If you Were
there!!!!........By
John Pugh.
I've never been able to put my finger on
it exactly, either the events or the dates, but sometime as the Seventies were
slipping over the horizon to make way for the new decade, a change occurred on
the Northern scene, the like of which we'll never see again. Many put it down
to the decline in musical standards at the Big W, or was it simply that the
atmosphere only existed for many at the Friday Oldies, or maybe it's that
everything has a natural shelf life, and Wigan and some of her DJ's had become
stale, bored with the whole thing ? But as the "Last ever" events
rolled along, a new order was already underway, men with a mission to put the
SOUL back into Northern Soul.It was a time for new faces, new venues and most
importantly NEW SOUNDS. The same appetite for new sounds that got us all
excited when we first joined the soul scene. These new and exciting sounds
which caused more miles to be clocked up on Britain's motorways than an army
of sales rep's. This excitement, coupled to the sense of an almost tribal
belonging got you there every weekend for as long as you care to remember.
Conveniently forgotten by the " Oldies Only " brigade, because it
matters not when you first made your debut on the scene, which clothes you
wore, who you were with, how you came to be there, the one constant throughout
the last thirty or so years is that when you ventured into that club for the
first time, you knew no more than a tiny percentage of the records played. No
one is born with a Northern Soul catalogue in their head, you had to be there
to hear these great records for your first time, and if they were not your cup
of tea, it's pretty fair to assume you wouldn't have continued, and you
certainly wouldn't be reading this article now.But lets get back to the plot.
Wigan was dead, just not buried yet, and already new and more exciting venues
were establishing themselves along the length and breadth of our fair isle,
and it's these venues and their population, that have always fascinated me.
The 80's were probably the most
important time on the scene for a number of reasons. Firstly, because so many
folk left the scene as the 70's were drawing to a close, it's highly likely
that without a number of key personalities there wouldn't be any scene left
nowadays, for the returning brothers and sisters to come home to. Secondly
without the time to mature, could the " juvenile " soul scene have
survived without the return of direction that this decade of maturity gave it
? To answer that particular question, you have to cast your mind back ( and
goodness knows we do enough of that on the soul scene ) to those heady early
days. Great and happy times they were to be sure, but not without their
problems. We all have stories of being ripped off, being taken for a ride,
whether it was on something as simple as a bootleg record you bought as an
original, or on the darker side, with chalk and scouring powder being sold to
naive youngsters acting big in the gents toilets. I know as many people who
left for those reasons, and the over commercialization of what the 'hardcore
soulies wanted to be an 'underground' scene, as those that left because they
felt that the rising number of tragic deaths, the inability to cope with an
over indulgence of chemicals, or simply through boredom.So the 80's was to be
the great new dawn of the soul scene. Well, not exactly. At the time it was a
natural cycle of growth and rebirth. As one dancehall closed another was
found. As one promoter moved to pastures new, another stepped forward, and as
one DJ hung up his boots ( no pun intended ) another stepped forward. The same
with the record finders. There was no great master plan. it was, to coin a
phrase organic, or as one record bar wag put it " the cream always rises
to the top ".One popular misconception is to label it the era of the
collector, where many of the leading lights were "not professional",
either as DJ's or Promoters, but this is patently untrue. Yes, it's fair to
say that some of the Turntable legends of the Eighties had superb and much
envied collections, and lacked experience at the bigger venues, but certainly
not all. And as for the promoters being amateurs, most that readily spring to
mind came from a background of business, either management or ownership, and
their ability to promote cannot be doubted. After all the venues existed, ran
for varying lengths of time, and kept the Northern Soul flame burning
bright.The focus for many who talk about this period tends to be on two of
what must rank highly on the list of principal 'niters, namely Stafford and
Leicester/Oddfellows. Where many people seem to get confused is in lumping
them together, as though they had one identity, whereas nothing could be
further from the truth. In truth they shared the same time period and some
