Mick Howard

First all nighter I went to. Was in the 'small' room with wooden dancefloor first & later in the main 'rink' complete with concrete floor. Used to come out of the latter absolutely black with dust. I've posted this before but in case some didn't see it, the photos were taken in the the 'rink' when Jr Walker & The All-Stars were on. MIck

There were some 'Norman Normals' at my 50th Birthday bash this year & they were all well aware what the music policy was going to be. Whilst those closer to me didn't offer any complaints, others weren't so diplomatic and were in fact, I thought, a little rude about music they knew eff all about. A wide range of tunes (stompers, Rn'B, beat ballads etc.) was played by me, Chalky, Craig Butler & Tony Mac but it definitely wasn't 'safe' Motown or 'known' Northern like Dobie Grey et al - maybe it should have been! As to if folk were actually interested then I agree with Richard - a good range of stomping, in-yer-face dancers.... Mick

Webby From The Who's Who In Soul Music "Born in Virginia, Rick moved to Washington DC at the age of 15. Here he sang backing vocals with The Dominoes, later fronting The Raw Band for five years, releasing 'Don't Keep Me Waiting' on the Universal Creations label (1988). In 1989 he released a solo single 'Sitting On Your Doorstep' and worked on an album with Al Johnson and Willie Lester for the Washington Hit Makers" Mick

Andy my old mate Scotlands input to the scene is definitely not forgotten by this 'tyke' now living near Glasgow. Some fantastic all nighters up here; getting picked up by Guys coach at the Tickled Trout just outside Preston and coming up to Glenrothes. Driving up to Allanton with the Brennans (picking up Kev & Claire 'cos their car had broke down) - great days and great people indeed! I even got a DJ spot at Allanton thanks to that very nice man Jim O'Hara. Shame there 'aint much going on these days - bout time something big happened up here. Try going to the Groovesville thing at the Mono cafe last Friday of the month like Ali & I did last week 'cos it would make you weep..... Mick

Post a scan later in the week of this /more/soul-library/28520-levon-and-the-hawks-he-dont-love-you/ Mick

Ali & I saw it yesterday afternoon at the Glasgow Film Theatre & I've given it 7. In general terms the plot it is the age-old 'boy wants unobtainable girl & can't see the one he eventually ends up with right under his nose' story but with the Soul scene as an aside. Fair enough. It was amusing in parts and the lead actor wasn't at all bad although the actor playing his mate wasn't great to be honest. Of course there were some inacuracies not least the dance-off which is what I call 'The Hollywood Moment' (there's usually one in every movie) but I thought that they did a pretty good job in recreating the external look of the Casino which Ali agrees with after having had a look at my photos. Yeah, not bad but looking forward to the one that's in production at the moment. Mick

Baz Definitely in the far east - txt'd him a couple of week ago. Japan maybe find some stuff. The US forces were massive in the Philippines weren't they - has that been looked over? Mick

My thoughts for what they're worth. My fanatacism of Soul music also kicked off in the fair city of Norwich in the mid 70's so I'm quite sure some of those DJ's you mention Frank will remember me (I certainly remember Kev Laws & Mobbsy to name but two) but come the mid 80's those very same folk who I'd knocked about with ten years previously had lost their "good ear for good soul music"! I could count the number of people on one hand from Norwich who actually regularly bothered to go to Stafford and later places like Market Harborough, Mexborough, Chesterfield & others post Wigan where "60's newies" featured heavily. It might be argued that it was because of the travelling but sorry no, somehow for some reason the majority of those guys shut their ears to newer discoveries and I distinctly recall one of those already mentioned saying that "it sounds like rock n' roll"! Sorry if that sounds a bit negative but that's exactly how it was. The initial couple of years after Wigan shut was very challenging to say the least and as has already been said many times, regular punters were extremely thin on the ground with only the die-hards still prepared to shake a leg, lend an ear or grab a piece of vinyl (which was cheap by that time) and for me, bearing in mind that I had experienced the Casino (which appeared a bit insular to me the first time I went BTW), St Ives, Peterborough and the 100 Club, the only reason to keep going was so that I could hear new stuff. Attending events that were/are billed as 'oldies' only has never, ever appealed to me. What many people seem to forget is that there was a time that tunes that are now considered 'oldies' from Sandi Sheldon through The Magnetics to Billy Arnell were all 'newies' at one time so instead of labelling lets just call it rare Soul and accept it for what it is - the most uplifting music ever to grace this Earth! Hallelujah! Mick

