Soul16

Teddy Randazzo

Learned to dance in my mates lounge during the school summer holidays whilst his parents were both at work. On a seemingly daily basis, we'd move the furniture out to clear the space, play and dance to our records (mostly bootlegs and cassette recordings in those days) and then put the furniture back before his parents returned. We'd then put it into practice at the weekends in the local halls etc. Expressed the music and beat with our legs and interpret the breaks and lyrics with our arms. Once in the zone, you just KNEW when the claps were inevitably coming (a detail that is often missing these days, I think). These days, on the rare occasion I do go out I have a tendency to enthusiastically sing the lyrics whilst dancing too - probably not a pretty sight.

Personally, I think dancing competitions are an unessesary distraction, however for those that enjoy it, it would increase the tension if the announcement of the winner was done by first naming third place and then naming the winner from the two that are left. Current format leaves the victorious winner standing there whilst the runner-up is being congratulated, so his 'big moment' is lost.

Me too

Seems odd to cover up a (not very good) version of a well known Jay and The Americans 45 and then expect to get £850 for it.

1 weekender a year (Where there are no mugs and other merchandise for sale) Local afternoons and nights maybe once a month, proper vinyl events only.

This is how I got into Northern Soul. In 1975, at the age of 12, my best friend in our street had an older sister, who had a collection of cassette tapes lying around the house. She would bring them back from Wigan, a seemingly mystical place that she visited on coach trips. My friend and I would play these tapes without really knowing it was Northern Soul - it was just ‘music’. Music, that at the time seemed to be everywhere in Kidderminster, blasting out of passing cars and open house windows. To be fair, the Prog Rock brigade were also around in numbers and taunting / fighting wad not exactly uncommon, however I managed to dodge all that. By 1976, we had learned that it was called ‘Northern Soul’ and we began to go to local ‘discos’ at various community centres where NS was played. We also collected records between us and never really questioned why many of them seemed to have poorly printed labels, fuzzy sound and were frequently pressed off-centre. Jeanette Harper - Fools Paradise, springs to mind. Other 45’s were fine, so I guess it was a case of originals being mixed with boots in the same sales boxes, it didn’t seem to matter at the time. By 1980, we had joined the local Citizens Band radio club, which had a weekly ‘meeting’, in essence it was just yet another excuse for a Northern night. I also have a vague memory of going to the Fenn Green Hotel where (I think) the West Midland Soul Club held regular nights in the cellar bar at the time. A few years later, Kent LP compilations were an education, the Old Vic in Wolverhampton became a venue of choice (11pm buffet), together with The 86 Club in Swancote (Red Stripe on draught), Keele University All-nighters and multiple other Soul nights elsewhere, from Tewksbury to Stoke. 48 years down the line in 2023, me and the wife attend the occasional Soul night / afternoon session and also the Llandudno Weekenders. It’s been an enjoyable journey but my eyesight isn’t what it was, my knees are beginning to give up and the 45’s are getting very expensive...

They definitely existed in the mid 1980’s, probably around the period when the Kent LP’s were at their height. I bought it from a scooter parts fair in Hinckley if I remember correctly. It was a white T-shirt, with a Navy blue ‘footsteps’ design on it. There were two other designs available on the same stall, forgotten what they were though. I wore it with great pride at the time . Not sure I’d wear one these days though.

Sunset at Oia, 19/09/2023. More new arrivals Sunrise at Kamari, 22/09/2023. This was already quite a beautiful sight, but when that boat drifted by it took it to a whole new level.

I'm currently in Greece and the BBC World Service News (the only English TV channel available to me) also did a live interview with Dave Evison, mixed together with the usual This England footage. Nice to see he didn't miss the opportunity to plug his book either!

Boeing 737, landing gear lowered, flying into Santorini airport. It took me nearly 5 hours lying on the beach to get a shot of a plane fully in frame .

In general, I think prices are high enough thank you . I like the functionality of Darren's website and trust his grading, so he is my record dealer of choice. For me, pricing wise, he hits the spot (for the records I'm familiar with) As for auctions, I'm not keen because I don't have the deepest pockets - I'm just an average NS fan.

Now that he's listed Rodd Keith for sale, hopefully he'll see this thread, understand the anxiety he's causing myself and Jonko & then post our records to us.

I'm in a similar situation with the same seller, he assured me that my record would be posted last Thursday, no tracking details yet though.

Maybe the lengthy sales blurb and juicy descriptions go some considerable way to achieving the final figure. "Two clean full rich red labels", maybe that has some potential bidders drooling and adds to the must have factor. Darren Brown sold an 'ordinary' red labelled one for £800 this very week, albeit in EX condition, and his EX condition never disappoints...

Sound quality begins at the stylus tip of course, so everything after that, from turntable set up, mixing desk quality, good amplification & decent speakers all contribute to the end result. Rubbish in = Rubbish out Quality in = Quality out Room acoustics then need factoring in, which I guess can be difficult initially.

Yes, indeed it did.

I can only really speak for the Keele all-nighters in the 80’s and 90’s. Huge speakers hung up high on the wall, tilted down towards the dance floor. It was very loud and the sound quality was excellent, that was the first thing I noticed about the place. Bobby Valentin never sounded so good... I still am something of a sound quality fanatic, which can be a curse at times.

Methinks it might be more about the 'flan' than the dancing in this particular instance.

I went to the NS Weekender in Llandudno and turned it into a weeks holiday. Did a fair bit of walking. Just a few mobile phone photos, but I think they show the beauty of the area quite well.

Whilst I enjoyed listening to the ‘Northern Soul’ Proms as a celebration of the music and records we love, the Warner Leisure thing looks like it’s aimed at over 60’s non-soulies that may want to pack the Viagra for a fun weekend away and to be a part of something they might perceive as ‘cool’. However, if you need to attend a ‘Soul dance workshop’, you clearly ain’t ‘feeling it’ in the first place. As for the ‘record and merchandise market’, there really are no words.

Aren't we lucky to have had such great taste in music all these years and then to have it interpreted so brilliantly, live from the Albert Hall in 2023.

It’s showcasing the quality of the songs for sure. Orchestration is great. Surround sound puts you right in the middle of it too

PayPal Friends and Family accepted or add 4% to cover fees please. Bank transfer also fine if you prefer. All prices include Royal Mail fully insured postage (UK only) Lee Andrews & The Hearts - Never The Less. M- condition: £85 - SOLD Johnson, Hawkins, Tatum and Durr - Your Love Keeps Drawing Me Closer. As far I know, this particular copy is something of a one-off, with no gold colour on YCBM side. M- condition: £85 - SOLD Records have been in my personal collection since the 1970's and play in accordance with the condition stated. See photos for label condition. If you have any questions or wish to buy, please send a PM. Thanks Andrew

PayPal Friends and Family accepted or add 4% to cover fees please. Bank transfer also fine if you prefer. All prices include Royal Mail fully insured postage (UK only) Lee Andrews & The Hearts - Never The Less. M- condition: £100 Johnson, Hawkins, Tatum and Durr - Your Love Keeps Drawing Me Closer. As far I know, this particular copy is something of a one-off, with no gold colour on YCBM side. M- condition: £100 Clifford Curry - I can't Get Hold Of Myself. VG++ to Ex condition: £55 SOLD All records have been in my personal collection since the 1970's and play according to the condition stated. See photos for label condition. If you have any questions or wish to buy, please send a PM. Thanks Andrew