Russ Winstanley born October 1952 is an English

English people

The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...

 DJ, originating from the Beech Hill area Wigan

Wigan

Wigan is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It stands on the River Douglas, south-west of Bolton, north of Warrington and west-northwest of Manchester. Wigan is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its administrative centre. The town of Wigan had a total...

, Greater Manchester

Greater Manchester

Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2.6 million. It encompasses one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom and comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and the...

. He is best known for his championing of Northern Soul

Northern soul

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...

 music, most famously when he founded the Wigan Casino

Wigan Casino

The Wigan Casino was a nightclub in Wigan, Lancashire, England. Operating between 1973 and 1981, it was known as a primary venue for northern soul music. It carried forward the legacy created by clubs such as the Twisted Wheel in Manchester and the Golden Torch in Tunstall, Stoke-on-Trent...

 in 1973 in his hometown. Since its closure in 1981, Russ has still been very active, both on the Northern Soul circuit and in radio

Radio

Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...

. He has hosted his own show on BBC GMR and XFM

Xfm Manchester

Xfm Manchester is a commercial radio station broadcasting alternative and indie music to Manchester in North West England.It builds on the brand and format established by Xfm London. The majority of programming is shared but some is produced specifically for Manchester...

 in Manchester, but is now hosting a regular northern soul show on BBC Radio Lancashire

BBC Radio Lancashire

BBC Radio Lancashire is the BBC Local Radio service for the county of Lancashire, in North West England. It began as BBC Radio Blackburn on 26 January 1971 on 96.4FM, then adding 854 kHz AM in 1972 and changing to its current name on 4 July 1981...

 on Saturdays 7pm till 8pm.

On 23 September 1973, Russ had the idea for putting on and DJing at the famous Soul Allnighters at Wigan Casino

Casino

In modern English, a casino is a facility which houses and accommodates certain types of gambling activities. Casinos are most commonly built near or combined with hotels, restaurants, retail shopping, cruise ships or other tourist attractions...

. Over 4 million people passed through the venue which ran four nights per week until 6 December 1981. Both Wigan Casino and Russ Winstanley won many awards for best venue and best DJ. In 1997, Russ compiled Telstar Records

Telstar Records

Telstar Records was a record label founded in 1982 by Sean O'Brien and Neil Palmer with a government loan of £120,000. It was founded as a specialist compilation marketing label and had hits with a range of compilation franchises such as the Deep Heat, Kaos Theory and 100% ranges...

 northern soul album "Soul Survivors" which has become the biggest selling northern soul compilation ever grossing over £2million. In 1998, his book "Wigan Casino Story" joined the best sellers' list.

In 2008, Russ has been featured in BBC

BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...

 TV's "Soul Britannia" and "Dance Britannia" and special Northern Soul features on BBC Radio 2

BBC Radio 2

BBC Radio 2 is one of the BBC's national radio stations and the most popular station in the United Kingdom. Much of its daytime playlist-based programming is best described as Adult Contemporary or AOR, although the station is also noted for its specialist broadcasting of other musical genres...

 and BBC Radio 4

BBC Radio 4

BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...

. He has also toured with Paul Weller

Paul Weller

Paul Weller is an English singer-songwriter. Starting with the band The Jam , Weller then went on to branch out musically to a more soulful style with The Style Council...

 and Ocean Colour Scene

Ocean Colour Scene

Ocean Colour Scene are an English Britpop band formed in Moseley, Birmingham in 1989. They have had five Top 10 albums and six Top 10 singles to date.-Early days :...

 and worked with Paul and Dean Parrish

Dean Parrish

Dean Parrish is an American soul singer from New York, best known for the song, "I'm On My Way", which became famous for being the last record that was played at Northern Soul all-nighters at the Wigan Casino.-Career:Anastasi was born to Italian and Spanish parents and was raised in Little Italy,...

on the singles "Left Right and Centre" and "It'll Never Be Over For Me".

Russ was also music consultant to the successful play, "Once Upon A Time In Wigan".

External links

• wigan-casino.co.uk - Russ' website.
• bbc.co.uk/lancashire - Winstanley's BBC page.
• xfm.co.uk - XFM Article on Winstanley.