Frankie Crocker

Current new vinyl and cassette tapes are on the increase. Both formats are deemed to be cool by youngsters. CD’s are almost extinct as are new players. I always taped compilations of USA finds and mix-tapes of various genres and found them to be long-lasting and therefore ideal. CD’s I’ve made have deteriorated to the point they are unplayable, some within a shirt space of time. For what it’s worth, I’m sticking with home made C90 tapes that feature about 20 Northern tracks on each side.

Dynamics went cheaply. Bill Griffin higher than expected. A few set sale prices. Jackie Day well worth the outlay. A bit up and down for Manny tonight.

What a shambles to watch. Worse than VAR at a football match. The lanyards would be better distributed during the record so there’s no hanging around. Some pretty good dancers were not acknowledged whilst weak ones were. Loads of folk seemed to be on the floor at the start but then just wandered off - were they actually in the competition to begin with? Kev announces the judges are looking for athleticism and personality - I saw very little of either quality and would go as far as to say nimble footwork trumps athleticism every time. The lass at the bottom left of the video, blonde hair and patterned top, knew her stuff and outclassed plenty of blokes doing the hokey-cokey-left foot-right foot-on the spot-thing dads do at weddings. Slow Fizz is OK as a Nighter tune but rather plodding in a dance competition as it lacks the oomph to energise. And by energise, I mean not skipping, not prancing, proper footwork, appropriate use of arms ie none of this cricket umpire signalling...I despair...

Kev - you’d be disqualified as Time’s a stomping tune danced left to right whilst Summer In The Parks is a shuffler danced forwards and backwards. First round tunes could include classics like Epitome Of Sound or Checkerboard Squares; Second round tunes could include Hamilton Movement, Frankie Crocker etc; Final tunes should allow scope for self expression, minimal gymnastics and be fast stompers such as Jewels, Royal Esquires or Saint’s I’ll Let You Slide. If Kev Roberts is reading this, could you include a cat-walk for contestants to parade along next year?

Totally agree Paul. The tracks were questionable - using a Motown number for the final defied belief given there are some pretty decent Northern records out there... Perhaps Kev could have said what the judges were looking for which would clarify matters for participants, spectators and us commentators. That way it could be a credible sideshow. Nothing wrong with having older entrants by the way, but they must be able to dance, and ideally, demonstrate different styles to an assortment of tunes!

So, now the competition is over, what do people think? There are a few clips on YouTube to view plus a thread on Facebook. Jack Morgan from Scotland was deemed to be the winner. His acrobatics and spins drew much applause from the audience. For what it’s worth, I thought Sharon was easily the better dancer with good footwork in time with the beat but no scrabbling around on the floor to titillate the judges. Jack’s performance was quite impressive but scored nil points on my scorecard for musical interpretation or basic footwork. The 1st round as shown on YouTube looks more like a wedding reception disco with most punters affecting the lethargy that comes with six pints or two bottles of prosecco. Ultimately, it was just another dance competition judged by unknown subjective criteria so the winner deserves credit fir turning up and impressing. On the other hand though, the spectacle was rather disappointing and the most eye catching dancer, namely Sharon, did not win IMO.

Quantities of Dream Team and more recently, Ward Burton have turned up. Naturally this makes bidders hesitant. carolinasoul has had a few Ward Burtons over the last year or so whilst Dream Team have featured on his auctions for several years. Plenty of good results for Manny this evening reflecting the improved calibre of his offerings.

Agreed Chalky. Too many YouTube clippers think they’re the bees-knees but they just churn out a choreographed routine bearing no relation to the music. The latest craze seems to be late 70’s style shuffling to late 60’s stomping tunes. When you can’t tell the difference between Mistura’s Flasher and The Jewel’s Togetherness, you really are in trouble - time to go home and practise to Murder On The Dance Floor....

A rather grandiose title for an event with dubious claims. The suggestion that world-class dancers will be drawn from all over the globe to contest the most important championship on planet earth is laughable. Once upon a time, there was a place for dance competitions - when there were dozens of highly competent youngsters at a major venue hosting weekly events, they were an accepted part of the scene. Nowadays, they are too out of place, feature unskilled egotists and tunes that don’t always suit the footwork of break-dancers looking to showcase their acrobatics.

Nothing outrageous to report, just trivial things. Sound system playing up at Mr M’s and 100 Club. Wading through flooded bogs at The Casino and 100 Club. Slight infringements of dancefloor etiquette post 2000 with handbaggers, faggers, drinkers etc spoiling the parquet. Generally all been 99.9% positive experiences. Memorable journeys to and from Cleethorpes, Keele and Stoke...brilliant soundtracks that still bring back happy memories. Sunday travel on the railways was always a character building experience but no hard feelings looking back. As for Soul Nights as opposed to AllNighters, that’s for another thread...

I took a couple of screenshots as I was following Mel Britt. I didn’t check the figures prior to 6 pm as I sometimes do - the records in the photos were being bid on after 6 pm. Nice price for Mel Britt.

