Grumpyish At Culcheth Soul
Sat 04 Oct 2025

Culcheth Soul Nights, once again proves why it’s one of the North West’s must-visit events for true soul lovers. The two-room setup delivered its usual magic; the main room spinning the finest in rare and underplayed soul, while the second room served up a delicious blend of modern grooves for those with eclectic and more contemporary tastes.

Culcheth always has a stellar line-up of regular and guest DJs. This week was no exception; featuring Grumpy Soul stalwarts Phil Threlfall and Jumpin’ Joan Livesy, both of whom brought their trademark energy and impeccable taste to the decks. Whilst the modern room welcomed back the legendary Soul Sam.

The main room was dark, moody, and perfectly tuned for the rich, emotive sounds that define the night. A packed dance floor reflected the calibre of the selections.

Baz Maleedy was warming up the main room as we arrived, a varied selection that included the wonderfully sounding, Webs “Don’t Ever Hurt Me” with the New York emphasis on the word Hurt, in a chorus, punctuated with riotous horns.

Ian Wills set lit up the dancefloor; including Emanuel Laskey and the timeless Judy Freeman. Then mixing things up nicely with Sam Fletcher’s and Al McCarther’s epic beat ballads.

The Grumpy duo kicked off with Phil Threlfall, a selection that included the dancefloor magnet, Jo Mathews “Ain’t Nothing You Can Do” and the wonderful The Four Dynamics. Jumpin’ Joan gave us Archie Bell and The Drells version of a "Thousand Wonders", the uplifting sound of Eula Cooper and The Delegates of Soul. For me Sandra Richardson’s superb sounding powerhouse “Stay Here with Me”, stole the show.

Simon Ingham took the final spot. A listers that included The Hopkins Bros, Mac Staten, The Honeybees and The Four Tracks. And to prove great Soul music needn’t cost the earth, his wondrous set also included J.J Barnes “Baby Please Come Back Home” and Edwin Starr’s “I Just Wanted to Cry”. Bringing a great night to a close in the main room with the Poignant refrain of Ralph Graham and “She Just Sits There”

Over in the Modern Room, the vibe was equally electric: intimate, buoyant and showcasing the very best in cross over and modern Soul.

Pete Ratcliffe, master of the new releases played the new 100-Club anniversary track by Kim Weston “I’m Moving On” and another Kent Release, the incredible sounding The Shirilles “Nobody’s Gonna Love You”.

Steve Plumb gave us the contemporary and wonderfully smooth album track by Durand Jones “Really Wanna Be with You”. The symphonic, The Moments “Sleep Won’t Come”. And the 70s classic by Marvin Holmes and Justice.

Nick Mckinnon played the funky sound of Khemistry “Can You Feel My Love”, Dance floor favourites The Trammps, Harold Melvin & Bluenotes “Bad Luck” and the sophisticated tones of Luther “Follow My Love”.

I caught Soul Sam mid set; it was standing room only on the dancefloor. Playing the irrepressible Phyliss Hyman “You Know How to Love Me”. Turning things up a notch with True Image then King Tutt. The 70’s classic by Will Collins and Willpower. And arguably the song that launched the Sound of Philadelphia “Back Stabbers”.

Charlie Smith took the final hour. Kicking off with the Constellations and including Barbara Lynn’s funky gem “Moving on a Groove”.

Thanks to Baz and the team for another superb night of quality Soul.

Edited October 5Oct 5 by Mickyfinn

A top drawer night at Culcheth and it's par for the course that nothing less than the best is expected..this is where CVH is out in front, the market leader under the drive and enthusiasm of it's leader, Barry Maleedy who bring some serious soul instigators to his turntables every month, reflecting the philosophy in these parts of collecting the very best tuneage that hasn't already been put through the wringer over the decades.

That certainly echoes true of the selections imparted here to the willing listeners and dancers alike...A forward thinking venue dusplaying the attributes of successful forerunners of the last 40 odd years including highly regarded pacemakers like Stafford, Tony's 100 Club, Lea Manor, Lowton, Winsford, Brighouse, Prestwich et al....Joan Livesey and Phil Threlfall were part also of the highly respected GRUMPY soul nights in Runcorn and our duet came along to deliver a thoroughly creditable selection of tunes over 2 hours that paid homage to that haven of quality soul music.

Add to that Mr. M's legend and top line dj out and about, Ian Wills plus night ender Simon Ingham and Our Bazza bamboozling the early doors entrants with even more chin scratching, head-peering-over-the-decks offerings from his vast vinyl library, and it was 'don't miss a moment what ever you do' from start to finish.

Plenty of floor exercise from the gathered throng in the main room and replicated in the smaller lounge where Soul Sam and the modern boys where keeping their flucuating audience busy...that being so much so because a good many folk wanted catch their favourite selectors at the right moment...a very busy night indeed!.

