Barb's Bit

OK then here I go! Please be kind to me when you read this page and try to remember that I have only sat in front of the computer twice before today and then I only sent an email from directions that had been written down for me. I've just put down a few thoughts and some experiences of what has happened to me since I became a part of this very strange world of Northern Soul.

Well 1 year on and what a year it has been for me. It's now a case of "last night was great but where are we going next week". I just can't wait for the weekends to come around.

I had never even heard of Northern Soul until I met Foz and when he used to play it in the car I really didn't think much of it and I used to moan at him to turn it off and play some of my Then Jericho and Hue And Cry tapes, which I much preffered. He always seemed to be going on about Wigan Casino and Blackpool Mecca and, to be honest, I hadn't got a clue what these places were.

When he finally persuaded me to go to a soul night at Goodyears club in Wolverhampton little did I realise that virtually my whole life was about to change. We went to a few Goodyears and he always seemed to bump into someone from the past and usually ended up talking to them for hours on end.At first I was a little jealous of this because I knew almost nobody. Soon, however, people were recognising me and coming over to us to speak to me. I had never experienced friendliness like this before and found it amazing. Goodyears was also the place that I took my first, tentative, steps out on to the dance floor and boy was I hooked. I now hate to sit down at a gig, especially all nighters. If I can dance for 6 or 7 hours I love it.

After enjoying several soul nights the time had come for me to attend my first all nighter. Togetherness at the Kings Hall in Stoke On Trent was my first and I absolutely loved it. I thought it was really fantastic. It was as if , after normal soul nights, I had finally hit the big time. I couldn't believe the atmosphere in the hall. I had never experienced anything like it before.

My next all nighter was Keele and although I had a fairly good night it didn't quite live up to Togetherness and I was beginning to wonder if what I had experienced there had been a one off.

The next was the Rarest Of The Rare all nighter at The Ritz in Manchester. I was a bit worried about this one because I was still so new to the scene that I thought I might not know hardly any of the sounds being played. I need not have worried though because this was "the one" for me. I just could not believe the place. The atmosphere was incredible. The music was so good I danced for hours to tunes that I had never even heard before. The people, the DJ's, the dancefloor (even with its slope) were brilliant. The whole night was perfect, for me. I danced virtually non stop from start to finish it just seemed as though I was being swept along and the only place that I wanted to be was on the dancefloor. I'll never forget that first Ritz and even now I only have to think about it while we are in the queue outside and I get the buzz!

I can't believe that I have become a "member of this special kind of secret society" that hardly anyone outside its confines seems to know about. I mention it to my family or people at work, in fact anyone who is not a part of it, and they look at me as if I am speaking a foriegn language. A few weeks ago we went the 100 Club and at about 8pm on the Saturday evening we were on a bus heading into Birmingham city centre. It was full of all these so called "normal" people layered in make up and dressed in their best clothes so that they could get into one of the city's night clubs for their big night out. I smiled to myself as I thought that at about 2am when they leave their fashionable night club and start heading for home I will only be half way through my night and I didn't need a bag full of make up and my best party dress to get in to my venue!!

I also found it amazing to think that most of these people would be totally unaware of the Northern scene and would never even have heard any of the records I was going to spend something like the next 8 hours dancing to.

The whole scene still overwhelms me slightly but I am so glad to be a part of what must surely be one of the friendliest groups of people in the world. I don't think that I have ever done so much travelling as I have in this past twelve months, from London to Liverpool and Leeds to Llandudno, but it's all been worth it. I have made so many friends and got so many great memories that I will treasure. So when Foz goes on about Wigan Casino or Blackpool Mecca I don't care anymore! Because I might not have been there but I have got all these other fantastic places to remember. I can safely say that my Then Jericho and Hue And Cry days are safely behind me.

In my first twelve months then I would say that the Ritz has consistently stood out, for me, as the best all nighter. As for DJ's I really enjoy Bob Hinsley (especially his last hour at The Ritz) , Mick Smith and Kenny Burrell can also usually get me dancing as can others but these three seem to play most of my favourites.

So that's it then, for the time being. I hope you enjoyed it and I look forward to updating it soon but with an 18 month old daughter to look after I can't make any promises.

Lots of love........Barbs...........