Hooker1951

ANY VOICE ON RACISM BLACK ,WHITE , YELLOW OR PURPLE SHOULD BE LISTENED TO IF ITS POSITIVE AND CAN MAKE THINGS BETTER,UNFORTUNATELY SOME PEOPLE LIKE TO CHANGE HISTORY TO SOUND IMPORTANT AS CG. AS DONE IN THIS INSTANT.ITS NEVER BEEN DOWN TO THE COLOUR OF THE MAN ITS THE SOUL OF THE MAN THAT MATTERS. ML .

I WAS THERE AM STILL THERE 50 YEARS THERE. CRAIG CHARLES WERENT THERE.ILL BE THERE AGAIN TONIGHT TILL 6 am In the morning. BET YOU CRAIG CHARLES IS NOT THERE IM STILL WRITING MY HISTORY AND CRAIG CHARLES WONT GET A MENTION. CIVILITY COSTS NOTHING BUT MEANS A LOT. MICK LYONS

WELL IF YOU THINK WHAT CRAIG CHARLES SAID PETE IS IMPORTANT SO BE IT AS FAR AS I AM CONCERNED HE,S JUST ANOTHER BOFFIN OF BALYHOO IF YOU SEEM HIM ON YOUR TRAVELS TELL HIM I SAID. THERE,S NO PLACE IN MUSIC FOR ALL THAT RACIAL NONSENSE.SOMETIMES THINGS ARE BETTER LEFT UNSAID. PEACE AND WAR ITS ALL THE SAME TO ME ML TOO MUCH POWDERING OF THE NOSE CAN MAKE SEMI FAMOUS PEOPLE THINK THEY ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN THEY REALLY ARE I KNOW I MADE A LIVING OUT OF KEEPING PRETENDERS QUIET FOR OVER THE LAST 40 YEARS SO PEOPLE WERE SAFE. GOD BLESS MICK L

CRAIG CHARLES STATEMENT DOSEN,T DESERVE THE ATTENTION ITS BEEN GIVEN.MOST PEOPLE ON HERE ARE BETTER THAN THAT AND KNOW BETTER THAN THAT.IT DOSEN,T EVEN MERIT THE COMMENTS.WHY TRY TO EXPLAIN SOMETHING THAT NEVER HAPPEND OR IF IT DID IT DIDNT EVEN MAKE A RIPPLE IF IT HAD HAVE DONE BELEIVE ME IT WOULD HAVE BEEN DISCUSSED ALONG TIME BEFORE CRAIG CHARLES,STATEMENT. PEACE AND TRANQUILITY ML

A Sad loss to the Soul Scene and a Sadder loss to his Family and Friends,Paul was a good man.Condolences to Carol and his family from all of the Stateside Crew. Rest in Peace and God Bless you Paul Mick Lyons

Hi Dayo in the mid 60's up until 1973 as stated in an earlier thread I wrote Soul music was thriving in the north west and over in Yorkshire I was travelling at the time with the fairgrounds and soul was everywhere you went.at the time as regards what was it called you knew by the venues name if it were a soul club and people travelled just like they do now to go dance n listen to the music that they loved, obviously a lot of NS had yet to be discovered but people would be surprised at what was played then Stax,Atlantic,tTamla, and a host of American imports plus stuff on British if you knew what you were looking for. people danced just the same way they do now except maybe a little wilder because they were younger then, so the answer to your question is it was a strong movement which paved the way to becoming NS and rare Soul later on but I can't ever remember there being Rare Soul clubs in 60's n early 70's just simply Soul clubs the same in Germany in the mid 70's Soul clubs in all major towns and Cities A lot of it due to the Amrican bases there since 1945 I visited these clubs in Bochum , Dortmund, Essen and other towns and cities when I lived and worked there. Hope this helps your curiosity. Kind Regards ML

It weren't called disco in the north west from 1965 till 1973 it was called Soul and the clubs were it was played were called Soul clubs allniters, afternoon sessions, simply Soul played at Soul clubs, attended by people who loved 1960's Soul and R nB Mods And Rockers it was a very vibrant Scene I know I was lucky enough to be there. if you weren't there ask people who were you can't change the past to order,, They were never called great disco sounds. Still Pressing on ML

There's a 2 word solution to this problem it's called CUSTOMER CARE.IT means the promoter and the security working for the promoter make sure that the right kind of person is allowed into the venue and the wrong ones refused.Due to some human beings being unpredictable on alcohol and narcotics there will always be a chance that a small percentage will cause problems,In that case the problem should be dealt with promptly and discreetly if possible and not left to go away by itself if you do that it will come back to bite you and possibly ruin the reputation of the venue and lose you the most important factor here your customers.A promoter who doesn't listen to his customers deserves what will eventually happen a bad reputation and loss of respect in this the Northern Soul Fraternity where we I would say we probably have, you could say the nicest cross section of people in the country in some cases so diverse but so close in their love for music and obviously the social side of the scene Is it to big of an ask.? Peace and Tranquility ML

