1 00:00:00,320 --> 00:00:02,720 Welcome back. And tonight we're going to the 2 00:00:02,720 --> 00:00:06,000 seaside. Yep, we're going to Blackpool. 3 00:00:29,080 --> 00:00:32,439 You know, there are places that become fashionable and there are 4 00:00:32,439 --> 00:00:36,360 places that become parts of people's lives and Blackpool was 5 00:00:36,360 --> 00:00:39,960 one of those places. For generations of working class 6 00:00:39,960 --> 00:00:43,400 families across the north of England, Blackpool wasn't simply 7 00:00:43,640 --> 00:00:47,680 a holiday destination, it was a yearly pilgrimage. 8 00:00:48,160 --> 00:01:08,920 You saved all year to go there. My friends think I'm crazy, 9 00:01:08,920 --> 00:01:11,720 truly loving you, and maybe they're right. 10 00:01:12,160 --> 00:01:15,840 After all these civil things you do what they don't know. 11 00:01:15,880 --> 00:01:20,760 Even though my heart is dying, I'm so mad about you, I can even 12 00:01:21,080 --> 00:01:24,720 think you're lying. They shake their heads in pity 13 00:01:24,760 --> 00:01:28,360 and confusion, wondering why I keep myself locked up and. 14 00:01:30,520 --> 00:01:36,600 But they'll never know I love you know they can't understand 15 00:01:36,720 --> 00:01:42,440 you know they'll never know I. Need you. 16 00:01:42,880 --> 00:01:56,400 But they're part about it. Neither will I when I'm walking 17 00:01:56,400 --> 00:01:58,920 down the street with you. I've I feel so proud. 18 00:01:59,360 --> 00:02:02,800 My eyes are laughing, My very heart wants to shout. 19 00:02:03,280 --> 00:02:07,080 The same thing always happens. You'll see some guy, you'll 20 00:02:07,120 --> 00:02:09,960 smile at you, and you'll wink. Your eyes I. 21 00:02:11,120 --> 00:02:16,120 Say my head and pretend I don't see Yeah, I got back my friends 22 00:02:16,160 --> 00:02:21,800 off signing these go to me. But they'll never know I love 23 00:02:21,800 --> 00:02:25,160 you. No, they can't understand it. 24 00:02:26,280 --> 00:02:30,040 No, they'll never know. I I don't need you. 25 00:02:30,160 --> 00:02:35,360 But the third part about it that neither will I. 26 00:02:56,480 --> 00:02:58,440 They couldn't understand. Then they could tell me. 27 00:02:58,480 --> 00:03:03,080 Because I'm in the dark. My eyes cannot see that I'm just 28 00:03:03,280 --> 00:03:05,840 placing something for your leisure. 29 00:03:06,520 --> 00:03:09,600 But Heather knows I've cried. I'll try to try to please. 30 00:03:10,840 --> 00:03:15,240 They will come from the table. They're going to know me, baby. 31 00:03:15,680 --> 00:03:19,480 You'll know you made a mistake. Then they'll never know I know 32 00:03:19,720 --> 00:03:26,240 you do. They can't understand it. 33 00:03:37,720 --> 00:03:41,480 Mum's packed sandwiches the size of paving slabs and dad's 34 00:03:41,480 --> 00:03:45,160 carriage suitcases that look like they survive military 35 00:03:45,160 --> 00:03:49,360 service, and children stared out of train windows waiting for the 36 00:03:49,360 --> 00:03:53,120 first glimpse of the tower rising above the skyline. 