SHEFFSOUL

yep..intially played c/u as James Lewis (off the back of the smash 'Manifesto'..i guess to help it along)..it did take a while to go big..

yes it was big before '78..ive a few tapes with TB on..

Charlie watts...

yep..i bought Larry Hale £1...mustve slipped thru the net..

..no surprise..'My hearts symphony' was massive for about a month..i remember it played at wigan and the dancefloor got mobbed..it was of its time like many more..

hmm. off thread but..i can remember a story about Russ in the US ( accompanying the winners of raffle or dance comp late 70's) buying copies of the yum yums?..

interesting..i never kept those..i must've kept the Russ ones for reference..and i'd like copies of the ones i'm missing if anyone can help..

blimey!..all mine are from '74..

WHEN DID RUSS START PUTTING OUT HIS RECORD LISTS? AND DID THEY CONTINUE UNTIL WIGAN CLOSED? I HAVE A FEW FROM 1974..AND SOME SURPRISING BARGAINS (WITH HINDSIGHT), IT ALSO PROVES THE POINT THAT HE HAD SOME TASTY STUFF ON THE GO AT THE CASINO..AND NOT JUST POP CRAP AS MANY PEOPLE THINK.aNYONE ELSE HAVE THESE LISTS?...WHEN I SPOKE TO RUSS SOME YEARS BACK HE SAID HE DIDNT HAVE ANY OF THESE EARLY LISTS..BUT I'M SURE THEY ARE OUT THERE..

much of what you say is true..however i think Levines crime was far greater..his studio 54 stuff and disco crap infested the scene..

the helen shapiro was discovered by dave Rai, an given to russ to try..it became very popular and eventually Dave rcvd a handful of very nice 45's as a swap..

there was an in-depth thread recently about this..and apparently an article in a soul mag ..many years ago..

care to expand on that Dave?

thanks..

is it downloadable?..wont work thru offliberty

YOU HAVE A PM

in my experience..i was into northern well before (71/72) i actually attended an allniter (74) personally i was against using drugs at first..and often ended up fast asleep on the casino floor at 4am..crossing the gulf to become a drug user was a big deal for me, and to make the usual connections..i was into northern not drugs..BUT..i took them to keep awake..simple as..not to be cool, or think they would make me dance better, or embrace something that was expected as a northern fan..it was to sustain me from 2-8am.And after a slog from Skegness to Wigan or a prev niter on a Friday..i needed it.I took what i needed..sometimes less.Drugs were something that a lot of northern fans were slow to accept for the same reasons as mine..music first..if i could have maintained that lifestyle without them..i would have...Some, unfortunately were mindless pill heads...

you've a pm..

Frankie Valli & 4 seasons, was this ever released in the US..i thought i'd had a copy on Mowest but it may have been UK with a jukebox centre?

yep..i found that out to my cost..and its not just records..

think your taking it out of context..many fans went to their first soul nights at a young age..and became long term fans..i'm referring to the types who went because it was easy because they jumped on a coach there and back, and because it was the 'in thing' to do..i know plenty..went a few times..never went anywhere else or put themselves out..took allniter bags with all the badges..never got into the scene or music with any passion..then jumped onto the next thing..prob punk..its a bit like a true footie fan..that goes week in week out..and to all the away games..gets into it..thats what i'm talking about..and then crawl out of the woodwork years later..i went to wigan..i was only 15..danced front of the stage..best mates with blah blah..then goes on to name a few classics..the ones who exaggerate their own involvement with the scene..its pathetic and gives me the pip..

I suspect that most of the Wigan bashers never actually went..as I'd just missed out on the Torch i was determined to visit the Casino and was a regular from early '74, out of all the niters Cats,Cleethorpes, Wirrina, Samanthas, etc Wigan was by far the best..and you can include the Mecca,Notts Palais and evrything else up to i think mid to end of '76.It played its fair share of crappy sounds but it had atmosphere..and nothing came close.I think personally 74/75 bore the biggest and most imporant northern soul sounds ever, and Wigan did its fair share to promote them.For a short time i think it was perfect, and as time wore on became less so, inevitable..if it hadnt got snarled up in the disco/modern or new type sounds and continued with more rare and traditional northern ( as per Searlings later stuff) there would be no argument. When it drifted away from that and became full of 15 year old kids there on a bus/daytrip, i jacked it in..the glory days were over..but the great memories will fade but never die..as so with the great records played there.I often wonder why people slag it off so much..and also deride stuff like Footsie..it was massive at the time, you couldnt get on the floor!..a tad unpalatable now perhaps..and why do people hate the Frank Wilson record? its like the emperors new clothes..FFS..get some originality and find summat else to dislike...