hullsoulie

Lovely fella is Stevie Woomble - although haven’t been in his company since he moved from the Christian side of the Pennines to Preston with the lovely Wendy

I saw that smudge of the Hull fellas at the Wheel and one of them at same location 40-50 years later - lovely memories.

As I’m back up in God’s country (Yawksher) and a non driver that’s unlikely mate, I rely on the largesse of others and paying my share of the petrol! I haven’t done bad mind, last 18 months I’ve done Stables in Wolvo, Keele, Kings Hall, Nuneaton, Hanley & Swinton

I’m glad to hear they are still on the go mate, I only saw them once outside London and that’s when Stafford tried a revival nighter or two at the Colosseum (same renamed site as Top of the World if memory serves me well?) all the best and thank you for taking the time to respond

I know that better than anyone mate!

I moved to London in 89 as a young man in my early 20s. Rather than believing the streets were paved with gold I was running AWAY from something, which I will keep to myself. Anyway, to business! Missing my soul ‘fix’ I took myself to central London to try the 100 club, which even in those pre-Internet days had a rep as a hotbed of rare soul. I knew only a handful of people in the capital city, and certainly nobody on the soul scene so took myself up Oxford st early and was first in the queue. I had my cassette Walkman on and the lad stood on the door asked me what track I was listening to, I told him it was Betty Turner & the Chevelles - ‘The winds kept laughing’ to which he replied ‘coincidence that’s one of our lass’s favourites’ I got downstairs and after an hour or so concluded it wasn’t anything like the Northern venues I’d been used to (Clifton Hall, Bradford Queens Hall etc). The music was ‘different’, instead of traditional soulie dress and hairstyles it was mainly sharply dressed mods, nobody let on with nods or an ‘ok mate?’ and I just thought ‘not for me’, left and got a black cab back to Isleworth….yeah, costly. Please before anybody feels they should leap to the defence of 100 club I am 100% aware that my knee jerk reaction was perhaps one of the most stupid things I’ve ever done! And one that deprived me of hearing much great music played by terrific DJs over the years….but there you go More to the point is that in Echoes I saw another soul night advertised, at the Water Rats n Grays Inn rd, Kings Cross. I took myself along there and met the organisers, Chris Dale, Dave Edwards and Chris’s partner Joeli. That became my go to for soul in the capital and even now 30+ years later I have not forgotten the friendliness to a Northern waif all those years ago, they had some fine nights at that venue, attracting gents of f the calibre of Mark Bicknell and Roger Banks down to spin some rare sounds, and I still treasure my membership card from those days. Apologies for the verbose nature of this post - brevity has never been a bedfellow of mine, I really wished to post in case either of the 3 people I’ve mentioned are still on the go and read soul source……I hope they are still on the scene and in good fettle, they made a very positive impression on this (at the time) young soulie And for all those connected to the 100 club, I fully understand and accept mea culpa in not persevering, I denied myself hearing some different sounds played by the likes of Alan Handscombe, Irish Greg, Mr Croasdell himself and Mr Dobson - as Cher sang ‘if I could turn back time….’

Wishing you all the best Mark for a full recovery - had some wonderful nights early 90s travelling from Hull to Hyde/Droylesden etc when you ran those evenings/nighters - and you turned up a few times as a duo with Roger Banks at the Water Rats in Kings X All the very best wishes

A massive thanks once again to all who have taken time to reply since I was last logged on - very much appreciated

Thank you to everyone who has replied - nice few leads/brand names to go on, I really appreciate it Cheers

Apologies for typos I rarely post and could not fathom the edit function

Hi there, Please could anyone point me in the right direction for some mens leather soled lace up shoes please? Since 1980 I've just wornoticed cheap brogues and 'accessorised' with talc. But am ever increasingly aware that talc users are viewed the same as paedos by many. I do understand the ever ageing demographic, people keen to claim compo and respiratory diseases, but it saddenseems me how curmudgeonly and sanctimonious many are becoming. I would never dream of trying to police another attendee, but there you go. Right, apologies for that but by it was cathartic! Back to business - I've heard of Loakes but they seem to come in at about 250 nickel! Is that the going rate or can you pick up a pair for around half that amount? A cursory Google search brings up a lot of non-leather soled items, such so I hoped a member of the soul fraternity may be able to help or point me in the right direction. Please may I offer thanks in advance to anyone kind enough to respond. Many thanks!

