The Northern Line

Hi Folks,

WOW!  What a night!  Thank you so very much for your support.

This was one of our best events of 2016 and after the sadness of the loss of John in April this was the first time I felt we’d come close to re-capturing the spirit of The Northern Line.  Yes, it’s still difficult without John, but I’d like to think he’d have given us a thumbs-up for last night.

Credit must go to you, our supporters and customers.  You were awesome, with encouraging early-doors attendances to hear Ben Moses spot (which included tracks such as Maxine Brown – Let Me Give You My Lovin’, Big Maybelle – 96 Tears, Anna King – Mama’s Got A Bag Of Her Own, Fred Hughes – Don’t Let Me Down and The Falcons – I’m A Fool I Must Love You).  Of those in attendance early on we had a high proportion dancing, which always takes the pressure of the DJs slightly.

There was a good-sized crowd as Ben handed over to me, but every time I turned around there were more and more people in the room and on the floor.  I tried to give a blend of classic 60s Northern, a smattering of R’n’B and a spot of Motown, with my plays including Brice Cofield – Ain’t That Right, Jimmy Fraser – Of Hopes Deams & Tombstones, and Sandi Sheldon – You’re Gonna Make Me Love You.  I normally get a little nervous DJ’ing if I’m honest but the dance floor reaction was great and inspired confidence...and no-one threw any missiles at me, which can only be a good thing.

Moz took over and gave us a solid hour of floor-fillers in readiness for Mick H’s spot.  Moz really had the floor buzzing with tracks from Bobby Garrett – My Little Girl, Sherri Taylor – He’s The One That Rings My Bell, Al Wilson – Help Me and Duke Browner – Crying Over You.

Moz handed a full floor to our extra special guest Mick H from Nottingham.  The next hour was a lesson in how to ram-jam-pack a floor, with Mick playing some of the biggest and best oldies in their rarest of formats.  I won’t list the whole of Mick’s set (I’ll only get jealous and have a little cry) but a few stand-out sounds for me were Frankie Karl – You Should O’ Held On, Lou Pride – I’m Com’un Home In The Morn’un, Larry Clinton – She’s Wanted In Three States, Jimmy Burns – I Really Love You and Gene Toones – What More Do You Want.

Mick’s set was one of the best guest sessions we’ve heard.  We really do appreciate the support all our guests give us, but Mick’s just seemed to have the edge somehow...something just seemed to clink into place.  The whole night was like that, for the first time since John died, things just ‘clicked’ on the night.  As time goes by we don’t miss John any less, but last night was the first night I felt we’d done justice to The Northern Line since he died.  I hope we can maintain the standard.

Ben and I shared the 45 minute slot after Mick’s set with Moz handling the last 45 minutes with aplomb.  Just a few of the tracks that got played in towards the end of the evening included the Broadways – You Just Don’t Know, The Trends – Thanks For A Little Lovin’, Kurt Harris – Emperor Of My Baby’s Heart and The Volumes – Ain’t Gonna Give You Up.

Phew...!

Once again, thank you so very much for your support and for all the really positive comments, it is genuinely appreciated.

I hope this sets the scene for our last event of 2016 on Saturday 26^th November when our special guest DJ is Carl Piper.  Carl’s DJ’ed for us on a number of occasions and is a firm favourite with The Northern Line crowd.  We hope you can pop down and support us.

Until next time.

Chris Penn

(on behalf of Maurice ‘Moz’ Arnold, Ben Moses and in fond memory of John Griffiths)