Drewtg

Caesar was the man. Never seen anyone better, made Sandy, et al look like Woody from Toy Story. Sorry guys but just my opinion.

You should have gone mate, it was easy to avoid the drugs, but not easy avoiding having your ears bent by the fine gentlemen that did indulge As for the violence, that had nothing to do with the northern scene. The north, and I presume every other heavilly working class area, was a very violent place and violence was never very far under the surface. I often think that if there had been alcohol at Wigan it may well not have been the relative oasis of friendlyness that it was. Just a thought.

Harem pants. P.S. Spencers were for tourists weren't they?

What a shit hole that place was eh?

Get your drift Scal but you're barking up the wrong tree mate. I spoke to her on the phone when I was doing the Wigan plaque thing. One of us mate, I'd buy her a pint any day.

She didn't go Scal, but she did a crackin job! Reminds me of the story when Spielberg signed to do Jaws. "I want the best shark trainer in the world" he says. "Er Steven; there's no such thing".

Careful Vin, we may get someone who swears his mate did it...........

Before any egos get involved here, this move pre-dates Sandy, Keb, Wigan, the lot of them. Just because they did kung fu doesn't mean that is the birth of the move. Next thing you know we'll have an ice skater claiming he invented the spin. I'm starting to lean towards the Teddy-boys picking it up from maybe Lindy Hoppers. I think murgs is on the right track.

Ok let's do it. In Masons documentary Fran (RIP) says that the guys were doing kung fu inspired kicks. In the new film it is intimated that kung fu was behind some of the dance moves. In "Who shot Liberty Valence" there is a line that says "when the lie becomes the truth - print the truth". In countless film reviews, I am reading that the dance moves were/are kung fu inspired. Between us we should be able to arrive at the truth, or at least 'a truth' that we can agree on. Firstly, this style of dancing pre-dates the arrival of kung fu to the UK. As a child of about eight or nine (1966) I saw guys dancing like this when my (Wheelie) sisters took me to a local club/coffee bar. I am sure there are guys on this forum who can confirm this. So let's look at alternatives: 1. the dance move was 'picked-up' from various travelling soul stars and glimpses of black Americans dancing on films and newsreels. 2. The move was a progression from the Teddy Boys dancing. Even I remember watching some of those guys kicking and back-dropping in the working men's clubs - whilst I sat under the table with my crisps and bottle of orange. 3. We actually invented it! N. Soul dance is basically free-form jazz dancing with a few basic steps, why could it not be that it just started with some bloke thinking "I need to kick to this break". This has nothing to do with Wigan, etc. We are trying to find out how it started. We need the older guys to chip in on this one. Come on fellas, what's your thoughts?

Exactly mate. Green Hornet was not on Granada TV (if you had one) and we were dancing like this before the seventies. Probably best on another thread eh?

Yeah, I heard Fran mention it too in Mason's documentary. But that doesn't explain why we were doing kicks years before we had even heard of kung-fu.

Finally seen the film (twice) on DVD. Without giving away the plot, all I can say is that the lead character almost exactly mirrored my personal circumstances at that time - even down to the bereavements. I choked-up pretty bad at some scenes. Apart from a few petty details I found it absolutely authentic - why does this myth about kung-fu persist? Elaine and her team are to be congratulated on a fantastic realisation of the scene in those days and applauded for not sugar coating what was, essentially, a means of escapism for many young people at that time. Hats off and thank you to all involved.

I NEVER used aliases. Some of my mates did, but not a lot and it never affected their day-job, much

Elaine. In view of the fact that there are people who don't like your version of history, I have come up with an alternative storyline which can be used as a redux or maybe a follow-up? I donate the outline to you, I am sure that with all your newfound kudos you could pitch this one girl. Let me know if it needs slight changes for authenticity. Spongebob got Sole Spongebob (our hero) is a nice, well adjusted kid from a nice, stable family. Whilst studying for his ‘O’ levels he meets Patrick (gangly looking kid) at the local youth club. Patrick is into “Sole” and a bit of a rebel. Spongebob starts to hang-out with Patrick — with his parents blessing, and together they try to get as much sole as they can and start saving-up to go to Casino Bottom (where all the best sole is/are?). Spongebob finishes his O levels — and does quite well considering. At about the same time Bob and Patrick finally start to go to Casino Bottom and it is fantastic! Patrick dances like he has five legs and Bob is pretty good too and they make lots of friends. Bob meets a girl who doesn’t like Patrick but they manage to work it all out. They both carry-on loving sole forever and when, years later, someone says that there were bad men at Casino Bottom, they both go on Facebook and say it’s not true coz they never met any. Spongebob and Patrick walk off into sunset — fade-out, roll credits. Be brutally honest with me Elaine, watcha think girl?

We used to dream of having ice cubes!

Co Director is Glenn Gunton, used to be Tim Brown until 2012.

Not seen film yet but... From memory most tat's were home-made (mainly prison/borstal) and the odd traditional swallow as has been said. Definitely can't remember any professional ones other than the forces types. "Cheers (big ears)" was pretty common at my school, but being Lancashire it was more likely a straight "Ta". Earring, left ear only, and in 73/4 usually only one. I lived on a large housing estate and it was virtually compulsary to swear from the age of about ten, just to show that you were fuckin' ard. C**t though, was reserved for special occasions and would quite often precede a fight. Only when I moved to London did I hear it used as a term of endearment. Can't wait to see the bloody thing :-)

Guardian again @6:05 Some different clips. https://www.theguardian.com/film/video/2014/oct/17/judge-northern-soul-palo-alto-citizenfour-film-video-reviews

I used to have a friend who was quite wealthy - but he was also quite tight with his money. He used to commission copies of paintings by artists that he liked. One that I remember was an Egon Schiele reclining nude. It was a very good copy - but it looked like pornography. It had lost something in the mix. Similarly with cover versions of some of our music, they tend to fall into two categories: The first is the direct copy and the second is the interpretation. Saying that "If I could only be sure" was a redeeming feature of Paul Weller's album really falls into the first group, he took a great piece of art and copied it. No real brownie points there. A bit like the Schiele copy though, it leaves me cold. Maybe I am just being unfair but I can't really see that he brought anything into the mix. A bit like Lulu singing 'Shout'. I see all these songs a bit like Theophilus P Wildebeeste trying to ape soul singers. Something for Winstanley's playlist maybe. The second group, the interpretation requires less emotional involvment. 'Tainted Love', Soft Cell, etc. What's that got to do with it? Maybe the Brighouse and Rastrick band do a version of 'Time will pass you by', who cares? In the spirit of the post, have a listen to this. Some people try to tell me it's Northern'. Guess what I think? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wT9r7eO35w

Just a bit of fun mate, it's Friday.

Brilliant film by an English man, very different from the book.

I don't expect a Kes, it's her first film ffs. But ANYTHING has gotta be better than Soulboy, Jesus Christ!!

Hee hee, love it

Yes Steve, that's the idea. For once we can slag them off rather than arguing with each other :)

Irish Times - thinks 'Soulboy' is better. Methinks he's written the review on the back of a beer-mat https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/film/northern-soul-review-coogan-bluffs-the-rest-bluster-1.1966883