Tag Archives: LESLIE ASH

DARK TOURISM UK … THE MUCH LOVED, ADORED & BEAUTIFUL LADY DIANA … THE SEEMINGLY TRAGIC LIFE AND UNTIMELY DEATH OF THE PRINCESS OF WALES……. FEATURED HERE AT THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION, LITTLEDEAN JAIL, FOREST OF DEAN, GLOUCESTERSHIRE.

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Above & Below: Diana , Princess of Wales with her husband Prince Charles pictured here with the SAS Blue Team in 1983 at the SAS Killing House, Hereford . Clearly seen here wearing  personalised SAS black jumpsuits.

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Below: Explosive revelations claiming  conspiracy theories that the SAS, MI5, MI6, CIA were involved in the untimely death of both Lady Diana and Dodi Al-Fayed .

Undoubtedly  there will always be an endless array of conspiracy theories ???

 

On display here we have a number of personal handwritten and signed letters from Lady Diana along with handwritten and signed Christmas Card. Also a wonderful signed photograph of Diana with her 2 children Prince William and Prince Harry set in her royal crested frame (see below)

As we all know much controversy, sleaze, scandal and tabloid sensationalism has and will always continue to surround the British Royal Family . Here at the jail we provide  an insight into some of the scandals and Royal traitors from behind closed doors .

On a personal level I believe that the British monarchy is important to our country and in particular wish Prince William and his beautiful wife Kate lots of happiness in the future

BELOW ARE IMAGES OF VARIOUS SIGNED PHOTOGRAPHS , CHRISTMAS CARD AND HANDWRITTEN LETTERS FROM LADY DIANA, PRINCESS OF WALES

THE SEEMINGLY ALWAYS OUTSPOKEN AND CONTROVERSIAL AL FAYED , FATHER OF DODI FAYED (FROWNED UPON FORMER LOVER OF LADY DIANA WHO ALSO DIED IN THE CAR  CRASH )

SIGNED PHOTOGRAPH OF ALLEGED ROYAL TRAITOR FROM WITHIN LADY DIANA’S ROYAL HOUSEHOLD (DIANA’S BUTLER) ….. WHOM HIMSELF WAS  BELIEVED TO HAVE SUBSTANTIALLY PROFITED FROM HER DEATH

SIGNED PHOTOGRAPH OF ALLEGED ROYAL TRAITOR FROM WITHIN LADY DIANA’S ROYAL HOUSEHOLD (DIANA’S BUTLER) ….. WHOM HIMSELF WAS  BELIEVED TO HAVE SUBSTANTIALLY PROFITED FROM HER DEATH

SIGNED PHOTO AND MONTAGE DISPLAY OF THE PERSISTANTLY ALLEGED FORMER LOVER OF LADY DIANA (AND ALLEGED FATHER OF PRINCE HARRY) .

A MAN AGAIN WHO HAS ALLEGEDLY SUBSTANTIALLY PROFITED FROM HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH LADY DIANA

SIGNED PHOTO AND MONTAGE DISPLAY OF THE PERSISTANTLY ALLEGED FORMER LOVER OF LADY DIANA (AND ALLEGED FATHER OF PRINCE HARRY) .

A MAN AGAIN WHO HAS ALLEGEDLY SUBSTANTIALLY PROFITED FROM HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH LADY DIANA

NAUGHTY, NAUGHTY !!! LADY DIANA -PRINCESS OF WALES RIDICULED BY THE SUNDAY SPORT ON AUGUST 16TH 1989 ……PICTURED  HERE WITH HER HEAD SUPERIMPOSED ON A TOPLESS GLAMOUR MODEL’S BODY

UNFORTUNATELY I WAS BUSY AND COULDN’T MAKE IT !!!

BELOW :  Undoubtedly Lady Diana’ death conspiracy theories will continue for many years to come …..

 

The UK’s 1970’s & 80’s allegedly drug-fuelled & controversial underground youth culture movement …. Northern Soul – now down here in the South of England on display alongside The Quadrophenia Collection … at Littledean Jail

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Set in Lancashire in 1974, the film follows Matt and John as they leave behind a humdrum life of youth clubs and factory lines to chase a dream of travelling to the US, unearthing unknown soul 45s and establishing themselves as top DJ’s on the Northern soul music scene. Their dance and amphetamine fuelled quest brings them into contact with some of the darker elements of the scene and tests their friendship to its limits

A BRIEF INSIGHT INTO SOME  OF THE GREAT MANY EXHIBIT ITEMS ON THE NORTHERN SOUL FRONTS ON DISPLAY AT THE “TASTE OF NORTHERN SOUL DOWN HERE IN THE SOUTH EXHIBITION “….INCLUDES ORIGINAL WIGAN CASINO,  TWISTED WHEEL  AND OTHER NORTHERN SOUL MEMBERSHIP CARDS, FLYERS, ORIGINAL AND VINTAGE WOVEN CLUB PATCHES , VINTAGE PATCHED SPORTS HOLDALLS,VINYL  AND OTHER ASSOCIATED MEMORABILIA .

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Because of the scarcity of the original single and the high quality of the music (it was one of the most popular records in the Northern Soul movement), it has been championed as one of the rarest and most valuable records in history (along with other “impossible to find” records by such acts as Bessie Smith, Louis Armstrong, and the Five Sharps).

HERE BELOW IS A VERY , VERY BRIEF INSIGHT GALLERY INTO A FEW OF THE ORIGINAL  NORTHERN SOUL MEMORABILIA ITEMS HERE ON DISPLAY . DO COME VISIT TO SEE WHAT IS UNDOUBTEDLY ONE OF THE LARGEST PRIVATE COLLECTIONS OF SUCH SOUGHT AFTER MATERIAL .

