This England - Wigan

[Zed1]

A little random perhaps, but.......

Was there ever a Vote (show of hands) at Wigan to decide if they should let the cameras in to Film the above?..

[Guest garv]

A little random perhaps, but.......

Was there ever a Vote (show of hands) at Wigan to decide if they should let the cameras in to Film the above?..

Yes,

if i remember rightly Mike Walker came on stage & asked the crowd if they wanted the cameras in, " its your club, you are the members blah blah blah"

A show of hands was taken & the vast majority said no, & the rest is history.

As we all know, money talks.

Garv

[Zed1]

Yes,

if i remember rightly Mike Walker came on stage & asked the crowd if they wanted the cameras in, " its your club, you are the members blah blah blah"

A show of hands was taken & the vast majority said no, & the rest is history.

As we all know, money talks.

Garv

Cheers Garv.......

You've confirmed a story I was told a few years ago (I was reminded of it the other day) but as this was just before I started going I didn't know if was true or not.

Interestingly they also used the same words as you, ie "everyone voted 'No' but they just took the cash regardless"..

Some things never change..

[Citizen P]

Hmm.

I seem to remember the big lights going on-everybody walking off the floor, and being told that there would be no more music until they were allowed to film.

All those that returned to the floor were f*ckin' show offs of course, the rest of stayed in the relative darkness under the balconey

Tony

[SHEFFSOUL]

Hmm.

I seem to remember the big lights going on-everybody walking off the floor, and being told that there would be no more music until they were allowed to film.

All those that returned to the floor were f*ckin' show offs of course, the rest of stayed in the relative darkness under the balconey

Tony

I remember the vote..& I stayed away the night of filming..apparently it was very bright, full of posers, some even wore sunglasses..the end (for me) was just around the corner...

[Barry]

I remember the vote..& I stayed away the night of filming..apparently it was very bright, full of posers, some even wore sunglasses..the end (for me) was just around the corner...

Bugger!

So sunglasses brought about the beginning of the end then did they?

It's a bloody learning curve this.

[Barry]

The day Hilda banned clogs at the door was a definate turning point for me.

[Guest]

The day Hilda banned clogs at the door was a definate turning point for me.

Mrs Woods to you Barry ..........

Do you not know that calling her by her first name , could result in the old pippistrell coming back to haunt you ?

Malc Burton

[Dickytwang]

I'm sure filming took place on a Friday night ! can anyone confirm ?

[Benji]

Yes,

if i remember rightly Mike Walker came on stage & asked the crowd if they wanted the cameras in, " its your club, you are the members blah blah blah"

A show of hands was taken & the vast majority said no, & the rest is history.

As we all know, money talks.

Garv

I'm happy that they ignored the result from the vote as otherwise I would have missed some brilliant footage of WC and wouldn't know what it was like. I know loads has been written about the Casino but a picture's worth a thousand words as they say..

[Guest gordon russell]

I remember the vote..& I stayed away the night of filming..apparently it was very bright, full of posers, some even wore sunglasses..the end (for me) was just around the corner...

ditto on all counts

[Guest bazrico]

I'm happy that they ignored the result from the vote as otherwise I would have missed some brilliant footage of WC and wouldn't know what it was like. I know loads has been written about the Casino but a picture's worth a thousand words as they say..

i agree

Soulies who were never there have a sample of the casino i have vhs tapes of other venues, weekenders, of all our yesterdays however i have not the grey matter to to put them on dvd

[Citizen P]

I'm sure filming took place on a Friday night ! can anyone confirm ?

As I never attended a Friday,and I was there, I would have to respond in the negative.

Tony

[Zed1]

Bugger!

So sunglasses brought about the beginning of the end then did they?

It's a bloody learning curve this.

Come On Barry - you know the rules - whenever anyone posts ANY replies to a Wigan type thread they always have finish by saying what year it went crap - even if this had nothing whatsoever to do with the original question.

For Eg.....

Question: Hi, Was there a shop selling Northern Soul Clothing at Wigan Casino?.

Answer: Yes there was a small stall selling Spencers bags..... However the quality of the material in these trousers went crap after 1978.

Question: Hi, Was there a Cafe inside the Casino?.

Answer: Yes there was a small Cafe selling refreshments......... however the meat content of the pies went right down after 1976, also in this year Mike Walker bought a job lot of cheap plastic cups from Simon Sousan which went all soft when hot, causing you to spill your beverage all over your newly aquired Spencer trousers from the above stall.

Question: Was Wigan Casino ever on the TV?.

Answer: Yes, In a TV documentary series called 'This England'......... However Granada TV stopped being a credible broadcaster after 1978 when the Freddie 'Parrot Faced' Davies show was axed from it's prime time slot....

Edited November 28, 2008 by Teapot

[Pete S]

Hmm.

