Frankie Crocker

A few years ago, there was a hand written sign at the 100 Club saying No Talk On The Dancefloor. Winston was patrolling around the floor with his rounders bat that night so no one dared speak...A talc coated floor is a must when the floor is grunged up but the best floors, lovingly polished, never need talc. Do promoters ever give the dance floor the preferential treatment it deserves? I hear Johnsons do a pretty good floor polish which if used more regularly, would cut back on talc use and the petty restrictions it provokes.

Hi Brian - as Gordon says, the picture at the start of the thread is the same as the Too Darn Soulful second edition cover. The photo on the Soul Survivors cover has the same cool cat on it, great dancer, don't know his name though. The photos were taken at the first anniversary. These and other photos appeared in Blue And Soul #209 that was given to everyone who attended the third anniversary in 1976. In the early 1990's, I went to the B&S office on Praed Street, Paddington to access the photos but the editor said the file was empty. I wanted the wide angle crowd from the stage shot captioned Spotlight On Wigan Casino featuring yours truly: this was taken within minutes of the best known crowd shot on the picture sleeve of Footsee and Seven Days Too Long. Still nt sure who has the copyright to the prints but someone said Russ took the shots... Not sure as they look too professional so maybe the local newspaper people? Good to hear Jethro is around and could be putting something into print - perhaps he will confirm that it was not a Celtic shirt he wore but a v neck, green and white vertical striped shirt. Memories are a bit hazy, but even the commercial 'Pye' months of '74-'75 had so many good tunes, totally outnumbering those best not mentioned. Even the Mecca War years following yielded considerable numbers of vintage sounds again eclipsing the newies. Maybe, with 20:20 hindsight, we had it pretty good

Loadsa good chunes here to which I'd add:- Billy Sans - I Don't Want To Lose A Good Thing on Impreario and Invictus: has cult potential King Floyd - Times Have Changed on Pulsar: getting spins at key venues Danny Price - Come To Me on UA: unknown anthem on major label

This is so unbelievably bad. How could any self respecting soulie lower themselves to do this? Maybe the Dance Craze movement will make a comeback - you've done The Duck so now do The Cringe, The Sweep or The Cop On Traffic Duty.

Your mate's comment made me cringe as he was into the dance scene but in another decade - why no empathy or even a bit of Faith and Understanding? I am looking forward to the soundtrack of the movie, the dance scenes, old fashions, travel escapades, humour amongst friends etc, in other words, the things Soul Boy scored well on, pleasing plenty of us on SS. Personally, I expect the movie to provoke a 'Commitments' film reaction when those oblivious to soul music, speak up and say what great sounds were played, and we can feel smug because we knew that all along.

I spun it at the 100 Club in 1996 - a few came up to the decks to check it out. Recently picked up the blue issue from Herman Lewis' collection plus a few other goodies...

As I said earlier, the kitchen is a great place to do some practising - roll the wrists with a tea towel, 320 degree spins from fridge to cooker, punch the air with the mugs that go on the top shelf etc. Being a swimming pool attendant was a great opportunity for practising in the 70's - wet tiles and Patrick training shoes perfect prep for the Casino but God knows what the public thought of us spinning/wobbling around.

Who cares about the masses - let them watch Grand Theft Auto. If the movie pleases the soul critics, it has a chance of crossing over to a wider audience so let's hope it it realises it's potential. I liked Blue Juice and Soul Boy as they were fillums pet ie entertainment, culture, a bit of a caper, not a matter of life or death, but something that's been created for our appreciation so let's look ahead to enjoying the movie and save the analysis until later...

Don't know whether to laugh, cry or throw up. This is so excruciating but also totally wrong, wrong, wrong...

Alexei Sayle summed it up nicely when he said anyone who mentions the word 'workshop' not in the context of manufacturing industry is a t***. It is a sad day when film producers have to organise mass line-prancing sessions to make whoopee-do action scenes that hopefully convey the high-energy of a classic Northern track. It is worse still when similar sights are witnessed at venues - the soul coaches should know better and tell the wannabees to watch from the sidelines until they can dance. I would recommend extra lashings of talc to mop up the beer these novices seem to spill on the dance floor and perhaps have a few sacks of sawdust handy to deal with the puke attacks suffered by true soulies. Finally, the kitchen parquet or the bathroom floor are good places to move to the music without suffering carpet burn - that said, if you wear decent shoes, you won't need talc so get some Terry's brogues now, available in all Chelsea shoe shops...

Great tune Pete. Always reminds me of a trip to St Malo in Brittany - when I heard it in a cafe, just had to have it. Whenever I hear the tune, it transports me back across the Channel.

Grab it in any condition and upgrade it later - this tune is set to soar.

Two sides to this one - flip it over for a superior version of Ball Of Fire. DJ copies seem to be more numerous than issues but both are hard to come by. Methinks it's in demand for the powerful mid- tempo side rather than the run-of-the-mill up tempo side...