37 00:03:53,120 --> 00:03:58,040 Like Britain's answer to Paris, my own first memories of 38 00:03:58,040 --> 00:04:02,000 Blackpool came in the early 1960s. 39 00:04:09,680 --> 00:04:20,519 Do do do do do do do a fool of my to make you cry when you're 40 00:04:20,560 --> 00:04:25,920 the only one alone. No other love whatever make you 41 00:04:26,000 --> 00:04:29,840 feel the way you do. I don't know why I make you 42 00:04:29,840 --> 00:04:31,520 move. I hurt you back. 43 00:04:31,920 --> 00:04:35,640 I make you sake, you sake, and all you do is love you more, 44 00:04:39,000 --> 00:04:40,560 Bill. They don't deserve a lovely 45 00:04:40,800 --> 00:04:41,360 guilt to. Me. 46 00:04:41,600 --> 00:04:46,320 You do. What's wrong with me, baby? 47 00:04:48,760 --> 00:04:51,960 What is wrong with me, baby? What is wrong with you? 48 00:04:52,000 --> 00:04:53,840 I belong. What's wrong? 49 00:04:53,840 --> 00:05:02,120 What's wrong? What's wrong with you, baby? 50 00:05:02,120 --> 00:05:08,440 I love you so, but I don't know why every fruity girl, she just 51 00:05:08,480 --> 00:05:11,960 gets to me. Something in my soul I don't 52 00:05:12,040 --> 00:05:15,000 know how to hide. The girl I know is going to 53 00:05:15,280 --> 00:05:18,240 fight I need on you. I really do, really do. 54 00:05:18,440 --> 00:05:25,680 Even though I build a bank. The reason why I threw the 55 00:05:25,880 --> 00:05:29,360 things off always for why I cannot go to you. 56 00:05:30,040 --> 00:05:31,760 What's wrong with me? Faith, What's wrong with me? 57 00:05:31,760 --> 00:05:36,360 Faith, What is wrong with me? Hey, what's wrong? 58 00:05:37,520 --> 00:05:39,520 What's wrong? What's wrong with you, baby? 59 00:05:42,320 --> 00:06:02,640 What's wrong with me? 60 00:06:19,000 --> 00:06:41,280 What's wrong with me? The invitations and What's wrong 61 00:06:41,280 --> 00:06:44,280 with me, babies? My own first memories of 62 00:06:44,280 --> 00:06:48,160 Blackpool came, obviously, in the 1960s, and my grandparents 63 00:06:48,160 --> 00:06:50,880 took me there on a steam train. Imagine that. 64 00:06:51,240 --> 00:06:54,360 And even now, decades later, I can still remember the 65 00:06:54,720 --> 00:06:59,000 excitement of arriving, the smell of the sea, the noise of 66 00:06:59,000 --> 00:07:03,920 the railway station, then the trams rattling past the flashing 67 00:07:03,920 --> 00:07:08,680 lights, and that strange mixture of glamour and glorious chaos 68 00:07:08,680 --> 00:07:34,580 that Blackpool could produce. Every time I see your face in my 69 00:07:34,700 --> 00:07:39,500 dreams, I wake up and cry till dawn. 70 00:07:42,080 --> 00:07:43,360 I do. I do. 71 00:07:43,480 --> 00:07:44,960 I do. Since you're gone. 72 00:07:45,440 --> 00:07:49,320 Well, listen to me, girl. All at once. 73 00:07:51,920 --> 00:07:58,160 You took my world from under me. There's nothing left at all now. 74 00:07:58,160 --> 00:08:03,440 Since you're gone. I don't know what went wrong. 75 00:08:04,840 --> 00:08:17,040 I've been on since that day. Hey, you know, you know, you 76 00:08:17,360 --> 00:08:21,560 know that I'll be such a lonely guy. 77 00:08:22,760 --> 00:08:24,840 I can't. Understand this. 78 00:08:25,600 --> 00:08:27,600 Misery girl, all you see makes me cry. 79 00:08:29,000 --> 00:08:30,880 Why? Why, why, why can't? 80 00:08:31,320 --> 00:08:35,679 I. Emptiness inside and I see now. 81 00:08:35,679 --> 00:09:13,880 I see now you left me all alone. The Barons And since you've been 82 00:09:13,880 --> 00:09:18,480 gone now, Blackpool just had everything. 