macca

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?

don't know if any of you who attended peterborough or st.ives around 1977/8 will remember a character from the huntingdon area called james hill. a very peculiar chap, heart of gold & very committed to the music. he was strange to say the least, with a completely anarchic dance style & a very, very plummy accent. he also collected records, but was taken advantage of in a ruthless way with people nicking his records behind his back etc; as he'd only just got into the scene, he was pretty clueless as regards to records & would phone me every week with a checklist of the then big sounds. anyway, to cut a long story short, two jokers decided to send him up to tony dellar with a request for wynder k frogg's green door while the record was actually being played. dellar's response was swift & merciless. you trying to f***** wind me up pal? look at the f**** record you twat! poor old james came back to the table almost in tears. why do these people insist on humilliating me, macca? I kind of felt sorry for him. people can certainly be cruel at times. the scene used to have its fair share of characters, didn't it?

loads of peoploe made the trip to st.ives from norwich 75-80. jusrt wondering what happened to these peeps. frances, linda. keith etc if you can read this, un beso muy fuerte. big loud kiss!! macky

the whole thing.... what the f*** was it about?

ro-ro-ro rosey! that's irish R&B...

desperation is the only word that comes to mind. could it be chip money? M

I'm looking for beauty's only skin deep. anybody got one to sell por favor?

my relatively little experience of attending venues in continental europe tells me that very few use the mic. could be wrong though. having said that, the organiser of the recent weekender in gijon spain, used one, & in spanish of course...

is this a re-recording? sounds like one of those levine things...

grandisimo!! why can't we have one of summertime!? M

great polka dot shirt in there...

hi roccia! why can't you play LPs out? How else would folk get to hear the wonderful 'Sweet Lips Of Joy' by Bobby Bland? I don't see anything wrong with LPs, in the absence of a 45, that is... cheers, M

fantastic, most thorough, thanks. & chester pipkin. now where have I heard that name? john manship's got one for 75 quid.

and davis & tyler, garnett mimms, popcorn wylie...

looking for info on this record please, rarity, value, etc; ta, mac

I disagree. kate rudd from st.ives/huntingdon on a good night was a joy to behold, in all senses of the word. it might have been two records, today's people & babe ruth. could never take my eyes off her. sod all the people sniffing knotty pine at her feet. she was way above them. an agent provocateur, definitely. I'd sooner watch a chick work it on out than the boopers, darges & whizzes of this world, all due respect to them, but I never favoured that particular style of dancing. never thought it was 'soulful' to tell the truth. a question of taste I suppose...

I would like to have been present at the torch when they were unveiling records like cindy scott, eddie parker, the glories, the tempos, younghearts etc; must have been incredible witnessing such things. I often wonder, did they take off like satellites or did they need coaxing? I didn't come onboard till 74/75 when the vibe had changed & different records were being 'pushed'. I can't really remember which ones, so the impact couldn't have been that great. one that does stick in my mind though, & that used to get on my tits, was 'baby sugar I love you' by princella & sidney jones(?) soul sam flogged it to death. may have been 1976?

there was a guy from peterborough called steve 'danny' daniels. he won at wigan one night, 1975 I think. he spent the rest of the night chaparoned due to the fact the some oiks wanted to relieve him of his well deserved dosh. danny NEVER did 'stunts', he span quite often, but not obtrusively, he did weird things with his legs, expressive gestures with his arms & hands etc; all in time with the music, which we'll all agree is crucial. he used to have people spellbound. I've never been keen on the gymnasts myself. horses for courses...

smiling faces sometimes, ball of confusion, papa was a rollin' stone, psychedelic shack, cloud nine... wouldn't consider them wobbly at all, I'd even use the term masterful creations. step forward mr.whitfield por favor... the flip side to 'do what you gotta do' is also a crackin' track, but everything in its place, as the spaniards say. black protest, social consciousness etc; & they had cause enough to protest, no? this kind of music was a good vehicle for it. I don't think detroit on the 4's tub thumping would have worked very well in that context...

yvonne vernee - just like you did me always cut the cod for me... M

didn't one of these go quite cheap on ebay last week? tremendo record. that intro... eppy tome of northern in my book...

today's 5 would be:- 1) ben zine - village of tears 2) barry benson - stay awhile baby 3) peggy march - if you loved me 4) paul anka - when we get there 5) jackie forrest - show me how to love (sorry pete!) some people speak of 1978 in hallowed terms, but by jingo there were some dungcakes flying around too. I think maybe we have to make a distinction between the merely overplayed & the dire. I never tire of hearing, in the right context, the tempos, the glories, eddie parker, johnny moore etc... macca

so what constitutes good & bad? now there we have thorny one...