Rudy Clark wrote a few tunes during his time. Here's the extract from Wikipedia: Rudy Clark (born Rudolph Clark, 1935) is an American songwriter about whom little biographical information seems to be known. Supposedly a former mail carrier hailing from New York City, he was most active from the early 1960s through the early 1970s. He wrote songs for James Ray (and indeed may have discovered the singer), including Ray's moody 1962 R&B hit and regional pop hit "If You Gotta Make a Fool of Somebody", as well as the obscure "Got My Mind Set On You", which later became a surprise number one comeback hit for George Harrison in 1987. Clark was a close friend of Bobby Darin, who owned TM Music/Trio, the music company that employed Clark. Clark and Darin collaborated on several hits including "Do the Monkey." Clark then wrote the Top Ten soul classic "The Shoop Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss)", recorded by Betty Everett in 1964, which would be frequently revisited by other artists (most notably in the version that became a worldwide hit for Cher in 1991) in subsequent years. Clark co-wrote "Good Lovin'", recorded by The Olympics in 1965 and then remade as a #1 hit by The Young Rascals the following year. Other Clark compositions include "Everybody's Got to Make a Fool Out of Somebody", recorded by Barbara Mason, and "Fool, Fool, Fool", recorded in 1964 by Little Joey & the Flips and then covered by Roosevelt Grier, the A-Cads, and Ray Brown & The Whispers, with the last two representations reaching #1 in South Africa and Australia respectively. Clark was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best R&B Song for his lead contribution in writing the 1972 Top Five hit "Everybody Plays the Fool" by The Main Ingredient. Beyond pop hits, Clark wrote several songs for the early 1970s Harlem Globetrotters cartoon series. Besides being heard on oldies radio, Clark's material has also found its way to the Broadway theatre, making reference to Andr DeShields' Haarlem Nocturne (1984) and Marion J. Caffey's Street Corner Symphony (1997). On top of that he also wrote I Found My Place by the Johnson Sisters which is a great slice of Rn'B. Mick

Sam Is that you with the eagle tattoo in the 3rd photo in my earlier post? Mick

I really don't have a story to match the ones here (the one in the bar was brilliant) but just to stick my tuppence worth in. Edwin was the first live Soul artist I saw back in the mid 70's (Peterborough or St Ives I think) and I then saw him a few more times over the years and I have to say that he most definitely was the most consistent of them all. I don't think his shows were ever 'bad' so the mans' professionalism and dedication to his craft cannot be questioned. I would have to say that because he lived in the UK and because he therefore was on more than the artists back in the States then yes of course we took him for granted but 'aint that the way of things? Here are some photos I took at Hinckley back in the early 80's - perhaps his outfit 'aint as good as the musical notes one in the documentary but hey...

What a fantastic trailer - the bit with Billy rehearsing is marvellous. A project well worth funding. Mick

Just sent an e-mail myself to this lot Mick

Derek The fact that they only released one record blows my theory about the white gloves out of the water - both The Unifics & The Manhattans wore them but they released loads. Bummer..... Mick

Not really Ady's shout is it? According to the article its down to two things: Westminster Council lowering its ratesThe Landlord lowering its rentWho, other than a billionaire with money to burn, would want it with that rent & those rates even with such a history?. I think its day is approaching Mick

More than mega - humungous...... My favourite Soul vocal group of all time just about a capella but with JJ strumming his bass - truly wonderful. Mick

Derek Me owld mate.. Rather than waiting for a clue can I ask if the gloves are significant? Mick

I do remember that Mike Vickers was played by Guy at Stafford as The Boogaloo Investigator but didn't know that it had been around that long. Mind you, there were records played throughout the years which perhaps didn't take off initially but did following re-activation some years later - maybe On The Brink was one those - almost perfect for the rise of 'new' 60's at Stafford even though it 'aint Soul.... Mick

No Motown specialist me but surely she must have played on 'that' song by 'that' producer considering the dates. There is a Motown book I read (can't remember the title but it's orange with the UK Tamla Motown logo on the front) & its implied that she played on most of the West coast productions during the mid 60's. Mick

Yeah but Byrney, you've always been lah de dah I can tell you.....

Daz Was this played that early & by whom? Mick

Could be Webby - started going Summer 76 (Peterborough & St Ives) & so it probably took me a while to understand what was 'new' big and 'old' big. Freddie Chavez definitely 'old' big when I started going... Mick

Simsy Surely some mistake here. Tony Galla and Freddie Houston were played circa mid-80's whilst the others had been around quite some time by then - Jerry Williams was massive when I was a lad (so I'm told) and Freddie Chavez was already big when I started going in 76... Anyway for me, although its hard to transport myself back.... Interplay - Derek & Ray Ever Again - Bernie Williams Pick Me Up & Put Me In Your Pocket - Jeanette Harper Mick

Gigs I think what you're trying to say is that the Casino was 'of it's time' and that was the 70's when we were young(er). Webby's right though, its a wonder it didn't collapse but hey, they were built to last in those days. Mick

Looking at it from a very logical stand-point John there is absolutely no way would folk be enjoying the Casino today! Let's look at the facts; The all nighters started there in 1973 - I don't think that there is a club night in the World let alone the Country that has lasted 37 years has there? Let's face it, the place (not the atmosphere) was a bit of a s**t hole wasn't it? Toilets were always an effin' mess, condensation dripping from the ceiling, crap dance-floor (in comparison with other places) and so on. Would many folk still be excited about going to such a place 37 years on unless it had been refurbed - the local council/environmental health wouldn't have allowed it given the plethora of current health, safety and environmental legislation which wasn't around when it closed (the first aid regs only came out in 81)? A lot there to say it wouldn't. Mick