100 Club Allnighter

Great write up there Geoff and not sure I can add much more other than to agree...cracking night!

After reading so much about this nighter over many years, it certainly lived up to expectations and will be back again later this year for sure. The seven hours went real quick and personally loved the mix of 60's and 70's, different tempos and genres of soul, rare and not so, enough records I knew and plenty that I didn't. Good to hear Sam include a fairly recent release as always, this one being The El Count Executives and also an imminent new release which I can't remember the name of but will certainly be keeping an eye out for...both pretty well filled the floor, as most sounds did through the whole night.

Enjoyed all the different spots and Len certainly looked at home in there, entertaining himself and the crowd in the final spot, up to and over the official finishing time, even getting the bouncers dancing at the end! 

A good soul fix for sure, much dancing and banter. Was good to meet you Matt and a few more people who I'm sure I'll see again. Cheers, Steve. 

My first 100 Club of 2017, I didn't attend the January one as I was “up north”, and this was a cracker. Congratulations Matt Bolton, a job well done. Different from most I've attended, four guest DJs, only one regular, and a guest doing the last set.

Musically all the DJs complemented each other. Joel mixed some well known oldies with his usual rareish sounds; Kev Higham featured quite a few tracks that were new to me and others; Len Dobson played more medium tempo Northern and Crossover; Pat Bleasdale on her second visit to the club as a DJ mixed up some big tunes with lesser known, at least to me, 60s and 70s tunes. And Soul Sam was simply Soul Sam, a man with superb taste who mixed up some big tunes with some that again were lesser known.

After meeting friends in the pub I got into the club just after it opened; walked down the stairs and heard Joel playing How Could It Be by the Esquires, that rattles along at a fair pace. I was surprised to hear a record that I had being played but in the course of the night six tracks I've got on vinyl were included, normally I don't hear anything I've got there. Joel ended his first set with a Sonny Ace track, title of which I've forgotten.

Kev Higham followed, opening with Pyramid, and as I've said above mixed some well known tunes with lesser known, more of the latter than the former. Great to hear John Harris's Hangin' In included.

Soul Sam was next and opened with Life Is A Miracle, fast and furious, later he dropped in Joseph Webster, Sag Warfare and Roscoe Robinson's version of Ask The Lonely, quite a different take on the tune. Thanks to him for playing my request for Boulevard.

Then it was one of our top lady DJs, Pat Bleasdale who always does the business. Among her plays were Sha La La by Mixed Feelings, and Moving On A Groove by Barbara Lynn.

Finally it was the last guest Len Dobson's turn to do his first set. Len's more on the mid tempo rather than 100 mph tunes. I was talking when I heard the opening bars of Chubby & The Turnpikes I Know The Inside Story so had to make my apologies and head for the dance floor. He played another of my favourites, Feminine Ingenuity in this set too. If my memory is correct he also included Dusty Wilson's Gonna Be A Tragedy.

Back to Joel who started off with Bari Track following it with Antonio Castro's W.E.L.F.A.R.E. Included in this set were Ton Of Dynamite and Oh Lord, What's Happening To Our People.

Time for Sam's second and last set which opened with Love Company's Love Tempo, a club favourite. Sam has an ability to mix Northern Soul with Modern and funky tracks, e.g. I Am Nothing and the more recent discovery Let The Light Shine. He finished his set with Can't Get Over These Memories.

For his last set Kev stuck to 60s tunes, mixing some well known (So Glad That I Found You, Let It Be Real) with lesser known records. I'm not sure if he's been a guest DJ at the club before but he fitted right in.

Pat took over the decks from Kev and again mixed up the big nighter tunes with lesser known ones. It's All Over Baby kept the floor busy and for me her tour de force was Count The Days, one of my favourites, so many people rush to the dance floor for this one.

For the final 45 minutes Len did the honours. More medium tempo, nice way to end the night in my opinion. Last two records were the O'Jays' I Love Music and Esther Phillips' Just Say Goodbye, and the floor was jumping.

A slightly strange night without Ady and Butch but it went extremely well. A great mix of well known tracks with loads of others that to me weren't known, of course it could be a case of everyone knowing them but me. At first I thought there wasn't so many in but looked again just later and the dance floor was packed. A good atmosphere with an enthusiastic crowd with some new faces, plus of course plenty of old stagers too. I danced a bit but not as much as I'd have liked, arthritic pains in my right foot and knee, oh the joys of getting old. I walked to King's Cross and got my train, just in time, and got indoors at 7.35 which is pretty good. It was good to see friends there and chat to new people. It must be quite difficult for Matt Bolton to stand in for Ady but he did an excellent job. So to finish I'd just like to say thanks to all the DJs for entertaining us and to the staff of the club. The next one is on 1 April, roll on.