Frankie Crocker

No, tongue now pointing at you with thumbs in ears and fingers wiggling... Don't recall any rant but have posted controversial remarks on the subject of tourists at the 100 Club. You must have been at Wigan late on in the minority of baggie wearers but you were the genuine article - the others were pretenders, tourists, jazz funkers, hand-baggers, call them what you want...some saw the light and stuck with Northern Soul, others merely experimenting moved onto Punk or whatever the High Street was pushing. After a few visits to the Casino in parallels, I upgraded to cord bags and bomber jacket, then Spencer's and trenchcoat, I guess like many a diehard and a good few dyed in the wool soulies on here. The only tosh I see on the topic is when the term 'clown-wear' is used to denigrate the many wearers of 70's dress code attending contemporary soul events. ATB Frankie PS What's a ski jumper?

Hi Steve. Was referring to the early years at Wigan as it's the photos under discussion. You're right about the skinhead/suadehead fashions before this, and of course Skinners parallel wide-bottomed denims for the Manchester followers and something similar for the Merseyside lot, was it Coopers? Parallels were in by 1972. Parallel cords were in by 1974. During the first years of the Casino, tailored bags or Spencer's cords by mail order were the norm, if memory serves correctly, through the Footsee years, This England programme and a year or so beyond by which time, the High Street fashions of 1977 were making an impact on the dress code as the Spencer's brigade fell by the wayside and a new crowd emerged.

If you were at Wigan 1973-81, you must have worn bags, possibly Spencer's or something similar as these were the dress code from the get-go. Anyone at the death in Spencer's was probably an old soul boy, maybe me... The tourists were in drainpipes or pegs. Proud to be a baggie wearing soul boy and respect to the Teds and Mods for being cool and committing to their music/dress regardless of what others thought or said.

Does Tim Brown buy his own records so he can come up with figures for a Price Guide that no one buys? Seriously, Tim is entitled to run his auctions as he always has, and in the strictest confidence in case your wife finds out... Most of us now avoid these sealed bid auctions as they are archaic and not mutually beneficial. John Manship sets the standard for the industry whilst eBay is at least fairly transparent.

Nice one. I guess that's what passed for a good night out in Northants in the 70's. Never considered myself one of the criminal elite in my trenchcoat back in the day. Now the proud owner of three floor-length leathers, tailor-made for next to nothing in Bali. Wore one to Tesco on Sunday as it was slashing down in London and drew one comment from a passer by, 'nice jacket mate' - made my day as he could have called me an 'emo Goth tosser' or something similar but he probably thought I was an elite criminal...

Statement with tongue slightly in cheek... Hacks me off when latterday arrivals hurl flack at the earlier generation for what they wore. Towards the end of Wigan, and despite the many great 60's records emerging, the Jazz Funk brigade were steering the dress-code along High Street fashion lines, hardly an underground cult anymore. You're right, the Wigan DJ's tended to dress ordinarily with the exception of Dave Evison and maybe a couple of other latecomers. Don't recall Gethro much after the mid 70's but he was always sharply dressed. At Soul On The Square on Saturday, there were plenty of lads and lasses dressed the part, kitted out to dance and a world apart from the students present.

Thanks for the background on this. In the early years, a large proportion wore leather trenchcoats. Mine cost £32 from a shop in Swansea, a bit below the going rate for one at a the time. As I was only earning £25 a week doing a summer job, it was a sizeable outlay but one of the best moves I've ever made.

Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. The early soulies wore Spencer's bags or something similar. They were still common in 1978 even though skinny jeans hit the streets in 1976. Anyone wearing Spencer at Wigan in 1980-81 is a diehard in my books. All the rest are tourists, High Street fashionistas carrying adidas bags with glued on patches, narrow white plastic belts with the black fist on, beer towel tucked into waist band, towelling wrist-bands etc. No wonder the serious soulies had stopped going to Wigan. Fortunately, the music had picked right up at the end due to King Richard's taste and the Staffs boys in the Record Bar were able to carry the scene forward in the 80's.

