Fish Fingers

That's a really good solution. 👍

There are places that do it online. You send them the plan and then they 3D print it and post it to you. Edit; Much cheaper if you know someone who's got a 3D printer apparently. I don't know the ins and outs (hence - ask a young person!) but on another forum I'm on, someone designed a 3D phone holder for a car. They then shared the design and people got them printed.

Ask a young person about how to get a bespoke widget measured and 3D printed for it. .... Maybe a standard spider design, but with one leg printed slightly longer.

Interesting track that. Really nice. Never heard it before. It's sort of soul but with a ska undercurrent.

Slight tangent..... I also think the piano / drum break on Spring Rain (1976) at about 2.35 is like a (slightly slowed bpm) Piano House track, yet to be invented.

I was watching that TOTP link someone posted recently and it made me realise how well many soul tracks have aged compared to some of the general pop nonsense. They are far more timeless for the most part. So it just got me wondering of any soul tracks that were ahead of their time? I will kick off with an obvious one. Marvin Gaye - 'Whats going on' So many reasons this album was ahead of its time, but the environmemtal theme on 'Mercy mercy me (the ecology)' I find incredible for over half a century old. Meanwhile Dawn were also in the charts with 'knock three times'!

And on the Soul / pop fringe, I have seen Lisa Stansfield 3 tines recently and really enjoyed all 3 nights. I think it's her husband on percussion? He's very good. One of the nights was Northern themed with dancers and a DJ on at one point.

Another sad loss.

Not sure this has been done before. It may be interesting and quite diverse. I think mine wouid have to be Maze in the mid 80s - when Joy & Pain was an anthem. Saw them at Mcr Apollo. The percussion guy was particularly impressive.

One of my favourite records.

Everything about it looks wrong.... There is no emotion showing - which doesn't sit right for a soul event. It looks like a cross between a teen disco and Stepford Wives. Promotion for 'Footsee' maybe? The guy looks like he is 'performing some moves' - but to something not very soulful judging by the numb look on the bystanders faces.

Me too. Fantastic song! Conicidence that today is the anniversary of the death of Donny Hathaway (after the news about Mtume yesterday). Apparently DH died in Jan 1979 age just 33 and I was just wondering when 'Back together' actually charted in the UK and found it was May 1980 apparently. While researching I found a bit more info on the artists/track from a US site: Flack and Hathaway had been friends since they first met as students at Washington, DC’s Howard University, but after both singers had become successes in their own rights – Flack’s was still more critical than commercial at the time, but even so – they became collaborators, teaming up for the appropriately-titled 1972 album ROBERTA FLACK & DONNY HATHAWAY. Their voices blended together gorgeously, and listeners reacted accordingly, which naturally led to further duets together, but Hathaway’s battle with depression and paranoid schizophrenia led to schisms in both his personal and professional relationships. Regrettably, it also led him down a path which ultimately led to his death when he fell from the 15th floor of New York’s Essex Hotel. Just before his death, Hathaway had reconciled with Flack, and the duo had returned to the studio to start recording a new album of duets. Alas, they hadn’t finished the LP before he died, but even though it only included two duets, Flack opted to title the subsequent album ROBERTA FLACK FEATURING DONNY HATHAWAY. (If you’re wondering, “You Are My Heaven” was the other duet, and it was also the first single from the album.) “Back Together Again,” which featured background vocal arrangements from Gwen Guthrie and Luther Vandross, was a top-10 hit on Billboard’s R&B Singles chart, hitting #8, but it was an even bigger hit across the pond, where it climbed all the way to #3 on the UK Singles chart. Yes, it’s nothing short of tragic that it was the last time Flack and Hathaway would hit the charts together, but at least they went out on a high.

I can't see it personally. It was a lame record even by pop standards, with no Northern Soul appeal whatsoever.

I know it's different for NS record collectors, but I recall something a number of years ago at the start of the boom in mainstream vinyl sales. Apparently, vinyl was also heavily pushed by the record companies as they (as well as the artists) were making nothing in the heyday of the ipod (remember those 😁) when everyone was just sharing music files and nobody was buying any music. They have now got a lot of people paying far more to own a vinyl record than download an MP3 and it also can't be copied/shared. Good business for the record companies.