I seem to remember the big lights going on-everybody walking off the floor, and being told that there would be no more music until they were allowed to film.

All those that returned to the floor were f*ckin' show offs of course, the rest of stayed in the relative darkness under the balconey

Tony

That is 100% absolutely true, I'm often asked why I wasn't on it and I said, all our lot hid in the shadows (big eyes!) except for a couple of posers

[Guest garv]

I'm happy that they ignored the result from the vote as otherwise I would have missed some brilliant footage of WC and wouldn't know what it was like. I know loads has been written about the Casino but a picture's worth a thousand words as they say..

The problem for me & lots of other regulars was that the " This England " is not a true reflection of the Casino, if you were a regular at the time there are a lot of faces on the film but god knows where half the others came from, some of the dancing is utter crap by people i never saw before or after the filming.

I find a lot of it very embarrassing, in no way i`m i trying to lesson your experience or say it should`t have been done.

The truth is, the best dancers [ bar a very few] kept well out of the way as did a lot of faces, we were young & idealistic & wanted to protect what was ours.

Looking back i`m glad to have footage of the old girl but a lot of it still makes my toes curl

[Paul Shirley]

yeah i was there got to say i agree ...........it gave a terible acount of the casino every bugger i knew was walking around with there hands over there eyes , i came out of mr Mms only to be blinded by some bugger with a camera and fairy thing on a pole , needles to say i decided to fook of in to the cloakroom as i had taken bloody pondrax only to find every other bugger there who had also scored them from me , they wsant to pleased !!!! the whole experience haunted me for days , for me the death of the casino was 96 before then best nights i had since er? i went camping and lost me cherry

[Guest Phil Richards]

Yes,

if i remember rightly Mike Walker came on stage & asked the crowd if they wanted the cameras in, " its your club, you are the members blah blah blah"

A show of hands was taken & the vast majority said no, & the rest is history.

As we all know, money talks.

Garv

Spot on we said no well the majority did was asked to dance for the film i said no but was still on there when it came on the tv

[Billywhizz]

I'm sure filming took place on a Friday night ! can anyone confirm ?

yes

[Billywhizz]

The problem for me & lots of other regulars was that the " This England " is not a true reflection of the Casino, if you were a regular at the time there are a lot of faces on the film but god knows where half the others came from, some of the dancing is utter crap by people i never saw before or after the filming.wrong

I find a lot of it very embarrassing, in no way i`m i trying to lesson your experience or say it should`t have been done.

The truth is, the best dancers [ bar a very few] kept well out of the way as did a lot of faces, we were young & idealistic & wanted to protect what was ours.

Looking back i`m glad to have footage of the old girl but a lot of it still makes my toes curl

[Billyboy]

Hmm.

I seem to remember the big lights going on-everybody walking off the floor, and being told that there would be no more music until they were allowed to film.

All those that returned to the floor were f*ckin' show offs of course, the rest of stayed in the relative darkness under the balconey

Tony

Ditto...

I was on the squashed (as normal) getting through the doors bit of the film ...but definately in the shadows watching the posers on the floor with all the rest of the 'smarties' regulars ...ruined the weekend..

Edited November 28, 2008 by Billyboy

[Pete S]

As I never attended a Friday,and I was there, I would have to respond in the negative.

Tony

Billy says yes but from what I remember it occured on 2 succesive saturday nights.

[Guest east rob]

Billy says yes but from what I remember it occured on 2 succesive saturday nights.

the lights came on,most dancers trooped off, lights out, floor full again. so what you see on those clips, they do not show a true representation of the old place. remember the badges on the second saturday? "lights crack me up". class.

Edited November 28, 2008 by east rob

[Barry]

Come On Barry - you know the rules - whenever anyone posts ANY replies to a Wigan type thread they always have finish by saying what year it went crap

Either you are attempting to attach yourself to me as to bathe in my natural SS message board glow or you are bull-shitting, as I have never, ever had a negative thing to say about Wigan.

What was yer name again?

[Barry]

Either you are attempting to attach yourself to me as to bathe in my natural SS message board glow or you are bull-shitting, as I have never, ever had a negative thing to say about Wigan.

What was yer name again?

Mate! As I am three sheets to the wind and I have a natural aborrence to edited posts I would like to profer my deepest apologies for my balloon-like reply to your post.

I come on here with good intentions but after fending off shitty replies for a while I occasionally scan posts and expect them to being posts aimed at having a pop.

Which is what I have done with yours.

I have made a c*ck out meself and I apologise, you were obviously stating a truth and I feel truly awful.

Sorry fella.

[Zed1]

Mate! As I am three sheets to the wind and I have a natural aborrence to edited posts I would like to profer my deepest apologies for my balloon-like reply to your post.

