How North Is North?

[Guest manusf3a]

 Hi all this is a good question a bit like is London the same as it was 30 years ago, well it ain't. did you know that the Cockney speak, will be gone in 1 generation, in fact the there will be no cockneys in 20 years fact, here's a fact for you to be a true Cockney you have mum dad & yourself all born within the sounds of Bow Bells, you all no that I'm sure, did you know that people from West Ham are not Cockneys? & people from Chelsea are? look yourself on a map you will note the church with the Bow Bells has been long gone, and the church in Bow has no bells, even if it had it's the wrong church. 

The famous mix of  Yiddish Romany Irish & criminal talk out the side of the mouth with a whisper, using rimming slang to fool the police that makes the Cockney speak, has already impacted the under 5 year olds in certain areas of the capital, we are all aware of the new talk that started in London some 15 years ago made up from the London accent mingled with patter from Jamaica Australia & gangster talk from the Afro- America ghettos, IN IT! 

In the West Midlands the Black Country language is going the same way as London, this mean that in a few years time the North South divide will not be the Watford Gap, as it stands today the new accent we call London Country has reached just south of Coventry & most of Peterborough speak it   , to my ears Stafford sounds northern rather than midland as does Nottingham "me ducks"

getting back to this thread my mother was born in Shepard's Bush area of London, she had very right wing views that existed in the Irish community of working class West London in the pre war years,  all black people were known as Darkies the North started at the top end of exit out of London on the A5, like many Londoners we she moved to the new towns after the war, places like Harlow Stevenage consisted of 80% Londoners, she moved to Letchworth Garden City.  Coming from a broken home as I did I too control of my life at the age of 8 years, not going to school stealing and being anti social by the time I was 12 after stabbing a teacher I was moved to different kids homes in the North, this being so the North started when I left my home town,  

Years later going to places like the Twisted Wheel really meant you were going north, trust me when I say you did not hear Northern soul in the South unless it was put on by people who went north, The Birds nest is the only true club when the Torch was running and in Hitchin Mick Smith Billy Mac & myself played Rare Soul in the Dive bar, at that time even Bedford was north as was Leighton Buzzard I felt it was more north than south in the Black Horse & Bletsoe. & that is where the north starts if you are into Rare Northern Soul  IN IT THOE!......  DAVE K has spoken!

Youre spot on with the spread of London country Dave,in-it! is everywhere and has spread like wildfire over recent years.I was sent from Corby to and approved school in south occonden called Ardale when I was 13,when after a couple of months being there I would make my way back to Corby for rampage and the North Park over Kettering etc,my mates from Corby would say"Where did you get that cockney accent from! the kkids in the approv school would at the same time say"Youve got a jock accent!(I was  born in England,me Dad is irish though me mums from Scotland!",there were kids from up north as well as London and the south there  in the approved school  but even they said I talked like a jock?.Having lived in Peterborough for some years now when I do go over Corby which I do quite a lot I get folk every now and again saying where did that "Cockney",accent come from!

Edited August 2, 2014 by manusf3a

[Frankie Crocker]

Me too. I visited the Compass Club during a holiday in '71. The tunes listed though were getting played all over Northants at clubs that I didn't really class as special but were catering to the current trends. Two I bought after hearing them at the Compass were Impressions....Check Out Your Mind, and East Of Eden...Ramsey Lewis(?). Not exactly Northern though.

 

 - Kev

Hi Kev. Did you wear Wayfinders shoes as a kid? Should have as they had a compass in the heel. The north starts at Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield and Hull. South of this is the Midlands, in two bits, West and East, once known as the Black Country because... All this tosh about miners going to Wigan Casino is down to Pete Waterman but BBC documentaries are trying to clarify matters by mixing soul history and the industrial diversification of Northern England during the Thatcher years.

[Guest manusf3a]

Stewarts and Lloyds built Corby. They did this in the 1930's and it attracted considerable numbers of Scots to the town. Did you know Lorraine Emburey from Corby who used to go to Wigan in 1975/6?

Didn know her by name  but expect I would have seen her about the surnames not familiar though.

Edited August 2, 2014 by manusf3a

[Guest gordon russell]

Although I was living up north, my first experience of what I would refer to as northern soul was at the Compass Club in Torquay in 1971 , my first holiday with the lads, when I was 18.

They weren't playing just northern soul, but I realise now, they were slipping them in here and there. I came away wanting

Jackie Wilson - Nothing But Blue Skies

Stairsteps - Stay Close To Me

Chuck Wood - Seven Days Too Long

Flamingos - Boogaloo Party

Olympics - Baby Do The Philly Dog

 

So it wasn't all up north!

