Beach Music

[Steve G]

I don't wish to rain on the parade of those beach folks "shagging away" on another thread, and I do accept the beach scene has kept some old soul singers careers going way past when it would have otherwise time expired,

but

(deep breath) at the risk of being controversial most (note: most not all) of this beach stuff sounds incredibly commercial / poppy to me.

If answering don't provide a list of good beach records or refosouls - as I probably have them, but am more interested to know am I now a lone voice in the wilderness in thinking this way?

Edited August 8, 2008 by Steve G

[Modernsoulsucks]

It is Steve and you're being very generous with that mild criticism. The tailor-made stuff is usually abysmal and as you say a lot of the "soul" content is easy on the ear. I do like the 50's stuff that gets played as it's kinda Jump R&B/Blues and preferrable to what masquerades as R&B on the Northern Scene.

However overall some of them are so bad they're good. Kinda "kitsch" I think. "Meet me with your black drawers on" by Gloria Hardiman was one of my faves. There were tracks by Anne Murray,Bee Gees,Delbert McClinton which ought to be awful but your foot starts tapping.

I think some of the Northern guys on here have got the wrong idea about it all. They see compilations featuring 60's soul and assume that's what it's like now. You do hear a little of that on Beach radio but zilch in the clubs and that goes especially for Northern orientated 45s. It's a bit like as if the modern scene had taken over here completely from 76 onwards and we no longer played 60's uptempo sounds.

Beach influence though on our scene has been huge. I think Dave Thorley will confirm he was playing tracks at Stafford picked up from Carolinas like Cannonball,Fantastic Shakers. Beach dealers like John Swain musta supplied hundreds and hundreds of Northern 45s to guys going over to the States; Anderson,Clarkie,me. Lew Stanley was a "shagger". I reckon it's also had an influence on the blues/soul/R&B released in the Southern states in that labels like Malaco would aim product at that market.

Finally I can't help thinking that from the 50's onwards a scene that embraced Black music may have contributed quite significantly to easing the racial tensions of the times and contributed to mutual understanding.

So sorry I can't put it in Room 101 but I don't want to see the Northern scene go the same way in that the dance is more important than the music.

ROD

[Benji]

I don't wish to rain on the parade of those beach folks "shagging away" on another thread, and I do accept the beach scene has kept some old soul singers careers going way past when it would have otherwise time expired,

but

(deep breath) at the risk of being controversial most (note: most not all) of this beach stuff sounds incredibly commercial / poppy to me.

If answering don't provide a list of good beach records or refosouls - as I probably have them, but am more interested to know am I now a lone voice in the wilderness in thinking this way?

Steve,

got only one question for you: who said (or says) that the beach music scene has to be soul-only?

I understand the music played there has a fair share of soul but it isn't and hasn't ever been just soul music, it's all about dancing and having a good time isn't it? I raise my hat for them embracing the music we love but I don't expect them (or anybody else for that matter) to dig as deep as we do in order to unearth unknown soul records.

Or did I get you completely wrong and just made a fool out of me?

[Guest Matt Male]

(deep breath) at the risk of being controversial most (note: most not all) of this beach stuff sounds incredibly commercial / poppy to me.

If answering don't provide a list of good beach records or refosouls - as I probably have them, but am more interested to know am I now a lone voice in the wilderness in thinking this way?

I agree Steve. I enjoyed Nipsip's thread in Media but it does sound a lot like the Easy Listening craze of the mid-90s when everyone was buying up easy listening LPs and it was cool to be kitsch. It's all a bit Mike Flowers Pops.

"> Edited August 8, 2008 by Matt Male

[Steve G]

Steve,

got only one question for you: who said (or says) that the beach music scene has to be soul-only?

I understand the music played there has a fair share of soul but it isn't and hasn't ever been just soul music, it's all about dancing and having a good time isn't it? I raise my hat for them embracing the music we love but I don't expect them (or anybody else for that matter) to dig as deep as we do in order to unearth unknown soul records.

Yes I have been very timid in my criticism Rod. Hadn't had my coffee when I wrote that

No one says it has to be all soul Benji, I am not suggesting that - obviously what the beach scene plays is a matter for those folks and their scene has evolved in the way it has over the years - good luck to them. It's just that a lot of it sounds musically a bit programmed - "weedy" and "bing bing bingy" to these ears. I do understand it's about dancing and having a good time, so is our scene. Just that maybe some of us like it a bit more 'raw'.

[Dave Thorley]

It is Steve and you're being very generous with that mild criticism. The tailor-made stuff is usually abysmal and as you say a lot of the "soul" content is easy on the ear. I do like the 50's stuff that gets played as it's kinda Jump R&B/Blues and preferrable to what masquerades as R&B on the Northern Scene.

However overall some of them are so bad they're good. Kinda "kitsch" I think. "Meet me with your black drawers on" by Gloria Hardiman was one of my faves. There were tracks by Anne Murray,Bee Gees,Delbert McClinton which ought to be awful but your foot starts tapping.

