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Right,
here is the concluding part of my look back to the halcyon days of
the
Northern scene. This takes us up to the start of 1976. Hope you enjoy
it, don't ask me to do this again cos it took a total of 4 hours to
prepare
this article! NORTHERN SOUL - BLACK MUSIC MAGAZINE Onto September 1974
now,
and a great letter from Alf Billingham of Cleveland: "Russ
Winstanley states
that soul people would complain if pressings were to STOP.. Russ
obviously
doesn't credit soul fans with any principles and integrity if he
thinks
this is so. He argues that because an artist like J.J.Barnes received
little
financial reward from Ric-Tic then the bootleggers are justified in
pressing
records. It just doesn't wash Russ". Pye Disco Demand had got off
to a great
start, with the soul chart showing the Casualeers at 14, Jerry
Williams at
15, Frankie & The Classicals at 25 and the Fuzz, at 32. All good
stuff, but
beware the Javells! The Rare Soul column was dissapointing with
reviews of
Donnie Brookes-Satisfaction Guaranteed (Decca) (which didn't go big
til the
Stafford era!) Koffie-Stay Here With Me (Bell), Towanda Barnes-You
Don't
Mean It (A&M) and a spotlight on the De-Val label. Very little in
this
months Hot Stuff apart from Brother To Brother-In The Bottle (Turbo),
but
there were quite a few new UK releases including the
Casualeers,("Is it
soul? Is it pop? Is it any good?" what sort of review is that
BM?), Soul
Brothers Six-Thank You Baby ("Paunchy agrression"), Little
Johnny
Blair-Momma's Gone and Blilly Butler-.Right Track. IOOO Giants
included the
Fantastics, Fascinations, Flamingos, Formations,. Bobby Freeman, the
Fuzz,
Mamie Galore and Kenny Gamble. Sounds Around Records (who?) of
Nottingham
were selling copies of Jo Ann. King--Let Them Love And Be Loved
(Fairmount), Case Of Tyme-Manifesto (Legend), Larry Atkins-Ain't That
Love
Enough (Romark) and the Soulful Hounds-Why Did You Leave Me Girl
(Magic -City), while Groove City Records (a.k.a. Soul Bowl) had Bobby
Foster, Nat Wright and Arnold Bryant at 70p each. Dave Godin took a
trip up
to Wolverhampton to check out the Inter City SC gig at the Club 67. He
complained about the prices (20p for a cheese sandwich!) and the poor
atmosphere, but was impressed by the enthusiasm of some of the younger
members. (N.B.What Dave didn't know was the fact that the 67 Club was
in the
middle of Wolverhamptons' red light district and was very rough,
that's why
I never went!). Godin also reviwed Popcorn Wylie's Rosemary What
Happened
(Karen) and somehow managed to draw an analog with African music of
thousands of years ago, and also Big Maybelles version of ? & The
Mysterions' 96 Tears (Rojac). Onto Black Music 11, November 74, and
another
dissapointing Ian Levine column with reviews of obscure discs by
Jackie
Montre El, Mary Alice McCall, Jimmy Hudson, Cleveland Eaton and Spice
(not
the UK outfit) plus a look at the Ambers. A few new UK releases this
month,
notably another winner from Pye in the shape of Al Wilson-Help Me plus
Robert Knightls Branded and a remake of Right Track by Major Lance.
