macca

A miserable, grey, drizzly day here made even more so with this news. RIP Dobie Gray, you touched all of us, without exception.

The clips are impressive, as is the director's pedigree. I look forward to seeing the end result. Mac (former card carrying member of the dark underbelly cogniscenti)

Another giant takes his leave of us. In amongst all the stuff on Libya and the fall of Gadaffi is this: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-14627670

Nice one Paul. Must have been fun remixing/remastering it. The flip sounds seriously powerful too.

Cheers Paul. Just bought the CD from her website and sent friend request on Facebook. What a nice way to start the day!!

This is wonderful news. I thought Debbie Taylor was irretrievably lost to us, musically speaking. Well done Yogi and the rest of the guys for securing this UK appearance. What's the gen on this.? When did she decide to return to the music biz?

Superb idea and gesture. If we all pulled together, I'm sure he could have something truly fitting in the way of a lasting memorial. I was only listening to the mancha-barnes disc on new year's eve... :-( M p.s. Who's behind this connoisseur collection label that released the steve mancha detroit soulman compilation? If I/we bought this, would his estate stand to receive anything in the way of royalties?

What does flaky mean? Is this another yank usage?

mr. ferguson has a lovely thing going on facebook. weldon arthur macdougall III and richard popcorn wylie, joint pole stars for most of us. the fact that they touched so many lives is a tribute in itself.

Superb. The bit about Edwin Starr's 'denial' of the Holidays is more than interesting. A mild case of egoitis?

RIP King Sol. I too saw him play in the town square during the summer fiestas a few years back, 2005/6 I think. Though he was sat on his 'throne' throughout the gig, he was a great communicator and had everybody up dancing fom the word go.

Interesting stuff. I turned 50 in March and like Matt, was not yet 15 when I made my first trip to the country's number one all-nighter. From that first trip, I remember records like Wombat, Dena Barnes, Larry Santos, The Malibus, Johnny Bragg, Dean Courtney etc being played and that they were familiar to me, maybe because record collectors/djs in Peterborough like Smudge Smith, Gary Spencer and Paul Donnelly had already sought out those sounds and were playing them at local nights. Within two years oldies all-nighters and Wheel and Torch revival nights had sprung up across the country, so even then I'd say there was a crowd of people less than prepared to listen to new discoveries, and I don't believe the 60s vs 70s split had much bearing on this because the same people used to level criticism at Soul Sam before he switched to modern around 1980. By 1985 I was pretty much tired of the scene and consequently missed Stafford. I do remember hearing stuff like Doug Banks, Kurt Harris, Tommy Navarro early on at Peterborough and not 'getting' it and didn't in fact get it until many years later, by which time I'd moved to Spain. Next month I'm attending a weekend event in northern Spain, not far from where I live, Runaway Love Sessions which boasts a superb roster of British and Spanish talent. I'll most likely be clueless as to the records being spun, but that makes it all the more challenging wondering whether I'll be left cold or torn away from conversations with the time-honoured 'what the f*** is this!? The good thing is that twenty five years on people are still charting unknown seas and rolling back frontiers, which can't be a bad thing. If 'exhibition dancing' to Babe Ruth is your thing, then fine, but I know where I'd rather be.

Excellent and just proves the worth of documenting this stuff before it's too late. The part relating to Marvin Jones-Jack Montgomery is tragic. It looks like people did turn their back on him, for him to take his life in such circumstances. Like Arkwright, those records of his will take on another dimension for me now.

This is very, very sad news indeed. My deepest sympathy to his wife & family. Richard 'Popcorn' Wylie was really an iconic figure. As an impressionable fifteen year old I considered it a sacred duty to memorise the record titles, labels, production/writing credits of his wonderful creations. & who among us can really say they're weren't absolutely floored the first time they heard Tommy Neal or Jimmy Soul Clark, and that's just two titles. I think a Richard 'Popcorn' Wylie Anthology is a marvellous idea. Could it be done Ady & Paul? Que descanses en paz Richard, te queremos mucho... M

Fabulous. Too much weight on a limb's gonna cause it to crack & our man is sitting on the stairs. Nice one!

I especially like the moment in TSWONS when one of the Delfonics (is it?) insists on singing 'La-La Means I Love You' instead of the track in question and gets chided by another band member, 'we gotta talk about northern soul man', causing the culprit to chunter a bit. The new Willie Hutch 'Love Runs Out' cut is also very good & clearly demonstrates how the technology has moved on. Willie also sadly passed away recently. Did you get him to do 'Lucky To Be Loved By You', Ian?

you're right, it was entrancing, you stood out amigo, among all the clitheroe, st.helens & bolton mafia was PD givin' it some & then some more. memorable stuff. what I couldn't understand was how you could keep up such a pace till the wee wee hours. but then again I was an innocent lamb from stanground in a lime green bowling shirt. s'truth....

makes nice reading. I first went up there at the beginning of 1975 & thought it awe inspiring. the beachcomber was open beforehand, so I had the opportunity to watch the older geezers 'warming up', cue mr.donnelly & the spinning leg routine. priceless! I didn't return till 1977, favouring at that time the all-nighters at st.ives, I'd agree with Tone that wigan wasn't all that a welcoming place, a little on the 'heavy' side & perhaps a little sordid too, but awe inspiring nonetheless. a handful of visits in 1978 confirmed my suspicions about the place. I had a sabbatical in 1979 basically 'cos the girl I was going out with wasn't having any of it. sad git! the things you do for love. I returned in 1980, mainly on oldies nights, finding the place generally as steve described it. further visits, maybe half a dozen, early to mid 1981 closed the chapter for me really. I couldn't face the 'last night' scenario & by that time had thoroughly lost interest in the place, preferring to go down to the smoke, west hampstead & 100 Club. I would sum up wigan by saying that it could be both gobsmacking & downright depressing, sometimes on the same night!! my everlasting memory of the place is heaving in 1975, with people dancing to larry santos & johnny vanelli. pop records?