JUST TO MENTION A POSSIBLE NEW THREAD- I FIND IT AMAZING THAT CERTAIN RECORDS ARE NOW FROWNED ON AND SHOULDN'T BE ALLOWED ON THE TURNTABLE AT ANY COST, I WONDER WHETHER THIS IS A UNIVERSAL ATTITUDE OR IS IT REGIONAL (IE)YOU CAN PLAY XYZ IN LANCASHIRE BUT NOT IN LEICESTERSHIRE?

JUST TO MENTION A FEW:

WHY ARE THE FOLLOWING FROWNED UPON, OR DO I NEVER CATCH THEM WHEN PLAYED?

TAINTED LOVE GLORIA JONES- ONE OF THE BIGGEST RECORDS ON THE SCENE IN 74- IS THIS JUST DOWN TO MARK ALMOND AND FRANK?

YOU NEVER HEAR BENNY CURTIS -DIRTY HEARTS, IS THIS BECAUSE IT WAS DECLARED A SIMON RECORD? EXTREMELY ELUSIVE WEST COAST DANCE CLASSIC- THIS IS THE EPITOME OF NORTHERN SOUL DANCE.

AT THIS POINT MAY I POINT OUT THAT I THINK THERE IS A CONSIDERABLE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A DANCE CLASSIC AND A CLASSIC SOUL RECORD!

LAST BUT NOT LEAST - THE JOKER THE MILESTONES- UTTERLY SENSATIONAL, PLAYED IT AT THE RITZ AN A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO, MILES GRAYSON IS A GENIUS HASN'T ANYBODY GOT THE BALLS TO PLAY IT?

THIS IS WHAT NORTHERN SOUL WAS ALL ABOUT-ATMOSPHERIC, DRIVING BEAT, AN INSTRUMENTAL MUSICAL MASTERPIECE-RUINED BY THE JOKER HIMSELF-SIMON?

JUST ONE MORE JUST TO GET YOU GOING - FOOTSEE-WHAT YOU ALL CRY!

EVER PLAYED THE REAL VERSION BY THE CHOSEN FEW ON ROULETTE-CLASS DANCE RECORD COMPLETE WITH BREAK AND NO CAR HORNS, PLAYED THIS ONCE AT THE CASINO WHEN THE OTHER THING WAS A MONSTER, THE LOOK ON PEOPLES FACES WHEN THEY GOT TO THE BREAK AND NO HORNS!!!!

PLEASE NOTE I AM ONLY REFERING TO DANCE RECORDS WHICH HAVE BEEN AN ESSENTIAL PART OF THE SCENE..........RIGHT I'LL DUCK NOW............

  ShaneH said:

i am no authority on soul and have little experience compared to a lot of you but I thought Stafford arrived just in time to destroy all the crap they were playing in the latter days of wigan. Someone correct me if i am wrong as i am speaking from second hand information. I have been fan of rare soul since about 1990 and since then I have noticed an abundance of Wigan revival nights but very little events referring to Stafford. Well it looks like this is changing with the introduction of the Stafford reunion allnighter courtesy of Chris Waterman and the team. I for one am much more excited about this than any wigan revival.

Just my opinion. I am not knocking what happened in the day as I am just more keen on the future. We have to live the future afterall!

Shane

link

Shane, for every great Stafford discovery there was a crap record played. Just like in every era. It also gets credit for playing records played elsewhere first. Particularly Wigan. So it can't have all been pop records at the Casino. Not a dig at Stafford, but you cannot put it in the same league as the Mecca and Wigan.

And how good were the attendances ?

Steve.

  Pete-S said:

Shane - this is my opinion, see if anyone else agrees with me.  Wigan up to and including most of 1977, I can't say a bad word about the music.  The very end of 77, and most of 78 was poor.  This is when we had the Sue Lynns, Gene Latters, Helen Shapiro's etc - records that I have nothing against, but there was too much British stomp stomp stuff being played.  So I stopped going.  Then, at the end of 78, John Anderson hit a purple patch and Richard broke some of the best records ever over the next 18 months, from Cecil Washington to John & The Weirdest to The Lovers to Eddie Daye and so on.  Unfortunately, the place was only half full by then except for the oldies allnighter which was always a packer.  I never went to a saturday at the Casino again except for the final night which I wouldn't have missed for the world.  But, apart from the hideous modern stuff and the playing of modern 12"ers which lasted 20 minutes, the music in the last 2 years of the Casino was as good as anything before or since.  It was just that 18 month period before that when the worst of the music was played and unfortunately people now say that we spent our nights dancing to Joe 90 and Tony Blackburn - I personally NEVER heard Joe 90 and Tony Blackburn was played for maybe 2 weeks as a cover up.

link

Absolutely 100% spot on. (Except thebit about modern.) Richard was still playing some of the records Pete mentions at Stafford, years later, AFTER Clifton Hall !

  Awake 502 said:

And tht Darren, is when many people around today thought it was all pop music.