407. Never Can Say Goodbye by Gloria Gaynor 1975

1975 I went to Blackpool after finishing High School. Went there for an extended holiday and stayed with my Aunt Sheila and Uncle George who had two sons. Neil and Colin. I spent a lot of time hanging out with Neil and one of his mates whose name I can no longer recall. Phil Green rings a bell.

One of the places we would go to was the Blackpool mecca. At the time I had no knowledge of Northern soul nor it's importance in the musical world. I just remember this place full of amazing dancers.

The first night I went there it was raining. I put on my new coat but Neil told me just to wear a shirt. Explanation was it's usually warmer when it rains and where would you put your coat when you got to the pubs and clubs which were most of the time overheated. So I set of in the winter night as the rain drizzled with my sleeves rolled up.

At the Mecca I caught my first sight of dancers with baggy trousers and talcum powder scattered underneath their feet as they slipped, span and jumped. Amazing stuff. The music was a mix of songs I didn't know but had a familiar Motown beat which turned out to be the essence of Northern Soul. They also played top hits. Never Can Say Goodbye was a number 2 hit in the UK. I don't even think we were calling it disco then. It was just a magnificent soul single with a driving beat. And no one stopped dancing. In fact more people got on the floor.
By the time I got back to Australia in early 76 the album was huge. It was sequenced to play without gaps. So the FM radio would play the whole side. By memory I think it was just 3 songs. Honey bee, Never Can say Goodbye and Reach Out.