Twoshoes

if true Steve that's great for the ones near me, they came from Germany I think and are still serviced by the Germans, so much for the jobs they were going to create. Someone post a photo quick before I hang myself from a blade with all this windmill chat ☹

It would not surprise me, I'm led to believe they also turn them off when there's enough power going into the national grid, a mate of mine has an app on his phone that tells you at any given time how much power is going into the National grid and what percentage is from what source eg:wind turbines ,power stations etc. My beef with them is once erected you cannot escape them, you can see them for miles in what is fast becoming every direction plus their efficiency is still in doubt with a lot of people, anyway rant over back to the photographs.

Just realised the top photo is very similar to one I posted some time ago when we had that period of fantastic skies night after night difference being this one was taken towards the opposite end of the hill opposite my house, don't know how others feel about windmills but I have them on the hills at the front of my house and to the side at the back with the threat of more on the hill directly opposite most of which is owned by the National Trust so hopefully they won't be successful.

Sorry for waffling.That would be a shame Rob it's been an interesting thread, meandered a bit as some threads do but if nothing else whether you agree or disagree with some of the more strident views expressed you cannot deny it has shown the passion in whatever way expressed we all have for the music and the scene. I would say well done to Babyboy for the way he has handled the thread. I've started a reply several times and deleted it without posting either because my view has already been stated by someone else or my reply could be taken in the wrong context and caused offence. This part of my post is for Babyboy as I seem to remember way back on the thread he asked for peoples history on the scene ,how they got into etc , some times I also in some ways on here don't always feel qualified to comment on the early days of a scene I was not active on, I went to Wigan twice and that would be about it for the seventies apart from a couple of other one time visits to an event. I had a brief period on the scene in the mid to late eighties and came back about fourteen years ago. I have collected Soul Music since the age of about fourteen, didn't realise that a lot of my collection was considered Northern until I struck up a friendship through music with someone into Northern, our first conversation started in the pub where he approached me at the bar and said "I believe you're into Northern Soul", I replied no just sixties soul, Motown, Atlantic etc, he then came to my house looked through my records and proceeded to point out all the tunes that were Northern ,I of course responded with "well it's all Soul to me". Over the years my tastes have changed, I've like many run the whole spectrum of black music Mento, Ska Funk, Jazz Funk you name it somewhere along the line I've listened and bought it. Where do I stand now, still like to hear the top 500 but wouldn't choose to go to an oldies exclusive night and do get tired of hearing the same old same old, get annoyed when top name Dj's play the same set time after time when they must have a plethora of great underplayed stuff in their collections. I'm open to anything at the moment ,I'm a prodigious downloader ,love the rare and underplayed though a lot of what I hear extolled as brilliant I tend to think is pretty average. Recently started playing what is left of my collection and have been surprised to find much enjoyment in hearing mundane stuff like Wicky Wacky by the Fatback Band and flipping records over hearing b sides ignored for over thirty years or more. A for a youth culture in the hands of old men, I don't see owt' wrong with that, as for there being no youth culture now I disagree, it's a nation wide one of belligerence ,no respect, I'll walk a slow as I like across the road in front of your car, make you step in the road to pass, strut like Peacock with your jogging pants stuck inside your socks and talk like a gangster from Harlem even though you're a fifteen year old from Luton (no offence to Luton been watching 24 Hours in Police Custody. Listening to other music other than Soul, always have, the first time I saw The Lightening Seeds before they went big gave me as much a of buzz as many soul gigs I've attended and I've attended a few,mind you they didn't bring a tear to my eye like sat waiting for Gladys Knight to come on stage in 1971. Having three kids has given me a guilty pleasure of Kylie, Green Day, Mighty Bosstones etc, lov Janis Ian, Beautiful South but the one thing I've learnt over the years is listening to all of that only enforces how great, fabulous, magnificent and how deep my love of Soul music is, number of times I've listened to any one of the above and thought that was great only to then play Darrell Banks or any one of a hundred soul artists and think but that was something else altogether. Commenting on how others dance, I think Chalky covered that one to a tee in a few of his replies, spinners? if you can't spin within a relatively confined area don't spin, nothing worse than trying to avoid a tornado on the dance floor, love to see someone wrapped up in a tune singing along, dancing with no sense of rhythm carry on, enjoy but please don't dance next to me. Sorry again for the waffle was trying to cover all aspects of the thread from memory, in conclusion live and let live, there's room for everyone....finally maybe one for another thread Babyboy......Northern Soul ,It's a Way of Life....is it? Discuss

The guy at the front is rockin the Sombrero and Sandals look,

Great sky at the back of my house tonight, the Windmills are around four miles away, pictures were taken about twenty mins apart

I think I'm right in saying Lancashire a go go is Stuart Raith Chalky

Me and she who must be listened to, one of the few photos were Lou isn't hiding behind either a glass, her hand or my head..