3 Piers stretching 83 00:09:18,480 --> 00:09:22,800 out into the Irish Sea. Miles of illuminations, 84 00:09:22,800 --> 00:09:28,320 ballrooms, arcades, rock shops every 10 yards. 85 00:09:28,640 --> 00:09:32,960 Fortune tellers promising romance and riches for half a 86 00:09:32,960 --> 00:09:36,120 crown. And naturally, in true British 87 00:09:36,120 --> 00:09:39,840 fashion, most people spent the holiday either wrapped in 88 00:09:39,880 --> 00:09:44,440 overcoats or running away from the incoming tide. 89 00:09:44,440 --> 00:09:49,920 Yeah, first. Impression. 90 00:09:50,480 --> 00:09:54,720 First impression on the land. First impression. 91 00:09:56,000 --> 00:09:56,920 Impression. Impression. 92 00:09:58,000 --> 00:09:59,440 Yeah. First impression. 93 00:10:00,640 --> 00:10:02,760 First impression. Mama used to tell me about those 94 00:10:02,960 --> 00:10:05,080 impression, those old impressions. 95 00:10:10,800 --> 00:10:24,920 Now this might sound like square 96 00:10:25,000 --> 00:10:28,720 fights but it pays to be kind of nice. 97 00:10:30,560 --> 00:10:32,880 Now I don't mean for you to be no fool. 98 00:10:34,520 --> 00:10:40,040 All I'm saying is for you to play a carry yourself like a man 99 00:10:41,840 --> 00:10:47,880 and always try to understand and don't forget to give a respect 100 00:10:49,640 --> 00:11:12,000 and then you can demand respect. The first time you take a high 101 00:11:12,000 --> 00:11:17,840 high and let her know what Love Is All about, how and when you 102 00:11:17,840 --> 00:11:22,360 talk yous come and say hey you got to win. 103 00:11:25,120 --> 00:11:31,160 If you make out the very first night, make sure you've got your 104 00:11:31,240 --> 00:11:44,880 game tied and when she's home all the long you can. 105 00:11:55,160 --> 00:11:59,400 Come on and let me put something on my head. 106 00:12:00,440 --> 00:12:05,320 You may not get a second time. You must be fast. 107 00:12:05,360 --> 00:12:11,720 You can't be slow when you start rapping from the word say go boy 108 00:12:12,320 --> 00:12:18,320 and let her know the love is true, that she can't depend on 109 00:12:18,400 --> 00:12:33,320 you when she I know, I know, I know. 110 00:12:33,720 --> 00:12:43,320 You're here talking about the first time my Mama would say 111 00:12:43,840 --> 00:12:49,960 brush your teeth and comb your hair, pick out something nice to 112 00:12:49,960 --> 00:12:50,440 wear. Shut up baby. 113 00:12:51,600 --> 00:12:57,680 Try your best to pick her up on time and let you that old corny 114 00:12:57,680 --> 00:13:03,800 lies know all this way you can come or feel better. 115 00:13:03,800 --> 00:13:09,480 Know you won't bring a tear. Then she'll give all her love to 116 00:13:09,560 --> 00:13:12,640 you. Then she'll give it all to you. 117 00:13:18,960 --> 00:14:05,040 You see, I want you to know I love, dear girl. 118 00:14:05,040 --> 00:14:06,320 Come on. Come on. 119 00:14:06,360 --> 00:14:13,080 Come on, honey. Yeah, yeah, baby, I know. 120 00:14:13,680 --> 00:14:16,120 Oh, yeah, I know. You have. 121 00:14:18,600 --> 00:14:24,800 Come on, man. You see, I'm talking about the 122 00:14:25,520 --> 00:14:38,040 first time. The impressions and first 123 00:14:38,040 --> 00:14:41,520 impressions. Blackpool really represented 124 00:14:41,600 --> 00:14:45,320 escape and in the 1960s entertainment in Britain 125 00:14:45,320 --> 00:14:48,120 revolved around