Goldsoul

Never find a bargain unless you are lucky getting the up and coming turntable hit before the masses lock on.

Mine in more recent times is Andy Fisher on Fat Fish. Discovered in the Baby Clothes section EBay.com. That'll do nicely at $250

Maybe we should go right back to the 60s and reintroduce Payola    

I'm happy to play Alan Freed 

Of course, a promoter could book a DJ who actually owns a copy of the Young Brothers disc on Soul Power.

That way they might even get to hear some of their other records, possibly fairly exclusive, which are in the same vein.

Then we'd have a show worth travelling for.

I think Ted answered it Peter. Regardless of my personal taste ala The Young Bros, our customers make the call. Which is probably why Stoke etc are busy.

If one of our DJs gets behind a 60's newie and the patrons buy into it.... Fantastic.

However good they are.

I just got a tape through of a storming mid 60s out and out Northern track. Once it's cleared I'll play it at the 100 Club but following Matt's thread I'm wondering if many people will get as big a buzz from it as I do.

I think the oldies crowd are mainly happy to relive their youth and if a new Frank Wilson record were discovered, probably wouldn't bother to listen. The rarer soul crowd don't seem to get excited about tape discoveries as they are never going to be able to collect them in original form and when they get issued on a UK 45 don't bother with it because its not vintage US pressing. Even when records go on to the anniversary single the DJs don't usually pick up on them. I remember Richard Searling and many others raving about Dean Courtney's 'Today Is My Day', describing it as an ultimate Wigan record, yet once it was on 45 nobody bothered, and that was with Sharon Scott's sublime 'Putting My Heart Under Lock & Key' on the flip.

Records like Luther Ingram 'Oh Baby Don't You Weep' did go big but it was mainly down to the mod scene rather than the Northern. Oddly a lot of the new 100 Clubbers seem keener on the funk edge or R&B than the classic Northern sound. They are open-minded and enjoy it all but their preferences are different to those of us who grew up through the 70s.

I'm not bemoaning it, just observing and putting a plug in for people to pick up on some of the old Kent and 100 Club anniversary singles and actually play them out; I think a lot of them deserve some spins and they would be new classic Northern for dancers who must be bored with the top 500 by now.

Top 500....... I don't mean to be derogatory but 300 of anyone's 500 are rarely played. It's a Top 200 now with a few recent turntable hits like Jonathan Capree thrown in.

500 songs at a Soul night/major All Nighter...doesn't happen anymore.

The Top 500 is a banded about  dated phrase.

On a positive note, I do hope the Young Brothers sold, as it's the absolute business.

In the 8ts there was a meeting of the, I think, three top promoters at the time, whwere they managed to thrash it out & come to a compromise. Thing is could the amount of die hard All Nighter goers sustain one central venue, I'm not sure there is enough any more.

Best Russ

Russ- Here's the news......the scene is very healthy. If you want a 'big do' there's plenty of Stoke, Blackpool's around. Mid sized hits- Lots. Smaller, underplayed, rarer etc- Lots.

No reason to question anything about Northern Soul. It's all good.

Ian just called us to say 'Thanks from the bottom of his heart' for all the good wishes.

Sadly Ian cannot make the launch night of his new Cutting Edge promotion at the Hammersmith Club, W6 on Sept 6, but hopes you might try it.

Like the record even more now...gud gal, and happy memories

...but dont you just hate it at Soul nights, when the divs, sing "Talk to me, Talk to me...Grrrr

Manchester's Steve 'Siz' Sale discovered it apparently.

Andy was my employee in 1977 and a really good fella.

His talents were understated.

I too miss him and a timely reminder from Micky Boyle and John Poole as to what a good guy he was.

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The story is that Ian Levine and Motown songwriter Sylvia Moy did a version that was far too hi-n-r-g. I was asked to Soul it up so to speak.

I think it's a decent job. Yvonne Vernee sounds great on it.

I produced it with the late Clive Scott.