Do any US dealers offer free postage? If they did across the board, sellers would use the lowest cost/maximum security approach that Dave advocates. Too many small dealers skimp on packaging to profit from postal charges. Generally speaking, the main dealers use USPS and pack the records well. However, in an unregulated industry with more amateurs than professionals involved, it usually makes sense to pay whatever it takes to ensure the record arrives safely. However, with some UK collectors taking delivery of a dozen or so packets a week, it makes sense to keep postage costs down hence Dave starting this thread.

Interestingpoint. Was it the maroon Wigan badge that spawned the KTF slogan? What inspired the badge designer to put KTF on the badge? Is the Citations 'To Win The Race' on Ballad anything to do with the catchphrase? Personally, I Don't Care [What The People Say]... Keep On...

My recollection also. 1977, 4th Anniversary Wigan dance competition was won by Sandy Holt outright. Last anniversary I attended. Grapevine has it he won again, 1978 it appears, perhaps after being eliminated in an earlier round? All good clean fun and an integral part of the scene. All winners should be cast in bronze and put on plinths between Wigan Wallgate and Station Road.

I remember buying Tony Clarke's 'Landslide' on an English label in one such shop in Leigh. Was stopping with friends in Culcheth one Saturday in March 1974 and went to Leigh baths for a swim. Crossing the road, I saw the record in a shop window but had no cash on me. Caught the bus back to Culcheth, got some cash then caught the bus back to Leigh for the record and a swim. This impulsive urge continues still. Went to the Casino that night and can still recall listening to the tape made as I hung around Leigh bus station...Velvet Satins, Gwen and Ray etc. I think the records in Leigh then were catering for a booming market, particularly a local Manchester influenced youth scene.

Or was he a diesel fitter...

My recollection also. Steve Caesar from Leeds won in 1974. Kim Habbits [from Leigh who featured in This England?] Jethro from Wolverhampton, the Peoples' Champion in third but you couldn't separate them, it was so close.

Corking soundtrack. Lots covered in a short space. Nice balance of past and present. Fran's still got the moves and Trickster's slowing down. Best bit for me was the Young Soul in his bedroom - such commitment bodes well for the future. Shame there's so little movie footage of the Casino so it tends to be recycled. Congratulations to Paul for a job well done.

Nowt wrong with nostalgia events like this. It was a pivotal era after all. 'Bout time the council rebuilt the Casino, opened up a museum and provided a top class venue for us. Good to see the Empress Ballroom in the media so let's hope for some objective coverage. In decades to come, will the last few who attended the Casino make the news like the last survivors of World War One? I certainly hope so. My feelings were hurt when the invitation to the reunion failed to land on the mat. Is it too late to dust down my beret, polish the trench coat and pop down to Boots for a bottle of Johnson's Baby Powder? Just bought myself a pair of Terry's brogues - brilliant for doing bum- drops but useless for taking penalties in. See you there Out On The Floor...

Cheers Kevin - was unaware of the other two so really glad I lost the auction. Missed the record from the same seller a couple of years ago so was extra keen to secure this copy. Have even been to McAllen looking for a copy: studio at address on label now gone, thrift stores are devoid of vinyl and Smitty would not let me in the back room of his juke-box museum. Now I can sit back and wait for a flurry of them, hopefully from a Texas hoarder who has the distributor stock...

It's a crock. Likewise the tosh about tons of cut-outs being used for ballast. The airmen at Burtonwood had the perks of US living on base so there would have been Motown stable labels floating around: however, the military faced limits on what they could ship around so box loads of 45's were not brought over en masse to be abandoned when the tour of duty finished. Liverpool was a flourishing port in the '60's and there was a ready trade in all sorts of imports from broken crates, but the sheer volume of British 45's overwhelmed those from the US.

Succinctly put. There's a lot of collectors out there and a load of good records deserving to be spun, and not necessarily off eBay although this offers a quick fix. Sure the money helps to acquire the records but information is also required plus good contacts in the UK and USA. Access to venues underpins the trend so collectors with connections in pubs and clubs can promote themselves and reciprocate with mates doing the same at other venues as davidwapples suggests. However, a lot of these guys are not egomaniacs, just keen on the music and eager to rotate on the decks between decking some beers. Now the upshot of this is a proliferation of record-spinners and countless venues per weekend - is this a sign the scene's in good health or contributing to a reluctance to travel to the larger venues - you can decide by either supporting or ignoring the local soul eve or attending the regional 'nighters, or as some do, a mix of both. Either way, this is the way the scene has evolved and you can vote with your brogues or carpet slippers. Finally, a word to the youngsters; the future of the scene is in your hands so get practicing on those Technics in your bedroom and pub back-rooms as there's some harsh critics out there.

Ted, let's hope so as I bid on it and lost...