places just like this. 126 00:14:48,360 --> 00:14:53,080 The biggest stars all appeared there, and some that I saw 127 00:14:53,080 --> 00:14:58,000 including Cliff Richard, The Bachelors, Tommy Cooper, Shirley 128 00:14:58,000 --> 00:15:03,040 Bassey and comedians, singers, dancers, variety acts all 129 00:15:03,040 --> 00:15:07,440 performing in packed theatres and ballrooms every single 130 00:15:07,560 --> 00:15:10,440 summer season. Even The Beatles played 131 00:15:10,440 --> 00:15:14,760 Blackpool's ABC during those frantic touring years. 132 00:15:14,760 --> 00:15:18,720 Sadly, I never saw them there myself, but just knowing they'd 133 00:15:18,720 --> 00:15:23,200 stood on a Blackpool stage somehow added to the magic 134 00:15:23,400 --> 00:15:27,360 because Blackpool always felt larger than life. 135 00:15:35,880 --> 00:15:40,320 Don't let love her fire through the night 'cause the one you 136 00:15:40,440 --> 00:15:46,200 love has let you. Don't let lover find a home in 137 00:15:46,200 --> 00:15:50,000 the dark. Your sighing just breaks my 138 00:15:50,000 --> 00:15:53,320 heart. I hear you cry and come across 139 00:15:53,560 --> 00:15:56,280 the street. It keeps me awake. 140 00:15:56,640 --> 00:16:01,240 I'm able to sleep. I close my window and I'm going 141 00:16:01,240 --> 00:16:10,520 to here. Do you fly those in my ear, 142 00:16:10,600 --> 00:16:13,520 lonely lover? Cry your little heart out. 143 00:16:14,520 --> 00:16:19,160 It's time to wash your way. You're hurt, lonely lover. 144 00:16:19,480 --> 00:16:24,080 I've longed to comfort you 'cause when you hurt, I've hurt 145 00:16:24,160 --> 00:16:28,200 you. From my window across the 146 00:16:28,200 --> 00:16:34,600 street, I've watched you kiss him so tenderly, kissing you 147 00:16:34,720 --> 00:16:39,240 like I never could. To you, I'm just another guy in 148 00:16:39,280 --> 00:16:46,640 the neighbourhood. Have her neighbour say he's 149 00:16:46,640 --> 00:16:53,440 going to put you down for another girl across town known 150 00:16:53,440 --> 00:16:56,240 another sovereign through the night. 151 00:16:56,800 --> 00:17:00,000 How? How long don't hold you tired 152 00:17:01,280 --> 00:17:03,480 now? The nights I've awakened from my 153 00:17:03,480 --> 00:17:07,720 sleep, hearing you crying from across the street. 154 00:17:08,839 --> 00:17:11,680 Your neighbourhood friends are I'll ever be. 155 00:17:12,280 --> 00:17:15,560 But I still love you so tenderly. 156 00:17:36,400 --> 00:17:40,200 And then, quietly, Seoul arrived. 157 00:17:40,440 --> 00:17:44,520 But rare American soul records brought back from Detroit, 158 00:17:44,520 --> 00:17:48,640 Chicago, Philadelphia and New York music filled with 159 00:17:48,640 --> 00:17:51,600 heartbreak, joy, rhythm and sheer urgency. 160 00:17:51,960 --> 00:17:55,400 Young people from all over the north started travelling to 161 00:17:55,600 --> 00:17:59,560 dance halls and clubs, carrying obscure records under their arms 162 00:17:59,560 --> 00:18:03,960 like precious treasure. And by the late 1960s into the 163 00:18:04,120 --> 00:18:09,600 early 70s, Blackpool became one of the Northern Souls spiritual 164 00:18:09,600 --> 00:18:12,680 homes. Now this is where things become 165 00:18:12,840 --> 00:18:16,640 really interesting, because Northern Soul itself was always 166 00:18:16,640 --> 