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Playing Funk Records At Soul Venues


Headsy

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here is one to stir things up a bit,

who else thinks that all this interest in funk/northern is gonna be a problem for the ''soul scene'' in 5 years time ?

I mean,are we not just recycling another scenes music and trying to make it our own ?

if I want to hear funk records I would go to a funk night...........I go to soul venues to hear soul records,

not saying its all bad,just that I see we are starting to lose the plot a bit in order to try and play something different when we have not exhausted all the play time of soul records yet,and it can only get worse.

just my opinion of course..........but my mates agreed with me on saturday :hatsoff2:

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here is one to stir things up a bit,

who else thinks that all this interest in funk/northern is gonna be a problem for the ''soul scene'' in 5 years time ?

I mean,are we not just recycling another scenes music and trying to make it our own ?

if I want to hear funk records I would go to a funk night...........I go to soul venues to hear soul records,

not saying its all bad,just that I see we are starting to lose the plot a bit in order to try and play something different when we have not exhausted all the play time of soul records yet,and it can only get worse.

just my opinion of course..........but my mates agreed with me on saturday :hatsoff2:

I Think You Are Right !! You Wouldn't Go To The Butchers For Bread Would You?? :yes:

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Guest Andy Kempster

i think thimk there is a fine line between what you would want to hear, a lot of so-called 'funky northern' is good, danceable and why shouldnt it earn a place on the dancefloors. and what shouldnt be hitting the dancefloors.

out and out funk.....no never, no place for it, there is a funk scene for that, uptempo quality dance music, why not?

after all we've (well almost all...pete :hatsoff2: ) danced to the carstairs at some point or another havent we

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Different clubs and eras have defined soul sounds over the years, introducing varying types like soulful RnB, blue eyed soul etc. Not strictly what you'd class as out right soul but is still standing the test of time, mainly because it's soulful. As long as this movement of funk edged soul indeed soulful why can't it be played on the soul scene? Will it stand the test if time? Yes, if it's good enough.

Perhaps some examples of what you class as funk being played on the soul scene might help put your view point into perspective?

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Guest Carl Dixon

I think they are too extreme together. Good, but too extreme. The groove is not conducive to what I would want to hear etc. Not that I attend that many gigs, but travelling to a venue to listen to material I do not favour......

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Guest Ste Brazil

Funk has been played on the scene (on and off) for decades, its nothing new, look at all the stuff played at the Blackpool Mecca, Cleethorpes etc etc. Long may it last I say, great music.

Ste.

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the carstairs has already been mentioned what about two other "northern" classics ohio players and world column hardly four to the floor detroit soul which i believe is what northern is 'suppose " to be but they still work...as does todays spins by angela davis or barbara lynns "good woman" another tune played on the funk scene for years ...

i think the northern scene has always played different styles that break the so called rules but have the vibe and feeling we want....and thats the point...james browns "get on the good foot" is a killer funk record which i love but dont wanna hear at a northern night

at the end of the day if theyre playing sumfin you dont like...have a drink and chat to all the friendly people just like i do when they play disco and house... oops i mean 70s/modern :hatsoff2:

dean

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Good point indeed Headsy but first we would have to agree on what you mean by funk, like RnB and some other forms of music on the scene, one mans RnB is another mans 60 Rhythm and soul/ club soul..... one mans funk is another mans crossover or funky northern( god i hate that term )..

Soul with a harder funk edge being spun, but to me its all soul to me.... Soul with a funk/ RnB edge too, but again its all soul to me... And that Ghetto/ gospel/soul/funk etc etc.. Again i just call it soul... Same with latin soul..

I do take your point though and can see how some would take to this influx of soul with a funky smell :yes:, not sure where the balance should be, maybe thats gonna be up to the paying punters, or different clubs and crowds splitting an already fragmented scene into smaller bits..

I think there as been a welcome introduction of some funk edged sounds but then some see this as open season to try and push some funky Northern( :hatsoff2: ) that lack s both funk and soul to me...

