Soul Patches

[Blake H]

I have the chance to buy about 12 soul patches and as its something I havent had an intrest in since all mine got pinched at Cleethorpes pier (attatched to an Adidas bag) 30 years ago. Is there any intrest or market for patches?

I have the feeling someone will turn up on the Antiques Roadshow one day with some to be told they are worth £££s and wish I'd bought them. What does the panel think?

Think they are mainly Morecambe and Clifton Halls

Blake H

[Steve L]

I think the main interest is for the rarer ones such as the Wigan anniversaries. I recently sold a 2nd anniversary one for £47 and I think a first went for around £200. I also sold some general badges from the 70s such as East anglian soul club and a Whitchurch one, they fetched around £8-10

[Blake H]

I think the main interest is for the rarer ones such as the Wigan anniversaries. I recently sold a 2nd anniversary one for £47 and I think a first went for around £200. I also sold some general badges from the 70s such as East anglian soul club and a Whitchurch one, they fetched around £8-10

Thanks Steve

[Mak]

I have a couple ,one being the old Torch patch with the blue border and a black Cat's patch . Do they hold any value.

[ImberBoy]

The origins of the "Soul Patch" are well documented so I won't bore you with it.

The whole idea behind wearing a patch was to show were you had been i.e. the "Anniversaries" patches and those commissioned to commemorate an event and the like.

The practice of e-baying a collection of soul patches just belittles those who "earned" the patch originally. I see every week on the many scooter runs and ride outs (remember the scooter scene mirrors the soul scene in most ways), I see the battalions of "born agains" who want to "Dress up" and believe they get a bit of cred for wearing a patch or badge they have just paid for on e-bay.

I know this is a little silly and shouldn't bother me but it does! If I have ridden a lambretta 200 miles and bought a patch to show that I did it I do not want to stand shoulder to shoulder with some "Divvy" who couldn't tell me the difference between a TV and a GT!

Like wise on the soul scene, if you see some one with say a casino patch on then it would be kinda nice to assume that he or she actually attended that night before nodding or speaking. I have no time for pretenders, waffelers, w**kers or time wasters.

Jim McCluskey of Wigan' Ovation told me of how a t-shirt was produced for Casino members to buy as a souvenir, one shirt was produced but it was not accepted in favour of embroided badges. We all no the badges but I have the original shirt given to me by Jim, I will treasure this always as a real piece of secret casino memorabilia.

"Badges... we don't want your stiiiinkin badges"

[Guest FrostyJak]

WELL SAID

SAME APPLIES FOR ME !!!

£200 for a feeking 50p patch must be cracked!!

A mate of mine "CHANGED COATS" to the jazz/funk scene in 79/80.He gave me all his casino patches he had the collection I gave them away cause i'd never bin to any except normal nights & a few oldies do's

[Guest Brian J]

The origins of the "Soul Patch" are well documented so I won't bore you with it.

Jim McCluskey of Wigan' Ovation told me of how a t-shirt was produced for Casino members to buy as a souvenir, one shirt was produced but it was not accepted in favour of embroided badges. We all no the badges but I have the original shirt given to me by Jim, I will treasure this always as a real piece of secret casino memorabilia.

Here's a picture taken by Mike Walker in his office, of myself and my then girlfriend

modeling Casino t-shirts and holdalls.

I don't know if this is the same t-shirt design as the one you have Simon.

This one was, as far as I'm aware, designed in 1973 but not produced as you stated, in favour of embroidered patches.

The patches themselves, if I can recall, were the Nightowl and Heart Of Soul designs.

He had 4 made of each in different colours.

I picked out which I thought were the best colours and Mike gave me the remainding six

which were/are one off originals.

Unfortunately I gave them away years ago.

[ImberBoy]

Brian, first of all, how the devil are you my old friend?

My uncle Mick said that he had seen you, can you please e-mail me. afsc50@hotmail.com

The shirt is spot on, I didn't know that there where 2two of them? it's the very same one you have on Brian!!!!

Can you elaborate a bit more on how you came to wear one??

[Soulsmith]

WELL SAID

SAME APPLIES FOR ME !!!

£200 for a feeking 50p patch must be cracked!!

A mate of mine "CHANGED COATS" to the jazz/funk scene in 79/80.He gave me all his casino patches he had the collection I gave them away cause i'd never bin to any except normal nights & a few oldies do's

You did the right thing. I really struggle with the idea that people wish to achieve some kind of status from wearing a badge relating to a soul club that they never went to.

