Drewtg

Yes Winnie, you confirmed how these people work. They had already done their "research" and decided that they wanted someone in fancy dress, hence the request for you to take 70's clothes. Anyone normal need not apply. Betcha glad you missed it now eh?

Wasn't he the first white act to play the Apollo?

I for one thought that the film was extremely accurate in it's portrayal of 'Burnsworth' and some Casino goers in 1974. The research was incredible. What really disappoints me with the media when covering the scene is the complete lack of research. They start off with a pre-conceived notion of N.Soul (baggies, talc, vests and badges), helpfully provided by previous incompetents, and then search for things to re-inforce that stereotype. They are not in the least bit interested in portraying a balanced or accurate view. What they want to portray is a caricature, and what we end up with is a cartoon. I have given up expecting any research at all from the Beeb or other stations, hardly a year goes by without some piece talking about N.Soul as though it was, and is, all about Wigan. A familiar talking head (Waterman talking about f*cking miners) and a snatch of Frank Wilson, some star-struck imbeciles still wearing the clothes worn by a few, sartorially challenged, poor kids forty years ago and that's it folks. Let's move on to the nude vicars charity calendar. On the whole, our music is used to good effect in advertisements but what surprises me about the Shreddies thing is that, unlike TV, a lot of money is spent making advertisements. A thirty second ad in Coronation St. will cost at least £100,000 per showing. For that sort of money you would expect a lot of research, and so the conclusion I draw is that the ad agency know they are being inaccurate but; the ad guys must genuinely believe that a man dressed like a clown will encourage people to eat their product as opposed to an everyman figure. They are therefore guilty of misrepresenting our scene - on purpose. Is there a film or an ad that I would be happy with? I've already praised the film, I don't think TV is capable of doing a balanced view of N.Soul. Most ad's are just music so that's ok but this ad is a deliberate misrepresentation. For what it's worth I think they blundered. I can't see many people identifying with this bloke (a nice chap by all accounts) and I think the point would have been better made with an everyman/woman figure. But hey, what do I know? Now. Moving on to the nude vicars charity calendar................................

OK let's do it... Jeanette White - Muesli The Valentines - Brekkieway Shreddie and Ernie - I can't chew it Tommy Nabisco - I cried my rice away Ok nurse, ready for my pills now................................................................

What I actually asked was why the media always try and depict N. Soul folk as dressing like Coco the clown. If Dave wants to dress like that then good luck to him, but he is a tiny minority. Most people don't wear the same clothes as they did when they were fifteen.

Can anyone tell me why these media types are drawn towards the 'Coco clown' look? The ad would be a lot cooler if they picked a dude with some dress sense, surely?

Met a bloke from Rhyl last night. He used to go to Wigan Casino and he knew Ray Henderson; no, not the actor who played him, the REAL Ray Henderson. Good mates they were.

Memory is a funny thing. "Heartache Avenue" wasn't released until 1982, well past the closing of The Casino.

Not on the album, but one of my fave's. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6mhxZ02btE

Facebook was awash with people complaining about the recent film; they said it laid too much influence on the 'drug scene' at Wigan. If you want to know what M's was like just think of a smaller version of the main dance hall and think of people dancing and dancing and dancing to ANYTHING that was popped on the decks. I'm not saying that everyone WAS blocked - it just seemed like it. M's opened regularly after the 2nd anniversary (Sept 75), at that time the Casino opened at 2:00 am and so M's used to open after the dj's who had been doing The Beachcomber carried all their kit from there to M's. From it's first opening, M's was for dancers only. I heard many an old Wheel, Torch, even chart sound in there ('Wooly Bully' springs to mind). It was probably about a 1/3rd or a 1/4 the size of the main hall and the floor could get really packed - not much room for floor-work but if you liked to stomp you were guaranteed 1/2 a square yard. As you probably know, the club was a shithole, with the eponymous Mr Marshall refusing to spend anything from his ill-gotten on the punters. There was banquet seating around the sides of the room with some formica topped tables and the carpets around the edge of the dance floor and the upstairs balcony were a disgrace - definite health hazzard even in those days. There was a bar upstairs but I can't remember if it was ever open. There was an ante-room to M's where you could chill and possibly a cloakroom there once upon a time. Years later they opened a hole in the wall just outside M's to flog 'Spencer's' to the wannabe's. The music policy was whatever Kenny and Steve, etc wanted to play. Downstairs we would rush from the record bar to listen to the latest crime being commited by Minsh or Winstanley, but M's was immune from all that. The sounds were eclectic to say the least. I heard Sack o woe (Cannonball Adderley), Scratchy, Anne Dandrea (Inst) and Only so much oil in the ground (Tower of Power). As the years went by, older Wigan sounds and chart stuff like Don Covey (Better to have) were played, I am told. If you want to get a mental picture of M's, think of a dancefloor about as big as a penalty area, in a condemned nightclub, add about three hundred sweating, amphetamine soaked dancers. Rack the temperature up to about fifty degrees C, turn up the music. Can you hear it?..............Creation - I Got the fever. Get stomping boy

For those of you out of the country https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_dXS8UMrxE

Cheers Dave. How's it hanging?

Yeah, I know what you mean but I think it was released Dec 75/Jan 76. It charted in 76. I get confused because I have the old Levine stuff on his 'Tomorrow' label, which were done at the same time.

Keep em coming Pete. Think evelyn Thomas is a bit premature though - I think it was a bit later.

We could have a bit of fun here! They are asking for track nominations for the day, on laticstracks@wiganathletic.com I'm sure the devil in us could nominate a few to keep em busy

Ah! We'll have to agree to differ then. it was a lot bigger than a lot of posts in the thread, again to use 5th dimension as an example, I couldn't sell it for 50p back in the day - not exactly monster material.

Might be missing the point here, if so I apologise in advance. It was a lot bigger than some of the tracks mentioned on this thread (5th dimension for example), are you saying that it wasn't big or that you didn't/don't like it?

Really.

5 DEGREES FARENHEIT - JUST LET YOUR HEART BE YOUR GUIDE

Is a "Mod" a "Modernist" or just someone who wears a parker and rides an old scooter? Clearly "The Modernists" were in at the birth of the genre, but in all my years on the scene I've met very few Mod's. It is really begining to piss me off actually, because I think I am a Modernist at heart and I remember the real Mod's from my youth. Were the Teddy-Boys responsible for keeping rock and roll going? No, I don't think so.

Call me old fashioned, but the price has got nothing to do with it. All our sounds will be "worth" £500 each at some point in the future (or maybe 12 inter-galactic credits). Me; I like the music - I'm a soul man

Bugger! All these years and I've been cataloguing my records wrong. I've always used the alphabet and now I find out I should have been using price. Sorry guys, I just misunderstood

Nice to see Dave get a mention. I also have a big soft-spot for his mucker Dave McCadden (AKA The soul fox), funny funny guy - also started the first fanzine on the scene.

Hope you are not referring to me as a "latterday arriviste" Frankie! I based my comments on eight years of going to Wigan and, like I said, in the latter years Spencer's were for tourists. Who else would go to an all-nighter to buy trousers? Let's face it, wearing baggies is a bit like being a Teddy Boy or a Mod, god forbid.