Don't buy much these days but being a sucker for an instrumental heard this on a podcast last week and had to have it, my mate describes it as the Floral Dance on acid, sure it won't be to everyone's taste, bit of a Marmite moment me thinks

I for one hope you're right Joey I love a good instrumental and wouldn't mind hearing this one, hope someone can shed some light on it. We've had two quite large thread on Instrumentals on here but that one never came up as far as I can remember.

Seeing this had me digging out another from Ronnie after a morning of listening to a load of 70's /80's funk from the likes of the Fatback Band and Rufus etc

No particular examples but I'd say yes certain records are better suited to a small intimate venue rather then a large cavernous hall type venue, might be my age but any tune or even a whole night can be ruined for me by it being just too loud, when it becomes just a distorted mess and you have to shout to let yourself be heard in a conversation then it's a notch too high. Great when the promoter has the set up just right until another Dj starts tinkering from behind the speakers, I know it's personal choice and lots of people like it blasting out but not for me.

Having had a quadruple heart bypass on the 26th April it has to be The Stylistics You Make Me Feel Brand New, not brand new just yet but getting there.

I've loved Popcorn since I first became aware of it mostly at first down to the Northern Soul side of things they play but as has been said it is an all encompassing scene and definitely won't be to everyone's taste on here. I listened to countless playlists on You tube over the years and you have to dig deep to uncover the less obvious tunes that appeal to a more Northern ear. As an example of the slowing down of a tune I'm of an age I remember the singer Anne Shelton, quite a large lady with blonde hair, one of her tunes came up on a playlist and I thought that doesn't sound like the Anne Shelton I remember, I looked for another version and sure enough the playlist one was slowed down to fit the required tempo. I'm not posting it because I think it's a good tune it's just an example for those who are wondering what they are trying to achieve though on this one they are both on shown as popcorn so maybe it isn't always slowed down. If any of you guys are tempted to check out some Popcorn for the first time don't be put off there will most likely be 95% that you think is terrible, with a lot of patience and button pressing there are some fabulous tunes to be found.

Likewise with your Sam Dees and Maze

I feel I have to explain the Denice Williams one, didn't go to see her not that she aint a good singer, support act was Lenny Williams, he'd just released his first solo album, he did a cracking rendition of his Tower of Power tune So Very Hard To Go, when he finished that particular song the bemused looks on the faces of Denice's fans as myself and several others who had obviously gone to see Lenny rose to our feet to applaud him. Funny as you allude to the things from our youth that didn't seem to be important or even of any intrinsic value at the time you wish you had kept, the smallest of things can bring back so many memories.

I was there that night Joey, I think if my memory serves me right it was the first live performance I went too, can't remember the year but the date was October 18th, my ticket is on the bottom of this picture, always used to annoy me that the Odeon and Palace often didn't put the artists name on the ticket as in this case. We were lucky living where we did to get so many visiting artists in Manchester. The picture is really a snapshot of my soul journey as you can see anything from the Stylistics to the Blues Legends tours that used to be on at the Holdsworth Hall were I was lucky to see Rufus Thomas in his pink trouser suit and shorts. On a different tack did anyone on here have the misfortune to see Gino Washington at the Brewery Arts Center in Kendal. We'd travelled up to stay with Eddy Edmundson , when we got to the Brewery we thought the P.a set up looked a bit odd ,imagine our surprise when out came Gino dressed in a full red leather jump suit straps and all, he'd gone punk. It didn't take Eddy long in in his own inimitable style to stand up and announce "this is f******** s**** we're going

Another one I found I had recently, just started playing what's left of my records, the Marvellous Mighty Dells, cheaper than chips as well, not a great one to dance to I'd guess but what a vocal as usual.

Some great sax playing on that track, cheers for posting.

Was this ever played anywhere

Great track, recently found I had this when my mate said have you played the b side of this Nina Simone, obviously I hadn't.

I've heard this played out a couple of times, not too many to be honest ,does sound good when played loud though

It's taken 40 years for a couple of my mates to call it Northern Soul, before that if they heard mention of it on the radio or Tv they referred to it as "that shite you listen to Smiffy" ............

I was only playing a couple of Doris Duke albums yesterday after seeing Congratulations Baby on another thread, nice list.

I haven't re read the thread Joey but if your comment above is aimed at a couple of lines in my poem post then I think you have misread the intent of my post. My poem was intended to be an overview of the scene itself albeit a potted one, there were no intentional digs at anyone. It has been a common view expressed many times that some left the scene when they had children, nothing wrong with that and no slight was intended in those particular lines of my poem. I fully and always have done respect others views whether they be the same as mine or not. I am not a keyboard warrior in any shape or form. I have always tried on this site to give a fair and balanced view on any discussion I have participated in, I believe in live and let live, the nights I attend are generally those have a true across the board policy therefore I do not criticise anyone's particular taste in music. I have to say again my poem was not intended to be a dig at any one faction on the scene, that is the true beauty of poetry it is open to interpretation, what one sees as something another sees completely differently. I am sorry if the lines about people leaving the scene to have children then returning offended you, it is something I have heard said many times and was one way in my poem to illustrate that some left the scene. With respect I think our views on this particular issue may be closer than you realise hence my up vote to your post.