These other influences have made the niter experience that much better for me, but that just me maybe, i have always liked it all since the early 80s, no one style can keep me switched on, a mix of styles and tempo make Steve an happy and contented lad..

A good way of getting this topic/ point over would be to post a few refo soud bites of what you are talking about, then we could start to understand what we all think is soul and whats not..

A good point of interest to many punters who are out and about...

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Why do people keep quoting the Carstairs as being a 'Funk' record?

Never has and never will be Funk.

Thats my point mate..

Some can call the same tune all different manner of things...

Carstairs...

Funk

Deep disco

Northern

Modern

Or in the words of Pete Smith.. " shite"

So much time taken up putting lables on it all...

Soul does have an influence of Blues/ RnB/ Latin/ Funk/Gospel/ disco etc etc

Its

soul or nothing to me... :hatsoff2:

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Guest Ste Brazil

Why do people keep quoting the Carstairs as being a 'Funk' record?

Never has and never will be Funk.

It's just an early modern track (God's chosen music), it's definitely not funk and i don't care what anybody says i still love it, especially the intro.:hatsoff2:

Ste.

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Guest Andy Kempster

i was referring to its splitting of the scene rather than it being a funk record, it isnt a funk record and never will be but it did have a massive influence on the northern scene did it not

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Guest Dr Pickles

I think it's great that this sound has become another facet of our scene.

Just like R&B sounding too Rock & Roll, just like 70's sounding too Disco there are lines that my ears won't want to cross.

But when it's right this type of music is EXCITING & DIFFERENT and makes me want to dance and dig through boxes and spend hours on a computer to find more of it and travel for hours to hear other people play it with the same passion.

ATB

Doc

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Guest Ste Brazil

i was referring to its splitting of the scene rather than it being a funk record, it isnt a funk record and never will be but it did have a massive influence on the northern scene did it not

Yeah it did, wasn't it first played at the Mecca & it caused loads of trouble at the time?

Ste. :hatsoff2:

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I'm not a great lover of funk however now and again I hear a tune which will make me want to dance. I don't mind hearing different gendres on the scene as long as they are good and worth listening to. I think for many years the scene has gone in different directions to keep the numbers coming through the doors, I'd hate the scene to die all together and if it helps then carry on.

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I think it's great that this sound has become another facet of our scene.

Just like R&B sounding too Rock & Roll, just like 70's sounding too Disco there are lines that my ears won't want to cross.

But when it's right this type of music is EXCITING & DIFFERENT and makes me want to dance and dig through boxes and spend hours on a computer to find more of it and travel for hours to hear other people play it with the same passion.

ATB

Doc

Dr Pickles for president :hatsoff2: ...

Its like what goes on in the bedroom for many of us.... Not tooooooo early :thumbsup: and not too late :yes:

But the odd time its not over stepping the mark...

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Guest Matt Male

When did the northern soul scene exclusively play soul music? Not in the 33 years i've been around. I've never been to a soul night or nighter that ever played only soul music.

I think it's too late to moan about other genres being played now when most have been dancing to garage, white pop and rock music for the last forty odd years and calling it northern soul. :hatsoff2:

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I think it's great that this sound has become another facet of our scene.

Just like R&B sounding too Rock & Roll, just like 70's sounding too Disco there are lines that my ears won't want to cross.

But when it's right this type of music is EXCITING & DIFFERENT and makes me want to dance and dig through boxes and spend hours on a computer to find more of it and travel for hours to hear other people play it with the same passion.

ATB

Doc

The voice of reason............the NS Scene has always cherry picked from every genre of black music & beyond, funk has been played on the scene for decades, its no biggie if its any good & has the NS X factor it'll work, if it doesnt it wont.........its not armageddon !

Best Russ

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I love Northern Soul , but i also like a bit of funk especially seventies. I think there could be room where you have multi roomed Soul Nights. At some venues they have an R&B,Modern rooms, so why not try a Funk Room. If it doesnt work out its not because it s not been tried.

