Harpo here this June sees the 25th Anniversary of the 82-84 'rare soul' nights that were the lifeblood of the newies and rare scene in between Wigan and Stafford.

We are holding a night on fri 8th June featuring the orig line up of myself. Chris Plant Neil Rushton and Mick Noldsworth. I would like too produce some complimentary info. packs to be given to those who attend, so any scans of flyers or photos would be nice, as all mine have got lost over the intervining years......................thankyou!!

hiya Harpo , Paddy Jennings here I hope Ive added these flyers properly , new to this , how you keeping mate ok I hope...JENKO

hiya Harpo , Paddy Jennings here I hope Ive added these flyers properly , new to this , how you keeping mate ok I hope...JENKO

Bloody hell those were the days i remember i was doing 4-5am at that all nighter an..d just as i started my set one of the decks broke down

Hi Harpo,

I have loads of Old Vic stuff in the loft I'm sure..............used to get those little brown envelopes on a regular basis...........flyers, tickets etc...........always been a magpie me...........trouble is, laying my hands on them could be a problem!!

What I can lay my hands on easily is a C90 recorded there in '86............definitely a Guy H spot on there (Imaginations, Vince Apollo, Cautions etc)............some modern things played by someone too......Marva Hicks "Looking Over My Shoulder" for one.......don't hear that too often now!!

Cheers,

Mark R

i went to some of the later 8-2 do's......who was the guy who took his glass eye out and bounced it on the dance floor if there was any mither?......on another topic i went to one of the Soul record fairs there once....(they had more than one event going on on the day)......i was asked in the bar....."can you tell me where the Psychics Convention is?"

Thanks for your replies so far

1/ Paddy Jennings was only on about you to Swoz and Smokey on two seperate occasions this week, is Mary OK??

Great times eh!, we did some miles with youre equipment being used by Pep and i at the Vic plus Alan atLoughborough, Whitchurch, Burntwood etc...

You need to pop out and see us all ASAP, bring Aggie if you can find him, ill send my address , phone number etc

2/ Ted,

Yes you followed me. which i think you'll agree was , even with your stuff, an unenviable task in those days, you started with playing the felt turntable mat, totally missing the run in groove on Lady in Green, good on you mate keep on keepin' on, the last of us still doing a bit.

3/ Platters,

The gentleman you refer to was my old school oppo and later 'best man' Mac Pitt, a rare visitor to the scene these days, never saw it the same when his eye grew back and he had to return the glass one!! believe me its even worse finding it at the bottom of your pint!!

4/ Mark,

Yeah it was something special eh! musically having two distinctive yet both as successful periods, in 82-83 without a doubt we were untouchable, and solely flew the flag for rare' 60's newies and modern in that period from the Casino to TOTW, then 86-88 saw an accent slightly more on oldies plus current stuff and was in numbers possibly even more successful and responsible for the return of of many many faces to the midlands scene most of them still out and about today.

As for the modern stuff, yes that man was me, it was nice to think that the records i played there, although in many cases played in the last years say Wigan, they never got the reaction that others did at the time, Prince Phillip Mitchell, Alfie Davidson, Charles Johnson and Lew Kirton all going on to become the 'standards' on the modern scene we had Doug Parkinson first plus a wealth of current releases and reactivated 70's sounds Bill Harris Celeste Hardie etc...etc...

Chris Plant had the biggest 60's newies and rareties as did Mick Holdsworth, with Neil Rushton using his experience to tease the old faces back on the floor...the guests , and we had 'em all driving it on towards my last hour always bringing it to a creschendo. until Darrell Banks, i'm the one who loves you bought t all to an end for another month.

YEAH GREAT TIMES !! STILL REMEMBERED WITH GREAT AFFECTION BY SO MANY PEOPLE I MEET ON MY TRAVELS ON BEHALF OF ALL INVOLVED THANKS TO EVERYONE OF YOU, YOU MADE IT WHAT IT WAS........... Thankyou!!

Edited May 2, 200718 yr by harpo1

Will try and get up, always loved DJing there. Many great memories

seem to remember someone spending the evening of their wedding there,

steve and kath, (i think their names were) from bilston.

am i right, someone must know.

POSTER FOR THE EVENT ITS LOOKING LIKE IT'S GONNA BE A BIG ONE

"DONT FORGET TO REMEMBER" A GREATER EXPERIENCE

My playlist around 82

already been told i've missed

Silky Hargreaves

Bobby Williams

Willie Hutch

Atlantic Starr

etc etc.....

come on i'm 48 next month and it was 25 years ago !!!!

