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6 minutes ago, shufflin said:

well I own this one, think this is great, by no means a traditional track, a jazzy dancer and I'm getting more into this stuff as time goes on xD

Ideal material for the 'Latin stuff that is everywhere' thread! I'd struggle to fit this in to either Soul OR Disco, good dancer though in that Latin kinda way.

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7 minutes ago, shufflin said:

okay get your pitchforks ready, how far over the line do we go than this? never got this, although I realise it's very popular

In a well publicised video Benny stated himself that he was aiming this one firmly at the Disco genre. Hugely popular on the soul scene of course, popular with me cause I'm a devotee of session player Vincent Bell and his invention the Coral Electric Sitar, which features heavily on this one and also on a hell of a lot of other huge sounds that are totally in the NS vein! That twangy guitar sound you hear often (you'll recognise it when you hear it) is actually it's own unique instrument.

I'll stick my neck out and say brilliant record, is it soul or disco? Precisely what I was talking about with this thread!

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Lines never blurred from my perspective, starting buying soul carried on through lots of its guises/offshoots, but it always comes back to do I like it and if so who cares what others think..   I would have loved a weekended in the mid 70s which played fully across the Board as there was so much good stuff that was missed by many who had one dimensional views and many still do!!!!!!!!

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Guest Shufflin
On 17/01/2019 at 20:01, the yank said:

I would think this one would blur a few lines - 

not for me, love it still, one of those 'never get sick of it' sounds

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Guest Spain pete
1 hour ago, Soulman58 said:

Lines never blurred from my perspective, starting buying soul carried on through lots of its guises/offshoots, but it always comes back to do I like it and if so who cares what others think..   I would have loved a weekended in the mid 70s which played fully across the Board as there was so much good stuff that was missed by many who had one dimensional views and many still do!!!!!!!!

So bloody right   it hurts bruv🎇

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Old Wigan spin, I think to some extent that when the brass is replaced with strings (real or synthesised) and you get those syncopated synthesised handclaps, you are going into Disco territory.

Obviously there are strings in some of the top drawer Soul records, too.

To me this is a pure disco track, that's not to say I don't think it's any good, just that it doesn't fit in with my oldies sensibility, the sleek production values, the polished finish. The kind of Mecca/Casino spin that I consider to belong in the vein of disco muzak. Probably what would be classed as Crossover! 

Purely my own opinion obviously, would I object to it being played? Of course not, diversity rules! 

 

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On 17/01/2019 at 19:49, BabyBoyAndMyLass said:

In a well publicised video Benny stated himself that he was aiming this one firmly at the Disco genre. Hugely popular on the soul scene of course, popular with me cause I'm a devotee of session player Vincent Bell and his invention the Coral Electric Sitar, which features heavily on this one and also on a hell of a lot of other huge sounds that are totally in the NS vein! That twangy guitar sound you hear often (you'll recognise it when you hear it) is actually it's own unique instrument.

I'll stick my neck out and say brilliant record, is it soul or disco? Precisely what I was talking about with this thread!

This one is the most Marmite record ever though; I'm with Shufflin I never got this at all but loads of people absolutely love it. It just sounds pure disco to me although agreed the sitar is a tad unusual. I concede that he has a soulful voice though, so even when it's clear but it's still blurred!

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Guest Spain pete
8 minutes ago, Timillustrator said:

This one is the most Marmite record ever though; I'm with Shufflin I never got this at all but loads of people absolutely love it. It just sounds pure disco to me although agreed the sitar is a tad unusual. I concede that he has a soulful voice though, so even when it's clear but it's still blurred!

Fantastic soulful record sweet like jam not like marmite and as clear as mud IMHO  MUSIC IS OUR SANCUARY   thank God !! 

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Guest Shufflin
1 hour ago, Spain pete said:

Fantastic soulful record sweet like jam not like marmite and as clear as mud IMHO  MUSIC IS OUR SANCUARY   thank God !! 

but it sounds like the theme tune to the 1970's Loveboat tv series doesn't it 🙂, check that out on youtube and compare them haha

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Just now, shufflin said:

but it sounds like the theme tune to the 1970's Loveboat tv series doesn't it 🙂, check that out on youtube and compare them haha

Funnily enough I can relate to what you've said here, no need to revisit it, I was an avid watcher, can hear the theme in my head right now and yes it is similar!

Love exciting and new, come aboard we're expecting you...

