Mod Life Crisis

George, this backs up my point at the start of this thread i.e. that an empty dance floor does not necessarily equate to a poorly-chosen record. There have been some interesting recommendations made above and I think we’ll be making our way up to some new venues up the M6 this year. Look forward to meeting some of you there.

Had a conversation along these lines at an event last month with a lad who has been on the scene much longer than me (I started in ‘80/‘81, whereas he was a long-serving Wiganite from “dahn sarf”). The dance floor was packed, everyone was having a great time dancing to the same sets we had been listening to all year. He was bored out of his box and commented how every event in our area (covering Bucks, Beds, Herts , Northants and Oxon) all sound the same, with very little deviation from Top 500. We came to the conclusion that our local DJs seem so fearful of playing to an empty dance floor that they don’t try anything new; having people listen to and enjoy a DJ’s own choice without necessarily dancing to it is not something they will countenance. We were both of the opinion that it would be good if events allowed for a set of underplayed/lesser-known songs to be played, without worrying about the reception on the dance floor. This could take place early doors, when fewer people tend to dance anyway. My personal gauge of a good event is if I hear at least one track that has me logging on to Discogs as soon as I get home. This is happening far less frequently in the past couple of years. (Although a big shout out to Helen from Derby, who introduced me to The Marvels Keep on Searching at the Stourport all-dayer in Sept; played to a near-empty dance floor, yet was the best song I heard all day). In answer to the original poster’s question, it’s not in my local area (unless you catch Jeff Piggott on a good night 😀).

Love this info - thank you so much for sharing this. Personally, I love this record and had to wait many years to get my hands on it. One that will only be sold if starvation is the other option.

Len Just down the A509 from you. Next one is Friday 8th October. You will hopefully enjoy it - good venue, good people running the club, good crowd. All the best. Sean

Popped into MK Soul Club’s event at Olney on Friday night. We arrived at 8 and had difficulty finding a spare table (which is never the case there). People were already on the dance floor and the place was buzzing (akin to how it would be by about 10 pm pre-COVID). We’ve been going to this event for 2-3 years now and this was comfortably the fullest we have seen it, with the best atmosphere there to date. It seems that North Bucks has a pent-up demand for Northern. Long may that continue!

Apologies for coming late to this thread. There was a lot of sadness amongst my crowd when we heard of Jon’s passing. Even though none of us claim to know him well, he is the main reason why there is still a NS scene in my town. When he started RSG Mod Club in 1980, the local mods from Aylesbury latched onto it from the outset and had our first real introduction to Tamla, Atlantic, Stax and the weird & wonderful eclectic mix that is Northern Soul. I first heard him DJ at the Top of the World pub in Hemel in Sept 81; nearly 40 years on, it is still one of the greatest nights of my life. Sweet Soul Music, Ghost in my House, Land of a 1000 Dances, Tainted Love - so many sounds, so much excitement (and a quick drunken snog with an older lady from London; does it get any better for a naive 16-year old innocent from the shires?). We went to most of the RSG events over the next 3 years (including the regular Thursday nights above Burton’s), where the Club evolved into a Northern / scooterist event. The original mod crowd from Aylesbury dropped off, to be replaced by the younger crop; I was one of a handful that straddled both crowds. I only did a couple of events at the Unicorn, having moved back to London, but know how highly revered they were by regular attendees. In the late 80s, early 90s Jon put on a few events at Aylesbury United with our mate Shaun Byrnes and kept the flag flying at a time that the Northern scene was waning in our locality. I last saw him DJ at an event in Hemel one Easter Thursday about 6 years ago or so, when he brought Eddie Pillar in as guest DJ. The car load we took over almost doubled the attendance (and I am not exaggerating), but that evening re-ignited something in me. From that point on, and before lockdown, my Wife and I were attending at least 1-2 events a month (including the occasional ‘Niter). New friendships were made and Aylesbury Soul Club was born (we’re never going to be anything more than a place for local soul fans to gather and reminisce). I will be playing an RSG tribute set when we are finally allowed to reconvene. Jon, we hardly knew each other, but, along with a trio of lads from Woking and my older cousin Mike, you were one of the biggest musical influences in my life. I thank you for putting me on the musical road that continues to bring so much joy. R.I.P. Mr Buck.

PM sent.

PM’d you

Loved it. Hope he carries on getting so much out of the music.

Zee - that’s put a huge smile on my face. Cheers! Sorry, “Zed”.

Another self-confessed carver went for £113.11 this afternoon on eBay.

Original went on eBay for £702 tonight. Repros have been selling for between £100-150 over the past few months, marked up as re-issues. At least the one today was clearly marked up as a reproduction.

100 Club 1983. Records that stood out were Johnny Caswell’s “You don’t love me any more” and Eddie Bishop’s “Call me”. I had a very steep learning curve on dance floor etiquette that night i.e. do not bump into older Scotsmen when dancing too enthusiastically.

Sold for £52.00 last night.

Whatever it was, it’s disappeared. I have just woken up to be told that my bid has been cancelled; when I went back onto eBay, the item is no longer available. Pity, as watching how much this one went for / trying to win it at a low price was going to be my evening’s entertainment. The seller looked reputable and has been selling a bulk list on here recently, so I think the record was the real deal.

Andy Thanks for letting me know so soon. All the best.

Andy Is Johnny Sayles still available? I would like to buy it if it is please. Looking forward to hearing back from you. All the best. Sean

I appreciate this is some time after you advertised this. Is it still for sale?