Kathryn Magson

Betty La Vette every time for me!

Love it - thank you! Memories of my misspent youth come flooding back.......good times & I'd do it all again in a heartbeat!

I run a small event along with a mate - about 130 in under normal circumstances - but I think we're probably looking at restricting numbers to about 60 when we can eventually get going again. We will just about break even on that - room hire & DJs etc to pay - if my pal & I can manage a couple of drinks each out of it we'll be more than happy. Just to see everybody having a good night out will be enough of a reward - no idea when that will be though...….

I'll feel nervous about it, but I'll be out at soul do's as soon as I feel it's safe to do so - I hope I won't be the only one wearing a hazmat suit & goggles...………. & I'll run a mile if anyone rushes to hug me...….

I've just come across some nice old photos taken inside 1960s Bradford mod club The String O'Beads - I'm not in any of the pics though - most of my all-nighters were in Manchester.

I didn't know Skippy very well - only to say hi to - she always seemed to be happy & smiling when I saw her at soul do's. RIP Skippy - yet another very sad loss to the soul scene.

The Top 20 was quite a small club Drew - think it probably only held about 100 or so at the most - it had a small dance floor & a tiny coffee bar upstairs. The nighters weren't normally very busy - most of us went there on Sunday mornings after a night at the Wheel. At least the Top 20 dance floor was wooden - unlike the Wheel where the floor in the DJ room was flagstones & in the main room I think it was bitumen! No wonder we all have bad backs & knackered knees! I remember reading a couple of years ago that Clarence (Jamaican guy who used to DJ at the Top 20) is still DJing, but can't remember where - somewhere in Mancs I think.

1966 & only JUST turned 15 when I started going to the Twisted Wheel. I normally caught the X12 bus from Bradford - cost 5/- & took 1hr 45 mins to go over the Pennines to Manchester. If I was skint - a not uncommon occurrence back then as I was living in a bedsit by the time I turned 16 - I used to hitch it there & back along with a mate. Wouldn't feel safe for 2 teenage girls to do that nowadays, but when you're 16 you don't see the dangers in life do you? Other clubs I went to were The Plebs (Halifax) Birdtrap (near Burnley) Golden Disc ( Keighley) Lord Jim's (Huddersfield) Blue Note & Top 20 (both in Manchester) & String o'Beads (Bradford) There might have been others, but these are the ones I remember - the Wheel was always my favourite & I was there most weekends. It was just the BEST time to be a teenager I had some fab times - saw some of the best bands - I'd do it all again in a heartbeat! PS - just reminiscing - I vaguely remember going to Halifax - squashed god knows how many of us into a battered old Ford Anglia - when the exhaust dropped of halfway there - oops! It had no door handles inside - just bits of string to pull to close the doors - & the wipers didn't work either......Happy days.....

My son lives in Taiwan & masks are compulsory there too. Incoming flights are restricted - none at all allowed from a long list of heavily-infected countries (UK being one of them) & all incoming passengers from permitted flights automatically have to go into 14 days quarantine. My son is working pretty much as normal, but by law has to record his temperature twice daily & he could also be stopped at random by officials to check his temperature. All students ( he lectures at uni) have to use hand sanitizer several times a day. There are also extremely hefty fines for anyone breaking the quarantine laws - I read of an 18yr-old caught going out clubbing when he should have been in quarantine & he was fined a million Taiwan dollars. Their per capita infection/death rates are negligible compared to ours here in the west & life goes on - not quite as normal - but at least because of the restrictions in place Taiwan has taken control of the virus, rather than allowing the virus to take hold of Taiwan.

I've had quite a long chat with the mate that I run this event with & we have reluctantly made the decision to cancel this month's event. I know a lot of events are still going ahead - I also know that some of our punters will be very disappointed & probably feel we are over-reacting - but in our minds health & safety - not only punters, but DJs, door staff & the bar staff too - HAS to take priority. I just couldn't live with myself if I thought that anyone had contracted this bloody lurgy at my event & then taken it home to pass on to other (maybe more vulnerable) family members. Stay safe everyone & hope to see you all when this thing has passed.

Just seen the latest UK figures for today - 590 so far - up 130 since yesterday & still a long way to go. This government has failed us enormously - there should have been airport checks from day one on absolutely everyone entering the country & isolating anyone who seems in the least bit ill. Instead they are STILL freely allowing flights in from anywhere & everywhere totally unchecked. China has a lot to answer for!