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36 minutes ago, shufflin said:

but it sounds like the theme tune to the 1970's Loveboat tv series doesn't it 🙂, check that out on youtube and compare them haha

YES!!!! Absolutely hit the nail on the head - I've sometimes said this to my wife with this (and a couple of others) I'll start singing "The Loveboat, exciting and new" to it. Mind you it usually leads to a conversation about the differences between the Love Boat and Fantasy Island (I preferred the latter). Passes the time until something else gets played though. 

Edited by Timillustrator
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5 hours ago, BabyBoyAndMyLass said:

Old Wigan spin, I think to some extent that when the brass is replaced with strings (real or synthesised) and you get those syncopated synthesised handclaps, you are going into Disco territory.

Obviously there are strings in some of the top drawer Soul records, too.

To me this is a pure disco track, that's not to say I don't think it's any good, just that it doesn't fit in with my oldies sensibility, the sleek production values, the polished finish. The kind of Mecca/Casino spin that I consider to belong in the vein of disco muzak. Probably what would be classed as Crossover! 

Purely my own opinion obviously, would I object to it being played? Of course not, diversity rules! 

 

About as big as it got in the mid 80s - utterly brilliant and NOT what I'd consider disco by any stretch. Dx

Edited by DaveNPete
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Just now, BabyBoyAndMyLass said:

Just to flip things on their head, this Disco one I would put firmly into Soul, with it's desperate lyric and the arrangement, fake strings and handclaps.

He might be working at it, but he's blown it, aint ever getting it and, worse, he knows it! 

Fantastic record! 

 

Sorry but YUCK - the worst dross imaginable and certainly NOT 'new york' disco.

Dx

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Guest Shufflin
18 minutes ago, the yank said:

This one deserves a mention

Fantastic record, no blurred line for me just pure soul

Edited by Shufflin
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On ‎17‎/‎01‎/‎2019 at 17:36, tomangoes said:

It's very likely that folks drawn to the Northern Soul scene between 13 and 17 years old, whenever that was, would have liked the more 'easy to listen to ' variety, more than the hard core stuff.

Hence when this came out, for us ' youth's it was frenetic. On the other hand the old timers ( over 18 year old) would have probably balked at it and considered leaving the scene:)

 

It was THEE record for nappy nights along with reaching for the best at Baileys....up and down the country.

Different fashion, different dances, different sounds...

Great memories, and still Northern Soul for many, even if they never made it to the next stage and moved on to all nighters etc.

Ed

 

Oh Baby W,, please forgive him for he knoweth not what he doth. The sacrilege, savage and reprehensible as it is, can be overcome and is redeemable with just a simple play of..

 

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2 hours ago, Steve C said:

Oh Baby W,, please forgive him for he knoweth not what he doth. The sacrilege, savage and reprehensible as it is, can be overcome and is redeemable with just a simple play of..

 

I would agree The Flasher is more Northern than Soul, but to be sure BW is more Soul than Northern....

In the last 44 years, which track has been played most at Northern Soul nights?

Not Rare soul nights, or Upfront nights, or chill out nights, or Underplayed nights.

A record could not be produced or discovered today that created as much enthusiasm on the dance floor as The Flasher in its heyday...and that's a fact. 

Just like my favourite IPA - Arrogant Bastard - hated by many, loved by few.

History cannot be changed, even if it is looked down on today.

Ed

 

 

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37 minutes ago, tomangoes said:

I would agree The Flasher is more Northern than Soul, but to be sure BW is more Soul than Northern....

In the last 44 years, which track has been played most at Northern Soul nights?

Not Rare soul nights, or Upfront nights, or chill out nights, or Underplayed nights.

A record could not be produced or discovered today that created as much enthusiasm on the dance floor as The Flasher in its heyday...and that's a fact. 

Just like my favourite IPA - Arrogant Bastard - hated by many, loved by few.

History cannot be changed, even if it is looked down on today.

Ed

 

 

The Flasher for me is purely Northern Soul, may be one of the very last that could be called that. On the Bell Curve comes in at the thin edge of the right wing where the axis is chronological.Da Trumpets get it in. I was actually having a little play at 'us oldies' comment on the 'easy to listen' and 'the hardcore' would have us barfing our b/fasts out the door using BW as a reason why Disco could never do it for us. As for a discussion as to whether a track is more 'Soul' than 'NS' I wouldn't get into it. If the lines are sometimes blurred between what is NS and what is Disco it's even more so with Soul and NS. When the older amongst us started listening to Soul and Artists like BW there was no such thing as NS. However, when the latter became a thing, many artists we had listened to before that got played so the lines got very blurred indeed.

Edited by Steve C
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