  DO SEE MORE PICTORIAL CONTENT IN SOME OF OUR PREVIOUS  POSTS ON OUR FACEBOOK PAGE AS TO FURTHER EXHIBIT ITEMS HERE ON DISPLAY IN OUR “A TASTE OF NORTHERN SOUL DOWN HERE IN THE SOUTH OF ENGLAND EXHIBITION”

Open The Door To Your Heart by Darrell Banks: ‘Holy grail’ Northern Soul single sells for £14,543

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A single dubbed the rarest record in the world sold for £14,543 at auction tonight.

Derek Smiley, a Northern Soul DJ in Cambridge, was among the bidders for Darrell Banks’ club classic Open the Door to Your Heart, but gave up when the price went “out of his league”.

John Manship, who hosted the online auction at raresoulman.co.uk, said the website crashed as “thousands upon thousands” of people visited the page as the auction came to  a close at 6pm.

He said: “I’ve never seen anything like it before. The winner came in a few seconds before the end which is just a ridiculous thing to do, but he’s won it fair and square.”

He said all the bidders were previously known to him, apart from the winner, who he said lived in Britain. —————————————————————————————————————

Northern soul

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Northern soul
Stylistic origins Soul
Rhythm and blues
Gospel
Cultural origins Northern England
Typical instruments Strings
Horns
Guitar
Vocals
Mainstream popularity From late 1960s onwards
Derivative forms Modern soul, Madchester, Mod revival, rave culture
Other topics
Motown Records, Mod subculture, Skinhead

Northern soul is a music and dance movement that emerged from the British mod scene, initially in northern England in the late 1960s. Northern soul mainly consists of a particular style of black American soul music based on the heavy beat and fast tempo of the mid-1960s Tamla Motown sound. The northern soul movement, however, generally eschews Motown or Motown-influenced music that has met with significant mainstream success. The recordings most prized by enthusiasts of the genre are usually by lesser-known artists, and were initially released only in limited numbers, often by small regional United States labels such as Ric-Tic and Golden World (Detroit), Mirwood (Los Angeles) and Shout and Okeh (New York/Chicago).

Northern soul is also associated with particular dance styles and fashions that grew out of the underground rhythm & soul scene of the late 1960s, at venues such as the Twisted Wheel in Manchester. This scene (and the associated dances and fashions) quickly spread to other UK dancehalls andnightclubs like the Catacombs (Wolverhampton), the Highland Rooms at Blackpool Mecca, Golden Torch (Stoke-on-Trent), and Wigan Casino. As the favoured beat became more uptempo and frantic, by the early 1970s, northern soul dancing became more athletic, somewhat resembling the later dance styles of disco and break dancing. Featuring spins, flips, karate kicks and backdrops, club dancing styles were often inspired by the stage performances of touring American soul acts such as Little Anthony & The Imperials and Jackie Wilson.

During the Northern soul scene’s initial years in the late 1960s and early 1970s, popular Northern Soul records were usually not recent releases, and generally dated from the mid-1960s. This meant that the movement was sustained (and “new” recordings added to playlists) by prominent DJs discovering rare and previously overlooked records. Later on, certain clubs and DJs began to move away from the 1960s Motown sound and began to play newer releases with a more contemporary sound.


[edit]

History

Photograph of a sew-on patch featuring the clenched fist symbol adopted by the northern soul movement

The phrase northern soul emanated from the record shop Soul City in Covent Garden, London, which was run by journalist Dave Godin.[1] It was first publicly used in Godin’s weekly column in Blues and Soul magazine in June 1970.[2] In a 2002 interview with Chris Hunt of Mojo magazine, Godin said he had first come up with the term in 1968, to help employees at Soul City differentiate the more modern funkier sounds from the smoother, Motown-influenced soul of a few years earlier. With contemporary black music evolving into what would eventually become known as funk, to differentiate the tastes of the die-hard soul-lovers of the north, whose musical preferences seemed to have stalled somewhere in that classic mid-’60s era of Motown-sounding black American dance, Godin referred to their requests as ‘Northern Soul’:

I had started to notice that northern football fans who were in London to follow their team were coming into the store to buy records, but they weren’t interested in the latest developments in the black American chart. I devised the name as a shorthand sales term. It was just to say ‘if you’ve got customers from the north, don’t waste time playing them records currently in the U.S. black chart, just play them what they like – ‘Northern Soul’.[3]

The venue most commonly associated with the early development of the northern soul scene was the Twisted Wheel in Manchester and the Room at The Top in Wigan. The club began in the early 1950s as a beatnik coffee bar called The Left Wing, but in early 1963, the run-down premises were leased by two Manchester businessmen (Ivor and Phil Abadi) and turned into a music venue.[4] Initially the Twisted Wheel mainly hosted live music on the weekends andDisc Only nights during the week. Starting in September 1963, the Abadi brothers promoted all-night parties at the venue on Saturday nights, with a mixture of live and recorded music. DJ Roger Eagle, a collector of imported American soul, jazz and rhythm and blues, was booked around this time, and the club’s reputation as a place to hear and dance to the latest American R&B music began to grow.

Throughout the mid-1960s, the Twisted Wheel became the focus of Manchester’s emerging mod scene, with a music policy that reflected Eagle’s eclectic tastes in soul and jazz, and featuring live performances by British beat musicians and American R&B stars. Gradually, the music policy became less eclectic and shifted heavily towards fast-paced soul, in response to the demands of the growing crowds of amphetamine-fuelled dancers who flocked to the all-nighters. Dismayed at the change in music policy and the frequent drug raids by the police, Eagle quit the club in 1966

Commemorative sew-on patch similar to those worn by Twisted Wheel members.