 

Kev

We used to go there.....during the summer it was full of nighter people.....including STEVE SMITH  from GLOS

Edited August 4, 2014 by gordon russell

[Guest gordon russell]

 Hi all this is a good question a bit like is London the same as it was 30 years ago, well it ain't. did you know that the Cockney speak, will be gone in 1 generation, in fact the there will be no cockneys in 20 years fact, here's a fact for you to be a true Cockney you have mum dad & yourself all born within the sounds of Bow Bells, you all no that I'm sure, did you know that people from West Ham are not Cockneys? & people from Chelsea are? look yourself on a map you will note the church with the Bow Bells has been long gone, and the church in Bow has no bells, even if it had it's the wrong church. 

The famous mix of  Yiddish Romany Irish & criminal talk out the side of the mouth with a whisper, using rimming slang to fool the police that makes the Cockney speak, has already impacted the under 5 year olds in certain areas of the capital, we are all aware of the new talk that started in London some 15 years ago made up from the London accent mingled with patter from Jamaica Australia & gangster talk from the Afro- America ghettos, IN IT! 

In the West Midlands the Black Country language is going the same way as London, this mean that in a few years time the North South divide will not be the Watford Gap, as it stands today the new accent we call London Country has reached just south of Coventry & most of Peterborough speak it   , to my ears Stafford sounds northern rather than midland as does Nottingham "me ducks"

getting back to this thread my mother was born in Shepard's Bush area of London, she had very right wing views that existed in the Irish community of working class West London in the pre war years,  all black people were known as Darkies the North started at the top end of exit out of London on the A5, like many Londoners we she moved to the new towns after the war, places like Harlow Stevenage consisted of 80% Londoners, she moved to Letchworth Garden City.  Coming from a broken home as I did I too control of my life at the age of 8 years, not going to school stealing and being anti social by the time I was 12 after stabbing a teacher I was moved to different kids homes in the North, this being so the North started when I left my home town,  

Years later going to places like the Twisted Wheel really meant you were going north, trust me when I say you did not hear Northern soul in the South unless it was put on by people who went north, The Birds nest is the only true club when the Torch was running and in Hitchin Mick Smith Billy Mac & myself played Rare Soul in the Dive bar, at that time even Bedford was north as was Leighton Buzzard I felt it was more north than south in the Black Horse & Bletsoe. & that is where the north starts if you are into Rare Northern Soul  IN IT THOE!......  DAVE K has spoken!

Rhyming slang was invented when the irish came over to dig the sewers and the first underground in victorian times.....it was so londoners could talk without the irish fellas knowing what they were saying.....today people from london speak with a sort of psuedo american/london drawl  innit  ya nar what l meeean

[Guest gordon russell]

Yes we used to meet many from Corby and Kettering at North Park WM Club on a Saturday. Also the all dayers at Kettering Central Hall. Think that was the name. Ivan or Ivor with ginger hair. Various others Heather was my girlfriend for a while around 75. Think that was right cos I was 18 and she got me the Moments LP Sharp. Still got it.

Ivan myles

Edited August 2, 2014 by gordon russell

[Mike]

offtopic posts split here

 

 

 

please use that if wish to talk about offtopic non soul related stuff

 

thanks

mike

[Mike]

again, ask that keep to the original topic

 

if wish to post non-soul related talk then use the thread here

 

thanks again

mike

[Kevinkent]

Enjoying the banter but it would be better over a beer or two. It would be nice to get more responses in line with the original post. Was gonna wait til this hit page 3 and then quote my original post for those that hadn't read from the start. I don't have the facility to do that. I'm sure there must be some worthy contributions out there - but please read my first post to see what it's all about.

Leave you to it - I'm off to the VaVa Voom dayer for a shandy.

 

 - Kev

[bri phill]

Did Dave Godin get it wrong?

Here in Kent I've been told I come from 'up north' because I hail from Northampton. Was Dave Godin of the same mindset when he coined the phrase 'Northern Soul'?

 

Without a doubt Manchester's Twisted Wheel was the venue that everyone knew about in the late 60's - but it wasn't the only one.

I consider myself fortunate to have spent my early years discovering this music we love, call it old, rare, or even northern, soul in secret places dotted around the Northants countryside - what Ady Croasdell has recently refered to as a 'parallel scene'.

