A Review Of My First Live Wigan Casino Tape

[Epic]

big chris said:

here you go col!...funny but still have a soft spot for this on the mercury label.i,ve got a white demo,some say the issues harder but i think there aint much in it..around £10/20 should surfice..quite easy to get coz there aint many takers..shame i like it....still..

An early production outing for Vince Montana - didn't seem to do his career much harm - I like it as well if I'm being honest - heard worse records than this played out.

[macca]

Well done Mark. If anything it serves as a reminder of just how grim things got musically. 1978 was a seriously naff year for me, but as others have said, you had to be there to grasp it. peggy march I used to find particularly irksome, but that said, the next record might have been something awesome like matt lucas.

the references to trains that people have made, I reckon, are inseparable from the whole 'wigan experience'.

the waiting on the platform of crewe station for that saturday night train up from euston.

if there were football fans about, one just tried to blend in & hopefully not draw their attention, a fairly difficult thing considering the 'uniform' we were wearing, our bags, record boxes etc;

those travelling from peterborough had to change in nuneaton as well. I used to find it was like going on holiday with my mum & dad to the coast, you were just itching to get there, every waiting room, train platform, overhead bridge was an ordeal.

it's a great britain that has largely disappeared too, don't you think?

only 30 years after WWII for gawd'd sake!!

oh' for tardis, indeed!

Edited September 17, 2008 by macca

[Peter99]

A little off topic - but about tapes anyway!

Does anyone know a guy called Chris Hood on here? I'm sure quite a few must know him on here.

Anyway, he had the best collection of live tapes I've ever seen. Wigan and all over. On good quality tapes, all labelled up and stored in a bit of a library.

[Pete S]

A little off topic - but about tapes anyway!

Does anyone know a guy called Chris Hood on here? I'm sure quite a few must know him on here.

Anyway, he had the best collection of live tapes I've ever seen. Wigan and all over. On good quality tapes, all labelled up and stored in a bit of a library.

No

[Davetay]

No

[Peter99]

Yer pair of feckers!

[Madmandy]

never been to wigan,could imagine what it was likeif these four are anything to go by.

ricky.

sock it to em shorty.

Oh dear ...is this what was classed as typical wigan tunes???? ( the ones posted up for listening)

I'm afraid to say I didnt like any of them they were all a bit.......well cheesy...and haven't stood the test of time

Peggy March tho .... I still love that tune to this day

Hope the soul police arent watchin this thread

Oh yes and I never went to wigan

I do understand the buzz tho

Mand

Edited September 17, 2008 by Madmandy

[Wiganer1]

Oh dear ...is this what was classed as typical wigan tunes???? ( the ones posted up for listening)

I'm afraid to say I didnt like any of them they were all a bit.......well cheesy...and haven't stood the test of time

Peggy March tho .... I still love that tune to this day

Hope the soul police arent watchin this thread

Oh yes and I never went to wigan

I do understand the buzz tho

Mand

=========

yes ..typical of 78 i suppose..hopefuly start putting some tunes up in a mo..

[Madmandy]

=========

yes ..typical of 78 i suppose..hopefuly start putting some tunes up in a mo..

Good lad you know it makes sense!! LOL

My bro went to the 79 6th anniversary on the train with some other local lads

I know a few of the local lads bought vinyl while they were there So I will definitley have heard some of the stuff you'll post up Mark

Mand

[Guest nubes]

Good lad you know it makes sense!! LOL

My bro went to the 79 6th anniversary on the train with some other local lads

I know a few of the local lads bought vinyl while they were there So I will definitley have heard some of the stuff you'll post up Mark

Mand

So did I Mandy...so did I. ..the 6th and 7th anniversary cassettes..proud to say are from my own original tapes of those nighters...got a copy of the final nighter September 19th 1981..on CD...from Soulster..who i lent my original cassette tape too of that night!!!!!...totally forgot....Delxxxxx

[Chalky]

Joe 90 twice, oh dear

having said that, the only regret in my life musically is that i wasn't old enough to go to wigan at its heyday (or ever). i know people slag it off but imagine being in there, completely off your tits and dancing to edward hamilton or the ambassadors with hundreds of others. would have been absolutely awesome. we came close in our day at places like the oddfellows and morecambe but nothing as big as that .

as an aside, has anyone got any 100 club tapes from the early days?