Apart
from a rather low-key Dave Godin column dealing with UK companies
cashing in
and bastardising Northern Soul music, and a DJ profile of John Vincent
(easily the best dj at Wigan around 76), there's little else in this
issue
to concern readers, although there's a good interview with Gloria
Jones who
reveals that she sang backing vocals on Brenda Holloway's Classic
Every
Little Bit Hurts with Brenda's sister Patrice helping out, that Sandy
Wynns
real name is Edna Wright and Gloria herself sang backing on Touch Of
Venus. Wot,
no Tainted Love? New pressings on the market included Steve
Karmen-Breakaway,
Tony & Tyrone.-Please Operator, Coasters-Crazy Baby (which
had recently been massive covered as Freddie Jones-My hearts wide
open),
Laura Greene-Moonlight, music & you, and Spiral Starecase-More
Today Than
Yesterday. Groove City were selling originals of the Gems, Bobbettes,
Mighty
Shane and United Four at 75p each., But, if you wanted to be the
trendiest
guy on the block you could buy a Soul Star t-shirt of JJ Barnes,
Marvin Gaye
or Northern Soul (wonder what he looks like?) in either white, canary
or
turquoise, all with a fashionable scoop-neck! On the venue front it
was a
very busy time. The Northern Soul Club based in Whitchurch were
running a
Soul Train - literally I mean - picking up at Crewe, Stoke,
Wolverhampton
and Birmingham and ending up in Reading for an all-dayer. Andy Peebles
was
live at Newcastle Tiffanies, Sale Mecca had Levine and Curtis and
there were
ICSC gigs at Walsall, Sheffield, Malvern and Bristol. Top sounds at
Wigan
Casino in November 1974 were Eddie & Ernie, Fabulous Blades, Dena
Barnes,
Joey Dee, Detroit Soul and Michael & Raymond. Issue l2, November
74, kicks
off with another Mr.Angry type letter from David Cole of
Cleveland...".The
Northern Soul scene is the most insincere, pretentious scene in the
whole of
British music. The constant one-upmanship which seems so rife when
someone
has found a rarity and the fact that discs are covered up so no-one
else
will latch onto them is to me appalling. No TRUE soul lover would do
such a
thing. The enjoyment of soul music is something to be shared as any
genuine
soul lover who found a new or rare sound would want to turn as many
people
onto it as possible. (Yes, but the whole reason that discs were
covered up
in those days was because no sooner had they been uncovered that they
were
bootlegged, and consequently dropped from the playlists. However, the
points
made in David Cole's letter do apply nowadays though because dj's
cover-up
simply to have sole ownership of the rarest sounds even though there's
practically no chance of the sound being bootlegged). The letter
continues.."I've been to Northern clubs and I've been sickened by
the sight
of a high percentage of kids (and I do mean 'kids') doped up to the
eyeballs
on any kind of pills they can get their hands on. Could it be that
those
pills make the Northern sounds so palitable, as to my non-stoned ears
90% of
Northern raves are nothing but badly produced soundalikes". What
a dickhead!
Everybody knows you,don't get "doped" or 'stoned' at all
nighters - you get
smashed or blocked! Anyway, some hot new sounds out in the States this
month
included Alpaca Phase III-I Like To,Party (Atlantic), Bill
Harris-Uptown
Saturday Night (Warner Bros) and the great Hundred Pounds Of Pain by
Lenny
Welch (Mainstream) which was massive 12 months later. Levine's Rare
Soul
column looked at noted singer/ producer/composer/arranger George Kerr,
and a
group called the Icemen. New UK releases included the VelVets-I've
Gotta
Find Me Somebody ("A nondescript girl group") and the
Exciters lacklustre
remake of Blowing Up My Mind ("A good disc"). Selectadisc's
top pressings
were Roy Hamilton-Cracking Up, Elsie Strong -Just Ask Me and the
Adventurers-Easy Baby, while 1000 Giants featured Marvin Gaye, Berry
Gordy
Jr, Rex Garvin, Glories, Earl Grant, Dobie Gray and Garland Green.
This
months Dave Godin column dealt with the controversy surrounding' the
Javells-Goodbye Nothing To Say which Pye had been circulating to
Northern
jocks on white labels under the pretence that they were a black group
from
US Roulette Records, when in fact they where white session musicians.
There's also a Godin report on the Aquarius Soul Club in Retford where
the
big sounds included Dee Dee Sharp What Kind Of Lady, Bobby McLure-You
Got Me
Baby, Lester Lanin-Dizzy and Jo Ann King-Let Them Love. Onto the
venues and
there were Northern nights at Oswestry, Newcastle, Bristol,
Southampton,
Shrewsbury and what looks like it must have been a goodie in
Bournemouth
with sounds like Del Larks, Velvet Satins, Master 4, Dena Barnes and
Little
Rose Little. December 74 now, issue 13, and BM's first anniversary. As
far
as the N.Soul afficionado was concerned the magazine had been, on the
whole,
excellent and there was no reason to feel that this large-scale
coverage
couldn't continue. However, midway through 1975 the Soul bubble burst
and
Northern Soul was back underground again. The record companies lost
interest, and so did Black Music. That was to come however. The
anniversary
issue kicked off with yet another this-is-crap-no-it's-not debate and
who
said what to who letters page. Two Northern sounds released this
month, Ila
Van's Can't Help Loving That Man (with controversy over the word
"that"
being printed as "dat" in a very condescending manner) and
Danny White's
Cracked Up Over You on MCA. Roy Hamilton featured in 1000 Giants, and
Selectadisc's hot new pressings included Mylestones, G1oria Jones,
Sounds Of
Lane, Carl Henderson, Dirty Hearts and Gypsies. Godin deals with the
politics of the scene but apart from that there's very little in this
for
the Northern crowd. However, in January 1975 things hot up, beginning
with
round three of Godin vs Pye in which our hero reveals that soul fans
were
polled to see which monster sound they'd like to be released on Pye.
