Another Big What If Question

[Soulsmith]

If you could either change something or reverse something, (with soul music lovers in mind) what might it be?

Here's a few ideas to start you off:

Renegotiate Bobby Womack's contract so that he was never out of contract (and possibly never out of the studio?)

Stop Berry Gordy renaming The Supremes, "Diana Ross & The Supremes".

Stop Motown from moving from Detroit to LA (or at least make you responsible for looking after the masters during the move)

Arrange a bank loan/cash injection to prevent Stax or (insert favourite studio here....) from going bust.

Appreciate the 'what if' nature of the question, but please keep it soulful.

Col.

Edited May 17, 2007 by Soulsmith

[Guest Bearsy]

If you could either change something or reverse something, (with soul music lovers in mind) what might it be?

Here's a few ideas to start you off:

Renegotiate Bobby Womack's contract so that he was never out of contract (and possibly never out of the studio?)

Stop Berry Gordy renaming The Supremes, "Diana Ross & The Supremes".

Stop Motown from moving from Detroit to LA (or at least make you responsible for looking after the masters during the move)

Arrange a bank loan/cash injection to prevent Stax or (insert favourite studio here....) from going bust.

Appreciate the 'what if' nature of the question, but please keep it soulful.

Col.

great thread Col,

but what if they had`nt of done any of them things, you would have no thread, so im glad they did

[Tabs]

Stopping Otis Redding and Sam Cooke from dying so young.

Would have been fascinating to see how they developed musically.

[Soulsmith]

but what if they had`nt of done any of them things, you would have no thread, so im glad they did

Maybe you should start you're own negative thread.

I'm looking for positive comments on this one

[Guest Bearsy]

Maybe you should start you're own negative thread.

I'm looking for positive comments on this one

sorry Col it was tounge in cheek ,

must agree on the Stax bit,

revolutionary times with a lot of heart felt passion about America portrayed in the music at the time, would you say a very political label at the time ?

[Simsy]

Stopping Otis Redding and Sam Cooke from dying so young.

Would have been fascinating to see how they developed musically.

Superb. Add Jackie Wilson.

Fire duty for me at the Shrine warehouse.

Great thread Col.

[AlanB]

Secure properly the PA rig that fell on Curtis Mayfield.

Alan

[Trev Thomas]

Secure properly the PA rig that fell on Curtis Mayfield.

Alan

put kev roberts under the pa rig

[Rbman]

Getting Marvin Gaye to go to rehab in the late 60s

[Guest moggy]

Wising I had been born earlier so i could have visited all the record stores

& thrift shops in America, before anyone had heard of Northern (except me)

Marvin Gayes dad had passed away, the week before he shot him

Wishing I had never got married, only to get divorced, lose everything & be forced to sell my collection

[Guest]

- Let no gone The Futures from Gamble to Buddah. If they were staying on PIR-TSOP during the first half of seventies, perhaps they cut more gems as "Ain't No Time For Nothing"...

- Some following more albums by Anthony White after "It Could Be Magic", when he left PIR and signed to Salsoul

- Some more stuff by Soul Survivors in the mould of "City Of Brotherly Love" after their untitled album and "Happy Birthday America" single. And, in the fusion field, some stuff by their keyboardist Neil Larsen

-Some more stuff in the mould of the mellow instrumentals in the B side of People's Choice "We Got The Rythm", a very good blend of jazz-funk... In the disco-flavoured next album ("Turn Me Loose"), there was nothing similar

-More gospel-soul albums by Mighty Clouds Of Joy like "Kickin'" and "Truth Is The Power", under Dave Crawford or Harris-Baker-Young guidance...

[Guest rachel]

put kev roberts under the pa rig

Lets try and keep to the positive vibe as started by Col, eh?

[Madmandy]

Lets try and keep to the positive vibe as started by Col, eh?

What if ....

I hadnt done all that dancing...I would have a lot more friends on the scene

and paid attention to vinyl I would have a great collection of oldies by now instead of the miserly box I own

I visited more venues

Ahhhhhhhhh ... If ifs and ands were pots and pans there'd be no need for tinkers

Mand

[Trev Thomas]

Lets try and keep to the positive vibe as started by Col, eh?

i was being positive

[mischief]

I wish I had gone to Wigan just so I had an experiance of my own and not other peoples views of it....

And wish I hadn't been caught out buying a boot for the price of an original.. but I like to keep that quite..

[Peter99]

how's about reversing the last thirty years - which would take us back to 1977 but only for the soul element.

So basically we could do all the nighters and dayers again - and all the naughty stuff that went with that in reverse order.

Then when we get back to 1977 - or whatever year yer like, we just change things round so that we're back in 2007 again - no worse for wear. Also whilst we're on our retro soul journey no one from the present time would have missed us cos we would have changed stuff so that they were just suspended in a time trap thingy.

Well, you did give a lot of scope!

[Guest]

i wish I had been a Northern Soul-mad Wiganer in 1973.

then when the Torch was about to close, I could have wandered into the Casino Club and said to manager Mike Walker "You know, this would make a great all-nighter venue..............."

Isn't hindsight a wonderful thing?

[Guest Dan]

if i could, i would destroy the prototype synthesiser and have the people who invented funk arrested. and i'd stop the clock at about 1966.

plus i would operate a skip delivery service specialising in calling round recording studios in all the major cities and taking away their unwanted tapes and acetates, to avoid them clogging the place up.

