Alan Walls

Not such a daft question Mate, I know what you mean. The structure of the song is not exactly yer conventional soul/r 'n b format, more like a late 60's/early 70's rock/soul fusion kinda thang going on. There's a sound clip of it a few posts down from the top. Dave T - Jesus, what a swap!

Really? I'll be darned! cheers

What became of Soul Bowl? God knows how many weeks I couldn't give my mum any dig money when I got paid on theThursday 'cos John got it when the list came out on the Wednesday!

One's that immediately spring to mind: The Righteous Brothers: "It's Up To You" - Verve LP 'Souled Out' (Keb's old Jack Montomery c/u) Clyde McPhatter "Please Give Me Once More Chance" - Decca LP 'Welcome Home' Bobby Womack "Something For My Head" - Columbia LP 'Home Where The Heart Is' The Voice of East Harlem "Take a Stand" - Just Sunshine LP...bugger, can't remember! Leroy Hutson "Get To This You'll Get To Me" - Curtom LP...as above! I seem to recall Tony Hestor "Spaceland" only being available on Grapevine's 'Talk of The Grapevine" compilation, and The Spinners "What More Could A Boy Ask For" on the UK Motown comp 'From The Vaults'

That was the least you could do, seeing as you bought it on my strong recommendation at Leicester...

What's the going rate, then?

Still, when it cost£1.50 from Soul Bowl way back when...

Whit? Holy feckin' cow!

Haven't played that for years, great epic-sounding ballad with the maddest lyrics. What does it go for nowadays?

Thanks Robin, but really, the pleasure was ours! I am genuinely surprised at the regard the Glenrothes YM is clearly held in. I dunno about Steve, but I have seem to have subconsciously overlooked it, due to it being sandwiched between what many would regard as the two of the most important, influential nights Scotland has produced: the Crown Hotel, Thornton and Allanton/Shotts. Guess I should be digging out my tapes and photos, it's obviously more significant than I remember! We started up the YM in order to build on our modest achievements at the Crown, ie to provide a Scottish Niter in the mould of Stafford, where new/lesser known 60's had prominence, respectfuly supported by 70's/modern soul and oldies. Scotland was well served with 'traditional ' Northern nights, so our aim was to promote a niter which offered something different, in terms of both the music played and the progressive attitude we hoped to generate. Quite simply, we were Stafford boys who felt duty bound to spread the word. For me, being able to give guys like Robin, Keb, Guy, Dave Thorley, Pat Brady and Gary Rushbrooke - my first Northern hero! - a chance to play up here was a great thrill. Not just because they made my time on the floor at Stafford so special, it was seeing local guys who had never heard these dj's before getting switched on to the new sounds that made it something worthwhile. Which, when we folded, encouraged Jim, Barney and John to take it to another level with Allanton. Aye, no bad thing! ps Robin: What the hell kind of one horse, sheeyit kicker's town were you in, that the locals mistook you and Ion for squaddies?

Howdy Jock, good to hear from you. Sick at missing the show, Graham - of all people - and Mick raved about it. Aye, we really do need to have a proper catch up outside of birthdays and funerals! Will pm you our numbers. When I was writing that post The Magnetics came to mind: was it cracked? I think I'm sure in saying it was ok when I got it from the US and later when I sold it to Duncan. £400 was good money those days, so it must have been ok, presumably. A few years later I found myself back at Duncan's after a club in Glasgow and there it was, sitting on top of his Northen box, no sleeve, looking forlorn and abandoned! Can't remember what nick it was in though I do remember fleetingly considering making a citizen's arrest and taking it into protective custody! It's good to be here, at last. I'm sure we all suffer from lapses of memory and rose tinted embellishments!

Kenny Wells - Isn't It Just A Shame (another ironic title!). This was due to be the last tune on a tape I was making so it was the only record left propped up in the box. It was all too easy: box gets nudged, hinged lid falls forward, cracks record. And no one but myself to blame, either. It was a proper bad boy of a crack, ran right under the label, tried using heavy duty tape on the flip side vinyl but it just wouldn't play. I ended up glueing some useless 45 I had bought blind to the flip, it salvaged the record in so far as it can be played, but with a click. And now virtually worthless! Bought a Paul Sindab - I Was A Fool (more irony) on Powertree whilst at a niter. Firing on a cylinders - so to speak - and too 'distracted' to think of checking the condition, I nearly bit the seller's hand off when he quoted the bargain price. Half inch crack revealed itself when I got home. This one did tape ok, and plays with a slight click. Bought a slightly cracked Enticers - Since You Left from Soul Bowl for £8 in the early 80's. Couldn't bring myself to attempt a repair job on such an object of desire and if memory serves me correctly, the flip was ok, but because the crack is 'untreated' I daren't play it. Special occasions only.