By 1968 the reputation of the Twisted Wheel and the type of music being played there had grown nationwide.Soul fans were traveling from all over the United Kingdom to attend the Saturday all-nighters, with resident ‘All Niter’ DJ Bob Dee compiling & supervising [5] the playlist and utilising the newly developed slip-cueing technique to spin the vinyl between 1968 and the club’s eventual closure in 1971 .[6] [7] After attending one of the venue’s all-nighters in November 1970, Godin wrote: “…it is without doubt the highest and finest I have seen outside of the USA… never thought I’d live to see the day where people could so relate the rhythmic content of Soul music to bodily movement to such a skilled degree!”[8] The venue’s owners had successfully been able to fill the vacancy left by Eagle with a growing roster of specialist soul DJs.

The Twisted Wheel gained a reputation as a drug haven, and under pressure from the police and other authorities, the club closed in January 1971. However, by the late 1960s, the popularity of the music and lifestyle associated with the club had spread further across the north and midlands of England, and a number of new venues had begun to host soul all-nighters. These included the King Mojo in Sheffield, The Catacombs in Wolverhampton, Room at the Top in Wigan and Va Va’s in Bolton.

[edit]1970s

Commemorative sew-on patch similar to those worn by Golden Torch members.

Northern soul reached the peak of its popularity in the mid to late 1970s.[9] At this time, there were soul clubs in virtually every major town in the midlands and the north of England.[10] The three venues regarded as the most important in this decade were the Golden Torch in Tunstall, Stoke (1971 to 1972), Blackpool Mecca (1971 to 1979) and Wigan Casino (1973 to 1981).

Although Wigan Casino is now the most well known, the best attended northern soul all-night venue at the beginning of the decade was the Golden Torch, where regular Friday night soul “all-nighters” began in late 1970. Chris Burton, the owner, stated that in 1972, the club had a membership of 12,500, and 62,000 separate customer visits.[11] Despite its popularity, the club closed down due to licensing problems in March, 1972 and attention switched to soul nights at Blackpool Mecca’s Highland Room, which had started hosting rare soul nights in late 1971.

Commemorative sew-on patch similar to those designed by Russ Winstanley and sold at the Wigan Casino.

Wigan Casino began its weekly soul all-nighters in September 1973.[12] Wigan Casino had a much larger capacity than many competing venues and ran its events from 2am until 8am. There was a regular roster of DJs, including the promoter Russ Winstanley. By 1976, the club boasted a membership of 100,000 people, and in 1978, was voted the world’s number one discotheque by the American magazine Billboard.[13] This was during the heyday of the Studio 54 nightclub in New York City. By the late 1970s, the club had its own spin-off record label, Casino Classics.[14]

By this time, Wigan Casino was coming under criticism from many soul fans. Contemporary black American soul was changing with the advent of funk, disco and jazz-funk, and the supply of recordings with the fast-paced northern soul sound began to dwindle rapidly. Wigan Casino DJs resorted to playing any kind of record that matched the correct tempo.[15] Also, the club was subjected to heavy media coverage and began to attract many otherwise uninterested people whom the soul purists did not approve of.[16]

Blackpool Mecca was popular throughout the 1970s, although the venue never hosted all-nighters. The regular Saturday night events began at 8pm and finished at 2am, and initially, some dancers would begin their evenings at Blackpool Mecca and then transfer to Wigan Casino. In 1974, the music policy at Blackpool Mecca sharply diverged from Wigan Casino’s, with the regular DJs Ian Levine and Colin Curtis including newly released US soul in their sets. Whilst the tempo was similar to the earlier Motown Records-style recordings, this shift in emphasis heralded a slightly different style of northern soul dancing and dress styles at Blackpool Mecca and created a schism in the northern soul movement between Wigan Casino’s traditionalists and Blackpool Mecca’s wider approach, which accepted the more contemporary sounds of Philly soul, early disco and funk.

Other major northern soul venues in the 1970s include The Catacombs in Wolverhampton, Va Va’s in Bolton, the ‘Talk of The North’ all-nighters at The Pier and Winter Gardens in Cleethorpes, Tiffany’s in Coalville, Samantha’s in Sheffield, Neil Rushton‘s ‘Heart of England’ soul club all-dayers at The Ritz in Manchester and the Nottingham Palais.[17] As the 1970s progressed, the northern soul scene expanded even further nationally. There was a notable scene in the east of England with all-nighters at the St. Ivo Centre in St. Ives, the Phoenix Soul club at the Wirrina Stadium in Peterborough and the Howard Mallett in Cambridge.[18] Other towns with notable northern soul venues at this time included Kettering, Coventry, Bournemouth, Southampton and Bristol.[19]

[edit]1980s and later

When Wigan Casino closed in 1981, many believed that the northern soul scene was on the verge of disintegrating. However, the 1970s mod revival, the thriving scooterboy subculture and the acid jazzmovement produced a new wave of fans. The popularity of the music was further bolstered in the 1980s by a wave of reissues and compilation albums from small British independent record labels. Many of these labels were set up by DJs and collectors who had been part of the original northern soul scene. The 1980s — often dismissed as a low period for northern soul by those who had left the scene in the 1970s — featured almost 100 new venues in places as diverse as Bradford, London, Peterborough, Leighton Buzzard, Whitchurch, Coventry and Leicester. Pre-eminent among the 1980s venues were Stafford‘s Top of the World and London‘s 100 Club.

