E.H. Well at that point in my recording career you were in the hands of the producer so it was really up to the producer to come up with what they felt was good enough for you. You weren't doing the producing or the writing so you had to trust people like JOE RENE. The good part of the relationship with JOE RENE is that, my mother got me that record deal because it was a great 'outlet', it was a great opportunity. Even though I didn't have any hit records with JOE RENE, I did get what was called a 'turn table hit'. The first one I recorded for him was, ‘what you don’t know won't hurt you'. That got played like it was a hit record. What happened was, it introduced me to the record business, it got me to meet different people and kinda get a feel of what the record business is and how it works. So that was good and I would never forget JOE RENE for that.
B.M. In those early formative years, you got to work with many 'greats' amongst which was the tragic FRANKIE LYMON & THE CLEFTONES. What are your memories of what must have been a monumental time in your life and also, how long later was it that FRANKIE died?
LH. Well FRANKIE, if I'm not mistaken died in around 1965/66 so when I first met FRANKIE, I'd say he lived about another 10 years. He was a young man, I mean he was a young teenager. I have a son older than him, I have 3 sons, 2 are grown and 1 have one that's 16 going on 17. 1 know from raising grown men what phases you go through and 1 don't know if he had the opportunity to go through the normal phases that normal teenagers would go through. He was a world renown-recording artist from a very early age, he started from 12 or 13 years old. One of the most amazing things that happened in meeting him was, I won the amateur hour at the APPOLO THEATRE singing, 'why do fools fall in love while HERMAN SANTIAGO and FRANKIE LYMON and, forgive me, one of the other members -I can't remember his name right now was standing to the side of the stage. I won and they were all hugging me, FRANKIE LYMON gave his phone number and when he made his first trip to ENGLAND he called me before he left. I said, 'man, you're going to ENGLAND, wow' you know. I was excited for him and he was supportive, I mean, he really inspired me. At that time, you can't imagine all the pressures on him, I mean, he's a star with a number 1 record. He's wanted to do appearances all over the world so it must have been pretty strenuous and stressful for him so that's probably were all that tragedy came from I guess.
B.M. Do you feel at your young age this could have been your downfall if things had worked out differently?
E.H. Yeah, you know, nobody is better than anybody. The things you hear that have happened to recording artists, writers and record producers could happen to anybody. Nobody is above those things happening to them, so you just have to be thankful it hasn't happened to you or if you been through it and got out of it. B.M. When you eventually returned to PHILI Y, was it because you thought CAMEO-PARKWAY might have been more lenient towards your abilities to project your talents to an audience nearer to home? E.R. No, I would continue to go to CAMEO-PARKWAY for the auditioning because 1 felt it was a good label, a hot label and they had some hot acts and, you know, naturally you want to be a part of it. At that point I was writing material for myself. It just came to mind that the best thing to do was not to depend on some one else to give you a good song if you're capable of playing the piano and had some ideas, work on them and do it yourself. My mother bought me a piano and I started working out some songs for myself on that piano with a song writing partner at that time, we just kept compiling material, you know, song after song. If you had a repertoire of about 25 songs and you've worked hard on those songs, at least 5 or 6 of them have got to sound, you know, different and possibly good. So that's what we did.
B.M. CAMEO-PARKWAY were somewhat reluctant to take on a young EDDIE HOLMAN at the time whilst riding high in the billboard charts with CHUBBY CHECKER, DEE DEE SHARP and BOBBY RYDELL........
to be continued ok that's a short part one, as said before - times a wasting and I've gotta pack, part 2 and 3 will be up shortly if you can't wait goto fanzines and check out soul essence mag bit and order a copy tell them soul source sent ya.

site note author changed to current member 2008

By Big Mick in Articles · December 11, 199826 yr

Conniseurs CDS - Review
mid price cds release from connoisseur collection

In these days of overload of soul, with official releases of new soul cd releases every week, etc, many things may just pass you by as the vast torrent of soul flows past you a recent new set of reissued stuff from the company connoisseur collection may have just done that, this release is the start of a new set of mid price soul releases starting off with a set of 5, some if not all may look familiar as it seems that all the tracks have been re-licensed from goldmine normally you would start thinking oh yeah here we go, more re-cycled stuff, so what's the difference with the majority of these well first thing is it all depends on what type of cd buyer you are, if youre one who has the complete collection of goldmine/kent well think you better skip this page due to all the tracks have been out before on various cds, ok so youre still here, so chance you may be the more selective buyer (aka cheapskate), well these releases could be of interest all termed as mid-price, which to me is around the fiver mark, may be more in main street places less in mail order outlets, so that's a good point, as hard to say no to a cheapie.

Content? Well the titles tells you all about it, four of the five being greatest hits, in these days of various artist comps it made a welcome change listening to a cd of one artist plus the sleeve notes are lengthy and informative overall apart from the compilation one I would say these cds do a good job of bringing cheap artist specific collections to the buying public, whilst all tracks have been out before, the price and packaging makes them worth thinking about if you like myself are a bit choosy when buying cds, and will score highly on the impulse buys especially when compared with some cheesy same price comps.

CATALOGUE NUMBER: VSOP CD 288 JJ BARNES The Best Of 1. Baby Please Come Back Home 2. Chains Of Love 3. Forgive Me 4. Now That I Got You Back 5. Hold On To It 6. Now Shes Gone 7. Sad Day A Coming 8. Ill Keep Coming Back 9. Our Love Is In The Pocket 10. So Called Friends 11. Now Shes Gone 12. Got To Get Rid Of You 13. Snowflakes 14. Sweet Sherry 15. Help Me Help Me 16. I Need A Change 17. Welcome To The Club

the best of jj barnes as you can see by the track listing on back cover, this cd covers some of his work after his spell at motown, covering his time at groovesville, revilot, volt, and some of his contempo stuff , as with all the cds the insert has a lengthy double insert of information, in this case written by david cole editor of in the basement, covering the going ons through out his career. As often remarked jj barnes has a bit of a tag as the man who motown thought was so like marvin gaye, that motown brought his contract to protect marvin, but as david c points out, it seems this is part of a soul urban legend as jj states "any suppression, he felt came from Gaye ...rather than Gordy", anyway 17 tracks covering a wide span of time from one of the legends, and at mid-price I would say a worthy listen, and addition to a collection, though as in all these cds if you have a lot of goldmine detroit releases there's a fair chance you may have a fair few already

STEVE MANCHA The Best Of 1. Did My Baby Call 2. Whirlpool 3. Hate Yourself In The Morning 4. A Love Like Yours 5. Shes So Good 6. Youre Still In My Heart 7. I Dont Want To Lose You 8. Need To Be Be Needed 9. Friday Night 10. Monday Through Thursday 11. Dont Make Me A Story Teller 12. I Wont Love And Leave You 13. Just Keep On Loving Me 14. Sweet Baby Dont Ever Be Untrue 15. Easy Living 16. Lets Party 17. Deeper In Love 18. Your Love Got Sweeter 19. Souvenirs 20. Think Before You Walk Away CATALOGUE NUMBER: VSOP CD 287 detroit soul man- best of steve mancha well track listing says it all, steve mancha or clyde wilson using his real has been around just a while, from his early days as a duet with Wilbert Jackson on hpc in the late 50s to his recent work on the gospel side in Detroit, and in between also found fame as part of a ever changing 100% proof (aged in soul) line up not to mention his prolific song writing. But as you can guess the side chosen ere to represent is his are from his groove city, wheelsville and groovesville times, including 5 unreleased tracks, ranging from deep ballards to the arch-typical Detroit stompfests, a wide range of styles that again work well on a single artist release so if you fancy a listen to one of the constant Detroit soul singers this is for you and again a double page of notes charting his career

THE PARLIAMENTS Testify! - The Best Of The Early Years 1.(I wanna) Testify 2. I can Feel The Ice Melting 3. All Your Goodies Are Gone 4. Dont Be Sore At Me 5. Little Man 6. The Goose That Laid The Golden Egg 7. Look At What I Almost Missed 8. What You Been Growing 9. Good Old Music 10. Time 11. A New Day Begins 12. Ill Wait 13. Ill Wait (Inst.) 14. All Your Goodies Are Gone 15. Baby I Owe You Something (Inst.) 16. Lets Make It Last - The Fellows 17. Shes Always There - The Fellows 18. Heart Trouble 19. That Was My Girl

parliaments-testify-the best of as you may know, the parliaments later evolved into one of the most colourful acts the soul world ever saw, but for now this is all in the future, again this cd takes us to Detroit and back to the 1960s, and upto this point the parliaments path was very similar to other groups, keep it quiet but barber shops are mentioned and other non-funkadelic type stuff. Tracks range from the stand out monster heart trouble, through similar detroit types such as time and dont be sore at me, then onto a few tracks which give brief warnings of what the parliament or should I say george clinton were going to unleash on the world in the mid 70s, a interesting collection again with copious notes, and even though it is claimed that most of the tracks where recorded in one mamoth session, you can hear still make out the gradual changing sound from mainstream soul to the funkier side. One that will also appeal to the fan of their later stuff as well as some of the tracks here where later reincarnated in mid 70s parliament/funkadelic tracks

Darrell Banks The Best Of 1. Open The Door To Your Heart 2. Our Love Is In The Pocket 3. Baby Watcha Got 4. Somebody Somewhere Needs You 5. Here Comes The Tears 6. Ive Got That Feelin 7. Angel Baby (Dont You Ever Leave Me) 8. Look Into The Eyes Of A Fool 9. Im Gonna Hang My Head And Cry 10. Youd Better Go 11. I Wanna Go Home 12. The Love Of My Woman 13. Im Knocking At Your Heart, Please Let Me In 14. The Harder You Love 15. Im The One Who Love You 16. I Will Fear No Evil CATALOGUE NUMBER: VSOP CD 286

open the door to your heart-the best of darrel banks darrel banks- a name forever identified with the song "open the door to your heart" which is a constant mention when people are asked for their all top ten northern sides, and as seems to follow most soul singers his life was a tragic story, even the story behind his biggest hit has a bit of controversy, again this release features double pages of sleeve notes detailing his career, as the track list shows, featured on this cd are his two releases on revilot before atco picked him up and then his atco and his cottlition sides. Main well knowns on this are the storming angel baby and the roaring our love is in the pocket. Again a great chance for a session with one of the most gifted soul singers and again makes a pleasant change to hear one artist rather than 29 various artist tracks and to me the best of the four. At mid price could be a winner

CATALOGUE NUMBER: VSOP CD 289 GOING TO THE GOGO 20 Classic Northern Soul Stompers 1. The Duck - Jackie Lee 2. That Beatin Rhythm - Richard Temple 3. Baby Do The Philly Dog - The Olympics 4. Blowin My Mind To Pieces - Bob Relf 5. Do The Temptation Walk - Jackie Lee 6. Groovin At The GoGo - The 4 Larks 7. Our Love Is In The Pocket - J.J. Barnes 8. Open The Door To Your Heart - Darrell Banks 9. What Is It - Bobby Womack 10. Baby Please Come Home - J.J. Barnes 11. Somebody Somewhere (Needs You) - Darrell Banks 12. I Wanna Testify - The Parliaments 13. Papa Ooh Mow Mow - The Sharonettes 14. Mine Exclusively - The Olympics 15. Your My Mellow - Edwin Starr 16. Cracked Up Over You - Lee Rogers 17. Hit And Run - Rose Battiste 18. Hurt - Eddie Holman 19. Hole In The Wall - J.J. Barnes 20. I Cant Get Away - Bobby Garrett onto the fifth release and all i say on this one is look at the cover and look at the track listing, if youve got a few northern cds odds on you will have some of these tracks, if you havent well its a cheap place to start

By Mike in Articles · November 12, 199826 yr

Junior Walker Story
Here's an article from Detroit City Limits by Graham Anthony (also has a good record list) who can be contacted at:
103 Buxton Road
Chaddesden
Derby
DE 21 4 JN

When Jr.Walker died of cancer on 23rd November 1995, Motown and the World lost it's most unlikely and genuine "stars".Motown who were promoting themselves as "The Sound Of Young America" used to give his date of birth as 1942,but Junior was older and had a legacy as a "Live" act going back to the mid 1950's,long before he cut his first Motown hits. The R+B Chart book gives his date of birth as 14th June 1931 and his given name as Oscar G.Mixon.Usual sources give his name as Autry DeWalt II (Junior) born in 1938 in Blythesville,Arkansas and he took the name Walker either from his step father or his tendency to walk everywhere.