QUOTE Jocko.... (a) I didn't trust the promoter to pull it off, (b) And if he did I didn't trust him to, provide value for money, or to make sure artists received all of the rewards, or even the majority. Yes if I got all of that wrong, I lost, but there were lots of reasons behind these decisions and discussions, none being due to a scene I was leaving behind at the time.

Our reply;  You got it wrong big time. Four SoultripUSA's, over 200 Artists, writers, producers shared in the success. A fantastic achievement due to them and folks like Dave Moore, Alison Nightingale, Dave Ferguson, Kev Farley, Mick H, Chris Dalton, Andy 'Tats' Taylor, Richard Searling,  and countless others who helped drive it forward. 

Kenny Gamble in person and Berry Gordy by phone thanked me for honouring those artists who attended........

Why you would not trust someone who organises things properly is beyond me and quite frankly as insulting as it gets.

Whenever members of the public see aggressive disrespectful comments from hardcore commentators like yourself, they tend to run a mile.....generally in Goldsoul's and similar operators direction.

ITS quite obvious even to those who don't want to see that some promoter Dj,s from the 1970's northern scene went missing in the 1980's and early 1990,s and only came back when money signs appeared. I am not saying this wrong, just stating facts whereas other promoters and Dj,s soldiered on regardless to keep what they loved going until today.

N. GOD BLESS M.L

Both Richard Searling and I were not missing at all. RS was championing NEW Soul music and also promoting Parkers and the Ritz, Manchester.  As for me, I owned a record store for 3 years selling Northern, promoted some local nights occasionally before starting the Avant, Oldham. A very successful Soul night from 1989. The pair of us were both on Sunset 102 in Manchester in 1988 again...playing Northern.

The fact the revival started to kick in circa 1990 isn't our fault, we merely took up the reigns and improved standards for the regular non hardcore fan.

Let's get things into perspective financially speaking.......were you there to help when I suffered losses ie 30k Skegness Weekender 1980, 10k SoultripUSA 2011? And many other bits of do's  dropping a few hundred here and there.

This 'they're only in it for the money'  is straightforward mischief making and utter bollox. We are fans as well as business people and have been for over 40 years!

My good friend Chris King, arguably the best promoter in the 80's quit being so by the early 90's, citing the abuse he took for 'money making'. He tenders apologies for bringing in the Ric Tic Revue and many others.

STREWTH!

I'll refer you to Jocks post mate as I'd just be repeating more or less what's already said. Although I will say it's probably not a hard job to have a word with your mates or local lads like Rob Marriot, Andy Whitmore, Jim Wensiora etc to find out what's big and will sell. Like I said earlier when I dropped off I got tapes, CDs, phone calls with music all the time but was throughly out of it then and can't see a reason to pretend otherwise

Probably the most disrespectful post so far....... Remind me take you on in a Soul quiz......First to 50 and you get 40 start..........  DISGUSTED!

INSERTED COMMENTS below........  Apologies for SHOUTING my replies.....

I think you will find most people think  that the ethos of the Kings Hall was the beginning of the end for most people from that period, to be honest.  And the multitude of same old same old that is following your business model has killed anything like a progressive free scene, although obviously small pockets continue the fight. It may be popular but its far more in common with my Dads British Legion Sunday afternoon than anything I ever did on the niter scene.  (I DOUBT MICK H, ANDY DYSON etc WOULD AGREE WITH YOU. THE KINGS HALL STOKE IS A FANTASTIC ALL NIGHTER -SO I DISAGREE)

 

I am desperately trying not to get into direct debate with you, as we know how it ends, but the naive part of me thinks if you want to engage in stuff like this, you must have a wider interest(I DO-I COLLECT SOUL RECORDS AND HAVE DONE SINCE 1968). However why is it all about your venues, that's exactly the point I am making. As always its all about numbers and pounds for you. If you only know about your world why try and have a dig at others(IT'S NOT MEANT THAT WAY BELIEVE ME). For lots of us it was about something different, maybe if you listen for once you might even remember the you of 1974.  (GOLDSOUL ARE PROMOTERS AND I HAVE SEPARATED PERSONAL FEELINGS FROM BUSINESS. WE LISTEN TO FANS OF THE MUSIC AND ACT ACCORDINGLY. I FEEL WE DO IT WELL AND TAKE ALL COMMENTS ON BOARD. WHEN OUR VENUES ARE EMPTY I WILL START TO GET WORRIED.)