I agree wholeheartedly. He was certainly a 'character'. I will cede he had a distinct partisan bias to most things, especially his 'Spirit of 69/West Ham' days, but i always felt he wrote with PASSION, although he had a penchant for the caps lock key and used punctuation as a miser uses gold coins. What came across to me was a gent who had been involved in the minutiae of the rare soul scene, had overcome many challenges and was in a constant struggle with the ones that remained. I never formally met the chap, but think he would have been a very entertaining raconteur, I was very sad when I read of his passing, and the manner of it. Like you I miss his posts, if you persevered and re-read them he was a knowledgeable chap, I only hope the big man upstairs doesnt put him on the same cloud as Pete Lawson! RIP Dthedrug

I agree wholeheartedly - and you're not 'wrong'....or 'right' you're just expressing an opinion. I was brought up in a house with elder brothers and was exposed to their eclectic album collections, from Love, Joe Cocker, Incredible String Band, Janis Ian, An evening with Wild Man Fischer, Floyd, Free, etc etc ad nauseum, then at Snr High School got into Punk/New Wave and saw many of the bands of that era (Stranglers, Clash, Upstarts, Subs, Damned, Human League, Skids), in my early 20s I dabbled with Bambaataa & the reggae on Greensleeves. I also listen to disco, easy listening, Rod the Mod, Elton, Thin Lizzy, Altan, well.......you get my drift. My point....well I was just trying to lay the groundwork for saying that NONE of the above, EVER, comes close to me hearing Mr Big Shot, Baby what has happened to our love, Gene & Gary, Eddie & Ernie, Little Ann et al - songs where when I first discovered them in the 80s/90s led me to rewinding and playing in a loop over a dozen times in succession, far easy on Spotify than on a Sony Walkman! - the fact that I heard Gene McDaniels singing 'Another Tear Falls' on an old b&w film and was nearly moved to tears myself....or that walking to work every day with my headphones in I find my heart racing and I'm almost doing dance moves as I walk along to some of the more uptempo tracks. If other genres do that for others, more power to them, life can be short and laden with woe so anything that gives people pleasure gets a big thumbs up, BUT......., like the original poster, for me personally NOTHING comes close to the sound of Soul, or the emotions it gives me, thank god I stumbled upon it at an early age, I don't exaggerate when I say the pleasure it has given me is only surpassed by my family & children. Just one man's opinion, no more or less valid than any other :-)

Many thanks for this - confirms, as expected, mine is the boot/pressing - cheers for help

Thank you for posting

Heartened and grateful for all advice and help thus far - signing off for the evening - credit to this forum - some sterling people on it (applause emoji)

not really sure where to start looking my friend, there is nothing stamped or scratched into the wax near the record centre and the 'label' on the 'a' side is not aligned in sync with the 'b' side so perhaps they are indicative of it lacking provenance as an original? (i don't really know what to look for)

Indeed - i attended the 100 club back in late 80s/eary 90s when moved to London and am aware Ady C is one of the good guys who has always tried to get the artists some tangible recognition for the music we love

Thanks also to you mate - i doubted ANY were originals but had no idea that they would have even increased from the £4-5 (average) i paid for them - pleasantly surprised that there MAY be a few hundred nicker there if i could sell - and i have read the definitions of promos/reissues/pressings/boots/carvers ad nauseum on soul source and given up with a headache each time i try and commit the difference to memory!!

Thank you Paul i have also had a very helpful e-mail from a chap username Stevecee - i appreciate all assistance as i have NO prior knowledge, one of those who has lived and loved the scene but for whatever reason never went beyond dipping my toe into collecting vinyl - cheers for taking time to respond

Many thanks Mike, and apologies for you having to move - I did wonder which forum to post on but as a speculative appeal for knowledge rather than a sales pitch I chose AATS - totally in character for me to get a 50/50 call wrong! - ha ha - thank you for your help

