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Articles: Pete Lawson 1984 Letter To Blackbeat


Steve G

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I read that with Pete's unmistakable voice in my head. Brilliant.

 

I do wonder what the scene would be like today if Mr Lawson was around. A few would have strips teard off them that's for sure :)

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One thing with Pete was he didn't mince his word.  he was the same in print or in your face and he told you like it was, no bullshit.  He would despair at the scene today and would probably have been banned from the forums long ago :lol:

 

Great reading Steve, thanks. 

Pete never had chance to be amongst us presently, i reckon he would have mellowed

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interesting views on soul sam and Richard...

 

Hi Mark, fair to say not everyone was in the debate….plenty still went to clubs and din';t get involved in the politics side of things just like today….three way split by 84 - 60s newies v 60s oldies v modern….Steve

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I would have thought it was easy to make comments like those at that time,I'm sure no one thought there was a finite amount of top quality 60's sounds to be discovered, but as we know from the last few years this is turning out to be the case.So who's the forward thinker?.Would be interesting to have his opinion today, would he still be as static or would he have thrown his hat in with the majority of us?

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Hi Mark, fair to say not everyone was in the debate….plenty still went to clubs and din';t get involved in the politics side of things just like today….three way split by 84 - 60s newies v 60s oldies v modern….Steve

 

Steve, many thanks for posting those scans. I used to get Blackbeat and I'm maybe one of those oblivious to the politics in the day. I enjoyed going to Stafford but didn't go that much, and was equally happy listening to modern and got a stream of brilliant tapes through tape swapping with Dave Hitch over the period. It was all great to me.

 

Must say, Pete's letters and some of the replies make their side of the argument well for a bit, but then do get heavily personal - as we all tend to when we're passionate!

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So the part of the criticism of Stafford was that some of the music was white pop?

Whats the feeling on this now? I never went but as I learnt about what was played probably 10 years later, thats not the impression I got  :g:

 

Neither did i go Steve, but everyone iv'e ever spoken to over the years were divided.... it was either brilliant or crap. Things never change!

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Steve

 

Bloody hell mate it's your birthday for heavens sake!!!!   Feeding us Soulies with "blasts from the past" must be some very unique way of celebrating? A one off even?

 

Anyways Happy Birthday again and must dig out my old copies and re read!

 

Dave

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I've got loads of letters here, some are so sweet others are madder than a mad thing lol, completely bonkers! He was a great friend, hard work but worth it

Me too Joan...I've still got some letters from him...make me laugh out loud when I read them...even the one where he was REALLY pissed off and angry with me for, Quote: "F**king up a big record sale" for him....we were mates again the next week :sweatingbullets:

Edited by Edwin S Wales
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Did he have an"ask Pete"agony column for the confused amongst us?..or even"pop up"surgeries from various venues? They could've been held in adjoining cubicles in the bogs along the lines of a confessional...forgive me Pete,for I know not what I do,I have succumbed to the lure of the 12"..'ll get me coat!

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I reckon Pete would be semi retired now like his partner in crime, Molloy and they would both be discovering and buying records unbeknown to every one else... I would be the one brewing up and cooking tea. Lol As Ian said, Dave too hasn't found the scene the sane since.

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Guest Polyvelts

Fascinating stuff, although I didn't read these at the time, I was more interested in skipping a few pages forward to a Larc Records discography featuring new singing sensation Latoya Jackson  :lol:

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Pete, Tommo Oz, Ant etc I miss em all, I know that as we've aged we've gotten mellower, but not knowing any of the younger generation, I do sometimes wonder if there are any characters of their class around these days, hidden away among their youthful gatherings...........

 

Then I think probably not!!!!  :wicked:

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Good question - but not just the younger crowd, wonder if there's any of this calibre thst have returned on the nostalgia side.

 

The esteemed Phill Worrell is still about though I'm happy to say. Don't half miss Oz too. 

Pete, Tommo Oz, Ant etc I miss em all, I know that as we've aged we've gotten mellower, but not knowing any of the younger generation, I do sometimes wonder if there are any characters of their class around these days, hidden away among their youthful gatherings...........

 

Then I think probably not!!!!  :wicked:

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I think Pete's feelings crept in probably in the early 80s by which point the factions for traditional 60s Northern vs 70s and 80s were probably much greater then previous eras. 

 

 

I think it started WIgan 79-80 ish when John A got all the initial modern soul things that Richard et al started playing…a major shift in the music being played, that continued for the last years of Wigan,,,,that's when you got the "F*ck the funk" banner etc. Soul Sam playing "Casanova". Pete did like 70s, just not at a niter.  

Edited by Steve G
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I think it started WIgan 79-80 ish when John A got all the initial modern soul things that Richard et al started playing…a major shift in the music being played, that continued for the last years of Wigan,,,,that's when you got the "F*ck the funk" banner etc. Soul Sam playing "Casanova". Pete did like 70s, just not at a niter.  

 

Yep, that makes sense. I'm sure it was on a couple of the later trips over to Leeds, that Pete became less interested in the 70s stuff and started discussing 'proper 60s Northern'. His knowledge was off the scale......

 

Ian D  :D

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Hope you're well and all is good.  :thumbsup:

 

Actually it wasn't as cut and dried as that Dave. Many of the late 60s/early 70s generation were surrounded by great music on many levels. I started off liking Motown and then Soul in general. We were hearing records like Felice Taylor's "I Feel Love Coming On" (the first record I bought with pocket money), The Bandwagon's "Breaking Down The Walls Of Heartache" and "S.O.S." on daytime radio Radio One. These subsequently led to Northern Soul for more of the same but rarer.  But that didn't stop me loving James Brown's "Live At The Apollo Vol 2" or Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On". I kept up with contemporary releases in the 70s because there was some interesting stuff coming out. Some of the biggest records at the Torch were new releases - N.F. Porter's "Keep On Keeping On", Otis Smith's "Let Her Go" and Millie Jackson's "My Man, A Sweet Man", all 70s releases and were huge, so there were no cries of derision when they came on. I think Pete's feelings crept in probably in the early 80s by which point the factions for traditional 60s Northern vs 70s and 80s were probably much greater then previous eras. 

 

 

Evening from Tokyo, Ian :thumbup:

 

Many good points...especially the fact that you early trailblazers allowed the likes of myself to enter into the kingdom of Northern Soul bypassing the standard Motown/Atlantic/Youth Club Soul et al that you had trodden - you looked forward whilst we could look back to the roots, if we wanted to. The second point I'll pluck from your mail is a nail on the head moment...the Northern Soul scene fractions at that time period...divisions still exist of course it's just we have move records to argue over nowadays!

:thumbsup:

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