macca

I remember walking into the main hall and being hit with the Salvadors right at the start. Pretty powerful kick-off, I'd say...

But not the voice of the monster US & British hit 'black is black'. That was a german guy called mike volker kogel who called himself mike kennedy after he left the group in 1969. The rest of the group were spaniards from madrid & majorca.

What about that 'clatter' after the instrumental break in Nothing Can Stop Me - Gene Chandler? Is that a tape issue or did the musicians just bugger it up?

with uptempo soul police dogs snapping at your ankles if you started to wilt... :-)

and ben lazarone scored the music for both dynasty and the colbys, so who knows. isn't internet incredible. :-)

I've heard Ella Woods out too, over here, naturally. Will listen to the third hour tonight.

I love the other side, in fact didn't ye play it in Barna?

I don't think the question was on an individual punter level but rather if the two scenes had overlapped at any time with sounds crossing over, for example I heard that Candi Staton's Young Hearts Run Free was a gay 'hit' before it broke out onto mainstream radio playlists in the US, and we've been told that YHRF and gay rights campaigner Gloria Gaynor's first disco releases were played at the Highland Room before anywhere else in the UK.

You're not telling me cornflakes have sexual connotations, are you? You naughty girl, Carms!

Couldn't someone have told Ms. Terrell to ignore the star quality and stay out of the path of Soul singers with psychopathic tendencies? There must have been more pleasant fish in the sea. Makes you wonder...

The whole scene? You clearly don't get out mate. I'd like to mention the emergence of John Manship's price guides. They certainly changed the landscape of record collecting, for better or worse. I'd also vote for him in record dealer terms. His lists in the second half of the 70s were instrumental in my early record collecting and I'll thank him for that, as will others I imagine.

Mike, I read it here: https://www.milliondollardisco.com/northerndisco.html Ian Levine can be credited as one of the first UK DJs to openly embrace the disco scene. He visited plenty of clubs in New York and befriended a lot of the DJs he met, which gave him access to all the new releases as they came off the press. Songs by Crown Heights Affair, Willy J, The Brothers and The Fatback Band became Mecca classics. Not only was Ian Levine the first UK DJ to play a 12" single; he was one of the first people in the world to even see one! It seems Kev Roberts (Wigan Casino DJ and northern soul collector extrordinaire - more about him later) was in RCA's New York office sometime in 1975 and was given a hot off the press 12" copy of Vicky Sue Robinson's "Never Gonna Let You Go", which he gave to Levine on his return to the UK. According to Ian, and he's argued his case over the years, this was the first promotional 12" single released. It was an experiment he says, and has the same two songs on both sides. Whether he's correct about this being the first 12" or not, it was most certainly the first one to reach UK shores, and Ian was definitely the first DJ to play it. He became such a fan of the 12" format that he convinced Polydor Records to press what Ian believes is the UK's first 12" single - James Wells' "Baby I'm the Same Man", a record he wrote and produced and which was already big on northern dancefloors. It was pressed in a limited quantity for promotional use only, but Ian is convinced it was released before the likes of Ernie Bush "Breakaway", which was almost certainly the first commercially released 12" in the UK. Unlike London's DJs and clubbers, Ian and his DJing partner Colin Curtis didn't shy away from the word disco - "New York Disco" and "Disco Funk" were used on much of the Mecca's promotional material. In fact, their adverts in Blues & Soul magazine from the time read "The Only Place To Hear Authentic New York Disco"! The time Ian spent over there hanging out with the likes of Jim Burgess, Warren Glock and Terry Sherman was rubbing off on him: although the equipment in the Mecca was very basic (Ian recalls only one turntable working at times, and him announcing the next song with a mic in one hand, while he tried to quickly change the record with the other), Ian developed an interest in mixing. By 1976 he'd taught himself, and managed to put his skills to the test with a couple of guest spots in Uncle Charlies in Miami, where his friend Steve Freeman was resident DJ. It would be a few years before he could utilise his new skill over here though.

I'd just read somewhere that Ian was sourcing a lot of that soon to be called Disco material as a result of his forays into the NYC gay scene, and one club in particular whose name escapes me right now. It was on one of those DJ profiles somewhere on the net.

I think I'm right in believing that the Highland Room's change in musical direction in 1976 was largely due to records being sourced on the Gay underground scene in New York.

It's bizarre, sarcasm and heard actually, so that's enough of your trumping in church.

as far as soussan is concerned, he's a bit like elvis, either dead or rumoured to be alive, but always mentioned in dispatches. if he were still around, it wouldn't be too difficult for him to find his accusers. he'd only have to google northern soul forums and wade into the fray... if he wanted to.

ian levine was a vital, if not the vital cog in the northern soul wheel in the early to mid 70s and I think it's great he still has 'something to say' in terms of this music. his severest critics are going to sharpen their knives anyway, even if he does unveil some serious, hitherto unknown 45s on the night. would love to be there, but I'm climbing the financial january 'hill', sadly.

will messrs trouble and sadot be carrying his box down that hallowed flight of stairs?

Welcome to Soul Source, Mortonette! It's always wonderful when an artists pops in! I'll just echo everybody else's words regarding your Capitol 45 'Don't You Care Any More?' Seminal stuff. Happy New Year!!

I can't abide Jools Holland's manner, but he is a great blues pianist and has done loads to bring otherwise ignored (by the mainstream) african american artists to the attention of the masses. Won't see Betty's performance as I'll be out on the razz at the Motherfunk Hogmanay party in Edinburgh, but I'm sure she'll storm the barn.

Third Time Around, another great 70s tune, not quite sure why anyone should be embarrassed for liking it, then or now.

Bill Brandon & Lorraine Johnson was massive at Cleethorpes, Peterborough and St.Ives in 1975/6.

bill brandon & lorraine johnson in this list? tremendous record, then & now. I still love the poppies there's a pain in my heart & he's got real love. there, that's got that off me chest. :-9

I'd kill for lamb biriani now, in spite of PW.

Where is Matthew Hopkins when you need him?