Mickey Finn
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Everything posted by Mickey Finn
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Merry Christmas to the team - your work is much appreciated
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Just appeared on the Dusty Groove front page: https://www.dustygroove.com/item/165147/Steve-Guarnori:All-Platinum-Making-Of-A-Sound My copy is waiting at my mother's for pick up in early January.
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That's a very fine retailer that I've used over many years. Very competitive prices, great selection that is constantly updated, good service ... they deserve every success. They typically stock relevant books, and I reckon they are among the best outlets for any book of this kind in the US. Nice one, Steve.
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Nobody is likely to beat Lukie D, although there are perhaps features of the Jamaican scene that make his track record less unlikely - especially if combined with digital download only releases. One soul artist that comes to mind is Donald Height. He released singles between 1960 and 1976 on King, Soozee, Jubilee, Old Town, Roulette, RCA Victor, Shout, Jubilee, Hurdy-Gurdy, Honey, Bell, Mayhew, Dakar and Soulful Music. As Don Day Curtis he recorded for ABC-Paramount. As Prince Jefferies he had a release on Old Town. 15 labels in 16 years.
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Such an important point and sadly all too true for our culture today as a whole. Kids get this at school from an early age - they are encouraged to "sell" themselves at whatever they do, and as technology develops they get the tools by which to sell themselves even more intensively and collect likes, thumbs up, and whatever else gives them the dopamine rush. No wonder mental health problems among teenagers are so well documented. I saw the obituary of this remarkable lady today: https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2023/nov/15/anna-scher-obituary I remember she had a tv show on Saturday mornings during the 70s which was basically her just doing her classes with young kids given a chance to do something they might never otherwise get a chance to do. Many went on to great things. Kathy Burke tells it best how she was able to open doors for kids who otherwise had nothing from the formal education system. But she also encouraged them to listen to each other and understand how to relate, not just to each other but to an audience. She understood them as people and encouraged them to communicate and listen, rather than just show off. The wider culture has changed to such an extent that instead of children preferably being seen and not heard, today it's preferable for them to be seen, heard, liked, recognised, followed, famous, but no chance of them being listened to and understood as real people. No surprise if they are too busy performing to listen and understand others. That's a major reason for the disrespect, narcissism, and total lack of awareness, sadly about a lot more than northern soul. Every older generation tut tuts at the antics of the young. But it's our generation that's responsible for promoting a lot of the nonsense that passes for education these days so to some extent at least we should be mindful of the choices we make and the examples we set. Fortunately there's a lot of youngsters who are too busy enjoying themselves and the music to bother selling themselves, as the documentary clip shown at September's Blackpool festival showed very clearly. But they are also mindful of the history and eager to understand the legacy they have inherited, and can be trusted to carry it forward in their own respectful way.
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These albums include well-researched liner notes: https://acerecords.co.uk/this-is-lowrider-soul https://acerecords.co.uk/this-is-lowrider-soul-vol-2
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Those who are interested will have to explain the difference between what passes for the norm in future and what was filmed in the "This England" doc.
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Got to put a word in for Izipho Soul - some of their recent output has been tremendous.
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From experience I can say that there are deejays with very substantial collections playing a lot of regularly played stuff played also by other deejays with similarly very substantial collections. This is not just a Wigan 50 year anniversary issue. It might be promoters telling them what to play, it might be punters voting with their feet, a combination of these, or just fear of pushing the envelope, but it does seem a waste and it seems to be very far from the original spirit of the scene. I was too young to attend the Casino but I know from playlists and recordings that a lot of records played there in later years by e.g. Richard S and Gary R have not been revived except maybe by a few non-headliner deejays given afternoon or early doors slots and therefore free to be more adventurous. Most people seem to assume that punters attending evening events want to hear familiar sounds, and I was told by a deejay earlier this year that he is not "allowed" to play some of his afternoon spins during evenings because the audience won't let him. There is clearly a market for nostalgia and just as in whatever remains of the jazz-funk scene there are people of a certain age who want to relive their past, and promoters naturally cater to them. As we all get older it's no surprise that preservation takes over progression for some. And if we judge "success" as a full dancefloor, then many oldies deejays are very successful. However I love hearing new, unfamiliar and forgotten sounds played out as it is clear that the surface is barely being scratched in many cases. Maybe "success" should be measured by how many people stay in the room, rather than only on the dancefloor - if the music is crap then punters will walk, especially at a multi-room event, whereas chin-stroking and liquid consuming can be done while listening to what is played. And a lot of people don't seem to appreciate just how fresh the familiar records can sound in the middle of unfamiliar sounds. There are some promoters who take care to provide space for rare and underplayed sounds at multi-room events, and maybe the only "criticism" of them I can reasonably offer is that this aspect could be emphasised more strongly. Otherwise the best way to hear less familiar sounds is to turn up early and support those spinners who are not necessarily headlining but who can be relied on to dig deeper and play the underplayed. You'll quickly figure out who is worth following and who is just playing obscurities for the sake of it without any sort of quality control, which is a different problem altogether but one that can also reduce attendance at events. Another possibility would be to relax the OVO rule as this places in my view unreasonable limits on what can be played, prioritises format over music quality, and feeds the chequebook deejay phenomenon that many here highlight as a big problem. That's going to be controversial but it should be possible to provide space for non-OVO content without compromising OVO policy in e.g. the main room of a multi-room event.