Mr Plants playlist to follow tomorrow, believe me it's awsome by any standards

Wow, this is where it all started for me, we had great nights at the Old Vic, and as I've mentioned before Ted's rare tapes were all big with my lot (Solihull Lot) we would travel up with Tony from the Rigger, or Sinatra's while it was on... the night Ted bought and played Magnetics - lady in green has happy memories..

Remember the buffet! also one night a load of kids wearing black bomber jackets and VW badges came in, think Pep welcomed them in, they looked bemused initially, but once they got dancing they did not stop!!

Very Happy memories for me, if I can turn up I Certainly will...

Mal.C.

Edited May 3, 200718 yr by Mal.C.

ASA PROMISED CHRIS PLANTS TOP 30 STILL GOT THE WOW! FACTOR AFTER 25 YEARS

MICK 'N' NEIL'S TO FOLLOW ASAP

LOOKING LIKE WE MIGHT HAVE A PACKER ON OUR HANDS SEE YOU THERE

ASA PROMISED CHRIS PLANTS TOP 30 STILL GOT THE WOW! FACTOR AFTER 25 YEARS

MICK 'N' NEIL'S TO FOLLOW ASAP

LOOKING LIKE WE MIGHT HAVE A PACKER ON OUR HANDS SEE YOU THERE

count me a shaz in well be there looking forward to it hopefully

remember some old faces..... not seen mac pitt since the last old vic, you are joking about his eye???

munchkin

I remember the last night over 400 in absolutley fantastic place yet when Pep had a reunion a couple of years ago only 40/50 turned up :angry:

ASA PROMISED CHRIS PLANTS TOP 30 STILL GOT THE WOW! FACTOR AFTER 25 YEARS

MICK 'N' NEIL'S TO FOLLOW ASAP

LOOKING LIKE WE MIGHT HAVE A PACKER ON OUR HANDS SEE YOU THERE

always loved it at the vic , and what a great playlist from chris plant , i remember going to chris flat when he was selling up i had gone there to pick up lester tipton it was £100 , in the days when proper rare records were affordable sure he lived in walsall and his flat was in some sort of builders yard.??

think he sold a lot of his stuff to andy spencer as myself and ted massey got lots of chris collection via andy . happy memories of the vic and the records that were available

Edited May 18, 200718 yr by Tony Parker

always loved it at the vic , and what a great playlist from chris plant , i remember going to chris flat when he was selling up i had gone there to pick up lester tipton it was £100 , in the days when proper rare records were affordable sure he lived in walsall and his flat was in some sort of builders yard.??

think he sold a lot of his stuff to andy spencer as myself and ted massey got lots of chris collection via andy . happy memories of the vic and the records that were available

Hi Tony

His flat was in the Bus depot, I rember Andy Spencer buying the following 6 records of him in one go Magnetics on Bonnie, Jimmy Delphs carla, Soulettes, Yvonne Vernee just like you did, Martells and i think the other was eddie parker awake all for £650

Hi Tony

His flat was in the Bus depot, I rember Andy Spencer buying the following 6 records of him in one go Magnetics on Bonnie, Jimmy Delphs carla, Soulettes, Yvonne Vernee just like you did, Martells and i think the other was eddie parker awake all for £650

helllo ted a bus depot was it , a long time ago , one of the records andy sent down to me was the eddie parker he wanted £70 but i sent it back to him didnt really like it at the time but i did have yvonne vernee from him for £175.

did kev roberts ever dj at the vic as i remember him being there with a carrier bag with some very nice rareities inside ?

No i,m pretty sure that Kev. didn't, i can remember Dave Thorley calling to see him on the way to TOTW one Sat night, cant recall what he went to collect, records wise too busy ogling liz and cleo i'm afraid

Harpo

No i,m pretty sure that Kev. didn't, i can remember Dave Thorley calling to see him on the way to TOTW one Sat night, cant recall what he went to collect, records wise too busy ogling liz and cleo i'm afraid

Harpo

♦Yes he did Harpo i remember him playing The Nomads among others

those chemicals do strange things

Whatever do you mean tedward its criminal what severn trent are doing to our drinking water bottled alzheimers eh!!

