Divs are more abundant than ever......

[Geeselad]

This came up on the clapping thread, for me a Div is anybody deemed to be not clued up on the scene, there's certainly plenty of evidence we have many without a clue, check the comedy sale of the day thread for instance. it seems to me to a large extent, at least in the mainstream areas of the scene the divs have well and truly arrived. The term plastic seems pretty appropriate as many seem to think you can buy an off the peg lifestyle from an online shop, that like the records many they play are pale imitations of the scene's underground heritage. please discuss and enjoy.

[Pete S]

Is that still going, Comedy Sale Of The Day?  My legacy reduced to that LOL

[Steve S 60]

Extract from the Urban Dictionary:

Actually originates from prison slang in the UK. A job often given to the lowest inmates was to put cardboard dividers into boxes. Someone given this job was a 'divider' or a 'div'. Now used as an insult to those who display stupidity.

In the Lexicon of Northern Soul, it appears between "digging" and "DJ".

[TOAD]

true it puts me off going to a lot of places when i see some remarks on here. I collect Sylvie Vartan records !!!

[Jez Jones]

1 hour ago, geeselad said:

This came up on the clapping thread, for me a Div is anybody deemed to be not clued up on the scene, there's certainly plenty of evidence we have many without a clue, check the comedy sale of the day thread for instance. it seems to me to a large extent, at least in the mainstream areas of the scene the divs have well and truly arrived. The term plastic seems pretty appropriate as many seem to think you can buy an off the peg lifestyle from an online shop, that like the records many they play are pale imitations of the scene's underground heritage. please discuss and enjoy.

Blimey mate....that beats 'Brexit' for a discussion lol. Pop round mine later...I've got a tin hat you can borrow :-)

Interesting though....is it just the 'mainstream' ? ...or even ANY/ALL scenes

Edited March 27, 2017 by jez jones

[Russ Vickers]

To me Divs were the 'normals' we were trying to get away from, who were into mainstream pop music, going down the pub n Romeo n Juliets, the ones that might have gone to a couple of Nighters, cos it was the thing to do at the time n the local yoof club, where the latest batch of pressings were played for 10 minutes in a night, amongst the usual normal school disco stuff....roll on 30 or 40 years n they have infiltrated the mainstream NS scene. I know there are some great people who just want to listen to their oldies & have a good dance, I expect they are fed up that they are being tarred with the same brush as some of these people & TBH I dont blame them.

[Zed1]

1 hour ago, Russ Vickers said:

To me Divs were the 'normals' we were trying to get away from, who were into mainstream pop music, going down the pub n Romeo n Juliets, the ones that might have gone to a couple of Nighters, cos it was the thing to do at the time n the local yoof club, where the latest batch of pressings were played for 10 minutes in a night, amongst the usual normal school disco stuff....roll on 30 or 40 years n they have infiltrated the mainstream NS scene. I know there are some great people who just want to listen to their oldies & have a good dance, I expect they are fed up that they are being tarred with the same brush as some of these people & TBH I dont blame them.

Divs, Pi55heads, pi55takers, Pensioners on the pull and a million and one wanabee DJ's have turned the scene into the VERY thing I joined it to get away from in the first place........ an interesting irony.

Anyone remember those badges at Wigan 'Push Divs off the Balcony'?.....

[Steve S 60]

4 minutes ago, Zed1 said:

Anyone remember those badges at Wigan 'Push Divs off the Balcony'?.....

Last thing I saw as I flew through the air.

[Harrythedog]

You only have to look at the photo section on this site.  Most of the photos explain the term div far better than I could here.

[Jez Jones]

12 minutes ago, harrythedog said:

You only have to look at the photo section on this site.  Most of the photos explain the term div far better than I could here.

...and that poses an interesting thought

For want of a better word 'bitd'...there was NO cameras. In fact turning up to an allnighter and flashing a camera about...would have been a NO NO....so much so..that it would be 'consider yourself rolled' and bye bye to the camera!!

Hence hardly any pics exist esp pre Wigan. So no record of what it was about..word of mouth and 'folklore' and UNDERGROUND

Imagine the next generation 'googling' Northern soul .....one shudders !!

 

 

 

[Steve S 60]

4 minutes ago, jez jones said:

...and that poses an interesting thought

For want of a better word 'bitd'...there was NO cameras. In fact turning up to an allnighter and flashing a camera about...would have been a NO NO....so much so..that it would be 'consider yourself rolled' and bye bye to the camera!!