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not saying its never been part of the scene and not saying its bad,

I am saying that more and more emphasis at the moment ( IMO ) is in playing more and more funky sounding records in order to play something new,not like in the past when these records were in the minority.

and surely all these tunes are not new,especially if you have been around the funk scene.( which I was not )

we appear to be searching with a renewed vigour across an old genre to bring something new to the rare/soul/northern scene,or however you want to name it,

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here is one to stir things up a bit,

who else thinks that all this interest in funk/northern is gonna be a problem for the ''soul scene'' in 5 years time ?

I mean,are we not just recycling another scenes music and trying to make it our own ?

if I want to hear funk records I would go to a funk night...........I go to soul venues to hear soul records,

not saying its all bad,just that I see we are starting to lose the plot a bit in order to try and play something different when we have not exhausted all the play time of soul records yet,and it can only get worse.

just my opinion of course..........but my mates agreed with me on saturday :rolleyes:

I'm with ya Headsy biggrin.gif too much !!

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I think it's great that this sound has become another facet of our scene.

Just like R&B sounding too Rock & Roll, just like 70's sounding too Disco there are lines that my ears won't want to cross.

But when it's right this type of music is EXCITING & DIFFERENT and makes me want to dance and dig through boxes and spend hours on a computer to find more of it and travel for hours to hear other people play it with the same passion.

ATB

Doc

It's never not been part of the scene, it's the amount of rubbish funk things that manages to get play's.

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Guest FunKPunK

I started a soul night in Glasgow about a year ago playing RnB - Soul - Funk. We had different DJs specialising in their chosen genre and I have to say that our loyal crowd enjoy everything we play. In fact we have certain sounds defining our night that have become anthems for the Soul Cellar - and why not it's all black artists- with maybe one or two whiteys thrown in.

We took our club to promote a preview screening of SOULBOY to our home town where there was a large "wigan" crowd with a free night afterwards. We were even given a list of tracks to play that would make my 8 year old embarrassed to play. Needless to say, even though the Soul/Northern stuff we played is well accepted elsewhere, our choice did not go down well - every single one of them wanted - more or less - Now Thats What I Call Northern Soul played from Ghost in my House to Out On The Floor. Don't get me wrong, there is a place for these classics but I thought the whole reason we devote so much time to the scene is the thrill of getting tracks that are both amazing and underplayed. Yep it was soul destroying, pun intended, to be made to feel like a clueless nightclub DJ for not playing out that particular style. Terrible behaviour from the over 60's lol

Anyway here is a track that works well for us: Dean Francis 'Tippin

dean francis - tippin - hillside

and the out n out funk: Root Doctor

Have fun, looking forward to the reactions if any...

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Guest soulmaguk

I can see why Funk would annoy people at a 'Northern Soul' do, they are expecting 'Northern Soul' a movementthat happened in the 70s. I don't care if DJ's play Soul, Funk, Garage, Gospel, Beat, Crossover.. i'm sure there's more genre's that get played by the top DJ's, if it blows me away or is hard as feck to find i'm happy, that's how i remember it always being. I'm know top Djs strive to find the best records for us, thats why they are at the top.

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"SOUL MUSIC"

LABEL IT HOW YOU WANT,IT DOESN'T STOP BEING "SOUL MUSIC"

THE GREAT THING ABOUT IT, IS..........................YOU DON'T HAVE TO LIKE IT ALL

GARLIC BREAD ???? :thumbsup: ................ CHEESE CAKE ???? :lol: ..................... YOU MUST BE JOKING !!!! :rolleyes:

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Guest Lobster Madras

not saying its never been part of the scene and not saying its bad,

I am saying that more and more emphasis at the moment ( IMO ) is in playing more and more funky sounding records in order to play something new,not like in the past when these records were in the minority.

and surely all these tunes are not new,especially if you have been around the funk scene.( which I was not )

we appear to be searching with a renewed vigour across an old genre to bring something new to the rare/soul/northern scene,or however you want to name it,

One reason we are seeing more funkier tracks played on the soul scene is that there is no separate funk scene as such... These discs are known stateside and sought after there; collectors here find 'em and why not give them an airing ?

People's music tastes are generally much broader these days and it's merely an extension of the current trend /popularity of the 70s sound .