They
picked Wally Cox, but this turned out to be the worst seller of the
lot
(which was hardly surprising considering A) it has already been
pressed, and
B) it's rubbish). Malc Burton from Doncaster writes to complain about
bias
towards kids on the scene, something which happened an awful lot in
those
days and something I had to put up with myself (I was 15 in 75) but
now,
thankfully, age isn't important. This months new releases included
Bettye
Swann's Make Me Yours, and the unfortunate Footsee, soon to appear on
Top Of
The Pops with a supporting cast of dancers fron Wolverhampton and
Dudley
(including Jethro). Anyone got a video of it? In the USA, Snoopy
Dean's
Shake & Bump and King Sporty's Music Maker were released, both
becoming big
sounds. Levine was back with his rare soul column, becoming more and
more
70's orientated all the time, but the real meat of this months issue
was
another Northern Soul 'expose' entitled 'Northern Soul Revisited'.
Once
again, Tony Cummings was the intrepid reporter. Today he would
probably be
classed as a Sun reporter. The feature is basically yet another Wigan
slag-off: "Spinning kids moving to the sounds spun by Richard
Searling ...
Lenny Williams-I Couldn't Find Nobody, Nancy Wilsons The End Of Our
Love,
Gloria Jones-Tainted Love, all discs first spun at the Blackpool Mecca
and
all now firm favourites". So, in the very first sentence,
Cummings
insinuates that Wigan simply plays Blackpools cast-offs. He then goes
on to
describe the soul fans desire to dance to discs such as Soussans
home-made
instruental versions of Devil With The Blue Dress etc., which sets,
the tone
for the whole article, which is that Blackpool is IT, Wigan is where
the
divs go. Cut to an interview with bootlegger supreme Simon Soussan.
For the
younger readers who may not remember Soussan, he is the guy
responsible for
the bootlegs on the Soul Galore label, many of which were performed by
the
man himself and did the reputation of the material played at Wigan an
awful
lot of harm. Having said that, Soul Galore also released a few
crackers
such as Doni Burdicks Bari Track, Jimmy Mack-My World Is On Fire. To
his
credit, Soussan also managed to get hold of Randy Wood, owner of the
legendary Mirwood Label, who gave all his masters to him resulting in
previously unheard instrumentals of the Furys, Jackie Lee, Olympics
and
Belles. But it was the custom made discs that were the bone of
contention
here, and Selectadisc were eventually busted for selling Soussan's
product. Russ Winstanley... "We are not going pop at, the Casino,
but we are
determined to keep playing the fast type of records which Northern
Soul has
always been, about. It's the places like Blackpool which are selling
out,
they are playing slower, funkier types of records which aren't true
Northern Soul. We are trying to keep the Northern Soul scene truly
Northern.". If you think rationally about it, Russ was right
because
although the Mecca did keep finding great sounds like the M.V.P.'s and
Lou
Edwards, their musical policies took them away from 'real' Northern
Soul and
into a new scene built around the likes of Doctor Buzzard, Brass
Construction and their ilk. In years to come when people think back
and
discuss Northern Soul - as we are doing now - it will be Wigan that
remains
fondest in the memory simply because of what the Mecca eventually
became.
And before anyone asks yes I did attend both venues (though I must
admit, I
only went to the Mecca once as opposed to Wigan more or less every
week).
But staying with the article in question, there's a nice piece
concerning
'Soul Supply' mainman Kev Roberts which basically says that while Russ
is
raking in £150 per spot, Kev gets a measily £15 and is banned from
playing
Mecca stuff such as Bobby Franklin and Snoopy Dean. It also adds that
Kev has
a more dubious sideline - Emidiscs. (My first was Lou Pride b/w Reggie
Garner - what was yours?) Enter Ian Levine to add his two pence
worth...