 

The Motown/Stax influence of the time meant that a multitude of city centre clubs were playing that type of sound generally, mixed in with chart stuff. I'm not talking about those, even if those associated with them now regard themselves as having some sort of soul heritage. I'm on about the special places and early nighters that played and broke unknown sounds to an eager and increasingly knowledgeable group of followers. The hidden places that you had to know about, and once attended had you hooked.

 

I'm getting a little tired of the TV trying to tell me that because I didn't work down t'pit and walk the cobbled streets to meet our lass at the Mill, then I wasn't part of the Northern Soul thing.

 

So,  PRIOR to it being tagged as 'Northern Soul' where were you getting your music fix? Did you consider yourself a northerner?

How North is was North?

 

 - Kev

I believe Dave used this term around  68 and probably was referring to anything from the Midlands upwards.

 

As we know lots of clubs were playing Motown/Motownesque stuff all over the country from the mid 60's but only few had allniters like The Wheel playing the rarer UK stuff such as Alexandra Patten,Bobby Sheen,Williams and Watson,Flamingos,Dynatones  etc etc.

From 67 onwards The Mojo followed by The Nite Owl closed thus bringing in a lot of those punters to The Wheel.

 

I think the scene Ady refers to in the late 60's was more a club soul scene unlike  The Wheel because there was plenty  of people from Northants,Kettering and Cambridge coming to The Wheel and prior to that they used to go to The Nite Owl.

I'm pretty sure by 69 The Catacombs ,Chateau Impey and The Wheel were the major venues for rare soul and The Catacombs closed at 2am and at that time The Chateau was a Sunday afternoon event.

There was another allniter in Manchester at The Top Twenty Hollinwood and in 70 The Blue Orchid started one on a Friday night.

[Guest east rob]

Did Dave Godin get it wrong?

Here in Kent I've been told I come from 'up north' because I hail from Northampton. Was Dave Godin of the same mindset when he coined the phrase 'Northern Soul'?

 

Without a doubt Manchester's Twisted Wheel was the venue that everyone knew about in the late 60's - but it wasn't the only one.

I consider myself fortunate to have spent my early years discovering this music we love, call it old, rare, or even northern, soul in secret places dotted around the Northants countryside - what Ady Croasdell has recently refered to as a 'parallel scene'.

 

The Motown/Stax influence of the time meant that a multitude of city centre clubs were playing that type of sound generally, mixed in with chart stuff. I'm not talking about those, even if those associated with them now regard themselves as having some sort of soul heritage. I'm on about the special places and early nighters that played and broke unknown sounds to an eager and increasingly knowledgeable group of followers. The hidden places that you had to know about, and once attended had you hooked.

 

I'm getting a little tired of the TV trying to tell me that because I didn't work down t'pit and walk the cobbled streets to meet our lass at the Mill, then I wasn't part of the Northern Soul thing.

 

So,  PRIOR to it being tagged as 'Northern Soul' where were you getting your music fix? Did you consider yourself a northerner?

How North is was North?

 

 - Kev

Its not meet our lass at the mill, its at t'mill. you softy..

[Guest Chiefy]

Northants was where the scene was at late 60,s early 70s if you were from Beds,Herts,Bucks. Played the same sounds as the wheel and other northern venues. I don,t recall hearing it called Northern till 71 ( I think). I seem to remember the sounds being labled Boogaloo at Kelmarsh.I remember playing early sounds i.e Willie Mitchell,Alvin Cash,Flamingoes,Jerryo,e.t.c. and friends loving it and asking what genre of music it was and always replied Boogaloo. The Torch + Junction had a good percentage of there audience from the earlier Northants scene. I,d say the scene was as big in Northants as further up North.

[KevH]

Hi Kev. Did you wear Wayfinders shoes as a kid? Should have as they had a compass in the heel. The north starts at Liverpool, Manchester, Sheffield and Hull. South of this is the Midlands, in two bits, West and East, once known as the Black Country because... All this tosh about miners going to Wigan Casino is down to Pete Waterman but BBC documentaries are trying to clarify matters by mixing soul history and the industrial diversification of Northern England during the Thatcher years.

 

Compass in the heel.!! Uncomfortable as hell.Miners went to Wigan to hoover up the records,they had a bit of spare dosh.!!

[KevH]

[Guest Mart B]

Compass in the heel.!! Uncomfortable as hell.Miners went to Wigan to hoover up the records,they had a bit of spare dosh.!!

Not me Kev I didn't work weekends like some.

[Steve L]

Not me Kev I didn't work weekends like some.

