Firstly, can I say thanks to Ian Trigg(Aadvark) for allowing us to use his membership by way of a right to reply.

Ian used to be our employee and is not connected to Northern Soul.

He merely loads up our promotional blurb along with Keith Minshull's activities. Ian remains a friend to both parties.

And for the record, he likes groups like Cheap Trick! Bless him..

4 issues to reply to(Goldsoul, Whitby, Northern Soul Top 500, Right To Reply) Apologies for the long winded mailing, but due to work load and recent health problems, I have limited time to react to every posting ;

1. GOLDSOUL

Goldsoul are primarily promoters of Northern Soul events with a Music Retailing arm.

We have ceased manufacturing albums and 45's and concentrate on retailing via our web site, goods from 3rd parties.

We carry all the major players product.

Until recently, we also produced a magazine called NSOUL.

It was our intention to cease publication in late 07 due to falling sales and Internet interest.

We support Manifesto and regularly advertise in the monthly publication.

I had a heart attack on January 16, in Orlando, Florida.

Following life saving surgery, my Cardio-Surgeon advised me to reduce my work load by at least 50%.

This in turn meant departing with loss making ventures such as the mag.

If any subscriber has missed our email or postal circular, could they contact us direct? We are real easy to locate....

sales@goldsoul.co.uk or Tel; 01909-515150. We cannot be anymore transparent!

Sadly, there are the odd ones who want 'their name in lights' on a forum with claims of 'we cannot reach Goldsoul'. Hogwash!

I have been a fan of Northern Soul since 1968 and have invested more money into the scene than anyone, except possibly Rare Record Dealers.

Our philosophy is...KEEP IT POPULAR.

A fair few of our critics are wannabee DJ's who I refuse to hire(I refrain from naming them as they probably have nice families-unlike them).

There are many promoting out there who have successfully targeted their market and are profitable.

I applaud Andy at Soultown for creating a healthy underground , John Manship, Pat Brady and Tim Brown for consistently investing into Rare Vinyl, Dave Raistrick with his excellent Skegness events(Remember when I lost 30 grand in 1980 in that very same town?) and all the Badge, T.Shirt dealers who are at it week in-week out, plus countless others all...hopefully, making a profit.

If you do not like your job description and love Northern Soul...why not try our profession full time. Easy isn't it?!

Goldsoul is in the Heritage Soul business. We are full time with many thousands of customers.

A few on Soul Source do not subscribe to our way of thinking. Not a problem with that, but they must understand that their bad vibes generally turn off customers at like minded venues.

Whenever insults are thrown at us, they are not only being directed us, but our DJ's too.

We are proud to promote Stoke, Whitby, Blackpool Tower etc and are DJ's(in all fields) are top notch.

Guys like Ginger, Butch, Mick H, Soul Sam generate lots of work via us. If we had no credibility and operated unprofessionally, then clearly we would have difficulty attracting the best.

The biggest DJ's in the UK in our field want to work for Goldsoul...simply because they want a big stage to play on and not work to a phone box style attendance!

Our promotions are very successful, due to the hard work and fan base we have.

At Ilkeston alone on Friday, we locked out 200, due to the venue being full.

We do not expect a 'Rare Only' promotion to even care whether we are busy or not, but we are dealing with customers, human beings, who thoroughly dislike hearing disrespect being thrown al over the place. Cut it out guys...please. This is our business.....what's yours? Maybe a Decorator, Lawyer, Carpet Fitter, Secretary? Any chance you could work for us....BUT NOT FOR PROFIT?

2. WHITBY

My apologies for not responding this year. Sadly I had to write off the first 4 months due to my heart attack.

For those not in the loop, the Whitby Soul Weekender is a very successful Weekend event held at the Whitby Pavilion on the first July of every year.

We are not the sole promoter. Our partner is Bill Snow of Backtrack Records, Doncaster.

Bill asked for our expertise after stumbling across the venue. As two long standing friends from the Torch, Stoke On Trent in 1972, I agreed to venture into it.

In July 2006, following a usual sell-out of 1,500, the agreed limit by Scarborough Council, a debacle ensued whereby a character from Middlesborough named Jack Wardle, openly sold counterfeit tickets in his own area and pubs in Whitby.

The person named eventually got a fine! We are still gobsmacked by the outcome.

The bulk of Middlesboro and further into the North East are appalled by this characters actions.

The favours will be returned to all venues in this region when I take up my post on Smooth throughout the North East from Sat(5-8pm) Jan 12. Get those event listings to me now and let me start promoting them for 'ya.

Through local intelligence, the perpetrator was identified at 11.30pm on the Friday(opening night). He was subsequently arrested and bailed.

Unfortunately for us and our customers, the police had clearly misread the situation as more counterfeits were for sale(via him) on Saturday.

The promoters shored up defences by deploying more security for Saturday evening, sadly it was too late. The word had spread to counterfeit holders to 'get in their early' by which the security had already clicked in 1,500 by 11.15.

I doubt there is a promoter in the land that could handle a situation like this in the heat of the moment.

We promptly agreed to either refund or offer free tickets on the proviso 120 agreed to leave, allowing the exact number to be allowed in.

To cut a long story short, 207 got refunds or Free Passes for 2007.

In fact at the Drax Club near Selby, one customer openly admitted that she had not been refused entry but 'tried it on anyway'. She promptly received 4 Free tickets!

In July 2007, the Whitby Weekender sold out 1400 with 207 being admitted Free of Charge. We are 75% sold out for 08 and are pleased to announce a 2nd Weekender in October with an All Nighter.

To hopefully close this subject, we are all guilty of knee jerk reactions at some time or another.

Kirsty of West Yorkshire took a 'rap from me' shortly after the event. Margaret Hey of Barnsley posted a few incorrect facts about our handling of event, by which we too over reacted and promptly banned her from the event.

For the record, both ladies are more than welcome to the Whitby event. If either care to email us at sales@goldsoul.co.uk both will receive 2 Free Passes each for 08.

Apologies for our seemingly aggressive nature at the time, but we were really caught cold by this mindless individual. You could say it was our 9-11.

We look forward to seeing you again.

3. THE NORTHERN SOUL TOP 500.

Great title eh? Jonathan Ross thinks so...who am I to argue.

The facts;

I wrote the book in 1999 based on my ability to write about the popularity of the scene. From humble beginnings in Notts, I worked for most major promoters in the early 70's before a full on career in Northern Soul. I appreciate everyone has their favourites. The book was genuinely crafted from DJ Top 10's and general knowledge of the scene.

Yes..I took very little notice of venues that are pulling small attendances.

In 2006, the book was suddenly fetching £50 on EBAY and without a copy to hand, I revamped the book for purely commercial reasons. 13,000 bought the first one.

Hardliners will be appalled to see no Robert Tanner or The Appointments in there, but the theme of my book is popularity over 40 years.

Joe Jama makes it, The Intellects doesn't. Apart from progressive venues like Middleton, Stoke-Kings Hall(after am!) or Lifeline, I doubt more than 20 would dance to them.

To clarify.....Gold is interested in keeping the scene popular, not appealing to 30 die herds in a church hall, even though I personally would probably like the music.

I did not ask the scene to dance and make popular Just Loving You-Ruby Andrews, the paying public does

4.RIGHT TO REPLY;

Again, sorry to be a bore, but we are too busy to join the forum on a full time basis. Ian(Aardvark) is kindly allowing us to use his membership to post occasionally.

Whenever our name crops up, one or two mindless members decide to wade in without knowing much about us. A few additional 'forum hooligans' wade in,without knowing very much. They simply hide behind the current loud mouths in the hope they might get a PM....with 'thanks mate' attached.

I have every right to be a promoter due to my 35 year history with Northern Soul.

Our company is proud to be the host of SoultripUSA, Blackpool Tower, Stoke, Whitby and Ilkeston. Apart from Prestatyn, these are the most successful events of all time on a regular basis. We respect our customers, DJ's and colleagues.

However, we have little time for anarchy. We clearly know what we are doing, so to our critics, either shut your gobs or ..YOU DO IT!

Replying to a handful of recent members(I'm sure there's a fair few I've missed!......)

GRAHAM WEAVER(biggray1) Never have I witnessed such a tirade of abuse against me and my wife Sam.

I think this person fails to realise that he is disrespecting the one person who promotes his area(East Midlands) every single week on my Radio Programmes for Smooth(Saturday) and Mansfield 103.2(Sunday). The amount of Bentink Miners Welfare(his local) patrons that have contacted me to voice their non-support of this character is growing by the hour.

He should be thanking me for keeping the awareness of Northern Soul high across his hometown and East Mids in general.

TREVOR HARE(trevski) We beg to differ. I don't subscribe to chin stroking, 50 people in type venues. Nor do I like open abuse. Try being nice or saying nothing at all,

the carpet's wearing thin. Several Soul Sourcer's(from your area) are appalled by your behaviour.