As a child he was in Chicago for a while before settling in South Bend, Indiana .Early influences were Charlie Parker and Boots Randolph after he learned the Saxophone from one loaned by his uncle before his mother bought him one.He perfected his craft on the road with R&B combos The Jumping Jacks and while in St. Louis,The Billy "Sticks" Nix Band.Finally, along with guitarist Willie Woods, he settled in Battle Creek, Michigan where he remained until his death. Legend has it that the band were christened The All Stars after a fan at a live gig enthused that the band were so good, they were all stars! More live work followed and a record contract was secured at Harvey Fuqua's Harvey-Tri Phi label after backing Johnny (Bristol) and Jackey (Beavers) at several gigs around Michigan. Three 45's were issued between 1962-3,"Twist lackawanne", "Cleo's Mood" and "Good rockin" but none charted. Junior's distinctive tenor Sax sound was now well established with his trademark squeal and a hot,cookin' R&B backing from The All Stars.

Harvey Fuqua's labels were swallowed up by the by now growing Motown empire, Junior along with other Harvey acts like Shorty Long joined the Detroit giant and was assigned to the fledgling Soul subsidiary.In 1961 another All Stars group had a release scheduled for release on Motown but there was no connection between those "unknowns" and Junior's band. There was also no connection with The All Stars on Von who had "2-2-5 Special" in the late 50's. Junior's first release in 1964,"Satan's Blues'' failed to chart, but in '65 came the mighty "Shotgun" which blasted its way to #1 R&B and #4 Pop. Another 25 Hot 100 R&B hits, with 11 of them making the Pop top 40,followed.Junior wasn't the greatest of singers or the best Sax player (technically) but he had a unique style all of his own. His hits up until the melancholly of "What does it take to win your love" in '69 were good time Soul made for the dancefloor Junior cut records with a smile even when the Pop/Soul talents of Holland30zier-Holland got in on the act with the more "produced" sound of "I'm a Road Runner" Junior still made it sound as if he was at a party. "Road Runner" became Junior's anthem the lyrics aptly describing what was his life on the road was like, another town, another gig. He must have played it a million times in his "Live" shows but you talk to most who saw him live over the past 30 years and I bet they'd all say he played it like he was enjoying himself.

Most of Junior's early hits didn't fit into the usual Motown mould of well produced Pop/ Soul of The Supremes or Four Tops. They were much more "earthy" in feel with his rough vocal and chunky back-up.Maybe that Is why he never really seemed to be part of the Motown "family" It's said that Junior wasn't that bothered about cutting records, prefering the adrenalin of performing before an audience. By the time of the late 60's and early 7O's Soul music had moved on, becoming less spontanious and more crafted. Still,Junior came up with hits,'What does it take to win your love" being his second #1 R&B hit, swiftly followed up by similar sounding hits. The early 70's saw Junior still up there in the charts with the likes of "Way back home's (now given Social commentary lyrics) and "Take me girl I'm ready'. After the mellow "Disco" sound of "Walk in the night" made #10 R&B in 1972,it was a steady decline chartwise for honkin' horn man.With the slick sounds of Funk bands like Parliament, Ohio Players, Earth Vind and Fire etc dominating the charts and the onslaught of the "Disco Beat" through the rest of the 7O's, Junior's sound became outdated. Although the big hits dried up and Motown lost interest, Junior continued touring and was, as he always had been, very popular in Britain and Europe as well as his homeland. A move to the West Coast and the Whitfield label failed to revive his recording career and he re-joined Motown for his final L.P. "Blow the house down" in 1983.

He was due to have recorded for Ian Levine's Motor City project in the late 80's but I don't think anything was actually cut. He was also absent from the Motown reunion's that Ian Levine promoted, probably due to his live club gigs. Junior will always be remembered for the good-time music he made and though Motown didn't seem to quite accept him into the fold,the public did and can be summed up by a line from Roy Handy's "Baby that's a groove" (Stephanye)...

"We were dancin' to the sound of Junior Walker's SHOTGUN!"

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Poster Thread
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Posted: 2003/11/3 0:16 Updated: 2003/11/3 0:16

Too Cool
How cool was Jr. Walker? At a cabaret in Philadelphia in 1968 a fist fight broke out while Jr. was playing on the stage. With fist swinging, chairs flying, food being passed like missiles, the man did not miss a beat!!!

By Mike in Articles · October 30, 199826 yr

Otis Clay - Sleeve Notes taken from a dutch 80/90s album
Otis Clay
Although he was on the brink of nationwide stardom in 1972 while on the same Memphis based Hi label that launched Al Green, Otis inexplicably never reached the same heights that Green did. But with his driving seven-piece band {featuring the unparalleled Chicago Fire horn section), Clay continues to epitomize the very finest in raw, emotionally supercharged soul.Like so many of his contemporaries, Otis Clay found his early inspiration in the gospel music he heard around his Waxhaw, Mississippi birthplace. His initial appearance on wax came as lead vocalist of the Gospel Songbirds, one of many such aggregations he joined after he moved to Chicago in 1957.
But the secular scene beckoned, and after an unissued session for Columbia, Otis signed with Chicago's One-der-ful Records in 1965. Often working with writer-producers Jimmy Jones and Eddie Silvers, Clay debuted with an intense soul ballad, "A Flame In Your Heart," and solidified his reputation with brisk sellers such as "I'm Satisfied," Cash McCall's "That's How It Is" and the hard-charging "Got To Find A Way." Otis switched to the Atlantic Records combine in mid-'68, inaugurating their Cotillion subsidiary with a Rick Hall-produced Muscle Shoals cover of the Sir Douglas Quintet's "She's About A Mover," eventually cutting three more singles for the firm.
But his most commercially successful period came under the productional wing of Willie Mitchell at Hi Records in Memphis. With Mitchell at the helm, Otis scored big with "Precious Precious," "If I Could Reach Out" and especially the original "Trying To Live My Life Without You," which reportedly sold half a million copies in 1972.
In 1975, Otis decided to take his recording career into his own hands. He opened an office at 2131 S. Michigan Ave. (formerly the Chicago branch location of King Records) and began producing his own sides, releasing them sporadically on his Echo label. "Victim Of Circumstance" was Echo's initial release in the spring of '75.
"A lot of things happened there. That's where the whole thing started," he recalls, "because that was my first venture into producing myself and arranging, the whole works." Prolific Southern soul writer George Jackson provided Otis with a potential smash in 1980, but Clay was a bit slow to follow through. "I called George in '80. and I was saying. 'George, hey man, let's get together and do some things.' So George flew in from Memphis, and we went in the studio here in Chicago," says Otis. "We recorded 'Cheatin' In The Next Room,' 'Messin' With My Mind,' another tune called 'If I Could Open Up My Heart. 'I sat on 'Cheatin' In The Next Room' for about two years, and I never got a deal on the album in this country," he says. "And this is ironic - the very same day I was getting ready to go to the studio to put the horns on 'Cheating' In The Next Room,' because the track had been laid ever since '80, but I was going to put some horns on it, and put some more voices on it.""As I was walking out the door, I had the radio on, and right from the intro. it hit me! I said,'What!!' and I listened, and here comes Z.Z. Hill singing 'Cheating' In The Next Room!'" But Otis readily admits his old friend had every right to cut the tune.
Another Jackson contribution, the relentlessly cooking "Messin' With My Mind," did well around Chicago, but failed to break nationally. "A lot of the radio stations. especially the black radio stations, said, 'We don't play blues,'" says Otis. "It's not really a blues record, but it got thrown in that category. "We was selling 17,000 in Chicago, it was a big record, but we never could get the other radio stations to go with it." Clay's Echo sides range from the mellow, soulful balladry of "Check It Out" and "I'm Gonna Hate Myself In The Morning" to the irresistibly danceable "The Only Way is Up" and the brassy groove of "All I Need Is You." There's a medium-tempo treatment of Eddie Floyd's "Special Kind Of Love" and a brilliant remake of Tyrone Davis' classic "Turn Back The Hands Of Time" that could give his pal Tyrone serious cause for concern.
Soul, blues, gospel - it's virtually impossible to pigeon-hole the music of Otis Clay. "I just sing,man. I don't ever put myself in a category," he says. "I got a long way to go with this thing, because I got a lot of music in me.
"I like the idea of being free to create."
- Bill Dahl

Also available by Otis Clay:

Live In Tokyo (1983) - where the Soul of Otis Clay drips on the dance floor

Watch Me Now (1989) - produced in Memphis by Willie Mitchell

artists

By Mike in Articles · October 30, 199826 yr

Kim Tolliver - Then and Now
soul source Kim Tolliver More info addded 20 Mar
The other day received some email regarding site from Andrew Hamilton, it turned out that Andrew Hamilton from Cleveland apart from being an respected writer on USA soul scene and journalist (you may have read some of his informative articles in Soulful Kinda Music, AMG Bios, LP/CD reviews), also co-wrote the mid 70 s northern spin "I dont know which foot to dance on" by Kim Tolliver.
Well also he had the bad news that Kim is now in hospital in Cleveland and in a bad way. Bearing this in mind and also that he gave me a lot of info on her I thought I'd share it with you. For those around the scene in the 70s one of the most rememberable sounds of the batch of 70s spins, was "I don't know which foot to dance on" from its unusual western type intro to the main funky stomping meat with the powerful vocal of Kim Tolliver giving it a uptempo southern soul touch. Other info on this track is Andrew Hamilton co wrote the track with her husband Fred Briggs.It was initially published by Briggs' publishing company Power Cube then Groovesville Publishing in Detroit, MI. Johnny Taylor was supposed to have recorded the song, but it never happened, so Fred cut it on Kim and released it on his own label.
Briggs also recorded as Coldwater Stone. Whilst this track is the only impact Kim has had on Northern circuit her other recordings are well respected in the mainstream soul department, some say her best stuff was during the Rojac day a listing of her singles follows:
IN RETURN FOR YOUR LOVE/GET A LITTLE SOUL-SURESHOT 5037
I'LL TRY TO DO BETTER/I GOTTA FIND A WAY-ROJAC 126
TUESDAY'S CHILD/(YOUR TRYING TO) COP MY STUFF-ROJAC 128
LET THEM TALK/I'LL TRY TO DO BETTER-ROJAC 129
DRIVING ME TO THE ARMS OF A STRANGER/I GOTTA FIND A WAY-ROJAC 131
I CAUGHT YOU/GET MYSELF TOGETHER-GAR 322
I DON'T KNOW WHAT FOOT TO DANCE ON/same inst.-CASTRO 101
STANDING ROOM ONLY/YOUR LOVES ON THE MONEY-PATHFINDER 101
WHERE WERE YOU/same-TAY STER 5600 (12")

On the LP side it is a little know fact that she has recorded two LPs, I have since found both on net, and just awaiting next record order day to grab one. Anyone out there heard any of them?