 

Me neither unfortunately… oh to turn back the clock

[Kevinkent]

Keep to the topic please. There's already been a whole lot of chat from this thread weeded out by the mods to form a new thread "North Chat" in Freebasing.

Don't particularly want the thread closed or moved to Freebasing in it's entirity.

 

 - Kev

[Kevinkent]

I believe Dave used this term around  68 and probably was referring to anything from the Midlands upwards.

 

As we know lots of clubs were playing Motown/Motownesque stuff all over the country from the mid 60's but only few had allniters like The Wheel playing the rarer UK stuff such as Alexandra Patten,Bobby Sheen,Williams and Watson,Flamingos,Dynatones  etc etc.

From 67 onwards The Mojo followed by The Nite Owl closed thus bringing in a lot of those punters to The Wheel.

 

I think the scene Ady refers to in the late 60's was more a club soul scene unlike  The Wheel because there was plenty  of people from Northants,Kettering and Cambridge coming to The Wheel and prior to that they used to go to The Nite Owl.

I'm pretty sure by 69 The Catacombs ,Chateau Impey and The Wheel were the major venues for rare soul and The Catacombs closed at 2am and at that time The Chateau was a Sunday afternoon event.

There was another allniter in Manchester at The Top Twenty Hollinwood and in 70 The Blue Orchid started one on a Friday night.

 

Bri, I agree with your first sentence.

As for the rest - I was attending venues in Northants, including at least 2 different niters, in the late 60's that were playing stuff a big step above the Motown/Motownesque spins that were the norm for that time. My early vinyl collection was based on what I was hearing there. I would reckon this might be a typical play list and were all sounds I first heard at Wilby nr Kettering,  so you decide:

 

Invitations....What's Wrong With me Baby

Contours....First I Look At The Purse;  Just A Little Misunderstanding

Brooks & Jerry....I Got What It Takes

Darrell Banks....Open The Door To Your Heart

Poets...She Blew A Good Thing

Spellbinders...Help Me

Bob Brady & Conchords....Everybody's Going To A Love-in

Bobby Marchan...Ain't No Reason For Girls To Be Lonely

Alvin Cash...Twine Time

Dynatones...Fife Piper (the HBR version)

Major Lance...Ain't No Soul In These Old Shoes;  The Beat;  Monkey Time; The Matador

Jackie Lee...The Duck

Williams & Watson...Too Late;  A Quitter Never Wins

Tams....Hey Girl Don't Bother Me

Impressions...You Been Cheatin';  Can't Satisfy

Bill Deal & the Rhondells....I've Been Hurt

Willie Mitchell....The Champion;  Secret Home; Mercy

Blendells...La La La La La

Laura Lee...To Win Your Heart

Gene Chandler...Nothing Can Stop Me

Jerry Butler....Moody Woman

Billy Butler...Right Track

 

 - Kev

Edited August 2, 2014 by KevinKent

[richo991]

When Bristol City play Plymouth they chant - you dirty Northern #####s to us

 

As you  and Ady say though. Other "parallel" scenes all over the shop. Where I grew up, Stroud, Gloucester, Cheltenham and of course Yate, had as active a 'scene' as most places in the Torch and Wigan years, I would say. When I was first introduced in the late 70s to nights in Stroud and Gloucester they'd be rammed with locals, often many heading off about 10pm to catch a coach to Wigan.  It would still be rammed with those of us left behind.

 

There was (is) a big collectors scene around there too, and many of the prominent collectors in that era are resonsible for playing stuff that is considered classic today.

 

It is well documented that Dave used the term to denote the different styles of music and generalised about up north. But I'd guess if Bristol City were playing in London, a lot of guys over that there London would have popped into his shop, same with any of the midlands teams. All of those are well north of Watford ergo....

 

Went to Yate  quite a small place ,When you consider the size of Wigan,Stoke  Blackpool.LOL

Edited August 3, 2014 by richo991

[Ady Croasdell]

I believe Dave used this term around 68 and probably was referring to anything from the Midlands upwards.

As we know lots of clubs were playing Motown/Motownesque stuff all over the country from the mid 60's but only few had allniters like The Wheel playing the rarer UK stuff such as Alexandra Patten,Bobby Sheen,Williams and Watson,Flamingos,Dynatones etc etc.

From 67 onwards The Mojo followed by The Nite Owl closed thus bringing in a lot of those punters to The Wheel.

I think the scene Ady refers to in the late 60's was more a club soul scene unlike The Wheel because there was plenty of people from Northants,Kettering and Cambridge coming to The Wheel and prior to that they used to go to The Nite Owl.