Hence hardly any pics exist esp pre Wigan. So no record of what it was about..word of mouth and 'folklore' and UNDERGROUND

Imagine the next generation 'googling' Northern soul .....one shudders !!

 

 

 

The only photos I've got from inside the casino were taken on one of these.....

[Jez Jones]

4 minutes ago, Steve S 60 said:

The only photos I've got from inside the casino were taken on one of these.....

bloody ell thats a 'blast from the past' I remember them...got like a cartridge film that slotted in....seemed dead modern at the time...untill you had to wait a week for it to be developed lol :-)

[Guest Spain pete]

In my book it's someone who don't understand what soul music is all about  🎶🎶😉

[Frankie Crocker]

When Soulies dressed similarly, leather trenchcoat or bomber jacket, brogues or loafers, pleated cords or Oxford bags, bowling shirt or badge covered vest, tartan bag or adidas holdall: it was easy to spot the 'Divvies', locals out for the beer and something to stare at, standing in a circle on the dancefloor thumbs hooked in belt-loops*... 

How do you spot a 'Div' nowadays? What do they wear and how do they stand out? Should real Soulies wear similar clothes so they don't look like Divs of yesteryear? Am I right in assuming that 'Handbagger' means the same as 'Div'?

 

*Apologies to the lasses for gender bias - could someone fill in the finer details from a female perspective).

[Baz1]

26 minutes ago, FRANKIE CROCKER said:

When Soulies dressed similarly, leather trenchcoat or bomber jacket, brogues or loafers, pleated cords or Oxford bags, bowling shirt or badge covered vest, tartan bag or adidas holdall: it was easy to spot the 'Divvies', locals out for the beer and something to stare at, standing in a circle on the dancefloor thumbs hooked in belt-loops*... 

How do you spot a 'Div' nowadays? What do they wear and how do they stand out? Should real Soulies wear similar clothes so they don't look like Divs of yesteryear? Am I right in assuming that 'Handbagger' means the same as 'Div'?

 

*Apologies to the lasses for gender bias - could someone fill in the finer details from a female perspective).

Right I dont get the dressing up, they didn't dress up like that back in the day,I'm sure it was fashion back then so why today ?

[Geeselad]

4 hours ago, Russ Vickers said:

To me Divs were the 'normals' we were trying to get away from, who were into mainstream pop music, going down the pub n Romeo n Juliets, the ones that might have gone to a couple of Nighters, cos it was the thing to do at the time n the local yoof club, where the latest batch of pressings were played for 10 minutes in a night, amongst the usual normal school disco stuff....roll on 30 or 40 years n they have infiltrated the mainstream NS scene. I know there are some great people who just want to listen to their oldies & have a good dance, I expect they are fed up that they are being tarred with the same brush as some of these people & TBH I dont blame them.

fair point indeed.

[Chalky]

I wouldn't go as far as divs but many certainly miss the whole point of the scene and all-nighters.  The social aspect that has taken over the soul night is creeping into nighters.  Far too many don't seem to care about the music, it is all far too nice and the edge and attitude you once had has all but disappeared.

Edited March 27, 2017 by chalky

[TOAD]

everything I enjoyed about the scene is slowly being dumbed down...we even have two -tone bands being advertised on here..dont get me going on the mix genre nights where it seems anything goes..ie scootering nights

ktf or keep the farce!

[Chalky]

Far too many seem to care about their public persona amongst fellow venue goers and the wider public. They seem to clamour some sort of credibility and want everyone to know what they are doing, where they are going etc and seem to miss the point that this was what we strove to avoid. I personally didn't want my divvy mates knowing what I was doing on any given weekend.  

Now the scene is full of divvy soulies, all too happy to dumb down the scene and let all and sundry know what is happening.  It is plastered all over social media, superstar soulies in their own lunchtime who in reality have done fcuk all for the svene except take from it what they can.

[Guest]

59 minutes ago, FRANKIE CROCKER said:

When Soulies dressed similarly, leather trenchcoat or bomber jacket, brogues or loafers, pleated cords or Oxford bags, bowling shirt or badge covered vest, tartan bag or adidas holdall: it was easy to spot the 'Divvies', locals out for the beer and something to stare at, standing in a circle on the dancefloor thumbs hooked in belt-loops*... 

