The One Show

[KevH]

he does it in his book claiming that he got this package from the USA and he opened it and there was FW on the Soul label....why lie??? when we all know it's crap

and for that reason; I'm out.

What FW? That's a bit strong Dave..

[Guest JIM BARRY]

has russ got any credibility left???...when i was a kid he was god..along with richard, mr searling has kept his credentials through the years, russ was never really a soulie was he?

[Tezza]

not gonna bother watching that..

Russ was on at a bar in Manc on the bank hols, Frank Wilson got spun in both his spots

I would not care if i never heard the w words again... Wigan or Wilson...

How much did the agent ask for ....

[Tezza]

Got to agree with you matey.

This inane fascination with The Casino - did more harm than good to the music. Contact by Edwin Starr, that's when Johnno picked his bag up and walked out never to return.

Frank Wilson - Motown reject bubblegum, easy listening pop. As long as you can spin on the spot, doesn't matter that you've got no rhythm. Too many topics to discus.

Leave us alone, let it die with us.

[Guest ScooterNik]

Good post - but from a different perspective a lot of the records Russ spun at Wigan particularly in the later days weren't seen as Northern Soul but rather out and out pop. Pop records have always been played but the feeling from many at the time 77/78 was that certain DJs were dropping the Soul Roots from Northern and the percentage of pop records were overwhelming. So I would find it slightly ironic that Russ would lament the lack of Northern Soul records on todays scene.

I had a great time at Wigan loved some of the records and disliked others - but hats off to RW for getting it off the ground whatever his motives.

Cheers

Manus

From what I know, I'd certainly agree about the amount of pop being played, but again - did RW see them as pop records, or did he think they were genuine northern soul tracks? Bear in mind that, as you say, there have always been pop records played under that guise, why should the quantity being played at any one time make a difference as to whether or not they were/weren't northern soul?

[Steve G]

Plenty of topics crossing into this one, but on the pop front ......

Wigan did get very commercial towards the end - the dreadful Casino Classics label, Disco Connection five times a night and Prince Buster in the main room etc. It seemed as the numbers started to dwindle, the music was diluted. Or was it the other way round??? the music got diluted and the numbers dwindled??? It all seemed to change around 77 when three or four Bobby Goldsboro records were being spun. I did write about this in very early Blackbeats (called Northern Line then). There was pop before 77 for sure, including the manic "Joker" / Mirwood instrumentals of the mid 70s courtesy of simon Soussan that oh hang on.....our mate RW seemed to champion. My recollection was that in the late 70s whilst all DJs played some pop, including Richard, Russ was one of the worst offenders, along with Keith "Love Hustle", Jackie Trent, Muriel etc. So there is a common theme......Russ and pop and I don't care what anyone else says, mud sticks.

But he is not on here, so I am not going to slag him off any more than that, he does seem quite a friendly cove so....Checking out too....and awaiting the next BBC installment of "Now do you remember the 70s and dancing allnight and do you remember Northern Soul the underground sound of the 60s?. Well it may surprise you to know that all these years later -it is still going strong. Ladies and Gentlement please welcome Russ Winstanley, former DJ at the hallowed Wigan casino" (audience applause). We should run a sweepstake on which show it'll appear on.....

[Russ Vickers]

He didn't have it to sell in 1979! For the record, I do like Russ, but he continues making this stupid untruth everytime the cameras are on.

Les McCutcheon sold it to Jonathon Woodliffe it late 1979........it was then sold to me in 1980. Those are the facts.

I have a recollection that I cant check out right now, cos I'm away from home, that someone bought the original to the Casino at some point for RW to play, he then dropped it & chipped the edge......but other than this it was played from a Soussan dub. Can someone pse confirm this.

Russ

[manus]

From what I know, I'd certainly agree about the amount of pop being played, but again - did RW see them as pop records, or did he think they were genuine northern soul tracks? Bear in mind that, as you say, there have always been pop records played under that guise, why should the quantity being played at any one time make a difference as to whether or not they were/weren't northern soul?