Any chance you can engage in something positive? Here's a starter for 10....5 great Rarities Kev Roberts discovered. Yvonne Daniels(Sterling Sound), Willie Hutch (Dunhill), JD Bryant(Shrine), Debonaires(Soul Click), Seven Souls(Okeh). You fail to realise the stuff I was discovering in the 70's.

C'mon dude...seriously...get it together.

ADY CROASDELL We've been sparring since....I've forgotten. Remember the day we were on the same plane to New York? Or the time at Cheapo in London I bought Jerry Fuller-Double Life off you as an unknown?

Goldmine and Toller are no more...shame. I left Goldmine in 03 having outlived my usefulness.

Hopefully my marketing skills enhanced the CD scene(Out On The Floor, Wigan Story's 1,2,3 etc etc). Imagine all those returnees dancing around the conservatory in 1995 to our cd's. Now, hopefully they are buying Kent. I know....you love me.

Incidentally, a great response from Tony Rounce in Manifesto towards Philip Mitchell. I felt for you every time he slagged off Kent to both me and Ian Levine!

My regards to Ted Carroll.

And yes, you should have thought of the 'TOP 500'.....perhaps Wigan , Torch, Wheel, Cleethorpes Compilations too?

Belated thanks for the nice note about my health. Yes I did manage to see the Richard Pryor clip!

Apologies if we appear to be a little forthright...but this is our business. We eat or go hungry, based on our decisions.

Phew.....that's it.

In true Goldsoul style....DEC 31st THE WORLD's biggest ALL NIGHTER at the Kings Hall, Stoke

Here's my email; sales@goldsoul.co.uk Take a deep breath and mail me.

Best Wishes to Pete Smith.....hope that young 'un is turning out to be a handsome young man......just like Dad!

Compliments of the season.....Kev

The sound of silence....

Hello Kev

I am holding a memorial charity do in February for a dear friend who died of cancer. I am doing a raffle & have collected quite a few prizes already, would you be happy to donate my 2 tickets for Whitby to my raffle?

I appreciate your apology.

Kx

Edited December 2, 200717 yr by KirstyM

4.RIGHT TO REPLY;

1/ Whenever our name crops up, one or two mindless members decide to wade in without knowing much about us. A few additional 'forum hooligans' wade in,without knowing very much. They simply hide behind the current loud mouths in the hope they might get a PM....with 'thanks mate' attached.

2/ I have every right to be a promoter due to my 35 year history with Northern Soul.

3/TREVOR HARE(trevski) We beg to differ. I don't subscribe to chin stroking, 50 people in type venues. Nor do I like open abuse. 4/ Try being nice or saying nothing at all,

the carpet's wearing thin. Several Soul Sourcer's(from your area) are appalled by your behaviour.

5/Any chance you can engage in something positive? Here's a starter for 10....5 great Rarities Kev Roberts discovered. Yvonne Daniels(Sterling Sound), Willie Hutch (Dunhill), JD Bryant(Shrine), Debonaires(Soul Click), Seven Souls(Okeh). You fail to realise the stuff I was discovering in the 70's.

C'mon dude...seriously...get it together.

Compliments of the season.....Kev

1/ If you can't say anything nice.......

2/ I have every right to criticise due to my 35 year history of Northern Soul

3/Differing's fine, but to say Try being nice or saying nothing at all  Come on! so the only comments anyone can put up about you are good ones? If I don't agree with you I can't say so because its 'not nice'? How can we 'differ' if we can't comment? hardly freedom of speech is it?

4/ Several Soul Sourcer's(from your area) are appalled by your behaviour.

I'm sure they are, as are the ones appaled by yours too, actually.

5/Any chance you can engage in something positive? Here's a starter for 10....5 great Rarities Kev Roberts discovered. Yvonne Daniels(Sterling Sound), Willie Hutch (Dunhill), JD Bryant(Shrine), Debonaires(Soul Click), Seven Souls(Okeh). You fail to realise the stuff I was discovering in the 70's.

Yes Kev, I take my hat off to you, you did indeed discover some exellent tunes, my thanks to you for them and others. Pity you had to stop discovering new stuff and sit back on your laurels, or we wouldn't be having this conversation. You could, with the ammount of punters you get in, break newer stuff in a fraction of the time it takes other venues, and because of your following, they would, I'm sure, accept them, just as they accepted new sounds you broke at Wigan. Why don't you try it? One of the joys of Wigan was hearing new sounds. If you really want to re-create the experience for the punters why not do it properly and spin new stuff? You have the

power, and infrastructure to unite both factions, providing the 'best of northern soul' as it used to be and still should be, acknowledging the past,

but looking forward with new and exiting tunes. I'm sure you still have the contacts etc to find some blinding stuff! Perhaps then I might change my mind, attend one of your venues, and even buy you a beer!

Merry Xmas, and get well. Genuinely. I did not know you had been ill. A swift recovery is wished to you for xmas, from me. We both have a passion for what we believe, we just believe diferently! Where would Luke Skywalker be without Darth Vader,

or Sherlock Holmes without Professor Moriartyl!

Finally, as 'tis the season of goodwill to all men, I'm getting tired of this. You call me names I call you names, you slag me off, I slag you off, we are never going to win!

Bury the hatchet? (as long as it's not in my head! )

Edited December 2, 200717 yr by Trevski

Sorry, should of posted it here. It was me that started this, Just wanted to know how the book launch went at Blackpool Weekender, then the answer came, that there was no book launch that night, why no launch? i dunno . Maybe the time was'nt quite right! Also, by the time next week came round to York and the book launch, i had gotten all confused as to why or what i wanted to go and see the launch for anyway! then it all came clear...i couldn't of wanted to go in the first place, simple. That's it for me, 'Northern' Soul is dead!..Long live 'Rare' Soul.

kev. the one thing about whitby that worries me and several others im sure, is ok counterfeit tickets out of your control i understand, but the bug bearer for me is the wristbands. were exta made for damages or losses etc. one ticket one wristband surely they werent counterfiet as well. hope you can clear this up for myself and also several friends

who didnt get in that nite.

Edited December 2, 200717 yr by rednose

sorry put it under new topic wants to be under whitby right to reply doh!

I've merged it for you

Nick

GRAHAM WEAVER(biggray1) Never have I witnessed such a tirade of abuse against me and my wife Sam.

I think this person fails to realise that he is disrespecting the one person who promotes his area(East Midlands) every single week on my Radio Programmes for Smooth(Saturday) and Mansfield 103.2(Sunday). The amount of Bentink Miners Welfare(his local) patrons that have contacted me to voice their non-support of this character is growing by the hour.

Biggray1 isn't Graham Weaver. I think an apology is in order to Graham Weaver.

Get facts right before going to print

Firstly, can I say thanks to Ian Trigg(Aadvark) for allowing us to use his membership by way of a right to reply.

Ian used to be our employee and is not connected to Northern Soul.

He merely loads up our promotional blurb along with Keith Minshull's activities. Ian remains a friend to both parties.

And for the record, he likes groups like Cheap Trick! Bless him..

4 issues to reply to(Goldsoul, Whitby, Northern Soul Top 500, Right To Reply) Apologies for the long winded mailing, but due to work load and recent health problems, I have limited time to react to every posting ;

1. GOLDSOUL

Goldsoul are primarily promoters of Northern Soul events with a Music Retailing arm.

We have ceased manufacturing albums and 45's and concentrate on retailing via our web site, goods from 3rd parties.

We carry all the major players product.

Until recently, we also produced a magazine called NSOUL.

It was our intention to cease publication in late 07 due to falling sales and Internet interest.

We support Manifesto and regularly advertise in the monthly publication.

I had a heart attack on January 16, in Orlando, Florida.

Following life saving surgery, my Cardio-Surgeon advised me to reduce my work load by at least 50%.

This in turn meant departing with loss making ventures such as the mag.

If any subscriber has missed our email or postal circular, could they contact us direct? We are real easy to locate....

sales@goldsoul.co.uk or Tel; 01909-515150. We cannot be anymore transparent!

Sadly, there are the odd ones who want 'their name in lights' on a forum with claims of 'we cannot reach Goldsoul'. Hogwash!

I have been a fan of Northern Soul since 1968 and have invested more money into the scene than anyone, except possibly Rare Record Dealers.

Our philosophy is...KEEP IT POPULAR.

A fair few of our critics are wannabee DJ's who I refuse to hire(I refrain from naming them as they probably have nice families-unlike them).

There are many promoting out there who have successfully targeted their market and are profitable.

I applaud Andy at Soultown for creating a healthy underground , John Manship, Pat Brady and Tim Brown for consistently investing into Rare Vinyl, Dave Raistrick with his excellent Skegness events(Remember when I lost 30 grand in 1980 in that very same town?) and all the Badge, T.Shirt dealers who are at it week in-week out, plus countless others all...hopefully, making a profit.

If you do not like your job description and love Northern Soul...why not try our profession full time. Easy isn't it?!

Goldsoul is in the Heritage Soul business. We are full time with many thousands of customers.

