spirit

Yeah sure, its not a question of surviving, just adapting. You've got to be pretty one-dimensional for it to be the core of your being, though I can't imagine what could give me the same healthy buzz for so long at the weekends.

No more Northern Sole jokes, please.

To be fair, I think it actually is a place as well.

Great post, ImberBoy.

Not that the BBC axing one of its few remaining genuinely public service pop music shows would surprise me in the slightest, and I gather you're more likely than most here to be in the know on a subject like this, but... Have you got a link to a source for this news, or will you let us know how you know?

Yes, I think so, and individually, events which have strong identities distinguishing them from the crowd will have the best chance of flowering, at least for a while - assuming they make it through the initial period. Punters who can adapt and are open to different experiences will probably be the happiest, as they won't be tied to the success or failure of one club or type of event. Not sure some of us will stop moaning though...

That's a very strong argument - and having seen regular returnees to the clubs in question - believable, though I think promoters of those events should perhaps indicate that approach when advertising where it goes significantly against the norm (eg. here). Some of us would go along anyway out of curiosity, and return (as I have) due to them often being Byrney's 'cracking alternative'. Perhaps my interpretation of the 'norm' is too proscriptive or a minority opinion though, I don't know.

Love that idea, though I guess there is a limit to the number of rooms available. To an extent Rugby freestyle room seems to have a similar policy. Anyway, I think the way things are is pretty healthy overall, lots of different options for us all. Strength in diversity and all that. Bidds uptempo/underplayed one week. Attic and the buzzing Grosvenor oldies night on my doorstep. Beat Boutique and Burnley the next month. This weekend - Stormin' Soul? Kings Hall? both? something else? I for one feel pretty lucky in my choices...

Brilliant! Now that is geeky.

Recently, at a midlands venue where pissheads are more welcome than they should be, after 10 minutes dodging someone with a glass in their hand, I gestured in exasperation and embarrasment to the DJ, feeling like an utter, teachers pet w-ker as I mimicked the glass-holding and nodded in the direction of the erring dancer. "Carling, Lee" he shouted back. Bugger.

Heh, heh. Reading the recent thread, I think I know what you are saying here. I tend to feel very guilty moaning about other punters, like a snitch or something, and I don't like the heavy-handed way some regulars come down on the newbies (who normally just need a bit of 'friendly suggestion'), but sometimes promoters or DJs need to realise at some point that if nothing gets said (and its down to them to say it, not us, or arguments start), it spoils the fun for the rest of us. Like the title of this thread by the way, Andrew Bin.

Personally I'd love to go to an event where the only criteria were 'good' and 'danceable' - and some of the aforementioned clubs have a better handle on that than some of the more traditional Northern clubs (I mean in the sense of having fewer boundaries). But I wouldn't like any music policy to be applied to venues, er, 'across the board'. I'm really dancing in sync with Little-Stevie on this one. So to speak.

Quite the opposite, biggray1 - I like to see a mix of age ranges and backgrounds (hence 'demographically varied'). But the fact that these clubs are able to draw many more younger people to their nights is to their credit - you can't move forward (the subject of this thread) without attracting fresh blood.

Good thread, great first post - I agree with most of it. The etiquette thing is a bugbear with me though (and as I'm one of the newer soulies I feel rather embarrassed getting all dancefloor Nazi about it). I love the fact we have a varied scene, but some of the events run by younger promoters in city centres (I'm not singling any out - I've been to a few up and down the country) have the following in common: They are run by genuine, passionate soul fans. They are friendly and welcoming. They attract a younger, or more demographically varied crowd. They have a wider (dare-I-say more open-minded) musical agenda. They don't seem to care about dancefloor etiquette - and its really, really frustrating, because these are otherwise great, dynamic nights. I'd love one of those promoters to explain why? Really, I am not trying to be negative or cause offence, just trying to understand, because that apart, these are the way forward IMO.Â

Junior is freakishly gifted, although I'm not sure it's dancing - more a gymnastic circus act. Fantastic and mindboggling to watch. I seem to remember reading in the past complaints from some b-boys that he is not soulful enough. Sounds familiar. Makes most Northern Soul 'breakdancers' look like amateurs.

Interesting thread Matt, nice one. Despite 'only' 200 odd votes, I suspect it paints a reasonably representative picture.

Thank you for the link. Partly unreadable, partly absorbing, off-beat, classic free-wheeling music journalism; some of it wouldn't be out of place in Melody Maker before it went down market in desperation after nobody bought it. English irregulars, Wild Swans, Balzac, G K Chesterton, Edith Sitwell in a soul write-up indeed! Was there anybody not mentioned? Great stuff. Good little blog as well.

Exactly the point. It's not about 'newies' vs. 'oldies' for me or most of the people I talk to on this subject. It's about variety vs. lack of variety (looked at from 'our' point of view). I am but an ignorant novice on this scene, and have no interest or knowledge in whether sounds are well-established or recently-popularised. Only my feet give me an indication of what is cool. But I can tell when I've heard a record a zillion times in the last year, because my heart doesn't lift as much as that record deserves. The adrenalin is tempered by jadedness. I went to a cracking local oldies night on Saturday. Fantastic, dynamic atmosphere and some brilliant records individually, but if I want to hear a significantly different mix of records next week (and the week after that), I will have to drive a long way, and God knows I'm tired enough with the dancing.

Who's our generation? Anyway, you could look at it positively and say 90% have stuck with it at least 10 years. It's difficult to tell on the longevity of the scene after the Wigan generation have vamoosed. Most people on the scene seem to be late 40s - early 50s. This may be offputting to some younger (or indeed older) people who come along to check it out, so it isn't neccessarily an indicator of impending doom itself - it could just be an obstacle. There are plenty of young faces at the various town centre NS dos, though I'm not sure how many of them are actually into the music, as opposed to just going where their mates go to have a good time. It could just be a fad for a lot of them, as most of them seem to be drunk. Fad or not, the fact that the music which should be alien to them is not alienating can only be a good sign.

Incidentally, you're a pretty damn good dancer yourself (hope you don't mind me saying publicly).

I suspect from their names (not sure about 'Chris') that they are not 'technically' female either...

I'm a modern man. Anyway, you're the one who does naked wrestling.

Couple of articles: https://www.shinyblackvinyl.com/popcorn.htm https://www.popcornoldies.com/popcorn/index...&Itemid=123

It is the very model of the bottom of the ba-a-rrel.

(I hope Matt doesn't mind) I had no idea how to do that properly...