Come And Get Me - I'm Ready / Chess
Passing Clouds - Kimberly Briggs - Fantasy (her husbands surname)
Mike Grey passed on the track info of the Chess LP Tracks :
The other side of town
She don't know you like I do
Come and get me I'm ready
The way he used to
I need you
(Come as you are) Drop whatever you're doing
Takin' a woman's stand
I'm losing the feeling
Learn to get along without you
All written by Fred Briggs or D.K.Briggs (Kim?) 1 by Clarence Reid 1 by W.Hale/Beaver
All tracks never released on singles
Mentioned on the Blackpool Mecca CD sleeve notes is the fact that Kim is now a respected R+B DJ in Cleveland, well unfortunately this wasn't true, afraid whoever gave this info got confused as Andrew points out,

"Kim never was a disk jockey in Cleveland, Lynn Tolliver, Dave Tolliver, and Kim Sellers are all D.J.'s on the most popular Urban Station in Cleveland -- WZAK. The first two are men, both related with Dave being one half of the Urban Duo -- Men At Large. Sellers is a female and the wife of former NBA Player, Brad Sellers. Though to be fair its easy to see how mistake was made. "
As said early Kim is in a bad way nowadays, really sick and with her mind almost gone Andrew sent in a photo of her taken about 5 months ago with one of her grand-daughters which is printed below. As someone who has enjoyed the pleasure and good memories her recordings have given me, I would just like to pass on to Kim our thanks and best wishes. mike
Thanks go out to Andrew Hamilton for all the info and also to Nobby for the singles list and Mike Grey for the track listing.

artists

By Mike in Articles · October 30, 199826 yr

Thanks go to Soul Essence Mag (see fanzine section for more details) for letting Soul Source use this great review
010898. JERRY (SWAMP DOGG) WILLIAMS LIVE AT LOWTON
What a privilege to be invited to watch JERRY (SWAMP DOGG) WILLIAMS rehearse and do an interview with the man himself.The editor and myself arrived about 1.30pm and were instantly press-ganged into carrying the large speakers into the hall. Meanwhile, ROBBO was doing the 'fan' bit and having his photo taken with JW. Also he was doing the autograph thing and getting a stack of records signed (seeing the smile on ROBBOs face reminded me that I hadn't put the cat out, yep, it was still on fire when I left earlier).
I was stunned seeing JW, I had this vision in my head of a tall dude, long leather coat, wide brimmed hat with a huge feather on one side, you know, the JOHN SHAFT kinda look. JW was stocky, 5'8'' and so down to earth he spoke to people as if he'd known them years, you couldn't help but like the guy. Travelling with JW was a softly spoken, cool young lady who turned out to be his daughter - JERRY YVONNE Jnr. There were no 'roadies' here, everyone including the band rolled up their sleeves and helped to get the stage prepared.
When all the wiring seemed to be ok, a few adjustments made to the sound deck controls, JW went through the rehearsal routine, which had the dozen or so privileged few totally spellbound. The smooth, matured, soft, soulful voice of JW filled the hall. When hitting the notes, raising strongly emphasising the mood depicted by the lyrics, all my hairs stood on end on the back of my neck, my goose bumps had goose bumps of their own. He went into 'synthetic world' , 'mammas' baby, daddy's' maybe', the wailing lead guitar - pleading muted horn solo, JW's bluesey rendition tore at my heart. I'm thinking to myself, 'if you ask me' is likely that all most people will know, this guy is gonna educate everyone to just what soul is all about. JW is so 'laid back', never once did he get upset when a cord was played wrong (which was very rare) or a musician played a piece in an alternative 'key'. He was always the gentleman who took time to discuss the finer points with the band and even changed a few bars because he liked the way the musicians played certain sections. But make no mistake, everyone understood, JW was 100% in charge.
Not too long after JW came over to me to arrange the interview and to check I was ok! Jeeze, what other artist would give a shit if a magazine had sent along a reporter and whether that reporter minded waiting a while longer and even apologized for taking so long!!. I wanted the guy to adopt me there and then, I even tried telling him I was house trained. He turned to me and said, "after hearing the rehearsal you may think fuck it, I'm off, after hearing me", I nearly fell off my seat, I could only shake my head and blubber. I'd have waited a lifetime if I had to, well, at least until the chippy opened. The band was truly professional and believe it or not was only put together at the last minute by MIKE SUMMERS who had to do all the running around to acquire the instruments and do a lot of negotiating, this guy was a genius.
Whilst JW sang his heart out I managed to talk his daughter, JERRY YVONNE Jnr............
BM. Are you still at high school?
JY. I'm 22, I've just graduated and I'm applying to 'Med' (medical) school.
BM. How is JW received in the STATES?
JY. oh, he's still getting standing ovations and he played a tribute to ELVIS PRESLEY at the 'HOUSE OF BLUES' and they loved him. I like the way my father writes, songs today have no meaning. He adapts to the audience. In ITALY most of the people couldn't speak English but there were around 5 - 6000 people yelling and screaming and my father had about 5 or 6 standing ovations.
BM. What's your father really like?
JY. he's so humble, never a swelled head you know, he plays for the people. He's doing theme music for T.V. and movies, people are always asking him. He's huge in AUSTIN, TEXAS at the 'SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST' music festival were they play all types of music including Indie.
BM. What's happening on the album scene?
JY. oh he's still writing and building for a new album, his last was called, 'f..k the bomb, stop the drugs' which was released through 'VIRGIN' and contained his greatest hits. My father is working on a new album, which may possibly be finished by the end of the year and released around this time next year.
BM. Did you ever get to meet your father's famous associates?
JY. I get to meet people now and again, I've met ESTHER PHILLIPS and TOMMY HUNT stayed with us for a while whilst recording with my father.
BM. What type of music do you enjoy listening to?
JY. I'm into all types, Indie, Rock, all types. In our house, we have this jukebox with most of my fathers' music on it, there seems to be a revival of my fathers' music it's great, everybody loves him where-ever he goes. It was fantastic in PRATTA, ITALY, they really appreciated my father's work.
BM. How about your friends, how do they react?
JY.at first none of my friends really knew who he was but now it's like, wow he's your dad? I get to go to many of my fathers' performances, I stand up front and take photos...

One memory I'll not forget too soon was when one of the organisers, BERNIE O'BRIAN asked to borrow a record while I was talking to JW. This was in order to test the twin decks for the evenings soul offering of the vinyl type. The record I produced was JW's 'if you ask me' on Carla. There I was, sitting mere inches away from JW whilst his record was playing and the man himself was singing along, shit, what a trip!!!!!
Soon the man was back on stage doing his thing, only this time he was feeling the cold air in the main hall. On goes the long raincoat and he starts to pace up and down as he sings with the aid of a 'headset' microphone and looking not unlike Detective Colombo from the 70s' series. Taking up position behind the electronic piano he comments, "one day I'm gonna get me a piano teacher" the band just cracks up and then the man begins to sing 'I was born blue'. From time to time he enquires "D minor, E minor" ? The only miner I know comes from Wigan and eats meat pies.
A couple of hours later JW brings the rehearsal to a close, I do my inter view in which JW turns his humour in my direction, sarky git, and then later make my way home to get changed before returning for the show. The editor had buggered off some time ago to stuff his face thanks to KEV & Mrs MURPH' (didn't send me a buttie tight sods and I'm doing all the work) but somehow I hadn't noticed or bothered, I even lost track of time. When I later return to LOWTON, the place is rapidly filling. Although not the full capacity as you'd get with a normal soul night but never the less quite a good turn out. During the afternoon I did managed to get JW to sign a limited number of copies of the latest edition of 'NORTHERN ESSENCE' which were almost snatched out of my hands as I began to sell them at the entrance.
The whole 'gaff' was buzzing and the atmos' electric. When the time came for JW to walk on stage I was enrolled into the security staff and positioned at the side of the stage to watch JW and his daughter JY. The performance went smoothly but for the faulty headset microphone, which was quickly replaced by a hand mike.
'We need a revolution', 'Sam Stone'(an old favourite of mine I got out of a 'SOUL PACK' back in the seventies when virtually every pack had 'armed and extremely dangerous' by First Choice in) , 'I was born blue',' if you ask me' and ' mammas baby, daddy's maybe' out of the 13 rehearsed around 8 were sang, 'if you ask me' was demanded and performed about 4 / 5 times through the evening.
At one point JW commented, "I'm a bootleggers dream', I knew what he was getting at as he revealed during his interview with me earlier during the afternoon that he had never been paid for the track, 'if you ask me' even though he owned the 'masters'. In fact there were certain record companies that were due to receive certain pieces of paper guaranteed to balls up their day for issuing JERRY's work without paying him (serves them right) in the near future. Anyway, those who couldn't fight their way to the front of the stage were content in sitting were they were and singing along, those who did manage to get to the front of the stage were rewarded with signed autographs as JW sang. I noticed one or two ignorant gits in one corner talking and laughing throughout the performance. I thought it not only a waste of money to show everyone what a bunch of numb bastards they were but they spoilt it for those stood around nearby trying to listen to JW. Well I suppose you're going to get people like that no matter where you go. They'd be better off in a working mans' club playing dominoes and slagging off the tart in the red dress, whilst some overweight no-mark of a comedian tries to get a laugh out the sad gits knocking back the gin & tonics trying to look sexy in two tonne of f...ing make-up and dressed in last years cast offs from 'OXFAM'.
Apart from that, the whole evening was a success on all fronts and many thanks and congratulations must go to the hard working individuals but for whom it might never have been.
One or two 'hic-cups' arose from beginning to end in order to get JERRY from the STATES to LOWTON and consequently on to the other venues were JW would be performing. But for the perseverance of the organisers and the bloody hard work, determination and dedication none of this would have been possible. These guys have bent over backwards to give you one of the top living soul artists today, I think they deserve our thanks. If you would like to show your appreciation by putting pen to paper and sending your letters to 'NORTHERN ESSENCE' I will see that the right people receive them. BERNIE O'BRIAN, STEVE FLETCHER, BIG MURPH, LEE ROGERS, STEVE CONNER, BRIAN JOLLY, DEAN MITCHELL, INTRACK (FOR THE EQUIPMENT).
Cheers lads, can we have DES O'CONNER next?.