How do you spot a 'Div' nowadays? What do they wear and how do they stand out? Should real Soulies wear similar clothes so they don't look like Divs of yesteryear? Am I right in assuming that 'Handbagger' means the same as 'Div'?

 

*Apologies to the lasses for gender bias - could someone fill in the finer details from a female perspective).

I was right with you until you got to the word...... "Bowling shirt"  from there you explained what the divs wore!

They`re like shit golfers......they wear all the silly clothes, complete with bar towel tucked into the ludicrously high wasteband of their ludicrously baggy braced trousers but they can`t dance, they know very little about the music or the scene and they are an embarrassment!

And who said that a 60 odd year old woman looks good in white bobby-sox and full circle skirt?   F%$£ M£!

 

We dressed similarly as in....not many of us were nude. It was originally quite a fashionless movement, smart casual was all it was about.

 

Edited March 27, 2017 by Guest

[Guest]

3 hours ago, Zed1 said:

Divs, Pi55heads, pi55takers, Pensioners on the pull and a million and one wanabee DJ's have turned the scene into the VERY thing I joined it to get away from in the first place........ an interesting irony.

Anyone remember those badges at Wigan 'Push Divs off the Balcony'?.....

You SAID IT.

[Russoul1]

would be interesting to know the percentage between the real soulies or fake ones on todays scene?....if you get my drift

 

 

[Steve S 60]

18 minutes ago, russoul1 said:

would be interesting to know the percentage between the real soulies or fake ones on todays scene?....if you get my drift

 

 

9 times out of ten.

[Russoul1]

Just now, Steve S 60 said:

9 times out of ten.

was thinking ......... fake lol

 

[Baz1]

I think 99.9 percent of the scene today love the music or why would they be there !!!! I cant stand being at a wedding nowadays really cos av got to listen to OTHER shit and would not go to rock punk or any other genre cos it would drive me to jump  

[TOAD]

no no no they don't like soul music , they are dippers..a bit of this a bit of another genre like punk..etc etc.

 

[Baz1]

well I aint never seen no punk at a soul do in 16 years or rockers  

[Frankie Crocker]

1 hour ago, russoul1 said:

would be interesting to know the percentage between the real soulies or fake ones on todays scene?....if you get my drift

 

 

I wonder how many, shall we call them 'voyeurs', (to raise the tone a bit), are so smitten by the music, they see the light and readily convert to real soulie status?

Without the occasional tourist/handbagger/idle local unsure of day of week/divvie, where would the next generation of soulies come from?

[Winsford Soul]

45 minutes ago, FRANKIE CROCKER said:

I wonder how many, shall we call them 'voyeurs', (to raise the tone a bit), are so smitten by the music, they see the light and readily convert to real soulie status?

Without the occasional tourist/handbagger/idle local unsure of day of week/divvie, where would the next generation of soulies come from?

I've never been sure of the day / week. I  must be one of those divs.  Personally think it's all the gear, all the nighters including last Saturday. 

When do you convert from a tourist to a  real soulie that's a very interesting question. Or how do you  ? 

Steve

 

[Woodbutcher]

58 minutes ago, baz1 said:

well I aint never seen no punk at a soul do in 16 years or rockers  

I was going to 'punk' gigs long before I got into the 'northern' scene but always loved the Motown sound along with some rock 'n' roll , blues , classical etc , etc , etc.

The thought of going through life only listening to one genre of music ( or I'm guessing the same 500 records ) I find frankly ridiculous , you ought to try removing the aural blinkers and treating yourself , there's a big old world of sound out there ... 

 

P.S. Unlike the Northern Nostalgia Scene that's engulfing us Punk's not a matter of a uniform , it's an attitude ... and I've been going to 'soul' do's for 36 years  

[Frankie Crocker]

7 minutes ago, Winsford Soul said:

I've never been sure of the day / week. I  must be one of those divs.  Personally think it's all the gear, all the nighters including last Saturday. 

When do you convert from a tourist to a  real soulie that's a very interesting question. Or how do you  ? 

Steve

 

Confusion occurs when folk go looking for a club on a Friday then end up at a Soul Night - three more beers later, Saturday Night Fever takes over and it's hit the dancefloor...

Usually takes six Soul Nights, five of which were followed by swaying in front of the bedroom mirror or shuffling on the kitchen floor... On the sixth, emboldened by several pints, a familiar tune by Wilson brothers, Frank or Al, draws twinkletoes onto the floor to begin an unforgettable journey... Happened to us all.

