Northern Soul BBC4 Living For The Weekend

Northern Soul BBC4 Living For The Weekend

The shape and form of a talked about earlier BBC4 documentary are showing up

It has a name, looks like its on a Friday July 25th, 2014, more details are knocking about and is showing in a BBC trailer...

Friday Night Music: Trailer - BBC Four

and here's the blurb...

Northern Soul: Living For The Weekend, made by independent production company Somethin’ Else, tells the story of a genre of music unlike any other. It’s 40 years since DJ Russ Winstanley unleashed the Wigan Casino on the world, playing Northern Soul to thousands of young people in the club's legendary all-nighters. The Wigan Casino even beat New York's Studio 54 for title of Billboard Magazine’s 'Best Disco in the World' in 1978.

Northern Soul was a unique and peculiar genre of music. Rare American soul tunes, often with a 4/4 beat, were hunted down by obsessive DJs from northern British towns. But the Northern Soul scene was also about authenticity, style and passion and the programme hears stories from Northern Soul DJs Ian Levine, Kev Roberts, Ian Dewhirst, Richard Searling and Colin Curtis, as well as author Bob Stanley, Good Times DJ Norman Jay, musician Lisa Stansfield, filmmaker Elaine Constantine and music legends such as Radio 2 DJ Tony Blackburn and DJ/Producer Pete Waterman.

There you go , the date is from tvrage

Reads to me like it is going to be one that needs to be watched with a fast forward available, but you never know...

Comments from our past commenting system follow...

The Golden 101Jul 12 2014 10:43 AM @Goldsoul

Just to advise I've reduced 3 waist sizes, grown new hair and only speak about Rare n Underplayed tackle since the filming. Just sayin'

Jerry Hipkiss, Maark, mickjay33 +3 more like 

Mach Jul 12 2014 10:51 AM @Mach

wonder if pete watermans gonna tell us about gangs of 6" 3 coalminers at wigan again..

Maark, The Golden 101, Russell Gilbert +1 more like 

Ian Dewhirst Jul 12 2014 11:36 AM @Ian Dewhirst

Mmm. I wonder if they got my "Northern Soul was the 8th wonder of the world to me" quote in....?

Ian D

warped !

Russ Vickers Jul 12 2014 12:02 PM @Russ Vickers

It would be quite nice if you have given a good mention to 'todays' scene, as opposed to only the regurgitated historical stuff & current nostalgia events - there is a contemporary NS scene that exists outside of these events & it would be fantastic, if for once this was acknowledged properly.

Best Russ

Soulof, Louise, Byrney +12 more like Like

Byrney Jul 12 2014 02:01 PM @Byrney

Expect a few decades missed out here, but other than Elaine and Gareth's book that's par for the course isn't it.

Shame, but I'll give it a go.

Rob Wigley likes this Like

Drewtg Jul 12 2014 02:18 PM @Drewtg

Not Pete Waterman again ffs! When will someone tell them ........he never went to the nighters, he went to the nightclub with all the miners!

P.S. can someone also tell Pete that miners aren't (or should that be weren't) big blokes, for obvious reasons.

Soulfinger and soultanforreal like Like

Kegsy Jul 12 2014 02:54 PM @Kegsy

Is it just me that thinks the guy doing the backdrop at the top

is Matchy from Rotherham ?.

Dave Turner Jul 12 2014 07:46 PM

Deffo not Matchy ... too tall

FRANKIE CROCKER Jul 12 2014 11:18 PM @FRANKIE CROCKER

So Wigan had a better disco than New York? Same ignoramuses peddling the same old clichéd twaddle...

Louise likes this 

jazz Jul 13 2014 07:47 AM @jazz

A gang of coal miners went from Shirebrook to Wigan me john cairns Gaz judson and a couple more but were not 6 foot 3 lol

LEN and Mach like Like

ElGeePeeJul 13 2014 09:39 AM 

I hope this is more about the music than the scene. I'd really like a documentary that takes and in-depth look at a few classic records - the artists, labels and how they came to become part of Northern Soul playlists etc.

For instance, Tainted Love. Interview with Gloria Jones on how she came to record it and the background to the label, Ed Cobb, etc. Was it a hit at the time? Then interview with Richard Searling on the record's introduction at (I believe) Va's Va's. The impact and legacy of the record since then and of course, you have to mention Soft Cell, so maybe Ian Dewhist's recollection of how Marc Almond came to hear the record and so on.

