Wigan 78 - It Was As Bad As This?

[Carlf]

5/6 years before that

As early as that. Was it as popular back than as it became in the late 70s, 

[Ric-tic]

As early as that. Was it as popular back than as it became in the late 70s, 

was a big record everywhere way before the casino

[Pete S]

Also got going in 78, I think  - 

 

Bobby Paris - i walked away

Holly St James - thats not love

Christine Cooper - heartaches away my boy

Construction - hey little way out girl

Rita and the Tiaras - gone with the wind

Ambassadors - too much of a good thing

Johnny Hendley - my baby came from out of nowhere

 

Mostly, but Christine Cooper was a Mecca tune already bootlegged in 1975.  

Rita & T's, 1979.

Edited March 19, 2014 by Pete S

[Ian Dewhirst]

was a big record everywhere way before the casino

 

Er, not quite. Richard had the only copy at the time and it debuted at the Casino if my memory serves me well........

 

Ian D 

[Ric-tic]

cats Ian! cant quite remember if this was torch but pep was playing this in 72

[Soulman58]

Don't care what anyone says, even with that pop music, WC still the number one soul venue in my book.

Wasn't all bad, no one took RW seriously at that stage anyway, he was a sellout joke, everyone knew it, you never had to wait very long to hear some class soul if you were there for the night.

Why would you wait when as others had said Cleethorles was a quality venue, though I myself had given up and headed to pastures Jazz/Funk

[Soulman58]

Rod, I have done it all like you but i have to say that the present day is more refined, tons more quality around

This may be true, I can't say for definite as haven't been anywhere live for what seems like eons.   However, from sounds played from various links here/elsewhere the bottom line is what is now deemed as NS, much of which to me is just quality soul, has widened massively and many of today's tunes just would not have been accepted for the vast majority of the time that Wigan was going.

[MrsWoodsrules]

Are you serious? Do you think we just sat there waiting for Joe 90 to finish?

My time was from 79 onwards anyway, I was there every single Saturday without fail.

RS didn't come on until 2 AM, probably milled around in the record bar for couple of hours before that.

I can guarantee you that at 2 AM that place was the best place to be in Britain bar non.

I moved on myself, got into lots of other the stuff, but that's not the point.

It's not as black-and-white as you make it sound, let's talk about the quality on offer, not just the crap.

But to each their own.

[Soulman58]

Rod, I have done it all like you but i have to say that the present day is more refined, tons more quality around

This may be true, I can't say for definite as haven't been anywhere live for what seems like eons.   However, from sounds played from various links here/elsewhere the bottom line is what is now deemed as NS, much of which to me is just quality soul, has widened massively and many of today's tunes just would not have been accepted for the vast majority of the time that Wigan was going.

[dthedrug]

 WIGAN 78 Did have a positive, the emergence of the BEAT BALLARD, Gene Mc Denials "walk with a winner, Barbara Mc Nair also broke through, Ray Pollards "drifter" was being played again years on from the WHEEL,

I think the BEAT BALLARD was the inspiration of the 6ts sound that went big at the 100 club a few years later, also the crap that got played in 78 inspired the classic soul that we got from the DJs at STAFFORD, I suppose it had to be bad to come good again  DAVE K

[Labeat]

not to sure about that,remember mick lyons telling me about havin a discussion with Gerry marshall to start niters.But what ever happened russ did start em so credit were its due.

 

Yes, give him a little credit, don't smash him to smithereens, he was God like to some vulnerables

[Guest gordon russell]

I stopped going late 77 early 78,why? cos' of the bleedin' commercialism!

I'm sure there was none of that crap in the Wheel days (although i was too young back then)

I know that promoters/dj's had a duty to please so many tastes but me, i used to cringe inside at all the NONE-SOUL

Me too....77 saw the end for me.......cleethorpes and yate....much better!!

[Steve G]

Yes, give him a little credit, don't smash him to smithereens, he was God like to some vulnerables

 

Thing is when we were young it wasn't as black and white as Russ = bad, Richard = God…..We were going up country to an allnighter and whilst Richard was clearly much better, we wanted to get in the place as quickly as we could and start dancing. At the time Russ was in the pack, not some dreadful DJ to be avoided at all costs…..it's only later that we really realised the difference in record quality.

[Guest gordon russell]

I sold Richard Peter Jarrett and Night Watch back then as unknowns. He played them. Was Silver Bullet and Maya Fernick his spins too.

 

I think it was just the time.

 

LaBeat, kinda agree with that but '78 you had 10 years of the scene say. Today 45 years back catalogue to choose from.

 

I still hear dire 45s though.

 

ROD

Yes,but those records had been made..........so why persist with so much  pop,disco and limp sh*te!!.....answer lazy in most cases...in Russ Winstanleys case...didn,t know a good soul record if it hit him in the gob lol.

 

P.S......records were much easier to find in the U.S.A  and at give away prices........so no real excuse

Edited March 20, 2014 by gordon russell

[Wiganer1]

hi pete,,,u gonna put the tape up so the nation can decide for themselves ?