A few on Soul Source do not subscribe to our way of thinking. Not a problem with that, but they must understand that their bad vibes generally turn off customers at like minded venues.

Whenever insults are thrown at us, they are not only being directed us, but our DJ's too.

We are proud to promote Stoke, Whitby, Blackpool Tower etc and are DJ's(in all fields) are top notch.

Guys like Ginger, Butch, Mick H, Soul Sam generate lots of work via us. If we had no credibility and operated unprofessionally, then clearly we would have difficulty attracting the best.

The biggest DJ's in the UK in our field want to work for Goldsoul...simply because they want a big stage to play on and not work to a phone box style attendance!

Our promotions are very successful, due to the hard work and fan base we have.

At Ilkeston alone on Friday, we locked out 200, due to the venue being full.

We do not expect a 'Rare Only' promotion to even care whether we are busy or not, but we are dealing with customers, human beings, who thoroughly dislike hearing disrespect being thrown al over the place. Cut it out guys...please. This is our business.....what's yours? Maybe a Decorator, Lawyer, Carpet Fitter, Secretary? Any chance you could work for us....BUT NOT FOR PROFIT?

2. WHITBY

My apologies for not responding this year. Sadly I had to write off the first 4 months due to my heart attack.

For those not in the loop, the Whitby Soul Weekender is a very successful Weekend event held at the Whitby Pavilion on the first July of every year.

We are not the sole promoter. Our partner is Bill Snow of Backtrack Records, Doncaster.

Bill asked for our expertise after stumbling across the venue. As two long standing friends from the Torch, Stoke On Trent in 1972, I agreed to venture into it.

In July 2006, following a usual sell-out of 1,500, the agreed limit by Scarborough Council, a debacle ensued whereby a character from Middlesborough named Jack Wardle, openly sold counterfeit tickets in his own area and pubs in Whitby.

The person named eventually got a fine! We are still gobsmacked by the outcome.

The bulk of Middlesboro and further into the North East are appalled by this characters actions.

The favours will be returned to all venues in this region when I take up my post on Smooth throughout the North East from Sat(5-8pm) Jan 12. Get those event listings to me now and let me start promoting them for 'ya.

Through local intelligence, the perpetrator was identified at 11.30pm on the Friday(opening night). He was subsequently arrested and bailed.

Unfortunately for us and our customers, the police had clearly misread the situation as more counterfeits were for sale(via him) on Saturday.

The promoters shored up defences by deploying more security for Saturday evening, sadly it was too late. The word had spread to counterfeit holders to 'get in their early' by which the security had already clicked in 1,500 by 11.15.

I doubt there is a promoter in the land that could handle a situation like this in the heat of the moment.

We promptly agreed to either refund or offer free tickets on the proviso 120 agreed to leave, allowing the exact number to be allowed in.

To cut a long story short, 207 got refunds or Free Passes for 2007.

In fact at the Drax Club near Selby, one customer openly admitted that she had not been refused entry but 'tried it on anyway'. She promptly received 4 Free tickets!

In July 2007, the Whitby Weekender sold out 1400 with 207 being admitted Free of Charge. We are 75% sold out for 08 and are pleased to announce a 2nd Weekender in October with an All Nighter.

To hopefully close this subject, we are all guilty of knee jerk reactions at some time or another.

Kirsty of West Yorkshire took a 'rap from me' shortly after the event. Margaret Hey of Barnsley posted a few incorrect facts about our handling of event, by which we too over reacted and promptly banned her from the event.

For the record, both ladies are more than welcome to the Whitby event. If either care to email us at sales@goldsoul.co.uk both will receive 2 Free Passes each for 08.

Apologies for our seemingly aggressive nature at the time, but we were really caught cold by this mindless individual. You could say it was our 9-11.

We look forward to seeing you again.

3. THE NORTHERN SOUL TOP 500.

Great title eh? Jonathan Ross thinks so...who am I to argue.

The facts;

I wrote the book in 1999 based on my ability to write about the popularity of the scene. From humble beginnings in Notts, I worked for most major promoters in the early 70's before a full on career in Northern Soul. I appreciate everyone has their favourites. The book was genuinely crafted from DJ Top 10's and general knowledge of the scene.

Yes..I took very little notice of venues that are pulling small attendances.

In 2006, the book was suddenly fetching £50 on EBAY and without a copy to hand, I revamped the book for purely commercial reasons. 13,000 bought the first one.

Hardliners will be appalled to see no Robert Tanner or The Appointments in there, but the theme of my book is popularity over 40 years.

Joe Jama makes it, The Intellects doesn't. Apart from progressive venues like Middleton, Stoke-Kings Hall(after am!) or Lifeline, I doubt more than 20 would dance to them.

To clarify.....Gold is interested in keeping the scene popular, not appealing to 30 die herds in a church hall, even though I personally would probably like the music.

I did not ask the scene to dance and make popular Just Loving You-Ruby Andrews, the paying public does

4.RIGHT TO REPLY;

Again, sorry to be a bore, but we are too busy to join the forum on a full time basis. Ian(Aardvark) is kindly allowing us to use his membership to post occasionally.

Whenever our name crops up, one or two mindless members decide to wade in without knowing much about us. A few additional 'forum hooligans' wade in,without knowing very much. They simply hide behind the current loud mouths in the hope they might get a PM....with 'thanks mate' attached.

I have every right to be a promoter due to my 35 year history with Northern Soul.

Our company is proud to be the host of SoultripUSA, Blackpool Tower, Stoke, Whitby and Ilkeston. Apart from Prestatyn, these are the most successful events of all time on a regular basis. We respect our customers, DJ's and colleagues.

However, we have little time for anarchy. We clearly know what we are doing, so to our critics, either shut your gobs or ..YOU DO IT!

Replying to a handful of recent members(I'm sure there's a fair few I've missed!......)

GRAHAM WEAVER(biggray1) Never have I witnessed such a tirade of abuse against me and my wife Sam.

I think this person fails to realise that he is disrespecting the one person who promotes his area(East Midlands) every single week on my Radio Programmes for Smooth(Saturday) and Mansfield 103.2(Sunday). The amount of Bentink Miners Welfare(his local) patrons that have contacted me to voice their non-support of this character is growing by the hour.

He should be thanking me for keeping the awareness of Northern Soul high across his hometown and East Mids in general.

TREVOR HARE(trevski) We beg to differ. I don't subscribe to chin stroking, 50 people in type venues. Nor do I like open abuse. Try being nice or saying nothing at all,

the carpet's wearing thin. Several Soul Sourcer's(from your area) are appalled by your behaviour.

Any chance you can engage in something positive? Here's a starter for 10....5 great Rarities Kev Roberts discovered. Yvonne Daniels(Sterling Sound), Willie Hutch (Dunhill), JD Bryant(Shrine), Debonaires(Soul Click), Seven Souls(Okeh). You fail to realise the stuff I was discovering in the 70's.

C'mon dude...seriously...get it together.

ADY CROASDELL We've been sparring since....I've forgotten. Remember the day we were on the same plane to New York? Or the time at Cheapo in London I bought Jerry Fuller-Double Life off you as an unknown?

Goldmine and Toller are no more...shame. I left Goldmine in 03 having outlived my usefulness.

Hopefully my marketing skills enhanced the CD scene(Out On The Floor, Wigan Story's 1,2,3 etc etc). Imagine all those returnees dancing around the conservatory in 1995 to our cd's. Now, hopefully they are buying Kent. I know....you love me.

Incidentally, a great response from Tony Rounce in Manifesto towards Philip Mitchell. I felt for you every time he slagged off Kent to both me and Ian Levine!

My regards to Ted Carroll.

And yes, you should have thought of the 'TOP 500'.....perhaps Wigan , Torch, Wheel, Cleethorpes Compilations too?

Belated thanks for the nice note about my health. Yes I did manage to see the Richard Pryor clip!

Apologies if we appear to be a little forthright...but this is our business. We eat or go hungry, based on our decisions.

Phew.....that's it.

In true Goldsoul style....DEC 31st THE WORLD's biggest ALL NIGHTER at the Kings Hall, Stoke

Here's my email; sales@goldsoul.co.uk Take a deep breath and mail me.

Best Wishes to Pete Smith.....hope that young 'un is turning out to be a handsome young man......just like Dad!

Compliments of the season.....Kev

This post is a load of advertisment as usual,radioplugs,ive done this,my venues,record labels,all niters,magazines,all memememememememememememememe! dont come on here tring to sound all innocent and nice Roberts,we all know you now,all you pretend to be is a busness man who acts like Del Boy! selling rip off wares and poorly run events..yeah you min't of found a feww good records but you still rip a pay day out of Footsee and the likes,here is hoping you reply and look forward to your advertising stratagy again.

ON BEHALF OF KEV ROBERTS:-

APOLOGIES TO GRAHAM WEAVER FOR MISTAKENLY STATING THAT HE IS BIGGRAY1.