Alright mate, that's a nice Top 5 you picked there. Seems awfully familiar! There's another YM appreciation thread on the go. I had no idea it was so popular!

Blimey, this one's caught me on the hop! Andrew, young man, you are full of surprises! Right, off the top of my head, things that immediately spring to mind: - Tam Galloway and The Table Top Dancers - a hearse pulling up and around a dozen Aberdeen boys spilling out, Anthill Mob style - the crap decks we had to put up with (it was hard enough persuading a working mobile jock to hire us his equipment and not him, there was no way we'd get anything decent) - the 'dry' night ( ) - the game of 73-a-side footie in the car park next day, careering around the grass like one big herd of 'phet crazed Soul Wildebeests. Took 20 minutes before we realised the ball had long since been trampled into the ground - Dave Thorley's wee girl playing on a rocking horse on the stage as Dad did the business - George Sharp playing Larry Clinton - She's Wanted: the one and only time I've heard it played out (I know, bizarre!) - sitting in the bog, overhearing some locals complain about "those Walls brothers putting on all those English dj's to impress their English pals". Ooooh, meeooow! - Guy, just back from one of his first trips to the States, screwing us into the ground for his fee. He settled on £120, while Keb - who had dragged himself out of his influenza death bed to make it 'home' to Scotland - took all of £14! - that man Guy again, advising me that "some sneaky bugger is taping my set" as he peeled back the DJ line up sheet from the facia of the decks, to reveal a jack socket attached to a cable which winded it's way under the decks and into a portable cassette recorder, in 'record' mode, hidden from sight by strategically placed furnishings...ahem! I'll try to think of more, but as I may need counselling after the Celts visit to Old Trafford tonight, don't hold your breath!

...and played by the feller who's sitting in for Steve Wright. He also played the new and surprisingly good version of A Change Is Gonna Come by Seal. Wow: Radio-DJ-In-Not-Knowing-What-The-Guy-On-Before-Him Played Shock!

Ken Bruce playing 'I Can't Help Myself' right now, after a sincere wee tribute in which he cited the Tops, and this record in partiuclar, which got him into Motown. Good man!

But Jock, Thornton's in Fife!

Wisdom only a Soul Sage who knows his onions could profer. Was George Orwell the duck who wrote Down and Out In Lochend and Pilton?

By God Roddy, you've set me off now. Dunno how many times my I lost my shirt at the Casino at Wigan Wheel...

Er, I was gripped by...by...Soul Fervour! That's it, Soul Fervour! (ahem!)

Brother Man, that's too darn soulful. I oughta go to church. KTF! That was one weird programme. I don't know what it would take for such a feature to 'work' - whatever 'work' means - but I know when it doesn't, and it never seems to 'work', does it? These things tend to be either bizarre cringefests or downright offensive, despite the best intentions of those involved. What was that clobber all about? I shouldn't imagine this generation of skinny, guitar band youths have seen so much yardage of cloth since the campsite at Glastonbury, and I can't imagine that programme will see them bashing down the doors of their local soul nights, all Spencers'd and platform-soled up, eager to hear old Dustbin Stanley - The Godfather of Northern Soul, no less - breaking the hits of tomorrow. Too weird...

The venerable Mustapha Lyne still has his fez, yes!

Aye, and from what I can remember of it, it'll be staying that way!

Mr Dennison, following the Messheads flyer post, I'd like to remind you my lawyer is ready to subpoena your ass... (while I have the Allanton Uncut video, a DVD would be nice!) Loving this thread, I had the good fortune to attend every Allanton and played at most of them. While we knew at the time it was something special, I thought that was as much to do with the terrible state of the scene in England at that time. After Stafford, Niters seemed to come and go in the North and Midlands without any real continuity (was Blackburn the only substantial attempt to stem the tide?). It was a depressing time for the scene - and in the real world, with Thatcher and her mob on the rampage - and this seemed to be reflected in the lack of atmosphere and excitement. The imaginative selection of DJ's and what they played, and the atmosphere generated, were the reason's for Allanton's success, but it wasn't rocket science: we just believed that when you're out at a niter, you've got to go for it. Get your head out of that sales box and get on the floor. Jim O'Hara and his team were collectors who danced, we knew our music and we knew that the greatest way to enjoy it was to dance. Simple, really. It definately started in 88. I can say that with absolute certainty 'cos it was Celtic's Centenary year and I remember wearing a commemorative T Shirt to the first night! Last one was December 91 or 92. Maybe Jock will remember, as he still had stragglers at his flat on the following Tuesday (by the way Jock, that was the last time I saw my Clyde McPhatter 'Welcome Home' LP...). Pleasantly surprised and delighted to see Allanton is remembered so fondly. Thanks to Baz for the thread.