Frankie Crocker

Me neither. Trammps were pure disco fodder when I was in Manchester during the mid to late 70’s. Rather like the Tavares, another decent outfit with tunes that grace any wedding celebration as they are accessible to anyone who can handle pop music. I think Maconie must have included Hold Back The Night to make the Prom a bit more populist and to cow-tow to the ultra-Woke layers of management at the BBC. Inclusion of the tune also reflects his very limited knowledge of Northern Soul.

Thanks for the heads-up. I just walked to central London via Waitrose to pick up a copy. Boy, does Maconie write well. I’ve just started his book, The Pie At Night, and am enjoying it tremendously.

Stuart Maconie’s reaction pretty much summed up the success. The conductor was actually dancing at one stage! Members of the orchestra were evidently enjoying themselves, possibly having a change from the classical dirge usually foisted upon them. The audience in their hundreds had a great time boogieing to the tunes - I saw the Gypsy Kings at the Albert Hall a few months ago and only a tiny number of fans stood up to dance. I hope Joe Public stays well away from all soul events but would encourage anyone interested to buy a CD or research the YouTube archive. It was interesting to see the exclusion of the two instrumentals. Clearly the vocal tunes were favoured by the editors. Sure, Mike Post and Checkerboard Squares would make good listening along with the Mirwood output etc but I suspect the singers made for better entertainment for casual armchair viewers.

Decent tune but one for the connoisseur. A lot were cut out to allow the panel to chat at the start and part way through. Little did we know the Beeb had booked a box for some back-stage preamble. The inclusion of a dance-class from Levanna surely must have raised a few eye-brows.

In the words of Williams and Watson, it’s far ‘Too Late’. The music’s not been underground for decades so just go with the flow, discover your own obscure sounds and support venues where progressive DJ’s work hard at exposing the rarest of the rare.

What a brilliant performance. The orchestra was spot on. The singers were excellent rotating from backing roles to read vocalists. The audience got more and more into the occasion as the evening progressed, especially after The Night. Some songs had been edited out - Bobby Paris, Eddie Holman, Just Brothers, Jimmy Beaumont, Luther Ingram, Carstairs, Edwin Starr all got the chop. All in all, a hugely enjoyable experience for everyone, lifelong soul fans and folk new to the music. Let’s hope the BBC repeat the format in years ahead such was the apparent success of the venture.

UK buyers only please. PM to reserve or request further info. Payment by bank transfer or PayPal F&F (or add fees). Special delivery postage is £8. Thanks for looking. Red Coats Revue Inc-Keep On Trying-Salem: £400 NM unplayed warehouse stock. Jimmey ‘Soul’ Clark-I’ll Be Your Champion-Soulhawk WD: £375 VG+, XOL, label off centre so priced accordingly. Little Melvin And The Boleros-Jealous Lover-Valarie:£350 VG some light scratches but plays with a few clicks.

TV listings have the Northern Soul Prom to be screened at 7.45 - 9.15 pm. The programme is sure to provoke much commentary so here’s a plea in advance to stick to what you hear and what you see! By all means make critical comments, but let’s keep them objective. Having been at the Albert Hall for the concert and heard it twice on iPlayer, I’m still full of praise for the event. Anyway, let’s hear what your thoughts are.

Thanks for posting. Really insightful. An excellent resource for future buyers and sellers.

Manship auction June 2022 realised £2,600. Another thread on Soul Source re this. Awesome pair of tunes - one of the best double-siders around.

I vaguely recall a copy in a Manship auction in the last year or two, but don’t remember the final value it went for. A copy was put in Soul-Source Sales a few years ago priced at £1,750. I reckon it’s a 2K record in excellent condition these days.

True, Steve. There are millionaires out there who have the reserves to buy anything without considering the cost. On the other hand, you don’t get to be a multi-millionaire by wasting money - some of the richest people in the world are amongst the most parsimonious. As mentioned earlier, the bids for the Carstairs could have been erroneous - just odd that at least two bidders went down that route...

True, you do a great job but plenty of people would look at the figure in total disbelief

Carstairs £1,115.00... a new level of lunacy for a very common record. Just in case anyone thought this was a typo, here’s the proof someone’s paid offered a thousand pounds more than they needed to.

Has anyone contacted Russ Winstanley - surely he’d have something constructive to add. What about checking the back-editions of Blues and Soul - maybe a venue report following the anniversaries. Guessing there might be some photos out there in the Wigan papers. Yes, it’s almost 50 years ago but there must be some sources that could be checked out.

How rare is this? Does anyone remember this being played out in public? would be interesting to know who owns the six copies!

Ascots was well down in previous figures. John acknowledged below par condition and the visual disfigurement of WOL surely put off some bidders. On the other hand, someone snagged a bargain that should be OK to DJ with.

Hi Janie. Thanks for this. Perhaps you’re a year younger than you thought you were? Great to be in the most iconic photo of the Casino regardless of the record in the picture sleeve. There are three lasses in patterned shirts - long hair, short hair and bunches...Which one are you? I’m in the Spotlight On Wigan Casino one but had moved for the Footsie one with just a bit of my patterned shirt showing at the top. I’m still kicking myself for moving🥵

My recollection too. I travelled from Leeds to Cleethorpes with Caesar in 1975 so it was something we chatted about.

Was Kim Gethro’s girlfriend? Just going on a vague recollection from reading Gethro’s book...

Photos taken at the first anniversary - one graced the back of the Footsie/Seven Days Too Long picture sleeve.

Hi Janie. How sure of the dates are you? I recall Steve Caesar of Leeds winning at the first anniversary in 1974. I missed the 1975 anniversary - could this be the one you won? If so, maybe Angie won the third anniversary in 1976. I was at the 1976 and 1977 anniversaries but can’t recall who won - hazarding a wild guess, maybe Sandy Holt from Bolton won in 1977 QED.

Bingo. I was well pleased to have a line in last night’s auction. paid Kev Draper £25 for Thelma Lindsay back in the early 90’s. Similar deal for Bob Relf. Not often I have a line come up in John’s auctions. Johnny Robinson was big at The 100 Club at the turn of the century - wish I’d gone for this one now.

Thanks for the heads up Benji. I’ve only found this one twice in 75+ trips to The States. Some of her other records are as common as muck.

Usually a set-sale record but is scarce these days.