Hi to all, As a youth, enamoured of the scene and hitch-hiking all over the North (and beyond) to attend soul 'niters' I went through a brief period of trawling the record bars and purchasing a handful of records - I was a young man just coming out of my teens (mid 80s) and had absolutely no idea of the concept of a pressing or bootleg, just was told they were 'copies' and therefore cheaper and available -Although my love for the scene has never wavered and I continued attending rare soul events until very recently, I stopped buying records in the early 90s and only have approx. 50 -they have been in a cupboard upstairs unplayed or handled for over 25 years - I would imagine that for the price I paid for them (£10 tops) bitd probably NONE are 'legit' but am wondering if there are newer, younger, collectors on the scene to whom they are desirable and have a value? I spent an hour yesterday reading a couple of threads from days of yore and understand why to many OVO folk these discs are abominations - I never had intent to defraud and withhold dues from the original artistes - I was merely a young man buying the sounds I heard at the venues so I could play them on my brother's Technics when at home - I am wondering if any kind soul could spare a couple of minutes to help me understand if these have any value at all nowadays (however modest) or if I am as well using them as drinks coasters - to aid anyone kind enough to assist I list a few below, there's not many. May I offer thanks in advance to anyone kind enough to give an informed opinion and hope my innocent enquiry does not cause offence :-) ****PS: I have had a quick look on Popsike and discogs but when similar copies state '70's pressing' etc I have NO IDEA whatsoever what year(s) mine originate from, in case they were pressed multiple times?? - is there a way of telling without a Manship guide please?*** DISCLAIMER - as stated, I am 95% sure they are all pressings or bootlegs - even with my miniscule knowledge I know a couple of these titles are BIG money as originals FRNK DELL - HE BROKE YOUR GAME WIDE OPEN - VALISE FOUR PERFECTIONS - IM NOT STRONG ENOUGH - SOUL GALORE LORRAINE CHANDLER - I CANT CHANGE - ASHFORD TOMANGOES - I REALLY LOVE YOU - WASHPAN EDDIE DAYE & FOUR BARS - GUESS WHO LOVES YOU - HORACES ROBBIE LAWSON - BURNING SENSATION - KYSER SHAWN ROBINSON - MY DEAR HEART - WRIGHT SOUNDS MAJOR LANCE - YOU DONT WANT ME NO MORE - SOUND OF SOUL GEORGE BLACKWELL - CANT LOSE MY HEAD - SMOKE JOHNNY CASWELL - YOU DONT LOVE ME ANYMORE - KENT EDWARD HAMILTON - IM GONNA LOVE YOU - CARRIE DEBONAIRES - HOWS YOUR NEW LOVE TREATING YOU - GOLDEN WORLD RAY POLLARD - THIS TIME - HORACES MELBA MOORE - MAGIC TOUCH - HORACES PARLIAMENTS - DONT BE SORE AT ME - REVILOT GWEN OWENS - JUST SAY YOURE WANTED - VELGO METROS/JIMMY MACK/TONY MIDDLETON - JOKER JOHN HAMPTON - NOT MY GIRL - DOTTYS FROM DETROIT EDDIE SPENCER - IF THIS IS LOVE - POWER EXCHANGE

THIS! ^^^^^ - THANK YOU Mark S - saved me from typing word for word

I really love the concept of a 'weekender' mate - to me it is like an all you can eat buffet on an all inclusive holiday - it's THERE, and you can choose how much or little you indulge, from dipping your toe in occasionally to over-indulgence on a Mr Creosote scale - the ones I have particularly enjoyed over the last couple of decades were Fleetwood (Cala Gran), Cleethorpes & Brid - live acts at many, DJs you wouldn't often see, and the opportunity to frequent some different 'rooms' like the rare and underplayed and club rooms at Brid, chance to hear stuff you haven't heard played out for an age AND some new 'stormers' - the ones where you think 'where have you been all my life'. I'm normally the one who was straight back in Sat lunchtime when doors opened after a Fri nighter and never wished to leave until the last track had been played (not always possible as I was normally there due to the kindness of someone elses driving and they dictated the time to go home) All in all, a massive fan of the concept.....as you could probably tell from my post

Thanks for responding friend, that is maybe just my problem, disillusioned with the 'general' direction of much of the scene I have withdrawn - I am sure there are great places left that I would enjoy, but the time effort & finance to attend on a 'lucky dip' is kind of off-putting - I will make a note of Burton and endeavour to give it a visit - cheers