macca

100% agree. I couldn't stand spencers or polyveldts, thought they looked decidedly naff. I had 26" parallel cords with tunnel loops, worn with a gingham shirt with those pearl studded breast pockets, late 76 maybe. Early 76 saw a lot of waistcoats and ties in my area. Skinners look clown-like today, but I worshipped the older guys that wore them around 1972.

Cheers for that. Certainly played a part in our childhood and adolescence, eh?

Apart from Guralnick's tome, check out Nick Tosches two excellent books: 'Country' and 'Where Dead Voices Gather', the former takes an in-depth look at the origins of Country Music via Old Time, Gospel, Jugbands and Rockabilly through to the slick Nashville Sound of the 50s & 60s. The latter charts the rise and fall of Minstrelsy and how that influenced both black and white artists. Blacks were definitely influenced by Scottish and Irish rythmns, playing tent show reviews with white artists like Frank Hutchinson, Jimmie Rodgers etc. A lot of the Old Time and String Bands specialised in fiddle and drum driven stomping dance music. Uncle Dave Macon, whose voice was very black, is a good example of the genre. This couldn't have happened without some sort musical bed-hopping taking place.

Just found out that Wirrina means 'place to go' in Aboriginal. A Charlie Swift idea? Fair dinkum if it was... PK & Biffo not on poster. Had their deejaying services been dispensed with by then?

Well that's JV trashed then.

RIP King Sol. I too saw him play in the town square during the summer fiestas a few years back, 2005/6 I think. Though he was sat on his 'throne' throughout the gig, he was a great communicator and had everybody up dancing fom the word go.

If this is a legit UK release, the label designer wants a bollocking, even it is a 'white demo'. Looks exceedingly naff... https://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160488340002

The nights in the ballroom were fantastic. I remember black guys from USAF Alconbury dancing there in kaftans to the funkier stuff from people like Poke. When it moved into the sports hall due to the crowds, it lost a lot of its appeal, though I wouldn't say it was rubbish. I mean the crowd and the jocks were supposed to make the evening and neither were in short supply.

the tuesday nights suinoz refers to were the carousel disco nights, which were funk vs northern vs pop/handbag tunes. smudge was more of a shuffler, if I remember well. bill bingham and johnny carroll used to spin and gary spencer was the acrobat, his then girlfriend girlfriend shirl also used to shuffle, paul donnelly did the twirling leg routine, and rest looked on in awe. a perfect introduction...

Lovely tale Martyn. That W logo above the entrance would be cool. This photo is of the side door, right? The original all-nighter was held in the ballroom on the other side of the building. The carpeted foyer crammed with people selling records, dancers piling in and out of the ballroom, stamping feet in unison to esther phillips and the the world column. Fond memories of ranting away in the queue with Sharon and Smasher from Cambridge, and the rest of the Boro' crowd of course. Happy memories indeed Paul.

Jeez, I'm just listening to this through headphones and it's stunning. Nice one Pete.

And you very kindly did one for me too Martyn. Loads of other great stuff on it too. I've just had a listen to the HH cd version. Nate Adams has the edge in my opinion with that anguished 'lonely, lonely man I am' bit at the intro...

When it's a hatch! I suppose bootlegs are pressed up purely for financial gain whereas an emidisc/carver of material that never saw an official release on vinyl. i.e. lifted from CDs for use at a venue and not intended to be sold on are kosher, especially if one is loathed to use a CD. Or am I wrong?

am I right in thinking this was an unreleased track and only exists on a studio acetate owned or formerly owned by richard searling?

Post off topic.

Tragic if it happens. Power, greed and corruptible seed seem to be all there is, sadly...

Malc's the holy blood and the holy grand piano-quest has been the most valuable contribution to this thread by far. This place is like a chicken coop at times. Sometimes it's amusing,

That's lovely Bicks, the thread starter wanted the human side, and what could be more human than this. :-)

On one of the threads that Sean posted, people spoke of the song being perfect for Chris Clark because of its supposed 'whiteness' in terms of delivery and lyrics. I thought that Chris Clark was another Dusty, in that most of her appeal was down to her sounding convincingly black. As regards the song, it was definitely among the sounds that drew me towards this music and reaction to it at club discos was always interesting. The Funk crowd, unsurprisingly, detested it. 2:34 of dated nonsense and then back to 'Fire 'and 'Me & Baby Brother'. :-) M p.s. Why is the lyric 'unblack'? 'Sitting in my easy chair, I feel your fingers running through my hair, looking down in my coffee cup, I can see you face looking up'. Wouldn't Curtis Mayfield or Smokey Robinson write a lyric like that? Fuzz guitar was also used in 'Why When The Love Is Gone' and nobody has said it sounds 'white'. I think RDT's voice in fine, in the Len Barry sense of being fine. He's no Otis Redding, admittedly.

Great stuff. Young journos today don't know how easy they've got it with digital photography, smartphones and e-mail!

What about the Isley Brothers - Livin' In The Life? I heard it at St.Ives in 1977 (Ginger) and I think it's a good example of the 'funk encroachment' of that time. People lapped up records like Babe Ruth, Black Nasty, Today's People etc, but by contrast the dancefloor reaction seemed mute to Livin' In The Life, maybe it was considered taking the Funk thing a bit too far? I've never really understood how Manifesto has been filed under 'Funk' either. When Colin Curtis came to Peterborough late 76, he and the people that came with him were subjected to flicked doggends throughout his set. In the end he relented, asking them what they wanted to hear/dance to and someone shouted Manifesto. This lot, perceived as a bunch of retrogrades by the Mecca crowd, would never have knowingly requested a Funk record, Christ no! When he left the decks, Brian Rae took over, playing 'Waterfall' and 'Like Adam & Eve', which had them flocking back to the floor. That was the first time I saw real division in the ranks, at least on my home turf. We're all friends now though... :-)

I don't think it's a case of rose tinted spectacles at all. People are just fondly remembering how much of an impact these articles had on their youth. What's so wrong with that? Most of us remember the sordid stuff only too well, the barb scourge and the overdoses that came with it, the deaths of friends along the way, the unscrupulous individuals knowingly knocking out strychnine laced blues, the record thieves, the coat thieves (are you on here you bastard!?), the dodgy roll you in bogs types, the criminal kind in general, morally and ethically challenged promoters ignoring fire regulations in order to pack a hundred morein, the locking of fire escapes, the whole week spent recovering from the excess till the nxt onslaught, academic failure at 16 and the doors closed as a result etc, etc. Regrets, I have a few, but then again, too few to mention, bla, bla, bla...

Good man.

Christ, how fortunate we were, eh? Amazing stuff... Pete, have you got any from early 75, first quarter say?

Dunno, but it's just had its premier in leicester square and a special flashmob was specially arranged for it. Appeared on my facebook wall a few minutes ago. Dunno what to think...