I'm pretty sure by 69 The Catacombs ,Chateau Impey and The Wheel were the major venues for rare soul and The Catacombs closed at 2am and at that time The Chateau was a Sunday afternoon event.

There was another allniter in Manchester at The Top Twenty Hollinwood and in 70 The Blue Orchid started one on a Friday night.

hi Brian, no it was a nighter scene. Main ones for me were Kelmarsh, Market Harborough and Bletsoe plus Saints and Sinners in Brum which was full of our crowd and one Brummie! That's the point of the thread, were there other areas as into it as that, apart from Lancs, Yorks and some North Midlands towns?

[Ady Croasdell]

PS Dave may have used the term in his shop in 68 but it wasn't in common usage until 70/71 after the B&S usage

[Ady Croasdell]

I'd add Kim Weston Helpless, Esquires Get On Up and And Get Away

, Homer Banks Hooked By Love, Tony Clark The Entertainer and several of those Bri Phill listed. And the Harborough nighter was the one the Wheel crowd came to the night it was closed down

[Ady Croasdell]

If our local nighters had been busted then a lot of the crowd would go up to the Wheel or other Northern nighters or even the gay bar in London called Le Douce or summat similar

[Mal C]

hi Brian, no it was a nighter scene. Main ones for me were Kelmarsh, Market Harborough and Bletsoe plus Saints and Sinners in Brum which was full of our crowd and one Brummie! That's the point of the thread, were there other areas as into it as that, apart from Lancs, Yorks and some North Midlands towns?

 

Where was Saints & Sinners held at in Brum Ady?  Its funny I remember speaking to Kev Roberts in the early 9ts, I photographed him at his then Radio Show, and he asked where I came from, I said Birmingham, and he said it never really happened in Birmingham did it...

 

I know the Birmingham Lacarno was popular and in the eighties The Outrigger, which is where I started off is well known, but back in the late 6ts, early 7ts Ive never head of anywhere, certainly not Saints and Sinners...

 

 

Mal

[bri phill]

Her's some of the play list 69/70 at The Wheel  PLUS THE STUFF ON THE WHEEL CD'S (NOT LISTED HERE) such as Invitations,Incredibles,Patten,Sheen etc etc. THE CATACOMBS with Bob Crocker and Alan S WOULD HAVE BEEEN ALSO PLAYING A MAJORITY OF THESE AS WAS Carl  AT THE CHATEAU because a lot of that crowd use to come to Wheel

JERRY COOKE I HURT ON THE OTHER SIDE
ROBERT BANKS MIGHTY GOOD WAY
THE KELLY BROTHERS LOVE TIME
FANTASTIC FOUR I CANT STOP LOVING MY BABY
MAJOR LANCE RHYTHM
MAJOR LANCE THE MATADOR
MAJOR LANCE EVERYBODY LOVES A GOODTIME
MAJOR LANCE INVESTIGATE
MAJOR LANCE OOHPS DELILHA
EARL VAN DYKE I CANT HELP MYSELF
EARL VAN DYKE ALL FOR YOU
EARL VAN DYKE 6 X 6
THE ARTISTICS THIS HEART OF MINE
THE ARTISTICS THE CHASE IS ON
THE ARTISTICS HOPE WE HAVE
BILLY BUTLER I CANT WORK NO LONGER
WALTER JACKSON I KEEP FORGETING / WHERE HAVE ALL THE FLOWERS GONE
WILLIAMS /WATSON TOO LATE (off the album)
JIMMY HOLIDAY THE TURNING POINT
JIMMY HOLIDAY SPRED YOUR LOVE album version
JIMMY HOLIDAY AND CLYDIE KING READY WILLING AND ABLE
PEACHES AND HERB WERE IN THIS THING TOGETHER
VALA REGAN FIREMAN
THE OJAYS WORKING ON YOUR CASE
THE OJAYS I DIG YOUR ACT
NORMAN JOHNSON OUR LOVE WILL GROW
IRMA THOMAS WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO
JACKIE WILSON SOMEBODY UP THERE LIKE YOU (album)
JACJIE WILSON YOU CAN COUNT ON ME (album)
JACKIE WILSON YOU BROUGHT ABOUT A CHANGE IN ME
GEORGE STONE HOLE IN THE WALL
THE DYNATONES HOLE IN THE WALL
THE PACKERS HOLE IN THE WALL
DOBIE GRAT SEE YOU AT THE GO GO
DOBIE GRAY OUT ON THE FLOOR
DOBIE GRAY  THE IN CROWD
ROUND ROBIN KICK THAT LITTLE FOOT SALLY ANNE
THE SHARPEES DO THE 45
JOHNIE TAYLOR CHANGES
LITTLE JOHNY TAYLOR ZIG ZAG LIGHTNING
BOBBY BLAND SHOES
BOBBY BLAND THESE HANDS
BOBBY BLAND YOUR WORTH IT ALL
BOBBY BLAND POVERTY
BOBBY BLAND GOOD TIME CHARLIE
BOBBY BLAND CALL ON ME
BOBBY BLAND AINT NOYHING YOU CAN DO
BARBARA LYNN YOUR LOOSING ME
BARBARA LYNN THIS IS THE THANKS I GET
JOHNY COPELAND SUFFERIN CITY
JIMMY HUGHES NEIGBOUR NEIGBOUR
THE ADLIBS NEIGHBOUR NEIGHBOUR
THE ADLIBS BOY FROM NEW YORK CITY
EVIE SANDS PICTURE ME GONE
MADELINE BELL PICTURE ME GONE
BAND OF ANGELS INVITATION
MOOD MOSAIC TOUCH OF VELVET STING OF BRASS
RAY POLLARD THE DRIFTER
RAY POLLARD ITS A SAD THING
THE IMPRESSIONS YOU OUGHT TO BE IN HEAVEN
THE IMPRESSIONS NOTHING CAN STOP ME
THE IMPRESSIONS I CANT SATISFY
THE IMPRESSIONS MEETING OVER YONDER
THE IMPRESSIONS I LOVE YOU YEAH
THE IMPRESSIONS WOMANS GOT SOUL
THE IMPRESSIONS ITS ALLRIGHT
THE IMPRESSIONS YOU ALWAYS HURT ME
THE IMPRESSIONS SINCE I LOST THE ONE I LOVE
THE IMPRESSIONS GYPSY WOMAN 
RAY CHARLES I CHOSE TO SING THE BLUES
RAY CHARLES I DON'T NEED NO DOCTOR

