Hooker1951

Hi Chatty Very innocent in a lot of respects , Wearing your heart on your sleeve and having a good time no hidden agendas, just loving and living life to the full without harming a soul or a Soulie LoL, same as in all the venues before and all the venues that followed, ML

Give it a rest for Gods sake, there were better things before the Casino and much better since, and im from Wigan worked n the door at the Casino before the Allniters and slept in the Casino when I’d no where else to live, if you enjoyed it great, good luck to you and cherish the memories, it was their first rite of passage into the scene but maybe I’m cynical Rose tinted glasses come to mind, there has been a lot good music played since ML

Here,s another 20 of the cuff, Marv Johnson Oh how I miss you baby, Donny elbert little piece of leather, Capitols cool jerk, James brown sex machine, Eddie Floyd things are getting better, Jonny Johnson breaking down the walls of heartache, Brenton Wood , gimme a little sign , Judy Clay William bell private number, Arthur Conway Sweet soul music , funky broadway, Joe benson n Peggy Scott dancing with the soul shake on, Edwin Starr War, Jimmy Ruffin Baby you’ve got it, Jackie Wilson higher n higher, Pj Proby Nick hokey, Miracles goin to a go go, Chairman of the board , singing chairman f the board, Ben e king Amor, Tams hey girl don’t bother me, velvelletes needle in a haystack , I could go on forever KR Mick L

They can have the so called best and rare records in the world if they don’t play them in the right order for the crowd in front of them their spot is meaningless and forgotten you might remember a record but not the spot, A spot lasts an hour not 5 minutes , I’ve said it before and I will say it again it’s not the jokes it’s the way you tell them. KR Mick L

I can give you twenty records right of the cuff that were played on the waltzer I worked on in 69 70 and 71 they were Boogaloo party, Flamingos, Going to a happening Tommy Neil, Breakout Mitch Ryder, Soulful dress Sugar pie de Santo,. She’ s looking good Wilson Picket version,Twsting the night away Sam Cooke, Question mark and the mysterions 96 tears, Eddie Floyd Knock n wood, Lee Dorsey Ride your pony, Chiffons He’s so fine, and Sweey talking guy,, Checkmates Proud Mary. Otis reading I can’t turn you Loose, Guns of Navorone, and Al Capone Prince buster, Roy C shotgun Wedding , Four Tops Sugar pie Honey bunch and Same old Song, Temptations Cloud nine , I can’t get next to you, and Ball of confusion , could go on forever, Fantastic memories KR Mick L

What Russ w never discovered was his wallet to pay people that he owed, there has been 42 years of much better Soul since the Casino closed its doors and I’m from Wigan ML

Hi Ian good choice and add turning my heartbeat up a pop record if their was one no soul in it whatsoever, sorry if that upsets anybody, but a top of the pops record for sure ML

Great tune Martin it will last forever ML

I used to say I’m Coming home in the morning but it was always the day after hope your well Martyn Mick

There is nothing worse at at a Soul Night or all niter or all dayer than a bad sound system, What used to amaze me was that most people seemed completely oblivious of it, No matter what medication I had took I was always aware if the music didn’t sound right, it used to annoy the life out of me and spoil what should have been always a special time, if the essence of what Soul music is not right how can anything else be right, KR ML

Russ might swap his copy like Indiana jones in the film and the ceiling in the shopping centre might collapse on his head KR ML

There were far better Soul clubs before the Casino and there have been far many better after it shut, For the first couple of years 73 to 75 it served a purpose for youth graduating from youth clubs to adults in a night club environment , for them it was a great experience , but for the old heads who were already on the scene ,ie, Twisted Wheel veterans it was a step backwards, when the young ones caught up maturing and still loving the music it made for a much better scene, Stronger Music, more choice, and still young enough and fit to enjoy it, New discoveries of forgotten greats, and a chance for the proper NS fans to ditch the Joe 90,s of this scene, they have in real terms not really been relevant for the last 42 years unless they are stuck in your head, As regard NS at the proms the singers and orchestra did a fine job at trying to replicate the tunes , but the original always will and be better , how can you compare the atmosphere of a dingy dark club sweat dripping of the ceiling, whizzing of your head listening to those original tunes blasting and not having a care in the world? God Bless Mick L

That was a bloody good effort to get it right ML

I’m afraid it’s the time when all the part timers will come out of the woodwork, We all know so it shouldn’t really bother us, pretenders,part timers, phoneys really their just leaves off a tree, by October most of them will have disappeared again, ML

