macca

We could all have a hair pulling debate now on the significance of dates in NS folklore and their relevance to the script. February 17th sounds suspiciously like the last all-nighter to be held at the Torch. What does this 'mean'?

You should try the Burgos and Soria area in Castille. Amazing black pud there. Re bashing fellow ex pats. I only bash the ones that set themselves up as willing targets. Having said that, I am mellowing out. The resolutely monolingual mob no longer get my goat as much as they used to. I feel for them. Ghetto life can't be any fun.

I'd defend the proper morcilla with my life, you scoundrel! Point taken on my written English though. It's fast deteriorating. Or should that be it's deteriorating fast? Dios m­o.

c'mon steve, that's a little churlish. there are lots of non-native speakers on this forum, some of them more articulate than many of us 'natives'. we should be challenging him on his content (or lack of it) rather than the way he expresses himself. british people can hardly cast the first stone either. hardly a polyglot nation, are we?

Manus, you prefectly describe the Fleet all-nighters around 1980-1. The green flying jackets playing cards were from Northampton and ruled the shady activities roost at the time, even taking cheques, jewellry and watches in lieu of payment (that was novel). They also took to wearing flying suits with boxing boots, as I remember. They thought they were well naughty. This period was also characterised by the arrival of skinheads who were generally clueless about the music and were only there for the gear. I too stopped going in that period as I found it profoundly depressing. I went back a couple of times in 1983, but didn't recognise anyone apart from Tony Warot. Felt like a fish out of water. My only other all-nighter from that period was a one off visit to Leicester Oddfellows which I enjoyed. Peterborough had one all-nighter prior to the EASC/Phoenix Soul Club ones at the Wirrina in 1975. It was on September 2nd 1974 and I remember it like it was yesterday as it was my very first all nighter. It was held at a youth club, and part of the Stanground Secondary School complex. The djs were Andy 'Smudge' Smith, Gary Spencer, Paul Donnelly and Jonah. The guest dj was John Manship. Don't remember if any other djs were present, perhaps Tony Dellar. Maybe Smudge or Paul Donnelly will confirm this...

I'd agree with that Simsy. If I felt inclined to wear something that 'identified' me today, it'd be a sta-press, blazer, slazenger jumper, ben sherman, brogues etc. Someone recently gave me some lapel badges, palmer, ric-tic etc. i couldn't possibly use them without feeling a bit mutton dressed as a lamb though. perhaps I'm too hung up, who knows...

do you think so andy? why would messrs jebb and curtis have favoured a look which was anathema to the people they were spinning sounds for? maybe just a desire to be a cut above the pack? mavericks? anyhow, crushed velvet 'pants', hats, scarves, neckerchiefs etc sound more pimp-like to me than hippy... this period is before my time. perhaps only tezza, mal, nige, jez etc can answer the question for us...

not all mate. fair play to you... if you've got the figure. :-)

an afterthought. why not get a retro look going along the lines of "those who refused to tow the line 71-74 a la tony jebb and colin curtis'. there'll be massive run on crushed velvet pants, cheesecloth shirts and chelsea boots, I'll bet.

why does one need any kind of uniform, high key or low key?

Welcome to Soul Source John!

am I likely to encounter the buggers at cleethorpes? somebody made some snide comments about people on the stafford videos on youtube looking like eastern europeans, so wiggyflat's comments about other retro looks associated with the scene might give them ideas. better to let sleepin' dogs lie!

This is sad news. His bass graced an incredible number of great records. RIP...

Sorry mate. Because of the KM association, I identified it with The Torch. Did he DJ at the Cats too?

Probably not. Wigan was a lot of Wigan, and its instigator has been living off the legend that it was ever since. As regards other records, Keith Minshull played Walter Jackson 'Where Have All The Flowers Gone?' to close the sessions at The Torch, right? Bobby Bland 'Call On Me' at the early Wheel, according to Brian Rae. Walter Jackson always struck me as naff, but I guess you had to be there, as they say. I love Bobby Bland, the man can't put a foot wrong for me. Were there any other attempts at playing different enders at other all-nighters? Cleethorpes and Charles Mann spring to mind. Good tune, but not as iconic as the 3b48. Wigan is a lot of Wigan...

Brilliant.

I wonder what it sounds like? Those Decca promos sound crap. I bought a M- copy about 6 years ago and sold it on. Just couldn't bear to listen to it.