Today there are regular northern soul events in various parts of the United Kingdom, such as The Nightshift Club all-nighters at the Bisley Pavilion in Surrey and the Prestatyn Weekender in North Wales.[20] In an August 2008 article in The Times, broadcaster Terry Christian argued that northern soul was undergoing a distinct revival in the late 2000s.[21] Christian cited the popularity of regular revivals of Twisted Wheel soul all-nighters at the original venue (in Whitworth Street, Manchester) plus the Beat Boutique northern soul all-nighters at the Ruby Lounge and MMUnion in Manchester. Many of those who ceased their involvement in the late 1970s have now returned to the scene and regularly participate in such events.[22][23] As of 2009, Paul O’Grady has included a Northern Soul Triple in his weekly BBC Radio 2 show. He plays three northern soul hits, often at the request of his listeners.[24]

The northern soul soul movement has inspired the movie Soulboy (2010), directed by Shimmy Marcus, and at least one novel: Do I Love You? (2008) by Paul McDonald[25][26] [27] In June 2010, theatre director Fiona Laird wrote and directed Keeping the Faith, a musical based on the Wigan Casino scene and featuring northern soul music. It was staged at the Central School of Speech and Drama’s Webber Douglas Studio, with a revival at the same venue in September 2010.

[edit]Music, artists and records

Photograph of the original release (left) and a re-issue copy (right) of Gloria Jones‘ Tainted Love

In the book Last Night A DJ Saved My Life: the history of the DJ, the authors describe northern soul as “a genre built from failures”, stating: “…Northern Soul was the music made by hundreds of singers and bands who were copying the Detroit sound of Motown pop. Most of the records were complete failures in their own time and place… but in northern England from the end of the 1960s through to its heyday in the middle 1970s, were exhumed and exalted.”[28]

[edit]Music style

The music style most associated with northern soul is the heavy, syncopated beat and fast tempo of mid-1960s Motown Records, which was usually combined with soulful vocals. These types of records, which suited the athletic dancing that was prevalent, became known on the scene as stompers.[29] Notable examples include Tony Clarke’s “Landslide” (popularised by Ian Levine at Blackpool Mecca)[30] and Gloria Jones’ “Tainted Love” (purchased by Richard Searling on a trip to the United States in 1973 and popularised at Va Va’s in Bolton, and later, Wigan Casino).[31] According to northern soul DJ Ady Croadsell, viewed retrospectively, the earliest recording to possess this style was the 1965 single “I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)” by The Four Tops, although that record was never popular in the northern soul scene because it was too mainstream.[32]

Other related music styles also gained acceptance in the northern soul scene. Slower, less-danceable soul records were often played, such as Barbara Mills’ “Queen Of Fools” (popular in 1972 at the Golden Torch)[33] and The Mob’s “I Dig Everything About You”.[34] Every all-nighter at Wigan Casino ended with the playing of three well-known northern soul songs with a particular going home theme. These came to be known as the “3 before 8” and were: “Time Will Pass You By” by Tobi Legend, “Long After Tonight Is Over” by Jimmy Radcliffe, and “I’m On My Way” by Dean Parrish.[35]Commercial pop songs that matched the up-tempo beat of the stompers were also played at some venues, including The Ron Grainer Orchestra’s instrumental “Theme From Joe 90” at Wigan Casino[36] and The Just Brothers’ surf-guitar song “Sliced Tomatoes” at Blackpool Mecca.[37]

As the scene developed in the mid and late 1970s, the more contemporary and rhythmically sophisticated sounds of disco and Philly Soul became accepted at certain venues following its adoption at Blackpool Mecca. This style is typified musically by the O’Jays‘ “I Love Music” (UK #13, January 1976), which gained popularity prior to its commercial release at Blackpool Mecca in late 1975. The record that initially popularised this change is usually cited as The Carstair’s “It Really Hurts Me Girl” (Red Coach), a record initially released late in 1973 on promotional copies – but quickly withdrawn due to lack of interest from American Radio stations.[38] The hostility towards any contemporary music style from northern soul traditionalists at Wigan Casino led to the creation of the spin-off modern soul movement in the early 1980s.

[edit]Rarity

As venues such as the Twisted Wheel evolved into northern soul clubs in the late 1960s and the dancers increasingly demanded newly discovered sounds, DJs began to acquire and play rare and often deleted US releases that had not gained even a release in the UK.”[39] These records were sometimes obtained through specialist importers or, in some cases, by DJs visiting the US and purchasing old warehouse stock.[40] Some records were so rare that only a handful of copies were known to exist, so northern soul DJs and clubs became associated with particular records that were almost exclusively on their own playlists. Many of the original artists and musicians remained unaware of their new-found popularity for many years.[41]

As the scene increased in popularity, a network of UK record dealers emerged who were able to acquire further copies of the original vinyl and supply them to fans at prices commensurate with their rarity and desirability.[42] Later on, a number of UK record labels were able to capitalise on the booming popularity of northern soul and negotiate licenses for certain popular records from the copyright holders and reissue them as new 45s or compilation LPs. Amongst these labels were Casino Classics, PYE Disco Demand, Inferno, Kent Modern and Goldmine.[43][44]

The notoriety of DJs on the northern soul scene was enhanced by the possession of rare records, but exclusivity was not enough on its own, and the records had to conform to a certain musical style and gain acceptance on the dance floor.[45] Frank Wilson‘s “Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)” has been rated the rarest and most valuable northern soul single.[46]

[edit]Hits and other favourites

Many songs from the 1960s that were revived on the northern soul scene were reissued by their original labels and became UK top 40 hits in the 1970s. These include The Tams‘ 1964 recording “Hey Girl Don’t Bother Me” (UK #1, July 1971) – which was popularized by Midlands DJ Carl Dene –The Fascinations‘ 1966 single “Girls Are Out To Get You” (UK #32, 1971), The Newbeats‘ 1965 American hit “Run Baby Run” (UK #10, Oct 1971), Bobby Hebb‘s “Love Love Love” which was originally the B-side of his 1966 U.S. #1 “Sunny” (UK #32 August 1972), Robert Knight‘s “Love On A Mountain Top” of 1968 (UK #10, November 1973), and R. Dean Taylor’s “There’s A Ghost In My House” from 1967 (UK #3, May 1974).