I come on here with good intentions but after fending off shitty replies for a while I occasionally scan posts and expect them to being posts aimed at having a pop.

Which is what I have done with yours.

I have made a c*ck out meself and I apologise, you were obviously stating a truth and I feel truly awful.

Sorry fella.

Apologies not necessary Barry - as I know 'exactly' what you mean....

It's interesting - and perhaps a little sad that I had to think twice about starting this thread as past experiance leads me to believe that whenever the 'W' word is mentioned it doesn't take long before the usual "Wigan was crap after '......' (insert year or reason of your choice) type reply is posted - even though this has little or nothing to do with the original thread question, for Eg this thread managed just 4 posts before the 'usual' reply...

Why people feel they need to do this is beyond me (Ok rhetorical question) but you never seem to see this about any other venue........

We both know the Casino had it's problems, but these were a few VERY small flies in an otherwise VERY large jar of fantastic ointment - so why do these people always concentrate on these 'few' negatives?...

Such is forum life, sadly...

[Billywhizz]

Billy says yes but from what I remember it occured on 2 succesive saturday nights.

Pete it was definetly friday night, i took my city guilds, that day lights were on all night everyone was moaning, and the next night saturday they were there again if i remember the lights were on for 3-4 hours i never change my shirt when im dancing the white shirt i had friday and the black vest saturday i still wear the same shoes now which i did 35 years ago how sad is that.

Billy

[ChrisOD1964]

I taped of all things coronation street over my vhs copy. the air was blue. However i learnt from it push the tabs out.

chris

[Guest POTTERIESPECK]

ALMOST SURE IT WAS A SATURDAY NIGHT, I PUT IN ANOTHER THREAD ABOUT EVERYONE HIDING UNTIL THE LIGHTS WENT OF. I CAN ALSO REMEMBER THE SHOW OF HANDS.IF I REMEMBER THERE WAS A MASSIVE F-OFF CAMEREA AT THE BACK OF THE UPSTAIRS BALCONNY [ WHOO THE BAR &THE TEA BAR , MANY HAPPY TIMES

[Eddie Hubbard]

It was def. Sat night that I was there .Danny Williams " Who's little girl are you " was playing as I crossed the dancefloor , and I remember buying The Moods " Rainmaker " [ Wand ] for £4 .Don't ask me how I remember this stuff ,I just do !! Best,Eddie

[Guest rasfoz]

[quote name='billywhizz' date='Nov 29 08, 04:48 PM' post= i still wear the same shoes now which i did 35 years ago how sad is that.

Billy

[Guest east rob]

Either you are attempting to attach yourself to me as to bathe in my natural SS message board glow or you are bull-shitting, as I have never, ever had a negative thing to say about Wigan.

What was yer name again?

for me, wigan got crap after the 6th dec 1981....

[Guest]

A coach load of us up from Aldershot (Hampshire) that night and I do remember a lot of people being pissed off by the filming , and so me and Ray Lyons decided that we would hide in the shadows and not get filmed . Now of course I wish I didn't . I still look for me in the out takes as well as the film , but the truth is I don't think I'd even recognise me now anyway I was a bit thinner then !

[Robin S]

The truth is, the best dancers [ bar a very few] kept well out of the way as did a lot of faces, we were young & idealistic & wanted to protect what was ours.

My brother Neil "Sammy" Salter can be seen flicking the "V's" at the cameras in the queue outside, which certainly backs up the above.

I remember my Mum being quite shocked at his behaviour as we all watched it on the telly!

[Citizen P]

My brother Neil "Sammy" Salter can be seen flicking the "V's" at the cameras in the queue outside, which certainly backs up the above.

Star of the Show for me

Seriously though, probably showed what most of us thought at the time.

ATB

Tony

[Billyboy]

It was a Friday.....or was it a Saturday........ahh Dementia... the curse of the all-nighters

[Citizen P]

Like I said afore,

I never went to a Friday do,

and I was definitely there when they filmed.

They certainly could have done it over more than one night, but the occasion I remember was a SATURDAY.

ATB

Tony

[Barry]

Apologies not necessary Barry - as I know 'exactly' what you mean....

It's interesting - and perhaps a little sad that I had to think twice about starting this thread as past experiance leads me to believe that whenever the 'W' word is mentioned it doesn't take long before the usual "Wigan was crap after '......' (insert year or reason of your choice) type reply is posted - even though this has little or nothing to do with the original thread question, for Eg this thread managed just 4 posts before the 'usual' reply...

Why people feel they need to do this is beyond me (Ok rhetorical question) but you never seem to see this about any other venue........

We both know the Casino had it's problems, but these were a few VERY small flies in an otherwise VERY large jar of fantastic ointment - so why do these people always concentrate on these 'few' negatives?...

Such is forum life, sadly...