Don't worry Jim I'll send a couple of my Ninjas down to next Stoke with blow pipes and poisoned darts if that doesn't work I'll tell them to stab him twice just to make sure I'll bill Kevin for it later so they don't know it's me. keep on Laughing or you'll otherwise go crazy. Peace n Tranquility ML

Sorry Jim that's exactly what everybody on here has been trying to say.go to A n E and have that butt checked out it might be worse tan what you think. God give me Strength ML

Of course it's the promoters fault the buck stops with the promoter who else can you blame.Im a promoter and have done promotions security wise over the last 50 years you can't start blaming the cleaners take it on the chin and tidy things up. Come on now. ML

Yes but those head butting dicks should be put through the nearest exit at 100 mph to show the decent people that they are safe in that venue and that type of behaviour will not be tolerated.No offence meant but if I had 10 men doing security for me I Would be asking questions how they missed that incident. Keep on Pressing on Mick L

Bad incidents like this cannot always be prevented.Its how fast and effective you deal with the situation when it has happened that matters. Then hold the stewards enquiry later. ie,Is Security not tight enough, Do they know about the NorthernSoul crowd, history ect.A 5 minute chat from the promoter to the Door team before the Night starts can have a profound effect on what happens later. always remember a couple of bad apples let though the door can ruin the night for everybody. Stop them on the Door if in doubt take the high ground and don't let them in its just not worth it and it's not fair on the rest of the paying Soulies who are having their Happiness stolen by Morons who shouldn't have been there anyway.Peace N Tranquility Mick L

Totally agree with you, most venues are much to bright. it is all the Health and Safety to blame the management and the staff at the venues where we promote are all hard work it's always a constant battle switching lights off and them switching on again. I remember when I used to promote Tony's Emp at Blackburn they fitted a orange light right over the Dancefloor said Health n safety it killed the vibe.I took a 22 pistol in the next month and shot it out. We brushed the mess up.It was about 12 months later before the proprietors noticed. If I'd have asked they would have said no. The Darker the Better I say. Keep on Pressing on ML

Don't forget there was another Wigan going on before Wigan Casino Allniters from 1963 till 73 with all kinds of things being played parallel to anywhere in the country Wigan Casino didn't have the monopoly on the soul scene till 1973 but there was soul being played there from At least 1970 I know I worked There. the Room At the Top Club Wigan was playing Mod, Stax Atlantic All American imports for four years from 1964 till 1968 at their Soul nights and their weekly Allniters so there is a good chance that some not all could have been played at Wigan.Ive said it before and I'll say it again Wigan didn't discover soul in 1973 go back ten years to 1963. I was there. Cheers ML

Had the pleasure of meeting B.E. king 43 years ago when he was performing with his Band at the empress Ballroom Wigan I let him and his. Band in the club and I let them out He was Magic that night one of the best live acts I can remember his band had a brass section ,horns and string section he was still in his prime.I exchanged some small talk with him after the show telling him how much his Music was loved.He was a gentleman no ego you could tell He just Loved doing what he did A true Soul man what made truly genuine Soul Music.I feel Blessed to have met him. GOD BLESS YOU BEN E KING and RIP Mick Lyons

sorry about the spelling Waggy. no it was me on the door I used to let them all in and let them all out. :yes:Cheers ML

Some of the Velours used to perform as the Fantastics they played regularly on the Soul circuit in the North west 1970 till 72 along with E Starr, J Ruffian, W Bell, A Conley Ben E King,Lou Christie,and many more they were all in their prime then not forgetting Jonny Johnson n the Bandwagon and the Showstoppers all fantastic acts at their best. ML

I've seen at least a dozen groups masquerading as the drifters over the last 45 years some better at it than others obviously some of these had one or two members who had stood in a drifters lineup some time the nearest and the best to what I would call the drifters was in 1972 when BenE King and his band played live in the Caino Wigan Pre RW and the allniters Ben E was brilliant that night.The nearest copy group to the drifters sound wise were the Drapers 1962 63 who had the time 3 original or maybe 4 Drifter members.If you lined all the different Lineups of the Drifters they'd probably stretch longer than hadrians wall 62 years of different members. Cheers ML

Cecil Washington doesn't in the slightest sound like a novelty sound to me . To me it sounds like a unique soul sound that captured a special time in NS history and always delivers. ML

109642 northern soul records,at the last count but I can't for the life of me remember who counted them. Keep on counting on. ML

The Empress Ballroom in the casino had a capacity of around 1500,another 300 or so and the club would have been crammed.the Palaise room in what became Mr M,would have looked claustrophobic with anything over 400,theBeachcomber about 300 So the complete set up was filled to the brim you are talking 2500 not 5000. Russ might have had double vision if he did that's problem solved. Keep on Trucking ML

IT took Russ w over a year to pay me £1000 he owed me for security at one of he's events it's a pity that £1000 didn't turn into £5000 like his numbers at the Casino did. ML

Russ was in charge of the Casino drug squad that's why they never caught anybody Keep on Laughing or you'll go insane ML