By Big Mick in Articles · October 30, 199826 yr

Bill Spoon and the Soul Notes
In 1997 a Channel 4 TV documentary dealing with the duties of the LA Coroners office was screened in the UK.One of the people whos day to day tousle were illustrated in this programme was a department member by the name of William Bell. Now for most people who saw the documentary this will prove to be their one + only insight into the like of William Bell. However northern / modern soul fans will already be acquainted with his work in the music business where he is better known under his recording / stage name of Bill Spoon. William Bell (Bill Spoon) was born on November 6th, 1942 in Jefferson County, Alabama.
His interest in music began at an early stage under the tutelage of the late Alex Bradford. His home area must have been a hot bed for musical talent as Bill grew up in the company of numerous others who were later to forge successful recording careers. Bill attended High School with Frederick Knight, Barbara Joyce Lomas ( later to become a founding member of BT Express ) and Richard ~ Jessie Fisher. In fact, for a short period, Bill and Richard sang in the same street corner group. He would get together to write songs with his neighbour, and long time friend, Roger Hatcher and he also participated in local talent shows with the likes of Eddie Kendncks &: David Ruffin. Bill was also a member of the Miles College Chorus where one of his fellows was Mitty Collier who would go on to enjoy success with Chess Records. In the early sixties Bills plans for a musical career seemed as if they would have to be put on hold as he was called up into the Army. However he soon turned the situation to his advantage, as he spent two years ( 1962/3 ) entertaining the troops in Korea as lead singer for an outfit known as the Soul Masters.
He was relocated to Germany for a further period where he was lead singer for a group who went by the name of the Uniques. In 1965, at the end of his tour of duty, he returned to Alabama where he completed his education in Birmingham At the time, however, there were few opportunities in the area to make the inroads into the recording business that Bill aspired to. As a result of this he followed the example set by Eddie Kendricks and David Ruffin and moved north to relocate in Cleveland, Ohio. Other locals took the same road, Richard and Jessie Fisher also making the same move with Roger Hatcher following a few years later. On his arrival in Cleveland, Bill was reunited with Walter Ricky Dannison who he had got to know before going into the Army, this occurring in June 1965. Walter introduced him to Leroy Elie, with whom Ricky had sung while Bill was in the army. Riki, Leroy and Bill realised that they had the gist of a competitive singing unit, but were one voice short of a true blend. In August 1965, they met John Cornbread Berry and he became the fourth member of the as yet un-narned group. The group started to perform in night clubs but only on weekends as they all had full time day jobs. Walter did some form of quality control at the Cleveland Chrysler Auto Plant, Leroy was a commercial electrical and mechanical architect while John was the floor manager at a metal photo processing plant.
Bill himself was a criminal investigator for the State of Ohio. Soon after the line-up adopted the name the Soul Notes their collective efforts were recognised as in November 1965 they were signed to a recording contract by locally based Way Out Records. The group continued to gain experience and hone their performances and by 1967 Way Out were ready to let them record in their own right. Initially two tracks were laid down, How Long Will It Last and Dons Make Me Beg but Way Out were in the process of negotiating a national distribution deal with MOM and so the companies releases were delayed while this was completed Early in 1968 though the two tracks were released as a single, Way Out 1001. The group returned to the recording studio and a further two tracks were recorded, I Got Everything I Need and Ive Been Waiting For Your Love. Way Out decided a second single was warranted on the group and so in 1969 they enjoyed another release, I Got Everything I Need / How Long Will It Last - Way Out 1006. For some reason Way Out decided to leave Ive Been Waiting For Your Love on the shelf as they re-used one side of the groups first single. This decision undoubtedly robbed uptempo soul fans of a potential favourite as Ive Been Waiting For Your Love had definite dance floor potential.
The song had been driven by Bill along with group member Walter Riki Dannison and the Sensations Johnny Washington. Someone at Way Out must have thought the song had potential though as they got James Calloway to come up with an alternative set of lyrics.The revised version of the song was later (1971) to be recorded ~ released for the company by Jessie Fisher, the songs new title being Your Not Loving A Beginner - Way Out 104. The Soul Notes cut a further 6 tracks in Way Outs studios in 1969 but unfortunately none of these gained a release. The songs laid down by the group were Please, Baby Please ( a version of the Sensations track), I Cant Wait Until The Weekend, Try It, Youll Like it, Im On My Way, Ill Wait For You and Alone. The groups treatment by Way Out was fling its members and in 1969 John Berry quit the group. His place was taken by Avon Wells but Avons stint with the Soul Notes was short lived as within a few months he moved on, becoming a member of the Imperial Wonders. Bill, Riki,Leroy continued on as a trio but in early 1970 a power struggle broke out at Way Out and the companies management became chaotic. In the confusion a number of projects got lost, a new Soul Notes release being amongst these.
Bill is sure a few test pressings featuring tracks they had laid down in 1969 were made but none enjoyed an official release. Discouraged with their future the Soul Notes broke up.Bill Spoon decided a change was again called for and so he moved back down south, relocating to Memphis where he worked briefly with Frederick Knight. Bill soon returned to Cleveland though and later in 1970 he cut his first tracks as a solo artist. He cut five songs in all (Gotta Go On, Its Hard Livin Alone, etc.) and these were destined for release on Springboard Records. A few demo copies were pressed up but unfortunately the scheduled release failed to make it into the shops. Bill next acted as producer /arranger on a session for Walter Dannison, who now went by the recording name of Riki Sonda, but again a release failed to materialist. In the meantime Bill had formed a relationship with Bobby and Friendly Womack and so he moved out to California which was where they were based. Here he met Pete Peterson and Tom Wilson and in conjunction with them he landed a recording deal with Angel City Records who were to be distributed by Polydor. Bill cut 4 tracks for the label in 1972, 2 more in 73 and another 4 in 1974 however the untimely death of their executive producer, Tom Wilson meant the project ended. A number of the tracks were co-written / produced by Gene Dozier these marked the first occasion that Bill and Gene had collaborated in the recording studio.
Four of these tracks were to find favour with UK soul fans in the late 80s when they were reissued on a Hense Forth 12". The tracks involved were I Can Feel It from 1972, Shell Be Lucky from 1973 (both of these being written /produced by Bill himself), The One Who Really Loves You and I Bet You Cant Love Me One More Time from 1974 (both being co-written &produced by Gene Dozier). Yet again Bill returned to Cleveland and here he organised a deal with Hot Ice Records. In 1976 he recorded 2 tracks for the company, a further 2 in 77 and 5 more in 78. One of the tracks that he recorded at this time was a song Bill had written with ex - Soul Note Riki Dannison, I Got God On My Side. Once again unfortunately nothing really resulted from He association. By 1980 Bill had thrown his lot in with Bob Davis who had earlier run the Day-Wood label. Gene Dozier, who at the time was working for Solar Records, was fetched across to Cleveland to oversee the proposed recording session. At this session Bill laid down 2 tracks, Love Is On The Way ~ Dont Play With My Love and these were released on the newly instigated Highland label. Unfortunately the company didnt have the finances to properly promote and distribute the single and so commercial success eluded Bill yet again.
The quality of the tracks was appreciated by UK fans though and the single became a much sought after item on this side of the pond.Eventually, to satisfy the pent-up demand, the record was also reissued on Henseforth in the late 80s. The problems the Highland release experienced finally convinced Bill that he wasnt going to establish a successful recording career in Cleveland and so in the early 80s he returned to Los Angeles. Over a period of several years he collaborated on projects with the likes of Friendly Womack, Leon Haywood, Lou Ragland and Gene Dozier. By the end of the eighties he was ready to give a solo career a try again He linked up with Hense Powell and a number of tracks were laid down. The result of this work saw the light of day in 1990 when the Henseforth LP Talk To Me was released This 8 track strong album immediately found a receptive audience in the UK but unfortunately maldug the US record buying public aware of its existence and quality was to prove a more difficult task.
A number of songs on the allbum help illustrate the enduring musical associations that Bill had developed over his long career as they were co-written with old allies. One of the LPs most popular hacks, Kick Back was composed in conjunction with Lou Ragland whilst Riki Dannison assisted with Look At Yourself. Further Henseforth recordings escaped in 1995 when the single I Rode The Crest Of The Wave / No Way To Live was released but again it failed to find a wide audience. Bill isnt a person whos easily discouraged though and hecontinues to work on new material. He has re-recorded I Got God ~ My Side along with a number of other songs.
Bill feels his duties on behalf of the L.A Coroners Office are becoming too arduous on a day to day basis and so he is determined to make another effort in the recording field He has plans to release a new C D. I hope that thissees the light of day in the near future and that, at long last, it results in Bill getting the recognition long overdue to him.