In my mind Garry, it's an odd thing for people to knock Wigan, especially it's swan-song years, especially if you attended - and if you have (especially if you didn't attend a venue that so obviously wrote the rules, set the pace and still hasn't been bettered in my eyes), you need to take a long hard look at yourself and where your up to.

[Jerry Hipkiss]

Like I said afore,

I never went to a Friday do,

and I was definitely there when they filmed.

They certainly could have done it over more than one night, but the occasion I remember was a SATURDAY.

ATB

Tony

From memory, it was two nights - the Saturday and then the next Oldies Friday niter...

[Guest mickeyb]

From memory, it was two nights - the Saturday and then the next Oldies Friday niter...

Hi Jerry - were you there too?

Fairly sure that there was coach from Chelt/Glos area on the Saturday. Most of us kept out of the way of the cameras - young and idealistic or just paranoid? The only people I recognise from our area on the film and the outtakes were Mickey Roberts in the queue outside and Snooky on the dancefloor.

[Jerry Hipkiss]

Hi Jerry - were you there too?

Fairly sure that there was coach from Chelt/Glos area on the Saturday. Most of us kept out of the way of the cameras - young and idealistic or just paranoid? The only people I recognise from our area on the film and the outtakes were Mickey Roberts in the queue outside and Snooky on the dancefloor.

Yes, I was, O'brien was, and I know Snooky was...so it's pretty certain that you're thinking of the same night. Of course I was so quiet and inconspicuous on the coach you probably forgot I was there...

[Guest kev.k]

I was there the night it was filmed,lights up full came out of M's and some bloke said what have you taken with which i replied fcuk off,,sadly that bit wasnt showed wonder why?although i ended up in the outtakes spent most of the night out in the shadows.....worse night at Wigan i ever had...the rest was amazing and cant see why people pull it to bits.....as for the vote most of us walked off the dancefloor for me the vote was a NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO........

[Rich B]

I think the fascinating thing about this thread is how everyone recalls from a different perspective. For instance, I hadn't realised Mr M's was open at the time they filmed - I'm not saying it wasn't, but I always stayed on the main floor, because I wanted to hear new sounds, so I was always surprised that it was there. It also shows just how powerful the nostalgia thing on the northern scene has always been.

For the record, can anyone remember just how big the original Sounds of Soul "Footsee" was? (Anyone got an mp3 to share?).

As for when it happened I seem to recall that we knew the filming was taking place, so we just didn't go. We never went on a Friday, so I'm guessing it did take place on a Saturday.

Far more damaging to the scene and its validity as an "undergound thing" at the time, was it featuring in all the tabloid press in early '75 causing a mass influx of divs and daytrippers. In Nottingham these days, everyone of "a certain age" will tell you they were "into northern" - I'm surprised there was room - well I suppose on some occasions there wasn't if you were late! And as I am of a "certain age", I think I need a lie down now...

Best wishes to anyone who remembers me - I expect if anyone does, there will definitely be more than one perspective....

KTF,

Richard Broughton

[burt weedon]

Hi pete,

just read this blog thing,n yer spot on....i was by you,....an to dis day,its very rare you see me on any vid or pic,, dancing,,

probly hate the way i spin..ha..anyway remember the vote,the night,an every ting about this scene that should be under ground.

k.t.f. m8. still nockin dead. kkkkkk..burt.

That is 100% absolutely true, I'm often asked why I wasn't on it and I said, all our lot hid in the shadows (big eyes!) except for a couple of posers

[Ernie Andrews]

I have to agree with most on here- I hid under the balcony near to the stage on the right hand side.

I was early in that night 3rd I think and I was just changing my shoes when this Camera came towards me.

I put my hand up to cover my face but it looked like I was waving. This shot was used in one of the adverts for the programme.They used the first few bars of the Lovelites as the backing music.

I got on the dance floor about 3 times that night which was unusual for me as I was on until I fell down - had abreak for 15 minutes then on again but with the floor being so bloody full it just put me off.

I was regarded as the guy who had the fastest foot shuffle you had ever seen especially to Captain of my ship- Seventh wonder but you dont see anything of me because I just didnt want be on camera - Probably because I was a student nurse at the time and could not be associated with anywhere with drugs.

[Spanner]

Pete it was definetly friday night, i took my city guilds, that day lights were on all night everyone was moaning, and the next night saturday they were there again if i remember the lights were on for 3-4 hours i never change my shirt when im dancing the white shirt i had friday and the black vest saturday i still wear the same shoes now which i did 35 years ago how sad is that.

Billy

Smelly b****d no wonder theres alot of room wnen you dance ,[stinking billy ] lol

[Billywhizz]

Smelly b****d no wonder theres alot of room wnen you dance ,[stinking billy ] lol

Spanner,u never told me u r back on the pill lol