Everything posted by Agentsmith
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Enjoyed first occasion there a few months ago, lots of familiar faces in there, great crack and some tremendous tuneage....deffo worth another catch up! -
Sorry to hear of another loss today, sincere condolences to Keith's family and all concerned.🙏
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BOB HINSLEY... MY WORD!, GOBSMACKED OR WHAT??....totally took the building by surprise, to a man and woman, even sporting a grey beard!, snuck past us all casually sauntering along behind a deadpan Robbo who didnt give anything away....delayed reaction is an understatement...then met with lots of handshakes, back slapping and huge grins...the Prodigal Son returned!....first n foremost: a top bloke secondly, a great dj and a proper personality.....personally, made the night complete for me alongside fabulous music from Baz, Simon, Mr. Ginger Taylor and Kev before we set off home...and heartfelt tributes to the magnificent Carl Willingham, who sadly passed away this weekend....love all these people and all the familiar face regulars who attend Culcheth as they have done in years previous at Venues like Lowton and Monaco amongst others in this area of East Lancs. Remiss of me or anyone to just single out the rare 60's on offer when, this is categorically a two room fiesta of music...Steve Plumb, Bill Wildman and Charlie Smith put their trademark stamp on the essential eclectic mix under the banner xover - modern...always a history lesson in seeking out and playing the least obvious and bringing acceptability to the dancefloor. Overall, the knowledge and collections of the assembled was, and still is, second to none...for a venue to stand out above others, these attributes can't be understated, Culcheth has the very real potential to be a long running purveyor of tasteful music....it keeps it real and forges its own path. Hopefully, we all see Bob back out more, and displaying more of his legendary shirt wardrobe!😁😉👍
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A great dj, and a top bloke....sincere condolences to Maria, their family and all concerned. Feel free to share your memories and thoughts
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Yes Ted, heard about this only recently. A very similar thing happened to McFadden & Whitehead, almost 10 years earlier.
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Ffs, is it possible AI was spreading misinformation way back then?🤣🤣
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Here was a group that persevered, at a time when they had been the main benefactors of the supremely talented songwriting team, HDH. When they left Motown, The Tops were left in Limbo...fortunately, as fate would decree, they had material already recorded that would serve the purpose of giving them a brace of hit singles to reignite the spark of their previous success...so it proved in December of 67 and ironically at the forefront and the catalyst of the revival, was Tamla Motown, here in the UK, who summoned up an lp cut from 2 years previous. By January 8th, 1968, one month after its first genuine issue on a single, " Walk Away Renee " reached a position of # 3 on the UK charts, giving the group what would turn out to be, their second biggest selling single of all time. Gordy, in turn surprised by its success and the enterprise of TMUK, released it in the states...it charted # 14 on Billboard...for the rest of the 60's and early 70's they would continuously chart both here, and in the States. All the time, the band's format remained constant. Without doubt, in my mind, they were Motown's greatest vocal group, surpassing the elegant Temps and Spinners, and in Levi Stubbs, they had one of the greatest, most distinctive vocalists...of all time..The Duke, along with Obie and Lawrence, made the group the completists quortet. They were all stylists of the highest calibre. God bless them all, now reunited, the circle complete..Tops made in heaven.
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JUST A REMINDER, IF you havent purchased your tickets for the forthcoming event ( 3 weeks today ), now is time regards sending via post. I currently have availability, tickets are priced @ £15+ postage ( Admission otd: £20 )save yourselves incurring any extra cost by buying NOW. Paypal to: robhaigh2011@live.co.uk + your postal address Contact me here and via social media, e-mail to address above - txt /fone 07749683272 Im also on whatsapp.
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West Midlands Mod club of distinction from the early 80's onwards, convened the first national scooter club meeting and also held a regular weekly get together on Wednesday evenings....with some great music played from that era. Sadly, the venue has long gone but, the spirit will be with us at Darlaston Town Hall, host to many soul nights in its own right with a fabulous dancefloor and capacity of several hundred hence, pay on the door...though we advise to purchase advance tickets in the event of it being a packer....a lot of interest has already been shown! Post code on flyer for anyone using satnav to find the venue. For details of Parking arrangements for scooters, contact Ken on: 07807 175471 For folk travelling by car, there is an Asda 2 mins walk from venue
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Just a few of those wonderful, varied labels that provided the soundtrack of the 60's in Detroit, and the Northern Soul scene here, a matter of a few years later.