JR Smith Oct. 98

Taken from Soulful Kinds Music Dec 98 issue with permission

artists

By Mike in Articles · October 30, 199826 yr

The following article and the Mary Love story was ripped from a great mag called Soul Underground, The winter 94 issue, I don't think the mag is still going and it seemed a waste for good articles like these to be lost. If anyone knows different please get in touch.
Mark Sergeant wrote a great article on the "case for defence for modern soul" and even though its 4 years old reckon it's a good view on a old subject.
The advent of Crossover Soul has seen a degree of acceptability finally afforded towards what is now regarded by some as 'Traditional' Modern Soul. The term 'Modern Soul' has been used and abused to describe most records played at Rare Soul Venues almost since its inception. It is generally accepted at The Blackpool Mecca Highland Room Soul Nights, under the guidance of DJ's Ian Levine and Colin Curtis and was the birthplace of the bastard child of Northern Soul, Modern Soul.
As the sixties gave us Motown commercially, so the seventies begat Philly Miami. The Underground Soul Scene drew on the Motown influences, turning up obscurities Title a similar style of sound shaping todays scene in its formative period. Parceling that simplified and generalised 'Birth of the scene in one sentence' statement, Levine and Curtis picked up on obscure soul dance tracks that were only a few years old, similar but less 'commercial' then the then fast rising in popularity gamble and huff empire of Philadelphia International Records and to a lesser degree The Miami Sound, (that would eventually become T.K. Records), was also enjoying chart success via George McRae and KC and The Sunshine Band. Early inclusions on their innovative playlists were The Carstairs - It Really Hurts Me Girl, the fantastic Johnny C - Don't Depend On Me, King Sporn - Music Maker and Bobby Franklin - It's The ladies Choice. At this particular time 1974, many regulars on the scene would first go to Blackball Mecca and then travel on to Wigan for the Allnighter. Wigan was then musically a bastion of the traditional (and Motownesque) four beats to the bar sixties style sound. Black Music Magazine 'investigated' The Northern Scene publishing in effect an expose, keeping with the best traditions of tabloid journalism 'they' sensationalised and attempted to suggest there was a massive rift because of the 'New' Soul as played at Blackpool.
As it is now on The Rare Soul Scene, not everyone likes every record played and some take longer to gain acceptance, so it was then. Obviously a major change takes time to take place and Levine and Curtis played the more modern sounding tracks along side 'Traditional' Northern Soul. Granted a few held strong uncompromising views, The Black Music Magazine feature effectively poured fuel on the fire. The following months saw the rift grow into a yawning chasm with hordes lining up behind either Levine or Wigans' Russ Winstanely. In the course of time the differences subsided, Wigan via predominately Richard Searling began to programme some of the 'less traditional' sounds. The controversial subject of Modern Soul and its validity on The Rare Soul Scene has come to a head on a number of occasions since. Jazz Funks advent, along with The Ritz Alldayers in Manchester saw the first of several fragmentations's leading to mini exodus's from The Northern Soul Scene to pastures new. Although new tolerances were purported to exist, some attitudes were still running deep. Soul Sam managed to get himself sacked from The Wigan DJ Rosta for playing Casanova by Coffee - then a new release. Elsewhere Yate and Cleethorpes had accepted 'Modern Soul' alongside Traditional Northern. The Stafford and Leicester era saw Modern Soul reach arguably its most acceptable level in the mainstream Northern Scene.
Then the mid-eighties sixties newies backlash happened, in effect attempting to drive Modern Soul Away. For a period the north east was the standard bearer for Modern Soul with Snaith, Rotherham and downstairs at Bradford consecutively keeping 'Modern Soul' Alive, although there were other venues (Rock City for instance). Weekenders in the northwest saw London Area Soul DJ's Mixing their Rare Groove and two step scenes with the Modern Soul Scene. A handful of Modern Soul Allnighters went off in Bedford. Richard Searling in the north and the likes of Bob Jones and Steve Hobbs in the south had Soul Radio Programmes which opened some more doors. Of course the voices from the shadows real soul nights in Thorne also made a significant contribution. The advent of garage saw the expanding Modern Scene fragment again. Those that choose to remain with 'tradition' modern soul instead of followings the direction they had been going turned their collective back on anything that had even, a hint of garage(or house) music, going back to the late sixties and early seventies searching out previously overlooked tracks. Collectively these sounds, the records of that particular genre, are called Crossover Soul. Collectors from the (mainly) sixties Northern Scene have also picked up on Crossover Soul.
Currently there is a tentative harmony on the scene, at least regarding the subject of Modern Soul.
So what has happened to 'traditional' modern soul expanding on the use of the term 'traditional' modern soul, I am referring to the type of modern soul that has received a degree of 'respectability' on the northern soul scene by being played at righters alongside sixties northern differentiating from the "modern' soul as played downstairs at Bradford - after the change in policy, which encompassed house and garage flavoured upfront dance tracks. Depending on the scenes mood, records that by their year of origin (after midnight 31st December 1969) are regarded as modem soul have reached a sizable level of acceptability. In both terms of demand and inclusion on playlists. During the mid seventies, Billy Woods - Let Me Make You Happy, Candi Stanton - Now You Got The Upper Hand, Anderson Brothers - I Can See Him Loving You Were, Among Others, elevated to 'monster' status packing dance floors almost everywhere. Others such as Alfie Davidson - Love is ~ Serious Business, Greg Perry - It Takes Heart and Benny Troy - I Wanna Give You Tomorrow - all modern tracks were literally played to death. Also the quality of small independent soul label material saw many modern soul DJs include a number of new release records in their set Something that also didn't sit too well with the sixties only Paternity who by that particular attitude were actually turning their back on how their scene started.New releases were played at the wheel and the torch; it was only the lack of new releases that saw DJ's and collectors searching out obscurities to satisfy the thirst for continual 'new' records back where it all began. Stafford, in the early days also provided a number of (now) classic modern soul tracks, try Jan Jones - Independent Woman, Glenda McCleod - No Stranger To Love. Garfield Fleming - Don't Send Me Away for instance.

All but the most blinkered have to admit Flat modern soul, in its "traditional" style has, like it or not, become an integral part of the scene.Of course it can be argued that the scene is built on rare sixties soul. Never mind argued, it's an unequivocal fact. The backbone and lifeblood of the scene is sixtiessoul, but there and indeed almost always have been 'other' sounds featured. R'n'B flavoured tracks have enjoyed lesser and greater amounts of needle time over the years, dependent on the musical tastes of the particular period. Also the Latin inspired numbers had a degree of popularity not too long ago, then of course the advent of the beat ballad and the upsurge of interest in mid tempo tracks have all seen popularity increase. Yet the sixties soul sound that is the scenes musical mainstay still remains, so why is there still opposition in some areas to the acceptance of 'traditional' modern soul.

The only conclusion I can reach regarding this illogical rejection of one particular contributor factor to the overall structure of the rare soul scene isthat perhaps they kisguidely assume that if modern soul is given a overall acceptance it will hijack the scene. Quite simply this is not true, the scene thrives on sixties soul and sixties soul will continue to provide else vast majority of the scenes sounds.
Modern soul in its 'traditional' guise has served its apprenticeship, has come of age, is waiting for the key to the door. Modern soul has been around since 1974, that's almost twenty years. A countless amount of classic northern soul records have arrived via modern soul, so many infect as there is almost a strong case for innovative allnighter promoters to introduce regular modern soul oldies DJ's. Not as unlikely as some may assume, as well as the in-vogue crossover soul, that has seen many barriers fall there are three eras of even 'traditional' modern soul that potential specialist Dj's could draw from. The early years of Blackpool Mecca, the late seventies early eighties period when quality (major label) soul dance track releases were available in abundance, and the most recent era where the likes of soul sam and Arthur Fenn pushed boundaries even further. The whole scene's recent (re-discovery of quality soul coupled with the general drop in tempo has made the overalI acceptance of modern soul in mainstream northern soul probably the least controversial it has ever been.
After all 'modern soul' has been around for twenty years, almost so its most definitely not going to go away. Many soul nights that are the grass roots of the scene regularly feature 'modern soul' so what's the major hold up at the majority of regular allnighters. If the time is not right now for modern souls acceptance by the scene, I doubt if it ever will be.
MARK SARGEANT 1994

Soul Underground

modern soul

By Mike in Articles · June 11, 199827 yr

Wheelsville usa listing
Listing taken from Soul Express Summer 1986

101 JIMMY GILFORD - I wanna be your baby/ Misery Street

102 STEVE MANCHA - Did My Baby Call/ Whirlpool
103 LITTLE SONNY - Lets Have A Good Time/ Orange Pineapple Blossom Pink
106 MAGIC TONES - Got To Get A Little Closer/ Me And My Baby
107 CODY BLACK -I Will Give you my love/I am Particular
108 HINDAL BUTTS TRIO -Back Up Baby/Waltzing With the Parson
109 FABULOUS PEPS -With these Eyes/Love Of my life
110 LEE ROGERS -Love Of My love/How Are You Fixed for love
111 LIL SOUL BROTILERS - Ive Got Heart Aches/ What Can It Be
112 CONNIE VAN DYKE -These Words Wont Come/Dont do Nothing I Wouldnt do
113 BUDDY LAMP -Youve Got The Loving Touch/I Wanna Go Home
114 MAGIC TONES -How Can I Forget/Me And Mv Baby
115 INTERNATIONAL KANSAS -Evervbody Going Wild/Quitting time CITY PLAYBOYS
116 SILKY HARGREAVES -Ill Keep On Trying/ Love Lets Try Again
117 DON DE ANDRE TRIO -Sunny/ Watermelon man
118 LEE ROGERS -How Are You Fixed for Love/Cracked Up Over You
119 LEE ROGERS -How Are Vou Fixed for love/The Same things That Make You Laugh
120 BUDDY LAMP -I Wanna Go Home/Confusion
121 LEE ROGERS - Love Can Really Hurt You Deep/Love For a Love
122 BUDDY LAMP -Save Your Love/I Wanna Go Home
10001 FREDDIE BUTLER -Save Your love/(Bside not known)
10002 RUDI ROBINSON TRIO -I Want To Have Everything/Funny

Listing taken from Soul Express Summer 1986

By Mike in Articles · June 10, 199827 yr

D-1011-A THE SUPERLATIVES....DO WHAT YOU WANT TO DO (J.Edwards-A-.Lanot-G.Jones J.Hendricks) (2:24) Produced by Dynamics Record Co. - Jay Bird Publishing.
D-1011-B THE SUPERLATIVES FORGET ABOUT TOMORROW (A.Harrell) (2:46) Music by
Big Bubber Combo (T.Russell on Organ) Other credits same.
Note: This was also issued with a 'B' number prefix after It was re-mixed by Don Davis at United Sound.

D-1012-A SUPERLATIVES WON'T YOU PLEASE [bE MY BABY] (T.Russell-J.Edwards)(2:22) Produced by Dynamics Record Co.Labney Music Pub. -
D-1012-B SUPERLATIVES DON'T EVER LEAVE ME (T.Russell-J.Edwards) (2:07)
Other credits same.

D-1013-A THE ELDEES DON'T BE AFRAID TO LOVE (D.Yancey) (2:07) Produced by
Dynamics Record Co. Labney Pub.
B THE ELDEES YOU BROKE MY HAPPY HEART (A.Abney) (2:08) Other credits
are the same as 'A'.

D-1014-A THE DYNASONICS "YOU GOT IT" [iNSTRUMENTAL] (S.Rivers Jr.)
Produced by Dynamics Record Co. Laboey Publishing.
B THE DYNASONICS SOUL BUG [iNSTRUMENTAL] (A.Smith) (~:40)
Other credits same as 'A'

D-1015-A ACE JONES WAY DOWN YONDER
A LETTER TO MOTHER
No other details known

D-1016-A THE SUPERLATIVES DON'T WALK AWAY I DON'T KNOW HOW (TO SAY
I LOVE YOU) (R.Washington) (2:27) Music arranged by Darius Moore.
Produced by Dyna-M.A.P. Productions.Labney Music Pub.
B THE SUPERLATIVES LONELY IN A CROWD (F.Robinson) (2:15) All other Credits same as 'A'.
Note: This reached #39 R&B Charts March 1969 when issued on WESTBOUND #144.A cover version by CARL CARLTON titled "Don't walk away" on BACKBEAT #610 reached #38 in r + b Charts in October 1969.R.Washington is Rhonda Washington who recorded for Volt as HOT SAUCE

D-1017-A THE SUPERLATIVES DON'T LET TRUE LOVE DIE (D.Moore,J.H.Glover3 (2:25)
Music Arr.D.Moore.Produced by Dyna-M.A.-P. Productions. Labney Music Pub.
B THE SUPERLATIVES SHE'S MY WONDER WOMAN (~.Moore,F.Robinson) (2:25) All other credits same as tA'. -
Note:This was also issued on WESTBOUND #154.