I taped 100 club once, october '87 I think. I'll dig them out. I think it was Ian Clarke playing stuff like Bobby Rich - Girl Somewhere one one tape.

[Stevie]

the references to trains that people have made, I reckon, are inseparable from the whole 'wigan experience'.

Remember being told off by 'old people' on the train for playing back the tapes of what we'd recorded the night before

[Guest nubes]

Remember being told off by 'old people' on the train for playing back the tapes of what we'd recorded the night before

And I bet ..after much scowling you turned it down ...unlike today young pups ..who would probably pull a knife or a shooter on ya.... ..Delxxxx

[John Benson]

davetay said:

Hi Mark, I,ve still got a few live tapes, one of special interest to Pete from April 74,

when Richard says 1st time ever at the Casino for the CARSTAIRS "IT REALLY HURTS ME GIRL"

this one going out to Judy.

Dave.

Just reading this made me remember the (one and only) time I sat up in that balcony for two hours solid, holding a microphone

Guess what, I've not long since got out the tracklisting for it and it was done sometime in May 1974

so not much after Dave's tape.

I was just going to scan in the handwritten listing, but decided to type it out - for posterity!

So here it is:

Wigan Tape - May 1974

Side 1

We'll be making out - Jessica James & The Outlaws

I've had it - Lee Andrews

Land of 1000 dances - Mr Bloe

I'll never get enough - Buchannan Brothers

Too darn soulful - Morris Chestnut

Please operator - Tony & Tyrone

River deep, mountain high - Les McCann Ltd

It really hurts me girl - Carstairs

The Larue - Lada Edmund Jr

Panic - Reparata & The Delrons

Help me (Inst) - Al Wilson

We got to keep on - Casanova II

World without sunshine - Sandra Phillips

Don't you care anymore - Jodi Mathis

Thunder - Lord Thunder

Let's do the duck - 'Richard Temple' (Willie Hutch)

Easy Baby - Adventurers

Why did you leave me girl - Soulful Hounds

Prepared to love you - Thelma Lindsey

Like Adam and Eve - Reflections

I want to tell you - Obrey Wilson

Sax on the tracks - Mike & Ike

Run baby run - Discotheques

There's a pain in my heart - Poppies

Side 2

I can't help loving you - Paul Anka

I don't want to discuss it - Instigation

I'm satisfied with you - Fred Smith Orchestra

Panic - Reparata & The Delrons

I can't get enough - Teriffics

This thing called love - Danny Wagner

They say - Electronics

Dance dance dance - Casualeers

Let's go somewhere - R Dean Taylor

Build your house on a strong foundation - Gwen & Ray

Mr Big shot - Gene Chandler

Let it be you babe - Music Box

The Joker - Watts 103rd St Rhythm Band

Love on a rampage - Perigents

We got to keep on - Casanova II

What's it gonna be - Susan Barrett

Panic - Reparata & The Delrons

It's gonna be hard - West Coast Revival

Save my love for a rainy day - Van Dykes

Help me (Inst) - Al Wilson

Let it be you babe - Music Box

Too darn Soulful - Morris Chestnut

Jumping at the go go - Detroit Sounds

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As you can probably tell from the tracks played - some of them more than once over the two hour period. I don't think Richard was on, but maybe Russ and someone else. I'd have to dig out the tape itself to check who it actually was as I can't remember that far back off the top of my head anymore!

Plus - with the amount of instrumental tracks played, it probably was RW.

From what I remember of it, it was typical of that period with lots of the old 'hand claps' during the records.

That's all for now!

[Stevie]

And I bet ..after much scowling you turned it down

Yes - you're right. Guess we still had some respect back in those days

[Guest mel brat]

CSP - Columbia Special Pressings. Were they boots or re-issues?

They were legal re-issues as far as I'm aware, arranged with Coumbia US (I think) by Neil Rushton. Others included Shane Martin, Poppies et. al.