[Rich Buckley]

Prevented Darrell Banks being culled prematurely - just imagine what else he could have achieved! Ditto comments re Curtis Mayfield, my all time number one hero, bar none

Rich

[Steve G]

Arrange a bank loan/cash injection to prevent Stax or (insert favourite studio here....) from going bust.

Col.

The way those dudes were burning money in the mid 70s nothing would have prevented that

Seriously these what if scenarios are endless. I sometimes wonder what if....the soul scene in the UK had taken a different turn - Wigan hadn't gone pop (no Footsee etc. and stuck to it's roots), .......the better elements of rare soul and funk didn't go seperate ways in the 70's?.....the Arctic label had some big hits....the US didn't treat old records as unwanted garbage for 30 years thus allowing us Brits to go plunder unfettered. What if Motown went bust in 1963 and Berry Gordy decided to sell cars for a living instead???? The list is endless....but plenty of scope for parallel universes

[mischief]

What if I could pick all 6 numbers on the lottery rather than just 1...

what a spend up on vinyl, i think i'd do that defore buying a car and a new house straight on tinternet and get it out your system...

[Mak]

Kept my first and second record collectoin

Made sure Berry Gordy released FW -Do I love (sick of hear and hearing about it)

Put Marvin Gaye in a bullet proof vest

Got Wigan council to errect a memorial to the Casino

Meet Jimmy Ratcliffe ,Wilson Pickett , Jackie Wilson , Otis Redding ,

Seen The Volumes , The Temptations , and the above perform live

Tony MAK

[Mike]

over the top sh*te post deleted

makemvinyl

dunno what you trying to achieve posting such

not wanted or needed , take it elsewhere

do similar again and action be taken as per terms of use

follow on complaints removed as well

[Guest]

I would produce Billy Storm " I never want to dream again" and leave out all that wild crazy 60s hippy phazing production .

Never was a brilliant tune ruined by such crass production IMO. I wonder if the masters are out there somewhere?

[Soulsmith]

if i could, i would destroy the prototype synthesiser and have the people who invented funk arrested. and i'd stop the clock at about 1966.

plus i would operate a skip delivery service specialising in calling round recording studios in all the major cities and taking away their unwanted tapes and acetates, to avoid them clogging the place up.

Yep like it Dan. Think we might be joined at the hip.

Thanks to all people who responded with positive comments, enjoyed reading the lot

[Soulsmith]

Got Wigan council to errect a memorial to the Casino

Intersting one that. Topic for a new thread?

Although looking at neg feedback on new Wigan Cafe, cause for a more disagreements.

Love to hear Gavin (Get over it, its a car park) Page's views

[Soulsmith]

Berry Gordy said to Jimmy Ruffin (i think) there will never be 2 Marvin Gaye's at Motown.

Imagine if he'd changed his mind?

[Simsy]

Berry Gordy said to Jimmy Ruffin (i think) there will never be 2 Marvin Gaye's at Motown.

Imagine if he'd changed his mind?

Wasn't it Mickey Stevenson on JR? According to him (JR) Stevenson said "n word don't you know that as long as there is a Marvin Gaye at Motown, there ain't ever gonna be a f***in Jimmy Ruffin".

[Soulsmith]

Wasn't it Mickey Stevenson on JR? According to him (JR) Stevenson said "n word don't you know that as long as there is a Marvin Gaye at Motown, there ain't ever gonna be a f***in Jimmy Ruffin".

Aha, thats the quote.

Anyway, I'd like to reverse it.

[Guest ScooterNik]

great thread Col,

but what if they had`nt of done any of them things, you would have no thread, so im glad they did

I think you'd find that things were actually in a quantum state (And may well be anyway.. who knows without checking on the cat?) switching between both possibilities at an alarming rate with neither being definatively real.

HTH

BTW, Is Dr Who on this week?

[Guest kevnewry]

What If..... I had never heard Frankie Beverly's "If that's What You Wanted" at 14.

What If......I had never got up to try and dance at the youth club to"What" Judy Street

What If......I had never spent a small fortune on vinyl,only to sell,when we were short of a few quid.

What If.. I had never went to Wigan,and countless other venues playing tunes I love.

What If...I had never met the loads of really wonderful people on this scene and shared great memories.

WHAT IF I WAS A NON SOULIE MIDDLE AGED BLOKE NOW...... NO REGRETS!!

[Kevinkent]

What if....

There were no Modern rooms.

The word "FUNK" had never appeared on a Northern playlist.

The type of music we once shunned in favour of Northern Soul had never been re-invented...

...as Northern Soul.

[Kevinkent]

if i could, i would destroy the prototype synthesiser and have the people who invented funk arrested. and i'd stop the clock at about 1966.

plus i would operate a skip delivery service specialising in calling round recording studios in all the major cities and taking away their unwanted tapes and acetates, to avoid them clogging the place up.

But that's an awful lot of paperwork - precisely who would deal with organised crime on such a vast scale?

[Guest clanger v2]

What if I hadn't dismissed 'soulies' or 'soul boys/girls' as people who listened to groups such as Modern Romance during my early informative years

What if I hadn't taken the rave route in the mid 80s :dance:

What if I discovered this wonderful scene as a teenager, and had been with it 20 odd years.

I'll tell you what.......I would be posting on here banging on about 'played out oldies', instead of having the absolute time of my life hearing new things and making new friends each and every weekend

As has been said before.........no regrets

Edited May 19, 2007 by clanger v2

[Guest WPaulVanDyk]

What if Jackie Wilson was still alive can you imagine him loving the UK now and living here and being part of the scene the nighters he would perform at would sell out like hot cakes.