Rob Wigley

i think garry churm deserves the fame, any stories to tell ? I've known him since i was 12, garry will be 48 in june but will swear he's only 39 ! A true and loyal suporter of the 60s scene he has attended most clubs often turning up in places you least expect to see him. To say he travels the length of the country and doesn't even drive is a magical feat. great memories travelling to wigan on the Bus and THE RAVEN in Wigan having a few pints before the Nighter. Most people know him so any stories--nothing slanderous please ! or the first time you met him ?

steve, running an all-dayer in nottingham 28th August 100 yards from where garry lives ! bet he tries to get a lift off you !!!! kenny, was the Night Owl about 91 ? The mansfield venue was the leisure centre ! Ian he HAS photos ,Diaries, and fluent French, he went to the Paris allnighter last year and some bloke thought he was Belgian ! Also gets mistaken for dale winton if you have a whip round for a computer ,he'll spend the money on records !!!! The Sherwood Rooms in Nottingham...saw chuck jackson, edwin Starr, jJ barnes Worksop Town hall run by Pete ward monthly soul nights Worksop Leisure Centre "Lou Ragland "Live !!!! (YES HONEST !) run by Pete ward & John Smith i think (Plus noel & ?) Matlock Bath Pavillion Alfreton Leisure Centre all-nighters Ripley soul nights in an old church ? The Olde English Matlock with dennis macdonald & Roy early 80s back out side to think !!!! (Its gonna be HOT at Cleethorpes-who does Ady pay to get this weather ?)

There's not many soul fans from WARSOP but myself and garry are, he has got a flat in Nottingham at the moment and is still aregular everywhere popping up where you'd least expect him Be warned he has kept a diary since I have known him (1972) and everything and everyone is in it ! catch his "off the wall" radio shows at Prestatyn back to topic winter gardens alldayers Blackpool Torksey nr Gainsborough all nighters at a caravan park squeez in at the end of the 80s Have we had LOUGHBOROUGH TOWN HALL brilliant nighters there night owl all nighter Barnsley back to bed !! Ian sort them out again ! just saw loughborough at the top of the list ! and NewtonAyecliffe nr Newcastle

Rock City was a good venue and being local (mansfield) didn't find it that threatening. Also saw Jnr Walker there. the Palais was still going strong as well in Nottingham tracky Club in Barnsley (chalky & Graham importing sounds from 100 club) with derek grenhoff playing The Magnetics and Bub doing the oldies Take 2 Sheffield All nighters (Alan millington)were great Newbury soul club, upstairs venue, not the football club, Ian clark on the decks great !! The twisted Wheel re-opened 1987 The Cricketers all nighter in Wigan Sloski's (however you spell it) Manchester somewhere near the Apollo all-nighters run by the Morecombe lad carlton Inn Morecombe saw Phillip mitchell there Leeds all nighter around 1987/88 mansfield leisure centre all nighters I'll think of more ---my brain hurts !

Anybody mentioned Shotts "allenton Miners welfare" Mansfield Swan all-nighters chesterfield "Winding wheel" TAC Yarmoth weekenders Trotters soul nights mansfield tudor barn Warsop the brilliant early southport weekenders (Morecmbe ,flletwood and barrow to start) peterborough "Fleet" was every fornight and thorne canal tavern dunstable on and on we were out every weekend ! PS Saw Frankie Beverly and Maze at Rock City great venue !

Down stairs to R.E.Cords, upstairs to Sid Booths in Mansfield with phil kingswood and kev roberts bringing in stuff from his US trips to sell (hair down his back to his bum and calling everyone motherf**kers) but the daddy's must have been Sounds Good on Alfreton Road Nottingham or Violet Mays in Sheffield, happy times but God knows what we left !!

Would that be Ian levines "Strange world of cheese" trvelling the country interviewing people who make rare and obscure cheese's on small labels ?

Andy Whitmore is also playing it

The Grandly titled Florence Alabama Music Enterprises FAME for short just watched the playback !!!!

A progam like this is great, going to the FAME/ STAX studios and showing the dedication of the young WHITE musicians involved at a time when it could have cost them their LIFE even talking to a black person. Just had a thought, there's a thin line between Country "blue Grass" and southern Soul !

Bugger been out bid again !!!

