Do you still see the person who is responsible for getting you into the scene?

I still bump into the guy that got me into the soul scene now and again. I hadn't seen him for about 12 years and had plenty to catch up on.

His wife had left him and also set fire to his house and destroyed everything including his records

Shane

Lucy, it was The 81 Soul Club ran by Mark White a beautiful guy comes on here now and again....oh and don't blame me...lol

Regards - Mark Bicknell.

Yep, great little night !

Saw Mark a few months back, he is really good

1968, my older sister was a bit of a magnet for the local (older) mods. The front drive was like a Scooter park - they were always round our house playing the latest Motown and Stax things. I started finding and buying my own bits, trying to compete with them all. Spent my Saturdays in second hand shops buying everything on Black & Red Atlantic. Soon picked up a pile of UK Motown EP's for 7shillings and sixpence each... and blew them all away!

The real influence though was a guy called Jimmy Campbell. I thought he was a God! He went to the Mojo & the Wheel and always came back with the latest tunes. A real smooth guy Jimmy. Sharp Suit, Sheepskin, Royals, the works. One day I was round at his house and he opened up two massive boxes of 45's. He went through each one in turn "You got this?" "nope" it went on the pile. "You got this?" "Yup" it went on another pile. in the end the biggest pile was the stuff I hadn't already got. Guess what, he gave me the big pile. "You appreciate these even more than me" he says. You bet I did!

Jimmy helped forge my taste in soul music:- Spellbinders, Roscoe Robinson, Tommy Neal, Impressions, Betty Lavette etc... and I'm eternally grateful.

That was about 35 years ago. Often wonder what happened to him.

Sean Hampsey

Waht a great little story Sean, you should look him up Deffo' !

I'd say it was Andy Peebles he played a Chuck Jackson song way back on his Soul Train show and I thought what a great singer............ and now I find recently, since about January, I haven't really been listening to anything other than soul except tunes I have to learn for the band I play in............

Probably the same for me John I always used to tape his Sunday show and then play all those tapes to death some of my very favourite records still originate from those Soul Train tapes

John

Probably the same for me John I always used to tape his Sunday show and then play all those tapes to death some of my very favourite records still originate from those Soul Train tapes

John

I was beginning to think I was the only one who listened to Andy Peebles show...

it was always a good mix of music.

It was my girlfriends big sis and her boyfriend that introduced me. And I will love them eternally.

Caroline Humphries and Conway Jones. I bought the Big Wheels of Motown LP, and they brought down Capitol Soul Casino for me to borrow. A week later I had my own copy, and the rest as they say.... (Heartbeat still makes the hairs stand up)

Conway doesnt go so much but I see him regularly down Bristol City games. Carrie has started going again. She is now a regular at Saracens in Cheltenham.

Watching them dance was mesmerising. And while most of my mates at the time needed the Sex Pistols or the Damned to get an adrenelin rush musically I needed Tony Clark or the Salvadores. I used to get so ####ing excitied I swear I could have pogo'd with the best of them to Rita DaCosta. (Still do at home some days)

1st introduced to Northern Soul via a soul club held at Townfield House in High Wycombe,

A gent called Mark ran it, can't remember his surname. Used to go to his house and was amazed by the music he played.

Then met Mr Bicknell and his hoppos from Reading and never was the same again. :Obviously he is still around,

Hi Lucy - thanks for the kind words (as well as those from Messrs Bicknell and Page!! Thanks guys - miss ya). Remember you well Lucy and your appearance on Whistle Test - LOL!!

Fellow called Mark Readman got me into it. No idea what he's up to now or whether he's alive. Anyone know?

I was beginning to think I was the only one who listened to Andy Peebles show...

it was always a good mix of music.

he was a staple diet for us mancs, piccadilly radio and he was resident dj at The Village/Hard Rock in stretford.

mark

Hi Lucy - thanks for the kind words (as well as those from Messrs Bicknell and Page!! Thanks guys - miss ya). Remember you well Lucy and your appearance on Whistle Test - LOL!!

Least said about the Whistle Test the better me thinks

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QUOTE(mark.b @ Jun 5 2006, 12:14 PM) link

he was a staple diet for us mancs, piccadilly radio and he was resident dj at The Village/Hard Rock in stretford.

mark

Should mention also re: Andy P. that, in the early days of the Mecca, me and a couple of lads from Harlow used to 'vary our diet' a bit, by occasionally going south to see Mr. Peebles, then resident DJ at Bournemouth Tiffany's. He would always play as much Northernish stuff as he could in between the regular fare of the day. I can't remember the trips there as well as I do just about every minute that I spent at the Mecca, but I do vividly recall taking "Sweeter Than The Day Before" and "Right Track" down, and I can recall him playing both. I was v. pleased when he landed the Radio 1 soul show and he didn't disappoint, on the whole....

TONE

Older sister for me who is sill around but not into the music (she's about to take my 8yr old to see McFly and it's her who's using him!!!!).

1972 and just finished first year at secondary school.

Usually I could be heard winging to our old lady "she's got her stuff on again". At that time I thought Fire by The Crazy World of Arthur Brown (that might have been the year before but you'll get my drift) was the greatest thing I'd ever heard and I once said to our kid that he would be around a lot longer than her motown crap!!!

One summer evening whilst our kid was out I went into the dining room and she'd left some of her Motown records out. We had one of those radiograms, (for the younger members of this site they looked like a sideboard) and I looked through what she had. I put on Needle In A Haystack and out of nowhere, completely unexpected, this feeling just took over me. Pretty familiar feeling I guess to most who are into this music.