This article was ripped from Detroit City Limits Magazine by Graham Anthony (who also does a good record list) who can be contacted at:

By Mike in News Archives · June 10, 199827 yr

Yet another "oldie" Pete Smith from the 90s
Here's a bit from Pete Smith , regarding a letter that was sent to him a few years back. Interesting stuff for those who used to think legal re-issues helped the artists
Dear Pete,
My name is Lorraine Silver of "Lost summer love" fame. Hopefully your eyes have lit up with instant recognition!! Ive just read your article in Richard Domars fanzine and just had to write to you failing to obtain any phone number from GPO. My story goes like this; believe it or not I knew absolutely nothing about my Northern Soul success with Lost Summer Love until last year. I made it along with another track called "The Happy Faces" in 65 when I was just 13 years old. I got a recording contract from Pye Records by making a do it yourself plastic disc in Woolworths and walking round to the studios with it. From that I got a contract. The records were expected to do really well at the time but they didnt.
End of story...well although I got loads of publicity at the time being only 13 and all that, the records werent hits. Ive always kept on singing. I still sing with two girls and we do the cabaret circuit.
It wasnt until last year when a friend of mine spotted my name in Blues & Soul magazine under the Northern Soul page. Some DJ from warrington had listed my record as one of the greats of the Wigan Casino era. When I saw this I almost passed out. At the time I didnt know too much about Northern Soul (although now I obviously do). My personal taste is soul i.e. Anita Baker etc. I started investigating and suddenly realised I had loads of royalties owing to me as when it was re-released on Casino Classics in the late 70s it sold 34,000 copies! I knew absolutely nothing at all of this. I then rang up the newspapers and various took up the story. I also got on LWTs news with the story. As you can imagine Ive gained lots of contacts during the past year and Im really keen o learn more about my record. My Dad flipped when I told him people were paying up to £40 for an original copy. I would love to know any more details about it at all if you can help me. Also does it appear on any of the Wigan Casino tapes you mentioned in your article?
I now do P.A.s around Essex for a N.Soul DJ I got to know and the kids are now playing The Happy Faces in the clubs. It was never re-released. Ive sent a tape of it to Richard Domar as hes never heard it. (Pat Brady wrote an article about it in Echoes) When convenient Id love to hear from you, you can phone me on ..........
Looking forward to hearing from you,
regards Lorraine Silver

I did speak to her a couple of times and sent her a tape with her record being played at Wigan, she was very nice. But what about those Casino Classics people then eh? Wonder who lined their pockets with Lorraines royalties?

Next week...Pete Smith talks to Muriel Day

By Pete S in Articles · June 3, 199827 yr

OK carrying on the interview series, Dave Rimmer respected DJ and also editor of one of top mags Soulful Kinda Music, agreed to give Soul Source a bit of time, read the results below:
Dave Rimmer:
Heres a interview with Dave before he embarked on his new career as webmaster!
OK carrying on the interview series, Dave Rimmer respected DJ and also editor of one of top mags Soulful Kinda Music, agreed to give Soul Source a bit of time, read the results below:
Q. OK Dave for the visitors who are not familar with yourself could you give a quick background on your involvement on the scene. (When you started and what you've done)
You have to go a long way back for that. To 1972 in fact. That's when I started hearing the records my mates' older brothers were bringing back from The Torch and all the other clubs around then. My first real venture out on the scene though would have been the last allnighter at Va Va's in Bolton in 1973. My memory of that night is of being a very excited, and scared, thirteen year old who'd got to play with the big boys !
Originally from the Warrington area, Wigan was just a bus ride away, so that's where a lot of my youth was spent. I left the scene almost completely in 1978 though. Two reasons, one was the inclusion of so many crap pop records and instrumentals on playlists, and the second was I got a job in Wales which meant I had to start work at 6 am on a Sunday morning.
By 1988 I was married, two children, mortage, responsible job, Mr Average, living in the Midlands, and bored. I kept seeing adverts for Northern Soul nights in Wolverhampton run by Pep, and eventually went to one. The first person I saw when I walked in was Pedro, who I'd not seen for nearly twelve years. It was like I'd never been away.
In 1989 the idea was born for 'Soulful Kinda Music', and here I am ten years on from there, still attending 30 Soul nights a year and almost 40 allnighters a year.
Q. How did you get into Djing ? and how did first time behind the decks go
I'd done some DJing back in the Seventies, but only local youth clubs and Soul nights, I started DJing this time around in about 1995, again only local Soul nights, but people obviously enjoyed what I played because more bookings kept arriving. The first allnighter I DJ'd at was The Wilton, and I must thank Saus for getting me the booking, and I was nervous, believe me, I was nervous. fortunately I was on first so didn't have time to drink too much before I DJ'd, so it went ok.....ish !
Q. What current event gives you most enjoyment whilst djing
It has to be the 100 Club in London. As far as I'm concerned it has the best DJs, playing the best music in the country on a regular basis. If you can DJ there, and do well, you can DJ anywhere. It's also the easiest allnighter to play records for the first time. The crowd are really receptive, and as long as the record is good will dance. There's nothing worse than playing a record, which you have faith in, to an empty dancefoor. Having said that, I enjoy DJing anywhere, I wouldn't do it otherwise.
Q. Tip for the top, what underplayed gem do you reckon is gonna take off in near future
James Conwell - The Trouble With Girls - 4J. It has been played at one or two venues, but hasn't really peaked yet, but I've noticed that the price has risen from about £15 to £70 in the last year, and that's always a good indicator that a record is going to break big fairly soon.
Q. How would you describe the current state of the scene,healthy/fragmented/up?
It all appears to be very healthy, lots of venues, lots of people coming back onto the scene, huge allnighters with1,500 punters through the door,two weekenders. Underneath though it is now very fragmented. The majority of the 'returnees' only want oldies, and I mean old oldies which has regressed the scene rather than shown any progression. There is also a strong attempt to get Modern Soul integrated into the Northern scene. I accept this could be thought of as progression. Personally I think it's just lazy DJs who can't be bothered to search for new Sixties things. And then there are the collectors / Sixties Newies fans, who feel slightly pressured these days, because of the other two factions.
Q. If you could change any part of it for the better , what would you change?
It has to be the clashing of venues. Nobody profits from this, it just splits the crowd and nobody has a good night out.
Q.. Scene is always looking back, Wigan, oldies etc but looking forward for a change, how do you for see the northern scene in say 5 years time?
I would say that it could be quite disasterous. My own view is that in five years time all the people who have returned to the scene recently will have become very bored with hearing the same records again and again, and will have gone back to their slippers and cardigans. In the meantime a lot of the venues that try to play new stuff will have been closed because they can't cope with competition from radio advertising and expensive promotions. I honestly feel that when the 'returnees' leave again it will be left to a few to try and pick up the pieces because once the big numbers disappear, so will the promoters who put the big oldies events on.
Q. You've recently started northern nights at Pigeon club in Bolton with aim of getting people away from the oldies rut, how have they gone down
The aim of the Pigeon Club allnighters was simple. Run an allnighter in the North West which was not oldies dominated. The South has the 100 Club, the Midlands has Albrighton, Yorkshire, The Wilton, but the North West was dominated by oldies allnighters. We picked the Pigeon Club because it was small, and we could control numbers by making it all ticket. The instruction to the DJs was play what you want, but keep an eye on the dancefloor. That didn't mean they had to fill the floor with every record, as long as it was good Soul music, you don't have to have a full dancefloor.
Fortunately for us, a lot of other people thought it was a good idea, and the first allnighter was a complete sell out. In fact we could easily have sold twice as many tickets ! As a result of this we considered finding a larger venue, but in the end decided to stay at the Pigeon Club because it is a venue we can fill, cover our costs on, and small enough for us to have a good night out as well rather than having to work all night. The next one is on May 29th, and there are still some tickets available, and we will be running the allnighter on the fifth Saturday of any months with five Saturdays so that we won't clash with any regular allnighters. The real test though will be in October when we are having to clash with Togetherness.
Q. Whats your views on some of the well known 70s people returning to the scene ...?
It depends on their motives for returning to the scene. If like me, they came back because they enjoy the social side, or love the music, great. If they came back because they could smell money to be made I'm not very enamoured of that. I don't mind anyone earning a living, but it pisses me off when people who have had no interest in the scene for twenty years suddenly reappear and try and dictate what I should listen to, and where I should go, simply because they have the money to finance it.
Q. How would you describe a criteria for a soul record that you would play?
It has to be one I like, thus it could be uptempo, midtempo, beat ballad, R & B, anything really. Price doesn't come into it either, I'm just as happy to play something worth a tenner as something worth £600 when I DJ. I must admit to playing some records which I don't particularly like, simply because I know they'll fill the floor. A recent example would be 'If I Could Only Be Sure' by Nolan Porter. I don't really like it, but always used to save it to play after something I was playing for the first time, if my first play bombed and cleared the dancefloor, I knew Nolan Porter would fill it up again, and after all, the majority of punters are there to dance, and they pay the wages.
Q. On to lighter things, most people either have a well funny or a well sad "record" story that usually comes out after a few beer whats yours?
I suppose it has to be the story about 'Can't Stop Looking For My Baby' by the Fantastic Four. I'd been after a copy for a couple of years, and just couldn't get one. Eventually I bought a copy, and then another copy dropped through my letter box the same week. Search for two years...nothing....then two copies within a week !
Q. Everyone has in their head their own golden period of northern , where the sounds the places and the people were golden whats era is yours
My answer is a little strange this time. For me the golden period would have to have been the Stafford era, and I never even went. But so many great records came out of the Top Of The World allnighters, especially the midtempo and beat ballad stuff that I don't think there will ever be such a period of originality from DJs again. I'm still hearing things now that I've not heard before, and yet they were played at Stafford. As far as people go, I'm enjoying my time on the scene more now than ever before, so perhaps the golden period is still happening.
Q. Due to invading space aliens you've got 5 secs to get out of your house which just gives you just enough time to grab 3 records, which would you choose and why
Johnny Mae Mathews - I Have No Choice - Big Hit .....Simply my all time favourite record
Troy Dodds - Try My Love - El Camino....Used to be my all time favourite record until I heard Johnny Mae Mathews.
Then I'd have to go back and fight the aliens off because I can't make my mind up over the third one, and couldn't bear to think of the aliens playing any of my records !
Q Book plug time!! Soulful kinda music is one of the top mags around, think you round issue 36 , how did it start, and any new exciting stuff planned.
The current issue of the mag is number 37, and it's now been running ten years. It started because I couldn't find anything to read except Derek Pearson's Shades Of Soul. I can remember buying the first issue of Black Echoes, as it was called then, the first issue of Black Music, and bought Blues & Soul without fail. But ten years ago, Black Music has long gone, Echoes gives us about a page and a half, and Blues and Soul should be prosecuted under the Trades Description act. I can't find any Blues, or Soul in there these days. So to be honest I thought, "I can do that", so I did, and here I am ten years on.
There is always stuff in preparation for the magazine, it can take nearly six months to research some articles, but at the moment there's nothing specific, you'll just have to wait and see.
Q on soul source one of hardest things is getting new decent recent info, do you find the same for mag?
As I said, it is hard work, and involves a lot of research, and requesting information from people. I'm fortunate with 'SKM' in that I have a lot of talented, knowledgeable contributors, so that takes a lot of the work off my shoulders. I think John Smith's motivation for writing explains a lot. His view is that unless it's written down now, the history and information will just disappear, simply because it was thirty years ago, and to put it bluntly, a lot of the artists who recorded the music we love, are now dead
Q. Soul scene on internet has taken off quite a bit last couple of years with sites, mail lists etc do you think it can play a big part in scene in future?
In one respect, yes. The net has provided me with a lot of enjoyment, talking about Soul music with people all over the world who I would neverhave 'met' if it wasn't for the net. But to me, the scene is also a social thing, and you have to be out and about on the scene to be a part of it.
Q. Do you record hunt a lot on net, if yeah whats your best bargain find.and where:)
I don't really bother record hunting on the net. I haven't got the patience to trawl though loads of crap just for one record. I tend to rely on connections I've made over the years for records.
Q. Any chance of your current play list or a recent one
It varies from venue to venue, and what I play this week might never get played again, or might be sold to finance the purchase of something else,but then I played last night are:
You're Gone - Celest Hardie - Reynolds
I'm In Love With Your Daughter - The Enchantments - Faro
I'm Slowly Molding - Cody Black - King
What Good Am I - Mickie Champion - Musette
I'll Be Your Champion - Jimmey 'Soul' Clark - Soulhawk
Can't Stop Looking For My Baby - Fantastic Four - Ric-Tic
Crazy Things - Joe Douglas - Playhouse
I'm A Good Woman - Barbara Lynn - Tribe
Not Too Old To Cry - The Trends - ABC Paramount
I Have No Choice - Johnny Mae Mathews - Big Hit
A fair mixture of uptempo, midtempo, beat ballads, oldies and current niter sounds.
Q Allright Dave cheers for the coffee but my tape recorders running out now, so gotta go, so to end with a bit of a "big issue" thing. Yeah old cd/vinyl thing,can you ever see the playing of cds.........................etc etc
It's quite simple really........If a DJ wishes to use CDs fine, let him live with his conscience, but don't let him go on before me and start playing tracks off a CD that I've paid good money for on original vinyl. If you've got it on original vinyl, play it on original vinyl, if you've not....don't play it.
Q Whats you favourite ender?
It used to be 'The Drifter' by Ray Pollard, but now of course it's Johnny Mae Mathews.
So there you have it as Johnny Mae Mathews played in the background and the Soul Source photographer was trying to take some shots of Dave, we were told by his minders that the interview was over, and to take our leave hence no photos. As we walked down the driveway of Dudley Mansion,still hearing the strains of" I have no choice "........
Thanks a lot Dave for above and if you want to find out about his Mag SKM goto fanzine section for contact details and clips of articles and reviews

