Len

Ok, ok, try Youtube 'Northern Soul All-nighters 1980's' - It's far more palletable! lol All the best, Len.

For Chr*st sakes don't Youtube it!!! lol All the best, Len.

Ref the dr*gs argument - each to his / her own, it's personal choice, anything in moderation is what I say and that includes the booze! I do understand some folk don't approve of dr*g related references but the references on this thread are memories and are good to read, not bragging to me anyway....I've also met some of my greatest friends....ahem.... All the best, Len. Foot note - Legalise em, make em clean, put an instruction leaflet in the packaging and tax em! Sounds callous to some I know, but that's my humble opinion and I'm entitled to it....As Johnny Rotten stated on Question Time "The information needs to be available, and then people can make their own balanced judgement" - rather than being dictated to, which actually has the opposite effect. But hey, let's not let the thread focus on this as we may as well open up the Fox Hunting debate alongside the 'O.V.O' debate....There will be no agreement after hours of the 'ble*ding obvious' being put forward....I think everyone, including Foxes should always play O.V.O....

"Don't knock it 'til ya try it!" ...I was quite flattered! lol All the best, Len.

The first time I went to The 100 Club after years of being put off by people saying "It's cr*p, they play all that rare sh*t down there" Shifty took me after I'd spent the day round his, in awe of his and Steve Chadwick's records (who was also D.Jing that night) I could not believe how good the music was for me and the fact every f*cker was up for it, making 'the wave happen' rather than waiting to be entertained. I was 'dancing on the ceiling' for the whole night....as we were walking back to the car Shifty simply said - "Told ya" with a huge smile on his face. That was the night Sean Adams welcomed me 'into the fold' by picking me up on the dance floor and giving me a huge sweaty kiss! - Twas a great 'moment' lol One of many great moments... All the best, Len.

"Ooo, yeh, yeh, yeh, De dum, dum, du, dum ,dum, yeh, yeh, yeh, I'm soooo haaaappy, so really happy, that ma woman loves me..etc" (Prince Philip Mitchel) - If it wasn't in ya head then, it is now!!! Have a good weekend folks. All the best, Len

Back to Russ's original question - Roger Banks - Under rated by some people, he can do some very soulful sets so his R'n'B can be forgiven! Bob Hinsley - Popular with everyone All the best, Len.

Russ, pull us back if you feel this thread is going a bit 'off topic' - Ref, "a D.J that gets me up to dance" which was mentioned earlier, got me thinking of one of my earliest memories of a soul night and something at the time I thought was rather special but goes the complete opposite way - It was in the 80's and I was at a soul night where this bloke was D.Jing, he had an empty dance floor for his whole set but wasn't fazed by it whatsoever. I remember actually being intrigued rather than annoyed, the man in question was Steve Smith from Gloucester and one of the records he played that really stuck out was 'Bud Harper - Wherever You Were'. The next D.J came on and of course packed the floor to something obvious for that time. I'm sure this type of thing happened a lot back then. I remember at Cliff Steels 'Detroit Academicals' nights, there would sometimes just be a crowd standing round the decks watching the record going round - Don't ask me why, but I liked it! I suppose that was the era where loads of new stuff was being broken, so it was quite normal for the floor to empty every so often. All the best, Len.

I plan to pop along to 'Grumpy Soul' sometime purely because of the name. I like miserable looking D.J's, also if I'm growled at by the people on the door as I walk in it's a bonus as then I know it's a proper soul event - Even to this day, I still feel privileged that I'm allowed in! All the best, Len.

Maybe, you've just hit the nail on the head there. Sometimes when I'm at a nighter there comes a point when I feel it would be nice to hear something a bit more obvious along with all the top tunes our 'elders' play - 'Progressive oldies' if you like. So hears the question - Do we want to have a couple of 'supporting cast' D.J's on in between to play the records that our 'elders' don't get time to play? I think we may be divided here, some are saying they only want to hear the top D.J's playing their rare sounds (Obviously along with whatever they reactivate) but I think some would also enjoy hearing a few tunes that don't get played much anymore. I know that's not bringing anything 'new to the table' but it will bring - "Ch*st, I haven't heard that for years, brilliant!". All the best, Len.

As long as the above are your views based on your experiences Bearsy and not just 'Cut 'n' Paste' comments that's fine mate. It's just that some of these type of things are 'Urban Myths', like Mr D.J who turns up one minute before his spot and has the car running ready 5 minutes before the end of his spot....Has anyone actually seen this man? Apparently he D.J's everywhere - I've never seen him! Also maybe you misinterpret someone D.Jing with a serious face as not enjoying themselves - They are most probably really passionate and are just concentrating on doing a good job, no one would D.J if they didn't enjoy it surely. I wouldn't want the scene to change dramatically, we need our 'old masters' - the years of experience they have cannot be replaced with new comers, yes chuck a couple 'in the mix' every so often but don't over dilute it for god's sake All the best, Len.

I think the best way forward is for us to stop analysing it too much and just 'do it', before time really does 'pass us by'.....Ahem, says I - Mr 'Analysis Paralysis' ...Yup, I'm just as guilty as the next person but it's because we care so much isn't it?.... .....But whilst we are analysing - Ref having more guest D.J's on - It must be a very hard decision for a promoter of any big event to give a relatively inexperienced D.J the responsibility of doing a spot because if they didn't quite 'hit the mark' it could really damage the events future - That will be the bit of the night that people will focus on even though everyone will know that the poor D.J in question probably won't be asked back again for that particular event. I know Ady Croasdell has given lots of relatively inexperienced D.J's spots down at The 100 Club over the years and that has worked really well. As he says himself, it has given an added dimension to each night. I think his experience in itself makes for good choices, but I also think as The 100 Club is a smaller venue than the big nighters, there is most probably a slighter less risk, if that makes sense. ....There's now the added problem of even more fragmented music tastes than ever before, so how the heck you can please half the people, let alone all the people, I do not know! ..."You say Tomangoes, I say tomatoes, tomangoes, tomatoes, tomangoes, tomatoes, let's call the whole thing off" All the best, Len.