As you said in your first post people are different - I'm sure there were a lot of people who enjoyed what Russ played and more so there are people who don't really care of the origin of a record as long as it has a certain beat. But there are others who see the scene as Soul based and prefer the records they dance/listen too to have this background of Black American origin although I do think there are certain blue eyed records which would genuinely fall under the Soul feel umbrella - Dean Parrish, Gene Latter , Jason Knight , Paul Anka's Can't Help, Lynne Randell's Stranger , Larry Santos.

But then there are pop records like the aforementioned Jackie Trent and Bobby Goldsboro, Muriel Day, Eddie Regan and tosh instrumentals like Police Story and for me these are not Northen Soul records and when these type of records began to dominate certain DJs playlists a lot of people stopped attending Wigan because it no longer felt like a NS venue and had lost it's way.

I know Wigan rallied and played some of it's best tunes in the last year or so but I'm talking about a particular period when the dodgy records took over. Some people may see these records as genuine NS tunes that's fair enough - I don't.

All the best

Manus

[Goldsoul]

I have a recollection that I cant check out right now, cos I'm away from home, that someone bought the original to the Casino at some point for RW to play, he then dropped it & chipped the edge......but other than this it was played from a Soussan dub. Can someone pse confirm this.

Russ

[Goldsoul]

Yes it is true. Les McCutcheon loaned RW the original. It duly got warped.

That's the copy than Tim

Brown now has.

It plays fine though.

[Pete S]

As you said in your first post people are different - I'm sure there were a lot of people who enjoyed what Russ played and more so there are people who don't really care of the origin of a record as long as it has a certain beat. But there are others who see the scene as Soul based and prefer the records they dance/listen too to have this background of Black American origin although I do think there are certain blue eyed records which would genuinely fall under the Soul feel umbrella - Dean Parrish, Gene Latter , Jason Knight , Paul Anka's Can't Help, Lynne Randell's Stranger , Larry Santos.

But then there are pop records like the aforementioned Jackie Trent and Bobby Goldsboro, Muriel Day, Eddie Regan and tosh instrumentals like Police Story and for me these are not Northen Soul records and when these type of records began to dominate certain DJs playlists a lot of people stopped attending Wigan because it no longer felt like a NS venue and had lost it's way.

I know Wigan rallied and played some of it's best tunes in the last year or so but I'm talking about a particular period when the dodgy records took over. Some people may see these records as genuine NS tunes that's fair enough - I don't.

All the best

Manus

Paradoxically, others stopped going because of the amount of Modern Soul being played from late 78 onwards. I'd take Eddie Regan over King Tutt any day.

[Jules]

Paradoxically, others stopped going because of the amount of Modern Soul being played from late 78 onwards. I'd take Eddie Regan over King Tutt any day.

I`ll go with that %100

[Russ Vickers]

Yes it is true. Les McCutcheon loaned RW the original. It duly got warped.

That's the copy than Tim

Brown now has.

It plays fine though.

Thx Kev - thought I wasnt dreaming, but needed confirmation.

Best Russ

[MartynJJ]

Amazing what debate a 5 minute One Show slot can generate, I've really enjoyed this thread.

For the TV article, I can't say I was really too fussed about the article tbh, I know what the music and the scene means to me and I've gone long passed caring what the media put out. While we are still debating it 5 days later I bet most of the viewers had forgotten about it entirley by the time Corrie came on. Seems Northern Soul and the media have always been uneasy bedfellows at the best of times.

However if it has encouraged a few more "new souls" to dig a bit deeper and find out a bit more about the music and take a journey with some of us more established (older) soulies then that can only be good thing. At the end of the day who didn't start their early northern journey with a bit of a commercial step in?. I certainly had my fair share of Casino Classics back in the day and I'm still a bit partial to Jackie Trent, Whatever the merits of her authenticity surely you can't argue the gals got a great pair of lungs and her rendition of "You Baby" is as good as anything you'll hear irrespective of it being classed as northern or otherwise

ktf

Martyn

[Russ Vickers]

I`ll go with that %100

I enjoyed the whole lot, together with hundreds of others particularly the newies, but also 6ts & 7ts, oldies & Modern, I was a nipper & to be honest just wanted to dance. I went quite regularly from '77 until the close, I didnt ever feel it was less than full, I thought the music on the whole was amazing & from what I could see people were still doin' floor work when dancin'. It was great & I feel priveledged to have been there & experienced it all. People who didnt attend can never ever even begin to imagine what it was like & was my whole grounding on the scene. Thats why I get pissed off when people mess with my memories.

