Amsterdam Russ

Sorry, but that doesn't really add to the education you feel we sorely need. And to say that such social aspects go unrecorded is not entirely true. They are recorded in the minds of those who lived the experiences and passed on as aural histories. Whether people with that knowledge will share it with "outsiders" is another matter. To be sure though, not sharing it, or saying that "you won't understand" or that "you won't get it" is patronising and a sure fire way of hastening that history's demise. I don't consider the questions to have been answered because your input has been rather cloudy - hence the desire for clarification and deeper insight. You have to decide whether you wish to enlighten us or walk away having failed in your task to do so without really trying. I'd prefer the first option, but it's your call.

DC Go-go? You mean this as defined by Wikipedia? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Go-go Presuming so, I don't doubt for a minute that many different scenes – regional or rhythmic – would have developed around "black" music in the 1960s in a country as large as the United States. To me that's as plain as day. What I (and the rest of us) aren't getting is what you said in one of your earlier posts. The statement highlighted in red is what this whole discussion is about. To help us take this further, I suggest a change of tack. Instead of arguing against you, how about if we (I - as I can't speak for others) accept what you're saying with a healthy degree of both curiosity and scepticism on the basis that you may be about to enlighten us on a part of black music history and culture that we've hitherto been ignorant? In that light and beyond what you've already said, what insights can you give us about the origins and development of the term? For example, from where, geographically, did it originate? One presumes people in the north wouldn't apply "northern" to their own music, so that points us in another direction. When did it originate - early, mid, late 60s - earlier? Was it applied as a term geographically or to a broad style? Or, like "southern soul" did its definition embrace both geography and style? Who would have used the term and how widespread was its usage to the best of your knowledge? The more insights you can offer, the more persuasive your claims.

What community? Beyond hearsay, you haven't offered any evidence to support your assertion that a so-called Northern Soul scene (or community, if you prefer) existed in the USA and that its origins predate the UK scene. So far all we've had are unsupported and very vague claims and a lot of confusion over the use of adjectives and nouns. I think we're all genuinely interested, so enlightenment would be very welcome.

Bit windy in parts of the country - up to 80kph/50mph. More blustery here though with winds at about 50kph/30mph. Reasonably warm too. It's about 11 deg C at the moment, which ain't bad. Not planning to head out anywhere on my bike, though. Looking at the website, and if I've understood the Dutch correctly, the storks are nesting on top of the historic former town hall of Gennep in the south east of the country. Apparently they've been nesting there since the year 2000. Nice pic with the storks in situ here:

I was thinking more of a "refund" from Kev Roberts than I was of me selling it.

Blimey, I've got one of these as well. Found it in a 2nd-hand record shop in London in the early 90s, I think. Have to say I was rather crestfallen when I listened to it. Cruisin' with Mr Hollywood, indeed... Still, I can see that it must have been a lot of fun to do, but at the same time would like to get my money back?

Too true. Not one of our greatest qualities as a species!

While some records may have had their day, it's such a shame that's there's so much snobbery now!

I think most of the confusion about terms used in this thread is actually confusion over adjectives and nouns. For example, to say that someone is a "northern soul brother" is to use the word "northern" as an adjective to describe people who are "...situated in the north" or are "living in or originate from the north" (definition from the Oxford Dictionary of English). This geographical reference has been outlined by a number of people already in this thread. The same dictionary defines northern soul thusly: While almost everyone on Soul Source, including myself, would like to take the Oxford Dictionary of English to task on this definition, the point is that it's clearly defined as a noun of the variety known as a mass noun. In a nutshell then, using "northern soul" in the adjectival sense to argue that a "northern soul scene" (as a mass noun) existed in the USA prior to the scene in the UK is fatally flawed. If the original poster wishes to argue this claim then they actually need to back this up with much more than hearsay. Whilst we're at it, a trawl through the archives of Billboard magazine shows the first use of "southern soul" as a mass noun (eg, referring to a southern soul musical genre) came in the issue dated 29th April 1969 in a reference to the music of Clarence Carter. While one would expect a mainstream publication to be somewhat late to the cultural party, this is much later than I would have expected. Interestingly though, what it shows is that both "southern soul" and "northern soul" come into being relatively closely to one another, albeit on opposite sides of the Atlantic. At the same time, the first mention of "northern soul" in Billboard doesn't come until the issue dated 19th March 1977 where it is used as a mass noun in reference to the burgeoning UK market for bootlegs of obscure "soul" 45s. Thus it is the first time that Billboard ever makes any mention of a "northern soul scene". Billboard: 19th March 1977 One can only conclude that if there were an identifiable "northern soul scene" in the USA, it would have been mentioned by one of the USA's most authoritative music publications well before this date.