I doubt there is a promoter in the land that could handle a situation like this in the heat of the moment.

We promptly agreed to either refund or offer free tickets on the proviso 120 agreed to leave, allowing the exact number to be allowed in.

To cut a long story short, 207 got refunds or Free Passes for 2007.

Kirsty of West Yorkshire took a 'rap from me' shortly after the event. Margaret Hey of Barnsley posted a few incorrect facts about our handling of event, by which we too over reacted and promptly banned her from the event.

For the record, both ladies are more than welcome to the Whitby event. If either care to email us at sales@goldsoul.co.uk both will receive 2 Free Passes each for 08.

I'm totally stunned that it's taken almost eighteen months to get an apology, explanation or an offer of a refund, can you explain to everyone - why now???

Margaret Hey from Barnsley

for christs sake !!,people asked for an explanation - they got one . i would have thought the court case and a heart attack slowed up preceedings

talk about a witchhunt

I aint sure if i am cast as one of the internet hooligans not really in my nature...If i have said anything thats not true about you Kev then drop me a line and leave it off here...If i am wrong/incorrect then i don#t mind posting that on this or any other forum..Again you just can#t post without it sounding like a radio advert on loop...Its not what you do that i don#t like,its just the way that you do it...Plenty folk do make a living out of the scene and good luck to them...I think you have learnt something since you burst onto this forum,we aint all as dumb as you think..If you had posted a straight statement without 50 plugs for Gold Soul events then you would have got some more respect from me and others...Like i said Kev,if there is anything,anything at all that i have said thats out of order then drop me a line,always up for chat....We aint just 30 folk who meet in church halls(always the numbers game),we are a much larger crowd of people who don't like the scent of your toilet and choose to have a tom tit elsewhere...We have never met in person and yet your comments on this forum alone have kept me and many others away from Goldsoul events for ever...I aint no hooligan on the internet,just a person who shops where i choose, the corner shop mainly and the odd visit to the weekend supermarket for a nice balance,many people i know on here are the same and don#t like the big big big big biggest talk in every single post..I would love nothing better than to never post this sort of thing again,we all have(well most)better things to be getting on with...

I look on the bright side of life in the main and its your comments and actions against friends of mine on soul source that have created the mist,plain and simple.... ..The full story about Whitby and not just yours or anothers spin on the subject for or against will come out one day i hope because i have friends who still need some answers...

I have the 1st edition of top 500 and liked the read indeed,found out you told a few porkies but what the hell,newspapers do that every day.....Would like to read the new edition if any have finshed it and can pass it on I am sure Kev that you know what us Yorkshire folk are like....I will then pass it to other Yorkshire mates and we get a read for the price of a stamp..

Its better to look out to sea without the mist said the captain of the Titanic....Now you have me sounding like Catona

Edited December 2, 200717 yr by little-stevie

Firstly, can I say thanks to Ian Trigg(Aadvark) for allowing us to use his membership by way of a right to reply.

Ian used to be our employee and is not connected to Northern Soul.

He merely loads up our promotional blurb along with Keith Minshull's activities. Ian remains a friend to both parties.

And for the record, he likes groups like Cheap Trick! Bless him..

4 issues to reply to(Goldsoul, Whitby, Northern Soul Top 500, Right To Reply) Apologies for the long winded mailing, but due to work load and recent health problems, I have limited time to react to every posting ;

1. GOLDSOUL

Goldsoul are primarily promoters of Northern Soul events with a Music Retailing arm.

We have ceased manufacturing albums and 45's and concentrate on retailing via our web site, goods from 3rd parties.

We carry all the major players product.

Until recently, we also produced a magazine called NSOUL.

It was our intention to cease publication in late 07 due to falling sales and Internet interest.

We support Manifesto and regularly advertise in the monthly publication.

I had a heart attack on January 16, in Orlando, Florida.

Following life saving surgery, my Cardio-Surgeon advised me to reduce my work load by at least 50%.

This in turn meant departing with loss making ventures such as the mag.

If any subscriber has missed our email or postal circular, could they contact us direct? We are real easy to locate....

sales@goldsoul.co.uk or Tel; 01909-515150. We cannot be anymore transparent!

Sadly, there are the odd ones who want 'their name in lights' on a forum with claims of 'we cannot reach Goldsoul'. Hogwash!

I have been a fan of Northern Soul since 1968 and have invested more money into the scene than anyone, except possibly Rare Record Dealers.

Our philosophy is...KEEP IT POPULAR.

A fair few of our critics are wannabee DJ's who I refuse to hire(I refrain from naming them as they probably have nice families-unlike them).

There are many promoting out there who have successfully targeted their market and are profitable.

I applaud Andy at Soultown for creating a healthy underground , John Manship, Pat Brady and Tim Brown for consistently investing into Rare Vinyl, Dave Raistrick with his excellent Skegness events(Remember when I lost 30 grand in 1980 in that very same town?) and all the Badge, T.Shirt dealers who are at it week in-week out, plus countless others all...hopefully, making a profit.

If you do not like your job description and love Northern Soul...why not try our profession full time. Easy isn't it?!

Goldsoul is in the Heritage Soul business. We are full time with many thousands of customers.

A few on Soul Source do not subscribe to our way of thinking. Not a problem with that, but they must understand that their bad vibes generally turn off customers at like minded venues.

Whenever insults are thrown at us, they are not only being directed us, but our DJ's too.

We are proud to promote Stoke, Whitby, Blackpool Tower etc and are DJ's(in all fields) are top notch.

Guys like Ginger, Butch, Mick H, Soul Sam generate lots of work via us. If we had no credibility and operated unprofessionally, then clearly we would have difficulty attracting the best.

The biggest DJ's in the UK in our field want to work for Goldsoul...simply because they want a big stage to play on and not work to a phone box style attendance!

Our promotions are very successful, due to the hard work and fan base we have.

At Ilkeston alone on Friday, we locked out 200, due to the venue being full.

We do not expect a 'Rare Only' promotion to even care whether we are busy or not, but we are dealing with customers, human beings, who thoroughly dislike hearing disrespect being thrown al over the place. Cut it out guys...please. This is our business.....what's yours? Maybe a Decorator, Lawyer, Carpet Fitter, Secretary? Any chance you could work for us....BUT NOT FOR PROFIT?

2. WHITBY

My apologies for not responding this year. Sadly I had to write off the first 4 months due to my heart attack.

For those not in the loop, the Whitby Soul Weekender is a very successful Weekend event held at the Whitby Pavilion on the first July of every year.

We are not the sole promoter. Our partner is Bill Snow of Backtrack Records, Doncaster.

Bill asked for our expertise after stumbling across the venue. As two long standing friends from the Torch, Stoke On Trent in 1972, I agreed to venture into it.

In July 2006, following a usual sell-out of 1,500, the agreed limit by Scarborough Council, a debacle ensued whereby a character from Middlesborough named Jack Wardle, openly sold counterfeit tickets in his own area and pubs in Whitby.

The person named eventually got a fine! We are still gobsmacked by the outcome.

The bulk of Middlesboro and further into the North East are appalled by this characters actions.

The favours will be returned to all venues in this region when I take up my post on Smooth throughout the North East from Sat(5-8pm) Jan 12. Get those event listings to me now and let me start promoting them for 'ya.

Through local intelligence, the perpetrator was identified at 11.30pm on the Friday(opening night). He was subsequently arrested and bailed.

Unfortunately for us and our customers, the police had clearly misread the situation as more counterfeits were for sale(via him) on Saturday.

The promoters shored up defences by deploying more security for Saturday evening, sadly it was too late. The word had spread to counterfeit holders to 'get in their early' by which the security had already clicked in 1,500 by 11.15.

I doubt there is a promoter in the land that could handle a situation like this in the heat of the moment.

We promptly agreed to either refund or offer free tickets on the proviso 120 agreed to leave, allowing the exact number to be allowed in.

To cut a long story short, 207 got refunds or Free Passes for 2007.

In fact at the Drax Club near Selby, one customer openly admitted that she had not been refused entry but 'tried it on anyway'. She promptly received 4 Free tickets!

In July 2007, the Whitby Weekender sold out 1400 with 207 being admitted Free of Charge. We are 75% sold out for 08 and are pleased to announce a 2nd Weekender in October with an All Nighter.

To hopefully close this subject, we are all guilty of knee jerk reactions at some time or another.

Kirsty of West Yorkshire took a 'rap from me' shortly after the event. Margaret Hey of Barnsley posted a few incorrect facts about our handling of event, by which we too over reacted and promptly banned her from the event.

For the record, both ladies are more than welcome to the Whitby event. If either care to email us at sales@goldsoul.co.uk both will receive 2 Free Passes each for 08.

Apologies for our seemingly aggressive nature at the time, but we were really caught cold by this mindless individual. You could say it was our 9-11.

We look forward to seeing you again.

3. THE NORTHERN SOUL TOP 500.

Great title eh? Jonathan Ross thinks so...who am I to argue.

