BrianB

Read this thread last night and played Ady's Mirwood CD on my Bose system. Got to say I didn't notice that it sounded any better on the Bose, apart from the normal cleanliness of the Kent re-production. However, it reminded of just how talented Mr Smith, Carmichael and Sherlie Matthews were in the halcyon days, particularly Oh My Darling, and The Same Old Thing, and not on the CD, Try a Little Harder. Brian B

Well, here goes! I am utterly stunned at the lack of knowledge of some of the contributors to this thread on the role and the importance of Motown in our music, and just how many Motown records have been played at various venues up and down the country over the last 38 years!!!! I am also suprised that some contributors feel that if a record is played a lot it automatically, somehow becomes crap. Rarity is usually temporary in most cases, as we can all get copies via boots, CDs, the net, tapes, whatever, quality is permanent. None of us want Jimmy Mac or Boyz to Men to be played at a NS venue. Get bloody real!! Without Motown there would have been no Northern, end of story. As for Atlantic, Stax, Motown nights!!!! Bloody hell, they've been going for bloody years. Don't tell me you haven't seen them advertised before across the whole of the country!!!! If you are into Northern for the idealistic view of rarity only counts, then to me you are into the wrong scene for the wrong reason!! Have a great bank holiday. ( I love this forum! )

Mark, Do you mean What Can I Do by Lorraine Chandler?

Mark, You are correct. It was massive. People used to clap at the obvious places, but also stamp their feet to it as they danced. Just right for Wigan. Brian B

Saw the Funk Brothers movie at the cinema in Hebden Bridge a couple of years ago. Every record played after the film from 9pm to 1am was Motown. None repeated, all northern or danceable. One of the best nights I've ever been to. What a cinema that is! Dance floor at the front, bring your own beer and brilliant sound system. DJs were Richard Searling, Terry Jones and Rick who started Chatbusters. Ask them if the records were boring!!

Come See About Me and Theres No Stopping Us Now would be mega on the scene if rare. Just because a record is a hit or is played a lot doesn't take one iota of the quality away. Quality lasts, rarity doesn't. Like it or not some of the big Motown hits are absolute quality. Can you imagine This Old Heart of Mine by the Isleys being discovered for the first time today. How big would that be?

Thanks Jimmy and Tony for your replies. We must have been down together on those Tuesday nights. I used to hang around with Alan Hughes (Fuse), Steve Lane, and the a few others from Burnley such as Tony Green and Dave Opacic (Hopper). We got matey with Kev Mc Caffrey and Martin Clough and then started going to the Blackpool Mecca. Great times! The Blackpool crew were great, took the p..s out of us at first, but after a couple of weeks they took us under their wings and we learnt loads. I remember one night Tony Jebb played Sufferin City by Johnny Copeland and some guy got on the dance floor and seemed to really be freaked out by it, dancing like he was possessed. His arms were flailing above his head, eyes shut, completely out of it. The record finished and he just walked out. To be around in 71 when I think the Tuesdays started, and hear fantastic records all night probably mapped out my future life out for me. Great times!

Thanks for the feedback and the scan of the cover. Anyone remember who else is on there and how some Blackpool soulies got on the photo shoot?

Does anyone remember this LP in the late 60s early 70s? It had the Blackpool Mecca crew on the front. I can only remember Tash, the one with the black hair, and wait for it... a tash! Does anyone have a photo of this LP and can anyone put names to them. We were in awe of them in the early 70s when Jebb, Levine, Cokell et al used to come to the Burnley Rose Room on Tuesday nights and blow us away with Queen of Fools, Sufferin City, Younghearts, Mamie Galore, Major Lance, Roy Hamilton and Sandi Sheldon, Al Kent etc, etc. We used to walk home singing them wondering how we could buy these records and marvelling at their dancing. Brian B

Stevie Wonder's version of I Hear a Symphony. I get goosebumps every time I play it. The first time I played it I thought "here we go with an inferior version of The Supremes and the Isleys".... Bloody hell!! I actually had to wipe tears from my eyes as I listened to it. Funny thing is my wife, who when I asked her to listen to it with the head phones, said exactly what I'd been thinking, and she loved it as much as I did! My niece, who wouldn't know a soul record from a dirty nappy, actually used this for the bride and grooms first dance after hearing it just once at our house. On the northern side it has to be Love Love Love by Bobby Hebb. Sheer perfection.

Sorry, but Gladys never did it for me. I don't like her voice and don't like her style. The Stranger is a good mover and her version of Good Lovin Ain't Easy to Come By is excellent, but she is not my cup of tea. However, I can be convinced that Martha has the best female voice ever. The vocals on One Way Out are unbelieveable. I'll Never Be Alone and No More Tear Stained Make up are just beautiful. No One There is stunning. (Heard that on the radio regularly in the early 70s). Her voice was always just on the edge, but her control was always perfect. My Baby Loves Me is soooo soulful! She even sounds great as a backing artist on Marvin's Wherever I lay My Hat. Her enthusiasm threatens to upstage Marvin. Saw her live a few years back, and she just wasn't the same, but her recordings stand comparison with any female recording artist of the 60s and 70s. Over to you....