I guess you'd be surprised if I thought much of the playlist on that particular night (and you'd be damned right!). I still have a couple of tapes from early '74 myself, and the contrast is truly stark. Epitome of Sound, Terrible Tom, Joe Hicks, Jodi Mathis, Morris Chestnut, Dana Valery, Tony & Tyrone, Geraldine Hunt, Stanley Mitchell, Volcanos, Salvadors, Al Wilson, Herb Ward etc. etc., one after the other! ...and Thelma Houston's version of "I Ain't Going Nowhere" (UK MOWEST LP) - when did you last hear that one?

Edited September 17, 2008 by mel brat

[Davetay]

Just reading this made me remember the (one and only) time I sat up in that balcony for two hours solid, holding a microphone

Guess what, I've not long since got out the tracklisting for it and it was done sometime in May 1974

so not much after Dave's tape.

I was just going to scan in the handwritten listing, but decided to type it out - for posterity!

So here it is:

Wigan Tape - May 1974

Side 1

We'll be making out - Jessica James & The Outlaws

I've had it - Lee Andrews

Land of 1000 dances - Mr Bloe

I'll never get enough - Buchannan Brothers

Too darn soulful - Morris Chestnut

Please operator - Tony & Tyrone

River deep, mountain high - Les McCann Ltd

It really hurts me girl - Carstairs

The Larue - Lada Edmund Jr

Panic - Reparata & The Delrons

Help me (Inst) - Al Wilson

We got to keep on - Casanova II

World without sunshine - Sandra Phillips

Don't you care anymore - Jodi Mathis

Thunder - Lord Thunder

Let's do the duck - 'Richard Temple' (Willie Hutch)

Easy Baby - Adventurers

Why did you leave me girl - Soulful Hounds

Prepared to love you - Thelma Lindsey

Like Adam and Eve - Reflections

I want to tell you - Obrey Wilson

Sax on the tracks - Mike & Ike

Run baby run - Discotheques

There's a pain in my heart - Poppies

Side 2

I can't help loving you - Paul Anka

I don't want to discuss it - Instigation

I'm satisfied with you - Fred Smith Orchestra

Panic - Reparata & The Delrons

I can't get enough - Teriffics

This thing called love - Danny Wagner

They say - Electronics

Dance dance dance - Casualeers

Let's go somewhere - R Dean Taylor

Build your house on a strong foundation - Gwen & Ray

Mr Big shot - Gene Chandler

Let it be you babe - Music Box

The Joker - Watts 103^rd St Rhythm Band

Love on a rampage - Perigents

We got to keep on - Casanova II

What's it gonna be - Susan Barrett

Panic - Reparata & The Delrons

It's gonna be hard - West Coast Revival

Save my love for a rainy day - Van Dykes

Help me (Inst) - Al Wilson

Let it be you babe - Music Box

Too darn Soulful - Morris Chestnut

Jumping at the go go - Detroit Sounds

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As you can probably tell from the tracks played - some of them more than once over the two hour period. I don't think Richard was on, but maybe Russ and someone else. I'd have to dig out the tape itself to check who it actually was as I can't remember that far back off the top of my head anymore!

Plus - with the amount of instrumental tracks played, it probably was RW.

From what I remember of it, it was typical of that period with lots of the old 'hand claps' during the records.

That's all for now!

With the look of some of the tracks Kev Roberts wes djing as well as Russ.

[Davetay]

Thelma Houston's version of "I Ain't Going Nowhere" (UK MOWEST LP) - when did you last hear that one?

At home a few weeks ago played it off said LP (good verison)

[Wiganer1]

test!!

