Frankie Crocker

Country as they call it nowadays, is music for the masses as tens of millions Americans listen to it daily; it is plain, simple music but lacks soul to these soulful ears, explaining why I have about six records in the collections by Willie Nelson, Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton. These listeners are easily pleased by a guitarist moaning about a dog, truck, lack of money or a woman who left him! Country listeners are very easily pleased. I’ll leave it to the opera buffs to comment on the quality as I generally find it unwise to pontificate on topics I know nothing about...

On the contrary, a select number of people who know their onions, actually appreciated the performance of a world-class orchestra and some unknown artists who had rehearsed to the point of perfection. Most of us into Northern Soul are unashamedly elitist, secure in the knowledge that our music trumps all other genres, so to hear it reproduced note-perfect was a real treat. It’s also worth pointing out that many of the original records have slightly flawed vocals that add to the listening experience so it’s daft to expect singers to sound like Ray Pollard or Timi Yuro et al. I like a variety of music and am extremely hard to please - The BBC Prom did a great job of entertaining those in the Albert Hall but evidently the TV programme disappointed many of those on the sofas at home. If you don’t recognise musical quality when you hear it, then sure you’ll be easily disappointed...

Welcome to Soul-Source Colin.

Nice one Mush or Arnold or whatever your name is. When I went to school in Swansea in 1969, the lads were calling each other Mush. In fact, my brother in Swansea still calls me Mush. Rumour has it that one snowy night back in the early 1900’s, a husky dog team left Cardiff for Swansea but the dog-sledge driver shouted mush, mush, mush so much they ended up in Southampton...true story boyo...

It’s a Welsh thing actually so it must have spread to Southampton. When you don’t know someone’s name, you called them Mush. But when you do know their name, it’s best to address them by it. A bit off topic so I’ll return to the Prom that seems to have so many agitated. I don’t think it was too commercial of the BBC to air it - they have to deal with culture of all descriptions so they handled it well. Yes, a bunch of folk got dressed up in special NS t-shirts for the occasion - well that’s their prerogative.

The Carstairs is so Northern it was a shame it wasn’t included. It would have been nice for viewers to see how well the orchestra tackled this tricky number, but it was axed from the TV programme.

I’ve had a word with myself and fondly remembered seeing the Tavares at The Ritz in Manchester...and jolly good they were. The late 70’s were a fine time for disco soul - Candi Staton, Real Thing, James Brown etc, not Northern then or now and zero Prom potential. One 70’s tune in the Prom went down extremely well notably The Night so it was a shame the Carstairs was cut - somebody evidently thought a dance lesson from Levanna was more important.

Good call. Skiing In The Snow would have been well received due to its anthemic status but The Trammps lowest common denomination pop hit satisfied the hand-baggers in the audience due to the commercial appeal and chart success.

Me neither. Trammps were pure disco fodder when I was in Manchester during the mid to late 70’s. Rather like the Tavares, another decent outfit with tunes that grace any wedding celebration as they are accessible to anyone who can handle pop music. I think Maconie must have included Hold Back The Night to make the Prom a bit more populist and to cow-tow to the ultra-Woke layers of management at the BBC. Inclusion of the tune also reflects his very limited knowledge of Northern Soul.

Thanks for the heads-up. I just walked to central London via Waitrose to pick up a copy. Boy, does Maconie write well. I’ve just started his book, The Pie At Night, and am enjoying it tremendously.

Stuart Maconie’s reaction pretty much summed up the success. The conductor was actually dancing at one stage! Members of the orchestra were evidently enjoying themselves, possibly having a change from the classical dirge usually foisted upon them. The audience in their hundreds had a great time boogieing to the tunes - I saw the Gypsy Kings at the Albert Hall a few months ago and only a tiny number of fans stood up to dance. I hope Joe Public stays well away from all soul events but would encourage anyone interested to buy a CD or research the YouTube archive. It was interesting to see the exclusion of the two instrumentals. Clearly the vocal tunes were favoured by the editors. Sure, Mike Post and Checkerboard Squares would make good listening along with the Mirwood output etc but I suspect the singers made for better entertainment for casual armchair viewers.

Decent tune but one for the connoisseur. A lot were cut out to allow the panel to chat at the start and part way through. Little did we know the Beeb had booked a box for some back-stage preamble. The inclusion of a dance-class from Levanna surely must have raised a few eye-brows.

In the words of Williams and Watson, it’s far ‘Too Late’. The music’s not been underground for decades so just go with the flow, discover your own obscure sounds and support venues where progressive DJ’s work hard at exposing the rarest of the rare.

What a brilliant performance. The orchestra was spot on. The singers were excellent rotating from backing roles to read vocalists. The audience got more and more into the occasion as the evening progressed, especially after The Night. Some songs had been edited out - Bobby Paris, Eddie Holman, Just Brothers, Jimmy Beaumont, Luther Ingram, Carstairs, Edwin Starr all got the chop. All in all, a hugely enjoyable experience for everyone, lifelong soul fans and folk new to the music. Let’s hope the BBC repeat the format in years ahead such was the apparent success of the venture.

UK buyers only please. PM to reserve or request further info. Payment by bank transfer or PayPal F&F (or add fees). Special delivery postage is £8. Thanks for looking. Red Coats Revue Inc-Keep On Trying-Salem: £400 NM unplayed warehouse stock. Jimmey ‘Soul’ Clark-I’ll Be Your Champion-Soulhawk WD: £375 VG+, XOL, label off centre so priced accordingly. Little Melvin And The Boleros-Jealous Lover-Valarie:£350 VG some light scratches but plays with a few clicks.

TV listings have the Northern Soul Prom to be screened at 7.45 - 9.15 pm. The programme is sure to provoke much commentary so here’s a plea in advance to stick to what you hear and what you see! By all means make critical comments, but let’s keep them objective. Having been at the Albert Hall for the concert and heard it twice on iPlayer, I’m still full of praise for the event. Anyway, let’s hear what your thoughts are.

Thanks for posting. Really insightful. An excellent resource for future buyers and sellers.

Manship auction June 2022 realised £2,600. Another thread on Soul Source re this. Awesome pair of tunes - one of the best double-siders around.

I vaguely recall a copy in a Manship auction in the last year or two, but don’t remember the final value it went for. A copy was put in Soul-Source Sales a few years ago priced at £1,750. I reckon it’s a 2K record in excellent condition these days.

True, Steve. There are millionaires out there who have the reserves to buy anything without considering the cost. On the other hand, you don’t get to be a multi-millionaire by wasting money - some of the richest people in the world are amongst the most parsimonious. As mentioned earlier, the bids for the Carstairs could have been erroneous - just odd that at least two bidders went down that route...

True, you do a great job but plenty of people would look at the figure in total disbelief

Carstairs £1,115.00... a new level of lunacy for a very common record. Just in case anyone thought this was a typo, here’s the proof someone’s paid offered a thousand pounds more than they needed to.

Has anyone contacted Russ Winstanley - surely he’d have something constructive to add. What about checking the back-editions of Blues and Soul - maybe a venue report following the anniversaries. Guessing there might be some photos out there in the Wigan papers. Yes, it’s almost 50 years ago but there must be some sources that could be checked out.

How rare is this? Does anyone remember this being played out in public? would be interesting to know who owns the six copies!

Ascots was well down in previous figures. John acknowledged below par condition and the visual disfigurement of WOL surely put off some bidders. On the other hand, someone snagged a bargain that should be OK to DJ with.