I think some of the Northern guys on here have got the wrong idea about it all. They see compilations featuring 60's soul and assume that's what it's like now. You do hear a little of that on Beach radio but zilch in the clubs and that goes especially for Northern orientated 45s. It's a bit like as if the modern scene had taken over here completely from 76 onwards and we no longer played 60's uptempo sounds.

Beach influence though on our scene has been huge. I think Dave Thorley will confirm he was playing tracks at Stafford picked up from Carolinas like Cannonball,Fantastic Shakers. Beach dealers like John Swain musta supplied hundreds and hundreds of Northern 45s to guys going over to the States; Anderson,Clarkie,me. Lew Stanley was a "shagger". I reckon it's also had an influence on the blues/soul/R&B released in the Southern states in that labels like Malaco would aim product at that market.

Finally I can't help thinking that from the 50's onwards a scene that embraced Black music may have contributed quite significantly to easing the racial tensions of the times and contributed to mutual understanding.

So sorry I can't put it in Room 101 but I don't want to see the Northern scene go the same way in that the dance is more important than the music.

ROD

Hi Rod

Your right played a bit at Stafford;

Fantastic Shakers-My biggest mystake

Debby Dobins-Glad I found you/How you gonna feel.

Yes a little poppy, but hasn't so much of whats been played on the northern scene, at the time they sounded fresh and the dance floor liked them.

But alot of it is pretty poor and not something that I like wholesale. If you search through it there is some nice stuff. As Rod says big influence on the northern scene, Nomads, Embers, Georgia Prophets, (Much of) Clifford Curry's stuff, etc etc made for the beach scene.

Ian Clark for a while went big on it end of Yate/early Stafford, as he was over there a fair bit and he was big buddies with some of the dealers.

Dave

[Epic]

My slant on it is this - Beach Music is generally snappy, happy, poppy - sometimes soulful good time music & doesn't pretend to be anything else.

Northern Soul can be all of the above - but can sometimes be beach music itself & not really "soul" music at all - it just pretends to be.

The Embers - "Watch Out Girl" is it Beach, Northern or both?

[Modernsoulsucks]

My slant on it is this - Beach Music is generally snappy, happy, poppy - sometimes soulful good time music & doesn't pretend to be anything else.

Northern Soul can be all of the above - but can sometimes be beach music itself & not really "soul" music at all - it just pretends to be.

The Embers - "Watch Out Girl" is it Beach, Northern or both?

Northern. It's NOT Beach. "Far away places" is Beach side which is why you see that side of MGM 45 on re-issues now and again. BMR is it?

ROD

[boba]

Northern. It's NOT Beach. "Far away places" is Beach side which is why you see that side of MGM 45 on re-issues now and again. BMR is it?

ROD

I have a weird version of 'far away places' done by a group called the august tide

[Guest nipsip]

I don't wish to rain on the parade of those beach folks "shagging away" on another thread, and I do accept the beach scene has kept some old soul singers careers going way past when it would have otherwise time expired,

but

(deep breath) at the risk of being controversial most (note: most not all) of this beach stuff sounds incredibly commercial / poppy to me.

If answering don't provide a list of good beach records or refosouls - as I probably have them, but am more interested to know am I now a lone voice in the wilderness in thinking this way?

A lot of it is bubble gum. All beach music fans will admit to that. In fact you hear fans ask for "that bubblegum beach music."

And yes the popularity of some groups have kept careers going for a long time. Beach Music is the state music of South Carolina and North Carolina plus most of the beach going traffic from VA beach down to Jacksonville, Fl. It has a very loyal following.

Doesn't mean that beach music fans are not great fans of Northern Soul, we are, but cannot dance the Shag to a lot of it.

[funkyfeet]

You should all read Heeey Baby Days of Beach Music, to get what the 6o's US Beach scene was about, to a lot of the guys and gals who were part of that scene it died on the 31st Dec 1969. Sound familiar doesn't it.

[Sunnysoul]

Was Admiral Shohn Ice's "My Carolina Girl" a tailor made for the US Beach Music scene ?

[funkyfeet]

Was Admiral Shohn Ice's "My Carolina Girl" a tailor made for the US Beach Music scene ?

All records are taylor made for some audience, otherwise there's no point in making the thing.

[Baz Atkinson]

CHECK THIS LINK OUT GOOD THREAD !

BAZ A

https://digitaldreamdoor.nutsie.com/pages/b...ongs-beach.html

[Ian Dewhirst]

CHECK THIS LINK OUT GOOD THREAD !

BAZ A

https://digitaldreamdoor.nutsie.com/pages/b...ongs-beach.html

That's a good list Baz.

Also, they must have been playing "Hold Back The Night" at the same time as us!

Ian D

[Baz Atkinson]

That's a good list Baz.

Also, they must have been playing "Hold Back The Night" at the same time as us!

Ian D

was thinking the same bout hot chocolate to be honest

BAZ A

Edited August 9, 2008 by baz atkinson

[scunnyjack]

[Baz Atkinson]