Worrying time for you & your family - fingers crossed for you that your stepson's test comes back negative.

I have an event scheduled for the end of this month - debating with myself whether to cancel or not, but I think I'll wait until nearer the time to make a decision. With a bit of luck things could hopefully improve by then...…..somehow I doubt it. I really don't want to feel I'm letting the punters down - & I know all the DJs will think I'm being a wimp - but everybody's health & safety HAS to come first. Everyone involved - punters, DJs, bar staff, cleaners - are all at risk. I'm an old fart & very much in the "vulnerable" category too - I will be sitting on the door accepting the door tax as people come in, so in a very dodgy spot. It isn't only my call - I run the event along with a mate so it will have to be a joint decision. Fingers crossed as they say......…hoping for the best but fearing the worst.... I reckon by then the government might have taken it out of our hands & put the country on lockdown. We've only just got it going too - this only our second event - the first one in January was a massive success so really reluctant to cancel, but if it comes to the crunch I think we will have to

I'd say you're thinking of Sam Evans too - lovely woman & a FAB dancer!

Well said Frankie - this thread makes for very interesting reading! Hope he drops out this week though - not happy about it all being on prime-time telly! Channel 4 & to a very small audience in the early hours is one thing, but Strictly Come Dancing & now The Greatest Dancer?? NOOOOOOOO!!

Does it REALLY matter how anyone dances? I like to see a good dancer - at a venue & male or female - but what I like most is seeing a floor full of people - good dancers or not - enjoying the music. The issue here for me is that NS is being portrayed way too often on the mass media & that brings in too much unwanted attention. I cringe every time the term Northern Soul crops up on the telly! I've been at events both as a visitor & also involved on the promotional side & seen problems caused by "outsiders" - they're drunk - drinks/handbags etc on the dance floor - moaning that they don't know any of the music - "Haven't you got Bernadette...…...?" I put the blame for all this fair & square on NS cropping up on prime-time telly - The Greatest Dancer is the most recent one. Oh for the days when no-one had heard of it apart from the few of us who were really into it all!

I'm on here because I love my soul music - just saddened to see some of the handbaggers getting into it since it's been mainstreamed by the media & calling themselves "soulies". I was at a soul night a couple of weeks ago, when a woman next to me on the dance floor fell over - I went to pick her up, but couldn't manage on my own as she was a dead, drunken weight. Her husband/partner came to help me get her on her feet - the next few times she fell over various other people in the room picked her up. After the 8th time she was sprawled out on the floor everyone in the room was fed up & left her where she was - just danced around her. Eventually her husband tried to pick her up but couldn't get her on her upright, so he picked up her feet & towed her across the dance floor - flat on her back - to where she & her friends were sitting. Another drunken handbagger at the same event was trying to salsa with a huge Santa that was standing on the stage & almost dragged him down on top of her. This was a nice venue - it was my first visit & not very local to me, but all these drunks spoiling the night was enough to put me off making the effort to go there again. Huge shame - the DJs were good & the music was great - just spoiled by the non-soul crowd that were there. Not the first time I've seen a good night marred by people not on the soul scene - they see it on the telly & think "oooh this northern soul looks good...…..." I really don't care what people are wearing...….how well they can dance...…....or that they like a drink...…I'm certainly not tee-total......I just want a good night out around civilized people who love the music & appreciate the whole scene as much as I do.

Well said Steve - I still get out to plenty of soul nights, but like you I'm picky about where I go. I don't hit the floor like I used to, but still like a bit of a shuffle now & again & I love to see a full floor of people enjoying the music. It always saddens me to see it on telly - I've been to a few soul nights recently where non-soul crowd were there - some embarrassingly drunk - & I blame it on Northern being in focus so often on mainstream telly. I've no objection to new/ younger faces being on the scene, but some just don't understand it all & will never fit in will they?

I clicked like on Moxey's post - didn't really mean I actually like it - just that sadly I agree with him. It's all become way too commercial for me - Northern is now the new pop music & not the underground scene I used to know & love. I don't even say that I like Northern any more - 60 s soul - yes; R&B - yes; rare soul - yes; but Northern??? I still love the music, but not the way the scene has gone. Like Moxey says - it's a joke now - I know others who feel the same way.