"Half the clubs and disc jockeys and kids follow Wigan, in other
words stomp
stomp dancers - some of which are pop records; and half follow the
Mecca and
are into rare, uptempo but black soul". Ian Levine now makes a
living
producing hi-NRG records for gay clubs. Well, we're in early 1975 and
the
top Mecca sounds are King Sporty, Boby Franklin and the Perception
Strings.
The epitomy of the Northern Soul sound, I don't think so. On the other
hand they're playing stuff like James Fountain and Life, great records
but
still 70's releases. Thus ends Blackpool Mecca's involvement in
Northern
Soul
The
big split took place in February 1975 and the scene would never be
the same again. Onto our next issue of BM, and there's no let-up in
the
media coverage of Northern Soul. "How far have we really come
from the bad
old days of rip-off and plagiarism when the only 'Northern Soul'
records to
rake a big impact on the pop chart are by second rate British acts,
while
the black originators remain in obscurity'' protests the editorial in
BM 15.
Two pages are devoted to readers letters concerning the expose in the
previous issue. Martin Clark of Sheffield accuses Tony Cummings of
deliberately starting a feud between Blackpool and Wigan. John Maddock
of
Nottingham accuses Russ Winstanley of playing only sounds that he
likes
himself. A certain Dave Evison pleads for the return of the harmony
that's
always surrounded the scene, and John Vincent corrects several
innacuracies
which make last months article look very silly indeed. Alan Rhodes
protests
at being called a 'second rate dj (i.e. anyone who isn't Winstanley,
Levine
or Curtis) and Ian 'Frank' Dewhurst puts forward the cases for both
venues.
The months new UK singles included a belated release for Snoopy Dean's
Shake
And Bump, a reissue of Jackie Lee's The Duck (why?) and Sister
Sledge's pop
dancer Love Don't Go Through No Changes On Me, while in the States
there
were new releases by Graham Central Station - Feel the need in me,
Margo
Thunder-Expresway To Your Heart and one of the biggest sounds of the
years newies,
Paul Humphrey's Cochise. 1000 Giants Of Black Music featured Leon
Haywood,
Hesitations, Donald Height and Monk Higgins. Samantha's in Sheffield
was now
running regulars all-nighters, and there were dayers in Coalville and
Nottingham.
Current big sounds were Mandrill, Billy Prophet, Gary Lewis, and Eddie
& Ernie.
New pressings from Selectadisc this month included Laura Greene, Los
Canarios
and Soussans Love Sitars. March 75 kicked off with a letter from an
angry young lady from
Birmingham who pleaded that Northern Soul should be kicked out of the
magazine because 'the people at Wigan and the Mecca are a bunch of
hypocrites and false prophets whose only aim is to exploit black
artists".
There were several new singles this month in the UK including Eddie
& Ernie,
Lada Edmund Jr, Sons Of Moses, Steve Karnen, Rex Garvin and Jimmy
Breedlove.