00:18:19,400 slightly eccentric. Think about it. 167 00:18:19,680 --> 00:18:22,880 Thousands of people travelling overnight across Britain to 168 00:18:22,880 --> 00:18:27,720 dance to records nobody outside the scene had ever heard of. 169 00:18:27,720 --> 00:18:45,040 Hey. Don't look away, Look in my 170 00:18:45,200 --> 00:18:50,440 eyes. No, not above me. 171 00:18:52,680 --> 00:18:59,000 Hey, come on and say, say I'm your girl. 172 00:19:01,480 --> 00:19:07,360 Tell me you love me. Wake me up. 173 00:19:07,400 --> 00:19:11,040 I'm so down. Go and round. 174 00:19:12,840 --> 00:19:14,880 Take a. Stranger, I'm. 175 00:19:16,080 --> 00:19:26,560 A stranger, Stranger. Baby, did you change your mind? 176 00:19:26,840 --> 00:19:34,720 You told me that you needed me. Stranger, stranger. 177 00:19:34,920 --> 00:19:37,560 You're acting like a stranger in my heart. 178 00:19:49,460 --> 00:20:00,920 Why did you say all through the night that you are oh me and one 179 00:20:03,520 --> 00:20:23,700 of me today then take it can't be true why you stranger 180 00:20:29,220 --> 00:20:32,220 stranger 2 like a. Stranger. 181 00:20:32,540 --> 00:20:38,780 Stranger maybe? If you change the whole world, 182 00:20:43,080 --> 00:20:59,320 stranger, stranger, stranger. And then came Blackpool. 183 00:20:59,320 --> 00:21:02,400 Mecca, and the Mecca changed everything. 184 00:21:02,680 --> 00:21:06,680 To understand Northern Soul properly, you have to understand 185 00:21:06,760 --> 00:21:11,080 what the Mecca represented. It wasn't just another venue, it 186 00:21:11,080 --> 00:21:15,320 became the battleground for the future sound of Northern Soul 187 00:21:15,360 --> 00:21:19,160 itself. By the early 1970s, DJs at the 188 00:21:19,160 --> 00:21:23,720 Mecca, especially Ian Levine, started introducing newer 189 00:21:23,720 --> 00:21:29,400 American imports, richer productions, heavy orchestration 190 00:21:29,640 --> 00:21:34,800 and more modern rhythms. Some dancers loved it instantly, 191 00:21:35,080 --> 00:21:40,240 and others reacted like somebody had insulted their entire 192 00:21:40,560 --> 00:21:43,560 bloodline. Traditionalists wanted the raw 193 00:21:43,560 --> 00:21:48,120 stompers, the fast, pounding 60s records that had built the 194 00:21:48,120 --> 00:21:51,240 scene. The Mecca crowd was looking 195 00:21:51,240 --> 00:21:54,160 ahead. Suddenly, Northern Soul wasn't 196 00:21:54,160 --> 00:21:57,880 just nostalgia anymore. It was evolving. 197 00:22:32,920 --> 00:22:38,200 Don't be disappointed. When people put you. 198 00:22:38,200 --> 00:22:43,480 Down. Let that be their hang up. 199 00:22:46,320 --> 00:22:52,880 I'll be loud. Don't you worry, baby. 200 00:22:55,080 --> 00:23:08,640 Best yet to come. Don't worry baby, keep on 201 00:23:08,880 --> 00:23:25,970 dreaming baby, they will all continue and I believe in you. 202 00:23:25,970 --> 00:23:36,320 Don't you worry baby. Best yet to don't worry baby 203 00:23:39,120 --> 00:24:03,020 Best is yet to Don't you worry baby best is. 204 00:24:05,540 --> 00:24:10,340 Yet to. Come. 205 00:24:10,340 --> 00:24:11,660 Don't worry, baby. Yes. 206 00:24:14,140 --> 00:24:15,900 To be yet. To come. 207 00:24:18,760 --> 00:24:24,520 Maybe not tomorrow. Your time is coming soon. 208 00:24:27,640 --> 00:24:32,560 You all need your handouts. You'll learn your school from 209 00:24:32,560 --> 00:24:38,360 school. Don't you worry, baby. 210 00:24:40,840 --> 00:24:42,240 Red. Good reaction. 