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WORD IS.....ticket sales are ' motoring ' now ( pardon the pun ) but why shouldnt they?, a great assembly of knowledgeable collectors/1st rate djs have the tunes to make sure this is a stunning night....top quality floor crunching Detroit stompers and full force funk bangers with some billiant beat ballads interwoven. Look....it's like this....if you really want a break from the all consuming weekender formula...then here's the perfect antidote!. If this is gonna require a stopover to recover then salvation is just 10 mins from the venue in the form of Travelodge so, get on their website and check them out for availability at a reasonable price.😉👍
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Honestly can't remember this particular ad...but there you have it, attended the friday night event, sadly not the Saturday.
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Well....that's really impressive...ffs Used to be the wulfrun hall/civic...its even been held in Birmingham!, like wtf has that anything to do with Wolverhampton??...total joke.
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Example of the tradition for it being remembered. Pep and Neil Rushton, always at odds with each other, never buried the personal hatchet...even the rights to the Cats trademark as subject of resentment...unfortunately the biggest insult of all, looms large....how can a 50th anniversary go totally unmarked?, its a bloody disgrace..ffs, The Casino has been getting global attention for the last two years, fully deserved for sure but how can it possibly be that one of the pioneering clubs, can't receive equal recognition?
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Spot on!, Max laid the club's demise at the hands of Wigan, that's a fact whether it was considered sour grapes at the time, or even now...it probably spelt a premature end for a few more soul nights besides as folk flocked there.....
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Quite honestly, it dosn't look like this venue is going to receive any recognition at all on Saturday 13th July....which is the exact date to the day that it shut its doors for the last time...an absolute travesty and it looks very much like no one is bothered, either way. I'm no promoter otherwise i'd have taken it on but, the main protagonists regards promotions are busy doing owt else and the other djs who are still alive probably aren't djing anymore either so....any chance of a special celebration is dead in the water...best just remember it for what it was eh?
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Certainly is Mike, i'm sure many members will grasp the uniqueness of the man...probably a bit of a pause just now as it appears its not been noticed but i'm sure the tributes, comments and many memories will encompass this thread over the coming few days. Think to a man/woman, on here a total shock at the time, Andy....but 10 years already??, unbelieveable!
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In memories today: 10 years since a major contributor to these pages and a music authoritarian passed...Bob Abrahamian
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Agreed on all points, i suppose you could say, if anything at all, this haul was the catalyst for the explosion of Northern Soul, proper...practically all of what we class as anthems were maybe found then, and 74, including some that turned out to be supreme rarities, thought it wasn't known at the time....JA on the other hand, did more than anyone else to contribute overall, scouring the States at all points of the compass and importing masses of tune and incredible discoveries....Graham's initial find though, has to be ranked as one of the greatest and most important, ever.
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A proper opportunist, is probably the kindest description...the rest would be legit character assassination!, and plenty stood in line waiting to perpetrate it!....
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In which case then, his visits to the states, predate that of Anderson's or Soussan's....not Martin Koppel though, i'm sure Tim said he was stateside in 69. It's funny we only read in articles/books about one trip, and that supposedly resulted in ' the big haul/find ' that lead to Levine hoovering up the rest...the suggestion that several trips occured, may have meant just holidays?, i couldn't hazard a guess at what a flight to America would've cost back then, let alone getting on a plane!, especially with what wages were back in the day...even a record then costing a fiver could be viewed as a weeks wages in most cases so, a flight to the Usa.... As you rightly said, quite a cache of tunes had been discovered and played prior to the Torch closure....Graham's interview for Neil's book relates to a whole bunch of tunes, no one was aware of....they got played at the Cats, which in terms of the Torch closure, is a natural progression....the way he states it makes me conclude these were from the Miami visit and this period surely has to be 73?, late 72?........ that would be like holding his cards close to his chest to not reveal what he'd found, for a period of time.....fact is, he wanted to play them out straight away when he got back, which he duelly did...at the Cats. If this ' big haul had been found in 71, they would certainly have been played at the Torch...i'm sure you'd agree with that assumption?......crikey!, if that had happened by the time the Casino came about, they wouldve been oldies!!
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Ian, you literally couldnt move in that office for tons of boxes he'd had shipped back, not far off 50 years ago now....
