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J.j.barnes - Did We Know This?


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Guest Andy Carling

I didn't know it was a roller skating record but it was his big hit in chicago. real humdinger got some play too. 

 

Soul ' n' roll

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I was going on an interview I saw on the Internet with the late Sonny Monroe of the Falcons.He said Stevie wrote it with JJ as a song he could take with him when he left Motown.

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No don't think so. According to BMI it was written by 'Jimmy Barnes' and 'Donald Davis' which probably means that JJ wrote it by himself.

Know what you mean Rob,Berry Gordy used to do the same,all you have to do was change one word in a song and your on the writers credits$$$$$$$

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roller skating (e.g. at a rink with old school 4 wheel skates) is actually still really big in the south side of chicago, there is a big rink in Markham (south suburb). I've heard Gladys Knight comes to that rink when she's in Chicago to roller skate. There is a younger set of skaters that are the "JB Skaters" that do routines to James Brown, I'm sure there's videos of them on youtube.

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got Real Nice by Johnny Barnes on Cap City.

 

Obviously a version of J J Barnes- Real Humdinger.

 

I don't think it is J J Barnes but not sure?

 

Is it, isn't it?

 

 

 

Baby please come back home, brilliant, got a uk release too on Stax.

Edited by billb
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Found it on a website - No.1 in skating rinks???

 

In June of 1967,J J Barnes "Baby Please Come Back Home" jammed all over the Midwest, East Coast, South, and west of the Mississippi River. Unofficially, it was number one at inner city skating rinks -- skaters loved rolling to its cool, slinky, mercurial rhythm and pinging accents.

 

I'd love to try that at my local Rink, Hey Northern soul Ice Skating events, I think we could be on to something here you know. :g:

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Rumour has it,that ii was co written by Stevie Wonder before JJ left Motown

 

Yes JJ Barnes is on record saying that they worked on it together e.g. Stevie Wonder showing chord changes etc. When it was clear he wasn't staying at Motown SW told him to take BPCBH with him.  He also stated that SW told him he wanted no credit for it

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No similarity at all Bob between JJ Barnes - Real Humdinger and Johnny Barnes - Real Nice?

 

Surely others can hear it?

 

Yep, it's based on the same riffs and melody. Much more subdued than JJ Barnes' classic but the similarities are certainly there. 

 

Regards,

 

Dave

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Until recently my office / studio was in an old building in central Middlesbrough and a few years ago we discovered documents which showed that it had originally been an indoor roller-skating rink.

 

After that it was turned into an army drill hall but marching didn't seem quite as cool as roller-skating to music.

It would be nice to see people put their smart phones down for a while and put some skates on.


 

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Interesting diversion on this thread.....Keep the roller skating records coming!

 

But what's the connection between Real Humdinger and Real Nice then. Similar sound for sure, same singer name too, but surely not the same guy as JJB?

Cap City was from DC and owned by one Foster Johnson.....and yet the coincidences are there for all to see....anyone know for sure?

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A lot of mid-to-late '60s Detroit stuff has nice rolling kind of rhythm patterns and swirling strings which I'd think would be ideal for roller skating.

But I'd get out of the way if something really uptempo like 'Festival Time' came on.

 

:ohmy: 
 

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Interesting diversion on this thread.....Keep the roller skating records coming!

 

But what's the connection between Real Humdinger and Real Nice then. Similar sound for sure, same singer name too, but surely not the same guy as JJB?

Cap City was from DC and owned by one Foster Johnson.....and yet the coincidences are there for all to see....anyone know for sure?

 

you know roller skating records are a whole genre, right? like vaughn mason bounce, rock, skate, roll. i never knew there were specific skating records in the '60s until this thread though.

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No don't think so. According to BMI it was written by 'Jimmy Barnes' and 'Donald Davis' which probably means that JJ wrote it by himself.

 

JJ told me Stevie wrote it at Motown and gave it him when Motown got rid off him ..  and too do what ever he  wants with it ..maybe thats why jj credits are on it ? ...   will give him a call  and ask him more info on it ..  . Either way it's a great track .