A top, top night then at Culcheth and a massive 'THANK YOU' to everyone who came out to support us, you were absolutely amazing each and every one! Both rooms were bustling from early doors!

The music is the focus at CULCHETH and you’ll get a great mix of semi-known, ‘forgotten’ or underplayed tracks, all mixed in with quality classics, all aimed at creating in a busy dancefloor throughout 5 hours the night runs. This Saturday was no exception, the music ‘flowed’ from the ‘off’, with tracks from The Webs, Parliaments, Tommy Andre (Hold Back The Tears), Eddie Bo, Phonetics and just for the travellers, who made great effort in shitty weather conditions, Jimmy Scott, ‘It Rained for 40 Days and Nights 😉

One of the busiest DJ’s on the scene and CULCHETH regular, Ian Wills, delivered what he does with attention to detail, inviting dancers to the floor as every tune is received with relish, setting the tone for that night and complimenting the first hour session with tunes from Al McCarther, Sam Fletcher, Emanuel Laskey, Judy Freeman, The Venturas and the Inspirations to name just a few.

Ian was followed by ‘Grumpy Soulers’ Phil Threlfall and Joan Livesey! Truth is they’re not really THAT Grumpy 😉 and when it comes to their musical, choices, they’re very happy to share; and share they did, as the assembled CULCHETH faithful were treated to 2 hours then of the finest selections, featuring a plethora of absolute quality 45’s from the boxes of Joan and Phil. Detroit, Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston, New York were all sources of the music coming out of the sound system into the room, ears and feet of the appreciative crowd. The Cairos, Delegates of Soul, The Four Dynamics, Joe Matthews, Eula Cooper, Mikki Farrow, Groovettes, Out of Sights and The Appointments, to name just a very small few of what was on offer…

Finally, and to end the night on a high, onto the decks came Simon Ingham. One of the CULCHETH resident team, Simon has been able to ply his chosen hobby of playing rare and rare(ish) soul records to his fellow aficionados. On that basis, he has excelled in showcasing the quality and depth of sounds he has in his box. On Saturday, this was evident as we heard everything from the sublime, and relatively easy to obtain, J.J. Barnes, ‘Baby Please Come Back Home To Me’ through to the MEGA rare, Dennis Edwards ‘I Didn’t Have To (but I did)!

In fact, just to show what you might be missing, here’s Simon’s CULCHETH last hour playlist from Saturday…

Simon Ingham - Culcheth 2025.10.04
The Fascinators - In Other Words
Dennis Edwards - I Didn't Have To (But I Did)
The Celebrities - I Choose You Baby
Carol Anderson - I'm Not Worried
The Honey Bees - Let's Get Back Together
The Soul Blenders - Love Built On A Strong Foundation
Four Tracks - Voo Doo Man
Mac Staten - There She Goes
The Hopkins Bros. - Shake Cheri
Edwin Starr - I Just Wanted To Cry
J.J. Barnes - Baby Please Come Back Home
Bobby Rich - There's A Girl Somewhere For Me
Cody Black - I'm Slowly Molding
Buddy Conner - When You're Alone
Bill Bush - I'm Waiting
Four Tracks - Like My Love For You
Celeste Hardie - You're Gone
The Constellations - I Don't Know About You
Bad Weather Inc. - I Never Never Knew
Exits - Girl If You Come Back To Me
Ralph Graham - She Just Sits There

CULCHETH, of course is a two-room event and as such, draws a crowd who want to listen and dance to the more ‘Modern’ side of our wonderfully unique scene and Saturday was no exception! After a summer break, entertaining folks all over the UK, Soul Sam was back in fine form as the centrepiece of the evening’s proceedings alongside Charlie Smith, Nick McKinnon, Steve Plumb and Pete Ratcliffe...Everything from the Rarest of the Rare to the Best of the Best in ‘Modern’ and modern soul classics was featured during the night! We heard United Sounds ‘It’s All Over Baby’ Peabo Bryson ‘Make Up Your Mind, The Moments ‘Sleep Won’t Come’ Durand Jones ‘Really Wanna See You Soon’ Joseph Webster, ‘My Love is So Strong, The Womack Sisters and Ronnie McNeir’s latest Kent outing and being worthy examples, as well as surprise tune of the night, Prince George ‘Wrong Crowd’ sounding fabulous and causing a rush to the floor!

It's possibly the scope and variation of music in the Modern room, that with the exception of pure 60’s ‘Northern’ makes it really ‘Across the Board’ and why folk keep coming back for more.

• Just a few of the comments from those who were there on Saturday…
  “Outstanding from start to finish!
  “Our first time, great room, great night, we’ll be back!”
  “Loved it!”
  “ What a Superb Night”
  “One of My Favourite Soul Venues” “Top Night Again”

If you are a regular at CULCHETH, we thank you for your support x

If you’ve never been, hopefully, we’ll see you soon, maybe at the next night on Saturday November 1st when we will be announcing something special for our December event… so don’t miss it!