Soulof, Eddie Hubbard and Russell Gilbert like Like

Steve S 60 Jul 13 2014 11:04 AM @Steve S 60

Why is it in the past tense....Northern Soul was this, the scene was that?

LEN, Russ Vickers and soultanforreal like Like

steptoe Jul 13 2014 03:21 PM

yes loads of miners from all around the wigan & surounding towns and no doubt yorkshire and other places most of my mates all miners back then

LEN likes this Like

wiggyflat Jul 13 2014 06:56 PM @wiggyflat

I would love a documentary with the following bases covered.

Dave Kilworth on the early niters and drugs.

John Vincent on being a young mod and sticking with black music and still discovering records.

Simon Soussan and his La record Operations.

If Pete Waterman has to be on can he talk about The Coventry scene he was involved with.

How about soul Sam.A man who is constantly moving on.

The divs of the late seventies and the return of the divs.Ie the One Show.

Why Tistram and Tarquin the media whores have a fascination with northern soul cliched imagery and not real guts which is the music.

The popularity abroad.

The differences between rare soul,northern soul,xover.

How about Frank Elson being interviewed? He lived and breathed it and more importantly chronicled it.

The post Wigan scene.

How it is today..basically a nostalgia scene ...a long way from records having a week shelf life....and the people who are still pushing records.

Russ Vickers, Rob Wigley, Henry +2 more like Like

theothertosspot Jul 13 2014 08:11 PM @theothertosspot

Soul Sam, despite his choice of record, his enthusiasm for his choice justifies the means, and no doubt the records he introduces us to will be future legends (imo).

R E Gards

Rob Wigley likes this

TOAD Jul 13 2014 10:24 PM @TOAD

There was never a Coventry scene if so i missed it from 1978 onwards

CarolineL Jul 13 2014 10:29 PM @CarolineL

You might find this Radio 4 piece about Tainted Love interesting. There are a few things in there I wasn't aware of before, e.g. the cover by some woman from Wigan.

Unfortunately, I doubt there would ever be a documentary like this on TV, as TV documentaries need to appeal to a wider audience.

wiggyflat Jul 13 2014 10:55 PM @wiggyf

Mr Georges. Sunday nights Coventry Mecca Thurs nights...1973.Pete Waterman spinning sounds like....Jimmy Soul Clarke,Fathers Angels,Bob Relf,Dottie Cambridge,Oh Linda,Working At The Gogo,...a long way from Kylie and Steam trains

Rob Wigley likes this 

TOAD Jul 14 2014 03:35 AM @TOAD

Wiggy you forgot the tree tops did you ever go or just read that information?

wiggyflat Jul 14 2014 07:02 AM @wiggyflat

I,m far too young Toad.Its all in Blues And Soul which is why i can't believe Frank Elson does not get approached for these type of docs.

TOAD Jul 14 2014 07:35 AM @TOAD

Ahh i see wiggy not factual information you see my interest it's my home city and there's no scene even a few older lad's aggree.

Rob Wigley Jul 14 2014 08:09 AM @Rob Wigley

I'd be careful about the size of Miners on here, several on the Forum and several taller than me 6' 2"........... we all know what's coming......we all know what people think about the scene.......we know its B*****ks unless you were there you wouldn't know. Its entertainment for the masses who couldn't give a flying F**k about the ethics or rare records we enjoy.

I am going to watch it ? Yes i have to to face the barrage of questions from the guys at work !

Rob

LEN, Russ Vickers and krawen2 like Like

chatty Jul 16 2014 07:40 PM @chatty

Forget that, what about Louis van Gaal going through the records on the front of the U Tube clip, that guy doesn't hang about, he only landed here earlier today!

Like

mike Jul 17 2014 01:03 PM @mike

Ian S just highlighted that is now showing in more detail on the BBC website

as said it is on the Fri 25 Jul 2014

Its at 21:30 on BBC Four

and looks like repeated next day at midnight

mike Jul 25 2014 12:03 PM @mike

on tonite

info and a preview clip on the bbc page

showing times

Fri 25 Jul 2014 21:30 BBC Four

Sat 26 Jul 2014 00:30 BBC Four

Mon 28 Jul 2014 00:00 BBC Four