100 Club

The last proper 100 Club allnighter was at the beginning of December last year. There had been the appearance of the “100 Club Road Show” at the Springfield allnighter in January but the majority of regulars weren't able to make the trip to Wales. So there was much anticipation among those queuing in Oxford Street outside the club.

Unusually there was little security presence, no one on the door to check our bags and as far as I could see only one bouncer. When we got to the ticket office Ady was taking the money and Fay was wielding the rubber stamp. Rolly and Garry were late due to traffic.

Down the stairs and Keith Money is getting the proceeding under way. As I stowed my coat and bag away I remember him playing Hey Girl by the Topics and Jerry Butler's Aware Of Love, nice to hear the latter, not often heard out.

Ady took over and kept the music spinning. By this time it was beginning to fill up and eventually was full. At this time the dance floor was slippy, I had to be careful walking across it with leather soled shoes. Later it became a bit sticky, which unfortunately isn't uncommon.

Next on was Tomas McGrath, one of our younger regular DJs. For his first set Tomas kept mainly to Northern Soul but included the odd Modern Soul tune such as Gotta Strange Feeling.

Then it was time for Butch's first set and in this one in the main he kept to Northern Soul, starting off with Arthur Willis, switched to the 70s for Free Man and back to the 60s for Chuck Jackson cover up; Pee Wee Shucks & Huey; Bessie Banks' acetate of I Want A Guarantee; J Hammond; Hopkins Brothers, etc. Naturally the dance floor was busy.

Following Butch was the night's guest Brad Hales, from Detroit who runs the world famous People's Records shop. He started off with the Professionals' That's Why I Love You, followed it with Crook Your Little Finger and mixed well known tunes with unknown (at least to me) records. I liked a Latin one he played fairly early on with Spanish lyrics.

Ady returned to the decks for his second spot of the night, playing some well known ones, e.g. the Demures; Voodoo Mademoiselle; I'm Not Afraid; Willie Kendricks' She'll Be Leaving You, Sorry Is The Word, plus some I didn't recognise. Ady always delivers the goods.

Time for Keith to do his second set and he too always keeps the dancers happy with tunes like Hipper Than Me and Somebody Tell Her.

Time for Butch's return and for the first part of this set he was in a Modern Soul mood: Shardup; Life Is A Miracle; Don't Want My Love; Wayward Dream (a lovely one in my opinion) but later in his set kept the more traditional 60s fans happy with World Of Happiness, Love Is Alright, etc. Something for everyone.

Tomas continued in the Modern mood starting off with the Pretenders' Just Be Yourself and followed it with a version of I Love Music. You could say his first few of this set had a slight “disco” flavour, oh my God, call the soul police! But he then went on to more conventional 70s sounds like I Can't Move No Mountain, Best Is Yet To Come and I Wanna Be With You.

Final appearance by Brad, and again he mixed the familiar and lesser known. Tracks like The Time Is Right For Love made people dance but they danced to the lesser known ones too.

For his final set Keith included some classic oldies but they never fail to satisfy. She'll Come Running Back; Job Opening; You Don't Love Me, they may be familiar but they have a certain something. Is it nostalgia or is it just that they're superb tunes that still hit the mark today? Big Mistake by Brenda Jones was one of the last he played.

For the last 30 minutes it was, as usual, Ady starting with uptempo tunes like Spyder Turner's version of I Can't Make It Anymore but slowing down to include Sweet Temptation and Just Say Goodbye. The penultimate one was of course I'll Never Stop Loving You by Carla Thomas and the ender was Baby I Need Your Loving, what else?

We were ushered out pretty quickly, no time for the usual photo but you can understand the staff want to clear up and go home.

As I said above it was pretty full with plenty of new faces, plus of course the “old stalwarts”, you know who you are. Always good to meet and talk to friends. Although it did clear out from about 3 am there was still a good number at 6. I didn't dance that much, the floor didn't help but my legs gave out basically despite my attempts later in the night. I had a decent journey home, the tubes running all night make it easy and I got indoors at about 7,25, not bad at all.

So as usual thanks to Ady and the DJs for entertaining us and to the staff of the club. Next one is in April, put it in your diary.