I found myself watching Fred Dinbnah last week on TV. He went to a meeting of steam engine enthusiasts. There were people there just for the thrill of riding on a steam engine, some sitting round in groups talking about the old days and talking about engine part numbers and 'it wasn't like this in our day' sort of thing. And one lad of 25 years who was worried that, him being the youngest on the steam engine scene, no one was behind him to keep the steam engine flag flying and it would all finish.
A fitting analogy I thought. Lets face it people, the northern soul scene, as we know it, has maybe 15-20 years at most left in it. I am nearing 40 (yeah, I know I only look 27) and am still relatively young on this scene. There are not enough young people coming through to support it in the way it is now; yes there are young people coming into it - but not enough. It will transform from weekly congregationd into an annual or bi-annual mass - until the congregation is such that small numbers can not even sustain that.
Sad, but true. And those fools, and there are some, that buy records to sell for their retirement. Well sell now people.
Me, I am thinking of selling all my records and buying a steam engine...