The facts;

I wrote the book in 1999 based on my ability to write about the popularity of the scene. From humble beginnings in Notts, I worked for most major promoters in the early 70's before a full on career in Northern Soul. I appreciate everyone has their favourites. The book was genuinely crafted from DJ Top 10's and general knowledge of the scene.

Yes..I took very little notice of venues that are pulling small attendances.

In 2006, the book was suddenly fetching £50 on EBAY and without a copy to hand, I revamped the book for purely commercial reasons. 13,000 bought the first one.

Hardliners will be appalled to see no Robert Tanner or The Appointments in there, but the theme of my book is popularity over 40 years.

Joe Jama makes it, The Intellects doesn't. Apart from progressive venues like Middleton, Stoke-Kings Hall(after am!) or Lifeline, I doubt more than 20 would dance to them.

To clarify.....Gold is interested in keeping the scene popular, not appealing to 30 die herds in a church hall, even though I personally would probably like the music.

I did not ask the scene to dance and make popular Just Loving You-Ruby Andrews, the paying public does

4.RIGHT TO REPLY;

Again, sorry to be a bore, but we are too busy to join the forum on a full time basis. Ian(Aardvark) is kindly allowing us to use his membership to post occasionally.

Whenever our name crops up, one or two mindless members decide to wade in without knowing much about us. A few additional 'forum hooligans' wade in,without knowing very much. They simply hide behind the current loud mouths in the hope they might get a PM....with 'thanks mate' attached.

I have every right to be a promoter due to my 35 year history with Northern Soul.

Our company is proud to be the host of SoultripUSA, Blackpool Tower, Stoke, Whitby and Ilkeston. Apart from Prestatyn, these are the most successful events of all time on a regular basis. We respect our customers, DJ's and colleagues.

However, we have little time for anarchy. We clearly know what we are doing, so to our critics, either shut your gobs or ..YOU DO IT!

Replying to a handful of recent members(I'm sure there's a fair few I've missed!......)

GRAHAM WEAVER(biggray1) Never have I witnessed such a tirade of abuse against me and my wife Sam.

I think this person fails to realise that he is disrespecting the one person who promotes his area(East Midlands) every single week on my Radio Programmes for Smooth(Saturday) and Mansfield 103.2(Sunday). The amount of Bentink Miners Welfare(his local) patrons that have contacted me to voice their non-support of this character is growing by the hour.

He should be thanking me for keeping the awareness of Northern Soul high across his hometown and East Mids in general.

TREVOR HARE(trevski) We beg to differ. I don't subscribe to chin stroking, 50 people in type venues. Nor do I like open abuse. Try being nice or saying nothing at all,

the carpet's wearing thin. Several Soul Sourcer's(from your area) are appalled by your behaviour.

Any chance you can engage in something positive? Here's a starter for 10....5 great Rarities Kev Roberts discovered. Yvonne Daniels(Sterling Sound), Willie Hutch (Dunhill), JD Bryant(Shrine), Debonaires(Soul Click), Seven Souls(Okeh). You fail to realise the stuff I was discovering in the 70's.

C'mon dude...seriously...get it together.

ADY CROASDELL We've been sparring since....I've forgotten. Remember the day we were on the same plane to New York? Or the time at Cheapo in London I bought Jerry Fuller-Double Life off you as an unknown?

Goldmine and Toller are no more...shame. I left Goldmine in 03 having outlived my usefulness.

Hopefully my marketing skills enhanced the CD scene(Out On The Floor, Wigan Story's 1,2,3 etc etc). Imagine all those returnees dancing around the conservatory in 1995 to our cd's. Now, hopefully they are buying Kent. I know....you love me.

Incidentally, a great response from Tony Rounce in Manifesto towards Philip Mitchell. I felt for you every time he slagged off Kent to both me and Ian Levine!

My regards to Ted Carroll.

And yes, you should have thought of the 'TOP 500'.....perhaps Wigan , Torch, Wheel, Cleethorpes Compilations too?

Belated thanks for the nice note about my health. Yes I did manage to see the Richard Pryor clip!

Apologies if we appear to be a little forthright...but this is our business. We eat or go hungry, based on our decisions.

Phew.....that's it.

In true Goldsoul style....DEC 31st THE WORLD's biggest ALL NIGHTER at the Kings Hall, Stoke

Here's my email; sales@goldsoul.co.uk Take a deep breath and mail me.

Best Wishes to Pete Smith.....hope that young 'un is turning out to be a handsome young man......just like Dad!

Compliments of the season.....Kev

Had a tear in my eye untill that line, now they are running down my face (joke)

Seriously though, hate reading all this in fighting & bad feeling all the time, looks like all issues have been sorted & appologies accepted so can't everyone draw a line under it ? Can't be good for anyones health let alone KR's ! Group hug i reckon !

With regards to the post that re-ignited all this, the book, i have always had difficulty understanding why it leads to so much vitriol ?

In the bottom left hand corner of the front page (first issue), in reasonably large letters is the following statement :-

"Charting the tracks that put the ultimate underground sound on the map - complete with values"

From that statement i fail to see how anyone could have expected anything other than what it delivered ?

We can all nit pick on the order of the tunes etc, but i think you would have to agree that it wasn't far off the list that the majority of people would have written down.

On top of that it was a thoroughly well put together book which gave a lot of people their first glimpse of these wonderful rare records !

Alright, the argument is probably about cashing in with a third edition , but if people want it, it will sell ! if they don't, it won't ! That's a risk taken by the writer & publisher. What it isn't, in my opinion, is a good enough reason to keep publicaly castigating someone !

Just had a private email from Kev, as well as the tickets for Whitby he is throwing in a couple of hundred pounds worth of prizes for my raffle, which I have happily accepted.

Personally I would like to draw a line under what has happened & move on

Kx

Well, i fell asleep halfway through that advertisemaent Kev! BUT, just in case im one of the loud mouths you refer to..(eg. anyone who doesn't tow your line!). Ive had 31 years on the scene as a dancer and lover of 'soul and soulful people'. I feel that i have contributed a GREAT deal to the scene, in the same way that EVERY other punter has. Because, 'big fella', we ARE the scene. Without us there is no YOU! On that basis alone I AM your equal....without people dancing to the tunes you broke, guess what? They wouldn't have broke!

In addition to that, and I dont want to go into a long advertisement, I put on a play that had a combined audience of 100,000 people....devised, directed and produced it! So, dont try to portray US (whoever WE are) as illiterate hooligans! That my friend is a definition reserved solely for yourself!

I dont give a flying F--k about your history, if your deeds today are so contrived and void of any semblance of 'soul' that it takes 18 months to apologise for 'outrageous behaviour' towards our friends!

Indeed, if the matter had not been raised again , on this forum, I doubt ANY apology or recompense would have been forthcoming!

And, I dont know who you refer to as people who you wont give spots to? But just in case anyone thinks thats me..NO F--king way. I have boycotted your venues as a matter of 'soul' and moral principle for a very long time.

Anyway, I am truley bored with you, your music and your lame excuses. So, have a profitable christmas and I hope Santa brings you a 'soul'

Peace

paul-s

p.s. To the poor 'young thing' who made the suprisingly anonymous post, about unity and love and inspiration and other trite comments!....... Whats your name love?

so many seekers of truth and justice in one forum ...who'd have thought it

Just had a private email from Kev, as well as the tickets for Whitby he is throwing in a couple of hundred pounds worth of prizes for my raffle, which I have happily accepted.

Personally I would like to draw a line under what has happened & move on

Kx

would be a good idea,also some people should get a life,i like soul music but there are more important things to think about

so many seekers of truth and justice in one forum ...who'd have thought it

"Cogito ergo sum" - Descarte

People seem fond of quotes on here So here's a reply for 'Man Ray'

Edited December 3, 200717 yr by paul-s

Had a tear in my eye untill that line, now they are running down my face (joke)

Seriously though, hate reading all this in fighting & bad feeling all the time, looks like all issues have been sorted & appologies accepted so can't everyone draw a line under it ? Can't be good for anyones health let alone KR's ! Group hug i reckon !

With regards to the post that re-ignited all this, the book, i have always had difficulty understanding why it leads to so much vitriol ?

In the bottom left hand corner of the front page (first issue), in reasonably large letters is the following statement :-

"Charting the tracks that put the ultimate underground sound on the map - complete with values"

From that statement i fail to see how anyone could have expected anything other than what it delivered ?

We can all nit pick on the order of the tunes etc, but i think you would have to agree that it wasn't far off the list that the majority of people would have written down.

On top of that it was a thoroughly well put together book which gave a lot of people their first glimpse of these wonderful rare records !

Alright, the argument is probably about cashing in with a third edition , but if people want it, it will sell ! if they don't, it won't ! That's a risk taken by the writer & publisher. What it isn't, in my opinion, is a good enough reason to keep publicaly castigating someone !