There was an interesting piece on Frankie Crocker's Ton Of Dynamite
(my
second Emidisc,by the way b/w I'm Your Pimp-Skullsnaps) in which the
real
truth behind the disc is told i.e. Crocker sings on the A side whereas
Dynamite is in fact by Lonnie Youngblood with Willie & The Mighty
Magnificents. Soul Sam wrote in to call BM's recent N.Soul feature
'biased
drivel' while Ian Levine actually reviewed some decent records in his
'Sounds' column including 'Harold Melvin, Topics, Marvin Holmes,
Modern
Redcaps and George Clinton. Just out in the States, Prince Johnny
'Robinson-That Girl Is Rated X, and Gwen Owens-You Better Watch Out,
while
in the UK Selectadisc had pressings of Rita Dacosta, Wombat,
Carstairs, AI
Wilson and Dean Courtney. The next issue had a batch of replies to
last
months 'hypocrites' slur, but more importantly it carried the first
ever
advertisement for 'three button high waisted cord baggies with 30 inch
bottoms'! Two of the worst records ever played on the scene came out
on Pye,
the Fugitives-Human Jungle and the diabolical Kenny Bernard-What Love
Brings. Disco Demand's Solid Soul Sensations album was reviewed this
month
and received a three star rating, and Ron Holden, Holidays, Cissie
Houston
and Eddic Holman were among this month giants. The newly established
'Northern Soul' page featured Johnny Bragg and Lada Edmund Jr, and
also had
an interview with Kenny Bernard whose best quote was "I saw Wayne
Gibson on
Top Of The Pops and i thought, man, wouldn't it be great if I could
get an
oldie release like that...and now I have". Tough luck Ken,
should've tried
to get CBS to reissue Pity My Feet. Ian Levine described Diane Jenkns'
Towaway Zone (Creative Funk) as "the record to end all
records", and also
reviewed Robby Lawson-Burning Sensation (Kyser), Stingers--I Refuse to
Be
Lonely (Stax), plus 70's stuff from Johnny Robinson, the Virtues and
LTG
Exchange. Hot stuff saw new releases from Na Allen-Open The Door To
Your
Heart and the dreadful Marc Copage double sider Who Can I Turn To/Will
It Be
Me, Plus Bataan's instrumental of The Bottle. Again there were no
shortage
of soul do's, with places such as Burnley Circulation Club, the fondly
remembered Halesowen Tiffs, Derby Cleos, Yate Sterling Suite (with dj
'King
Kojak') and a dayer at Leicester with Paul Rudzitis at the decks. Onto
May
1975 and BM 18, and this months Selectadisc specials showcased their
new
Black Magic label, kicking off with a double sider' from Paula
Rousell/ Bob
Relf, and the infamous Sharonettes-Papa Ooh Mow Mow. If you thought
those
were bad, this month also saw the release of Wigan's Ovation's Skiing
In The
Snow, and I had the misfortune to see them play live at a Northern
night at
W'ton Civic at the time. Levine was there that night, I wonder what he
made
of them? There were loads of new singles this month including Mitch
Ryder,
Dean Courtney, Devonnes, J.J.Barnes, Sax Of Soul-Sea Cruise (I bought
that
one!) and the nausiating Sliced Tomatoes by Sounds Of Lancashire.
Disco
Demand had a busy month because they also released the album Great
Disco
Demands, a compiation of some of their singles. New singles in the US
included Major Harris' After Loving You and Lily Fields-Love Has So
Many
Meanings. The Northern Soul Page carried an interview with
'Cochise'man Paul
Humphrey, and Ian Levine Amazed everyone by writing another good
column with
reviews of Holly Maxwell, Symphonics, Al Gardner, Tony Hester, Little
Dooley
and finally The Trip by Dave Mitchell and the Sceamers of which Levine
wrote.."If only Wigan could get their hands on this". (Which
they did almost
immediately). June 1975's new releases: and this was bad; a disco
version of
Dance Dance Dance by a group called Liquid Smoke on Roulette, plus an
answer
version to Prince Johhny Robinson in the shape of Ann Byers' This Man
Is
Rated X. There was also the latest abberation from Disco Demand with
the
Sha-Na-Nettes version of Just Like Romeo & Juliet and a
newie/oldie from the
Exciters with Love You Baby. Sandra Phillips, whose disc World Without
Sunshine had been huge a few months earlier, was featured in the
Northern
Soul column, along with the 'other' George Clinton of Please Don't Run
fame.
Levine's choices this month were the brilliant I'm Spellbound by
Tamiko
Jones (Golden World), Leroy Britton- You're Never Too Young (Sound),
Jimmy
Mack-My World Is On Fire (Palmer), Free Form Experiment-There Will Be
Light
(Inner Ear-same label as The Crow), plus the Anderson Brothers-I Can
See Him
Loving You (GSF), Melvin Carter-Midnight Brew (Trip Universal) ex
Johnny
Jackson Experience-Let's Shing A Ling At The GoGo cover up; and
finally
Ernest Mosley's Stubborn Heart (La Cindy). Hot Stuff carried a review
of a
current biggie, the Brothers-Are You Ready For This (RCA) and
described it
as "a couple of fragments of tape salvaged from the Sigma Sound
waste bin".
Also out in the States was a similar sounding instrumental effort by
3rd
Time Around-Soon Everything Will Be Alright (Denine). More letters
concerning BM's anti-Northern attitude kicked off issue 20 (July 75).