 

JJ BARNES REAL HIMDINGER
JJ BARNES PLEASE LET ME IN
EDWIN STARR AGENT OO SOUL
EDWIN STARR IVE GOT FAITH IN YOU
EDWIN STARR BACKSTREET
EDWIN STARR MY WEAKNESS IS YOU
BOB WILSON IF IT FEELS GOOD
SAN REMO STRINGS FESTIVAL TIME
LAURA LEE TO WIN YOUR HEART
MARLENA SHAW LETS WADE IN THE WATER
JOY LOVEYOY IN ORBIT
JACKIE WILSON DARKEST DAYS
LEON HAYWOOD BABY RECONSIDER
BOB SEEGER HEAVY MUSIC
FRANKI VALI YOURE READY NOW
BOBBY BENETT YOUR READY NOW
THE LARKS THE JERK
THE GYPSIES JERK IT
SANDY WYNS TOUCH OF VENUS
CHAIMAN OF THE BOARD GIVE ME JUST A LITTLE MORE TIME
VAN MORRISON DOMINO
LOS CANARIOS GET ON YOUR KNEES
PATRICIA HOLLOWAY LOVE AND DESIRE /ECTASY
REUBEN BELL HEY GIRL
JAMES CARR COMING BACK TO ME BABY
PERCY MILLEM CALL ON ME
CHUCK JACKSON GOOD THINGS COME TO THOSE WHO WAIT
THE MIRACLES GOTTA DANCE TO KEEP FROM CRYING
THE VELVELETTES THESE THINGS KEEP ME LOVING YOU
THE VELVELETTES NEEDLE IN AN HAYSTACK
THE VELVELETTES REALLY SAYING SOMETHING
THE SUPREMES LOVE IS LIKE A ITCHING IN MY HEART
TAJ MAHAL A LOT OF LOVE (ALBUM)
ART FREEMAN SLIPPING AROUND
DEON JACKSON LOVE MAKES THE WORLD GO ROUND
BEN E KING CRY NO MORE
DENISE LASELLE LOVE REPUTATION
GENE CHANDLER JUST A FOOL FOR YOU
GENE CHANDLER GOOD TIMES
THE VANTASTICS LADY LOVE
GENE CHANDLER A SONG CALLED SOUL
FRANCIS NERO KEEP ON LOVING ME
SOULFUL STRINGS BURNING SPEAR
BOBBY TAYLOR OH IVE BEEN BLESSED
BETTY LAVETTE LET ME DOWN EASY
BETTY LAVETTE ONLY YOUR LOVE CAN SAVE ME
MARY LOVE YOU TURNED MY BITTER INTO SWEET
MARY LOVE LAY THIS BURDEN DOWN
THE SPINNERS ILL ALWAYS LOVE YOU
THE SPINNERS TRULY YOURS
THE SPINNERS SWEET THING
KETTY LESTER WEST COAST
HOMER BANKS HOOKED BY LOVE
THE SPELLBINDERS HELP ME
THE SPELLBINDERS CHAIN REACTION
BETTY SWAN MAKE ME YOURS
LOU JOHNSON UNSATISFIED
WILLIE MITCHELL SECRET HOME
JACKIE DAY BEFORE ITS TO LATE
THE SAPHIRES GOT TO HAVE YOUR LOVE
THE TAMS HEY GIRL DONT BOTHER ME
BABARA MILLS QUEEN OF FOOLS
THE BLENDELLS LA LA LA LA
THE BLENDELLS DANCE WITH ME
THE CAROLLS SURRENDER YOUR LOVE
IKE AND TINA TURNER SOMEBODY UP THERE NEEDS YOU
THE JAYBIRDS SOMEBODY HELP ME
MARVIN SMITH HAVE MORE TIME
VERNON GARETT SHINE IT ON
VERNON GARRETT TUN BACK THE HANDS OF TIME
JAMES CARR LOOSING GAME
SAMMY AMBROSE WELCOME TO DREAMSVILLE
VIRGINIA WOLFS STAY
THE JAYNETTES SALLY GO ROUND
DEAN PARISH TELL HER
CHUBBY CHECKER CUM A LA BE STAY
GARNETT MIMMS LOOKING FOR YOU
ETTA JAMES BOBBY MCLURE DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR
CASH MCALL ITS WONDERFUL
LITTLE MILTON WHOS CHEATIN WHO
BOBBY FREEMAN THE DUCK
BOBBY FREEMAN COMON AND SWIM
CHUCK JACKSON HAND IT OVER
BOB WILSON ALL TURNED ON
BOBBY BLAND YUM YUM TREE
BOOKER T SWEET POTATO
EROL DIXSON I NEED SOMEONE TO LOVE
THE CONTOURS JUST A LITTLE MISUNDERSTANDING
THE CONTOURS FIRST I LOOK AT THE PURSE
JACKIE EDWARDS FEEL SO BAD
BETTY HARRIS 12 RED ROSES
HUMAN BEINX NOBODY BUT ME

