Seano

Just spotted this on today's Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/oct/12/soul-survivor-gloria-scott-tina-would-say-why-does-gloria-always-talk-back-to-ike

A quick search didn't turn this up so hopefully I'm not doubling up on a posting I couldn't find here. This arrived in yesterday's post, via a message I saw on Facebook. On Creative Soul, Don Bryant 2 excellent sides, with 'A world like that' the A side but an equally great B side of his self-penned 'It was jealousy', the same song that was recorded by Otis Clay: https://creativesoulcouk.bigcartel.com/product/don-bryant-a-world-like-that-it-was-jealousy

Thought people might find these photos from the 1980's in today's Guardian of interest. In particular there are two of Mod revivalists at one of the regular Friday Northern nights at Notre Dame Hall just off Leicester square in central London in 1983. I used to go to these and play some of my records in the opening hour; it was a good sized venue and you used to get a good mix of people attending, not just the Mods. https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2022/oct/07/looking-for-trouble-1980s-youth-culture-in-pictures

Just listening to their 2018 CD 'Half Mile Harvest'. My wife got it for her birthday, she's not sure where she'd heard of them put popped it on her Amazon list. It's a very good listen, various tracks definitely put you in mind of Southern Soul, including as you say, the lead singer sounding a lot like Otis Redding. Other tracks a bit more country, but all really well put together.

Mine arrived yesterday too - didn't have time to open it so looking forward to that later!

After seeing the article about Ikea and vinyl storage and a turntable, I thought people might be interested in this offer from Richer Sounds. If you are a 'VIP' member (free and easy to join) you can get one of these for £99 instead of £199. Just while stocks last. https://www.richersounds.com/project-primary-e-black.html

Better late than never I guess! Looks interesting, but sad to see that 45s are seemingly an afterthought, as always in terms of mainstream views on vinyl. Admittedly this shot in the article is from the existing Kallax range, but I didn't spot anything in the graphics of the forthcoming OBEGRÄNSAD designs that caters for them:

My Tomangoes arrived today - great sound, and an informative flyer insert too. Thanks guys.

My wife saw them too, at the Orchid Ballroom in Purley - long before I met her! Sad to hear this news, some great music.

I've always rated this one, though don't know that it ever got played out:

They finally went on sale late last night. Looking forward to my Tomangoes.

Both records sound really good, but as with other comments, the Tomangoes really does do it. The flip sounds great; I always thought the version on my Grapevine copy was superb, and this is not just a tweak away, but a whole new take on the track.

A great listen - thanks for posting this. As an aside, I've come across the line "You got my nose wide open" in several other songs too (I can't even recall in the listing above - was it in "What am I gonna do about you girl"?). What is it taken to mean? Is it just along the lines of "I'm hyper alert, interested in you"? Any ideas where it came from originally? Was it fairly current street talk or an old saying?

Great idea Chalky - I haven't been able to go in a long time but knew Eddie would have picked out some great choices. Shall listen to this right now! Thanks fellas

Phew - thought I might have missed it!

Thanks for posting that link Chalky. Any idea when the Tomangoes and James Lately releases will be available?

Good to know that he did live long enough to give us his own take on his story via his book 'How Sweet it is'.

Tremendous stuff Mike. A great site for fantastic music to be discovered and shared.

It started out as a flat Kapp in Yorkshire....

On a weirdly connected note, the original swastika was an ancient symbol that I believe was associated with yoga, amongst other things. My wife, who trained as a yoga teacher in recent years, was exploring various positions with cranked arms and kneeling on one knee, whilst teaching online due to covid. I happened to notice that at one point as she moved her arms at the elbows up and down she ended up suddenly in the swastika shape. That move didn't make the cut, and never will. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swastika

My sister sent me a picture of this float, noting the same thing about this symbol. Hadn't seen it before but despite never having been to the Wheel I knew immediately that it wasn't the one associated with the club.

Just had a look. Daptone have copies at $8 but shipping estimated starting at $18. Rough Trade have an option to be notified when it comes back into stock.

Interesting reaction from producer Joseph Patel in regard to the award being overshadowed by the slap and also the insult by Chris Rock in introducing the film too: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/mar/31/summer-of-soul-producer-criticises-will-smith-and-chris-rock-oscars

I think it was 1975 when I got into Northern via the Winter Gardens in Banbury. People who were already travelling to places like Wigan and previously the Torch and Wheel were bringing it all back to little towns like ours. They managed to persuade the Saturday night DJs to play a few records of choice now and then, and would all dance in an area together in a way that you were either amazed by or reacted aggressively to. For me, obviously amazed; but you did get the other side of people being twats with things like flicking cigarette stubs where people were dancing, splashing drink, or just walking around to make it difficult to dance. A fair few of us were drawn to the music and style that these people highlighted, and began to try and emulate the dance styles and find out more. All very much like the Youth Club scene in the film, Northern Soul. At the time, as a late teenager, I thought it was all completely new; new music, new styles of dancing, fashions, everything. I was surprised as time passed to see that pretty much all of it was drawing on the past in so many ways. But in terms of the dancing and a generic style.... Back in the mid 70s I spent a year or two trying to perfect what I thought was the style of the day (and my knees are paying the price today!). But I think that like most people in that period, I transitioned fairly quickly to feeling that the variations in how people were dancing was a good thing, and began to be a bit freer with how I danced too. I'm sure that to anyone outside I'd have just looked like anyone else on the dance floor, but within the scene I think we all began to find subtle ways of dancing in an individual style. The walking and stepping style needs a little unpicking I think. There was an element of facing in one direction and shuffling side to side, but then (and now) there has always been a style of the shuffle moving round, sometimes in a steady circular change, at others moving partly in one clockwise direction but then, sometimes unexpectedly, switching to the opposite. Obviously with all styles of upright dance, there was always the spin, the classic backdrop, and athletic extras. I never mastered the spin ( though I tried!), I did manage backdrops back in the day, and even up to the early 2000s I could kick up in the air and drop down to a sort of kneel. But the walk and shuffle is the key I suppose. It was fundamental to the dancing of the mid-70s, and maybe earlier, and right through to now, it remains the core of how we all respond to our music and allows us to enjoy a much wider range of tempos with regard to dancing as individuals. We don't have to be blasting at full speed, nor do we have to feel we need to ask a partner to slow dance, we can just go with the feel of the track. One aspect of the 'area' based style of Northern Soul dancing that has always pleased me, is the positive social aspect of not only trying to avoid physically clashing with other dancers on the floor, but taking care to tweak how you're moving to avoid crashing into each other. Also the social niceties of acknowledging a person if you do end up bumping into them and sort of singing and mouthing "sorry". What other music scene has that built in?

Not sure what happened to that photo....