European and stateside DJ's have mixed classic northern, modern , funky , latin, crossover and R&B type sounds for more than a decade now and this is now happening on the so called northern circuit... Good news in my opinion and as my fellow Russ Mr Vickers mentioned; we have always cherry picked the best sounds from all the other scenes anyway..

I think its more in the spirit of the early 70s when the selections were more across the board in each DJ's set rather than separate rooms for sub-genres of soul..

There was the jazz funk scene of course which was 12s and album tracks mainly in the late 70s/80s then Keb Darge's legendary deep funk scene ( yes it was his scene !!) ..

The rare soul scene has absorbed most of these few collectors/ DJ's from that now sadly de-funkt !! deep scene and really there are many more 45s, some seriously rare tunes yet to be aired, broken and made massive...10 + years ago when I was spinning funk 45s at Keb's nights and at venues around UK only a few Northern DJ's were watching and taking notes ( Arthur Fenn, Guy Hennigan and Mr Dobson, of course ).... Karl Heard was the trailblazer DJ on the Northern scene and his popularity along with quite a few other hardcore collectors/Dj's already in possession of super rare sides are the main reasons we are hearing more funkier edged stuff played..

There is a fine line however and JB funk is just too heavy and far away for the Northern scene although who knows in 5 years time?

A new crop of DJ's; slightly more youthful ( rules me out then ) very enthusiastic playing previously unknown sides instead of battered oldies... can this be anything but positive ?

I agree as long as the selections are classy and popular this is a great thing but as always duff tunes will never be accepted/danced to or tolerated for long and of course...... Thankfully we all have slightly different tastes !

Edited by Lobster Madras
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Guest FunKPunK

Cheers soul

I really didn't want to alienate people, we were doing the gig for free as well as personally organising 2 screenings of Soulboy before general release and I suppose we expected some "respect" as it were. I feel we were seen as young know nothings. Ive been collecting since being a 15 year old mod - maybe I have that Mod way of thinking that its always better to find new stuff, and you were actually laughed at if you tried to play the compilation fodder that these classics have become - even if they were on original labels!!!

My tastes have changed so often through collecting, I used to hate what I thought Funk was and now I grab anything that's out there, rare and dancable. I still buy as much Northern stuff as funk and my sets evolve the later our night lasts and the drunker I get lol. Of course the funk stays in the box if Im doing a Mod style night or Northern night but thats what we thought we did at that Soulboy gig by playing what we deemed Northern or rare soul. I didn't think anything available in Tesco on CD fit the rare soul bill!

Each to their own though...

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Guest Lobster Madras

"SOUL MUSIC"

LABEL IT HOW YOU WANT,IT DOESN'T STOP BEING "SOUL MUSIC"

THE GREAT THING ABOUT IT, IS..........................YOU DON'T HAVE TO LIKE IT ALL

GARLIC BREAD ???? :thumbsup: ................ CHEESE CAKE ???? :lol: ..................... YOU MUST BE JOKING !!!! :rolleyes:

spot on ! thumbsup.gif

how come it took me all that waffle to basically say the same thing !

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Rudy Love. no matter where it gets played it rams the dance floor and its on everybodys wants list, where would that sit genre wise, northern, funky northern, funky soul, funky northern soul or just a fooking great dance record that fits the scene perfect right now,

im not a lover of out and out funk but am loving some of the stuff thats getting labelled as funky northern, not all of it but some of it, a bit like all the other genres on the scene thats accepted, i like some of it but not all of it, cherry pick the best and the shite will fall by the way side hopefully :thumbsup: oh poo i suppose what i think is shite is another soulies perfection,

why cant we all just like the same 500 tunes life would be a lot less complicated :rolleyes:

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The northern soul scene has got to progress somehow. The punters, records and media are getting older and older as each year passes by. Even "Hit and Run" is 45 years old now! It's amazing the scene has survived this long and it ain't going to survive much longer if it doesn't continue to evolve. Playing the funky type tunes is a good thing imo.

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Rudy Love is a northern oldie though. Just a reactivated one. I wouldn't call it funk at all.

