Epic

Problem is that Northern Soul - as I have said many times on here - ceased to be underground in 1975 - can't think that any film/documentary produced by the "outside world" in 2008 has really got anything interesting to say. I always cringe at the way the media portrays the scene - no piece of film or written word can ever put across our deep rooted love & passion for the music - it is a very personal thing which is beyond description. Should imagine the film will feature working class kids (played by middle class actors) - stuck in dead end jobs- living for the weekend - the music - the All Nighter - the drugs - giving them the release their mundane lives crave for.

Agree with many on here - we were young & all-niters were exciting places to be when you were aged between 16 & 20 - a time & a place & Wigan Casino for a short time in my life was fantastic - as was The Mecca - The Ritz - hearing new tunes - buying records - being with your mates - riding scooters - standing on football terraces - being young & enjoying yourself.

Maurice Williams - The finest piece of Northern Soul I have ever heard - Perfection!!!!

You mean Morecambe & Gisburn - the Fylde Coast has always been more discerning.

The modern scene as lost its way,full of boring people who wear cardy's and go to bed at 2am on fridays and saturdays and thats the nutters.

The biggest problem with an "across the board" policy is finding an "across the board" audience. Remember when The Ritz All Dayers in the seventies mixed Northern with Jazz Funk - very few records actually pleased both camps - the different "tribes" would swap dancefloor for sitting at tables depending which genre was being played.

Strange isn't it - two different tunes called "Have Love Will Travel" & they both stir up different & the same emotions. Now then when is my car insurance due?

Pete Haigh & myself have both attended & DJ'd many times at the Seaside Soul Club in Morecambe where they play everything from Jackie Wilson to Joi Cardwell all in one room.

There has always been a modern soul scene - people who bought Blues & Soul - Black Echoes - Black Music were into contemporary soul music - Northern Soul was only a small part of these publications. When Blackpool Mecca dropped rare sixties music a lot of the people coming to the Highland Room came because they wanted to listen to Jazz Funk & Modern Soul/Disco. The All Dayers with acts like Roy Ayers & Crown Heights Affair appearing were always packed to the rafters. The twice yearly Southport weekenders are always sell outs with many thousands of people attending. I would say less than five percent of these people have ever had any interest in Northern Soul.

It seems to me that many people on the Northern Scene would rather listen to bad sixties records than decent seventies records. BTW I do know there have been plenty of bad seventies records played as well. Somebody mentioned earlier in the thread about playing tunes that only got a few spins back in the day. The reason for this is if the DJ played something & got that "tumbleweed" moment even after 4 or 5 plays back in the box it went & that is where it stayed. Of course Northern Soul is predominantly sixties - my problem with the tunes being played now is generally they don't stand up in terms of quality of tunes played in the glory glory days. If you had played some of the records that have been played in recent years back in 73/74 you would have had a very short DJing career indeed. I cannot imagine any DJs back then would even contemplate playing Larry Trider, Richard Berry, Bill Bush etc. Seventies records have always been played & have always been popular on the scene - for example "The Bottle" is NOT a traditional Northern Soul record yet it has filled dancefloors up & down the country for nearly 35 years.

Often wondered about the "big ticket" tunes (ie - seriously rare - less than 10 known copies) do they just do the rounds with the world's top collectors or once they've got 'em they keep 'em?

Marvin Holmes - "You Better Keep Her" 7 inch & album are totally different cuts.

Leon Haywood - "Consider The Source" - Capitol then 20th Century

https://www.juno.co.uk/products/258999-01.htm Escapism - Metropolitan Jazz Affair Came out last year (so it's not really modern ) - try the Patchwork Boogaloo mix - got a Northern/6ts feel to it. Btw - Love & Happiness is a great vocal too !!

Everytime I hear Bill Bush - "I'm Waiting" I think to myself that is a a definite vinyl disaster .

Lady Lady Lady - Boogieman Orchestra Rosemary What Happened - Popcorn Wylie Bari Track - Doni Burdick The Gallop - Milton Wright Breakaway - Steve Karmen All these instrumentals are better than their vocal counterparts IMVHO.

I see now - it's that overwhelming thrill of putting needle onto vinyl - albeit a carver. Putting a CD into a tray just doesn't give you that buzz.

1 CD = 20 pence (max.) & it can hold 80 minutes of music (over 30 Northern Soul tracks) - fits neatly in your pocket - ideal for the "party" DJ. How many carvers would you have to buy to equate to the above ? & what would be the cost? I am just trying to see the logic of carver over CD.

'Tis the devil's work - don't go there!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am curious as to whom these "big money" tunes belong to - & are they willing to lend them you to carve ?- simply put them all on a CD - every "party" has a CD player

So what came first - Doni Burdick or Rose Batiste?

See Dese - To Buy Or Not To Buy

A guy once asked me what was that record they play at The Highland Room & Wigan called "Brylcreem" - it turned out to be "Doomsday" by Evelyn Thomas - if you listen to the chorus you can kind of understand where he was coming from. Knew a girl who thought Lou Edwards was "Talking About Uncle"

My youngest son has just got back - he is a massive Jay Z fan & he really enjoyed it. He also thought Candi Staton was good value. Think we should be thankful that a black American is headlining a gig like that (anything that upsets the Gallaghers makes it even sweeter) - of "our heroes" I think only somebody like Stevie Wonder could possibly be the main attraction at a venue like this.

Soul Improvisations - Van McCoy is a fantastic piece of music - brilliant on the album where you get parts 1 & 2 together.

Love Mirwood stuff to bits anyway - so much so that I got a signwriter to make a sign for my house in the correct font - sad really!!! Mr Soussan has never done much worthy of a pat on the back but he nearly makes amends by putting these instrumentals out. Have you noticed on "The Same Old Thing" how in the quieter passages you can hear the vocal bleeding through in the background. I am right in thinking there were 2 different cuts of "Don't Pretend" instrumental? One with added strings?