macca

nope. I live in spain & while there's a very healthy scene, I doubt very much you'd see 'portly' 45 year olds attempting such things here. there are lots of twenty something skins & austin powers types, mind. macca

I actually blame the 'peer pressure' of the NS scene for my discal hernia (L4/5)... I never was the world's most agile dancer, even at 16. but I insisted on attempting those backdrops, splits etc, my wrists & thumbs also suffered the consequences. over a 4 year period, my spinal column took enough punishment to cause a long term injury. I'd stopped trying by 1979, it somehow didn't seem 'appropriate' anymore. I asked the specialist here about it & whilst he was unaware of the NS phenomenon, he said that regular 'cod-gymnastic' activity, undertaken under the 'wrong' conditions, in an otherwise 'sendentary' life, could easily lead to such injuries. so there you have it. why couldn't I just be content shuffling about like all those 'too cool for their own good' mecca types? I have lived to regret it, sadly... macca

by 'ploughing up' the floor, I was only referring to the so called 'stunts'. I tried to dance to eddie parker's 'love you baby' in my living room the other day, without the stunts of course, but the results were extremely depressing I can assure you.

I had never taken regular exercise in my life until this year. I now do 2000+ metres/week in the local pool. I'm 45 years old, battling a tendency to pile it on. for me, apart from a slipped disc I have, it's a question of dignity, I just wouldn't feel right 'ploughing up' the dancefloor these days. a stately mooch around, maybe. in 1976 it was a very different question. sod the water! it was probably unfit for human consumption anyway. I would say that most people's 'energy' derived from the particular 'cosmic gear' available that particular night, the sounds, the vibe & the 'intense' conversations that would sometimes drive you to the dancefloor even if you hated the goddamned record! but we don't talk about that on here. or do we? macca

until the advent of internet & the inevitable 'internationalisation' of this compelling, if not quirky 'scene', most of the previously mentioned 'abuse' was committed almost exclusively in these fair & sceptred isles. of course today, with revisionist tendencies abound, the benefit of hindsight, DJ's that don't introduce records, strange hairdos & chin caressors etc; it's easy to launch excrement in the direction of the ceiling fan. whether one feels alluded to is another question entirely. I for one, in the early days, due to my rather clumsy disposition, treated records appallingly. nick G will vouch for that. as I grew older, I started to pay princelier sums for records, so I took to handling them with the due care & attention they deserved. in short, he that is not a sinner cast the first stone... macca

solid southern memphis soul indeed. pap or not, I love the bugger & I'll sleep tonight knowing my 'soul credentials' are intact. speaking of driving southern soul. I remember seeing a 60's film clip of black (& white) kids 'go-going' to davis & tyler's 'hold on help is on the way'. am I right in thinking D&T were in the Meters? I took this record to my local bar & it drew blanks. very strange... all that jazzy piano, the wailing sax, the rumbling bass, a chin stroker's delight... nowt' queer as folk... macca

absolute pap? album filler? poor popular peeps following the leader? whether a 'cut' is destined for release on 45 or not, is neither here nor there, we only have to look as far as motown on that score, they released some real clunkers, on both sides of the pond... whether a track 'pleases us' or not is purely a question of personal taste, it would be loathsome of me to suggest that some folk are in possession of it & others, quite simply, aren't. who am I to question their 'northern soul criteria', lord forbid! one must also assume that this particular track was considered valid 'go-go fodder' in the US due to it's inclusion on the 6 track 7" EP released over there. hardly an album filler then... the record remains a true NS classic, john vincent (hereafter to be known as st. john) was the one chosen to bear the lofty message, & we have to thank him profusely for it. after 40 days & nights in the wilderness, wearing only sackcloth & ashes, locusts his only sustenance, he entered the city triumphantly, mounted on an ass, bearing the sacred tablet (HI 1088EP) for all to see. life would never be the same again for the evergrowing 'shufflero' sect, uncompromising ascetics that bravely challenged the 'thou shalt stomp around in circles only' edicts of the day. in short, & with the utmost respect, your arguments are permeable, amigo... macca

looked on manship, but both EP & LP are out of stock at present. then looked on ebay & lo & behold. the 'that driving beat' LP, listed as 'new' for US$7.97+US$11 shipping. well chuffed I am... macca

thank you very much kind sirs/madams. I'm tailing a london reissue, which will do until I can find a nice mint HI ep. needless to say, we have john vincent to thank for this barn stormin' classic. what memories! macca

if my memory serves me well, this old tub thumper was first played off a HI records lp/ep. anybody have the gen please? macca