The northern soul scene also spawned many lesser chart hits, including Al Wilson‘s 1967 cut “The Snake” (UK #41 in 1975), Dobie Gray‘s “Out On The Floor” (UK #42, September 1975) and Little Anthony & The Imperials‘ “Better Use Your Head” (UK #42 July 1976).

A variety of recordings were made later in the 1970s that were specifically aimed at the northern soul scene, which also went on to become UK top 40 hits. These included: The Exciters’ “Reaching For The Best” (UK #31, October 1975), L.J Johnson’s “Your Magic Put A Spell On Me” (UK #27, February 1976),[47] Tommy Hunt’s “Loving On The Losing Side” (UK #28, August 1976) and “Footsee” by Wigan’s Chosen Few (UK #9, January 1975).[48]

“Goodbye Nothing To Say”, by the white British group The Javells, was identified by Dave McAleer of Pye’s Disco Demand label as having an authentic northern soul feel. McAleer gave a white label promotional copy to Russ Winstanley (a Wigan Casino DJ and promoter), and the tune became popular amongst the dancers at the venue. Disco Demand then released the song as a 45 RPM single, reaching UK #26 in November 1974. To promote the single on BBC’s Top Of The Pops, the performer was accompanied by two Wigan Casino dancers.[49]

In 2000, Wigan Casino DJ Kev Roberts compiled The Northern Soul Top 500, which was based on a survey of northern soul fans.[50] The top ten songs were: “Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)” by Frank Wilson, “Out on the Floor” by Dobie Gray, “You Didn’t Say a Word” by Yvonne Baker, “The Snake” by Al Wilson, “Long After Tonight is Over” by Jimmy Radcliffe, “Seven Day Lover” by James Fountain, “You Don’t Love Me” by Epitome of Sound, “Looking for You” by Garnet Mimms, “If That’s What You Wanted” by Frankie Beverly & the Butlers, and “Seven Days Too Long” by Chuck Wood.

[edit]Fashion and imagery

African American athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos performed their Black Powersalute at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City

A large proportion of northern soul’s original audience came from within the 1960s mod subculture. In the late 1960s, when some mods started to embrace freakbeat andpsychedelic rock, other mods – especially those in northern England – stuck to the original mod soundtrack of soul and Blue Beat. From the latter category, two strands emerged: skinheads and the northern soul scene.

Early northern soul fashion included strong elements of the classic mod style, such as button-down Ben Sherman shirts, blazers with centre vents and unusual numbers of buttons, Trickers and brogue shoes and shrink-to-fit Levi’s jeans.[51] Some non-mod items, such as bowling shirts, were also popular. Later, northern soul dancers started to wear light and loose-fitting clothing for reasons of practicality. This included high-waisted, baggy Oxford trousers and sports vests. These were often covered with sew-on badges representing soul club memberships.

The clenched fist symbol that has become associated with the northern soul movement (frequently depicted on sew-on patches) emanates from the Black Power civil rights movement of the 1960s in the United States. The symbol is related to the salute given by African-American athletes at the 1968 Olympic games in Mexico City.[52]On his visit to the Twisted Wheel in 1971, Dave Godin recalled that “…very many young fellows wore black “right on now” racing gloves … between records one would hear the occasional cry of “Right on now!” or see a clenched gloved fist rise over the tops of the heads of the dancers!”[53]

[edit]Drugs

In 2007, Andrew Wilson (lecturer in criminology at the University of Sheffield) published the extensively researched sociological study Northern Soul: Music, drugs and subcultural identity. This work details in some depth the lifestyles associated with the Northern soul scene and the extensive use of Amphetamines (otherwise known asspeed) by many involved. Wilson argues that, whilst a significant proportion did not use drugs, drug usage was heavily ingrained in the fast-paced culture of the northern soul scene and contributed to participants’ ability to stay up all-night dancing. Many clubs and events were closed down or refused licences due to concerns of local authorities that soul nights attracted drug dealers and users.[54] Roger Eagle, DJ at the Twisted Wheel club in Manchester, cited Amphetamine usage amongst participants as his reason for quitting the club in 1967. Of the regular attendees he said, “All they wanted was fast-tempo black dance music… [but they were] too blocked on amphetamines to articulate exactly which Jackie Wilson record they wanted me to play.”[55]

[edit]Influence on DJ culture

The northern soul movement is cited by many as being a significant step towards the creation of contemporary club culture and of the superstar DJ culture of the 2000s.[56] Two of the most notable DJs from the original northern soul era are Russ Winstanley and Ian Levine. As in contemporary club culture, northern soul DJs built up a following based on satisfying the crowd’s desires for music that they could not hear anywhere else. The competitiveness between DJs to unearth ‘in-demand’ sounds led them to cover up the labels on their records, giving rise to the modern white label pressing. Many argue that northern soul was instrumental in creating a network of clubs, DJs, record collectors and dealers in the UK, and was the first music scene to provide the British charts with records that sold entirely on the strength of club play.[57]

A technique employed by northern soul DJs in common with their later counterparts was the sequencing of records to create euphoric highs and lows for the crowd. Many of the DJ personalities and their followers involved in the original northern soul movement went on to become important figures in the house and dance music scenes.[58] Notable among these are Mike Pickering, who introduced house music to The Haçienda in Manchester in the 1980s, the influential DJ Colin Curtis, Neil Rushton the A&R manager of the House music record label Kool Kat Music and the dance record producers Pete Waterman, Johnathan Woodliffe, Ian Dewhirst and Ian Levine.