Dane
Smith from Northants: "Why do you not include sounds like the
Philly
Devotions, Johnny C, Capitols and Deon Jackson under the Northern
section of
your new releases? Is it because you like these records? And why
include
records like Sounds Of Lancashire when you darn well know that we
Northern
Soul freaks don't dance or listen to such crap?" Good point, and
oddly
enough this months singles were given much better reviews. The
Temprees-At
Last was "Marvellously swaggering", Jimmy James'Help
Yourself 'belts along",
Tony & Tyrone-Please Operator was "lovely, noisy, tinny,
vintage mid-60's
soul.", Lorraine.Chandler-Love You Baby was Black Magics best
yet" (not too
difficult a task) and Gene Latter's Sign On The Dotted Line was
"Among the
best of it's type". Tony Cummings wrote a short biography of
Lorraine
Chandler for the Northern Soul column, and Ian Levine reviewed some
obscure
newies with the exception of George Benson-Supership and Diane
Jenkins-I
Need You. The Other Levine sounds were by Crossfire, Barrett Strong,
Cortez
Greer, Chris Campbell and Kevin Drinkard. Feature of the month however
was a
special on Van McCoy, then currently high in the charts with the
excrutiating Hustle. The article mentioned his work with many Northern
favourites including Chuck Jackson, Shirelles, Drifters, Jay & The
Americans, Barbara Lewis, Sweet Things, Spellbinders, Sandi Sheldon,
Chris
Bartley, Jackie Wilson and Brenda & The Tabulations. Incidentally,
did you
know that the lead singer from the Sweet Things, Francine Baker,
teamed up
with another Northern favourite Herb Ward to become Peaches &
Herb? You did?
Oh well. August 1975 kicked off with a full page ad for three new UK
Capitol
releases from Earl Wright ("Back in the shops due to fantastic
public
demand" - it had never been in the UK shops before!), Jodi Mathis
and the
Reflections. Top sounds pressed by/for Selectadise were Don Thomas,
Nanette
Workman, Capreez Ede Robin and Debbie Fleming. Black Magic released
their
next two singles, Dobie Gray-Out On The Floor and another Soussan
recording,
the abysmal Runaway by the Chantelles. Of the aforementioned Capitol
releases, Thumb A Ride was described as "put together in five
minutes by a
bunch of tired West Coast session men". This was in stereo and
slightly
remixed. Jodi Mathis' Don't You Care Anymore was pressed with the
slowie
b-side "mama"as the A-side! Chuck Jackson's brilliant Chains
Of Love was
described as "painfully dated and lacking in grace and
subtlety" but Maxine
Brown's One In A Million, T.D.Valentine-Love Trap, and the
Cooperettes-Shing A Ling all got surprisingly unbiased reviews. The
Fabulous
Blades-Jerk Baby Jerk and Lenis Guess-Just Ask Me also got belated UK
releases. Over in the States there were Northern spins for new
releases by
Esther Phillips-What A difference, Boogie Man Orchestra-Lady Lady
Lady, Eric
Mercury-Pours When It Rains, and the Superlatives-I Still Love You
(that's
what it says here anyway, August 75's Hot Stuff lists the Superlatives
on
Uptite as a new release. Maybe it was a legitimate repressing?) Bob
Relf and
George Benson featured in Northern Soul this month, and Levine's new
spins
were as follows: Tobi Bowe-Groovy Feeling (Patheway), Vessie
Simmons-Shiftless Shady (Simco), David Lenyard-It Could Have Been You
(Flying Eagles), Black Truth Band-Butter Nut (Black Truth), Nat
Fross-Too
Many Skeletons In The Closet (How Big) (cover-up I think), Creative
Funk-Moving World (Creative Funk), Famous Chromes-Teach Me (Drive),
Jessie
Fisher-You're Not Loving A Beginner (Way Out), and finally Scott
Brothers-We
Like Girls (Zachron). Certainly looks as if Levine had decided to
almost
100% 70's newies by this time. The Yate allnighters were well
established by
this time, primarilly run by the Inter City Soul Club who also had
gigs
going in Newquay, Leeds Cats Whiskers and Leicester Palais. In
September
1975 Dave Godin launched his Right On label and kicked it off with a
couple
of goodies, the Jelly Beans-You Don't Mean Me No Good and the Crow-
Your
Autumn Of Tomorrow, a record which was unfortunately too far ahead of
it's
time in 1975 to be massive but has certainly grown in stature over the
years - due for revival maybe? Major Lance's Live At The Torch was
released
and Black Music described it as "the ultimate insanity" but
awarded it two
stars for "important historical value". Doni Burdick, Dave
Mitchell and
Ollie Jackson were all pressed this month, while Rita Dacosta got a
belated
UK release on Contempo. There was a mild controversy over the new
single by
comedy trio the Goodies, the chorus of which went somethinig like
'Black
pudding Bertha, she's the queen of Northern Soul" - it had come
to this! The
Mecca playlist around this time included Mistura-Life Is A Song Worth
Singing, Loletta Holloway-The World Don't Owe You Nothin',
Conquistadors-Sadness and Madness, 35th Street Gang-I Spy, Tax Free-
Love
Has Gone, Ballads-LovinYou Isn't Enough and Wade Flemons-Jeanette.