Soul badges are at best keep sakes.

[Guest Brian J]

Brian, first of all, how the devil are you my old friend?

My uncle Mick said that he had seen you, can you please e-mail me. afsc50@hotmail.com

The shirt is spot on, I didn't know that there where 2two of them? it's the very same one you have on Brian!!!!

Can you elaborate a bit more on how you came to wear one??

Hey up Simon,

I don't know how many sample t-shirts he had made, they were the only two I knew of.

I don't recall the bags being produced either.

How did I come to wear one?

That's easy!

Before I became the porn star I am, I was a model.

[Chalky]

I do not want to stand shoulder to shoulder with some "Divvy" who couldn't tell me the difference between a TV and a GT!

thats easy, ones square and shows moving pictures the other comes in a glass

I agree with the wearing of patches like you say Simon but some don't wear the badges but collect northern soul memorabillia...nowt wrong with that IMHO.

[Guest mel brat]

I have a couple ,one being the old Torch patch with the blue border and a black Cat's patch . Do they hold any value.

I don't think the Cat's patch will be worth much, as it was manufactured by Chris Burton rather than specifically for sale at the club. Same goes for Torch badge I think - though of course the memories attached are priceless!

[Guest mel brat]

You did the right thing. I really struggle with the idea that people wish to achieve some kind of status from wearing a badge relating to a soul club that they never went to.

Soul badges are at best keep sakes.

I agree. Without the personal memories they're just not-very-interesting collectables, but I don't think they should be discarded, as they may have some historical significance in another 30 years, who knows? They may even end up in the V&A museum!

Edited May 28, 2007 by mel brat

[Guest moggy]

I realy do not have a problem with someone wearing a patch

from the Casino or anywhere else for that matter, even if they had never set foot in the place

If i were to see a group of teenagers attend a soul venue (2007)

dressed in spencers, holding an Addidas bag, covered in old soul patches

and they all were, fcukin great dancers, I would have to embrace them,

some people can never experience what we had back then, but why stop them trying to emulate it,

Its not there fault theses places shut, or they were born later.

I was a mod in the 80ts, I bought junk shop mohair suites, I bought numerous scooters from the 60ts

I collected records from the same era, was I any different realy

I could not bring back what had gone before me, but I tried to get as close to the whole era and scene as i possibly could

Was the Teddy boy thing any different

Maybe in years to come when were all dead, some youngsters may reignite the flame that is Northern Soul, imagine loads of young kids dancing away in cap sleeved t-shirts covered in patches from places they have only ever read about, fcukin great stuff.

And I had a bright Yellow V- neck sweater, which had a heart of soul Wigan badge on it, I wore that six months before I attended Wigan so

Live and let live yer grumpy ole b*****ds

[Winnie :-)]

At work the other day, saw a jacket on a chair covered in badges. Spoke to the girl who's jacket it was (she's 20) and she had no idea of the significance of the badges. She did tell me that there was a range of clothes sporting them, but I can't remember who's range and where she got them. The jacket, a simple denim affair, cost over a 100 quid, and she said it was something to do with the designer badges. Perhaps people wearing badges wouldn't put off youngsters

Winnie:-)

[Guest]

]

Edited May 29, 2007 by davenowell

[Guest]

Brian

Funnily enough, I remember those Casino tshirts being sold, but it must have been the mid to late 70s. Anyone else??

By the way Mr Imber, heartily agree with your comment about honest badge wearing :angry: :angry:

I daren't wear a Casino badge until I had been to an all-nighter, because I didn't want to have the piss taken by the older lads.

Lots of kids used to buy the Heart of Soul and Night Owl badges from record shops and wear them as fashion accessories even though they couldn't name an NS record beyond Footsee!

[paultp]

Lots of kids used to buy the Heart of Soul and Night Owl badges from record shops and wear them as fashion accessories even though they couldn't name an NS record beyond Footsee!

Thanks for that, I thought my memory was tricking me again. I'm fairly certain you could buy generic Wigan Casino & Northern Soul patches in any newsagents in the mid to late seventies. They were common as muck and were thought of as a bit of a joke by some.

Suppose the actual commemorative patches are different, earned as Simon said.

There was a young chap (17 or 18) at the York all dayer the other year who spent most of the day dancing in front of the stage, dressed in baggies and a vest. Agree with who ever said that if the young ever grabbed hold of Northern as a retro scene it would be good to see. Doubt they would buy the original records tho.