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My daughter goes skating in Vauxhall, south London, there's a two room scene - one is like a classic disco retro fun night out thing, the other is more r n b, hip hop scene she prefers - but I doubt if neither room plays anything as great as this !

 

 

Oh no, it's just a 7" edit.

 

I was really looking forward to hearing an extended 12" version of 'Let's Go Skating'.

Life is full of disappointments.

 

:( 

 

Paul

"LET'S SKATE, NOT HATE"

 

:facepalm: 

Edited by Paul
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Guest Polyvelts

The world is indeed a disappointing place.

I couldn't find any Geater Davis roller skating related tunes anywhere !!!!

Surely there must be some deep soul fruit bootin action out there ? I'm sure if there is someone here will know ....

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The Wirrina in Peterborough was big on roller skating a couple of years before the allnighters started up. used to go on saturday mornings. it was more see my baby jive and ballroom blitz than 6 by 6 though. I love that bit about gladys knight still skating in her mid 70s though.

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Interesting diversion on this thread.....Keep the roller skating records coming!

 

But what's the connection between Real Humdinger and Real Nice then. Similar sound for sure, same singer name too, but surely not the same guy as JJB?

Cap City was from DC and owned by one Foster Johnson.....and yet the coincidences are there for all to see....anyone know for sure?

 

Sorry,don't see the similarities in "Real nice" and "Real humdinger" apart from the pace.

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Kev you are not the first person to say this, but strip the vocals out and listen to the background tune and chord shifts....it's absolutely similar to me. Not identical obviously but it follows the melody and breaks.

 

I'll have to give it a further audio autopsy.

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Great roller rink at a fantastic building now gone....the plaza tynemouth

Th roler rink was not on the sands but next level  up the floor above at Road levelwas a huge ballroom that used to host great Northern Nights in the 70's

the building was "mysteriously" burnt down after years of legal wrangling because the council couldnt afford to run i, they had differnt music spots at the roller rink youd get thing like Edwin starr Time and frankie valli your ready now and out on the floor ...you could wang round to those no bother

 

4091135536_9cd74b7613_z.jpg?zz=1

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I think roller rinks were much more a US thing than a UK thing.

I asked a couple of Cleveland contacts about roller rink music & they confirmed that live soul acts would play at two of the local roller rinks.

It seems that soul acts played at the Playmor Skating Rink and at Skateland back in the day (1960's / 70's).

 

Here's footage of 2 Cleveland area rinks. Some of the time they would feature an organist and other times a DJ spinning 45's (guess it depended on the age of the crowd who usually attended during certain time slots) ........... these two clips have organ music added as their soundtracks ..........

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OocRAAaUifQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qgroduLhmX8

Edited by Roburt
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Wolverhampton had it's own Rollerdrome, just a few yards down from the Catacombs, and it was there that many of us congregated in our youth. Blue Max did northern disco's in there, as well as others, but they regularly played soul amongst the playlist when folk were skating ( it always had a live DJ playing records) and apart from certain favourites like "Glad All Over" the tunes were largely black music, thanks in no small part to Winston who became the main DJ

 

They booked a number of live acts, always to pretty full houses (from Gary Glitter to Limmie & Family Cookin) but one great memory was when Al Green was playing at another club in the same street (The Pink Elephant?) he came into the coffee bar of the Rollerdrome as we were in there.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3qd0bFzAuM

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  • 2 weeks later...
Guest Polyvelts

Oh no, it's just a 7" edit.

 

I was really looking forward to hearing an extended 12" version of 'Let's Go Skating'.

Life is full of disappointments.

 

:( 

 

Paul

"LET'S SKATE, NOT HATE"

 

:facepalm: 

 

Sorry Paul, for reminding you of zu band horrors, hope this makes amends !!!

 

Best promo video Ive seen in ages - shot in downtown Oakland

 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdlRxByX56s

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AND skating to music on indoor rinks doesn't just go back to the 60's in the US ..........

here's an ad from 1950 for an arena on Baltimore's main black entertainment street; Pennsylvania Avenue .....

... (it's from a black newspaper, so guess the only standard print block pics they had back then featured whites) ...

post-22122-0-29627600-1377271774_thumb.j

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