Frankie Crocker

Maybe not every single one of them but I doubt if Tim has doubles of some of these high-end items. Week after week, Tim’s auctions throw up an eclectic mix of grails, classics, in-demanders, disco-pop etc as though he is selling off his collection...just a guess of course...

Shametts went for a decent price. Not seen one of these for sale in a long while. I suspect these auction items are from Tim’s personal collection so he should be fairly pleased with the auction results.

A really good point to raise Paul. Much of the filming seems to be done from the sidelines rather than selfie-style. Posting on social-media is therefore often done by A. N. Other featuring friends or just the action at the time. This is hugely intrusive and often features embarrassing scenes that individuals might prefer not to be screened. I think it’s high time for venues to ban mobile-phone filming without consent of those being filmed. I would go as far as to say that the incessant filming and posting is actually Trashing The Faith, exposing what was an previously underground scene to the masses who then mock the dancing, clothing etc. The cult of narcissism is perpetuated by all of this Facebook video posting - a ban on filming would reduce the vanity on show but as mentioned above, the genie is well and truly out of the bottle and will be difficult to put back...

Does not exist... Manship books hint at a rumour. Maybe someone coloured their copy in with a green felt pen perhaps?

It’s fortunate the Sunday Times ran the article at the time - it’s probably the best written record of the contemporary phenomena in 1976. I don’t recall anyone complaining at the time and it wasn’t as though hundreds of Sunday Times readers invaded The Casino. The Footsee Top of The Pops thing did a lot to encourage a new wave of visitors to Wigan, so perhaps blame the Pye Disco Demand label people for contributing to a wider public awareness.

The thing is though, the rules were unwritten - there were principles and folks conformed... dress code for lads and lasses not dancing on the dance-floor if you didn’t know what you were doing apologise to someone you accidentally bumped into on the dance floor shake hands with old contacts applaud a record if it was well received NB DJ’s never were celebrities no violence ie fisticuffs inside the venue use talc on the dance-floor but sparingly not touching other people’s bags or coats sporting patches of clubs actually visited I hope this meets your approval Paul?

I’d prefer a S & M logo Rod...

We’re really discussing the topic of branding here. Presumably because the t-shirt has become an item of merchandise, sold to enable the wearer to profess their attachment to the music or the scene. Of course, rock bands have been flogging over-priced ‘merch’ to fans for years. Now this has crossed over to the NS scene, it has brought the formerly underground scene more into the public eye. Once upon a time, involvement in the scene was expressed by wearing the NS regalia, often pilloried by the media and plenty on Soul-Source... maybe these days are long and unlikely to return so it’s probably best to turn a blind eye to the young T-shirt wearers and dress as you think most appropriate.

The Bristol Soul Brigade took the t-shirt thing to another level flaunting them at the BBC Prom. Hand out the sick-bags please🤮

Even more harsh criticism but well argued... Russ was one of the main Casino DJ’s and had a sound grasp of what was played back in the day - his shop stocked the current sounds as lists testify. Sure, he was eclipsed by Searling post-Casino. Perhaps guilty of being linked to over-commercial ventures in the 70’s but has been pretty much retired since. I don’t blame Russ for downplaying the drugs - they were a liability in many ways. Wigan Casino was the epicentre for the music back in the 70’s. Sure, Cleethorpes Pier had its supporters and some good music spun by lesser known DJ’s but it was always overshadowed by The Casino. The proliferation of other clubs for local and regional travellers could be partly due to the impact of The Casino. I don’t see Russ dining out at all...he maintains a low profile until the media drag him out of hibernation. Yes, he is rooted in the past and hasn’t KTF like Richard or Kev, but so what - he never pretends to know all about the contemporary scene. Russ is simply the voice of Wigan in its heyday - he is just the obvious person to talk about The Casino 1973-1981, like it or lump it. Remember, Russ didn’t get rich on the proceeds due to the deal he cut with the owner. Anyone writes newspaper articles, books, plays or film-scripts owes Russ a debt of gratitude for his organisational achievements; many of us love the music we do due to Russ Winstanley and should be eternally grateful.

Harsh criticism.... Russ was the cornerstone of The Casino. He’s kept a fairly low profile for decades - indeed, he’s hardly been involved in event promotion and record label stuff. As a local lad, he’s the go-to voice on matters Northern Soul. Wigan 1973-1981. It would be appropriate for followers of the music to show more respect, especially at this time.

If Wigan Council has any gumption, it would rebuild The Casino right now as a tourist attraction and an essential public facility for conferences, meetings, ceremonies etc. If the council had any conscience, it should have sacked itself years ago and knocked down half their offices occupied by idle employees to release a site fir redevelopment. Only now does Wigan realise the heritage it has so should do something long-term about nurturing it.