Thought this might interest some of you. As we head into spring and the breeding season for birds, the Dutch equivalent of the RSPB has set up a number of web cams at nest sites, including those of barn owls (kerkuil), tawny owls (bosuil), montagu's harriers (grauwe kiekendief), kingfisher (ijsvogel), peregrines (slechtvalk), storks (ooievaar) and a whole lot more. English language story here: http://www.dutchnews.nl/news/archives/2016/02/big-brother-is-watching-dutch-birds/ Actual web cams (some of which were not actually live when I looked earlier & noted by the word "onderweg") here: http://www.beleefdelente.nl

Sniffing around out of curiosity, as one can't help but do from time to time, I came across this on the eBay profile of soul-institution. So whoever this person is, according to eBay it appears that they began using the name soul-institution from the 3rd of March 2012. That's well after 2010 dates quoted earlier. Indeed, for 10 years prior, this user went by the name of algmusic. You can see this for yourself here: https://contact.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ReturnUserIdHistory&requested=soul-institution I'm not making any judgement here and nor am I drawing any conclusions. I just think it's something that ought to see the light of day. Others can turn their hand to being detective.

Hi Jazz, Possibly the best thing you can do to get an idea of what's popular out there is to have a trawl through the playlists that you can find here: /forum/80-events-playlists/ Do understand that these days the "scene" is rather fragmented nowadays, thus what works for one crowd won't necessarily work for another. One of the clearest divisions in the "scene" is that between the "nostalgia scene" (people dress up as if it were the 1970s again and enjoy the same tunes as were played back then) and the rest of the scene as a whole, which to lesser or greater degrees looks to new and/or less obvious sounds while still enjoying a smattering of "classics". A quick look in the Events forum will show you that there are many events taking place every week. And it's not just confined to the UK. There's a strong scene across mainland Europe and farther afield. Any list of "top 3" tracks would vary wildly from country to country, venue to venue and DJ to DJ. I sincerely doubt you'd get much if any sort of consensus or obvious playlist trends at all. As said, have a look at the playlists and see what you can glean from them.

Amazing camouflage all round coz I can't even see the picture!

Stop being so coy and give the dancing its proper name - shagging. There, I've said it for you. As for the song, it does indeed sound like a very slowed down version of the Roy Brown tune!

Speculation in a Yahoo Group from 2013 suggests that the lead singer is Geralene/Geraldine Toomer... https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/spectropop/conversations/messages/48631

According to Chalky in a thread from 2013... Thread here: https://www.soul-source.co.uk/forums/topic/292278-inverts-time-will-change/

I'll bet it was worth it - and a round trip of 130 miles definitely falls into the category of dedicated. I usually travel a round trip of about 10-15 miles to go to the Amsterdam woods - but that's on my pushbike, which is absolutely no fun at this time of the year!

All good here, thanks, apart from bit of a cold. Nice that you had the opportunity to get out and about. Not done the same for what seems like ages. Sounds like you need to get there a bit earlier - or pass up on the coffee…

Lovely late afternoon light!

Ah, yes. Very logical and meaning that the photographer was perhaps looking for an impressive selfie...

Great pic. I'd be keen to know where the second photographer is positioned. Are both in the water and on either side of the apparently oblivious kingfisher, or is the second person taking the pic with a telephoto lens from some distance off (and, one presumes, also camouflaged)?

Never had a problem with Gilles, and he is rather well-known having set up Motown in France back in the day. I'm surprised to say the least.

Ah. I'm with you now.

You know as fact that he's responsible for pressing these 45s?