Over at
the Casino however, they were spinning Frankie Crocker-Ton Of
Dynamite,
World Column-So Is The Sun, Jeanette Harper-Put Me In Your Pocket,
Willie
Mitchell-Champion, Jades-I'm Where It's At, 8th Avenue Band-Whole
Thing and
even Billy Woods-Let Me Make You Happy. Tony Cummings reported on
Black
Magic act the Sharonettes and asked "exactly who are they"
Well, first
reports (from Simon Soussan actually) said that the Sharonettes
comprised a
17 year old Soussan discovery named Paula Roussell, plus Northern
heroines
Patrice Holloway and Clydie King, with Sherlie Matthews thrown in for
good
measure. It eventually transpired that the group really consisted of
Sherlie Matthews, a girl called Becky Lewis and Carolyn Willis, whose
That
Beat And Rhythm had been a hit for Soussan using the old Cigarette
Ashes
backing track. Both Sharonettes discs, Papa Ooh Mow Mow and Going To A
Go
Go, made the UK charts. BM October.1975, and new relases from the
States
which got plays on the scene Were Revelation-Get Ready For This, and
the Men
From Macon-Salvation. In the UK, releases included Jackie Lee-Shotgun
& The
Duck, Mike Post-Afternoon Of The Rhino, Mr.Floods Party-Compared To
What, RB
Freeman-I'm Shaft and Debbie Fleming-Long Gone. Ian Levine's tips
included
True Pages Of Life-Truth And Love (Creative Funk), Val Palmer-Back In
My
Arms Again (Twin Hits), Rising Sun- You're Never Too Old To Learn
(Kingston), Jaywalkers-Can't Live Wihtout You (Swan), Carlena
Williams-I Won
't Be Completely Happy (Erica), Joseph Moore-I Still Can't Get 'You
(Marvlus), Jimmy Burns-I Really Love You (Erica)(which didn't go big
til
late 77) and Shelley Fisher-Girl I Love You (Dalya. The latest batch
of Soul
Galore releases featured Gloria Parker, Jimmy Mack and Keanya Collins.
September 1975 saw Wigan Casino's second anniversary take place, with
guest
stars Tommy Hunt, the Chi-Lites and Otis Leavill booked to appear .
Northern
Soul-After The Goldrush was the title of BM's final big expose on the
world
of N.Soul, written basically because all the fuss from January's piece
had
died down, and no doubt circulation had fallen! First off, the
customary
visit to the Casino, and the first put-down: "Rail workers from
Crewe,
packers from Preston, steel workers from Sheffield and factory hands
from
Burnley.." - suggesting that everyone who attends Wigan is a
thick manual
worker. No doubt there are a few brain surgeons dancing at the Mecca
meanwhile. After the usual white stomper slag-offs and drug
references,
there is a lengthy piece concerning tailor-made Northern sounds, and
the
relative merits of Soussan, Pye, Spark and Ian Levine. No prizes for
guessing who comes out smelling of roses! Now it's over to the Mecca
where
Cummings explains just why Blackpool had to switch to obscure new
releases
rather than keep plodding along with the old type suunds, but then
totally
blows the piece by quoting the latest Mecca biggie as being the Idle
Few -People That's Why (a cover of a PJ proby LP track). Cleethorpes
is next
on the agenda, and the place actually gets a good write-up, maybe
because it
provides a happy medium between Blackpool and Wigan. Biggest sounds
over on
the East Coast were Danny Monday-Baby Without You (Modern) , Five
& A
Penny-You Don't Know Where Your Interest Lies (UK Polydor), Rodger
Collins-You Sexy Sugar Plum (Fantasy) and Len Jewell-All My Good
Lovin'
(Pzazz). The Inter City Soul Club held a soul convention in Blackpool,
spread over three days. For £29.50 you got hotel accomodation, a soul
exhibition (?), and a soul dance night, followed by a five-a-side
football
competition the next morning and a soul forum with guest speakers Mary
Chapman (Cleethorpes organiser), Dave Godin, Andy Peebles and Tony
fucking
Cummings. At 8'o'clock, a soul concert featuring the Armada Orchestra,
Chris
Bartley, Fantastic Four, Tamiko Jones, Bessic Banks, Otis Leavill, Sam
Nesbitt, Oliver Sain and Ultra Funk (in other words, the Contempo
roadshow).