interviews

By Mike in Articles · June 2, 199827 yr

No not a tale of Ned Kelly and his muckers it's the 1890s (groan) 2 old reviews sandwiched together
Maria from Sydney letting you know how the latest Perth night went on with a well good account of her night.... ....
Bear in mind that as I write this report I'm still yet-lagged and dreaming of sleep, so I hope I convey enough of the what I mean, cause I'm so tired that I'll start babbling or summat...
LAST SATURDAY....
Entering the foyer of the Irish Club in Subiaco Perth, the pre-soul night familiar tingling feeling of anticipation inside me, was reaching boiling point right on cue. All I could think about was getting in there, as the wafting flavor of a favorite uptempo oldie devoured the last of my patience. Later and were in the main room... and its magic... Oh, THAT MUSIC! - that wonderful soulful driving filthy beat... nothing can outshine it.
Time for a quick lookaround and lots of familiar faces sprang out. After all, Chrissie and I had been in Perth two whole days already and that was plenty of time for Soulies to meet for the first (and second) time and become old friends. I cant remember who was standing next to me at the time, but one of the first things I remember saying upon entering was "why isnt anyone dancing?" It didnt matter that it was quite early yet and people were still pouring through the door. If this was a taste of things to come, I didnt want to waste time. I just wanted to be out on that floor.... Turns out that dancers had already rubbed in the first of the talcum shower, as you could see the swirls theyd made, and they were starting to revisit their marked territories.
Id located Gemma from Melbourne (virtually a neighbor at only 800km or 1hours plane ride away, in comparison to Perths 4.5 hr flight). She was eager to be introduced around and really gave me a laugh when I led her towards two legendary KTFers. When I said "come over and meet Lee", she suddenly froze and held back saying, "should I?". I just lost it for a second there, cracking up before dragging her over kicking and screaming (perhaps overdoing it a tad here). Funnily enough, she seemed pleased to meet Denny, and later Pete Fowler. ...
Must apologise here, but great soul nights always end up a bit of a blurto me. Nothing to do with chemicals (I dont indulge) or alcohol (not enough time for even a half-baked effort). Its just that a few days later, all Im left with is the ability to say "it was such a bloody great night" and a smile remembering how wonderful it felt. I do remember the feet, faces and moves on that dancefloor. I especiallyremember those smiles and handclaps, and the way we all glowed when anothermagic track was spun, and looking at each other as if the whole crowd (someof whom were perfect strangers) knew what was deep inside each of us. Something so deep, it could only come from your soul; yet moved so fast at times, it was sheer madness. I cant even remember what was played when, but if you asked me whether a particular track was played, Im quite sure that Id get the answer right each time. Actually, theyd probably just be about 6 hours of your all-time favorite NS dancers.
One thing I do remember saying a hell of a lot was "oh! I love this song". Yet, Ill never forget what the last two enders were, as theyre two of myspecial favorites: Ruby Winters "Better", followed by Timi Yuros "Itll Never Be Over for Me"... (- Damn you Andy!!... not during Timi... pleeeeeease!) Even Andys ozone-destroying effort (the bottom-burper himself) was notgetting me off the floor for my last chance to disturb the last remainingtalc on the timber floor that Id made love to all night.... AW SHUT UP... it was love I tell ya.
Many thanks to Pete Fowler and all the guest DJs who kept me on the floorall night. (Chrissie and I had both agreed that it was well worth the airfare.While Im at it, Id also like to thank all the Perth Soulies who made Chrissie and I feel so welcome all weekend, especially our hosts Steve, Paula, Steven and James Parker. .... You aint seen me right!

There you go , as said yeah a good account of Marias night out, she also asked me to pass on "that its the farthest that Id travelled for a Northern Soul night. In fact, 2 airfares to Perth could have scored me a return trip to the UK! .... but it was worth every cent."
So thanks for Maria for that, sounds like Australia has a well thriving scene with soul all over the place, from Perth to Sydney, watch this site for hopefully a review of the next Sydney northern nite.

Venue Report - Irish Club Perth, West Aussie, 6/2/99 - sent in by Pete Fowler
not just a review but a way of life.....
It gets better & better down here. Just back from the Irish Club where an awesome night was had. Lots of new faces, floor jacked out all night, brilliant guest set by UK collector & jock Eddy Edmondson, atmosphere & cameraderie in abundance. 7.30 kick-off which I used to play "first division" songs, ie those which I want to break into the premier league.
The first hour is normally a bit quietish with people catching up with each other round the bar so you can get away with virtually anything. Some examples :- kenny gamble - aint it baby gene toones - what more do you want billy eckstine - i wonder why paris - sleepless nights Gene raised quite a few eyebrows so I reckon hes up for promotion next month .Question : does this ever get played in the UK because of its sheer rarity? (vinyl is the medium of choice here but obviously I played this track via Goldmine). Without wanting to trigger another CD vs vinyl thread, I reckon its legitimate to play mega-rare stuff like this from CD at UK soul nights. Allnighters no, but soul nights ok. I suppose my logic here is at the big allnighters youre paying seroius money to be entertained by the upper echelon professionals & a chimpanzee could stick a CD on.
Anyway Im digressing - Paris will also take off no problem. Strangely, Billy was a bit of a flop which surprised me after seeing it fill the floor at Lowton a few times, have to keep plugging or maybe drop. Youve got to remember that, although theres a strong Wigan core, quite a few of the punters here have only graduated beyond having ghosts in their houses in the last 2 yeats 8.30 set belonged to my friend Kev - a bloke who couldnt spell Northern 3 years ago - but who is now hooked & has developed some good taste. Only problem is hes not yet got the confidence to use the mike. The upside of this of course is you fit more music in but Im a believer in DJs having passion.
I decided to use this set for "top of the premier league" material in order to stop all the beer-swilling and get the dancefloor bouncing, ie songs which are well-established Irish Club floorpackers. More examples :- gladys knight - just walk in my shoes alfie davidson - love is a serious business laura lee - to win your heart al wilson - now i know what love is 9.15 and Im back on playing "middle of the premier league" songs, ie ones which have only just been freshly promoted from the first but have no chance of being relegated. I also take this opportunity of playing personal favourites (show me a DJ who doesnt).
Examples :- chuck jackson - ive got to be strong bobby bland - shoes undisputed truth - you got the love i need brothers - are you ready for this All go down a storm, Bobby especially. Brothers will go bigtime in the next couple of months. 10.00 is the guest set, this month by Eddy Edmondson - organiser of the Tenerife "soul in the sun" holiday, owner of web site "www.soultime.demon.co.uk" and Ian Levines best mate. Not. Eddy spends most of his time in the UK modern rooms. Hes an experienced DJ though & obviously knew that an hour of modern wouldnt work here. Nevertheless we were treated to a great mix of oldies & what Ill loosely call newies.
Some examples :-
robert john - cant stop loving my baby
drizabone - pressure
ike & tina turner - dust my broom
dells - run for cover
Robert is evidently on the brink of going huge in the UK & I reckon its got good potential. (anyone know this?).
Eddy described the drizabone number as the UKs current biggest floorfiller but I reckon its fucking handbag music mi-sen. Ike & tina / dells say no more - outstanding.
11.00 back to me - same strategy as earlier set, ie
edward hamilton - baby dont you weep
maxine brown - its torture
wade flemons - jeanette
kenny carlton - lost & found
All fucking magic & at this stage nobodys leaving the floor.
Skip forward to the last 3 :- ruby winters - better i still love you - 7 souls timi yuro - itll never be over for me Ruby is a monster ender & first time played thanks to the recent discussion on KTF.
The other 2 are timeless & impossible to get pissed off with.
A couple of Leeds lads heard the BBC2 radio show which gave Irish Club details (how did they know?) so they planned their Aussie holiday around it. Dont know what they expected but they were totally floored.
There was also a "small world" sketch, one of our regulars knew them both from years ago so theyre all going on the piss / fishing trip Monday. 2nd anniversary in 4 weeks so this was the ideal build-up. Any expat venue reports would be appreciated - Im also interested in how Lowton went on Friday including a flavour of the sounds played.
Any feedback on the playlist described in this rambling e-mail also appreciated. This message is too fucking long so Im cutting now
Cheers.................Pete
Very pleased with himself, aching legs & pouring beer down his neck at an alarming pace for half a chance at 2 hours kip. And just to round off a perfect day, just found out that United put 8 past Forest. You fucking beauty.
PS Lee, see you at the 2nd anniversary mate

event-reviews

By Mike in Articles · June 2, 199827 yr

John Vincent
A few months back JV gave soul source this interview before making his reappearance at Lowton:
Cast your mind back to the 1970s, a time of flares, discos, Saturday night fever, white suits, 3 day strikes, afro's, and so on,well that's what it was like if you believe what you read in the present national media, as with all things the past gets changed quite often to fit the present. Similarly on the soul scene, some parts of the soul media would now have us believe that all the 70's were about was wigan, wigan, wigan, and the image of beer towels, 40 inchers and a high proportion of uptempo soul of a dubious content is often portrayed. Well for those who were knocking around then we know that it was just a little bit different than that, all the venues and styles of northern had their peaks and their lows, and 20 odd years later as we see increased media interest on the scene, it has been good to see that standing out from the rush of born again soulies rushing back, one of the most influintial DJs has turned up, with not much noise and not even with a eye to sell CD complitations
Yeah Mr John Vincent is about to make a comeback at the next Lowton Civic event. Those who where around, remember the time when Samantha's had more clout than wigan, when Job Opening, The Champion, I'm Coming Home ruled the roost, good days yeah? For those not around back then, read on and you will understand why the reapperance of one of top DJs has caused such a stir......

