12 Minute documentary on the Belgian Popcorn sound and its history by Lander Lenaerts.

LINK HERE

Had the pleasure of meeting Gerry & Gibbe last October when I played in Belgium..Lovely guys

Edited May 26, 201114 yr by NASHEE

if you goto the vimeo page and check the poster others clips out, am sure there's another doc type from same people from a year or so ago

Awesome!

I used to sell records to Luc Franken for pennies (ouch!) But I had the pleasure in the 70s to go to a Popcorn club near Gent with Robert Van De Hove I wonder what happened to him? anyone know? He was a very smart record collector/Dealer with hugely impressive knowledge - the night itself was the best (i kid you not) atmosphere I've ever witnessed in any club ever and since! An incredible underground movement that ran on a similar mind set to our Northern Soul scene. Thank you, the film saved me from another night of flicking the channels for something interesting.

PS an aspiring documentary film maker should dig into the Popcorn & the Northern Soul scene and do a 60 minute or more documentary I think it would be such a fulfilling project for the maker and viewer.

Loved it!

John

Thanks for sharing that really enjoyed the enthusiasm and some great tracks!

Enjoyed that !

Cheers

Swifty

I was already aware of course about the music, that it was scene that included collectors, DJs, and dancers, That there were iconic venues and records covered up to make them exclusive. What really resonated with me though, was when they were talking about how long the scene had left, with that mixture of hopeful optimism and realism:

"our music will continue to exist for a few more years I hope..."

Says it all really

I was already aware of course about the music, that it was scene that included collectors, DJs, and dancers, That there were iconic venues and records covered up to make them exclusive. What really resonated with me though, was when they were talking about how long the scene had left, with that mixture of hopeful optimism and realism:

"our music will continue to exist for a few more years I hope..."

Says it all really

Yes , not all the doom & gloom we seem to attract ! The thing is you cant make people like any style of music,

but some people are scared of going places because they feel intimidated. Looking at the

video on the popcorn scene there seems to be a lot of people who are just there to dance and don't give a flying fook if

it's worth a tenner or a grand. Don't get me wrong I know there are collectors , anoraks like us but seems more accessible

to all. Anyway thanks for that Godz .

Cheers

Swifty

I would imagine the Carolinas Shag () scene is of a similar crowd.

I really like popcorn music - not all of it, but a lot of it - some I don't get at all to be honest but I use a lot of popcorn tracks on my Found In The Basement podcasts. In fact, this evening alone I downloaded all 30 Volumes (thats around 900 tracks) of the Let's Dance The Popcorn cd series. Should be fun going through that lot!

Found this very interesting as the Belgian ''Popcorn'' scene used to be a mystery to me back in the 70s when I sold stuff to them. I found an old wants list from Luc Franken (brother of Gerry in the film) and have attached a few pages but they may not be legible as the print has faded.

Amongst the well known soul artists such as Betty Lavette,Mitty Collier and Bobby Bland there are loads of weird combos, orchestras, trios and quintets and cha-cha and mambos but seeing the dance style it makes more sense now. They also had a soft spot for reggae instrumentals as listed on the last page.

Luc also mentions how the value of the records would be next to nothing after they had been bootlegged, much like here in the 70s. I wonder if they are fetching more now on original issue?

Rick