211 00:24:45,440 --> 00:24:49,960 Don't worry, baby. Yeah. 212 00:25:30,800 --> 00:25:33,920 Bessie Banks and the best is yet to come. 213 00:25:34,680 --> 00:25:38,840 This really caused rows and arguments, and it's still being 214 00:25:38,840 --> 00:25:42,120 talked about today. Which in fairness, is very 215 00:25:42,120 --> 00:25:44,880 Northern Soul. People could happily dance 216 00:25:44,880 --> 00:25:49,160 together for 8 hours and then nearly fall out over whether a 217 00:25:49,160 --> 00:25:52,200 record had too much disco influence. 218 00:25:52,360 --> 00:25:56,000 But here's the thing, without the Blackpool Mecca, Northern 219 00:25:56,000 --> 00:26:00,960 Soul might never have survived. Into the late 70s and beyond the 220 00:26:01,080 --> 00:26:05,640 Mecca push boundaries. It widened taste, and it 221 00:26:05,720 --> 00:26:10,120 introduced modern soul sounds that eventually shaped entire 222 00:26:10,120 --> 00:26:13,240 generations of collectors and DJs. 223 00:26:13,720 --> 00:26:17,120 And all this was happening beside candy flash stalls, 224 00:26:17,360 --> 00:26:22,400 souvenir shops, and pensioners eating chips in parked cars 225 00:26:22,640 --> 00:26:24,880 watching the rain hit the windscreen. 226 00:26:25,320 --> 00:26:28,800 That contrast is the whole beauty of Blackpool. 227 00:26:29,080 --> 00:26:31,720 One minute you're buying a stick of Blackpool rock with 228 00:26:31,960 --> 00:26:34,920 somebody's name running through the middle, the next you're 229 00:26:34,920 --> 00:26:39,760 hearing a life changing soul record at 3:00 AM in the 230 00:26:39,760 --> 00:26:57,760 morning. I woke up early this morning 231 00:26:58,880 --> 00:27:03,640 looking round for my love girl sweet boy. 232 00:27:03,640 --> 00:27:04,880 I didn't eat. No. 233 00:27:09,280 --> 00:27:11,600 Stop the minimum work and start digging. 234 00:27:16,240 --> 00:27:18,880 That's not. That's something every man must 235 00:27:19,040 --> 00:27:39,440 realise. Likes a man with infight yet 236 00:27:39,480 --> 00:27:42,680 with the earth to really understand it. 237 00:27:43,080 --> 00:27:49,720 Although the changes in life before with a little baby. 238 00:27:51,320 --> 00:27:54,360 Don't let the Dave Barbara let you down. 239 00:27:58,400 --> 00:28:00,000 It's time to. Get to season. 240 00:28:00,200 --> 00:28:05,920 Climb Jordan, you bring her back around and 241 00:28:23,040 --> 00:28:25,720 she'll be back. I know someday. 242 00:28:37,520 --> 00:28:49,960 She'll be there, Yes, she will. She'll come running back to me. 243 00:28:56,640 --> 00:28:59,040 Well, Brett and she'll come running back. 244 00:28:59,280 --> 00:29:01,840 But that's why places like Blackpool mattered. 245 00:29:01,960 --> 00:29:06,000 They gave ordinary people extraordinary memories, and for 246 00:29:06,000 --> 00:29:09,680 soul fans, they gave those memories a soundtrack. 247 00:29:10,320 --> 00:29:13,680 And this is where Blackpool Mecca became controversial, 248 00:29:13,920 --> 00:29:16,360 because the Mecca wasn't trapped in nostalgia. 