DJ's, but basically everything else about them was different. Oddfellows/
Leicester could command a loyal following from many soul fans who found
Stafford "too hardcore" for them, and conversely some of the
regulars at Stafford thought Leicester clung on to the worst of Wigan, by
including white poppy sounds in their playlist, and far too many
"known" records.The early days at Stafford included in their number
many ex Wigan jocks, Richard Searling, Soul Sam, Gary Rushbrooke, and Pat
Brady were all featured front line spinners in the main room, plus many others
who played in the oldies room, so it wasn't exactly "New Faces" was
it ? But the revolution came with it's own champions, in the guise of the
"terrible twins" Guy Hennigan and Keb Darge, who became the focus
for a movement they'll both credit to Dave Withers and Rod Shard.Keb tells it
"Dave played a spot at a venue I was at, maybe Peterborough, where every
sound was fresh and new. From powerful dancers to smooth soul, they sat fine
side by side, and incredibly, I hardly knew a single track. There was a
handful of dancers on the floor, and I thought 'I cannot believe it. This is
what Northern soul is all about, and there's all these deadheads ignoring all
these great tunes' so there and then I became a convert to this, what was for
me the new sound of Northern Soul, and at the same time it was traditional
Northern, maybe I'm a purist, but new music that made you, not want, but need,
to travel to hear it, week in week out, is what it's always been about. When I
heard later that Dave was going to hang up his DJ'ing hat, I knew it was time
for me to give it a go, although I hadn't any records that you could exactly
say were worthy at that time' ( But that was to change, in a BIG way)".
Guy's story was different, as he'd come from a background of collecting and
was a regular vinyl hound' in the record bar, though he fondly remembers the
times just before he broke through to the big time thus "Dave was the
only one who was sticking his neck out, playing what we all knew as
traditional Northern, breaking new records, turning them up and giving them
some needle time. It's what I grew up with, it's what you grew up with, so why
was there a problem". But it was the combination of these two
"unlikely lads", ably supported by Dave Thorley, Adey Pountain, Ian
Clark, plus the previously mentioned Messrs Brady and Rushbrooke, and others
that space doesn't allow me to mention in detail, that made Stafford's Top Dog
Club, the true standard bearer of the soul scene.A thought just struck me.
Because Stafford had the second room which played predominantly 60's Oldies,
did this force the hand somewhat of the main room boys ? Personally, I dislike
the current fashion of putting new music, either 60's, Crossover or Modern
into the small room at two room venues. Surely it should be the other way
around, Main room- new and currently popular sounds, other room- 60's classics
from a bygone era mixed with things which because of their rarity we don't get
to hear too often. That way, for arguments sake, if a Newies DJ is playing
70's in the main room, and you're a die hard Sixties devotee, you could simply
wander into the other room for an hour and come back when he's finished. This
doesn't work with the current situation at certain venues where the
alternative room is a so called modern room, because if the main room has a DJ
playing modern or crossover, where can the 60's only fans go ? The answer
isn't a "three ring circus" either, there just isn't enough of us to
go around,or if on the odd occasion when there is enough, you end up missing
half the people whose company you enjoy and is one of the main reasons you go
out in the first place ! I suppose certain elements on the scene will accuse
me of being political for saying that, which kind'a neatly brings me around to
another vitally important part of the soul scene in the eighties.After the
"handbags at dawn" sissy fight between Blackpool Mecca and Wigan in
the mid seventies, controversy reared it's head again during the Stafford era,
which with the gift of hindsight, was both the making and breaking of the
Niter.It was one of those situations which, when you look back, has the
appearance of high farce, only without Brian Rix and his trouser dropping
antics. To get the full story you really need to read the articles and letters
which appeared in the soul press of that era, mostly Black Echoes and
Blackbeat, but the gist of it was that a vociferous campaign sparked off by,
what's now described as a "spoof letter" and article that made
people take sides. Either you were for new music, or you weren't a true soulie,
as simple as that. Back came the Oldies fans with their views, each one louder
and more vitriolic than the last. Then came the pillorying of Soul Sam.