At last - Andy Rix....Come on, some one mention Ady Croasdell for gods sake! lol - we don't see these two 'out 'n' about' often enough. What Chalky mentioned earlier ref the masses now wanting mainly 60's uptempo at nighters is correct. It is now very different to what people wanted in the 90's - I'm forever playing tapes from that era and saying "Christ, you just don't hear this out anymore" - I personaly like it as it was then, but that's me (I may be on my own here, maybe not?) Remember Winsford 'Teddy Randazzo - You Don't Need A Heart' at 4.00am? - To me, still a nighter sound! All the best, Len.

Missed this one - God the dr*gs really were better back then! Len.

Ok, maybe 'detail' isn't 'quite' the correct word - 'Effort' is more suited I think, the point being that Elaine won't just throw this together. As explained above, she will spend time and 'effort' on the project whilst getting as much 'detail' right as possible. Obviously if all the details are 'bob on' but the story's rubbish and the actors arn't up to much then it won't work. So let's hope - The detail is pretty near, the story line is interesting and the acting is good enough to portray the attitudes of the day - Then we will have a great film! Len.

I don't know what you mean! Len. P.s - 'Conjugated' - Nice word!

Thanks for not saying I needed the lessons! lol Len

I tell you what Jocko, that p*sses me off as well - Yes of course going back to the 'underground' thing, it's not 'cool' to go for lessons as dance is an expression and in our scene it really doesn't matter what you look like as long as you are feeling and enjoying the music. But - I don't mind admitting that I went to dance lessons for the 'Moloko Familiar Feeling' Video as Elaine specifically asked me to do so, simply to learn how to dance the way they did back in the 70's (Stomping) Obviously it felt a bit odd, there I was standing in line at a dance studio in London with Keb Darge at the front giving us all instructions (Like a Sargent Major!) - It was very surreal I assure you! But this wasn't to learn to dance so I could go out and do it, it was to dance the way Elaine wanted us to for the video - I would call that attention to detail. When it came to filming we were dancing our *rses off for a solid 12 hours (c/w make up on!) So just for a 3 minute video we had two days training and a really long days filming so Chr*st only knows how much time and effort will have to go into this film. As I said, it was a very surreal experience - On the first day at the dance studio I sat round with all these young 'actor / model' type people and we had a 'getting to know you' chat before we started. We all had to say what we did so it went round the room - "What do you do?" - "Model" (next one) "Model" (next one) "Model" (Next one) "Model" (Next one) "Welder!" - Doh! I thanked Elaine after for giving me an insight into what was involved in her work and I can tell you, the film industry is absolutely exhausting and a few shouts of support from our camp wouldn't go amiss Len. P.s - I did offer to return the honour and invited Elaine to my workshop to experience some welding but she declined! P.p.s - Mike Gibbs is the best shuffler you will ever see albeit a very rare sight!

He was great in '24 Hour Party People' - Great choice I recon Len.

'Pssst' Win, I (along with a hand full of other 'nighter goers') was actually in the 'Teaser' - Only as 'Bubble Wrap' mind and I'm pretty sure you won't even be able to spot us in the background but I'm gonna bore my kids with it forever! It was really interesting seeing how it was all done and honestly when I first walked in and saw all the actors dressed up it really was like stepping back in time (Packets of fags on the tables etc.) That actually shocked me, so that's a truly positive thing at least Len.

I'm '41 and a half' I'll have you know! Len.

I did suggest to Marco (Elaine's Husband) to make it as a carry on film - 'Carry on Northern' ....I don't think he passed my advice on though Or maybe they could do 'Northern Soul' - The action movie starring Steven Seagal and Chuck Norris (With his lethal Round House Kick!)..... ....Ok Elaine, I know - You'll call me! Len.

"I asked her "Where do you think they got the jet from then ? The 'Spare Jet For Windy Weather Cupboard' ?" Honestly !" Classic! Nice one Dave. All the best, Len.

No matter how good something or someone is, once they put themselves 'out there' they always get criticised. There is no reason why this film can be criticised before it is actually made. The people that are doing it are immediately presuming that it won't be done correctly and that it is simply a money making thing. Maybe they're not familiar with who's involved in the making so have jumped to these conclusions, if that's the case then in their defence they may well have been correct but it's not the case so all everyone is asking them to do is at least wait and see I fully understand 'Spots' comments and there's nothing wrong with having concerns, I actually share those concerns as I think it will be extremely hard to captivate this subject correctly. I certainly wouldn't want to do the job but I do feel Elaine is probably the best person to give it a go and that deserves our support. All the best, Len.

I think this film will at least be the best representation we have had so far, by far - In fact I would bet money on it as it has so many people involved that were / are actually on the scene. As far as commercial value is concerned, I'm not sure as I don't know the story line. Having people like Steve Cogan in the cast will obviously help but I think the story line will be extremely important if it is to be a success as this needs to connect with people that have never heard of the Northern Soul Scene. Every time I hear about this film I think of 'Train Spotting' and that did very well didn't it? Again, good luck Elaine All the best, Len.