Eddie Foster dipped below expectations - seen a few of these up for sale recently. Nabay raised a princely sum - rarely seen for sale. Plenty of healthy sales in the £200-£400 price bracket. John seems to have increased the quantity and quality of the auction records. Nothing at set sale prices tonight...

Thanks for the clarification. I stand corrected. It looked like a collection was being sold off - other comments confirm Tim’s auction items are indeed from other collections.

Perhaps it was tricky to price up given lack of recent sales. By having a lower than should have been minimum bid, there was plenty of action with bidders plunging in earlier than is often the case.

Maybe not every single one of them but I doubt if Tim has doubles of some of these high-end items. Week after week, Tim’s auctions throw up an eclectic mix of grails, classics, in-demanders, disco-pop etc as though he is selling off his collection...just a guess of course...

Shametts went for a decent price. Not seen one of these for sale in a long while. I suspect these auction items are from Tim’s personal collection so he should be fairly pleased with the auction results.

A really good point to raise Paul. Much of the filming seems to be done from the sidelines rather than selfie-style. Posting on social-media is therefore often done by A. N. Other featuring friends or just the action at the time. This is hugely intrusive and often features embarrassing scenes that individuals might prefer not to be screened. I think it’s high time for venues to ban mobile-phone filming without consent of those being filmed. I would go as far as to say that the incessant filming and posting is actually Trashing The Faith, exposing what was an previously underground scene to the masses who then mock the dancing, clothing etc. The cult of narcissism is perpetuated by all of this Facebook video posting - a ban on filming would reduce the vanity on show but as mentioned above, the genie is well and truly out of the bottle and will be difficult to put back...

Does not exist... Manship books hint at a rumour. Maybe someone coloured their copy in with a green felt pen perhaps?

It’s fortunate the Sunday Times ran the article at the time - it’s probably the best written record of the contemporary phenomena in 1976. I don’t recall anyone complaining at the time and it wasn’t as though hundreds of Sunday Times readers invaded The Casino. The Footsee Top of The Pops thing did a lot to encourage a new wave of visitors to Wigan, so perhaps blame the Pye Disco Demand label people for contributing to a wider public awareness.

The thing is though, the rules were unwritten - there were principles and folks conformed... dress code for lads and lasses not dancing on the dance-floor if you didn’t know what you were doing apologise to someone you accidentally bumped into on the dance floor shake hands with old contacts applaud a record if it was well received NB DJ’s never were celebrities no violence ie fisticuffs inside the venue use talc on the dance-floor but sparingly not touching other people’s bags or coats sporting patches of clubs actually visited I hope this meets your approval Paul?

I’d prefer a S & M logo Rod...

We’re really discussing the topic of branding here. Presumably because the t-shirt has become an item of merchandise, sold to enable the wearer to profess their attachment to the music or the scene. Of course, rock bands have been flogging over-priced ‘merch’ to fans for years. Now this has crossed over to the NS scene, it has brought the formerly underground scene more into the public eye. Once upon a time, involvement in the scene was expressed by wearing the NS regalia, often pilloried by the media and plenty on Soul-Source... maybe these days are long and unlikely to return so it’s probably best to turn a blind eye to the young T-shirt wearers and dress as you think most appropriate.

The Bristol Soul Brigade took the t-shirt thing to another level flaunting them at the BBC Prom. Hand out the sick-bags please

Even more harsh criticism but well argued... Russ was one of the main Casino DJ’s and had a sound grasp of what was played back in the day - his shop stocked the current sounds as lists testify. Sure, he was eclipsed by Searling post-Casino. Perhaps guilty of being linked to over-commercial ventures in the 70’s but has been pretty much retired since. I don’t blame Russ for downplaying the drugs - they were a liability in many ways. Wigan Casino was the epicentre for the music back in the 70’s. Sure, Cleethorpes Pier had its supporters and some good music spun by lesser known DJ’s but it was always overshadowed by The Casino. The proliferation of other clubs for local and regional travellers could be partly due to the impact of The Casino. I don’t see Russ dining out at all...he maintains a low profile until the media drag him out of hibernation. Yes, he is rooted in the past and hasn’t KTF like Richard or Kev, but so what - he never pretends to know all about the contemporary scene. Russ is simply the voice of Wigan in its heyday - he is just the obvious person to talk about The Casino 1973-1981, like it or lump it. Remember, Russ didn’t get rich on the proceeds due to the deal he cut with the owner. Anyone writes newspaper articles, books, plays or film-scripts owes Russ a debt of gratitude for his organisational achievements; many of us love the music we do due to Russ Winstanley and should be eternally grateful.

Harsh criticism.... Russ was the cornerstone of The Casino. He’s kept a fairly low profile for decades - indeed, he’s hardly been involved in event promotion and record label stuff. As a local lad, he’s the go-to voice on matters Northern Soul. Wigan 1973-1981. It would be appropriate for followers of the music to show more respect, especially at this time.