Just to clarify the situation, yes, the last revival i ran 11/06/98 at the Cavendish in the renamed Brittania hotel was a mega sucess, and indications are that this time will also attract a fair number of old faces.I originally was going to see if i could get the Cavendish again, with a decent hire fee as my son works there, but as you may remember the old sprung dance floor has gone, and as Max already has a venue in the area every 2nd Friday of the month it seemed to make sense to see if he and Gary would allow us to utilise it, there seems no sense in splitting the potential crowd, and it'll provide a change for the regulars.

Sadly Cleethorpes is on again the weekend of my birthday and of course the first Cavendish, it should however not really take away too many punters, to any who arer not able to come i apologise but thats the date we started and it would be wrong to alter it !

I am pleased to say Mr Plant is well up for it, being unable to do the one in '98, we have met along with Mick to try to make the night a good 'un, Neil has other business interests , and so i haven't spoke to him this last week but he is also looking forward to the night, so all bodes well.

I have tried to contact as many of the old crowd as i can, anyone who can help do so please do!

Just to clarify things this is the anniverssary of the first Cavendish nights '82-'84, hopefully in 3/4 years time we can celebrate the second with myself Mick Ted and of course Pep being the original line up, i'll cross that bridge when i come to it....

The night is now running 8 til 1 as the original did, with Max and Gary as guests and 'comperes', and i'd like to take this oppertunity to thank them both.

As it is also my birthday that weekend, the original being booked as a one off birthday party that just grew and grew, i will be providing a small spread for those who partake of food at weekends, so 1 saus. roll a ring of pigs pudding and a sandwich should suffice!!??!!

I will be dropping a flyer through Mac's door tomorrow to get him there on the night, as a fair few have asked if he's coming, i ain't seen him for a while, he was never the same after i asked him to be my "best-man", and yes i know you are all thinking "i'd hate to see the worst"

So thats about it for now ill keep you updated see you there "don't forget to remember"

Harpo

AS PROMISED MICK'S TOP 30

Well 5 days to go ...looks like being a packer

top 40 '84 -'87 enclosed as a taster to where we went in Cavendish 2

Harpo, Chris Plant, Ted, Andy Spencer,

Just a few of the names of people that I remember with so many good memories.

Harpo great to see you at Stoke last year, how the hell did you remember the exact venue and time when we last saw each other before then after all that time?

Chris believe it or not I still have the tape you did for me all those years ago and you are one of the many people that I really missed at venues when you left the scene.

Ted and Andy, 2 of the most genuine guys I've ever met.

Sorry I missed the anniversary, Neil Allen told me tonight that it had been on, I would have loved to catch up with you guys after all this time as well as so many others from around the time and this venue.

Harpo I will keep an eye out for any future dates.

Mark Oliver

H any scans of flyers or photos would be nice, as all mine have got lost over the intervining years......................thankyou!!

Hi. I've got a scan of a B&W photo of Neil Rushton behind the decks at the Vic, on a disc somewhere - with Chris Plant's record box with all those huge record labels on it!... I'll see if I can find it if you like?

Favourite Vic story happened as I was walking in for the first time. As I clambered up the stairs, a girl was coming down. Suddenly she gave out an excited squeal and threw her arms around my neck, then dragged me off insisting I "come and see her husband" - who also appeared to know me by name! However, to my embarrassment I didn't remember them at all - that is until the guy remarked;

"...oh, by the way, I got a Cindy Scott!"

It was only then that it dawned on me that I'd known them both briefly at the Cats, and he'd probably picked up the conversation we'd been having about "Time Can Change A Love" where we'd left off - approximately eight years earlier! To me, that sums up the Northern Scene at it's best. Incredible.

Edited June 16, 200717 yr by mel brat

Favourite Vic story happened as I was walking in for the first time. As I clambered up the stairs, a girl was coming down. Suddenly she gave out an excited squeal and threw her arms around my neck, then dragged me off insisting I "come and see her husband" - who also appeared to know me by name! However, to my embarrassment I didn't remember them at all - that is until the guy remarked;

"...oh, by the way, I got a Cindy Scott!"

It was only then that it dawned on me that I'd known them both briefly at the Cats, and he'd probably picked up the conversation we'd been having about "Time Can Change A Love" where we'd left off - approximately eight years earlier! To me, that sums up the Northern Scene at it's best. Incredible.

Love stories like that - similar things must have happened to a lot of us!

Favourite vic memories? well, I only went a couple of times, other priorities and all that, just remember good nights and the bar!!