Seems to have coincided with realising that girls weren't all that bad and a very similar feeling and sensation I seem to remember!!

Shortly afterwards I found out that a lad I knew around the corner who was 2 yrs older than me was into Motown and he had quite a collection.

He took me to another lad's house were I bought my first record Stoned Love!!

From this started going to the local youth club and progressed to other venues over the next few years.

I ended up with all of our kid's records as she and her 'suade head' boyfriend had to get married shortly afterwards.

No longer have the brother in law or more importantly the records!

KTF.

Drew.

QUOTE(mark.b @ Jun 5 2006, 12:14 PM) link

he was a staple diet for us mancs, piccadilly radio and he was resident dj at The Village/Hard Rock in stretford.

mark

Should mention also re: Andy P. that, in the early days of the Mecca, me and a couple of lads from Harlow used to 'vary our diet' a bit, by occasionally going south to see Mr. Peebles, then resident DJ at Bournemouth Tiffany's. He would always play as much Northernish stuff as he could in between the regular fare of the day. I can't remember the trips there as well as I do just about every minute that I spent at the Mecca, but I do vividly recall taking "Sweeter Than The Day Before" and "Right Track" down, and I can recall him playing both. I was v. pleased when he landed the Radio 1 soul show and he didn't disappoint, on the whole....

TONE

Tony

Don't know if you remember this, we took you down to the Chelsea Village in

Bournemoth, he used to DJ there before he got "famous", he used to play "Out On The Floor" he's generally credited in having the 1st copy of this. I daren't say how long ago

that was, guess 'bout 71-ish.

Chris L

It was a bloke called Bob Potter, he was the DJ at Woking's infamous Atalanta.

As he was setting up his system (it was a church hall) he'd play a reel to reel

tape with :

Behind a painted smile - Isley Brothers

Right track - Billy Butler

People - the Tymes

Help me - the Spellbinders

Look what you've done to my heart - Shirley & the Shirelles

plus a bunch more, last heard of in the mid 70T's running a chicken-in-a

-basket discotheque venue called The Lakeside, somewhere near Windsor methinks.

Chris L

He was an old guy in the late 60T's must be 90+ nowadays (if he's still alive)

I'll be blowed (hopefully by the Swedish Bikini Team), Bob Potter alive and well

https://www.lakesidecomplex.com/associates/bob.cfm

Great, he's got the Stylistics booked, must go see them, clean up me Ford

Capri, stick on the droopy moustache, roll neck sweater.....................

Actually the 1st record I ever went and bought was "Baby Make Your Own Sweet Music"

Jay & Techniques - I heard it one sunday evening on the Mike Raven show, bought it

as a new release.

It was my older brother for me.

I was about 15 at the time buying singles like Pictures Of Matchstick Men & Green Tambourine. My brother, who is 2 years older than me, said,"whatya buyin' that rubbish for? You wanna buy soul music, soul music will never die!"

How right he was.

The first soul record I bought was I'll Pick A Rose Marv Johnson.

My first 'Northern' record was 6x6 Earl Van Dyke.

My Dad was the reason I am still moved by NS more than any other type of music, I dont know the track names, artists or labels too well - a symptom of my Dad's refusal to annotate any of the tapes he used to make for me - "Bloody 'ell, You know who that is dunt ya!?".

And as a fresh-faced 16-17 year old he took me to a few of the remaining events and my walls were always filled with flyers for nighters in Stoke, or Rotherham or the White Hart Soul Club in Thorne. I'll never forget the look on my new roommates face at University when he walked into see me putting up pictures of Freda Payne et al from Blues and Soul Magazine (my Dad's never forgiven me for 'liberating' the centre spreads from the now rare publications either). There was always three things next to the phone; a pen, a ruler and a record list and the house was always filled with sounds. And I've met a few of the people referred to on these boards as a kid and as a younger man - Bub, Arthur Fenn, Sean H, Biggles Newbold, Malc Burton - I've met them all to varying degrees.

Another acquaintance, whose name escapes me, gave me a Johnny Johnson and the Bandwagon album I remember and at one event Dad tried to set me on the right path with purchases of Johnny Bristol, Grover Mitchell (sp) and others - he claimed them all back when enjoying his D-J comeback in the Tavern in Thorne about ten years ago now.

He's very much still alive and well, curses the price of beer a bit more these days, appears to say 'I had that' to every entry on ebay and is still lending me CD's. And we were up in the dales at the weekend walking laughing at his memories of Burton, Al Taylor, Welshy and a few others along the way.

Haven't seen my mate for a few years now , with her having had kids. Wired thing is she only lives a couple of miles away from me, but with different life style now it really is a shame .

If we did go to some venues nowadays we would have different taste in the music, she's more into the oldies, and I'm more into rare and crossover, but at the time had the same taste.

Howard Earnshaw...Soul Up North fanzine...

Howard gave me and my mate a 30 min spot every Sunday at the Waggon and Horses pub in Huddersfield 1982...He also took us with him and mates to Morecambe Pier,Clifton Hall Rotherham,Queens Hall Bradford.. Yes Howard is still around,you will see himout and about at the Wilton and some other venues selling the fanzine

Howard Earnshaw...Soul Up North fanzine...

Howard gave me and my mate a 30 min spot every Sunday at the Waggon and Horses pub in Huddersfield 1982...He also took us with him and mates to Morecambe Pier,Clifton Hall Rotherham,Queens Hall Bradford.. Yes Howard is still around,you will see himout and about at the Wilton and some other venues selling the fanzine

EEEEEE.. Waggon & Horses, brings back some memories, eh Steve not just soul ones either

The place is a bit different now mate.....Chase me