I'd call something like the Hard Drivers as funk.

Hi Steve, i wasnt saying it was funk Steve just asking what genre it would fall under as some i know are classing it as funky whatever, i agree to me its not funk but to some it aint far off funk, thats where the to me the funk / northern gets confusing for some,

must admit i cant say i have actually heard much if any out and out funk played though at a Northern night, thank fook :rolleyes:

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The northern soul scene has got to progress somehow. The punters, records and media are getting older and older as each year passes by. Even "Hit and Run" is 45 years old now! It's amazing the scene has survived this long and it ain't going to survive much longer if it doesn't continue to evolve. Playing the funky type tunes is a good thing imo.

:thumbsup::rolleyes:

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Guest gordon russell

I started a soul night in Glasgow about a year ago playing RnB - Soul - Funk. We had different DJs specialising in their chosen genre and I have to say that our loyal crowd enjoy everything we play. In fact we have certain sounds defining our night that have become anthems for the Soul Cellar - and why not it's all black artists- with maybe one or two whiteys thrown in.

We took our club to promote a preview screening of SOULBOY to our home town where there was a large "wigan" crowd with a free night afterwards. We were even given a list of tracks to play that would make my 8 year old embarrassed to play. Needless to say, even though the Soul/Northern stuff we played is well accepted elsewhere, our choice did not go down well - every single one of them wanted - more or less - Now Thats What I Call Northern Soul played from Ghost in my House to Out On The Floor. Don't get me wrong, there is a place for these classics but I thought the whole reason we devote so much time to the scene is the thrill of getting tracks that are both amazing and underplayed. Yep it was soul destroying, pun intended, to be made to feel like a clueless nightclub DJ for not playing out that particular style. Terrible behaviour from the over 60's lol

Anyway here is a track that works well for us: Dean Francis 'Tippin

dean francis - tippin - hillside

and the out n out funk: Root Doctor

Have fun, looking forward to the reactions if any...

fook all wrong with them tunes............can just hear karl herd banging out the root doctor tune at burnley,the key is not a whole set of it...........for me brill :rolleyes:

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Guest gordon russell

Second thoughts on hearing it again...........absolutely fooking brill...........this is the stuff mixed in with the soul that l want no flat spots with this stuff...............imagine this coming on at 4 in the morning instead of dreary old andy fisher or johnny rodgers top!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Guest FunKPunK

Cheers Peggy and Gogger

I love these 2 tracks and they go down a storm at the club!!!

if you want ever more funk check out Flame and the Sons of Darkness - Solid Funk - One mental wah wah track

Not that is just sic!!!

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Guest gordon russell

Cheers Peggy and Gogger

I love these 2 tracks and they go down a storm at the club!!!

if you want ever more funk check out Flame and the Sons of Darkness - Solid Funk - One mental wah wah track

Not that is just sic!!!

sorry mate, after a super start , this tune is just to hard edged for me........still 2 out of 3 ain,t bad :rolleyes:

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Fantastic black music and eminently danceable; not averse to it at all and good stuff in its own right IMHO :rolleyes:

If I heard em all night at a soul all-nighter though:

a. I'd be bored sh*tless

b. I'd have a migraine by midnight; and

c. I'd know for sure that I was on the wrong bus.

Good records IMO as I say and I'm certainly not knocking them per se. Come on though Tez, either or both of em Vs Johnny Rodgers? That's putting an also-ran and a selling-plater up against a thoroughbred :lol:

The main problem I have with lots of these sounds - just the same as I do with RnB and crossover when I think about it - the majority of em are just stocking fillers IMHO and even an hour of em might as well be an LP to my ears. For sure, the odd thing 'crosses-over' and is sufficiently soulful and good enough to warrant it's place in the pecking order. However, the majority are neither knew or exciting to my ears, they're just not good enough when sat alongside the other things that are already out there, many of which still haven't had their time and are, in my opinion, infinitely better, more 'soulful' [in the scene sense] records.

