Timillustrator

New Century has an amazing sprung dance floor, one of the best anywhere.

I heard this a few weeks ago, thought it was AI, still not sure it isn't. If it was a real band then surely they'd be in the video rather than a cheaply assembled load of clips that would take about 20 minutes to do.

He was at Stafford on Saturday night

Bob Sinclar baffles me, yes, white French DJ with a really below average House record but in certain venues goes down a storm. Curiously they seem to play absolutely no other House records whatsoever, then again random rock, pop, Rock n Roll and disco records seem to fill the floor too.

It's not bad is it, but something about the drums sounds off to me, the lyrics too. But yeah if you heard that playing out somewhere you wouldn't immediately guess it was AI would you.

If you ask that sort of question in this forum that is the kind of answer you will get. TBH people have been recording cover versions of soul for at least 60 years in an attempt to make it into the mainstream so one more isn't going to elect an enthusiastic response. I find it interesting though that even when megastars like Kylie and Bruce Springsteen record cover versions it seems to have absolutely zero impact on the soul scene and this will inevitably be the same. Good for the original composers though, they or their families might at least get some decent royalties for once. The odd cover version does also get played at more mainstream soul events, thinking mainly of that awful Stock Aitken Waterman version of The Love I Lost, which people seem to like.

Yes, there was something about the Four Vandals - I think the harmonies, or part of the production which sounded absolutely not 1960's to me. But AI versions take no real effort so I think someone's going to try.

There's a few on Spotify already, mainly jokey stuff. It's vaguely interesting in it's way. Interestingly I think that there's more of an eventual market for it in Northern Soul than many other places - if you could get something that sounds authentic you could do what Ian Levine tried to to with The Four Vandals and try and pass it off as a newly discovered tape or something. Now that would be quite interesting.

Absolutely my 23 year old son has just finished University in Nottingham this year, he's actually quite a soul fan (well black music in general fan) and wen't to a couple of soul do's in pubs and one at Rough Trade Records but he was never going to trek out to Basford, or Mapperley Plains or Bilsthorpe to a do in a social club full of people in their 50's or 60's.

Good for them! AFAIAC if people in their 20's discover this music anywhere it's a win win. People like Deptford Northern Soul Club haven't paid their dues to the scene and don't fit in with the old guard so be it, but these kids are pretty unlikely to stumble across some esoteric Northern Club so if it means the music lives on in some way it's fine. Better than all the social club top 500, disco, reggae nights which are patronised by the 60+ brigade.

Blimey, Friday Night is quite regularly played in the Midlands and always a floor filler.

A few years ago I went to a fairly well known all-nighter and the opposite occurred. Around 1am a DJ came on and played the most mainstream top 500 set ever - Julian Covey, House For Sale, Benny Troy, possibly even Billy Ocean and it totally cleared the floor, hilarious. Totally the case of booking the wrong DJ.

There are literally hundreds of mainstream social club events out there, with constantly busy dancefloors playing the top 500 plus a bit of disco, pop etc. good for them but not something of interest to the vast majority of people on here or generally people under 30. True, some of the specifically "underplayed" nights have little atmosphere either. Personally I like a mix of the two 50% mainstream, 50% I've never heard of, mix it up and keep everyone happy, sadly that rarely occurs. There are a few events though with busy dancefloors, a total mix of ages and little in the way of the top 500. And they are a real treasure.

Just because it's not attempting to copy the original much