But if you direct it to a USA contact, it could conceivably be a gift! eBay have done their utmost to limit this practice.

Fortson and Scott for £3,400, well that’s insane. A 50% increase in price. Clearly money is no object for some of John’s buyers. However, some of these auction prices are plain bad for the scene as ordinary sellers try to match them. The market’s being flooded by overpriced four figure records that owners laid out peanuts for back in the day.

Well said Colin. To do what they did without the original sheet music defies belief. The orchestra and singers were totally on-sync throughout reflecting dozens and dozens of rehearsals. To have the vocalists rotating from backing-singers to lead was exceptionally impressive - in other words, any if the singers could have performed any of the tracks, pretty smart in my books. Sometimes I wonder why folk on a Northern Soul appreciation website don’t appreciate what’s served up to them...

No, just commenting anecdotally... Having been to The States over 80 times, I’ve heard a LOT of Country music. I’m flying there on Monday for three weeks so I’ll hear a whole load more... C&W has morphed into something more contemporary eg Dixie Chicks. Yes there’s a huge amount of Country out there as anyone with a guitar can strum along to a home-made riff - it’s TikTok stuff for radio stations for the most part or line-dancing on Friday Nights, now understandably out of fashion. Country music in the States is HUGE. When I was in Nashville finding next to no soul records, I decided to check out Record Row, the strip of recording companies and studios. It was a Sunday so I parked in the Sales-Person of The Month’s space - their name was Sandy Neas, made me laugh. When you drive for fun, or for a living, you learn stuff along the way that clocks up as experience though it may not be expertise.

But Martha’s music is definitely out of the top Motown drawer...this suggests the vocalists don’t need to have perfect pitch to deliver a decent performance. Part of the Northern experience is enjoying the tunes warts ‘n all, learning to live with little imperfections, not expecting perfect Mello Souls every 2 minute 20 seconds. And to please us, the music must be good, very good or excellent, otherwise we tend not to bother with it🎶🎶🎶

Country as they call it nowadays, is music for the masses as tens of millions Americans listen to it daily; it is plain, simple music but lacks soul to these soulful ears, explaining why I have about six records in the collections by Willie Nelson, Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton. These listeners are easily pleased by a guitarist moaning about a dog, truck, lack of money or a woman who left him! Country listeners are very easily pleased. I’ll leave it to the opera buffs to comment on the quality as I generally find it unwise to pontificate on topics I know nothing about...

On the contrary, a select number of people who know their onions, actually appreciated the performance of a world-class orchestra and some unknown artists who had rehearsed to the point of perfection. Most of us into Northern Soul are unashamedly elitist, secure in the knowledge that our music trumps all other genres, so to hear it reproduced note-perfect was a real treat. It’s also worth pointing out that many of the original records have slightly flawed vocals that add to the listening experience so it’s daft to expect singers to sound like Ray Pollard or Timi Yuro et al. I like a variety of music and am extremely hard to please - The BBC Prom did a great job of entertaining those in the Albert Hall but evidently the TV programme disappointed many of those on the sofas at home. If you don’t recognise musical quality when you hear it, then sure you’ll be easily disappointed...

Welcome to Soul-Source Colin.

Nice one Mush or Arnold or whatever your name is. When I went to school in Swansea in 1969, the lads were calling each other Mush. In fact, my brother in Swansea still calls me Mush. Rumour has it that one snowy night back in the early 1900’s, a husky dog team left Cardiff for Swansea but the dog-sledge driver shouted mush, mush, mush so much they ended up in Southampton...true story boyo...

It’s a Welsh thing actually so it must have spread to Southampton. When you don’t know someone’s name, you called them Mush. But when you do know their name, it’s best to address them by it. A bit off topic so I’ll return to the Prom that seems to have so many agitated. I don’t think it was too commercial of the BBC to air it - they have to deal with culture of all descriptions so they handled it well. Yes, a bunch of folk got dressed up in special NS t-shirts for the occasion - well that’s their prerogative.

The Carstairs is so Northern it was a shame it wasn’t included. It would have been nice for viewers to see how well the orchestra tackled this tricky number, but it was axed from the TV programme.

I’ve had a word with myself and fondly remembered seeing the Tavares at The Ritz in Manchester...and jolly good they were. The late 70’s were a fine time for disco soul - Candi Staton, Real Thing, James Brown etc, not Northern then or now and zero Prom potential. One 70’s tune in the Prom went down extremely well notably The Night so it was a shame the Carstairs was cut - somebody evidently thought a dance lesson from Levanna was more important.

Good call. Skiing In The Snow would have been well received due to its anthemic status but The Trammps lowest common denomination pop hit satisfied the hand-baggers in the audience due to the commercial appeal and chart success.