Lost Years Of The 1980s

[Barry]

What's left of my 80's:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

...missing 100's Club, Buzzard, Hinckley, Bradford, Dilly-Dally, Parr Hall etc

Edited March 4, 2014 by Barry

[Guest scottie]

im sure we were scottie..cant remember who I saw where..there were so many on..except the early ones in 84 my first year of rallies,edwin at the iow,mary wells at the tiffanys,yarmouuth niter,snake davis at the Newark showground..it all starts to get a bit blurred after that  although will never forget the Nazi skins kicking off at tiffanys desmond dekker gig in 86 or the full on riot at iow 87 when chris burton was promoting and booked all oi bands..add to that car loads of scooterless skins and a beer tent ripping people off all weekend..recipe for trouble!

 

im constantly meeting  'soulies' in their 40s/50s who were at the same places I was back then..seeing pics of scoots on the 'rallies in the 80s' facebook group that are identical to some of mine

 

great days

 

dean

great days indeed did the oi band the business play disc85 and it all kicked of as well a`the best pal

Edited March 4, 2014 by scottie

[Spacehopper]

yes mate I think they did..and then the meteors at disc86 was it? were they 85 too..cant remember....kicked off again, I suppose the rallies of the mid 80s were bringing so many different people together,it was no longer just mods so was always gonna be a bit of trouble..add to that the football side of things and huge amounts of alcohol

[Guest]

What's left of my 80's:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

...missing 100's Club, Buzzard, Hinckley, Bradford, Dilly-Dally, Parr Hall etc

 

Morecambe Central Pier membership

[Guest Bearsy]

yes mate I think they did..and then the meteors at disc86 was it? were they 85 too..cant remember....kicked off again, I suppose the rallies of the mid 80s were bringing so many different people together,it was no longer just mods so was always gonna be a bit of trouble..add to that the football side of things and huge amounts of alcohol

Skinheads and Mods hated each other it was bloody nasty in Kent but then about 84/85 things started to change where scooters became affordable and racey and cutdown and mods in general got rid of the jam shoes/parkas/boating blazers etc etc and started to switch to combats/boxing boots/flight jackets/ and the psycho billy look appeared then before you know it everywhere was fast becoming a free for all mass punch ups everywhere and anywhere.  My club Medway Aces had a bad reputation and was a mix of everyone from skinheads to mods to psycho billy and all hard as fook and would have a tear up with anyone anywhere in the country they was nasty and liked no one and it became about making a name for yourselfs and where you was from.  Mid to late 80s was a bad time for scootering the violence was on a another level.  

Thankfully now it's not so bad most of the time  

Football to was something else back then   Up The Gills 

[Guest Bearsy]

If I remember rightly as I was a bit too young there was a club in Strood (Medway Towns) called Bogarts that run a weekly Northern Soul night and Jo Wallace djd there and I think it was with Graham who owned a record shop round the corner and still does to this day I believe.  Them nights were packed and they was about 85/86 ish and mainly all ex mods/scooterists.  Not sure how long Bogarts run for but the Medway Towns was never a bedrock for Northern Soul and still ain't to this day but still full of old skinheads and old mods that like a bit of Northern on scooter rallies and the odd Soul night.  Saying that KSC last event back at the brilliant old venue was rammed with 250 in dancing the night away but the music is very scooter rally cheesy style but that is their target audience.   Me I was to young and to interested in football and girls to care for anything scootering.  I was a raver  now them were the days 

[Barry]

Saw trouble between Skins & Mods at both Morecambe and Oddfellows.

[jocko]

If you were there, then they should be lost years, otherwise you were just playing at it......

[Steve G]

If I remember rightly as I was a bit too young there was a club in Strood (Medway Towns) called Bogarts that run a weekly Northern Soul night and Jo Wallace djd there and I think it was with Graham who owned a record shop round the corner and still does to this day I believe.  Them nights were packed and they was about 85/86 ish and mainly all ex mods/scooterists.  Not sure how long Bogarts run for but the Medway Towns was never a bedrock for Northern Soul and still ain't to this day but still full of old skinheads and old mods that like a bit of Northern on scooter rallies and the odd Soul night.  Saying that KSC last event back at the brilliant old venue was rammed with 250 in dancing the night away but the music is very scooter rally cheesy style but that is their target audience.   Me I was to young and to interested in football and girls to care for anything scootering.  I was a raver  now them were the days 

 

Yes Jo and Keith Rylett. They also came to our do's in 77-79 at St Easwhythes Mission Hall, Tonbridge.