For the first time in exactly fifteen years John Vincent former Wigan Casino jock and Northern Soul heavyweight will DJ at Lowton Civic on the 27th March. DJing since he was fifteen in a blues club called "The Esquire" in Sheffield,he certainly cut his teeth on the Black Music of that period, brought up through the club scene of the sixties, Vincent visited the original Twisted Wheel club on Brazenose Street where Roger Eagle was the DJ,
"This scene had a big effect on me and set me off on collecting vinyl for the rest of my life".
By the seventies Vincent was more involved with clubs than ever and started the Sunday sessions at Samanthas in 1970,after the Torch closed the decision was made to run a monthly all-nighter which eventually became the weekly all-night event in 1974 which became famous. Throughout this period Vincent jocked at Sammys every Friday and Wigan Casino on Saturday consequently all his sounds were getting constant exposure.
"An incredible scene I always played right across the board I had no hang-ups on music styles it was all just Northern"
One thing that Vincent still remembers and is still quite proud of , one saturday night he jocked at Cleethorpes Pier all-nighter AND Wigan Casino on the same night.
"I was always up to tricks like that some of the things were just crazy,although I would like to think that the way I jocked did have some effect on the scene at the time.One saturday at the casino I played the Del Larks back to back,part one and two with two copies I had at the time,£7.00 each was the going rate,when I picked them up! Sequed music was not normally seen on the Northern scene but I kept at it whether it was the Del Larks or Saxie Russell,one of the other tricks was cramming, in other words more sounds into your spot,I used to clip the records this built up the adrenalin and if you got it right then it often turned into a frenzy of Northern.DJs then generally didnt play requests, so at Wigan I turned it around and asked for dedications. Which worked a treat! So you could play a monster spot and slip in all the dedications which they all loved and consequently a very full and vibrant dancefloor all the time.
Power to the people!"
When Vincent bowed out of Wigan he moved on to St Ives and Peterborough All-nighters and all though these were good they didnt come up to his expectations,having worked all the main venues and the infamous Northern Soul road show over a period of seven years,Vincent left the scene exhausted totally drained at what had been a non stop life,"three days sleep a week for seven years was catching up,I just could not keep it up".
In a brief flurry in 1983 when he came back and did a clutch of big venues including Morecambe Pier but by 1984 he had left the scene for good.
Or so he thought ,back in 1990 he started to programme Northern Soul tapes into his car,
"at the time I was doing over 1000 miles a week in my job and I was getting fed up of listening to the drivel on the radio so I turned back to my first love,which I realised I had a missed a lot.So over the years I have been to a gig every week only I have been the DJ and the audience and my car has been the venue"
So to the present day and Vincent for several years has heard the call for a return to do the Legendary Samanthas revivals and now with people generally showing a interest in getting him back behind the decks again,he's decided-
"Well I thought once more with feeling the last year of the millenium,I will be at Lowton on the 27th nothing has changed,my style is still the same,one big mix solid gold Northern Soul, one hundred per cent originals,classics,obscurities and rarities"
Well one thing's for sure its been a fun trip...........
Maybe the first record might aptly be Rubin "You've Been Away"

Check it out Lowton Civic on the 27th March 1999................

interviews

By Mike in Articles · December 14, 199727 yr

first on soul source in 90s
The northern scene mentioned in this review is now up in the video section
Thanks to Pete Smith of Planet Records( see links for details) who before he bought a modem used to produce a good northern fanzine full of good stuff like this review.
Here's a excellent review of one (if not the) of the few films with a reference to Northern. Blue Juice should be on the cheap shelves of your video hire shops. get your popcorn and settle down........
BLUE JUICE
Firstly, let me assure you that BEATIN' RHYTHM (the mag he used to publish and a damned good read it was to) hasn't turned into "Empire'', but Blue Juice is a smashing little British film that no-one seems to have heard of - and it has the added attraction of being the first movie, to my knowledge, to include Northern Soul as part of it's sub-plot.
The film is based around the surfing scene in Cornwall, where Chloe (Catherine zeta Jones) is the proprietor of a ramshackle cafe whose patrons seem to be exclusively surf -type dudes. Her boyfriend is J.C. (Sean Pertwee), who is a surfing legend in those parts and who can't bring himself to make a commitment to our Cath. The first part of the film sets the scene, introducing us to various bit-part characters and their surfing antics, all of whom speak in hushed tones about "the boneyard" - a death trap surf break which only J.C has rode and lived to tell the tale. Anyway, the film starts to get into gear when three of J.C.'s old mates from London arrive for a few days break. Josh Tambini (Steven Mackintosh) is a record producer involved in the rave scene, though one suspects that this belies his roots; Dean (Trainspotting's Ewan McGregor) is a typical stereotype rover, long hair, goatee, bobble hat permanently stuck on his head, and always dropping E's; and Terry, a fairly idiotic fat guy, engaged to be married who didn't even want to come on the trip.
I don't want to give a synopsis of the whole film, so here are the good bits. Dean has slipped Jerry a mickey finn E cocktail, so Terry is tripping and wandering around a large hotel. As Josh and Dean try to calm Terry down, Josh hears a bass sound coming from the room above. He decides to investigate and we see him walk through two large wooden doors into a small ballroom where the sound of Sam Dees' Lonely For You Baby is belting out of the speakers. Now, being totally unprepared for this when I saw the film for the first time, talk about drop me bacon sandwich! Shivers up the spine and all that, a fantastic moment. Anyway, Josh strides over to the record decks where a young half cash girl, Junior (Colette Brown), is being told by the hotel manager, obviously responsible for booking the hotel's entertainment, "I like it, I really do, but I'm sorry, it's not what the kids are into anymore". Josh approaches the disconsolate Junior and does a bit of anoraking; "Sam Dees, Lonely For You Baby, 1968. Er, the label...SSS International". "Does this look like a mastermind audition" replies Junior. Josh looks through Junior's 50 single box; "Hey, Time Will Pass You By, they used to end The Casino with this". "Uh-uh" says Junior "They used to end The Casino with I'm On My Way'. Josh gets patronising; "Look I was there when you were still wetting nappies and it finished Time Will Pass You By, I'm On My Way and Long After Tonight Is Over" (sic). Junior is now interested. "You went to The Casino? ''Number 497" says Josh, taking out a blue membership card. He continues looking at the records. "Hey a real stomper, Ozzie Sands' Price Of Pain. I sampled this". "You're Josh Taimbini?" asks Junior. "Don't treat me like a superstar" replies big head. (Keep this sampling business in mind, readers).
Josh goes on to tell Junior about his three top ten hits (including Techno Toyland and Techno Techno Techno). Junior asks Josh to come to her Northern Soul do later that evening; "You've got to come tonight Josh. I know so many people who would kill to meet you". Cut to later that evening. Terry is still tripping and has gone missing, so the others are out looking for him. Josh walks up to a small dance hall in the town, and as he approaches, the spoken intro of Roscoe Shelton's You're The Dream can be heard, breaking into uptempo the second that Josh opens the doors. This is a brilliant shot. He's confronted by around 25 Northern dancers - proper dancers I mean, not extras pretending to dance, including one very acrobatic guy (there's always an acrobat around when the cameras are out). Junior is at the decks, and while cueing up the next record she looks up and spots Josh. She fades the record out and says ''Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce you to Josh Tambini". Shot of the main door with a bolt going across it. Josh turns round to see what the noise is, and as he does, the dancers form a semi circle around him and close in (a bit like the ending of Tod Browning's Freaks, if anyone knows what I'm on about). "Look what's this about" asks a flustered looking
Josh. "It's about soul.. replies Junior, "A thing that you've forgotten. You know this record?"' Junior spins Ozzie Sands - Price Of Pain (not a real record obviously, a tailor made stomper actually performed by Edwin Starr). The dancers nod approvingly. "Ozzie Sands - Price Of Pain" answers Josh car "Yeah. And what did you do with it?" accuses Junior. We then hear an appalling dance track using Ozzie's voice. The onlookers shake their heads in disbelief "Look it's not my fault. The market changed'' whines Josh, as a chair is produced and Josh is sat in it, integration style. Josh squirms and apologizes, in his own way, while Junior tells him that "It's not about money or clothes or guest lists". She spins Price Of Pain again, and the dancers hit the floor including the chastised Josh who goes for it big-time. Some lovely shots of fancy footwork here, though we never see Josh in long shot - a stunt dance bought in maybe!
And that's more or less it for the Northern Soul content. There are all sorts of plots and sub-plots going on, like Dean attempting to surf the boneyard and J.C. saving his life, Ferret becoming a new man after his drug-enduced freak out, and J.C. and Chloe finally getting things sorted. The final twist come at the very end of the film. A black guy, back to the camera, is in a real studio belting out a version of Primal Scream's Moving On Up. He turns to face the camera and the producers in the studio, who include Josh and Junior. The singer is Edwin Starr. "How was that" he asks. "Ozzie that was beautiful says Josh, looking on in admiration. "Straight into the techno mix" says Junior, leaving Ozzie and Josh looking bemused. "Do we have to?" asks the born again soulie Josh. "Gotta pay the bills", replies Junior. Wry smiles all round.
The action that I've just recounted here only lasts for about ten minutes of the films running time, but I can't remember a major movie ever mentioning Northern Soul or giving references to the scene before, but not only does Blue Juice do this, it also does it properly. They even had a Northern Soul advisor in Lee Vowles, who I don't know but obviously knows his stuff. Prehaps Steven Mackintosh (Josh) fluffed his lines in his "three before eight" speech Blue Juice played the cinemas early last year for about a week, and came out on video in around Spring of this year. It should be available at your local video rental shop, and it's 90 minutes very well spent should you decide to rent it.

There you go, good stuff, no wonder Barry Norman moved to Sky.

By Pete S in Articles · December 6, 199727 yr

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