100 Club Allnighter

A cold night in London, just right to get out of the house and hear some good music with like minded people. And there were obviously many others of the same mind as myself because last night's 100 Club was a packer. It started a bit slowly but began to fill up until it resembled an anniversary night. And there were plenty of faces that I didn't recognise.

I met Suzy, Ann, Trevor and others round the Blue Post and we strolled around to Oxford Street to get in when the club opened. As usual Ady was on the decks. I always like to hear his opening set as he often plays records that I don't recognise, certainly some lesser known tracks but he did include some I knew including That Same Old Feeling and When The Boy That You Love which gently eased me into dancing mode, not too fast.

Next on were guests Carl and Maria Willingham, who I rate extremely highly. They were on at Soul Giant in London last Sunday; I went along assuming they'd be on later but arrived for the last three records they played so was pleased to see them last night. They opened with You're On Top Girl by the Empires, an old Stafford favourite. If you have a request they always try to include it, so thanks to them for playing I Only Have Eyes For You. It's an acetate that they purchased from Dave Flynn who used to play it at the Dome. It's a record that seems to work in the south of the country but not up north.

Butch followed them and opened his set with Man From Soul followed by Salvation. Among others he played were Surprise by the Tiaras, flip of Foolish Girl, Beware, don't know who that is by, and his Chuck Jackson cover up which is a fabulous record in my opinion, certainly sounds like Chuck.

Butch must be a very hard act for a DJ to follow and it fell to Sarah Jane, making her debut as a guest, to follow on. Opening with Dee Dee Sharp's What Kind Of Lady she did a solid Northern Soul set, most of which I didn't know, I do remember the Ambers' I Love You Baby, but perhaps she'd like to post up her playlist for us to peruse. An impressive debut.

100 Club regular DJ Joel Maslin followed and included quite a few classics in this set including I've Only Got Myself To Blame and the insturmental version of World Of Happiness.

By this time the dance floor was pretty busy to put it mildly. And people were still coming in, quite few from Walls Of Heartache in Leytonstone that had just finished.

Then it was Mr 100 Club, Ady himself. He had a couple of “new” tracks to play, a vocal to Hold On Help Is On Its Way by Art Neville and a version of Crazy Things by an unknown male vocalist. He also played some favourites including Voodoo Mademoiselle, Can't Shake It, I'm Not Afraid, What's With This Loneliness and I Wanna Be Good To You. The dance floor was even busier.

Time for Carl and Maria's second appearance, busy dance floor again with records like Love Finds A Way, Why Can't It Be Tonight and Wrapped Around Your Finger.

They were followed by Butch who opened this set with Life Is A Miracle by the Jax Transit Authority, a bit too fast for me at that moment; others he played included Ramona Collins' You've Been Cheating, the Four Tops' (It Would Almost) Drive Me Out Of My Mind, Fluorescent Smogg and Satan Won't You Let Me Sleep Tonight. In both his sets he included quite a few I didn't know; and the last one in his set was a record I've heard him play before but don't know who it's by or its title. By this time the crowd had thinned out a bit so was a bit more room on the dance floor.

Kenny Smith's Lord What's Happening To Our People was the opener for Joel's return and although he included well known records like the Carstairs and Sir Henry Ivy he played quite a few that I didn't know.

The penultimate set fell to Sarah Jane, and I must admit I didn't know any of the ones she played so I reiterate, a playlist please.

For the final half hour Ady was the man, opening with some stompers but gradually slowed things down with Charlie Rich's Don't Tear Me Down. Soon it was nearly the end of the night, he played Just One Look by Doris Troy followed by club anthem I'll Never Stop Loving You by Carla Thomas. Then he said there was just time for two more, Walter Jackson's It's An Uphill Climb To The Bottom and finally Baby I Need Your Loving by the Four Tops. Lights on, That's What Mama Say being played as we gathered our coats and bags and said farewell to our friends.

Last month quite a ,bit of Modern Soul was played but this month it was back to Northern Soul with a bang. No one could have any complaints; all the DJs kept the music moving and the dance floor busy. The crowd thinned out gradually but there were still the usual die hards at the end. Where would we be without them? I thoroughly enjoyed the night but didn't dance as much due to pains in my legs recently, thought it better to take it easy. You can enjoy the music without dancing, not easy at times though.

Thanks to Ady and the other DJs, you all did a sterling job. And of course to the staff of the club.