Roburt

As a guy who attended many niters & witnessed many OAO (Original Artists Only) performing their latest + older recordings .. AND ALL BEFORE (the term) NS was even invented ... I can truthfully state that ... ... I hardly ever saw a singer who performed his songs in a way that was faithful to their original recording. Apart from the fact that the UK musicians backing them up were nothing like (in expertise & type / variety of instruments played) the original studio band, songs were always 'speeded up' to intensify the vibe & energy of the live performance. It's only with the likes of Ady coming into the picture that acts were asked to try their very best to recreate the sound captured on the original track as committed to vinyl all those years before. So in 66/67/68/69/ etc. you almost never got to witness a track being performed in a way that was faithful to the original recording. So to say the BBC's efforts were 'fake' is to totally miss the point.

If folk keep saying they enjoyed this concert, then there's only one remedy ... Oulu will be sent round to their abode ..

As I live outside Oxford, I'll probably go to see this. Has it been performed anywhere yet & if so, what were the reviews like ?

Some great clips of people enjoying themselves at the event have been posted up on Facebook. Those in attendance certainly seemed to have gotten swept up in the joy of the occasion. www.facebook.com/watch/?ref=search&v=1028987714685544&external_log_id=34215e52-24ed-4784-8e26-16b242e9171c&q=bbc%20northern%20soul%20prom To paraphrase an earlier post on this thread though ... It really has baffled me how we can rave about the pop pap played at the Casino, it has even less soul than my big toe .... ... Different strokes for different folks I guess.

Attending events on the 'rare soul scene' was always a 'phase' in each punters life. My heyday was 1966 to 1970, most folk on here came after me. But by the time the Casino came around, I had a family to think about & so skipping off to nighters 100's of miles away was never on the cards. I always loved my soul, I just followed a more mainstream path. Chasing copies of 45's on Curtom, Philly Int, Hi, Dakar, Invictus, TK and the turned-on majors but not ignoring the likes of KoKo, LoLo, Gemingo, Bashie, Maurci, etc. I'd listen with interest to the NS radio shows but could never really 'buy in' to the 100mph stompers & pop crap that would be aired amongst the pure soul sides spun. But progressive venues started to play more modern / diverse stuff and so my interest was recaptured. Casino goers would come round & plunder my collection and the odd one would even invite me along to enjoy a night at a localish current event (no nighters though). Then a decent nighter started up that was quite local (Rotherham) & it got some plugs from the soul DJ on the local radio stn (Hallam). The kids were now growing up, so I started attending & really enjoyed myself. So I had been brought back into the fold but (of Course) was now much older. So when weekenders started to be organised, that was ideal for me. Dancing at 3.10am, in a warm comfy bed at 3.20am (after my enegry levels hit the buffers). What an ideal situation & with live acts thrown in as well (just like in my old days @ the Mojo, Nite Owl, Wheel). I was even told I should go on NS cruises, but even though we 'cruise' every year, that always seemed a bit too 'over the top' to drag the wife along on. So, as we age, lots of us have entered, left & returned to the 'scene'. The scene itself has evolved. For some that's a bummer ("I only go to oldies events") but for me it's a plus point. I'm even too old now for weekenders (being mid 70's) BUT will still turn out for the right event if it ain't too far away. Heck, the scene has even evolved to taking 100's of Brits to visit the cities the 60's / 70's soul stars live in rather than bringing a bunch of 4/5 US singers to entertain 100's of punters at a do over here. So, the scene / scenes have always evolved -- some hate progress, but it can't be stopped. If 'themed' events in posh London music venues or organised by a main stream hotel chain, bring lovers of our music back. then (I say) more power to those events.

But why all the hate, surely a FORUM is supposed to be supportive of it's clientele, not dismissive.

Ady would know his present whereabouts & (most probably) his current circumstances as Kent keep sending the cheques.

AND my post is an opinion.

I'm with the 'haters' on here. It was nothing like a true reflection of WC ... where were the shite pop tunes, where were the bootleg 45's, why were the audience not made to dress in bags & vests, why wasn't the venue and it's toilets wrecked ahead of the concert to catch the 'real feel' of the Station Road venue. Where was DusbinStanley; it could never have been authentic without him being the headline compere. Why didn't it run through to 8am. Where was the gear. It also seems that the BBC don't intend to run the event week after week, advertising every night as being the 'FINAL NIGHT'. Where was the photographer from the NME to document the death throes of the great institution. NO, I'M AFRAID THAT FOR ME, this BBC concert was just pandering to those folk that enjoy quality music played by talented musicians (& singers). They didn't even have the b*lls to invite Wigan's Ovation (or the Beach Girls) along. PURE SACRILEGE.