While I'm ranting, same deal with not rare and/or inexpensive records; if they're good enough and slot in play em , however rare, expensive or not they are, doesn't matter a sh*te. All I ask as a punter is that folk don't expect me to pay a tenner to eat spam disguised as steak or, worse still, insult my intelligence by assuming that I can't taste the difference.

If we're not careful it'll end up like that re-formed chicken roll stuff you get from the supermarket, all beaks n feet. Once a breast man ... ... :thumbsup:

Edited by PhilT
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On new year's eve I attended the Motherfunk night in Edinburgh, a fabulous venue though the name escapes me right now.

Fryer of the Funk forum and one of his buddies were spinning some tremendous stuff. The closest we got to recogniseable non-funk (to me)

was Move On Up and David Ruffin's I Want You back. I have to say I was excited by some of the more obscurer stuff I heard, so no, I wouldn't mind

hearing some of this stuff out, but then again over here you hear a very wide range of stuff of an evening and more's the better, in my

opinion.

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Guest FunKPunK

sorry mate, after a super start , this tune is just to hard edged for me........still 2 out of 3 ain,t bad :rolleyes:

I thought that would be a trifle heavy lol Soooooooooooo back to the best stuff IMHO for you Peggy and closet funkstars:

Jarvis Jackson - The Long Dog - SIMS

Curtis Ballard - Everybody Likes What I Got - Curtis Ballard Records

and just to prove I still groove Northern:

Johnny Wyatt - Everybody Is Going Mod - Bronco

Hope ya'll like em

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Must have lost count on it ... but at a guess this is about already the sixth topic of such or similar headline/content inbetween the last three months ?

New genres/tags always have been added, havent they ? white pop remakes/soundalikes, white poppy sixties tunes, freakbeat tunes, beat ballads, Modern, 2KY, Popcorn, R&B, Transitional, Crossover,...well, and Funk. Wheres the problem, there aint no problem. Is there a problem ? There is some you like, some you dont, theres room (and hours enough at an allnighter) for everyone (and his taste).

At the end of the day its all for the benefit of the "scene" as its bringing new tunes into it, keeping it fresh and varying and being also able to attract new faces into our little Rare Soul thing... next to it being bonafide and stoming good black dance music of course :rolleyes:

Edited by Marc Forrest
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Guest gordon russell

Fantastic black music and eminently danceable; not averse to it at all and good stuff in its own right IMHO :rolleyes:

If I heard em all night at a soul all-nighter though:

a. I'd be bored sh*tless

b. I'd have a migraine by midnight; and

c. I'd know for sure that I was on the wrong bus.

Good records IMO as I say and I'm certainly not knocking them per se. Come on though Tez, either or both of em Vs Johnny Rodgers? That's putting an also-ran and a selling-plater up against a thoroughbred :lol:

The main problem I have with lots of these sounds - just the same as I do with RnB and crossover when I think about it - the majority of em are just stocking fillers IMHO and even an hour of em might as well be an LP to my ears. For sure, the odd thing 'crosses-over' and is sufficiently soulful and good enough to warrant it's place in the pecking order. However, the majority are neither knew or exciting to my ears, they're just not good enough when sat alongside the other things that are already out there, many of which still haven't had their time and are, in my opinion, infinitely better, more 'soulful' [in the scene sense] records.

While I'm ranting, same deal with not rare and/or inexpensive records; if they're good enough and slot in play em , however rare, expensive or not they are, doesn't matter a sh*te. All I ask as a punter is that folk don't expect me to pay a tenner to eat spam disguised as steak or, worse still, insult my intelligence by assuming that I can't taste the difference.

If we're not careful it'll end up like that re-formed chicken roll stuff you get from the supermarket, all beaks n feet. Once a breast man ... ... :thumbsup:

spot on phil.........a whole set of em would bore ya to death,but slot the better more dancable tracks in amongst quality known stuff and bingo!! your on a winner, cause even if ya don,t like em but others do ans vice versa there gone and past and you're onto summat ya do like. When they are played one after the other,same with oldies,underplayed ect ect you're just gonna kill the floor and take the vibe in the room way way down........see ya at lifeline peggy funkcock

Edited by gordon russell
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