I actually quite enjoyed the book (1st edition)for what it was & I don't think anybody was complaining about the records reviewed or in what order they were. Perhaps what some took exception to (as in my case) was roberts attaching my name to a totally fictitious comment & then coming on here with his usual clap trap about me talking nonsense. Laughably he also PM'd me accusing me of insulting him & demanded an apology on account of him being in "the business" for 30odd years..............

He's still waiting

A. Hooligan

I actually quite enjoyed the book (1st edition)for what it was & I don't think anybody was complaining about the records reviewed or in what order they were. Perhaps what some took exception to (as in my case) was roberts attaching my name to a totally fictitious comment & then coming on here with his usual clap trap about me talking nonsense. Laughably he also PM'd me accusing me of insulting him & demanded an apology on account of him being in "the business" for 30odd years..............

He's still waiting

A. Hooligan

Oh gawd, on that basis then am I going to have my name attached to a gushing review of a Levine re-hash in the next version then?

I don't think I could stand the shame

Oh gawd, on that basis then am I going to have my name attached to a gushing review of a Levine re-hash in the next version then?

I don't think I could stand the shame

You really shouldn't put such ideas into peoples heads Steve

"Cogito ergo sum" - Descarte

People seem fond of quotes on here So here's a reply for 'Man Ray'

hmm not much i can say to that cept if you're going to quote 17th century frenchmen to me at least do it in the original french and not the latin reissue lol

hmm not much i can say to that cept if you're going to quote 17th century frenchmen to me at least do it in the original french and not the latin reissue lol

Descarte quoted the latin himself - I think you'll find you have the boot!

hmm not much i can say to that cept if you're going to quote 17th century frenchmen to me at least do it in the original french and not the latin reissue lol

Descarte quoted the latin himself - I think you'll find you have the boot!

oh yes he did.......

oh no he didn't....

oh yes he did.....

well it is the pantomine season

well it is the pantomine season

Oh no it isn't

QoFxx

"Remember when you ran away and I got on my hands and kness and begged you not to leave because I'd go burserk! well you left me anyhow and now the days got worse and worse and now you see I've gone completley out of my mind...and their coming to take me away ha! ha! he! he! ho! ho! he! he! to the funny farm where life is beautiful all the time and I'll be happy to see those nice young men in their clean white coats and their coming to take me away ha ha he he! I cooked your food and cleaned your house and this is all I get for all my kind unselfish loving deeds! well you just wait they'll find you yet and when they do do that stick in in the ASPCA you mangy mut!....and their coming to take me away ha! ha! he! he! to the funny farm where life is beautiful all the time and I'll be happy to see those nice young men in their clean white coats and their coming to take me away"!!!!!!!! ha! ha! he! he!.........................nothing to do with the thread but lighten the load guy's let's all do our own thing and get on with it before it drives us all around the bend, the scene is full of moovers and shakers, mavericks, DJ's, Collectors, dealers, dancers etc...but all in all are we not blessed to have access to this music? how we enjoy it, collect it, play it, dance to it is basically each to his or her own, how you run with it is down to choice, where you go to listen to it is down to choice, influence and guidence is welcome but discovery and following your own line is for many the way forward.

Regards - Mark Bicknell.

Edited December 3, 200717 yr by Mark Bicknell

'Until the next time'

Pete and I would like to thank KR for giving us the name of our Plc (place for losing cash) for organising soul dos that cater for soul loving ordinary local people...DimWit Promotions. Our next event is FREE as usual at the Horseshoe Inn near London Bridge on Friday 11th January.

Pete and I would like to thank KR for giving us the name of our Plc (place for losing cash) for organising soul dos that cater for soul loving ordinary local people...DimWit Promotions. Our next event is FREE as usual at the Horseshoe Inn near London Bridge on Friday 11th January.

I'd forgotten about that, at least something great came out of one of KRs rantings

Maybe you should of kept quiet about that Martin KR probably will claim he had the name copywrited and you and Pete owe he thousands for using the name.

I would like to point out to KR that I have nothing what so ever to do with DimWit Promotions, Their next event is FREE as usual at the Horseshoe Inn near London Bridge on Friday 11th January , I do not know the people involved and I haven't got any money anyway .

heh Martin, do you think we have got the hang of this KR style continuous self promoting

QoFxx

Edited December 4, 200717 yr by chrissie

kev. the one thing about whitby that worries me and several others im sure, is ok counterfeit tickets out of your control i understand, but the bug bearer for me is the wristbands. were exta made for damages or losses etc. one ticket one wristband surely they werent counterfiet as well. hope you can clear this up for myself and also several friends

who didnt get in that nite.

I know we should let this drop its 18 months ago etc etc...But until there is a satisfactory answer to explain why they didnt run out of wristbands then many people will still be hacked off.

Its good to see alot of issues getting cleared up so why not put this one to bed for ever?

I know we should let this drop its 18 months ago etc etc...But until there is a satisfactory answer to explain why they didnt run out of wristbands then many people will still be hacked off.

Its good to see alot of issues getting cleared up so why not put this one to bed for ever?

its a daft question. Think like a promotor for a minute. Dont Kev's wristbands say Goldsoul or something generic that can be used at multiple gigs?. I wouldn't expect for a minute anyone to turn up to a gig they're running with exactly the right amount of wristbands. I bloody wouldn't, it'd be well expensive!.

Surely they are ordered in massive quantities 10,000+ and no way would I sit there counting out the right amount to take with me, I'd just carry the whole box about, especially with many other things to worry about. And no, counterfeit tickets wouldn't (until this) have been something I would have worried about prior to the event so I wouldn't have envisaged taking more than necessary as a problem... When you're on the door or running an event etc counting people in by counting the wristbands would be a right pain especially when you've got more than a couple of hundred attending. It's not practical and when you've sold tickets too, I would consider it unneccesary.

Thats only one way of working, there will be other reasons too..

Jayne.

Ady at Cleethorpes and Prestatyn use wristbands and not sure they would have to carry extra,just have the right ammount and then all things tally...Does Kev use the wristbands for other events????? i am sure he can explain for himself...Yes it would be nice to mooooooooooooooove on from all this stuff....

Ady at Cleethorpes and Prestatyn use wristbands and not sure they would have to carry extra,just have the right ammount and then all things tally...Does Kev use the wristbands for other events????? i am sure he can explain for himself...Yes it would be nice to mooooooooooooooove on from all this stuff....

True,It would.. Though I dont really understand why an answer to this now particular question is so important to people, my mum and my sister were locked out of the venue that night, I'd bought their passes & know they were genuine but surely its done and dusted.

I bet they dont have bang on the right amount at other events. Maybe if you only ran one weekender a year you wouldn't need to order extra. I dont know if Goldsoul use wristbands for all their events, I can't remember, they do for the tower and whitby. If I ran several weekenders a year I'd use the same ones, just change the colour or something every 10,000 to put people off copying them... but hey, maybe that's just women's logic for you!.

Jayne.x. (Tight fisted scrooge type)..

Edited December 7, 200717 yr by Miss BurySoul

blimey ... this still going????

we use wristbands at some events and always order more than the exact number. you don't want to have too few. you sometimes have to replace some .... you sometimes have to give wristbands to all sorts of people that need to be in the venue but are not paying customers (guests, techies etc). they are not foolproof and i would have thought that most promoters who use them would realise that.

The tickets should have had a hologram and that way this incident would have never occurred......of course i have no knowledge of cost etc but when tickets costing £20+ are

in danger of being copied on i would imagine any pc and printer set up this would be worth every penny extra they would cost.

Sadly i knew this would happen , in fact many friends also voiced their concern too.....it only needs one person to want to capitalise on a weak point.......ive had tickets costing a tenner with holograms so surely penny pinching pure and simple was to blame for all this grief.

Wilst i'm writing about the Whitby incident , can i just once again air my view and that of many others about the weakest point of any of krl's events...(hope Kev reads it of course and maybe improves things)......"repeats" , of late it has put me off events i would have once attended and i are'nt alone.....three four and even five times some of the classics are played at nighters even , spread out over a weekender of course some repeats will be welcomed and inevitable.....but sadly lots of records/classics the dj's will have with them go unplayed i'm sure all the punters would agree with me here.....seldom does this happen at other nighters/ soul nights run by others so surely someone should take responsibilty for this and improve the situation.

One dj who shall go unamed can come on and play sometimes four or five in an hour after some have been played only the previous hour or two !!!!.......the other side of the coin , one nighter i attended in the north west , one dj in the early hours put a record ( can't recall what now) on and someone mentioned to him it had been played before midnight....the guy was so apologetic , i just thought , god he should'nt worry.....how different is this?

What i write here is purely constructive and not a pop at anyone.

At least Kirsty and her Charity got something out of the Whitby debacle

but otherwise nothing will change as money is what turns the world and NS

on its tail

and we should all run and beg forgiveness at the alter of NS and the saviour

yeh?????????????????????