Did all this actually take place, I can't remember. If any reader
attended
this weekender maybe they could write in and tell us what it was like.
Here's one for you: did you know that Little Dooley of You Better Be
Ready fame
was the same guy who did Game Players as Dooley Silverspoon? Just one
of the
interesting facts in BM October 75. Very little new product released
in the
UK this month: Johnny Williams - You're Something Kinda Mellow,
Sisters
Love-Learning To Trust My Man and Tommy Hunt's cover version of
Cracking Up
Over You. In the States There was Barnaby Bye - Can't Live This Way,
Anacostia-All I Need and the Miracles- Love Machine. On the pressings
front,
Terry Jackson Soul of Leicester had copies, or one copy as the case
may be,
of Robbie Lawson, candi Staton, Flower Shoppe, Three Degrees, Bunny
Sigler
and Al Foster band. On the fashion front, no soulie was without his
three
button, high waist, side pocket 30" Karma Ghia cords along with
bowling
shirt and leather bomber jacket. I know - I was that soulie. Well it's
now
December 1975 and we come to the last Black Music to be featured in
this
article. In fact, this issue is perhaps the most interesting to record
collectors as it contains a discography of every Northern sound
currently
available at that time in the UK. According to the uncredited writer
of the
feature all of the following discs were played on the scene At some
time:
5000 Volts-I'm on fire, Chantelles - Runaway, Offenbach-Judy In
Disguise,
Northern Soul Inc-Something Keeps Calling Me Back, Jezzabells-Tainted
Love,
Spix'n'Spax-Follow The Leader, Etta Thomas-Just Ask Me, and many more
of the
same calibre. Here's the pick of the reviews: Shakers-One Wonderful
Moment(''Dire stomp stomp"), Jackie Lee-Temptation Walk
("The epitome of
Northern Soul"), Graham Bonney-Supergirl ("Thoroughly
obnoxious pop disc" -
here, here), Earl Wright - Thumb A Ride ("Repetitive,
mindless"),Lada Edmund
Jr-La Rue ("Absurdly stereotyped"), Sons Of Moses-Soul
Symphony ("Inept"),
Danny White-Cracked Up Over You (''Primitive''), Mr. Floods
Party-Compared
To What ("Dull instrumental"). That just goes to show how
well they listened
to these records, the fact that Compared To What is a vocal track! The
list
goes on anyway. Just think though, in December 1975 you could have
gone into
any major record shop and picked up records of quality by Sapphires,
Soul
Brothers Six, Dobie Gray, Hoagy Lands, Williams & Watson, Major
Lance,
Sheila Anthony, Dean Courtney, Ila Van, Yvonne Baker, Incredibles,
Bettye
Swann, Dean Parrish, Homer Banks, Poets, Bunny Sigler, Lada Edmund,
Jerry
Williams, and on and on and on. It certainly was an exciting time to
be
discovering Northern Soul as I well remember, with new records to hear
every
week, new venues and new friends. I hope you've enjoyed reading about
the
monthly life of the Northern Soul scene in 1974-75.
Thanks
for reading! Pete Smith
pete.smith@tesco.net
Northern Soul
45's/cd's
bought and sold website: https://members.tripod.com/~planetrecords/
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RECORDS
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Northern
Soul 45's bought & sold
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