[edit]Influence on musicians

Northern soul has influenced several notable musicians. Terry Christian — in his 2008 article about northern soul for The Times — wrote, “There’s an instant credibility for any artist or brand associated with a scene that has always been wild, free and grassroots.”[59] Soft Cell had chart success with covers of two popular northern soul songs, “Tainted Love” (originally recorded by Gloria Jones) and “What?” (originally recorded by Judy Street). Soft Cell member Dave Ball used to occasionally attend soul nights at Blackpool Mecca and Wigan Casino.[60] Moloko‘s video for “Familiar Feeling” is set against a northern soul backdrop and was directed by Elaine Constantine, a longstanding northern soul enthusiast. The video was choreographed by DJ Keb Darge, who rose to prominence at the Stafford Top Of The World all-nighters in the 1980s.[61]

London based rapper turned soul crooner, Plan B’s second album The Defamation Of Strickland Banks displayed a very significant Northern Soul influence. [62][63] [64]The single Stay Too Long featured Northern Soul style dance moves such as spins, flips and backdrops. The Album sleeve also featured “Plan B sew-on patches”.

TRUE CRIME, MURDERABILIA AND MAIMERABILIA HERE AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL …. GLOUCESTERSHIRE’S EVIL SERIAL KILLERS … FRED & ROSE WEST … PART 3 OF 3

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HERE ARE THE LAST THREE PARTS OF THIS “MUST SEE”  IN DEPTH INTERACTIVE  DOCUMENTARY FOOTAGE  INTO THE LIVES AND CRIMES OF FRED AND ROSE WEST INCLUDING ROSE WEST PROSTITUTING HERSELF AT HOME AT 25 CROMWELL STREET , GLOUCESTER . VIDEOED BY HER HUSBAND FRED WEST

WHILST VERY INTRIGUING AND INFORMATIVE DOCUMENTARY FOOTAGE …. PLEASE BE WARNED THAT THERE IS CONSIDERABLE FOUL LANGUAGE IN SEVERAL PARTS FROM BOTH FRED AND ROSE WEST .

HERE AT THE JAIL WE EXHIBIT AND DISPLAY A NUMBER OF PERSONAL ITEMS , WORN  CLOTHING AND ALSO TOOLS OF THE TRADE USED BY FRED WEST

DO COME VISIT THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION HERE AT         LITTLEDEAN JAIL  AND SEE OUR EXTENSIVE AND DIVERSE PRIVATE COLLECTION OF TRUE CRIME MURDERABILIA , MEMORABILIA , THE TABOO AND MUCH MUCH MORE .

AS WE ALWAYS SAY …… IF EASILY OFFENDED, DISTURBED OR OF A SENSITIVE NATURE PLEASE DO AVOID VISITING THE JAIL

The nice folks at number 25

Horror House

The world of brutality and degradation sank to a new low with the series of grisly discoveries at Cromwell Street, Gloucester in 1994. The occupants, Rosemary and her husband Fred West, were accused of murdering 10 women and young girls over a 16 year period ending in 1987. They had taken pleasure in luring away vulnerable runaways with offers of rides, lodging or jobs as nannies. Once in their clutches inside the House of Horrors the young women were stripped, bound with tape, abused, tortured, then killed, some were dismembered and buried.

The killer couple was arrested at their home, 25 Cromwell Street, Gloucester, in 1994. Police, armed with a search warrant, dug up the remains of the Wests’ 16 year old daughter, Heather, who vanished in 1987. Further excavations under the house and in the garden produced eight more female bodies and a further body was found under the kitchen of a former home in Gloucester.

The Wests shared a fascination with BDSM. Police found pictures and tapes of Rose bound, gagged and whipped. They also found a wide variety of apparatus including gags, hoods, and huge dildos. Their victims were often abducted, then bound and gagged before being subjected to hideous torture over a period of days in their cellar.

Rosemary it seems loved to torture by the insertion of huge dildos and they both had a fascination with an exteme form of bondage and suffocation. When they went too far, as they often did, Fred would dismember and bury the bodies. Even their own children were abused, raped and tortured by this wicked couple, being used as guinea-pigs for their sexual experimentation. Rose would usually do the tying up, and the children would be tied naked and spread-eagled on a metal bedframe. One of the children said later ” She had canes and whips, including a cat of nine-tails. She might use all of them or just a selection. When she had completed her experiments on us she would encourage Dad to rape us or insert objects into us herself”. It was a standing joke amongst the children that one of them, Charmian, was buried in the garden under the patio that Fred had laid. This family joke eventually led police and social workers to discover the whole grisly truth.

Fred, aged 7

Fred West

Fred was born in 1941 in the village of Much Marcle, approximately 120 miles west of London, to Walter and Daisy West. It is believed that incest was an accepted part of the West household and Fred claimed that his father had sex with his daughters, using the logic, “I made you so I’m entitled to have you.”  Fred left school when he was fifteen, almost illiterate, and went to work as a farm hand.

Fred’s troubles with the police began in 1961 when he was fined for minor thefts in Hereford. A few months later, he was accused of impregnating a 13-year-old girl who was a friend of the West family. Fred was uncooperative and didn’t see that there was anything wrong with what he had done.

This attitude and the ensuing scandal caused a serious breach with his family. Fred was ordered to find somewhere else to live and it wasn’t long before he was caught stealing from the construction sites where he worked and having sex with young girls.

When Fred was seventeen, he had been seriously injured in a motorcycle accident. After his recovery from the accident, he met the pretty 16-year-old Catherine Bernadette Costello, nicknamed Rena. They were to marry 4 years later, in November 1962. By then Rena was pregnant by another man. Her daughter, Charmaine, was born in March 1963, and in July 1964 Rena bore Fred a daughter named Anne-Marie.