The All nighters I went to and the Soul nights in the mid to late sixties played plenty of tracks that later became NS classics or good club Soul, to us at the time it was just great music, You would expect to hear loads of Stax, Atlantic, and Motown interspersed with James Brown , sugar pie de santo, olympics Jackie Lee , Bob n Earl, flamingoes, Brenton wood ,Showstoppers ,etc etc the difference them days there was nearly always a live band on ie , Geno Washington n the Ram jam band and a Irish group called the Wheels who performed live doing their version of American Rn B and Soul, they made for very atmospheric experiences very full on of course if you went to the Wheel they had top artists on from the USA every other week, But it was a pretty big scene all round the country at that time, You would too get tracks played the likes of Len Barry , and Lou Christie a touch of blue eyed Soul, Roy Head was in the mix in those days too, everybody has their own time with the love of Soul music and their own opinions that’s what is s fascinating about it , It’s like being on a big Highway and you come off exploring the A and B roads find what your looking for and get back on the Highway as long as we are all heading in the right direction or similar we won’t catch any harm. Although some went on the A roads then B roads and got stuck in a cul de sac, but the Music Carries on Regardless Kind Regards Mick L

Sounds incorporated always did a good job backing top artists ie, Little Richard , Jerry Lee, Gene Vincent etc etc always sounded strong backing artists without stealing their Glory obviously in Britain ML

Karl is right, I’ve asked hundreds of people who visited Wigan Casino in its hey day which was probably 1973 till 75 I called in there a few times and the music then weren’t bad but the crowd for me at the time mostly consisted of 14 to 18 olds few and far between was there anybody older than 21 so for me being around 24 at the time it didn’t quite suit, when I called in the odd times between 75 and 1980 the music was dire and cheesy it just looked like a giant youth club open all night, I guess I was spoiled going to more adult type clubs from 1965 thinking I was in the inn crowd, Anyway roll the clock on to the mid 1980,s the kids from the Casino matured the ones that carried on through still loving the scene demanded stronger and more Soulful music, and for me a much better and stronger scene, the lightweights got left behind, in no way am I knocking the youth that loved and it was for many there coming of age in music and life itself , I posted a thread on here a few years ago Called ( What was your Golden Years of NS) it got a good response with many views, The magic that those kids felt in the early Casino can not be overstated so good on them, my point is that by the early 1990,s the scene to me was at its zenith , People were still young enough to do all nighters they knew what they wanted, loads of good records had been discovered and combined with the real strong oldies to me anyway it made for a better night, getting back to Karl,s question the people asked said they enjoyed their experience of the Casino but loved the scene better now, There was Soul before the Casino even in the Casino I was there and for me anyway there has been better NS since 1981 when it closed, The music if it’s good will always rule, And before anybody starts telling me about the Casino I used to sleep in the club when I worked there, LoL when I had no fixed abode. Cheers Mick L

For the past 70 years every time a music genre has been discovered, ie, Rock n Roll, RnB, Punk , Dance, etc etc, The original sounds are the best, then along that come the plagiarists , the people who water the original sounds down to suit their tastes sometimes, for a entirely different audience than the ones who loved the real deal and in some cases paying homage to the music that they loved or to make a quick pound and fame, Sometimes they might just want to entertain, We who know what the real thing is are some of us LoL, get aggravated if it’s not to our standards, What I’ve learned is that not all people hear the same thing with music it’s the same tune or noise but it effects different people different ways, if it makes them happy who are we to argue, My take on all this topic contrary to what I’ve said above is what I stated in another thread a week or so ago is Somethings are better left unsaid and Somethings are better left alone, LoL, Big example of when it doesn’t work in 1956 Little Richard singing Tuttie Fruitte and Long tall Sally Original Pat Boone singing Tuttie fruttie and Long tall Sally copy version Guess which sold most copies, the problem is their is more of them than us and this will go on forever like it has done the last 70 years , perhaps we should quietly celebrate we know best without getting angry about it, Take Care Mick Lyons

Somethings are better left unsaid, And Somethings are better left alone ML,

We are all doomed again,! . This topic is more frightening than watching the exorcist alone coming down on gear after a nighter, KR Mick L

Yes Fairgrounds in the mid 60,s onwards were certainly the place to hear the Soul music we all love, we played all the current American imports which were the big club soul sounds of the time, and would you believe sounds that were re released 5 or 6 years later and became big on the NS scene, The waltzer I worked on became known as the Soul castle in the north west, the mono sound blasting and the blue and green lighting with strobe lights made a fantastic atmospheric experience and of course those days you were still open till sometimes 1 am in the morning in some towns, Magic times, Great memories, and another great facet of Soul music presented in its great history KR Mick Lyons

How about just going to bed ML

For those who still like a bit of gear (Keep on Chewing) ML