GordonS

It has been a very sad few weeks for lovers of quality music. A few weeks ago we lost Bill Withers and on Sunday Betty Wright. Bill Withers' Just As I Am and Betty's I Love The Way You Love were two of the first albums I bought as a 16 year old back in the summer of 1972 and both artists continued to brighten my life for many years. I get used to hear of the loss of the artists I have loved from my youth as they would be from the generation above me. With Betty, it is different - she is my generation, only two years older than me. As a live artist, she was wonderful. My wife and I got to see her on her UK Tour in 87 or 88 in Bradford. With the support acts, it was a very long night (we had young kids to get back for) and she doesn't short change you. Luckily a video was released of the Hammersmith performance so the memory lives on.

In my role as Mayor of Horwich, yesterday I attended the funeral of a former Mayor, Ken Thomson. In the order of service I was surprised to see the pieces of music both by Joe Simon - I'm In The Mood For You and Let The Good Times Roll. I don't think I knew Ken. Although we were members of the same political party, I didn't join until 2016 by which time Ken had left the council and was no longer active. However, Ken obviously had a passion for soul music and was a regular at Wigan Casino - the funeral celebrant said he did actually dj at the Casino. I may not have known him personally but I may have come across him over the past twenty years at the likes of Lowton, Prestwich, Bury, Formby Hall, Grasshoppers or even my own little Everything's Tuesday sessions at Horwich RMI. RIP Ken

Pete Meadows returned to the airwaves on Tameside Radio last Thursday with a one-off (or so he said!) 50 Shades of Soul. I managed to capture it and the podcast is now available from my site. No messing about with podomatic, soundcloud, etc. Just download and enjoy at your leisure. Soulfulhorwich podcasts

About 14 or so years ago I included a couple of Dave Godin & Frank Elson columns from Blues & Soul on my site. I finally got round to progressing to add to those and have scanned all columns from 1977 and posted them to a new page on my site : https://www.soulfulhorwich.org.uk/soul.html They are in pdf format so you can download and read at your leisure. I'll be uploading further columns in the coming months. I might ask for help for pre issue 50. Why did I start with 1977? Simple - Frank put out a request to find an article he wrote in a 1977 issue, so having scanned that I thought why not continue and get the rest of the year uploaded. Dave was aware of my project and gave his permission back in 1999.

I've just been redesigning my website so slight change to filename that will take you to the podcasts for both Soul Spectrum and Soultime. New link is https://www.soulfulhorwich.org.uk/podcasts.html Last four editions are available from the website but I do have all the old podcasts backed up along with loads more. Ta, Gordon

Just got home and put the radio on whilst having my tea and heard this superb live stuff. It'll be on BBC IPlayer shortly and well worth a listen if you like traditional soul with a bit of a bluesy edge to it.

Big thanks to everyone who ventured into the modern room creating a top atmosphere. Big thanks to guests Pete Meadows and Lawrence and to 45 Carat Soul resident Dave Peet.

I'm having a clearout so have put about 40 singles (mostly soul) on ebay, ending Sunday or Monday. Nothing wildly rare or exciting but all nice n cheap starting prices so bargains to be had. EBAY LINK For some of them I've recorded 32Kbps samples and posted them to my site. Also some linked on ebay Gordon

I'm having a clearout so have put about 40 singles (mostly soul) on ebay, ending Sunday or Monday. Nothing wildly rare or exciting but all nice n cheap. EBAY LINK For some of them I've recorded 32Kbps samples and posted them to my site. Also some linked on ebay July 18th - Some more gone up plus a few lp's - much of it isn't soul but some is. Gordon

Arrived today and I tend to start reading from the front so a bit of a shock. I wasn't quite there from the start but a quick calculation means I've been subscribing for over 12 years to what has become my modern day Blues and Soul. I fully understand David's reasons and it is not really surprising. I'm sure he will continue to make his massive contribution to the appreciation of the music we love - a contribution that is exceptional. Gordon

No modern room this month so looking forward to a nice relaxing night enjoying the tunes. May even get up on the dancefloor.