Steve G

I know that - hence played in Evison's "oldies hour" - point I was making is it was symbolic of the direction Wigan was going in the late 70's.

Me for one. A number of us were very unhappy at the time - not so much with the Helen Shapiro's, Len Barry's, Barry St John's etc. which did at least have a "feel" for them, but with the abominal dirges like Muriel Day, Judith Durham (played by Richard ironically I seem to recall), Bobby Goldsboro, Lenny gamble etc...And who could forget poor old Dave Evisons endless revivals of "Lightening strikes" in the last hour - a sure fire reminder of the benefits of ducking out early for the early train! As a matter of fact at least 10 of us stopped going from Kent in 1978, prefferring instead the more authentic 6Ts nights run by Randy and Ady in London. If you go back to the early days of Wigan, Russ was at it back then with endless Soussan instrumentals / Footsee etc. No one is saying he didn't play some soul records - one of Russ's best spins at Wigan was Willie Hutch "Love games" a timeless record. However the guy is exactly as described by Mr Darge, and in the history of Wigan was one of the worst offenders along with the aforementioned Mr Minshull. Meanwhile Richard, Brady, Rushbrooke etc. gave the place credibility - I am afraid neither Russ or Keith did. Although I went again a couple of times in 1980 I never remember the place with as few as 200 in - only ever remember a near empty dancefloor once - ironically for Judy Freeman "Hold on" which of course is a very good record.

The majority of the more blatant pop records was down to one or two DJ's.....you know what I'm gonna say next Russ W, Keith M...

Excellent record and too good for Mr Winstanley

I do not believe it did. ...but then again I was surprised to find when digging out records for David Cole's In the Basement magazine features that i had "loving on the losing side" by Tommy Hunt on US....and even more surprised to learn that Tommy didn't know of a US release either until Jerry Williams told him a couple of years ago.....it's a funny old world allright.

....along with Jan Jones and Timeless Legend amongst others.

Yes Route label D'Arcy.

One legit Uk release.

I don't disagree with a word of this obviously, am just trying to explain why there are so many oldies only bigots out there.

Simon the straw poll actually involved asking a few people at work whether they still listened to and bought new music. Essentially the answer was broadly no with the over 25s - that's it. As for going out more - you can sleep easy that your record endurance feat of some 20 years without going out on the soul scene is in no danger of being overhauled by me! lol

I've always liked "Woman love thief" even though the group are white ever since hearing it at Asda's / The car park / W***n C*sino back in the day, "Such misery" for the black version. Two good tunes.

Jb I am not the man to ask but it is possible

It was an excellent night. A number of us travelled over from Peterborough. Also interviewed Popcorn Wylie at Hinckley for Blackbeat. Al Kent was one of the friendliest guys you could meet a real gentle giant.

Therein lies the irony -the B side is 100 times better

Oh I shall berate him about it next time I see him....

I like this one too

Not progressing musically is a very common trate, not just limited to "oldies fans" though they are the target we find easiest to hit as they walk round with big circular targets on their backs. Doing a straw poll round here I actually find that very few people are interested in hearing new music of any genre. An example close to home -my missus still enjoys the rubbish she enjoyed twenty five years ago - Led Zep, Status Quo etc....She has not bought a new record since the early 80's. She is no different to the vast majority of people either. My young son btw just texted me to say that darrell Banks "Our love is in the pocket" and "Out on the floor" are great records. He's not wrong there either, but unless he takes after his dad he is likely to end up at 25 or something losing interest in hearing new music. I am not defending the oldies brigade - god forbid - I've heard far too many play safe DJs playing boring sets to accomodate the masses; all I am doing is recognising that the majority of people aren't that bothered about hearing something new - so we should not be surprised at the end of the day.

Who is responsible for playing that DJ Genesis crap please?

Agree Jerry Williams a very good record. Never thought of it as pop though.

Theres a really good track on the B side of "Now is the time" which you should be able to get for the price of....10p at your local boot fair. It's also on one of his elpees. An under-rated "Biddu" thing.

Ah yes it's well known amongst the secret squirrels of the rare soul scene that the Ultimates LP is to be avoided on account of abyssmal sound. We should have pre warned you about that

Yeah but mastering was by the Robinsons - we see it time and time again with their early output. They didn't get a decent production deck until oooh 1974-5 I reckon when they started having all those big hits....and this pre dates that. AGree both versions are recorded poorly and the reissue will blow out the woofers on many speakers. It's Robert Tanner on lead on "Sweet memories" as well.

Agreed we're all tone deaf m8. But also v difficult to gauge sound from behind decks, as we all know it sounds totally different in front of and aft speakers particularly where a stage is involved. Hence soundmen always check what it sounds like on the floor as opposed to from behind the decks.

My Dear Cat - it really depends on the context. In the context of 60's soul then yes modern soul is 70s soul. In the context of the fact that soul has continue to be made until now then 70s soul isn't modern at all. After years of questioning it I must say I'm ok now with calling 70's soul "modern soul".... I never knew modernsoulsucks was Rod Shard - he of that great record stall in Manchester fame. Sam still talks affectionately about the rekkids he's had out of there!!!

Frankly getting a drink foir DJing is taking the piss - unless the DJ has agreed in advance to do it for nowt (and that can happen with a friends venue / specialist type do for example). I say (as a former promotor) anyone who doesn't pay their DJ's properly is having a larf at their expense.