Chris L

Cab fare from O'Hare to Hotel is + - $45 - share then goes to about $55 so at about $25 a head you're sorted, the distance is only 17 miles. I've got a shared van, they're good fun, you get all sorts of weird and wonderful fellow travellers let alone the nutty drivers

We're off to Chicago for the Soul USA trip - there's 3 of us flying in from Europe (Continent) and Cleveland, Ohio, we have a suite and this will be stuck on the door. We intend to hold all-dayers, all-nighters, soul dancing instruction days, soul food scoffing competitions, "how wide are your baggies" games, there will be a prize for the best KM & IL anecdote, name that snog, slash out the window distance races. There will prizes galore - a pair of Dave Rivers old green leather boots, Alan Day tank top replica, original Ford Transit wing mirror plus many, many more.............. Top prize is this rare album - 100% US original. It will be a riot................. The Torch Angels - London Chapter

Smith Steve lives in Berlin meethinks ??? Anyway any chance you can all those girls from Gloucester that used to frequent the Torch, talk about 'good time gals' What the heck did they used to tell their parents they were doing and where they were - really up front Chris L

We must know each other !! I'm Chris Lalor I lived in Walton for a while................

The only ones I can remember were the Hussey brothers and Abe Malan, it's been a long time, BTW what's your full name ? Chris Lalor

Not a jewel in sight but this baby just keeps going and going...........

Now this one is a 1980s Sekona, bullet, soldier, idiot and rocketproof................... I had to sell I had a couple of watches too many...............

I got a Rotary for my 21st birthday, long...............long....................long time ago...... Wanna know how long ago ?...............................they were singing bye bye Miss American Pie........

I just love the guy on the lefts eyes Just what is he doing ?

Anyone else got anything new? I love those 1980s Sekonda weind-ups I recently bought a couple, they're pretty much soldier-proof. For special ocassions I might put this Titoni on, bought this about a month ago. But I really, really love those 1970s Japanese Seikos & Citizens. These I picked up about 6 weeks ago. :whistling:

The Torch Reunion - Saturday 24th October The venue is 400 yards from Hose Street in Tunstall . The DJs are authentic Torch DJs . The music will be 100% authentic Torch " stopping the horse next door from sleeping " tunes : all the well known sounds plus many more that have been forgotten . Is the DJ line-up already fixed ???

Well thank you Dave most kind well worth a Sam Adams in Chicago, Julian has been threatened with execution should he not turn up.............................. Chris L

My flight gets into O'Hare at 13.00PM local time is anybody wants to share a cab (and in the unlikely event anybody else is flying in from Brussels I'm on American AA89 seat 24D :-)

Have you still got those green leather boots Dave ? If so you could wear them as sort living shrine

Hhmm.....................never been wrong in me life..................

Great idea, also DJs should pay to play records, the venue owners should offer the venue for free, the bar staff should hand over free drinks to anyone still having hair, their own teeth and those that seem to have an ability to walk without the aid of a Zimmer frame..................

Whether that be classic motown, overplayed oldie, rare unknown, Northern, R&B or even godforbid Latin. If its an uptempo tune that is infectious enough youngsters will dance. May be infectious to you but garbage to someone else...............

Exactly "I think" no facts, no figures, just opinions

She's a wonderful person, if she's making a UK trip then well worth going to see.

Looks like we actually do agree, check wat I rote ! Yes you're right all non-UK origin NS scenes have younger fans than the UK based ones, they do tend to be on the fringe of NS and stem from scooter, MOD, skinhead type scenes whereas NS was the main centre of gravity for Brits with the European scenes it tends te be part only. I'd bet a pound to a penny that there are far more NS punters out on a Saturday night that old/young R & R fans, although from my limited knowledge they do seem to very well organised and gravitate to each other giving the impression of being a large cohesive group. Chris L

Nice thought but highly unlikely, most R & R is of a commercial nature, translate that into soul music then you get Motown, so for young people to get converted the venues would need to play that Motownesque type of Northern Soul otherwise they'll get to hear that crappy rare sh** and either leg it or turn into chinstrokers, in any case there'll not be the momentum to move forward en masse. I know there are some dedicated Motown/Soul venues that fall outside the NS scope that do get good attendances from younger (<30 yeras old :-) punters, we should tap into that source. If you play an old Motown or Eddie Floyd single most people of any age will tap their feet and maybe even dance play some dorky NS choon like Troy Dodds - Try my love and they'll screw their faces up like their sucking lemons - that's a fact that needs to be faced. Chris L - he's no lemon

You know I haven't seen that really yet touch the NS much, record prices are still fairly high, it may come but real reason is that a doubtful venue/line-up/music policy will fail in the face of the better quality ones - happens all the time in all businesses

All the dodgy ones are closing for all the normal reasons, nobody is turning up, I went to an all nighter there about 20/25 people there - lost money - can't run anything is it's losing money - economic fact - not rocket science............. Chris L

When we started going we'd sleep in a Ford Transit in the driveway of my Uncle who lived in Lytham St Annes, unfortunately one of my mates lobbed a used condom onto his next door neighbours driveway so we "moved" into the Mecca car park. Apparantly the bloke never spoke to my Uncle ever again.