Russ

[spike1]

I enjoyed the whole lot, together with hundreds of others particularly the newies, but also 6ts & 7ts, oldies & Modern, I was a nipper & to be honest just wanted to dance. I went quite regularly from '77 until the close, I didnt ever feel it was less than full, I thought the music on the whole was amazing & from what I could see

people were still doin' floor work when

dancin'. It was great & I feel priveledged to have been there & experienced it all. People who didnt attend can never ever even begin to imagine what it was like & was my whole grounding on the scene. Thats why I get pissed off when people mess with my memories.

Well said that man!!

Me too 76-80 Wigan casino no one can ever take that time away from us no matter how much they slag off the casino

I too was just a kid dancing to tunes with a certain beat did not really care where it came from

Now I just go the re-opened twisted wheel still dancing to tunes with a certain beat!!

Keep on stomping !!

Russ

Edited May 8, 2011 by spike1

[Cunnie]

The trouble is Northern soul is a meaningless term at this point in time. It encompasses everything from Motown spins in the early 70s, through Wigan, Stafford, 100 Club, Oldies, Newies, through to todays fragmented scene. That makes covering it very hard.

I have seen some good documentaries - The Cleethorpes one was good, and the Colin Curtis one Central TV did was excellent.

Look at this lot of youngsters then

Really glad you posted that Steve.

Was out in Nuneaton a few weeks ago at a Northern event & one of the kids featured in the link was there & was having the time of his life on the dancefloor & was IMO the best dancer there.

The guy I'm talking about was the fella in the red Fred Perry shirt with the blonde mushroom haircut.

[Guest JJMMWGDuPree]

Can't see what to get excited about. TV in general has screwed up classical music, 70s pop, heavy metal, punk, rock'n'roll... In fact I still remember shortly after Frank Zappa died one of the commercial channels dedicated a programme about the Fender Stratocaster to him. Yeah, Zappa, that well known Strat player...

The Beeb picked the best two records to demonstrate the music, one people've actually heard of and the one that's worth the most money, which co-incidentally people know about because it was in a KFC commercial. Winstanley gave a dodgy description of NS, but Ecclestone corrected it, the whole programme was edited to appeal to the average viewer so it was full of 'amazing facts' like lads dancing and talcum powder on the floor rather than the plain honest truth about today's scene, and as for Carrie's dodgy dancing, she is a dancer...

That might have been the problem.

Edited May 12, 2011 by JJMMWGDuPree

[Paul R]

I've been keeping track of this thread, but forgive me if I've missed somthing said previously. It has been mentioned that only the usual northern tracks have been used I.e. F.W., Chuck Wood & even SOS. Has anyone mentioned Johnny Taylor "Friday Night". Not heard this for many years(although I am one who does not go out much any more). Is Johnny Taylor now a totally played out oldie?

Paul

[grantdyche]

The entire show was cut and pasted to fill the BBC running plan,

The 2 or 3 records played were what the producers wanted to play,The interview was cut and inserted to the producers choice,The comments on the attendance per week at Wigan Casino were as I pointed out in my earlier post on this subject correct.

Fast forward the link below to about 47.00.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p00gdy7k/Russ_Winstanley_07_05_2011/

[Sheep]

Thanks for the actual facts on the Frank Wilson original. Thought Simon Soussan was lent a copy and then stole a second copy from the same guy at the same time while his back was turned, making it two copies in existence, is this a total mith and only one copy exists ?

[Guest]

Thanks for the actual facts on the Frank Wilson original. Thought Simon Soussan was lent a copy and then stole a second copy from the same guy at the same time while his back was turned, making it two copies in existence, is this a total mith and only one copy exists ?

As far as anyone knows , there are only two original copies in existance .

It would be interesting to find out who has the acetate ( if it is still around ) , of " DILY " that Saucepan had made and gave to Winstanley .

Malc

Edited May 13, 2011 by Malc Burton