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Or Roberta:
Don't forget Billy:
Pretty much anything by this guy qualifies:
What's wrong with that? If punters feel ripped off then it won't be long before promoters won't be making a decent living, especially when there's so much choice out there. We all have a vested interest in having a thriving and prosperous scene. If some people with the time, energy and imagination are able to make a living from organising events that by definition must be popular enough to cover all costs and then provide some income for the organiser, then good for them. Until we live in a different kind of economic system this is what we've got and no point blaming entrepreneurs for it. We've all got to eat.
From a long article about Leon Bridges and Curtis Harding published on 18 June 2015: "There’s little doubt, though, that in the UK at least, the classic soul revival is being marketed to an older, whiter audience. Bridges is currently playlisted on Radio 2 and 6 Music, but not on Radio 1 and certainly not on 1Xtra. Craig Charles, who has a Saturday-evening funk and soul show on 6 Music as well as DJing in clubs, says it was ever thus. That’s not a new phenomenon. “The whole northern soul scene was white,” he says. “Some black people who went to those events suffered racism. I suppose young black people are always looking to be ahead of the curve – in the 70s, rather than northern soul, black people were into P-Funk and Earth, Wind and Fire, and so on, not the 60s soul. Now black people have moved on from soul to dubstep and hip-hop. I think white and black musical youth are almost a generation apart.”" https://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/jun/18/leon-bridges-curtis-harding-the-new-stars-of-classic-soul Disappointing to read this but the same could be said of any type of events, as indeed it has already on this forum. "Some" means "not all", but why bring it up, especially when it has nothing to do with the main point he's trying to make. Not helpful of the interviewer to include it, whatever CC actually said. Having checked Norman Jay's book he talks about going to the Casino, the Mecca and the Ritz and the "problems" he faced were mainly getting his mates to come along - many of those that did complained the music was too old and that the girls weren't interested No mention of any racism, and he says he had no fear of hanging out where almost everyone was white, which might be what some of the London crowd have difficulty getting their heads around, given their experience of London in those days.
I'm about the same age as you and have had a similar engagement with soul music as you. I couldn't have written it better - neither of the gentlemen you mention have had anything to do with my journey, except a kind of distant association, and I don't expect that to change. Scenes must evolve if they are to survive, and evolution is no guarantee of survival. We all get old and too many performers, djs and punters have gone already for there to be any kind of "purity", which would always be controversial because everyone who belongs to a scene experiences it differently anyway. This forum demonstrates that every day. When I go to events I'm pleased to hear some of the old faithfuls but I'm still wanting to hear new-to-me sounds, and I'm grateful to the djs and promoters who make that possible. I get disappointed hearing dj sets that are interchangeable with many I've heard before, but full dancefloors suggest I'm maybe not in a majority. Maybe one day I'll get tired of new (to me) sounds and just enjoy the old faithfuls, but for now there's still so much unknown and forgotten music out there that keeps me hungry. Neither Russ Winstanley or Craig Charles are helping me to to hear and identify those sounds. These days RW seems to be catering to a nostalgia market, whereas CC is helping a younger audience come to soul and funk fresh. Few of us here would seem to need these services, but if CC is opening ears to the music then he's doing us all a service. After all, there is bound to be a percentage of his audience that will take it to the next level and dig deeper, and so help to keep the music alive and whatever counts as a scene evolving, long after they lose interest in Craig Charles. The same can be said for Trevor Nelson. Re racism, Norman Jay's memoir brings it up with reference to London, specifically mentioning Mark Roman's stint at Crackers in west London as being groundbreaking for welcoming everyone and having a strict door policy refusing and ejecting any troublemakers of that nature. I don't remember Norman saying anything negative about the Casino or any of his engagement with the Northern scene at the time. And unlike some of the media commentators, he was actually there.
Always good to receive happy news. Hope you had a great day and many more!