Nice photos but what's the scenario? Why have folk moved to the side for what seems to be a staged photo session? On the main floor but surely not a dance competition... Can anyone explain what's going on?

Nicely put. Move over Claudia...

Enjoyed it at the cinema but saw the other side last night - really just a spoof to file under comedy, and not too funny at that.

SLR camera with fast film maybe? Not an expert, but 1,000 or 2,000 ASA might achieve this whereas Kodakrome 64 would not. Did the negatives survive? If so, there's a chance of making even sharper pictures.

Gimme the classic threads any day ie bags, bowlers and brogues. Brian Ferry has a lot to answer for with flicked haircuts, cap-shirts, narrow belts, drainpipe jeans, plastic sandals etc. Surprised the Fashion Police didn't close The Casino down earlier...

Great that these treasures are still surfacing. Looks like 1980 judging from the clothes. Cameras were still on the rare side back then and were the property of parents rather than us youngsters, so photos of this sort are priceless.

So, now we know then. This is a really common record and there are hundreds of copies out there, but tucked away safely in top collections. Back in the day not even fit for Soul Packs, a mere give-away item. Funny there's rarely a copy available for sale yet it's on so many Wants Lists. And to think, 'Love You Baby ' was once The Eddie Parker record to chase after...

Remember fellas that 'Newies' back then meant something totally different to what it means now! Solid 60's all the way and not a Mecca-Ritz 'newie' in sight.

Great post Pete. Awesome playlist. After my time at The Casino so obviously missed out although many of the tracks soon became familiar on Grapevine and other LP's. Most of these tracks have not only stood the test of time, they number some of the very best and rarest records on the scene. Richard was often perceived to play second fiddle to Russ but this listing shows he was right at the top of the tree.

Evidently undiscovered by the masses. Like many good records yet to see dance floor acclaim, the price reflects obscurity rather than quality. All good records have their day so watch this one's turn come around. More and more though, the market is being rigged by DJ/dealers who push sounds that have been stockpiled so inferior records are brought to the fore whilst better tracks stay in the background.

A white demo on Manship's auction site right now, bids at £12... Should go for £250 plus given the current hype. A good record and fairly common but never £100 surely. Beware of who's spinning this... Has a quantity turned up or has someone stockpiled it with a view to cashing in? Certainly a record for the sheep given the recent stampede. Smash is a major label with many good artists so watch out for the Tempests and Jay & The Techniques coming your way soon...

Dreamed up by Merchant Bankers...

Good luck with the venture Pete. Should be successful and a valuable addition to the scene.

What a load of pretentious twaddle, lifted no doubt from some media undergraduate's coursework. There are so many errors in these three sentences, they should be deleted.

Fantastique. Made me smile seeing the locals out having fun. Maybe Wigan's finally waking up to it's musical heritage. Time to re-build The Casino and incorporate a National Museum perhaps... My late gran used to dance at The Emp but The Casino as we know it started in September 1973. I hope the Christmas shoppers will be boogieing around to the sound of piped Salvadors, Jades and Lou Pride this coming festive season...

Grading is a real minefield. Watch out for sellers who modify the standard grading system otherwise you will end up with a poor buy at some point. Be extra careful when buying styrene records - only buy if the sound-bite is acceptable. Be prepared to buy a low grade copy but with a view to paying more for a better copy if and when another pops up - trick is, set a low outlay for this sort of record. The big annoyance is a reference to 'surface noise'. What is this exactly? Are we talking snap, crackle and pop or the tick, tick, tick of a feelable gouge? Ideally, there should be no noise other than the music - if there is audible background hiss or intrusive non-musical sounds, then you have to question whether the record is worth buying.

Yes, all the time, and usually we're grateful for this as it saves a trip to the sorting office and it beats parcels sitting on the doorstep...