Agentsmith

Here was a group that persevered, at a time when they had been the main benefactors of the supremely talented songwriting team, HDH. When they left Motown, The Tops were left in Limbo...fortunately, as fate would decree, they had material already recorded that would serve the purpose of giving them a brace of hit singles to reignite the spark of their previous success...so it proved in December of 67 and ironically at the forefront and the catalyst of the revival, was Tamla Motown, here in the UK, who summoned up an lp cut from 2 years previous. By January 8th, 1968, one month after its first genuine issue on a single, " Walk Away Renee " reached a position of # 3 on the UK charts, giving the group what would turn out to be, their second biggest selling single of all time. Gordy, in turn surprised by its success and the enterprise of TMUK, released it in the states...it charted # 14 on Billboard...for the rest of the 60's and early 70's they would continuously chart both here, and in the States. All the time, the band's format remained constant. Without doubt, in my mind, they were Motown's greatest vocal group, surpassing the elegant Temps and Spinners, and in Levi Stubbs, they had one of the greatest, most distinctive vocalists...of all time..The Duke, along with Obie and Lawrence, made the group the completists quortet. They were all stylists of the highest calibre. God bless them all, now reunited, the circle complete..Tops made in heaven.

Honestly can't remember this particular ad...but there you have it, attended the friday night event, sadly not the Saturday.

Well....that's really impressive...ffs Used to be the wulfrun hall/civic...its even been held in Birmingham!, like wtf has that anything to do with Wolverhampton??...total joke.

Example of the tradition for it being remembered. Pep and Neil Rushton, always at odds with each other, never buried the personal hatchet...even the rights to the Cats trademark as subject of resentment...unfortunately the biggest insult of all, looms large....how can a 50th anniversary go totally unmarked?, its a bloody disgrace..ffs, The Casino has been getting global attention for the last two years, fully deserved for sure but how can it possibly be that one of the pioneering clubs, can't receive equal recognition?

Spot on!, Max laid the club's demise at the hands of Wigan, that's a fact whether it was considered sour grapes at the time, or even now...it probably spelt a premature end for a few more soul nights besides as folk flocked there.....

Quite honestly, it dosn't look like this venue is going to receive any recognition at all on Saturday 13th July....which is the exact date to the day that it shut its doors for the last time...an absolute travesty and it looks very much like no one is bothered, either way. I'm no promoter otherwise i'd have taken it on but, the main protagonists regards promotions are busy doing owt else and the other djs who are still alive probably aren't djing anymore either so....any chance of a special celebration is dead in the water...best just remember it for what it was eh?

Certainly is Mike, i'm sure many members will grasp the uniqueness of the man...probably a bit of a pause just now as it appears its not been noticed but i'm sure the tributes, comments and many memories will encompass this thread over the coming few days. Think to a man/woman, on here a total shock at the time, Andy....but 10 years already??, unbelieveable!

In memories today: 10 years since a major contributor to these pages and a music authoritarian passed...Bob Abrahamian

Agreed on all points, i suppose you could say, if anything at all, this haul was the catalyst for the explosion of Northern Soul, proper...practically all of what we class as anthems were maybe found then, and 74, including some that turned out to be supreme rarities, thought it wasn't known at the time....JA on the other hand, did more than anyone else to contribute overall, scouring the States at all points of the compass and importing masses of tune and incredible discoveries....Graham's initial find though, has to be ranked as one of the greatest and most important, ever.

A proper opportunist, is probably the kindest description...the rest would be legit character assassination!, and plenty stood in line waiting to perpetrate it!....