THE RADIANTS VOICE YOUR CHOICE
THE RADIANYS AINT NO BIG THING
JACKIE WILSON SWEETEST FEELING/ NOTHING BUT BLUE SKIES
JAMES CARR FREEDOM TRAIN
IKE AND TINA DUST MY BROOM
THE IKETTES WHAT YOU GONNA DO
GOOGIE RENE SMOKIE JOES LA LA LA
THE OLYMPICS SAME OLD THING
THE OLYMPICS WE GO TOGETHER
JOHNY WYATT THIS THING CALLED LOVE
KENNY BERNARD PITY MY FEET
ISLEY BROTHERS TELL ME ITS JUST A RUMOUR BABY (ALBUM)
GENE CHANDLER I CAN TAKE CARE OF MYSELF
HERBIE MANN PHILLY DOG
THE FORMATIONS AT THE TOP OF THE STAIRS
GLORIA JONES HEARTBEAT
GLORIA JONES FINDERS KEEPERS
THE HESITATIONS YOU CANT BYPASS LOVE
BARBARA ACKLIN LOVE MAKES A WOMAN
DARRELL BANKS SOMEBODY SOMEWHERE NEEDS YOU
KIM WESTON HELPLESS
THE PLATTERS SWEET SWEET LOVING
THE INTRIGUES IN A MOMENT
HERBIE GOINS NO 1 IN YOUR HEART
WILLIAMS AND WATSON ONE GOOD REASON (ALBUM)
THE ADLIBS NOTHING WORSE THAN BEING ALONE
DEE DEE SHARP WHAT KIND OF LADY
BUNNY SIGLER GIRL DONT MAKE ME WAIT
BOB BRADY MORE MORE OF YOUR LOVE
EROL DIXON THE HOOP
 

[Kevinkent]

Bri, I think we were on the same wavelength then. 

I didn't know about Chateau Impney, Cheltenham, or Worcester until enlightened by yourself and Jerry Hipkiss, just as you didn't know about the thriving Northants scene. Possibly because in those days of limited technology, word of mouth was an important factor..