[Guest garysoul82]

1 hour ago, TOAD said:

no no no they don't like soul music , they are dippers..a bit of this a bit of another genre like punk..etc etc.

 

Agree Tim,where were all these people when we were running soul nights in the 8ts,some weeks lucky to get 10 through the door,now the train stations full off them and Blackpool sea front Lol.Commercialism rearing its ugly head again.

 

[Codfromderby]

its a bit strange identifying divs, I've been into music mainly soul/northern since 1973, i also like ska/reggae/punk and other stuff, i go out occasionally to soul events, I like a drink when I go out, I've got imho a great soul collection and I've been told a good knowledge of our chosen music.

i was out drinking with some mates a while ago and we ended up talking to two blokes in fred perrys, levis etc who told us they were on the northern scene, and off to a nighter in stoke, me being a nerd and pissed I started talking about music, billy Stewart, Roy Hamilton, Stafford, soul Sam playing at Cleo's in derby late 70s, bootlegs, king tuking modern soul, popcorn you name it,

all they could say was "you don't look like a soulie", and had never heard of any of the records we were talking about apart from "cracking up",

I was wearing a nick drake t shirt at the time

 

[Geeselad]

4 hours ago, Steve S 60 said:

9 times out of ten.

arh but 10 % of something is better than 100% of nothing at all 😊

[Geeselad]

3 hours ago, FRANKIE CROCKER said:

I wonder how many, shall we call them 'voyeurs', (to raise the tone a bit), are so smitten by the music, they see the light and readily convert to real soulie status?

Without the occasional tourist/handbagger/idle local unsure of day of week/divvie, where would the next generation of soulies come from?

it might be fair to say we all started as divs in one sense, unfortunately it seems we so many permadivs these days.

[TOAD]

obviously some have not understood my post tomorrow I will go into more detail...bet you can't wait ha ha .

[Northern Soul Uk]

Blame 'Northern soul' the film and 'Soulboy', they are what brought the 'Divs' flocking to see what it was all about, and since then bootlegs have found a new price range, as the 'Divs' look for records that were in the flims, but haven't got a clue what labels to look for, all they know is that they have been told they are rare and cost a fortune. I see them every day with their plastic T-Shirts and baggy trousers. Any self respecting REAL soulie would never wear a T-shirt with 'Northern Soul Keep The Faith' plastered all over it, in fact any self respecting REAL soulie wouldn't wear anything that said northern Soul on it at all, maybe just a pin badge with his beloved club logo on. OK, I know there were 'Divs' at the Casino etc. but nowhere as near as many as today.

Edited March 28, 2017 by Northern Soul UK

[Soulhawk1960]

We have a couple in Whitby.

When it's The Goth weekends they dress as Goths.

When it's The Steampunk Weekend they dress as 'Steampunks'.

When it's The Soul Weekends it's his & hers matching outfits (Prince Of Wales Check or All Black Ensembles) with baggy pants, Keep The Faith badges, Northern Soul A Way Of Life badges, Beer Towels, Shoulder Bags (with Northern Soul Fist) & Solatio shoes.

If there was a Country & Western weekend they would be dressed Like Annie Oakley & Jack Palance !!!!

[Jez Jones]

8 hours ago, FRANKIE CROCKER said:

Confusion occurs when folk go looking for a club on a Friday then end up at a Soul Night - three more beers later, Saturday Night Fever takes over and it's hit the dancefloor...

Usually takes six Soul Nights, five of which were followed by swaying in front of the bedroom mirror or shuffling on the kitchen floor... On the sixth, emboldened by several pints, a familiar tune by Wilson brothers, Frank or Al, draws twinkletoes onto the floor to begin an unforgettable journey... Happened to us all.

Sorry I couldn't resist :-)  Here's Frank and Al in top form..although maybe it should be 'You took my 'scene' away lol

 

[Baz1]

8 hours ago, WoodButcher said:

I was going to 'punk' gigs long before I got into the 'northern' scene but always loved the Motown sound along with some rock 'n' roll , blues , classical etc , etc , etc.

The thought of going through life only listening to one genre of music ( or I'm guessing the same 500 records ) I find frankly ridiculous , you ought to try removing the aural blinkers and treating yourself , there's a big old world of sound out there ... 