Mark, I've got it in the loft with some Home of the Blues, early Black Echoes and others. I'll try and find it this weekend, scan it and e mail it to you. Thanks, Brian

Hi Mark, MR Ms was brilliant in the early days. Great sounds, great young DJs and the even then, forgotten oldies being aired. I think, and I'm not 100% on this, but I remember hearing Dave Evison say around 74 or 75 that Mark (or Mike, not sure) Rollo had been killed on holiday in Greece, or something like that. Now it may not have been Mark, but certainly a Mr Ms DJ was killed and it was announced over the mike. You had to be aware of the potential for a situation to happen, not only Mr Ms but in the main room, in the Beachcomber afterwards (where I first heard Dena Barnes), and on your way there and home! Remember this was the 70s! Plenty of fights everywhere, drugs, beer and local half wits were found everywhere in abundance, and football rivalvry was evident all the time. Having said that, common sense usually prevailed, and I only saw one fight in the Casino over the years. Mr Ms also was a place in the early days where new sounds could be broken, so I don't remember it being a poor mans Casino, in fact in 76/77 it was probably better than the big room.

Sean, I believe Dave's coining of the phrase had everything to do with the music. The southern clubs, the Chris Hills etc, at that time were churning out soul records that we in the north just could not listen to, could not equate to them, and we had just 1 page in B&S, 2 later on, to read about the music that ruled our lives. The southern soul scene was for people to socialise, not to satisfy their addiction and craving for the music. Dave recognised the difference, and to me this thread has made me realise just how forward thinking the guy was. To read him eulogizing over Please Let Me In, Love Love Love, Allen Toussaint, the Ad-Libs et al, was to be immersed in words you wish you had written yourselves, but you knew inwardly you could not and never would be able to write like that. But miraculously, you read his comments and listened to the record and it sounded even better! I think he knew what he was saying, and it has given our scene an identity that has entered mainstream life and even received belated media recognition and critical acclaim. Thanks, Brian

All Turned On - Bob Wilson Thumb a Ride - Earl Wright The World Again - Honey Townsend Why does no one play All Turned On?

Love Love Love has been issued at least twice in the UK. Once as the B side to a Satisfied Mind and then in 72 to cash in on the burgeoning northern scene. Sunny was the B side to this. Incidentally, love Goldmine or hate em, both Len Barry tracks and the amazing version of WYSLMT by Bunny Sigler are on the recent CD, The Northern Soul of Philadelphia. The sound quality is brilliant unusually for Goldmine, and the tracks featured are nothing short of inspired. Possibly the best ever Goldmine compilation. Good sleeve notes by Tim Brown as well. The Bunny Sigler, if played, must surely become a monster.

Mikey, Brilliant reply, absolutely brilliant!!!!

Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow by Bunny Sigler is outstanding. I love the Shirelles version, but this is mind blowing. Was it ever released? I also find it difficult to believe that Len Barry recorded the original of Love Love Love. How do we verify this?

Are we saying here that Len Barry did the original versions of Love Love Love, I Struck It Rich and I'll Always Need You as well as You Baby? (Always loved Like a Baby, another Northern monster to be if it hadn't been a hit!) The Love Love Love was on Kents Smart LP, LP no 52, with I A N Y on no 17, Footstompers. I've just been playing I A N Y on a CD and can't remember which one and who did it for me, as I'm desperate to play it now! To me, without a doubt, Len Barry is the finest blue eyed soul singer bar none.

Hi Brett, I'm sure your answer has helped Dave identify the record in question!!!!! I'm the same in not watching the telly but for footy, or being an uninterested observer when the wife watches it. I just bang the headphones on and listen to northern all night. Having said that, who was the version of Long After by. I don't think I have heard it before? Brian B

Was there anything in there Northern wise?

Paul, I'll fill you in (metaphorically) over the weekend. I was there on the footy and Soul scene from 1970 to ??, obviously in Burnley. At Wigan the average age in 73/74 was around 18 to 23 with quite a few older lads. Only saw one fight inside Wigan but outside was fun at times, but never in the morning! Blackpool Mecca was fun all the time, as was Samantha's in Sheffield. More later, need to start work!

Thanks for the e bay links, but what is the going rate to buy a Gordy issue, or a Tamla Motown UK issue? I'm not an e bay fan. (Well to be honest only been on once, when I missed the Motown History by Sharon Davis in the last 30 seconds. I was baffled as to how it happened, and I haven't been on since). I'd much rather just agree a price than be at the mercy of professional e bayers. Ta, Brian