Kids are less tribalistic than we used to be. When I was young, most people were either a Soulie / Punk / Heavy Rocker / New Romantic etc. Its how people identified with the world in a time before YouTube and Tik Tok. Clothing and music tribalism were embedded in youth culture. I can see next gen just looking at NS as part of their overall diverse music experience. Maybe go to a soul night, then tomorrow go to an indie night. If that is the case, it would dilute certain aspects. Dancing and record collecting being obvious ones. I could also see the strict barriers of a NS night blurring (as already seems to be the case with Levs do) as next gen take it on their journey. More diversity with the music, drinks on the Dancefloor (sorry admin 🤣) etc. Just my 02p.

I think It's great to see the young uns getting into it. It would be a waste if it died out with all us older bods. And it's also testament to how good the scene is (not to mention the music) to still be going strong after 40+ years. IMO Lev has done more than anyone to promote it to the next generation. And I also think it's healthy that the next generation have their own spin on it and do it their way, rather than just mirroring what had been done before. I take my hat off to the girl...

I would imagine the OP may have gone elsewhere now to get the help they were requesting. A 10 minute phone call was all they were asking for.

Loving that. New to me!

I would be happy to do the phone call. I grew up in a working class Northern town (Warrington) and got into Northern Soul in the mid 1970s.

I am thinking that the OP can change the dissertation to 'Arguments about the term Northern Soul' and she will have all the study material she needs within this thread already 😁

Amazingly I do still sometimes wear a pair of trousers that I got just after I left school! The zip sometimes chaffes my neck, but otherwise quite a decent scarf.

@Imogenm This is the documentary I mentioned in an earlier post, it as initially shown in 1976 on prime time tv. It gives you a feel for what was going on then.... But it's important to put it in context of what was going on nationally/mainstream to get an idea of its underground appeal...

To the OP..... I was at school for the early days of Northern Soul so this was my view. Most people identified with a clan. You were a 'soulie' or a 'punk' or a 'heavy rocker' etc. It was far more regimented than today. You chose your clan and adopted the style (friends/clothes/hairstyles etc) and didn't mix much with the others. There was a greater need to identify as other 'lifestyle options' were severely limited due to tight finances. Holidays/restaurants/cars etc were needs must rather than your choice. But clothes and records were relatively attainable along with weekly admission to a club/disco. A lot of people got stuff from their local towns markets. We would also go to the underground market in Manchester. 'Fashion' stallholders would catch onto the latest trends quickly and start knocking clobber out at low quality but cheap prices. But having said that, people didn't have that much disposable income. Designer labels were not really a thing, but as mentioned above individuality was. Most people on the Northern scene were from working class backgrounds and many had menial, tough jobs. Saturday night was the escape and time to push the boat out and to feel a million dollars. Add to it the exclusivity of Northern Soul and you would feel great. *Hopefully someone will point you to a documentary that showed just that angle. I once saw / read something on fashion in Liverpool being similar to Milan. But it was the working classes wanting to feel special on a Saturday night in Liverpool after grafting in a factory all week that was different. Still applies today..... If you see most of the girls at the weekend out and about draped in Prada/Gucci/Moncler etc many of them will be from ordinary working class backgrounds, but with just more disposable income (or debt) than in the 1970s. Just filling in a bit of background that needs to run in tandem when discussing 1970s fashion in working class England.

I was a kid at junior school when 'Footsie' was on TOTP. I was intrigued as everything else about was glam rock / pop etc. This new music and dancing looked cool! Older brother then started getting into NS and I followed behind. Favourite early songs included 'Afternoon of the rhino' / 'Blowing my mind to pieces' / 'Cigarette Ashes' / 'Out on the floor' I took the latter into a school music lesson in 1st year at High school and the whole class did a study on records we brought in. My best mate (RIP) who later became a decent Modern Soul / Soulful House DJ took 'Bohemian Rhapsody' before I converted him to Northern. 🤣