 

The sad thing is you do your thing well(THANKS........), and as much as its the complete opposite of what I would ever want to do, there is a place for it. Your constant arrogance and bullying, and snide digs however just makes it  impossible to consider your opinion valid(I DISAGREE, IF THERES ANY BULLYING PARTICULARLY ON THIS FORUM I THINK MIKE KNOWS WHO THEY ARE. I AM A FAN AND BUSINESS PERSON SO MAKE NO APOLOGIES.  And the USA things are a good point, lots of people raved about the artists, an equal amount, myself included, refuse to go because you promoted it(SHAME YOU DIDN'T GO. HUNDREDS HAD A WHALE OF A TIME AND MET FABULOUS ARTISTS. THAT'S WHAT WE DO....TRY AND MAKE OUR BELOVED NORTHERN...ENTERTAINING, FRIENDLY AND ENJOYABLE).

So why don't you step back from this, add what you know from your knowledge(ALWAYS DO..READ THE MARBOO, JOBELL ORCH AND MANY OTHER CONTRIBUTIONS TO THIS SITE, and be honest enough to say what you don't know, cut out the self promotion(CAN'T DO THAT....WE ARE PROMOTERS PLUS I HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY ABOUT A SCENE I HAVE BEEN ON FOR 42 YEARS.)  and it might be possible to debate with you. (APOLOGIES IF YOU FEEL IN ANYWAY THE POST WIGAN ERA HAS BEEN DISRESPECTED. AS STATED NUMEROUS TIMES, THE 80'S ARE AN IMPORTANT PART OF THE MAKE-UP OF THE SCENE. IT'S GREAT TO SEE MUSIC FROM THAT DECADE BECOME POPULAR WITH A WHOLE NEW ARMY OF FANS. VENUES LIKE THE 100 CLUB, STAFFORD AND MANY OTHERS THAT BROKE NEW SOUNDS SHOULD BE PROUD TO SEE THEM BEING ENJOYED ON A BIGGER STAGE)

 

TO REPEAT.....I sincerely hope the media start to cover the areas of the scene that you and others feel so strongly about. I made a point of giving Ady C's name along with Dave Thorley, Chris King, Alan Senior, to a production company only YESTERDAY.    WE WANT TO KEEP THE SCENE POPULAR....HOPE YOU DO TOO.

 

Best Wishes

I'm not convinced Ian, sorry. When I left for a few years I was kept up to date weekly on new tunes, Dean Anderson was never off the phone with his 'you'll love this mate' plays so I kept in touch with what was happening but let me be clear, in no do I way consider myself to have been part of the scene then. I wasn't attending venues, I wasn't in the record bars, I wasn't on the dance floors (well I was but it was Venus, Garage City, Sub Club, Rennaisance etc )

Some of the names you've mentioned are legendary in my eyes but let's be honest (and at no point have I meant you) a couple have at best deleted the period they weren't there from history, numerous times I've heard Mr Roberts offer the same story about Northern Soul in the context of Wigan, Wheel, Torch (oops wrong order) with little mention of what followed. How on earth can you not mention Stafford and the 100 club, it's beyond me. And when they are included there's a caveat, a get out or thinly veiled dig if you will ( small venues, empty nights, music doesn't cut it etc).

There's nothing wrong with any of us dipping out, seriously; the issue is returning with an attitude that what happened in our absence is inferior, to be ignored, wiped from history or in some case on this thread intimated that the scene didn't cut it. I mean c'mon, the suggestion that some if these venues were empty. I'm struggling to think of any that were, even local soul nights like Ripley had 150 in.

For me it throws two fingers up the promoters, the collectors and the DJs who drove this thing of ours forward.

Hang on there fella....I did mention the 80's and 90's for which I was very active in the latter. The fact remains they(Production company) wanted to know about the 70's and now.