Good Afternoon folks,

I was collecting 45s before Kev was even thinking about them

I knew of his exploits and DJ career at Wigan and then in the US but never really spoke to him until 2004.

I went on Soul Trip USA to LA and fulfilled ambitions, i as a soul music anorak could never have dreamed of meeting the likes of the late Fred Smith , Wally Roker, Charles Colbert, Jimmy Conwell, Alex Brown, Edna Wright, her hubby Greg Perry,Freddie Hughes, Ruth Davis of The Sequins etc etc

Absolutely earth shattering for me.

Thereafter Kev seemed to take a shine to my enthusiasm and on Soul Trip 2006...without any lobbying or prompting proceeded to introduce EVERY artist to me on their arrival at the hotel to me for pics and autographs and music talk.

I am now very priviledged to be friends for life with some of these artists and am trying via Theres That Beat to put a little back to them.

I am looking forward to Chicago 2009 ...miss it if you dare...money well spent on our musical heritage!!

Regards

David Ferguson, Burnley

ps I got locked out of Whitby but got in and got sorted ok. S__t happens and we only missed afew overplayed 45s after all didnt we?

All Kev lacks at is a bit of Tact and guidance now and again...making decisions when a mortgage payment is looming and sh _t is happening aint all that straightforward is it?

nb Advertising www.theresthatbeat.com

nb Advertising www.hitsvillesoulclub.com

ps Thanks to Kev for making my life more fruitful as i head towards retirement www.myspace.com/d_ferguson for pics facilitated by KR.

Good Afternoon folks,

I was collecting 45s before Kev was even thinking about them

I knew of his exploits and DJ career at Wigan and then in the US but never really spoke to him until 2004.

I went on Soul Trip USA to LA and fulfilled ambitions, i as a soul music anorak could never have dreamed of meeting the likes of the late Fred Smith , Wally Roker, Charles Colbert, Jimmy Conwell, Alex Brown, Edna Wright, her hubby Greg Perry,Freddie Hughes, Ruth Davis of The Sequins etc etc

Absolutely earth shattering for me.

Thereafter Kev seemed to take a shine to my enthusiasm and on Soul Trip 2006...without any lobbying or prompting proceeded to introduce EVERY artist to me on their arrival at the hotel to me for pics and autographs and music talk.

I am now very priviledged to be friends for life with some of these artists and am trying via Theres That Beat to put a little back to them.

I am looking forward to Chicago 2009 ...miss it if you dare...money well spent on our musical heritage!!

Regards

David Ferguson, Burnley

ps I got locked out of Whitby but got in and got sorted ok. S__t happens and we only missed afew overplayed 45s after all didnt we?

All Kev lacks at is a bit of Tact and guidance now and again...making decisions when a mortgage payment is looming and sh _t is happening aint all that straightforward is it?

nb Advertising www.theresthatbeat.com

nb Advertising www.hitsvillesoulclub.com

ps Thanks to Kev for making my life more fruitful as i head towards retirement www.myspace.com/d_ferguson for pics facilitated by KR.

Dave,

Hopefully the Chicago trip will bring more artists out into the spotlight too. I know of a few that are going to be there that will enthrall us and the hunt is continuing for others. I'm sure Kev will update everyone in the Spring about who has been found and booked so far.

One other important point about these trips is that the fans, (us), get to put $$$ directly into the pockets of the artists. My record room (as I know a few others are), is full of pictures, CDs, T Shirts, Autographs, vinyl, and anything else that the artists turn up with that I'll never play, dig out. Point is it's a chance to say thank you and celebrate the music with the artists who created it, up close and personal. For those who enjoy the company of legendary rare/northern soul artists there is nothing to compare these trips to. Without these trips the likes of Norman Donegan, Melvin Steals, Bill Oxendine, Al Johnson, etc etc would never have known that their music was cherished in the way it is by fans thousands of miles away. It also brings the music to the attention of US soul fans. Surely these are good things? Or are parts of the UK Rare/Northern Soul 'scene' too intent on seeing their glasses constantly half empty instead of half full?

See you in the Windy City Mate. Dictaphone at the ready!

You got me worried there with your avatar of Don Varner- I thought it was real for a moment

I wish Steve!!

The famous Veep listing from HBS i think with a different flip & voided against it!

My daughter mocked it up using Veep 1297 Baby Washington as a template and a Quinvy copy for the info.

Did it to take to my mate Dave Greets 50th and it raised a few eyebrows i can tell you...but im a poor liar and came clean asap thereafter.

Regards

David Ferguson Burnley

[

quote name='Steve G' date='Dec 10 07, 01:14 PM' post='643251']

You got me worried there with your avatar of Don Varner- I thought it was real for a moment

Good Afternoon folks,

I was collecting 45s before Kev was even thinking about them

I knew of his exploits and DJ career at Wigan and then in the US but never really spoke to him until 2004.

I went on Soul Trip USA to LA and fulfilled ambitions, i as a soul music anorak could never have dreamed of meeting the likes of the late Fred Smith , Wally Roker, Charles Colbert, Jimmy Conwell, Alex Brown, Edna Wright, her hubby Greg Perry,Freddie Hughes, Ruth Davis of The Sequins etc etc

Absolutely earth shattering for me.

Thereafter Kev seemed to take a shine to my enthusiasm and on Soul Trip 2006...without any lobbying or prompting proceeded to introduce EVERY artist to me on their arrival at the hotel to me for pics and autographs and music talk.

I am now very priviledged to be friends for life with some of these artists and am trying via Theres That Beat to put a little back to them.

I am looking forward to Chicago 2009 ...miss it if you dare...money well spent on our musical heritage!!

Regards

David Ferguson, Burnley

ps I got locked out of Whitby but got in and got sorted ok. S__t happens and we only missed afew overplayed 45s after all didnt we?

All Kev lacks at is a bit of Tact and guidance now and again...making decisions when a mortgage payment is looming and sh _t is happening aint all that straightforward is it?

nb Advertising www.theresthatbeat.com

nb Advertising www.hitsvillesoulclub.com

ps Thanks to Kev for making my life more fruitful as i head towards retirement www.myspace.com/d_ferguson for pics facilitated by KR.

I also went on the 'soul trip ' L.A, an experience i won't ever forget, and I owe that to KR, one of the greatest memories of my life ( so far )

I wish Steve!!

The famous Veep listing from HBS i think with a different flip & voided against it!

My daughter mocked it up using Veep 1297 Baby Washington as a template and a Quinvy copy for the info.

Did it to take to my mate Dave Greets 50th and it raised a few eyebrows i can tell you...but im a poor liar and came clean asap thereafter.

Regards

David Ferguson Burnley

[

quote name='Steve G' date='Dec 10 07, 01:14 PM' post='643251']

I wish too David! I am still hopeful that one day I'll find that "pressed but they were all destroyed but for this one" copy of Veep 1296.....it would complete a gaping hole in my Veep collection...Steve

Firstly, can I say thanks to Ian Trigg(Aadvark) for allowing us to use his membership by way of a right to reply.

Ian used to be our employee and is not connected to Northern Soul.

He merely loads up our promotional blurb along with Keith Minshull's activities. Ian remains a friend to both parties.

And for the record, he likes groups like Cheap Trick! Bless him..

4 issues to reply to(Goldsoul, Whitby, Northern Soul Top 500, Right To Reply) Apologies for the long winded mailing, but due to work load and recent health problems, I have limited time to react to every posting ;

1. GOLDSOUL

Goldsoul are primarily promoters of Northern Soul events with a Music Retailing arm.

We have ceased manufacturing albums and 45's and concentrate on retailing via our web site, goods from 3rd parties.

We carry all the major players product.

Until recently, we also produced a magazine called NSOUL.

It was our intention to cease publication in late 07 due to falling sales and Internet interest.

We support Manifesto and regularly advertise in the monthly publication.

I had a heart attack on January 16, in Orlando, Florida.

Following life saving surgery, my Cardio-Surgeon advised me to reduce my work load by at least 50%.

This in turn meant departing with loss making ventures such as the mag.

If any subscriber has missed our email or postal circular, could they contact us direct? We are real easy to locate....

sales@goldsoul.co.uk or Tel; 01909-515150. We cannot be anymore transparent!

Sadly, there are the odd ones who want 'their name in lights' on a forum with claims of 'we cannot reach Goldsoul'. Hogwash!

I have been a fan of Northern Soul since 1968 and have invested more money into the scene than anyone, except possibly Rare Record Dealers.

Our philosophy is...KEEP IT POPULAR.

A fair few of our critics are wannabee DJ's who I refuse to hire(I refrain from naming them as they probably have nice families-unlike them).

There are many promoting out there who have successfully targeted their market and are profitable.

I applaud Andy at Soultown for creating a healthy underground , John Manship, Pat Brady and Tim Brown for consistently investing into Rare Vinyl, Dave Raistrick with his excellent Skegness events(Remember when I lost 30 grand in 1980 in that very same town?) and all the Badge, T.Shirt dealers who are at it week in-week out, plus countless others all...hopefully, making a profit.

