Epic

I still go out regularly DJing, listening & dancing in the main to brand new dance music with a trip to the odd revival night thrown in now and again. If you are a very bored viewer I suggest like watching the TV, you head for the "OFF" switch - not hard is it ?

In fairness - it was quite novel & very enjoyable in the early days to spend an hour in M's - the rot set in when people decided to spend all night in there. They should have had a system like the swimming baths - give each person a band of a certain colour & when it was your time up (1 hour) out you came. You see - for the sake of a rubber band the Northern scene could have been "saved"

I think you have to consider the differences in the two venues - one being a a regular 8.00pm-2 .00am venue - the other an all nighter. If you go back to 72/73 I think a lot of stuff played at The Highland Room & Torch also became popular at Wigan. It is no coincidence that when Blackpool "dropped" northern the quality of tunes being played at Wigan IMHO deteriorated. Even when they were both playing northern a certain record (usually a high octane stomper) seemed to sound & fit better at 3.30am in Wigan than 11.00pm at Blackpool which I believe lent itself to a melodic, perhaps more sophisticated sound. Think those who attended both venues will know what I mean.

Yes Mr P. a tidy little collectors piece.

Let's Get Nasty was certainly played in the last hour - as was Stanley Clarke - Last Poets etc. - California Montage had been dropped by Colin & there ceased to be any particular ending record. Celest Hardie was the last record Colin played at The Mecca on his very last Saturday night there.

The Bali Hai was a seperate bar room off the main ballroom downstairs. The Highland Room was having some work done on it around 77 I think & they put a temporary dancefloor in there & that was where the Highland Room regulars went - 2 or 3 times this happened if my memory is correct.

Just watched Superiors video of "What Would I Do" - a vastly underrated tune - always loved it. Remember as an up & coming soulie back in 72/73 going into Starpic Studios (Record Shop) Blackpool & asking for What Would I Do - rushing home on the bus only to find it wasn't The Tymes song of the same title - I was learning back then - sad thing is Starpic had some listening booths at the back of the shop but in my eagerness to get it home & on to my Dansette there was no time for that. Still a great record though & I still have it. Those guys on the video really looked like they were enjoying themselves - would like to know the last time they had sung that before SWONS.

The Cleethorpes Story has a lot of tunes on it that were also big records at The Mecca.

Not guilty m'lud Think my tall friend had that dubious honour.

My opinion on Northern Soul on film is it never quite hits the mark for me. Seen many regional news articles on the scene - This England etc. - no celluloid can express the feelings for the music - the time - the friendships etc. The SWONS was a great effort & must have been such hard work at times - whether you liked the finished product or nor - you must all appreciate the time, effort & genuine affection for the music that Ian put into it. Personally just seeing Mel Britt on my TV screen was & is wonderful beyond words - if that footage doesn't move you - you are on the wrong forum IMHO.

Sometimes it's not hard to make sense of it all. If we at Soulful Dance@ thought a guest DJ was going to bring a 52 seater coach along with him - even we would consider him if only from the financial aspect - which incidentally is not what we are all about. To be honest I can't think of any DJ in this country who would attract that many extra people to a night. As you say it is the "Northern" mentality - a DJ like Butch for example is employed because of the records he has in his collection - ie tunes nobody else has got. There is not that exclusivety on the modern dance/soul scene - we as a group carefully vet the tunes we want to play - certain tunes I see in playlists would not be considered by us - not that we think we are better than anbody else it's just a lot of new/upfront tunes don't always fit our vibe.

Only just seen this. As one of the "Soulful Dance @" DJs I feel I have to pick you up on a few points. The original thread is about Modern Soul at all nighters - we don't do all nighters. As regards the comment "And we both sure know better than this." Don't understand what that means. You may see us as a "closed shop" - we think differently. We do not employ guest DJs simply because that is our collective decision - years ago Blackpool Mecca (our biggest influence musically) didn't employ guest DJs - seemed to work for them. Our group comprises of 3 DJs - 1 sound engineer & a bespoke sound system we consider to be one of the best around. We all have plenty of music to offer the people who come to hear us spin - indeed some of the tunes we have played in the last 3-4 years have become anthems on the Soulful Dance scene. There is only so much time to play the music we want to play - employing a guest DJ lessens that time even more. Colin Curtis (a personal friend to all of us for over 30 years) will fill dance floors every week up & down the country of that there is no doubt. We have huge respect for him & he has always supported us from the early days at Lytham,The Hilton & now at The Orwell - indeed he was at Wigan last week & has been a paying guest at Lytham in the past. As regards our musical policy we play quality soulful jazzy grooves from the 1970s right up to the year 2008 - classic-unknown-forgotten & upfront - if it fits in with what we do it gets played - our loyal crowd seem to like it & long may they continue to do so. Thanks Andy Lett

Psychedelic Soul - Saxie Russell I'm The One - Larry Williams Wait 'Til I Get To Know You - Bobby Treetop Tear Stained Face - Don Varner Lonely For You Baby - Sam Dees Midnight Brew - Melvin Carter

I have always thought Bobby Sheen - "Dr Love" has a few elements of "Right On" in it.

Welcome my tall & soulful friend. Now we all know who is wholly responsible for "Copacabana" being played at The Highland Room - take a bow (& the plaudits) Mr Haigh.

Used to go on a Sunday night - was up some rickety old stairs at BWFC if I remember. Good cross section of people - Richard Searling used to play Ron Holden Gwen Owens etc. alongside new releases - good memories - good club.

Carvers are "The Devil's Work" - the poor misguided creatures who use them should not be punished though - help is what they need -because until they come out from under their intoxicating spell they will never truly see the error of their ways. Why is the theme song from The Exorcist spinning round my head whilst I have been typing this ?

Ian Can remember you sat behind the decks in The Highland Room (yes Messrs Levine & Curtis DJ'd on a stool) in 1976 playing Vicki Sue Robinson "Turn The Beat Around" when Bob Blackwood came on stage & said that the music was not as good as in the Northern days. Your reply was "No it's not - it's measurably better!!" Priceless

They are building a College & campus in its place - Blackpool is hoping eventually to turn it into a university & gain city status.

Thanks Ian - now if you could quote & answer the rest of my post please. Thanks.

I was part of the "and crew" - Pete & Steve are my life long friends - you dropped Northern Soul way before 1977 - Colin was the last one out of the two of you - Ronnie McNeir, Inspirations,Herbert Hunter etc. to play NS in The Highland Room. You said back then that NS was dropped because of the quality of new music just could not be ignored & the quality sixties soul discoveries were failing to meet the quality control standards that Colin & you had tried to maintain. Incidentally Ian we did not encourage you to play a lot of the poor disco tunes you featured (I Love Lucy - Night & Day - Bob Crewe etc.) - can't remember being in the shop urging you to buy them. Incidentally what was the last traditional Northern Soul record you played at The Mecca & when was it?

Yes Pete - Green Door is crap but I really like Look At Me Now!!

Remember buying "Who Is Gonna Love me" as a new release - point I was trying to make is "Love is......" was never "big" at The Mecca - a couple of spins maybe - never ever seen it on a Mecca compilation because it is not associated with the venue. Same for Bobby Sheen, Gloria Scott etc. should have been big Highland Room records - unfortunately they slipped through the net.