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Despite being forced to leave early due to a forced flight change, we left once again very satisfied with what is without question a highlight of the summer and great way to round off our travels. The location itself is superb, and there's something very special about being able to dance away or just listen to and enjoy great music and being able to take in the fantastic view of the North Sea and Yorkshire coastline. The quality of this weekender is indicated by how often timetable clashes deprived us of enjoying what was sure to be great sets elsewhere. Sometimes out of body experiences would be very handy. As it was we did our best to get the best of all 3 rooms at the Pavilion. Kev Roberts kicked things off in the big room and quickly got the floor filled with a selection of favourites. Half way through we went downstairs to the modern room where Phil Kingswood was in usual great form and even paid tribute to Soul Sam with Ike Strong's "Your love keeps me dancing" as well as the Dells "Your song" in addition to more recent sounds including Angie Stone before rounding off with what has become one of his anthems, "Don't wanna be a fool" by Luther. Steve Woomble then kicked things off with Phyllis "you know how to love me" and continuing with a fine selection of late 70s 12s. Moving upstairs again we were lucky enough to be there for an absolutely wonderful set by Sean Chapman, who played a selection of r&b, rocksteady and otherwise underplayed tunes that had the floor packed and the chin strokers working overtime wearing out their beards. Among the highlights was Ike and Tina's "Strange" and I think it was Sean who also played Billy Hawkes "Oh baby I'm believe I'm losing you" - my note taking was pretty frantic at times. Julie Heaney took over with a more 70s focused set that included the Fantastic Puzzles "Come back". Altogether some proper rare and underplayed and a great way to set us up for Saturday. The afternoon sessions are always special and especially for the big room djs it's a chance to play out some of the lesser known or featured tracks, and we certainly got those on Saturday along with some of the more familiar tunes. John Barker kicked things off with a very personal selection including a fine remembrance of John Poole who was a Saturday afternoon regular. Jimmy Mack's "My world is on fire" and Alexander Patten's "A lil lovin sometimes" rounded off what was an emotional tribute. Derek Mead followed with a typically great set of not obvious but clever picks including Gloria Jones "Come go with me", Jimmy Soul Clark's "Sweet darlin" and Gentleman June Gardner's "It's gonna rain". Then Hitsville Chalky hit the ground sprinting and never let up, playing as many uptempo stompers as he could lay his hands on. By the end of the hour teams of stretcher bearers were on standby, including for Chalky who was working up a major sweat behind the decks, never mind those dancing in front of them. Rounding off this session was Mark Freeman, who brought the tempo down a little and sprinkled some absolutely amazing records across his set, including Lawrence and the Arabians "I'll try harder", The Furys "I'm satisfied with you" and Frank Dell's "Baby you've got it". A real standout set. Saturday evening in the Marketplace was just terrific, with Paul Rockey getting things underway with a nice rare and underplayed set including a great version of the much recorded "I can't wait to see my baby's face" by the Monticellos, as well as Tony Drake's "Suddenly" - that's one for the big room for sure. Then John Heaney entertained us with an eclectic set covering 60s and 70s soul as well as some reggae, with a highlight for me "Too late" by Tavares. Lee Fletcher kept things going with some fine 70s soul sounds before we took advantage of a break in the weather to get home dry and ready for Sunday. Derek Mead kicked off in the big room with Phil Coulter's "A good thing going", at the same time as Phil Kingswood got started with Cheryl Berdell's "Giving it all to you", another of his anthems. Derek continued with some Motown selections before reviving his cover up from last year - the Chants' absolutely brilliant cover of "I get the sweetest feeling", before giving us what for me was the standout tune of the summer (also played by Mark Freeman), Barbara Lewis "I remember the feeling". Then Hitsville Chalky hit us like a full force gale again with a very entertaining set of mostly uptempo tracks. At this point we went to the Marketplace to recover and enjoy a wonderful set of rocksteady, ska and early reggae tunes courtesy of Carrie Frost - a proper connoisseur's set of the kind that there seems to be growing demand for, and justifiably so. Lee Fletcher brought us back to the soulful 70s with another well chosen set. In the big room Steve Luigi kept things moving along nicely in what has become a well-established Sunday afternoon slot. Ray Copley continued with a set of favourites from Motown and Chess especially, before Ginger Taylor and John Barker carried it through to the final session with Snowy and friends. Out in the marketplace Sam Evans and Chris Box were getting the party restarted with a modern classics farewell set which had the place packed. It was a pity to leave early but considering what we got from the afternoon sessions we certainly got full value and then some. Maybe this year with so many events and an unkind economic situation people are watching their pennies a bit more - Blackpool in September, farewell to Cleethorpes a few weeks earlier, etc. Every event is special in its own way but this one in particular is probably the one I'd be most reluctant to sacrifice. Top venue, top and absolutely knowledgeable djs, great place and all the hits, classics, rare, underplayed, and discoveries new and old you can shake a stick at. I think the modern content could sometimes be more imaginative than a lot of the same records being played to the very last drop (hint, hint), but that's a wider scene issue and not unique to this event. Then again, a lot of people want to hear their favourites. Overall I reckon this weekender strikes a good balance but it would not be difficult to broaden with modern playlist without compromising quality - over the years that's something I've heard Phil K do over and over again, for example. Anyway, another year, another weekender (we started in 2014) and our ninth has already been booked for next summer. It's good to plan ahead! ps Note to marketing dept: "heritage djs"?? Nah, stick with "best loved" - that's what they and this event are.- 11 comments
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Listen Up: The Lives of Quincy Jones (made in 1990)
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