From a purely personal standpoint (but I know I speak for many who were there at the time)
lets hope the film captures the true Northern Soul story and that is :
99.9% of people participating were white working class kids, that included the DJs. They were very young, almost nobody over the age of 20. The dancing was phenominal. It was run from the grass roots, the music, the venues, the dancing, there was no "Mr Big" pulling any strings from behind the scenes. The majority of people in the scene were extraordinary characters, you didn't do this sort of thing if you were "Joe Average" check out the DJs, all larger than life for sure. There was a large amount of amphetamines used at all-nighters, drug busts closed both the Twisted Wheel and the Torch, leaving that fact out won't explain how come that kids could dance almost 10 hours non-stop and alcohol wasn't an issue. Going to all-nighters was never about "pulling a bird, then taking her around the back on the venue" it was all about the music, having said that hats off to the girls for being able to get away from their parents all night long for months on end. It was in the main non-violent, this was no Mods & Rockers scene. It was (and still is) a scene with enormous passion, if you were in a dead-end job and a Northern Soul fan it's about all you lived for, the choice of buying a record with your dinner money was a "no contest" decision. I guess we all wish you luck with project but please understand about the fear of not "getting it right"
if we can argue amongst ourselves about 2 digits on a record label that gives you some idea about
the obsesive and passionate nature of the Northern Soul fan and after all the film is just about that !!
Good luck
Chris Lalor (old Torch, Mecca, Junction & Cats soulie)
Chris,
Well said, a realistic reproduction is vital. Can you imagine watching the film and cringing, knowing that certain things didn't happen or may have happened but very differently to that portrayed on screen.
Did we really know or appreciate what we had then? Did we know how special it all was? Personally I didn't at the time but do now many years later. Why did I and a few mates travel 450 miles (every fortnight for us) to be a part of something that was so so good!
I know that there are some people in the scene today that are fed up with any reference to Wigan, largely because they did not go, some are just bored with living in the past, but for me I have got and will always have my memories of the Casino and the scene at the time.
Incidentally I loved the Cats too and was there on the last night.
The camaradarie then and now was/is brilliant and I have met many great soulies from being involved in the scene.
I too wish the Film makers every success, it won't be easy!
Cheers
Yogi