Still be interesting to hear if there were any other bastions of the forming scene, outside of the geographical North, that perhaps neither of us knew about .

 

 - Kev

[Ady Croasdell]

Mal, the Saints and sinners was on Broad St in a seedy dungeon club at the back of an all night cafe frequented by pros. For some reason it was full of our Northants nighter crowd and the only Brummy was Slip who may have hung around with our lot so perhaps he arranged it. Didn't run long but more than a one-off

[Nickinstoke]

I reckon Shropshire deserves a mention. While I was growing up in Bridgnorth, in the late 60s, if you didn't drive a tractor you were into soul music. I never got to the Wheel myself, but older local guys (and girls) were regulars (even the village of Broseley, just up the road, had around a dozen Wheel-goers) and through them I and my mates knew all the Wheel sounds. Farmer Carl sometimes played at the Castle Hall, the local Saturday night hop, where the bands would play to an empty dance floor while we re-fuelled until the DJ came back on. In Wellington, a club called Terry Heath's played all the current big sounds on a Sunday night, so you could go there straight from an afternoon session at the Chateau or the Catacombs.

Later, of course, Whitchurch and Albrighton carried on the proud Shropshire tradition

[Kevinkent]

I reckon Shropshire deserves a mention. While I was growing up in Bridgnorth, in the late 60s, if you didn't drive a tractor you were into soul music. I never got to the Wheel myself, but older local guys (and girls) were regulars (even the village of Broseley, just up the road, had around a dozen Wheel-goers) and through them I and my mates knew all the Wheel sounds. Farmer Carl sometimes played at the Castle Hall, the local Saturday night hop, where the bands would play to an empty dance floor while we re-fuelled until the DJ came back on. In Wellington, a club called Terry Heath's played all the current big sounds on a Sunday night, so you could go there straight from an afternoon session at the Chateau or the Catacombs.

Later, of course, Whitchurch and Albrighton carried on the proud Shropshire tradition

 

 Nice one Nick.

Did Farmer Carl dj as Farmer C? - If so, I heard a lot of talk about him down my way.

 

 - Kev

[Nickinstoke]

 Nice one Nick.

Did Farmer Carl dj as Farmer C? - If so, I heard a lot of talk about him down my way.

 

 - Kev

I never heard that name before - just Farmer Carl or Carl Dene - but it sounds like it could be him. Dene was a nom de turntable, I think his real name is Woodruff.

[dthedrug]

 Hi All..... This is a good thread, however I stand by my answer about the northern soul divide, I state that very few people from the south divide were aware of the famous clubs in the North, that's not to say there was not many people who collected soul records at the time, many of my small collection of 45s were played in them clubs, and even going to the Wheel in 68 69 a few times as I have said before I was not taken in by the rare soul bug as many records played that I remember were played at some time or another in the south of that map showing north south divide, for example in GREAT YARMOUTH in 69 at the cellar bar under the NEW BEACH, (I can't remember the DJ name but his disco set up was called BANNA SOUNDS) they played some excellent soul & reggae, along with pop, this was the way most people come to no the collectable records of the time, I can't remember many white people who attended WEST INDIAN BLUES but in 69 white kids got to no the records from these discos, the same thing seems to have happened in several county's north of Hertfordshire, Bedford was 17 miles from my home, went their many times but it was not until late 71 & into 72 when Mick Smith & Chris Gallard made me aware of the scene, up north.

It amused me that Ady C went to the La DUCE, had a big fight in the place when I got whooshed by a cut throat razor on the stairs, yes it was a gay bar but them kids were good fighters and all were skinheads, BANG BANG LULU was a big juke box record , I state again the north started 20 yards from my front door on the Herts Beds border,

 DAVE K

[Liamgp]

I've long held the belief Ady that lads in the Forces were largely responsible for spreading it around the country in the early days. Reckon there might be a fair few sailors that moved south (but how far south?) to Portsmouth.

 

 - Kev

 

Keb Darge got started via RAF guys in Elgin (now that really is 'North') at the local airbase playing and dancing to rare Northern soul records. I believe they were from Leeds.

[Guest Roddy]

There were guys going down to the wheel and torch from Edinburgh and Glasgow. I inherited four schwepes boxes of records from a sixties mod who had d j'ed  in clubs in Edinburgh in the sixties he hadnt heard of the term Northern Soul but the boxes were not just club soul there were some interesting things on Stateside and Soul City as well as Action. I first encountered Northern In youth clubs around '74  with tunes being brought back by the older guys and Girls who were traveling at the time.