JOHN VINCENT best wishes, Macca (the stalker)

looking at the site, the link to craig moerer, the testimonials, the inmate locator page. looks genuine to me.

the interview with the mayor is incredible. bush should be f*** impeached for this! macca

anybody remember this one? do they still pop up?

thank you good sir. it didn't stay in my possession for very long. I'd lost the bugger within half an hour, due to my being 'worse for wear' & too trusting of a group of individuals camped at the other end of our table. don't see on lists these days either... macca

maybe this has been said before, but a few months ago there was a thread on carms's r&b site about some geezer recreating the motown sound for ad jingle purposes. the geezer actually uploaded samples of stuff he was working on for people to comment on. sound familiar to anyone? macca

he was definitely my fave dj back then. when I think of JV, I think of willie mitchell, the del-larks, donald austin, eddie hill, the lovells, & probably, I don't know why, but it's a gut feeling, the matt lucas track too. I bought something off him on swan, that he had covered as milton wright 'downtown', an instrumental. I can't remember the artist now. audrey something? yeah. top bloke JV. macca (resident soul-source stalker)

st.ives. very fond of that place. a bit 'soul-less' but mid 77 it certainly gave wigan a run for it's money. remember all those coaches? superb dance floor too. you mention taj mahal. I loved this so much I bought a cracked columbia demo of it!! I was really impressed with john vincent one night at peterborough when he bloody-mindedly played the 'natchl blues' album version, with that extended freak guitar solo. some of the dancers wondered what the f*** was going on! standing there, hands on hips, looking bewildered. very daring of him... macca

I trust you pete! what do you make of all that guff on internet? how do these buggers know about the record? I'd be interested to hear about the meeting with matt. where's the link? macca

found this link. scroll down to go-go... https://www.black-music-collectors.com/funk...oGo_Lexicon.htm and a history of go-go in french. not that I understand it, but it looks like they're saying the same thing. the bit about whites in washington calling it 'junkyard' is interesting. seems like the defining sounds of go-go were the smokey robinson & the miracles, butch baker &... matt lucas. he must've shifted some copies then? https://www.goodka.com/menu/histoireGogo.htm macca

I was ploughing through manship's rarest of the rare tonight & I came across this. now, my question is, is it really that hard to find? by all accounts, it was a nationwide R&B hit in 1965, more or less defining the go-go craze at that time. it reminds me of john vincent for some reason... macca

only ever owned two. 1. yvonne vernee b/w 'the gems' (a.k.a. burning bush) wrested off john vincent st.ives all-dayer 79 2. 4 track jobbie feat. billy arnell/larry clinton/betty fikes/twans courtesy of derek in kettering 1978 do they fit? macca

all conflicts go through a period of revisionism. there are those that like to rewrite history because they are uncomfortable with certain elements of their past, or for much darker reasons, they find they can manipulate it suit their present needs. NS is hardly exempt from this. I must admit to dancing to phil coulter's 'a good thing going' in 1978 when it was packing floors across the land. today, I consider the record to be a veritable crock of horse excrement today, but it's part & parcel of the scene, just as SITS is & I wouldn't dream, therefore, of editing out phil coulter's face from the family photo stalin style. so let's hear it for irish phil!! & the damned barbed wire gets higher & higher... next record?

so manship's 50 sovs might be a fair price after all then? ooh' I'm tempted... macca

nice to get the historical perspective chalks! with that brassy line up & ABC's marketing strategy (ray charles), they sound like an mid 60's R&B outfit to me. nice one! macca