Maark

Gotta have something to do while the played out oldies are spinning, eh Baz? Blimey, I can't see why those who don't want to drink just let those that do get on with it. There's never any trouble and 99% of people on the scene seem to be able to handle their beer. Mine's pint, cheers!

Great thread, but I'll take issue with you calling Slade dross. You need to play the b sides!

Lenny Dopson drops in 'Move on up'/Curtis Mayfield which sounds awesome juxtaposed with Len's modernish/rare set.

There's the rub. Some people on the scene think a good record is a rare record, whether 'rare' means price or the amount you hear it played out, i don't know ...... but that doesn't make it nessecarily a good dance floor record. I'm sure tho, there are plenty of rare records that are would be great dance floor records if only we could get to hear them! On the other hand,there are those POPular records that some would turn their noses up at but fill a floor every time. At the end of the day,it's an individual taste. Crikey, it would be boring if we all liked exactly the same thing!

As one of the last records of the night at "Sounds of Soul" at Hemel Hempstead on Saturday Reg introduced "Seven rooms of gloom/Four Tops as one to sort the men out from the boys. He ent kiddin, what a fantastic track but impossibly fast! The head said "no' but the beer said GO!

Your talking out your ar*e mate. Anyway, for a start, KR's criteria is based on past "glories" as much as anything. I'm sure that "Soulful Bob's tastes and distance people travel to events" will be part of Kev Robert's criteria for deciding the 10 ten soul area's next time he re-publishes his 500, now that he know you exist. I see loads of Northants soulies out and about across the country and if you don't maybe you ought to get out more. Not getting into an arguement.

geopgraphy sp. See Me. Mandy, I think you would find generally that soul is concentrated mainly in the most populated areas of Britain, what was once reffered to as the "Industrial Coffin" (1933-37) and more latterly "Megalopolis" (1974) This runs N.W-S.E from Lancashire and West Yorks through the midlands, down to London. Mark, Geography O level, grade C but keen student...... .

You have a point there.......... But I think it's much better to got to a football match and vent one's frustrations there than in a say, one on one road rage incident. In fact, there's nothing better than an afternoon up the Cobblers ( ) shouting yer head off at someone else's inadequacies, whether the ref or players. Win or lose, I look forward to a complete contrast of un-macho ness at a soul night.

I went to a pub quiz the other day and one of the questions was; Which one of the following is a Soul record label a) Ent b ) Kent c) Shent Ok, so I made it up but anyone from round here will know what I'm on about...

I'm not sure if any women have pointed it out in this thread yet, but my female friends/sisters say one of the BEST things about the soul scene is that, it they wanted to, they could go to a do on their own and feel totally comfortable which in this day and age is really something! Of course though, as you have discovered, that is partly due the the guys placing the music above women in order of importance, Just for a few hours mind....

Yah know Winnie I never noticed your shirt, which kinda proves my point I suppose! I hope the young lady concerned is ok and like you said, the reaction from everyone was spot on. One more positive for me, I don't think I would have ever spent so much quality time with my family if it wasn't for the soul scene.

Being in a room with lots of bald blokes and not looking out of place.... Being able to have above "hair" style, pink shirt and matching earring studs, dancing on your own, along with a load of other blokes, having not turned up with a girl on your arm for at least 3 months and people STILL don't assume that you are gay...... Being able to come home and dance in the kitchen for another hour or so and then coming on to soul source to share your drunken sh*t with everyone else. Having the feeling that you may regret above post but knowing no one will really hold it against you. Great weekend!!

I don't want to be negative but isn't that two words? Like you Bearsy I've made more friends in my five short years on the scene than I did in the previous twenty. And I'm making friends with people I havn't even met yet, like when you come up to Northampton for the Gills game and get me that pint...

I like that I can have a disagreement on here with, say Baz, and a couple of days later have a beer at a soul do discussing sounds we like. I'm struggling to think about anything about the scene I don't like to be honest. Most of what has bothered me is either in my own hands to change or out of the hands of the organisers of the function I'm attending. It's what you make it. Yer kenk get more positisve than that!

Thanks Lindsay and I know it's not for me to say but I think your comments bring the end to this thread quite nicely.

Thanks Bogue. Blame the Smilies! Bl**dy things can sometimes but a slant on a post that one perhaps didn't intend. Great avavtar btw.

I read the flyer as "all welcome, but please respect those that are here to dance and for safety purposes don't take your drinks on the dance floor" in a "not taking ourselves too seriously" kind of way. The reason I posted this flyer was because it seemed like a good answer to the comment about flyers in the opening post. Personally, I think it's a good flyer, but then I've only got a degree in Graphic design.

Blimey! I obviously have a sense of humour because I LAUGHED OUT LOUD at the "flat on the back" line, esp as that's always my fear. I obviously don't take my self as serious as others then. The flyer is great and shows originality and wit. I deeply and humbly apologise for not making that abundantly clear in my post and my choice of smiley, was obviously, with hindsight, totally over the top. F*ck me!

Ady, is it also true that Northants had the first police drug squad in the country due to the amount of chemist raids by the local soul fraternity on their way to nighters?

Talk about killing two birds with one stone!

Maybe this flyer for Bournemoth is the way forward!

In central Northants, the bigger towns were Soul havens, Wellingborough, Kettering, Rushden/Higham, and the smaller nearby places, Irthlingborough, Raunds etc were grebo places. Irthlingborough and Higham Ferrers are but a mile apart and of a similar size (5,000 pop in the 70's) Higham is full of "soulies" while Irthlingborough has few. The Newton Aycliffe example is really interesting and I often wonder why a large town like say Peterborough has a long history of Northern Soul while Coventry, twice the size of Peterborough and smack in the middle of the London to Lancashire soul belt has, apparently, very little soul activity. :search:

[ ============ Definitely agree that this is happening more and more. I tend to think that via motown revival nights, and motown weekenders, other people our age have been alerted (via flyers for full on northern nights) that there is a scene where they won't feel out of place age wise, and they'll be able to get a late drink and leer at women to their hearts content..... I'm sure someone will say we're playing 'pass the paranoia', but it is definitely happening as far as I can see.

"I'm Hurt" by Little Tommy. If I'd have heard this 5 years ago when my marraige ended, I probably would have topped myself! "I'm huuuuurt, much more much more much more than you'll ever ever knooooooowwww!" and sung with such conviction! Great stuff.