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Southern Soul scene > than northern soul scene


We, a load of southern Soulboys went up to the Casino in a coach once, it was past its best but was very different to our soulboy experience musically, and dress wise but still a friendly vibe. Last time I went to Caister 1982 there were a reasonable number of northerners who had turned to the funk....the problem with the obscurity thang and northern soul was the obscurity became more important that the music.Plus retrospection is ultimately very backward looking. Danny Rampling, Pete Tong (used to dj at Caister in the small rooms) Terry Farley, Paul Oakenfield, Judge Jules etc etc all southern soulboys originally and oout of that late 70s early 80s underground scene...now, where my Jellies and white socks.

david_carnell Wrote:

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> I had a friends who tried a backdrop and never

> came back up.

>


A very showy school friend of mine - circa 1973/4 - did a fine back drop to Witch Doctor Bump by the Chubukos, he flipped straight into a forward drop/dive but was wearing his spoon-shoes with lots of segs and blakeys in which meant he slipped, nosedived and left half a front tooth planted in the parquet floor.



*goes outside to strike his seggies on the pavement and watch the sparks...

steveo Wrote:

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> Why else would you go to Wigan?



Oh Steve, how little you know. Wigan is the GREATEST town in England: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/football/4786094/Paul-Scharner-talks-to-SunSport.html

steveo Wrote:

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> We had tickets to see The Verve in Wigan once but

> then sat getting pissed in the Plough all

> afternoon saying, 'We really should go and get the

> train in a minute.'


Wow, I can well understand your not bothering to go see the Verve (although, assume that was the Haigh Hall gig - a very nice place for a stroll, so you missed out there), but electing to stay in the Plough instead??? Yowsers.

  • 1 month later...

An interesting documentary on Brit Funk on Radio 4 (you'll love it Salsaboy)



http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01r5lms


Summary:

David Grant revisits a unique era in British music when jazz funk exploded onto the scene.


With contributions from Light of the World's Gee Bello, Hi Tension's Paul P, Shakatak's Bill Sharpe and Jill Saward, Southern Freeez singer Ingrid Mansfield Allman, Level 42's Mark King and DJ's Chris Hill, Mike Shaft and Mark 'Snowboy' Cotgrove.


The Jazz Funk scene developed from the Home Counties, principally Essex, along with clubs such as Crackers in London. In the South DJ Chris Hill and his Funk Mafia led the way, and in the North Colin Curtis, among others, were instrumental in its popularity.


In this documentary, vocalist and presenter David Grant, who was part of the UK soul outfit Linx, revisits this unique era in British music which saw artists experimenting with a fusion of jazz, funk, urban dance rhythm and pop hooks.


He reveals the origins of the phrase 'Brit-Funk' and how the pioneers of this sound, groups Hi Tension and Light of the World, presented their music with a British twist to their instrumentation and vocals.


The Jazz funk scene was a British movement, a club culture unique to these shores with no equivalent in the States. As the music became popular, more and more British 12" singles started to appear with a craze for white-labels.


Grant acknowledges that Brit Funk, although considered in some quarters as a pale imitation of US Jazz Funk, was nonetheless ours - and heralded a new dawn in dance and pop music. The term evolved from the club DJs - legendary names such as Chris Hill, and James Hamilton of Record Mirror whose column had a major influence in launching new records.


With support from the club disc jockeys and labels such as Ensign and Elite, artists including Light of the World, Level 42, Shakatak and Freeez enjoyed chart success and made regular appearances on Top of the Pops alongside the new romantics and punk groups of this period.


With club DJs gaining cult status, the scene also created many 'club hits' which, although they never achieved commercial success, are still remembered with great affection today and discussed on music forum websites and uploaded to Youtube.


Many British based soul and dance bands found themselves merging under the Brit Funk banner. These included Lynx, Central Line, Imagination and Second Image - and initially pop groups such as Haircut 100 and Wham tapped into the style and sound to help launch their careers.


Grant demonstrates how this scene was hugely significant in cutting through racial boundaries in the clubs and was instrumental in raising the profile of black and white musicians working together, notably Spandau Ballet who collaborated with Beggar And Co to produce the classic pop song 'Chant Number One'.


He explains how, during the success of the Jazz and Brit Funk period, "chanting" materialised in the discotheque and nightclub. This football crowd style of interacting with the music and DJ underlined the voice of a new generation which can still be felt today.  SHOW LESS

The soul scenes is alive and well, as my experience as a record dealer has shown over the past 20 years stalling at record fairs acroos the South. The Northern, Rare Groove, Mod, Motown and rare soul 45's and LP's go as quickly as I get them. Same for rare reggae, rocksteady and ska. Keep the faith.

???? Wrote:

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> ...not gonna make the Half Moon, weather and a bit

> of illness in the house but excellent BBC4

> programme on Nile Rogers ....yes, Bowie's in it

> too SJ

You missed a top night but have heard it's gonna be a monthly thing

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