In which case then, his visits to the states, predate that of Anderson's or Soussan's....not Martin Koppel though, i'm sure Tim said he was stateside in 69. It's funny we only read in articles/books about one trip, and that supposedly resulted in ' the big haul/find ' that lead to Levine hoovering up the rest...the suggestion that several trips occured, may have meant just holidays?, i couldn't hazard a guess at what a flight to America would've cost back then, let alone getting on a plane!, especially with what wages were back in the day...even a record then costing a fiver could be viewed as a weeks wages in most cases so, a flight to the Usa.... As you rightly said, quite a cache of tunes had been discovered and played prior to the Torch closure....Graham's interview for Neil's book relates to a whole bunch of tunes, no one was aware of....they got played at the Cats, which in terms of the Torch closure, is a natural progression....the way he states it makes me conclude these were from the Miami visit and this period surely has to be 73?, late 72?........ that would be like holding his cards close to his chest to not reveal what he'd found, for a period of time.....fact is, he wanted to play them out straight away when he got back, which he duelly did...at the Cats. If this ' big haul had been found in 71, they would certainly have been played at the Torch...i'm sure you'd agree with that assumption?......crikey!, if that had happened by the time the Casino came about, they wouldve been oldies!!

Ian, you literally couldnt move in that office for tons of boxes he'd had shipped back, not far off 50 years ago now....

Julian, that story or outcome isnt dissimilar to one Mr. Dewhirst mentioned a while ago, same outcome at Blackpool Mecca...threatened lynching and Ian got him out the backdoor for his own safety.....deffo got people's backs up, back then. Catacombs was an incredibly atmospheric venue, and the dancers were amazing!

Thats some discrepancy: nearly 2 years?, that s never right!, Anderson wouldve found them if theyd been left there that long....i mean, it can be argued who found what amount....theyre both still alive, they should put the record straight on the timeline, especially between Warr coming across the warehouse and subsequently telling Levine....i think both tallies were significantly more than suggested. Around 75/6, Rushton shipped a load of stuff back from the states himself, after going over there...i remember the boxes piled up everywhere in his office in Lichfield st, Walsall

It was 73, otherwise the vast majority of what he unearthed, and Levine subsequently hoovered up the rest, wouldve been played at the Torch before it shut....they werent, The Cats and obviously Mecca, were front and centre for breaking these tunes...ive just referred to Neil's and as you said, thats whats in the article that graham wrote for the book....the fact is, JA was the first person in the states, by merely a few weeks before Levine and that didnt happen until at least 73, he said that himself when he was alive..i would doubt he'd have known graham warr then....you don't see any playlists from the Wheel ( which was open in 71 ) containing anything he turned up, and that pretty much applies to the Torch as well as far as i'm aware.

Played at the Cats to a packed dancefloor

Agreed but, unfortunately its too late to arrange anything with significant promotion to attract enough people's attention so, its very likely it won't be observed in a proper fashion. Pep used to organize an event, as did Neil Rushton but it looks like theyve given up the ghost...they weren't the only regular djs there in its later years, sadly Max is no longer with us, as for Carl Dene, Mike Hollis, Graham Warr, Bill Black, Basil, Alan Day...i'm not even sure whether theyre aware of the significance of the date...this is classed as one of the legendary clubs, particularly in the early 70's as Northern Soul got going, along with the aforementioned Torch, Wheel and VaVas, they were the forerunner to the advent of the big all nighter the scene required....that turned out to be the Casino....but many of the tunes played there in the first two years at least, had been discovered and played at these venues first. Max was no slouch in obtaining the big numbers before most other djs..with Warr's stash from Miami in 73, a lot of previously unknowns were broken at the Temple street venue, probably before Levine did, at Blackpool.

I haven't said there's any function to comemmorate that fact....fact is, there should be, especially as it 50 years and there have been past anniversary/reunions, but i see nothing on the horizon at present....in fact, thats a disappointment in itself as something wouldve been in place a good while ago,....i don't know if the main protagonists ( Cats djs ) have anything in mind....they certainly haven't divulged it. So, as it stands im purely stating the fact its 50 years and ask if people want to comment on that and share any memories, as i said in the intial post, then please do so...and if in the meantime a function is announced to comemmorate the occasion, then all well and good!.

Just about six weeks away from this unique celebration....Wigan has been done...as has the Torch and Wheel...Now the Catacombs reaches a landmark date. I'm sure there are many still alive who attended the venue...care to express your thoughts and share your memories of the music, djs, characters....even pics?...personally, i only saw the last 6 months of it, before its closure but, it was my first proper venue and became a springboard to visiting other venues, and Northern Soul immersion...does this venue stand amongst the greats in your opinion?.