Edited September 18, 2008 by wiganer1

[Steve L]

Had been going to the casino for about 6 months on the 5th anniversary as a skinny 17 year old so the tunes on the tape really strike a chord with me and bring back lots of memories. I agree however about the quality of some of this list not standing up to the 74 playlist and from this perspective it might be viewed as more ammunition for the wigan snipers, however quality by the bucket load was coming through or just around the corner in the form of Searlings 79 biggies ( Vickie Baines, Cecil Washington et al )

Great days

Edited September 19, 2008 by Steve L

[Guest nubes]

. I agree however about the quality of some of this list not standing up to the 74 playlist and from this perspective it might be viewed as more ammunition for the wigan snpers, however quality by the bucket load was coming through or just around the corner in the form of Searlings 79 biggies ( Vickie Baines, Cecil Washington et al )

Great days

Couldnt agrree more..particularly of Searling's 79 sets... ...Delxxx

[Wiganer1]

Couldnt agrree more..particularly of Searling's 79 sets... ...Delxxx

===

got loads to upload but refosouls playing up again!!

[Madmandy]

So did I Mandy...so did I. ..the 6th and 7th anniversary cassettes..proud to say are from my own original tapes of those nighters...got a copy of the final nighter September 19th 1981..on CD...from Soulster..who i lent my original cassette tape too of that night!!!!!...totally forgot....Delxxxxx

Did you get you a pale blue badge for the 6th anniversary Del?

My bro had it but it got lost he used to sew all his on trousers

I bet those tapes make the hair stand up on the back of your neck now...knowing you were there eh?

Mand xx

[Madmandy]

tommy bush - i dont like it - Wigan Casino Live 1978 

I like it the way the tape sounds is great and the clapping

Mand :O)

[Guest nubes]

Did you get you a pale blue badge for the 6th anniversary Del?

My bro had it but it got lost he used to sew all his on trousers

I bet those tapes make the hair stand up on the back of your neck now...knowing you were there eh?

Mand xx

No Mand...the badge i got was on a black background with the 6 being in blue night owl in front of it....the badge you describes sounds more like the 5th anniversary one,..the 3rd oldies anniversary 79 was on a blue background..would it have been that one do you think???.....

well Mand ..i am trying to locate my own tapes of the anniversaries...and you are right ..it sometimes is hard to believe just how far back it was....and being part of something so massive....however...to me the scene has moved on and gone from strength to strength since those days....and i am pretty sure that most of us now...wouldnt have dreamt of still being part of the scene in our middle ages ....Delxxxx

[Guest nomad]

Couldnt agrree more..particularly of Searling's 79 sets... ...Delxxx

Just dug out Sams first night...that makes the hairs stand up... He got a massive standing ovation that went on for ages. but his time was to be short lived as a casino DJ as you can read in the thread entitled 'Its all over casanova' Great pity because the tape is a great piece of my past memories.

[Wiganer1]

Just dug out Sams first night...that makes the hairs stand up... He got a massive standing ovation that went on for ages. but his time was to be short lived as a casino DJ as you can read in the thread entitled 'Its all over casanova' Great pity because the tape is a great piece of my past memories.

=======

hi mate - i think sam had the last laugh

[Guest nomad]

=======

hi mate - i think sam had the last laugh

Still laughing ..so I believe...always a legend

[Peter99]

Just dug out Sams first night...that makes the hairs stand up... He got a massive standing ovation that went on for ages. but his time was to be short lived as a casino DJ as you can read in the thread entitled 'Its all over casanova' Great pity because the tape is a great piece of my past memories.

Any chance of posting that up mate? Or even getting a copy?

Thanks

Peter

[Guest nomad]

Any chance of posting that up mate? Or even getting a copy?

Thanks

Peter

will pm ya

[Peter99]

will pm ya

Fanks!

[manus]

Just messing about on Ebay and noticed something by Hamilton Bohannon and remembered that his "Foot stompin music" got a couple of plays at Wigan. A bit of useless information for which I apologise

Manus

[De-to]

Just messing about on Ebay and noticed something by Hamilton Bohannon and remembered that his "Foot stompin music" got a couple of plays at Wigan. A bit of useless information for which I apologise

Manus

who ever played this at wigan can expect the soul police to batter there door down very soon,

[manus]

who ever played this at wigan can expect the soul police to batter there door down very soon,

Bet they'll never take the toilets - not without a specialsed frog diving team anyway

[Pete S]

Just messing about on Ebay and noticed something by Hamilton Bohannon and remembered that his "Foot stompin music" got a couple of plays at Wigan. A bit of useless information for which I apologise

Manus

Funnily enough, a few years ago I heard that on a Wigan tape and couldn't remember what it was and it sounded bloody brilliant to be honest. REACTIVATE!