Now ... 50+ year olds in baggies and vests ?

[mischief]

The shirt is spot on, I didn't know that there where 2two of them? it's the very same one you have on Brian!!!!

Can you elaborate a bit more on how you came to wear one??

Typical Northern Soul that is - You think its a one of then it turns out theres loads of demo's out there in peoples collections!!

[mischief]

At work the other day, saw a jacket on a chair covered in badges. Spoke to the girl who's jacket it was (she's 20) and she had no idea of the significance of the badges. She did tell me that there was a range of clothes sporting them, but I can't remember who's range and where she got them. The jacket, a simple denim affair, cost over a 100 quid, and she said it was something to do with the designer badges. Perhaps people wearing badges wouldn't put off youngsters

Winnie:-)

Paul's Boutique or some thing... TK maxs had a range of Harringtons with Soul paches already Sewn on.. including the dome.

[Guest ScooterNik]

The practice of e-baying a collection of soul patches just belittles those who "earned" the patch originally. I see every week on the many scooter runs and ride outs (remember the scooter scene mirrors the soul scene in most ways), I see the battalions of "born agains" who want to "Dress up" and believe they get a bit of cred for wearing a patch or badge they have just paid for on e-bay.

I know this is a little silly and shouldn't bother me but it does! If I have ridden a lambretta 200 miles and bought a patch to show that I did it I do not want to stand shoulder to shoulder with some "Divvy" who couldn't tell me the difference between a TV and a GT!

Like wise on the soul scene, if you see some one with say a casino patch on then it would be kinda nice to assume that he or she actually attended that night before nodding or speaking. I have no time for pretenders, waffelers, w**kers or time wasters.

Well said.

I must have 20 or 30 scooter rally patches and pins that I've aquired through friends for rallies I never attended (including coming home from Morecambe this year with a Sheer Beer one that hadn't happened at that time!), most of them are sat with my other scooter memorabilia as they won't get worn. If I was there - and had ridden there - I'll wear it. Otherwise, no chance.

Exactly the same as my soul patches - Morecambe? Stafford? No problems. The Casino? Err, no thanks.... BTW a lot of the casino badges have been reproduced and are available on scooter rallies

Its as much a statement of your dedication to the scene as anything else, but sadly its now possible to pretrend you were somewhere you weren't if you're insecure enough to feel it matters that much.

[Guest WPaulVanDyk]

I personally like to collect Patches and sew them on my denim jacket i don't care what people think cause to me i like it and wear it to say i am into this music. Dad does the same and has on back of his a bigger legend lives on patch. Just that some patches to me are rarer. Like still hoping to find the original Phoenix soul club patch.

[Guest mel brat]

The whole intention of the "Soul patch" thing I think was to buy them as souvenirs unique to the venue, which is why so many clubs copied the idea (Pendulum, Va-Va, Carlton Club etc.). The first mention I remember hearing of specialist Soul club badges was from a guy who wrote to Blues & Soul in 1971 informing folk who had attended the Twisted Wheel that he'd had some blazer badges especially made, and to write in for details.

The (Black) Torch badge was fairly ubiquitous as it was probably the first "mass produced" badge, worn sewn onto shirts/bags etc. (I only ever remember them being referred to as "badges", never "patches") In the early seventies you could of course spot a fellow soul fan from his (or her!) wearing a badge, and just by going over for a chat you'd often have a friend for life!

However Chris Burton's 'International Soul Club' - a spin-off from the Torch - was making hundreds of different nylon badges by 1973/4, and supplying them to any old retail outlet (though mainly record shops), so that they became a bit "divvy", and a lot of people at the Cats stopped wearing them altogether. (The Cats never had an official patch, other than those produced by Chris Burton)

By 1975 I remember with embarrassment spotting a young guy I knew from work wearing mass-produced Twisted Wheel and Wigan badges, and challenging him about it, as I knew for a fact that he hadn't particularly liked ANY kind of Soul music a week earlier! I pointed out that anyway he was far too young to have gone to the Wheel, and hadn't in fact visited ANY Soul Club, so far as I was aware, Northern or otherwise.

"So what?" he indignantly replied. To him it was just a pop fashion, and he may just have well have been wearing a Bay City Rollers badge. It was also around this time that I spotted graffiti sprayed on a wall proclaiming "NOURTHERN soul" (sic) and I realised, if I hadn't already, that the underground scene that I had known was well and truly over...

Edited June 3, 2007 by mel brat