Petesi

Yes he maybe, but as a long time Springsteen fan (well 1976 ) and Northern from late 1972 , I think its a good cover, and if you listen to his early interviews, he pays tribute to the early blues/soul stuff as his inspiration for many of his great classics ..so all good for me.

IF you dance reasonably well you will find that at most nights you will never be short of hello`s and friends on the night etc. Its always been like that even back in the 70`s.... Dancing just unites folk its a common bond .

I guess that we really need to accept that what we, or possibly I, remember of the scene ( 72-79) no longer exists its a far different place BUT at least some still try to keep the fires burning hence a lot of the north of England stick to the old ways . Then sometimes or most times to be more accurate, the regular Joe/ media get involved and get it horribly wrong! But hey ho we got a mention and I guess that counts for something.

Spot on... me too, still one of the best northern soul events south of Birmingham

Ouch ! Thank`s for posting this..... I nearly went to the last one, and whilst they all may be enjoying themselves (and good luck to them) it would not have been for me, it looks more like line dancing than the traditional northern events I attend, but hey ho "horses for courses".... its all entertaining and it certainly attracted a crowd!

Done, good luck and enjoy....getting lost in the music is the best way to forget all the everyday sh.te and It works for me

This post is (as far as I remember) fairly close to the answer as you can get, also it will very much depend on your location of the events you went to as things back then didn`t move region to region as quick as the do today. My recollection is that by the time I started dancing 1971/72 the dancers all used variations of the stuff seen on TV shows from the American sixties soul train shows etc mainly a side to side shuffle or what I call the Motown shuffle. Then late 72-75 with the growth of Wigan etc evolved the semi-circle type faster step around dance we did to records like Jimmy Raye "Philly dog around the World" , Oh and by the way you step BEHIND your front leading leg NOT over it teddy boy style as quite a few seem to do today, just a point. Come 1974/75/76 Colin Curtis and others pioneered some of the more funkier sounding stuff and and the on the the spot backwards /forwards step shuffle dance evolved. I along with some of the older Torch crew sat open mouthed at the Tiffany`s All dayers in Newcastle under Lyme watching and thinking WTF? as records like Open Sessame , dance a la music etc which bought out a whole new tribe of younger funky strutters. It is just my own opinion but, there were basically three styles of dance for the original Northern scene and each was used (dependant on your ability) to match the type of record being played. Admittedly some of the dance stuff you see today bares little resemblance to the original stuff, I blame "Riverdance" for that LoL but, if your happy doing it good luck, enjoy yourself, as for me I just stick to the "old style / old ways".

Sure were Ratt, and that`s why I can never quite understand the posters that keep moaning that "Todays scene is not what it was, and we need to move with the times to get more younger people interested in it" Well I think most of the newbees and youngsters interested in real northern soul can still get a taste of what is was like at the right clubs and if you doubt me just go and have a night out any of the following ...The Grosvenor rooms, The Northern line, The Kings Hall, St Ives reunions, Kingsway hall and plenty of others up and down that still capture the spirit of what it was like first time round because what`s old hat to many of us will be new and exciting to any newcomers to the scene

I went to Wigan from 75-79 Saturdays to start , and then the monthly Friday "Oldies" all nighter`s and I can honestly say I never saw or met any birds (Ooops ,Sorry girl`s) dressed like these at Wigan period , it was mainly flat sandals, white socks, flared 3/4 length skirts, T shirts and parallels or baggies . So a deffo staged night imo and probably around 73/74 looking at the garb they are all wearing.

A great comment, and really hits the nail on the head imo,. As a big oldies fan I have enjoyed the scene on and off since the early 70`s and I got into it because of the atmosphere and the dancing and that to me is still important. I venture out now about once/twice a month and as a dancer I make for the classic old school venues that I know will be playing top 500 tunes with the odd new or rare thrown in... because I want to dance! ( not drink or chat), and I suspect I will be in the majority on this as most have laid comment to. Now...if you look at the age of the crowd who are competent dancers they too will in the most part gravitate to this type of venue as do the many newbies (young and old) as its the dancing and being part of it that attracts most, if not all of us in the first place. As such 80% of the people who go, go to dance and its a lot more enjoyable dancing to something that you have "made your own" so to speak over the many years and get lost in your own little world for around 3 mins than a sound you will need to listen to several times to put a decent combination of steps to. Also the average age of the crowds at the venues when I first started were 16-28 yrs old, now I would guess its mainly 30-65 yrs old and for me at least its a very limited time I have left on the dancefloor and want to make the most of it. Playing new and upfront stuff in a second room seems to work fine and yes there will be a few smaller venues that can thrive/survive in that niche but, other than the odd sprinkling amongst the classics they will always thin/empty the dancefloor, they did in the 70`s and they will do now ( just ask Colin Curtis et al) Until.... they become popular classics.

Sorry but I don`t agree. Back in 72 a lot of the Torch crowd were copying what had gone before at the wheel etc. At Wigan they copied what had gone before at the Torch, Cats etc. Yes they did play lots of new discoveries too but then that split into two factions one for the Saturday night regulars and once a month the Friday night oldies all nighters ( my scene). Today is no different there are at least two distinct types, those that favour the new or later sounds from the eighties onwards, and those that perhaps don`t venture out every week but when they do they seek out the oldies and classics venues..... BUT that`s not the topic here its dancers so, even if you hear a good new or modern sound in general the good dancers won`t be on the dancefloor to it because its new! There`s room for everyone on the Northern soul scene new, old , modern , classics whatever but to just say go out and do what you like probably isn`t going to prolong it and, when the drinks get spilled or the nightclub fight starts then it will just become another night on the town so...good luck with that one. Oh and Merry Christmas to all the oldies and classics fans young and old and I suppose the modern room supporters too 😀

There are still plenty of good dancers around both young and old... just take a look at the Kings Hall, Grosvenor rooms, etc. Back in the day when I first started in the early 70`s most people would practice at home etc fitting in moves to the beat of the records, backdrops, swallow dives and splits timed into the breaks. Nowadays lots of people just turn up and have a go because they can`t be bothered to put the effort in which is fine, but to be a good dancer you have to practice long and hard and the older you get the more difficult it becomes. So when you see a good dancer whether their young or old rest assured they were not born good they have worked hard to be good.

My Pennies worth. Marketing Ploy!... It`s the in vogue term at the moment, and will probably help sales or in the case of venues/clubs attract customers . There is also a big difference between the hard northern classic stuff played up north to the more mixed mellow/ mid tempo and in some cases relatively modern plays down south. Just general comment on the last, as I go to a couple of clubs in the south that do play a good number of classic northern " oldies" every time.