Derren Brown

[Barry]

In tonights reportage, Derren goes deep.

After years of surrogacy, my life has touched many scenes and I have given myself over to understanding many musical form(at)s.

I have been involved with a great deal of all encompassing music.

Now, in the real world (the non-NS world that is), music appears to have it's place, or more to the point, be given it's place; for example:

Motown; The Temps, Four Tops, Marvin, Stevie etc, we all like a bit of Motown at a wedding don't we?

"It's a bit poppy all that shit that charted, we know" - "but have you heard Marvins 'Lonely Lover?"

When will the wedding floor be full?

Not to 'Lonely Lover', 'Jimmy Mack' will piss all over it I guarantee you.

Charted BA groups/artists - were loved by a white UK audience.

Why?

Because they were commercial and poppy at the time, they appealed to the masses, BA had no stick up it's ass, they were - as they still are today - Cooler - you can't argue that

Again, at weddings, it's cool to 'Kool & The Gang' your tits off on the dancefloor at this specific tribal ritual - Any K & TG track that warrants a play at a wedding (you know 'em - 'Celebrate', 'Get Down On It)' etc is seen as a slightly ironic track. For Why?

I swear at heart you all love 'em and have a love for these given productions - in their 'comedy' place.

We seem to deem it okay to forget, as N Soulies, the input that K &TG, and their ilk, had on the black music scene during their extensive repertoire.

Is Willi J & Co cooler than 'Get Down On It'?

Maybe not.

Why were the commercial K & TG/wedding-type Barry White productions ridiculed?

Because N Soulies and the anoraky types around them had little or no understanding of black music outside the sphere's that were presented to them by people seen as leaders on the scene that they, the sheep gathered at.

I'll take a check here now.

Are you following me?

I think that followers of the mantle 'Northern Soul' - which meant something once (when we were all too young and inexperienced to actually know what we meant) - should redress the balance of their years of 'one-upmanship' and accept that if they were doing a 'True' Top 100 of their lives, the likes of Candi Statons - 'Young Hearts Run Free' would in reality be at least ten places above Eddie Parkers heartbreaker - 'I'm Gone.

You know I'm right don't you?

Scene's revolve around shepherds and sheep.

I too was a sheep for years, shepherded up and down this country.

And the shepherds taught me my musical life, and for that I will be eternally grateful.

They also taught me how to shepherd others - I'm at it right now, how's it feel?

The sheep realises he has his own crook - be it an invisible one when the lights go down.

Get me?

(He he - yes I have been out and I wish I hadn't because somewhere in that pile of twaddle is a very sincere point...be gentle with me.)

All my love

BAZZA

[Barry]

To sum up:

Stop w*nking the bloke you think is cooler than you off by buying records for a £100 that you knida like when you never actually bought 'Young Hearts Run Free' which you like better but daren't say.

Northern Soul is the nightmare you never truly awaken from - unless you're at a wedding.

[Barry]

[Guest posstot]

Think you watch too much open university Barry.

[Guest]

Think you watch too much open university Barry.

I know where you are / were coming from Barrington , and saw / realised the point of / meaning behind , your scribings straight away : quite surprising really , as my grasp of realism is slightly down due to a 10 mile bike ride this morning , followed by mowing the lawn after I returned to Chez Burton .

Welcome back to the pleasure dome my friend .....

Malc Burton

[Guest]

I think the problem is Barry that familiarity breeds contempt

What I am trying to say is that the quality of the music that inspired and shaped our lives hasnt diminished what has changed is us, influenced in the main by DJs over the years who have stuck with a proven formula of playing a from a constrained set of tunes that they know will fill the floor.

This has resulted in the older set of punters hearing the same tunes hundreds if not thousands of times. How long can these tunes be expected to inspire them for?

On the other hand if you fairly new to the scene then these tunes must be as inspiring now as they once were

This is why venues such as Stafford and now Lifeline, Bidds etc are held in such high regard by those who attend as they are trying to move the music forward and keep the energy and enthusiasm for the music alive

[Mark Bicknell]

I'm so far out of the field with the gate shut I can't hear the sheep or even see the sheppard anymore and thank f**k for that.

Regardss - Mark Bicknell.