 

P.S. Unlike the Northern Nostalgia Scene that's engulfing us Punk's not a matter of a uniform , it's an attitude ... and I've been going to 'soul' do's for 36 years  

😁😂😂😂😂😂😂 nob

[SOULMAN62]

no camera's at venues !, wonder where all those casino photo's come from , which I'm on ??.

The biggest problem I think are  the baggers and the beer monsters on the floor, normally around 11pm their beer  kicks in ,look at me I can dance !!

Edited March 28, 2017 by SOULMAN62

[Hornet]

20 minutes ago, SOULMAN62 said:

no camera's at venues !, wonder where all those casino photo's come from , which I'm on ??.

The biggest problem I think are  the baggers and the beer monsters on the floor, normally around 11pm their beer  kicks in ,look at me I can dance !!

Wot about those photos , U could B resposable 4 bringing the once underground  scene 2 the muggles , 

Edited March 28, 2017 by hornet

[Britishbarry]

I go to a local soul night. The organisers play from a lap top but always have a couple of good local DJs playing original vinyl. It's not a bad night until about 11 o'clock and one of the organisers plays Frank Wilson, at which point all the Div's rush to the dance floor beer in hand, by this time they have had a few, and start throwing themselves around the floor, totally oblivious of anyone else and spilling beer all over the place. Needless to say this is the at which I leave. I would estimate that at least half the people attending could be categorised as Div's.

[Len]

7 hours ago, Northern Soul UK said:

Blame 'Northern soul' the film and 'Soulboy', they are what brought the 'Divs' flocking to see what it was all about, and since then bootlegs have found a new price range, as the 'Divs' look for records that were in the flims, but haven't got a clue what labels to look for, all they know is that they have been told they are rare and cost a fortune. I see them every day with their plastic T-Shirts and baggy trousers. Any self respecting REAL soulie would never wear a T-shirt with 'Northern Soul Keep The Faith' plastered all over it, in fact any self respecting REAL soulie wouldn't wear anything that said northern Soul on it at all, maybe just a pin badge with his beloved club logo on. OK, I know there were 'Divs' at the Casino etc. but nowhere as near as many as today.

I got this from my sister for Christmas - Do you like it? 

Len 

 

[Jez Jones]

2 hours ago, SOULMAN62 said:

no camera's at venues !, wonder where all those casino photo's come from , which I'm on ??.

The biggest problem I think are  the baggers and the beer monsters on the floor, normally around 11pm their beer  kicks in ,look at me I can dance !!

Yes it's true !! There were very few cameras about in the early days, hence very few pics from clubs like the Torch, Up the Junction...and even fewer from the wheel. I was primarily referring to pre Wigan..

[Guest themroc]

Am I the only person on this site who think people are kinda funny and beutiful? I love the footfall at the 100 Club it's what the West End is all about. Rather a Div than a Hater. 😚

[Russ Vickers]

15 hours ago, FRANKIE CROCKER said:

When Soulies dressed similarly, leather trenchcoat or bomber jacket, brogues or loafers, pleated cords or Oxford bags, bowling shirt or badge covered vest, tartan bag or adidas holdall: it was easy to spot the 'Divvies', locals out for the beer and something to stare at, standing in a circle on the dancefloor thumbs hooked in belt-loops*...

How do you spot a 'Div' nowadays? What do they wear and how do they stand out? Should real Soulies wear similar clothes so they don't look like Divs of yesteryear? Am I right in assuming that 'Handbagger' means the same as 'Div'?

 

*Apologies to the lasses for gender bias - could someone fill in the finer details from a female perspective).

Thats how you spot the 'Divs' in the 21st Century lol

[Len]

7 minutes ago, themroc said:

Am I the only person on this site who think people are kinda funny and beutiful? I love the footfall at the 100 Club it's what the West End is all about. Rather a Div than a Hater. 😚

People are fascinating 

Len 

[Northern Soul Uk]

27 minutes ago, LEN said:

I got this from my sister for Christmas - Do you like it? 

Len 

 

Stunning! :-)

[Steve S 60]

10 hours ago, geeselad said:

it might be fair to say we all started as divs in one sense, unfortunately it seems we so many permadivs these days.

I think we all wised up pretty quickly back then.  Trouble is, some of these latter day divs don't know any better.  They're surrounded by like minded divs, probably attended the same northern soul dance lessons, buy their uniform from the same online outfitter, and all listen to the same limited playlist.  Like the saying goes, there's no div like an old div.

Edited March 28, 2017 by Steve S 60