Unfairly singled out for playing non 60's new music (where Richard and others
got away Scott free) Sam was accused of playing, horror of horrors - Disco,
and as we all know Sam was not going to take that lying down. The letters flew
thick and fast, as the battle lines were drawn. Quite simply every soul fan
felt the need to nail his or her colours to the mast So you were either in, or
out. And it was that coalescing around a predominantly 60's new music policy
that made Stafford and her DJ's live up to the "Top Dog" name.The
publicity also had another effect, a darker more sinister outcome. It made
some people in certain quarters believe that they had to take every
opportunity to take a pot shot at Stafford, and whilst this hardened the
resolve of the faithful, it kept away many who thought that all the political
hyperbole was not for them. At the time we had a small local soul club which
ran for nearly five years every Thursday night, and every week we'd meet up
and discuss our plans for the coming weekend, and the same issues would
surface. Life long friends would find that they couldn't agree where to go
this Saturday night. This amazed me, and still does, as they'd all dance at
our little club to music from Stafford alongside the popular 70's items from
Morecambe interspersed with Wigan Oldies. There's now't so strange as folk !!
The Sixties Mafia slogan which came from
these articles backed people into a corner, with many of the North's well
known faces finding themselves in the opposition camp. But that didn't matter,
because as had happened previously, every time one such soldier fell, another
new one came along to carry on, and for the first time the South began to play
it's part in providing some new blood. Some came from the scooter scene, mod
revivalists, whereas others came from jazz funk, all with the same mission, to
find the true grail of all dance floor devotee's, the sound of Soul.Obviously
even before Wigan had closed, it was becoming more and more difficult to find
new unplayed originals. So what was the answer, how was this monster fed ? The
largest part of the answer was right there under our noses, and this may be
where the confusion arises. By now that strange breed we call the collector
had had a good ten years of searching for that exclusive sound, and it was
from a small number of these collections, that many of the new sounds of the
day sprang. The great Detroit label hunt, Chicago too, and let's not forget
the West Coast, New York, Texas, and the Godfather of the Stafford All Niter,
Washington DC's Shrine output. Credit where credit is due, without the
transatlantic hunting's of Tim & Butch, John Anderson and others, the
appetite would have gone unfulfilled. But every trip yielded more and more
worthwhile product. Perhaps my favourite Stafford story of all belongs to one
of it's most unlikely and as far as I know unknowing sources, Ian Levine.
Having moved on to pastures new, Ian's records were put up for sale at a time
when the scene was crying out for new material. Records that had previously
been passed over for any number of reasons could now be given their chance,
and one of Stafford's favourite sons was, by chance, given the job of sorting
through them for Bernie. Talk about having a field day !!! Tastes were
changing, tempo was no longer as important as soulful content. Stafford is
sometimes falsely credited as the birthplace of the beat ballad. This is quite
simply untrue. Before Wigan had even opened her doors, clubs were programming
Beat Ballads. the difference was that at Stafford they became part of the main
spot, as punctuation between the 200 mph dancers, not simply left as the end
of the night ' tell 'em it's time for home' tunes.Perhaps it was this radical
thinking, mixing the raucous stompers, with the Latin tinged swirlers, the
hypnotic swayers, the rousing R'n'B, and the cream of downtempo soul music (
never better exemplified than in one of Guy Hennigan's Cover-ups, the truly
beautiful June Edwards " Come On And Tell Me ", which has recently
found a new lease of life under her real identity, as Faye Crawford "
What Have I Done Wrong " on RCA Victor, now popular enough to justify a
bootleg. And in true Stafford fashion, with the flipside, the uptempo dancer
" So Many Lies " being played under yet another pseudonym ) that
created a legend, but as with all legends, nothing lasts forever..
Stafford died, along with Leicester, but
others opened and kept the flame burning bright. The 100 Club's run as the
longest running venue began, and soul roots laid in the formative years of the
70's, began to reach fruition with smaller more intimate venues popping up all
over the place, as the scene drew itself inward, underground, away from the
prying eyes of the outside world. Never again "I'm going 'cause it's
fashionable and in all the papers" nightmare scenario a la Wigan 76.As
more of the "name" DJ's sold up and dropped away, or just lost the
plot, new guys stepped in to fill the breach, and yes most, if not all, did
come from the world of collecting, but that was always the strongest branch of
the soul tree, and if you doubt that, next time you're out, watch which fills
up first, the record bar or the dance floor.
See you over a record box....John Pugh.
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