I think the northern soul scene is still quite popular on the social side etc and has its own particular following ,mores,uniform and music etc,far be it for me to criticise it because its not me nor has been me since the last time i walked out of the casino doors in 81!
The rare soul scenes light still shines bright in my opinion and both these worlds are a million miles apart !!! The role of the record collector should never dimish imo,the last Burnley when the music was blasting and i was actualy dancing to Andy Dysons Paul Vann track i felt f--king great best sense of belonging ive had for a while,if I get out every 2 months to a upfront do im happy,I do feel theres something out there for everyone to be honest however and hopefully as we all get a bit older and wiser alot of the ego will go out of it cos lets face it when alot of the returnees tried to get a foothold on the collecting scene and failed woefully it was because "you cant buy respect on this scene if your buying big sounds and ignoring the very roots of it all ie the tens of thoushands of incredible tunes out there for the cost of a tenner!
Long live the venues that encourage OVO and leave the djs enough room to play the many cheaper discoveries on the scene that need to be aired ,theres still so much mileage out there to break quality not rarity,passion not exspensive fashion !