I thought Consdad's (does he have an offspring in jail? Or shouldn't we ask) comment about northern doc's always focussing in on the guy with the tatt's & beer towel was hilarious and true No offspring in Jail, but could lock the checky little bugger up sometimes... and Mandy i was on that same TV program from the Midlands..they used me on the trailers...doing a spin in slow motion......no actually they interviewed a gang of us at Fish's do at Melbourne, Nat, elaine, cliff steele all fairly sensible people, well dressed etc. Devon, the guy who fronted the program, was great. Out of 20 mins of me talking bo***cks they used 7 seconds and didn't bother with ANYONE else from 2to 3 hours of filming that night, FISH was GUTTED (pun intended). We mention the places we go, the distances we travel, the records we buy and sell, what they mean to us. Not interested. We have had at least 3 film crews at Prestatyn, but they are fascinated with the Northern Soul "Uniform" thing. What WE don't understand on the scene is that someone walking into a room with "Northern Soul forever" tattooed on their back, 40 inch Bags and a lorry load of Talc is NOT NORMAL, just because we all see them week in week out. just remember how Teddy Boys used to stand out in the 1970s when they were going through their "revival" thing ! So unless as suggested by Brett that you get "proper" rare soul people to produce these things you'll never do it right. think of the TV things that have come out over the years and the people interviewed, Dave Withers, Guy Hennigan, Pete Lawson to name 3 people who I respect as Knowlageable collectors/dealers/promotors and friends all gave cracking performances on TV but got sandwiched between the same old "Beer towel" thing. Levines SWONS is a great effort, well ahead of its time and needed doing. The trouble with Ian, love him or hate him, is that he does tend to shove stuff down your throat ! By which i mean there's too much of it Its like the Motor City stuff he did, great idea but we couldn't handle 40 new releases a week. As with the SWONS 24hours of footage !!!! too Much, Star Wars doesn't go on that long ! (although half the cast from the Star Wars Bar go to our local soul night) So in summary, Northern Soul, take your own piece of what you like from it, defend the faith, do whats right, don't rip people off and enjoy yourself, but don't expect the media to see it your way because its never going to happen. Ps if anyone wants their copy of the midlands today prog. signing i will be in the foyer at Prestatyn XX!

we'll save up and get carla some new teeth and bring her over !

Jerry butler om at the moment thanks !!!!

No matter how many times you put a television camera near a northern soul crowd or artist or whatever you know they are going to zoom in on the same bloke with a hundered tattoos and a beer towel doing a spin in slow motion. you get put in your pigeon hole and thats it. when we went to wigan in the 70s we got "have you been to the pier?" Wigan Fc get promoted to the Premiership, the TV cameras are there and they show footage of the Casino now !!!!(same bloke, but younger), with the beer towels and less tattoos, the only thing Wigan was famous for is Northern Soul sad fact of life, whatever you are into get the media involved and you blow it !!!

just watched the same program and thought it was brilliant, James carr who can't be really known to a wider Uk crowd and all the vintage footage. Did anyone know that In the midnight hour was writen in the same motel that martin luther king was shot in ? i didn't but I do now. dark end of the street , fabulous, the film of the UK Stax tour who's got all that then ? gems like this come along once in a decade, the way it is filmed its obvious that the DVD box set is coming , they already have the CD. I was disapointed with last weeks Motown offering as I knew the story, but this weeks hit the spot and it a hundered times better than watching 13 drongoes locked in a f**king house for 6 weeks. was going to the CiS tonight but stayed in great bit of telly can't wait til i see james Brown and the funk lot next week. as always enjoy it whilst you can !

thanks very much Rob

bought mine (12") at Thorne late 80s thought it was a legal re-issue as it came on the back of loads of stuff Rod Dearlove was importing at the time.

STILL SEARCHING FOR A DECENT COPY OF TROY KEYES "NO SAD SONGS"/ "YOU TOLD YOUR STORY" ABC. i need one to send to troy who still hasn't got this and swore blind it never came out !!! got a few bit to trade or will buy whatever. rob

Caught himself on his own CCTV but destoryed the Video tape so I'm told kenny is this the same Precisions ?

SIMON, WHO NEEDS LOOK A LIKES ?

ok over me head !! But have you got the one of Rob Thomas behind the counter of his Spar shop in Louth smiling at the customers ??

Any Picures of the Precisions together ie publicity shots, or maybe performing in Detroit thanks rob

What a great group the Precisions are with many underated sounds because they are (Relatively) easy to obtain. But as with our scene the two corking rarities as well. Superb harmonies, great backings, Detroit productions. Its hard to call but mines probablly the cheapest of the lot "If this is love( then I'd rather be lonely)" What do you rate as your favorite Precisions track ? over to you....... ps anybody got any pictures ??? :P OK LOOKS LIKE THERE IS PLENTY OF INTEREST IN THIS FAB GROUP COME AND SEE THEM LIVE AT PRESTATYN 2006 !!!!!!!! ROB (sat 3.15 PM)