[Daved]

If I remember rightly as I was a bit too young there was a club in Strood (Medway Towns) called Bogarts that run a weekly Northern Soul night and Jo Wallace djd there and I think it was with Graham who owned a record shop round the corner and still does to this day I believe.  Them nights were packed and they was about 85/86 ish and mainly all ex mods/scooterists.  Not sure how long Bogarts run for but the Medway Towns was never a bedrock for Northern Soul and still ain't to this day but still full of old skinheads and old mods that like a bit of Northern on scooter rallies and the odd Soul night.  Saying that KSC last event back at the brilliant old venue was rammed with 250 in dancing the night away but the music is very scooter rally cheesy style but that is their target audience.   Me I was to young and to interested in football and girls to care for anything scootering.  I was a raver  now them were the days 

 

Graham does still run Rocollect records in Strood. I bought a couple of Kent CDs from him recently. I think Bogarts was before my time - early 80s (pre 83). I never went but gather there waere many punch ups there or outside there. My first do was the King Charles Hotel mod nights on Thursdays in 1983. At first I thought it was fantastic because I'd never heard a lot of the songs before. After a while it got my nerves hearing the same songs in the same order every week.

 

Keith & Jo also did Sunday nights in Churchills, Chatham for a while around 1985-6. They were good nights.

[Amsterdam Russ]

Yes, Bogarts was early 80s. My first real experience of going to soul nights. I must have been 15-16.

 

It's interesting that people often talk about the fights. Undoubtedly there were some, but I don't recall seeing any, and I was going up there just about every Sunday until it closed. Perhaps I was too busy enjoying myself on the dance floor and missed all the kerfuffles! 

 

KG Promotions: Keith Rylatt and Graham Sage, and Graham's lovely wife Liz on the door.

 

 

 

As well as Bogarts in Strood there were plenty of other soul nights in the Medway & Kent area. Kev Griffin and Kim Styles, for example, held regular nights down in Tonbridge, and Jo Wallace held events down in Margate now and then. There was a lot going on for a young, naive, wannabe soulie.

 

Happy days indeed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Daved]

Nice one Russell. are you still local?

 

I went with Jo to one of the Margate do's at the Scout Hut but it got closed down by the police even before it begun.

 

I also recall an allnighter at Charing, near Ashford around 1985.

[Amsterdam Russ]

Nice one Russell. are you still local?

 

I went with Jo to one of the Margate do's at the Scout Hut but it got closed down by the police even before it begun.

 

I also recall an allnighter at Charing, near Ashford around 1985.

 

I moved from Maidstone to London in something like May of 1984. God, that's 30 years ago! Went to see Graham in Strood a couple of times after, but that was it. Never went back. In late 2007, I moved from London to just outside Amsterdam.

 

Jo spent a weekend with here us last year and dj'd at the Amsterdam Soul Club.

 

Life's funny, isn't it? If you'd told that young wannabe soulie that 20-odd years later he'd end up living 'abroad', and in Amsterdam, he wouldn't have believed you!

 

Back on topic - the 80s were my formative Northern Soul years - and they were great... 100 Club, Hinckley, Peterborough, Leighton Buzzard, Bradford, Blackburn, Sheffield, Great Yarmouth, Herne Bay (!), Chesterfield (the place with the wonky church?), Brighton, and wherever else.

 

Lost years, I don't think so!

[kimbo]

the only time I usually see the term lost years or wilderness years of the 80's is from those who weren't there. I went to two all-nighters a weekend along with soul nights and all dayers during the 80's and like you Daz some of the best times of my life making some lifelong friendships along the way!!!! Many of the venues back then boasted healthy attendances, some not so healthy but thats no different to these days.

Spot on Chalky. The venue and sounds plus the people. As you say the people who were lost weren't there. That's still the case if you scratch the surface with your blinkers off. get out and enjoy all. For me top nites recently Lifeline Anniversary and a little soulnite in the west Midlands last Friday...although Harpo telling me about a kid called pancake and Gary Holyman being dragged round by his ear by Lisa have  un nerved me somewhat Ha ha

 Kimbo n Lisa both micro chiped If lost please return to the soul scene......................

Edited March 9, 2014 by kimbo

[Chalky]

I moved from Maidstone to London in something like May of 1984. God, that's 30 years ago! Went to see Graham in Strood a couple of times after, but that was it. Never went back. In late 2007, I moved from London to just outside Amsterdam.

 

Jo spent a weekend with here us last year and dj'd at the Amsterdam Soul Club.

 

Life's funny, isn't it? If you'd told that young wannabe soulie that 20-odd years later he'd end up living 'abroad', and in Amsterdam, he wouldn't have believed you!

 

Back on topic - the 80s were my formative Northern Soul years - and they were great... 100 Club, Hinckley, Peterborough, Leighton Buzzard, Bradford, Blackburn, Sheffield, Great Yarmouth, Herne Bay (!), Chesterfield (the place with the wonky church?), Brighton, and wherever else.

 

Lost years, I don't think so!

 

Chesterfield was where I lived then Russell so the Winding Wheel was my local nighter. And yes a wonky church, The Crooked Spire.