If you do not like your job description and love Northern Soul...why not try our profession full time. Easy isn't it?!

Goldsoul is in the Heritage Soul business. We are full time with many thousands of customers.

A few on Soul Source do not subscribe to our way of thinking. Not a problem with that, but they must understand that their bad vibes generally turn off customers at like minded venues.

Whenever insults are thrown at us, they are not only being directed us, but our DJ's too.

We are proud to promote Stoke, Whitby, Blackpool Tower etc and are DJ's(in all fields) are top notch.

Guys like Ginger, Butch, Mick H, Soul Sam generate lots of work via us. If we had no credibility and operated unprofessionally, then clearly we would have difficulty attracting the best.

The biggest DJ's in the UK in our field want to work for Goldsoul...simply because they want a big stage to play on and not work to a phone box style attendance!

Our promotions are very successful, due to the hard work and fan base we have.

At Ilkeston alone on Friday, we locked out 200, due to the venue being full.

We do not expect a 'Rare Only' promotion to even care whether we are busy or not, but we are dealing with customers, human beings, who thoroughly dislike hearing disrespect being thrown al over the place. Cut it out guys...please. This is our business.....what's yours? Maybe a Decorator, Lawyer, Carpet Fitter, Secretary? Any chance you could work for us....BUT NOT FOR PROFIT?

2. WHITBY

My apologies for not responding this year. Sadly I had to write off the first 4 months due to my heart attack.

For those not in the loop, the Whitby Soul Weekender is a very successful Weekend event held at the Whitby Pavilion on the first July of every year.

We are not the sole promoter. Our partner is Bill Snow of Backtrack Records, Doncaster.

Bill asked for our expertise after stumbling across the venue. As two long standing friends from the Torch, Stoke On Trent in 1972, I agreed to venture into it.

In July 2006, following a usual sell-out of 1,500, the agreed limit by Scarborough Council, a debacle ensued whereby a character from Middlesborough named Jack Wardle, openly sold counterfeit tickets in his own area and pubs in Whitby.

The person named eventually got a fine! We are still gobsmacked by the outcome.

The bulk of Middlesboro and further into the North East are appalled by this characters actions.

The favours will be returned to all venues in this region when I take up my post on Smooth throughout the North East from Sat(5-8pm) Jan 12. Get those event listings to me now and let me start promoting them for 'ya.

Through local intelligence, the perpetrator was identified at 11.30pm on the Friday(opening night). He was subsequently arrested and bailed.

Unfortunately for us and our customers, the police had clearly misread the situation as more counterfeits were for sale(via him) on Saturday.

The promoters shored up defences by deploying more security for Saturday evening, sadly it was too late. The word had spread to counterfeit holders to 'get in their early' by which the security had already clicked in 1,500 by 11.15.

I doubt there is a promoter in the land that could handle a situation like this in the heat of the moment.

We promptly agreed to either refund or offer free tickets on the proviso 120 agreed to leave, allowing the exact number to be allowed in.

To cut a long story short, 207 got refunds or Free Passes for 2007.

In fact at the Drax Club near Selby, one customer openly admitted that she had not been refused entry but 'tried it on anyway'. She promptly received 4 Free tickets!

In July 2007, the Whitby Weekender sold out 1400 with 207 being admitted Free of Charge. We are 75% sold out for 08 and are pleased to announce a 2nd Weekender in October with an All Nighter.

To hopefully close this subject, we are all guilty of knee jerk reactions at some time or another.

Kirsty of West Yorkshire took a 'rap from me' shortly after the event. Margaret Hey of Barnsley posted a few incorrect facts about our handling of event, by which we too over reacted and promptly banned her from the event.

For the record, both ladies are more than welcome to the Whitby event. If either care to email us at sales@goldsoul.co.uk both will receive 2 Free Passes each for 08.

Apologies for our seemingly aggressive nature at the time, but we were really caught cold by this mindless individual. You could say it was our 9-11.

We look forward to seeing you again.

3. THE NORTHERN SOUL TOP 500.

Great title eh? Jonathan Ross thinks so...who am I to argue.

The facts;

I wrote the book in 1999 based on my ability to write about the popularity of the scene. From humble beginnings in Notts, I worked for most major promoters in the early 70's before a full on career in Northern Soul. I appreciate everyone has their favourites. The book was genuinely crafted from DJ Top 10's and general knowledge of the scene.

Yes..I took very little notice of venues that are pulling small attendances.

In 2006, the book was suddenly fetching £50 on EBAY and without a copy to hand, I revamped the book for purely commercial reasons. 13,000 bought the first one.

Hardliners will be appalled to see no Robert Tanner or The Appointments in there, but the theme of my book is popularity over 40 years.

Joe Jama makes it, The Intellects doesn't. Apart from progressive venues like Middleton, Stoke-Kings Hall(after am!) or Lifeline, I doubt more than 20 would dance to them.

To clarify.....Gold is interested in keeping the scene popular, not appealing to 30 die herds in a church hall, even though I personally would probably like the music.

I did not ask the scene to dance and make popular Just Loving You-Ruby Andrews, the paying public does

4.RIGHT TO REPLY;

Again, sorry to be a bore, but we are too busy to join the forum on a full time basis. Ian(Aardvark) is kindly allowing us to use his membership to post occasionally.

Whenever our name crops up, one or two mindless members decide to wade in without knowing much about us. A few additional 'forum hooligans' wade in,without knowing very much. They simply hide behind the current loud mouths in the hope they might get a PM....with 'thanks mate' attached.

I have every right to be a promoter due to my 35 year history with Northern Soul.

Our company is proud to be the host of SoultripUSA, Blackpool Tower, Stoke, Whitby and Ilkeston. Apart from Prestatyn, these are the most successful events of all time on a regular basis. We respect our customers, DJ's and colleagues.

However, we have little time for anarchy. We clearly know what we are doing, so to our critics, either shut your gobs or ..YOU DO IT!

Replying to a handful of recent members(I'm sure there's a fair few I've missed!......)

GRAHAM WEAVER(biggray1) Never have I witnessed such a tirade of abuse against me and my wife Sam.

I think this person fails to realise that he is disrespecting the one person who promotes his area(East Midlands) every single week on my Radio Programmes for Smooth(Saturday) and Mansfield 103.2(Sunday). The amount of Bentink Miners Welfare(his local) patrons that have contacted me to voice their non-support of this character is growing by the hour.

He should be thanking me for keeping the awareness of Northern Soul high across his hometown and East Mids in general.

TREVOR HARE(trevski) We beg to differ. I don't subscribe to chin stroking, 50 people in type venues. Nor do I like open abuse. Try being nice or saying nothing at all,

the carpet's wearing thin. Several Soul Sourcer's(from your area) are appalled by your behaviour.

Any chance you can engage in something positive? Here's a starter for 10....5 great Rarities Kev Roberts discovered. Yvonne Daniels(Sterling Sound), Willie Hutch (Dunhill), JD Bryant(Shrine), Debonaires(Soul Click), Seven Souls(Okeh). You fail to realise the stuff I was discovering in the 70's.

C'mon dude...seriously...get it together.

ADY CROASDELL We've been sparring since....I've forgotten. Remember the day we were on the same plane to New York? Or the time at Cheapo in London I bought Jerry Fuller-Double Life off you as an unknown?

Goldmine and Toller are no more...shame. I left Goldmine in 03 having outlived my usefulness.

Hopefully my marketing skills enhanced the CD scene(Out On The Floor, Wigan Story's 1,2,3 etc etc). Imagine all those returnees dancing around the conservatory in 1995 to our cd's. Now, hopefully they are buying Kent. I know....you love me.

Incidentally, a great response from Tony Rounce in Manifesto towards Philip Mitchell. I felt for you every time he slagged off Kent to both me and Ian Levine!

My regards to Ted Carroll.

And yes, you should have thought of the 'TOP 500'.....perhaps Wigan , Torch, Wheel, Cleethorpes Compilations too?

Belated thanks for the nice note about my health. Yes I did manage to see the Richard Pryor clip!

Apologies if we appear to be a little forthright...but this is our business. We eat or go hungry, based on our decisions.

Phew.....that's it.

In true Goldsoul style....DEC 31st THE WORLD's biggest ALL NIGHTER at the Kings Hall, Stoke

Here's my email; sales@goldsoul.co.uk Take a deep breath and mail me.

Best Wishes to Pete Smith.....hope that young 'un is turning out to be a handsome young man......just like Dad!

Compliments of the season.....Kev

As a gesture of good will and to, finally, put this sad story to bed, Mr Roberts stated that I could have free tickets for Whitby 2008 but as I can't make Whitby, I asked for tickets for Stoke New Year's Eve instead. Mr Roberts asked me for an address where he could post them to - which I duly gave.

So here I was, checking the post box every day to see if my tickets had arrived

Guess what?????????

As Diana Ross said - I'm still waiting

Suppose there's no surprise there