249 00:29:16,600 --> 00:29:20,760 While some venues stuck rigidly to the older, stomping 60s 250 00:29:20,760 --> 00:29:25,160 sounds, the Mecca started embracing newer American soul 251 00:29:25,160 --> 00:29:28,760 records, sophisticated productions, modern 252 00:29:28,760 --> 00:29:34,000 arrangements, tracks with hints of funk, jazz and even disco 253 00:29:34,400 --> 00:29:39,440 creeping into the grooves. Some fans hated it immediately. 254 00:29:39,600 --> 00:29:43,440 To them, Northern Soul was sacred, and sacred things 255 00:29:43,520 --> 00:29:47,080 shouldn't change. Others absolutely loved it. 256 00:29:47,560 --> 00:29:51,120 For many dancers, the Mecca felt futuristic. 257 00:29:51,320 --> 00:29:56,320 It was evolving in real time, and that tension gave the venue 258 00:29:56,480 --> 00:29:59,320 electricity. You could hear arguments in the 259 00:29:59,320 --> 00:30:02,880 corners between collectors debating whether a record was 260 00:30:03,080 --> 00:30:06,400 too modern. Imagine travelling 100 and 20 261 00:30:06,400 --> 00:30:11,040 miles through rain at 2:00 in the morning purely to complain 262 00:30:11,040 --> 00:30:15,240 about orchestration. That was northern Seoul. 263 00:30:35,080 --> 00:30:39,840 Said before it's too late. I said before it's too late. 264 00:30:42,160 --> 00:30:46,480 You'd better stop. Yeah, yeah, I said anything 265 00:30:51,400 --> 00:30:56,600 before you walk out that door. I said think about it once more. 266 00:30:58,200 --> 00:31:00,080 You don't like Bob. Just one night. 267 00:31:01,560 --> 00:31:08,680 It'll mean your very life. Hey Bo, it's too late, I said, 268 00:31:08,960 --> 00:31:15,160 oh it's too late. In just a little while I said, 269 00:31:15,160 --> 00:31:23,200 you realise your mind on fire and pull our desire. 270 00:31:25,120 --> 00:31:33,320 Hey, Bo, it's too late. I said, oh, it's too late, you 271 00:31:33,640 --> 00:31:38,360 better check yourself. I have somebody new. 272 00:31:40,040 --> 00:31:45,920 I'm whatever need because I won't believe in you before it's 273 00:31:45,960 --> 00:31:52,520 too late. I said before it's too late, you 274 00:31:52,520 --> 00:31:55,000 better stop. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I said 275 00:31:55,920 --> 00:32:22,840 anything. You better check yourself. 276 00:32:23,600 --> 00:32:30,400 I have somebody new. I won't have a need because I 277 00:32:30,440 --> 00:32:33,200 won't believe in you before it's too late. 278 00:32:43,400 --> 00:32:47,240 Now, out of all the legendary Northern Soul venues people talk 279 00:32:47,240 --> 00:32:51,800 about, Wigan Casino, the Twisted Wheel, Cleethorpes Pier, the 280 00:32:51,800 --> 00:32:57,960 Tortured Stoke, the only one I have ever actually gone to was 281 00:32:57,960 --> 00:33:01,480 the Blackpool Mecca. And that really mainly happened 282 00:33:01,480 --> 00:33:05,800 because I went to Blackpool constantly as a kid and later as 283 00:33:05,840 --> 00:33:09,560 a teenager. Blackpool really was simply part 284 00:33:09,560 --> 00:33:12,960 of life in the North. You went there for weekends, for 285 00:33:12,960 --> 00:33:17,160 holidays, for entertainment and for the Illuminations. 286 00:33:17,480 --> 00:33:21,680 And eventually, somewhere along the line, you ended up inside 287 00:33:21,760 --> 00:33:25,400 the Blackpool Mecca. But here's the surprising thing. 288 00:33:25,880 --> 00:33:30,000 At that time I never really thought of it as a Northern Soul 289 00:33:30,000 --> 00:33:31,920 club. Well, not really. 