 

i love it and have not even heard it yet lol

[Labeat]

This may be true, I can't say for definite as haven't been anywhere live for what seems like eons.   However, from sounds played from various links here/elsewhere the bottom line is what is now deemed as NS, much of which to me is just quality soul, has widened massively and many of today's tunes just would not have been accepted for the vast majority of the time that Wigan was going.

 

A lot of us as teenagers at Wigan were starry-eyed with the likes of Lenis Guess, Soul Twins, Morris Chestnut etc etc, todays tunes mostly were still

in the States... being overlooked or dismissed, but nowadays the more Soulful stuff is what a minority of us want, that comes with age, although

i do respect that the majority still want/prefer their oldies. Oops, i must include a lot of young ones are straight into the new stuff.... but dont know the oldies

[Guest gordon russell]

 WIGAN 78 Did have a positive, the emergence of the BEAT BALLARD, Gene Mc Denials "walk with a winner, Barbara Mc Nair also broke through, Ray Pollards "drifter" was being played again years on from the WHEEL,

I think the BEAT BALLARD was the inspiration of the 6ts sound that went big at the 100 club a few years later, also the crap that got played in 78 inspired the classic soul that we got from the DJs at STAFFORD, I suppose it had to be bad to come good again  DAVE K

Sorry Dave..........beat ballad..........noooooooooooooo!....awful stuff  

[Steve G]

78 RS played Judy freeman "Hold on" and completely cleared the floor (despite it being an "oldie")….

[KevH]

78 RS played Judy freeman "Hold on" and completely cleared the floor (despite it being an "oldie")….

 

It was already overplayed  at the Mecca,Steve.

[Labeat]

 

 

His Mum and Sister

[Guest Paul]

 WIGAN 78 Did have a positive, the emergence of the BEAT BALLARD, Gene Mc Denials "walk with a winner, Barbara Mc Nair also broke through, Ray Pollards "drifter" was being played again years on from the WHEEL,

I think the BEAT BALLARD was the inspiration of the 6ts sound that went big at the 100 club a few years later, also the crap that got played in 78 inspired the classic soul that we got from the DJs at STAFFORD, I suppose it had to be bad to come good again  DAVE K

 

Hello Dave,

My own memories of The Casino, mostly from the 1975 and 1976 years, are that the quality of music (quality being a subjective thing, of course) was very mixed - from great soul to good but sometimes dreadful pop - but the tempos were far more consistent: generally mid to uptempo.

 

In fact I think too many great records were sadly overlooked because they weren't quite fast enough at the time when The Casino was influential.

 

I don't disagree that a few slower tracks did get spun at The Casino but, in proportion to the faster tracks, the ratio of beat ballads was so small that I don't think it was significant - certainly not enough to give The Casino any credit.

 

I admit that by 1978 I'd stopped going to The Casino and I don't doubt that some people might have been introduced to some slower tempo tracks and beat ballads at that particular venue but I think far more people were already into those styles and are unlikely to associate them with The Casino.

I'm not trying to discredit The Casino at all, Dave, I just don't think it had much influence on later venues which played more downtempo stuff.

 

Best wishes,

 

Paul

 

[Pete S]

hi pete,,,u gonna put the tape up so the nation can decide for themselves ?

 

i love it and have not even heard it yet lol

 

Do I have to LOL

[Guest JIM BARRY]

Wasn't Christine cooper a cats discovery about 72..?

[dthedrug]

Wasn't Christine cooper a cats discovery about 72..?

 Hi All ... Christine Cooper Heartaches away & SOS were played in 72, SOS was available at CONTEMPOS 50p, however Heartaches was much harder, both records are great,

Going back to PAUL entry....I totally agree with you.  However although for you & me the years from 72 to 76/7 were the real northern soul years and sadly no matter how many records you own and how many venues you have been to post 77, you have missed the trip. the northern soul years were electric the people were brothers & sisters it was masonic villainy fuelled by chemicals at a 100mph dance pace, most records were current or under 5 years old, most were controversial with soulsters not on the scene (basically because they were not part of the in-crowd) 

Paul added to this we attended better quality All nighters such as St Ivess Peterborough Wirrina, Cleethorpes both piers, & YATE plus other venues like SAMANTHAS & the KGB were a must attend, so Wigan 78 is & was as I said Bad Drugs & full of kids & more  DAVE K

[Torch56]

Apologies for joining this discussion ten years too late but I have only stumbled across this now.

Christine Cooper (Heartaches) was a regular play at the Catacombs in the summer of 1973. Because it's such a great record, I'm certain that, had it been played there before, it would have registered with me as it's such a personal favourite. Its dance floor reaction was difficult to guage because the dance floor was small and in that summer (post Torch-pre Wigan) it was invariably packed. Also, the playlist was of such high quality (Duke Browner, Moses Smith, Ben Aiken etc) that there was rarely any let-up in the collective frenzied response.

I know Pep had a white demo copy because it was possible to see the decks from the dance floor through a small aperture and note what was next up.  I used to regularly ask him to play it along with Alice Clark and "the one with the 'Spanishy' beginning"(Carl Douglas), I also attended Va Vas that summer and Richard Searling too featured it several times throughout the night.

SOS was played by Alan S at the tail end of 1972 when attendances were much lower and the response more muted. It's a good record but not in the same league as Heartaches Away My Boy.