Back Street Blue

Missed the January event at ASC this year, gutted as it fell on my birthday but we had already booked to go for New Year's Eve when I noticed the listing for the event. Mind you, New Years Eve was mental so not complaining.

Tha wot? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kt52UjFPFhE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCt7Dwkq8kk what's not to like ?

I can get you a photo of twoanahalfinch

Charles Bradley, what a talent.......but what a tragic story. BW gave 'em some skin......and what size shirt collar was he?

Dayers were still on at the Ritz in the 80's, Berlins had nights on and went to dayers at a wine bar type place off the top end of King Street in Manchester too, name escapes me.

Bang on......too young for the Torch......loved the Ritz and remember some good dayers at Ashton Tiffs. Also Roundtree Sounds Saturday afternoon and towards the end of that "era", Angels in Burnley to hear Colin Curtis.

Thanks for the heads up. Wonder if it's that one when he was in Oslo (?)...........if so, saw it ages ago and remember it being a bit depressing.

Used to run coach to Wigan from the Magnet, knew lots of the regulars from there.

Kev Roberts I think....."Sale Mecca"......missed the last bus home once and had to walk to Shaw from Piccadilly.

Totally know what you mean Len, and I don't pretend to know all the stuff on the lists, far from it, nor am I suggesting that the same certain few records should get played over and over again, just trying to explain my own M's personality. I'm learning about loads of new, to me that is, sounds all the time on here and agree that lots of worthy records don't get played out but I also think its wrong to say (or rather assume if you don't go to their events), that all dj's at what are considered as the more traditional events don't deviate from the main staples, some do (a certain Mr Westhead to name but one) and they deserve some credit from some of the nay sayers. Pete Smith's done 7 or 8 podcasts of oldies on here recently with loads of tracks that would ram the dance floors that I stumble about on and yet which are brand new to my ears.

Think it depends on your individual taste and perspective and what you are actually looking for from the scene. Some thirst for knowledge and apparently tire of hearing stuff after a relatively short time and are always on the look out for the next big thing. Some don't acquire the same depth of knowledge and are simply there to get lost in the music on the dance floor to tunes that they only hear when they are out and go to the venue or room that plays the sounds that fit their dance style. That lack of knowledge means they don't know all the sounds that come within their category and are hearing things new to them but of the same ilk even if it is old and tired to more knowledgeable folk. The whole business of wallowing in the history of the original clubs also forms part of that enjoyment its the authenticity of it which later stuff just doesn't have nor do the later dl's have the same credibility as the first and biggest names. M's had that draw to me as did the oldies niters at Wigan, right from 'the off. Like you choose your room at a current event for your personal taste, that's what M's offered the chance to dance to those first pioneers records. So I think that the "nostalgia" aspect was always part of the scene like it or not. We went to local events to continue hearing the M's stuff after Wigan closed and still do. Thought the thread was about where next musically anyway not where's it been.

Not for me, loved it and the oldies niters.

Thanks for posting.....I'll add it to my new collection of your stuff.

Speaking as a rank and file punter, not an avid collector, I still have to go out to hear the stuff I want to dance to.....which I prefer to hear in a club than at home and still get that buzz when I hear those sounds when I'm out that I did when I was a kid. In the 70's we were emulating the previous generation who attended the Wheel / Ricky-Tic / Mojo etc....but in our own way, In the 80's the youths of the day were emulating us and the 60's folk.....but in their own way. So I think that there are essentially three generations of NS people with similar but quite different orientations and we can and are constantly learning from each other. I enjoyed the funk that came onto the scene and started to go to the new clubs that played that stuff and jazz-funk, as well as to NS nights but went to each for different reasons. I did a bit of the rave and garage scenes later on, still went to the NS nights and events and was able to enjoy both but for different reasons. To me NS is the 60's & 70's music we hunted out when the then current commercial music being force fed to our generation became too much to bear. So where next ?............it can't go elsewhere 'cos its already been recorded in those 2 decades. Clubs will play what gets bums on seats and pays the bills, enthusiasts will continue to congregate at private do's........and sad old punters like me will keep trying to find somewhere to get my NS fix on any dancefloor where there's a bloke on a mic' that plays that stuff that gives me that buzz.....regardless of what other styles of black music get played at the event.

Shame on them.......must be dead or deaf

I resemble him more now than I do any of the kids in the bogs

Voices of East Harlem....& McKenna & Harris blew me away. How good was Pickett live.......awesome.

In terms of access to music, I can now discover tunes I've not heard before, or get information, on the press of a button...that's the main "good thing" today. Against that is the fact that there are too many events which has fragmented the scene, resulting in real difficulty in keeping some events going. All in all at least there's plenty to choose from and you can get to see what to expect of an event, to a greater extent. ...so not the best but not the worst of times either.

No soul nights.....and 80% of bars closed down on "Bar Street" when I last went 2011.....trade mostly in 'Nappa now...and aimed at the young, dum and full of c*m! Try the beach at Coral Bay.....Cockney DJ plays requests, might have some modern to listen too on your sunbed.

Love the 100 Club video, nice vibe and good dancers.......but it was shot in 1989 so how can you compare it to recent footage 24 years later? It was shot at an allnighter not a local do with a cheap bar, where speed was obviously the drug of choice so of course there aren't tables full of beer. The passion and enthusiasm you recall from the mid 80's/ mid 90's was just as strong in the 70's and early 80's and is still evident at the do's that I go to where the bars are busy but you'll always get a few people there for the wrong reasons, just like you did BITD.

Sorry only just replying....not had much time to come on here over last few days. My post wasn't aimed at what you had said personally, just a response to the earlier posts generally. "Those who went to the clubs BITD" was intended to mean people who went to "proper soul clubs" (i.e. NS niters and dayers that had the DJ''s with the sounds) in the 60's, 70's and 80's. They are the dancers that stand out compared with those on the scene now who obviously didn't go to those places, like what you said really. I've never stopped "going out" since I started dancing to and listening to soul music in 73/4 and the dancers that most influenced me were obviously those that I saw in my formative years in the 70's. Gethro and Cesar are the best I have ever seen, although completely different styles. I loved watching some of the old timers who made a come back to the wheel when it reopened in Whitworth Street with their tight footwork, developed for dancing in a tiny space on a rammed little floor. I loved seeing the old hands from the Torch trotting their stuff in the early days of the Casino. Never made it to Nottingham Palais or the Cattacombes but have met and seen some awesome dancers from there. I especially loved the funky shuffling dancers from the Mecca and Cleethorpes. But for diversity, creativity, speed and tricks, Wigan produced the best.....and I can tell who went and who didn't when I watch them dance.......and I last went there in 1981 so I'm not excluding those who only caught the eleventh hour at that club. It is a shame that the kids who are on the scene now weren't exposed to some of the other styles.

Think the original post asks if "we offer the best in style and talent".........I still see some cracking dancers when I'm out and you can tell the people who went to the clubs BITD.....they stand out a country mile from those who didn't. For me NS is dance music to be enjoyed by those of us that get up to the tunes that we like, regardless of how many other people are on the floor or what any wall flower makes of our style. There are still some talented stompers, and shufflers....and also some great acrobats....Carl Piper & Tommo to name two .......and the style/ styles are unique....peculiar to our scene and unlikely to and never intended to be compared to or to compete with other styles from other genres. As to the style coming from "jazz dancing" don't think that's right, it comes from the blues clubs and earlier Afro-Carribean styles. I'd also rather see people get up and give it a go, than sit there slagging everybody else off.

RIP Marvin

....knew I should have sat on my hands! love finding out about this stuff.......even though I don't always "get it"