Even though Rena had been a prostitute at various times, she was not happy to be a prisoner to the voracious sexual appetite of Fred West. Colin Wilson in The Corpse Garden tells how Fred’s interest in “normal sex” was minimal. “He wanted oral sex, bondage and…sodomy…at all hours of the day and night.”

Anna McFall, first known victim

First Kill

Fred started a job driving an ice cream truck which afforded him unlimited access to many young women. For someone as highly sexed as Fred, it seemed like paradise. His politeness, apparent trustworthiness and sincerity, and his ability to spin interesting tales made him attractive to the teenagers who flocked around his ice cream truck. His continual seductions turned Rena and Charmaine into afterthoughts. One young girl he met was called Anna McFall
who, in early 1967, became pregnant with Fred’s child. She was trying unsuccessfully to get Fred to divorce Rena and marry her.

Fred’s response to the stress of her demands was to kill her and their unborn child,and then to slowly and methodically dismember her corpse and bury her along with the foetus. Oddly enough, he cut off her fingers and toes, which were missing from the gravesite. It would be his ritualistic signature in future crimes.

The following year Fred met Rose Letts, on November 29th, 1968, her fifteenth birthday.

Rose as a child

Rose

Rosemary Letts was born in November 1953 in Devon, England. Her father was a violent domestic tyrant who demanded unconditional obedience from his wife and children. He enjoyed disciplining them and seemed to look for any excuse to beat them.

.Rose was not a star performer in school and was known as ‘Dozy Rosie’. Also, she was overweight, which made her the butt of cruel jokes by her peers. She lashed out at them and attacked anyone who teased her. Consequently, she became known as an ill tempered, aggressive loner.

As a teenager, Rose showed signs of being sexually precocious, walking around naked after her baths and climbing into bed with her younger brother and fondling him sexually. Her father’s rules forbade her to date boys her own age and her heaviness and temperament kept boys from being interested in her. She focused her interest in sex on the older men of the village.

When she met Fred West there was an immediate sexual attraction but her father objected strongly to the relationship, and resorted to contacting Social Services and threatening West directly, but to no avail; she was soon pregnant with West’s child and found herself looking after his two children by Rena Costello, when West was sent to prison on various petty theft and fine evasion charges. She gave birth to daughter Heather in 1970. With three children to care for, a boyfriend in jail and constant money problems, Rose’s temper flared constantly. She resented having to take care of Rena’s children and treated them badly.

A Young Fred and Rose

Killing Together

After Heather’s birth, and shortly before Fred’s release, it appears that Rose killed Fred and Rena Costello’s daughter, Charmaine. Since Fred was in jail when Charmaine was murdered, his involvement probably extended to burying her body under the kitchen floor of their home on Midland Road where it lay undiscovered for over 20 years. Before he buried Charmaine, he took off her fingers, toes and kneecaps.

Rena Costello was killed in August 1971 by Fred West. Fred saw that he had no choice but to kill Rena. In all likelihood, he probably got her very drunk and then strangled her at his house on Midland Road. He then dismembered her body and mutilated it in the same odd way that he had Anna McFall’s body: he cut off Rena’s fingers and toes. Then he put her remains into bags and buried her in the same general area as he buried Anna McFall.

On 29 January 1972, Fred and Rosemary married in Gloucester, and on 1 June that year, Rose gave birth to their daughter, Mae. Like Fred, Rose came from a family where incest was considered normal and even after the birth of her fourth child Rose’s father, Bill Letts, with Fred’s approval, would often visit the West’s for sex with his daughter.

Charmaine (left), baby Heather and Anna Marie

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Rose’s magazine ad for prostitution

Torture, Rape, Incest and Murder

The Wests were both indulging their unconventional sexual appetites by this time, with Rose matching her husband in her extreme sexual needs. She had a voracious sexual appetite and enjoyed extreme bondage and sadomasochistic sex. She was bisexual, and many of their victims were picked up for both her and her husband’s sexual pleasure. West also worked as a prostitute (often while Fred watched).

Fred West himself had an almost insatiable appetite for bondage and violent sex acts on underage girls. He fitted out the cellar at No 25 as a torture chamber, and his 8-year-old daughter, Anne-Marie, became one of its first occupants, subjected to a horrifically brutal rape by her father whilst her stepmother held her down. This became a regular occurrence, and the child was threatened with beatings if she told anyone of her ordeal.

In December 1972 the Wests carried out a sexual assault on 17-year-old Caroline Owens whom they had hired as a nanny. Caroline was very attractive, so much so that Rose and Fred competed with each other to seduce her. When Caroline told them she was leaving the couple abducted, stripped and raped her. Caroline escaped and reported the couple to the police. As a result the Wests were fined for serious sexual assault in January of 1973.

Rose and Fred

Cellar of Death

Over the next five years eight young girls were lured to an horrific death in the Wests’ cellar. Lynda Gough, Lucy Partington, Juanita Mott, Therese Siegenthaler, Alison Chambers, Shirley Robinson and 15-year-old schoolgirls Carol Ann Cooper and Shirley Hubbard, all became victims of the West couple’s insatiable appetite for violent sex. After brutal sexual attacks, all were murdered, dismembered and buried in the cellar under No 25, having first had their fingers and toes removed.

Bondage was becoming a major thrill for Fred and Rose. Shirley’s head had been wrapped entirely with tape and a plastic tube was inserted in her nose so that she could breathe. Juanita had been subjected to even more extreme bondage and her body had been suspended from the beams of the cellar.At least one girl, Lucy Partington, was sexually abused for over a week before her death.