As for driving it forward from 1990 onwards do you think The Ritz Manchester, Kings Hall Stoke and then Soul Trip USA and hundreds of thousands pounds of investment might have something to do with it?

I even had the decency to chat to the producers of the said docu to pass on some useful

Intelligence to maybe do a follow up utilising the services of many post 81 players. If it happens...don't forget me........

Remember there's a film just around the corner. Believe me that will attract non Soulies. You can bet your life on it.

Ian D might be the answer with his DVD box that contains interviews with a real wide variety of input. And don't forget Pete Smith paid homage to SWONS which covered the scene extremely well with a multitude of NS personalities.

To close, the scene has never been stronger IMO.

There are endless Soul nights, Rare ones, overseas choice, Weekenders, RnB, Fast n Funky, Handbag do's. What's  not to like right now.

As said before, let's see a programme based around post Wigan and see how the public react. It's definitely worth a shot mister TV producer.

Best Wishes to all.

pm'd you

remember doing 3 niters too...happy days,..the 80s were magical days for me...

Chalky....I am generalising that the 70's were more popular than a decade or so later. Remember by 1990 the Revival was well underway with the Kings Hall Stoke coming off the back of earlier decade successes like Keele and Winsford, so I have concrete knowledge of those years. 

No one is saying that the 80's didn't have great moments.......and today's revivalists are certainly enjoying some of those musical discoveries for which operators like myself are truly grateful for.

Interesting to note, in the 80's/90's a fair amount of the venues listed were not super busy though, neither were they in the 70's apart from the obvious.
Today is a different story......there are many that pull healthy numbers. Far outweighing what went before IMHO.

Kegs- Brilliant times...Torch into the Mecca into Wigan and back to the Mecca.

All I can say is during that 73-75 period, Wigan was very innovative as it challenged Blackpool for the coveted top spot. Sadly the Station Rd venue got de-railed by a sudden thirst for a different sound ala Javells, Gary Lewis, Keith etc. However the whole scene was in a state of uncertainty ie Mecca(Cochise, Ladies Choice, Shake n Bump, King Sporty etc).

A mere case of youngsters testing themselves musically so to speak.

Glad you were there to experience it alongside me and other notable relics !

Kegs- You mean records like......

World Without Sunshine- Sandra Philips

The Duck/Love Runs Out- Willie Hutch

Casualeers- Dance Dance Dance

Seven Souls- I Still Love You

Vernon Greene- Look at Me,

Yvonne Daniels- I Don't Want to Get Away from your love

Ernie Marbray- Ain't Nobody's Business

The Perigents- Love On A Rampage

Eddie Foster- I Never Knew(simultaneously with Ian at the Mecca)

To Toad your quote...   Who is Pete waterman? A chancer so i am told.

(He's a multi millionaire who played Northern in the early 70's !)

To Matt Male your quote.....   There was a flyer on the programme about something called The International Soul Club Roadshow, with his name and Kev Roberts on it. Anyone remember that?

(I supplied the flyer to the BBC as they wanted relevant material from me circa 1973-75. Pete was the resident DJ at Tiffany's, Coventry. I guested there every Tuesday at the height of Wigan fame)

To Byrney  your quote...... No we're not, at no point did this purport be a documentary about Northern Soul in the 70s, the narrative structure creates conflicts with that with an incorrect bias that can only be read that NS was there in the 70s then back again now with Kevs nights offering the best of 3 venues from the 70s.

(The brief to Myself, Richard, Ian and Colin was to answer questions on the early to mid 70's. They asked me to comment on the scene as I saw it today as a promoter. I gave them a warts n all reply about the popularity, collectors scene, spin off genres Fast n Funky, R&B etc etc etc.....11 second soundbite was used!)

Hopefully a program will be made about post 1981..... and what's happening now as we all know it's clearly more popular than ever.

Thanks for alerting us to this. I am really sorry to hear of his passing.

It was me that got the single released on Midland and UK EMI.

Marboo was a friend and I helped him produce a follow up 'Falling In Love In Summertime' - sadly it flopped.

I originally covered it over as the 'New York Generation'