Here's the revised version of John's TWPYB story. Hopefully he'll be on here in person soon. The song began on a warm, spring evening in 1965. I was lounging in a window of my fifth floor apartment on 2nd Ave looking down at all the motion on the sidewalk. I started writing the first verse immediately. I ran to the piano and the changes just came. Within an hour, I had the the first verse and chorus to "Time Will Pass You By" One of the rare times in my life that was purely spontaneous. At this time, I was waiting for Golden World Studios to become operational. Which was why I had left Atlanta, Georgia in the first place. When I arrived in Detroit, I found the studio incomplete and Ed Wingate, owner of Golden World, helped me obtain an interim position with Merit Music Distributors and for six months I continued the work I had done for several years in the South. Record promotion. Finally the call came. When I arrived at Golden World, there were only two white men there. Irving Beigle (the comptroller) and myself. The first artist Uncle Ed (as he was affectionately called), had me record was a young man from Ohio named Edwin Starr. We had just finished the master vocals on "Agent Double-O- Soul" and almost everyone had gone. After cleaning the studio and putting all the mics and cables back in their place, I sat down at the beautiful, 9 foot Steinway piano which was housed in the main studio. I don't know why but I just started playing "TWPYB". I never noticed there was someone standing behind me. It was Irving Beigle. He asked if the song was mine and told me he thought it a great song with some excellent hooks and that I should finish it up and submit it to Uncle Ed for one of the GW artists. While I was at Golden World I never managed to finish the song. I just became too busy. Funny....I never realized there was big talk about Motown buying GW. When the deal finally went down, I resigned. In the fall of 1966, I met a man named Harry Balk. The legendary producer from Detroit. It was he who picked "Oh How Happy" as a winner and he was correct. It was while I was working at Impact Records that I was introduced to two, young singers from Detroit. Nick Zesses and Dino Fekaris. They came in to ask about a record deal and Harry brought them into the rehearsal studio to meet me. Guess what I was playing as they entered the room? You guessed it. They asked if the song was finished and I told them, "No." It was at this time Nick and Dino wrote the last verse. When it came down to divvying up the rights, I think I opted for an equal split. Meanwhile I record Nick and Dino to no great shakes and they move on. Good records though. Here's where it gets interesting.... Harry eventually sells Impact to Motown and I leave again. This time as an outside producer for Capitol Records. One day I receive a call from a disc-jockey friend who wants me to produce four sides on a friend of his. I agree and we select four songs for the session. I book Tera Shirma and my favorite Funk Brothers. Babbitt, Eddie Willis, Johnny Griffin and George McGregor. I hire Mike Theodore and Dennis Coffey to do the charts. A couple of weeks later we do the session. The singer was awful. I knew there was no chance anyone in his or her right mind would release any of those cuts. "Time Will Pass You By" was one of them. Six months later I receive a phone call from my old Golden World friend Irv Beigle who is now working for Amy, Mala, Bell Records in New York. He said there was someone there claiming to have written four songs. One of which was "TWPYB". He told me he knew it was the same song he had heard that night in the studio at GW. He played several pieces from the session. Enough for me to know the session was mine. To make a long story short. Bell Records bought the masters from the person who brought them in. Harry Balk retained the publishing on the song. From there, the masters were sent to England. And this is where I loose clarity. On the Tobi Legend record there are two people listed as producers. My name was not among them. Nick, Dino and I did all the background vocals on the track. Then one day, in 2002 I opened a substantial check from Bug Music. That check saved my family and I as times had become quite hard. One day I'll have to look into the finances of the song. I still can't believe the long road that song has taken but I do believe in the power of music and always will. Best regards to all my friends in the homeland. I do hope to see you soon. John Rhys BluePower.com

Soussan?

Another message from John saying he needs to edit yesterday's post. Will post the revised version as soon as I get word.

Hearing the demo has actually lead me to think about the song in another artist's hands, which would have been unthinkable before. Any other takers, apart from the Beach Boys?

Wasn't aware it was old hat dave. one never stops learning on here.

christ, hadn't thought about the minogue connection. that'll piss tobi lark off even more, if such a thing were possible... I'd never heard the piano demo before and thought it'd be nice to get the story on here. he wanted to post it on his website first though. :-)

what interview was that mate? was it northern soul related or kylie minogue related?