Rose continued to produce children at regular intervals and the birth of daughter Louise in November 1978, brought their offspring to six, although not all were fathered by West. Barry joined the brood in June 1980, with Rosemary Junior following in 1982 and Lucyanna in 1983. They were aware to some extent of the activities in the house, but West and Rose exercised strict control over them.

West’s incestuous interest in his own daughters continued, and when Anne-Marie moved out to live with her boyfriend, he switched his attentions to younger siblings, Heather and Mae. Heather resisted his attentions and, in 1986, committed the cardinal sin of telling a friend about the goings on in the house. The Wests responded by murdering and dismembering her, and burying her in the back garden of No 25, where son Stephen was forced to assist with digging the hole.

Justice Finally

Given that the West’s vicious sex acts did not result in murder every time, and the sheer number of attacks, it was inevitable that someone would expose their activities, which resulted in them coming to the attention of Detective Constable Hazel Savage, who led a search at Cromwell Street in August of 1992 that found pornography and clear evidence of child abuse. West was arrested for rape and sodomy of a minor, and Rose for assisting in the rape of a minor.

In the course of the investigation DC Savage uncovered the abuse of Anne-Marie, as well as the disappearances of Charmaine and Heather, that warranted further investigation, as well as rumours about what might be buried under the patio. The younger West children were taken into care, and Rose attempted suicide at this time, although she was found by her son, Stephen, and revived.

On 24th February 1994 a warrant was obtained to search the Cromwell Street house and garden, and police found the remains of two dismembered and decapitated young women, one of whom the police suspected might be Shirley Robinson. West claimed sole responsibility for the murders and, when Rose heard of the confession, she denied all knowledge of Heather’s death.

As the case against them developed, Rose tried increasingly to distance herself from West, claiming that she was also a victim, but police were not convinced of her innocence, given the sheer number of murders which had occurred, and her participation in the rapes.

On 13th December 1994, West was charged on twelve counts of murder, and he was taken into custody at Winson Green Prison in Birmingham, pending trial where, on 1st January 1995, he hanged himself in his cell with knotted bed sheets.

Rose West went on trial on 3rd October 1995 in the glare of media frenzy. Witnesses including her daughter Anne Marie and Caroline Owens, one of their first victims, testified to her participation in sexual assaults on young women. Her defence counsel tried to argue that evidence of assault was not evidence of murder but, when Rose testified on her own behalf, her violent nature and dishonesty became clear to the jury, and they unanimously found her guilty on ten separate counts of murder on 22nd November 1995. She was sentenced to a minimum of 25 years in jail. Rose West’s sentence was later extended to a “whole life” sentence by the Home Secretary, effectively removing any possibility of parole.

No 25 Cromwell Street, or the “House of Horrors”, as it was dubbed by the media, was eventually razed to the ground in October 1996, and in its place is a pathway that leads to the town centre.

There remains a widespread belief both with the public and within the police that Fred and Rose West’s victims numbered far more than the twelve with which they were charged and it is still considered highly likely that Fred West maintained another burial site yet to be discovered. And 12 women and children are definitely gone, forever, and two of their unborn babies, and we’ll never know how many more, simply listed as ‘missing’ during the Sixties and Seventies.

FOR FAKES SAKE !!!!!!! PROSPECTIVE BUYERS , AUCTION HOUSES AND PRIVATE INVESTORS, PLEASE DO BEWARE OF THE SHEER MASS OF FAKE KRAYS AND CHARLES BRONSON MEMORABILIA OUT THERE IN THE MARKET PLACE ….

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The Crime Through Time Collection here at Littledean Jail has recently confiscated a mass of astonishingly pathetic so say Kray and Bronson memorabilia as seen here in the gallery below .

Sadly a middle aged gentleman had been duped out of many thousands of hard earned pounds, now known to be one of a great many in a similar situation . 

These were all purchased from and through an alleged former fellow inmate and exceptionally close friend of Reg Kray whilst being his personal golpher in HMP Wayland, .This conman and forger trades under the name “Clive ” …In fact this man has never even met Reg Kray . 

He apparently has personally persuaded several so say reputable auction houses up and down the country to sell a great many of these fake items. Many of these auctions have featured in both local and national press (see HERE ) which has aided him to authenticate these paintings and other memorabilia items . The likes of which he has referred all his buyers and collectors to for reference for at least the last 5 years or so . ….. 

Despite having been informed by reputable collectors and indeed Kray and Bronson family and friends that these items are not genuine and are definitely fake , many auction houses have flagrantly dismissed all advises and proceeded to sell these items which have allegedly  totalled many tens of thousands of pounds over the years .

WE BELIEVE IT IS ONLY RIGHT AND PROPER, THAT ALL THESE  SEEMINGLY UNSCRUPULOUS  AUCTION HOUSES, WHO WE FEEL ARE AS EQUALLY FRAUDULENT AS THIS CONMAN “CLIVE” ….. REIMBURSE ALL DUPED BUYERS OF THIS ABSOLUTELY  WORTHLESS PILE OF CRAP …..

HOPEFULLY THIS SKY NEWS ARTICLE  LINK HERE AND  SOME OF THESE IMAGES BELOW WILL NOW ACT AS A REFERENCE LIBRARY IN PROVIDING SOME EXAMPLES OF THE SHEER SCALE OF FAKE KRAY AND BRONSON MEMORABILIA ITEMS THAT HAVE BEEN SOLD.

HERE ARE SOME LINKS TO SOME  AUCTIONS THAT SOLD FAKE KRAY PAINTINGS IN RECENT YEARS ….. 

BATEMANS AUCTION HOUSE , LINCOLNSHIRE    …. HERE

JAMES AND SONS AUCTIONEERS , FAKENHAM … HERE

LAIDLAWS AUCTIONEERS  ….. HERE

AND MANY OTHERS…… BUYERS BEWARE

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