It's very rare indeed and you just need to have the staff to deal with it. The fact there's about 50 blokes (and a few girls) in the dance with you who'll come to your aid should anyone take a swing at you gives you a bit of confidence too. The best scrap we had was before the bouncers had got there and a gang started on Roger Stewart who responded as did Pete Wid, Mick Smith and myself (possibly one or two others, Greety perhaps) and it was over with a favourable result in a couple of minutes.
I am very sorry to hear that Dave, the place was legendary and has incredibly fond memories for all who went there.
A little club that made a huge difference and meant so much to the elite regulars. Ady
Of course they wanted them to be hits but for a lot of the releases they were just hoping, there was no demand for several of them at the time of release.
I disagree Pete, I don't think the people at Jay Boy were that clued up to the scene. They ended up with some good soul catalogues and got it right on a couple of things but probably took the view that if it was an uptempo record on Mirwood they'd reissue it and see what happened. The in-demanders sold, the others probably bombed.
Masters, I'm guessing John Beecher would contest that but I'm not in the loop on this one. Certainly John Beecher is in posession of a lot of Swan master tapes.
I'll try Rick or maybe he'll see this thread.
Ady
I used to visit in the 70s (picked up Bluesology on Polydor and Jimmy Page on Fontana) and remember there was some tie in with the Swan label, possibly the master tapes ended up there.
Does anyone know the full story? Presumably John Beecher bought them eventually for the rock and roll?
Ady
OK for the Fiestas now, sorry Benji you were pipped at the post. I only need a good copy of the Sugar and Sweets now as have located a not so good one.
Ta
Ady
I've got the original original cut but we did more for Keb and others. I doubt if there would be more than five of Magic Touch and only one or two of most others. The first Torture had Jackie Day's name on it to put off the likes of Goldmine who would happily nick the music from under you if they could.
I'm sure it was played a fair bit in the 70s but thought it was played less than Temptation Walk etc and that's why it went really big in the 80s. Jay Boy put out a lot of Mirwood on 45 in the early 70s, some were in-demand some weren't.
The scooterists were a very good injection of young life into an ageing scene and were originally very Northern until Oi and the rest got into the playlists. I think the ones who preferred the soul would go to nighters too and boosted the scene, no doubt many recruits came that way including Elaine Constantine who is in the middle of shooting a great film about the scene. Pete Wid used to sell masses of Northern at the runs and woke 'em up to Binky Baker & His Pit Orchestra!
Ady
Thanks Pete, it's Cherry Red songs, maybe summat to do with them. If I had his number and a time machine I could ask old Northern Soulie Shelvo, he lived in the same block of flats as Laurel. They probably shared cheroots.
Thanks Bob, that's amazing that a US company would press UK style singles. The shipping costs might prohibit us using them though. I'll try Timmion direct but a UK company should be cheaper. Ta Ady