290 00:33:32,360 --> 00:33:36,600 And looking back, I think part of the reason was because I was 291 00:33:36,600 --> 00:33:40,880 already a working DJ in the Manchester clubs. 292 00:33:41,080 --> 00:33:45,040 So when I walked into the Mecca, I didn't really see this 293 00:33:45,040 --> 00:33:49,280 mythical, sacred Northern Soul institution that people would 294 00:33:49,280 --> 00:33:53,960 later talk about with almost religious reverence. 295 00:33:54,360 --> 00:34:00,480 To me at that moment in time, it simply felt like a huge, very 296 00:34:00,480 --> 00:34:04,080 impressive discotheque. A really glamorous 1. 297 00:34:04,160 --> 00:34:07,320 Admittedly. Big lights, massive dance floor, 298 00:34:07,600 --> 00:34:10,920 powerful sound system and beautiful surroundings. 299 00:34:11,199 --> 00:34:15,880 But I felt connected to the broader club scene I already 300 00:34:15,920 --> 00:34:19,440 knew. Only later did I fully realise 301 00:34:19,440 --> 00:34:23,080 what the Mecca actually represented to Northern Soul 302 00:34:23,080 --> 00:34:25,520 history. Because while I was looking at 303 00:34:25,520 --> 00:34:28,960 the lights and the dance floor, something much bigger was 304 00:34:29,080 --> 00:34:32,560 happening musically. The Mecca wasn't just playing 305 00:34:32,560 --> 00:34:37,360 records, it was changing the direction of the entire scene. 306 00:34:37,719 --> 00:34:41,840 And perhaps that's what makes memory fascinating. 307 00:34:42,159 --> 00:34:46,320 Sometimes you can stand inside an iconic moment in music 308 00:34:46,320 --> 00:34:50,679 history and not fully realise it until years later. 309 00:34:58,080 --> 00:35:01,480 Summer is over and we have parted. 310 00:35:01,680 --> 00:35:05,360 Nothing is left of the dreams we started. 311 00:35:05,360 --> 00:35:13,720 Now all I can see is lonely memory of lost summer. 312 00:35:13,800 --> 00:35:21,360 Lost summer. Remember the surfing and the 313 00:35:21,800 --> 00:35:27,160 life and sun, the moonlight down and all the flood Instead of a 314 00:35:27,160 --> 00:35:32,360 love that was my life wonder would last for all time. 315 00:35:32,480 --> 00:35:37,280 A lost summer, lost summer. Whatever happened 316 00:35:50,190 --> 00:35:58,110 to those dreams we want? Made lots of promises but didn't 317 00:35:58,110 --> 00:36:04,240 keep them, but a handful of tears and I talking of every 318 00:36:04,320 --> 00:36:06,560 place. Don't walk to. 319 00:36:06,920 --> 00:36:13,040 Your Sweden beret lost summer lost 320 00:36:24,250 --> 00:36:31,450 summer talking of every place walks to your Sweden beret lost 321 00:36:32,410 --> 00:36:50,480 summer. Tonight we've travelled from 322 00:36:50,480 --> 00:36:54,640 steam trains and seaside holidays to rare soul records 323 00:36:54,680 --> 00:36:59,640 echoing beneath ballroom lights, from childhood memories to one 324 00:36:59,640 --> 00:37:04,120 of the most influential venues the scene has ever produced. 325 00:37:04,440 --> 00:37:08,000 And somewhere between the illuminations, the trams and the 326 00:37:08,000 --> 00:37:12,360 sound of those incredible records, Blackpool became part 327 00:37:12,360 --> 00:37:17,680 of British musical history. Until the next time, bye bye. 328 00:37:44,280 --> 00:38:13,760 The. None. 329 00:38:39,840 --> 00:39:23,360 None. None. 330 00:39:52,840 --> 00:40:18,880 None. None.