[Wiganer1]

charlie gracie - he'll never love you like i do - live at wigan 1978!

Posted info:
not one you hear too much these days ..

[Wiganer1]

Joe 90 Theme - Wigan Casino live 1978
Posted info:
just to prove it WAS played ....doesnt sound like the crowd were nt enjoying it however - make your own minds up!!

[Wiganer1]

stemmons express - woman love thief - Wigan Casino Live 1978

Posted info:
You have to listen to this - Wigan at its best - Atmosphere or what!!!

[Wiganer1]

Lou Roberts - Ten to one - Wigan Casino live 1978
Posted info:
did 3 northern tunes - this one for me one of the best .. anyone ever seen an issue???

[manus]

Funnily enough, a few years ago I heard that on a Wigan tape and couldn't remember what it was and it sounded bloody brilliant to be honest. REACTIVATE!

A pounder for sure -and a current release at the time.

cheers

Manus

[Wiganer1]

honey bees - she dont deserve you - Wigan Casino Live 1978
Posted info:
not sure if Butch was playing this a while back..nice midtempo on Fontana

[Mach]

"WIGANER" keep "em" coming ..the old memories are flooding back..great stuff mate!...

[Wiganer1]

sergio mendes - love music - wigan casino live 1978
Posted info:
what a great record this is!..still cheap as well.....great atmosphere again!

[Guest inspirations001]

i still like this. remember it being c/u as lou edwards! yeah doesn't it sound like him my first trip was the wk after 4th aniversary. never forget going up stairs and thru the doors(being knocked back by the heat). first dance was to bobby paris and then russ played THE JT'S "LOVE HUSTLE". i just watched and thought fook me this is IT!! i seem to remember new sounds like rex garvin, paul newman,rainbow people,and i still love em to this day cos they WERE wigan!

[Guest Matt Male]

Good stuff Mark. Lou Roberts, Charlie Gracie and Peggy March will always be Nuneaton youth club and local disco/soul night sounds for me because that's where i heard them in 1978/9. Great memories. I think it must have been Dave Hall who was bringing these back from Wigan and playing them locally, amongst others. The sound of Wigan was the sound of Nuneaton.

[Wiganer1]

just as i remember it! have you got paul newman or rainbow people. the records don't sound great now but fook me u cant knock the atmosphere! always some noisy get who happens to shout when ur recording tho!! also have you notice the sound drops sometimes, i think its the shock waves from everyone clapping. like a soulful hand grenade!! keep em coming, i'm off to look for me spencers!

=====

yes mate - got both of them..will post up for you!

[Wiganer1]

Clapping on the beat is a lost art, nobody does it now, it sounds fantastic. Kids today don't know they're born.

===

too right pete!

[Wiganer1]

Always liked this too. Can't understand the knockers of this - still puts the hairs of my neck up. Nice one Mark.

====

turned down an issue for £12 at warrington in the 80s - never seen another

but did get the demo for tenner on the same nite!!!

[Guest mel brat]

Just messing about on Ebay and noticed something by Hamilton Bohannon and remembered that his "Foot stompin music" got a couple of plays at Wigan. A bit of useless information for which I apologise

Manus

Why shouldn't "Foot Stompin' Music" have been played at Wigan? - just because it was a new release?? How bizarre! It's not to my particular taste, but as with Isaac Hayes Movement "Disco Connection", this track was immensely popular with just about everyone at the time - even the pop discos picked up on it eventually.

With his former strong connections to Motown, Hamilton Bohannon surely had more claim to be accepted by Northern Soul fans than some of the lousy pop records that were being played. Only it's lack of "rarity" could be held against it (by some sad individuals) and that's downright perverse!

Edited September 25, 2008 by mel brat

[Guest mel brat]

Clapping on the beat is a lost art, nobody does it now, it sounds fantastic. Kids today don't know they're born.

I agree. It's often the thunderous clapping that gives Wigan tapes their unique atmosphere. (And whatever happened to "Soul clapping"?)