Reading lots of the above, I'd say there's loads of vitriol on view. Guess things ain't changed that much since 1965 after all ...

A BBC piece about the concept of this BBC prom ... go to 27mins + in to catch the relevant bit ... he impresses me coz he says straight out that this isn't aimed at the purists, just connoisseurs & others. As he says ... "We're taking [Northern Soul] to a grander and fuller stage in every sense... For me it will be thrilling / emotional that they'll be records I heard as a 12 year old!" www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m001npdh?fbclid=IwAR3peXf8mjQA6Lfmq22nAgyN6p-Y5p5tr7GcbpzdCaqpDECz1HDiYABF1hY

Authentic northern soul weekenders (both holiday camp or hotel based) are for dedicated fans. But there's no reason why others shouldn't do northern hotel breaks for the less committed -- after all they do northern soul ferry trips, northern soul cruises, northern soul river trips, etc.

Really enjoyable. A fine effort from everyone involved.

No help on finding a 1979 recording but there's a long & interesting interview he did up on the net ... He's Slim Gaillard's son, his sister Janis married Marvin Gaye (Mark spent years hanging out / working in Marvin's recording studio) .. his dad & MPG are the guys referred to in this extract from the interview ... Mark & his wife (who wrote lots together) divorced years ago. He / they wrote loads of songs that are registered with BMI ... are you sure that he actually recorded the song in 79 and didn't just write it then.

It's all fine with me ...

Good to know that the NS crowd have such open minds ... but then we know many are AVO .... . . .. American Version Only merchants. 99% of UK beat groups in the period 1963 to 1968 were just (basically) soul cover bands -- some great, most just jumping on the bandwagon. But even the bad groups (the bandwagon jumpers) introduced kids in the 60's to good soul songs. If you had an enquiring mind (no tinternet then), you could search out the original versions & discover soul acts you hadn't previously heard of. Even worse than the crap groups amongst the throng that played R&B / soul were the British solo singers taking us for a ride ... Most times, many never even performed more than the odd soul song, the majority of their acts always being pure pop pap. But that hasn't stopped folk chasing (& paying £££ for) the old singles by them that they call N Soul. But those same folk that would buy Tammy St John, Barbara Ruskin, Carl King, Sandra Brown, etc 45's pass up getting many real soul gems coz they were recorded after 1979. . . . ELITISM + BLINKERED OPINION RULES I GUESS.

August 65 ... getting radio plays ...

Mid 60's -- Cleveland ... Highlighting a local release. Detroit stuff always did well on the Cleveland charts, coz loads of Motown / Detroit acts would play gigs in the city on a regular basis.

Last I heard (a few years back), he'd moved to Nashville (from LA) but had retired. I'm sure if he'd passed, we'd have heard.

On the BBC website ... Saturday is Prom night 2 ...

The 'public' view of NS dancers is indeed as quoted (baggy pants, vests, etc). . . . . With help, I took a bunch of Brits on a Soul Trip to Vegas in early 1998. While there, Nancy Yahiro organised a nite in Long Beach with Brenda Holloway & a SanFran soul band as the live entertainment. Guys on the trip acted as DJ's but we also all danced. Lots of local mods / soulsters turned out too (Nancy's crowd & those that knew them). When we Brits took to the dance floor, we weren't in baggys & vests or doing backdrops ... the locals all accused us of being imposters and not real UK NS fans. See photo taken during the trip ... this was the day we took over the Vegas Motown Cafe (located in NY, NY Casino) and we were filmed by an LA tv stn news team.

Also big on the Balto club scene in 66 ... Frankie & the Spinners. They were soon interesting record companies but couldn't record using that name ... so they became Frankie & the Spindels / Spindles . . .

Sorted how to copy youtube vids on here (thanx to pointers on anuda thread) ...

Same month & year ... obviously another locally based singer >> Benny Johnson ... It's the same guy who was on Today (why'd he not have a Balto label release ?).

On discogs it states .... 5 Miles Out had played concerts throughout the south, and they had some popularity in the city they came from, Burlington, NC. In 1974 they consisted of six members: Larry Miles, Michael Brown, Gerome Ferguson, Donnie Fuller, Clara Hamilton, and Tony Price.