The Corner Pocket , Mexborough :

The Reasons Behind The Closure .......

I was with sincere regret that I made the decision to finish the soul nights at the Corner Pocket , following the attendance on Saturday , April 21st .

The CP had suffered from falling attendances since the summer of 2006 , and the last straw came on Saturday , with the venue having its' lowest crowd in - 32 .

The main contributing factor to the demise of the CP , was / is , definately the increase , and popularity , - yet again - in the number of clashing nights within a small geographic area to it , which offer the public a wider . and alternative , choice in respect of hearing soul music : against the CP last Saturday were five other nights within a ten mile radius ......

Prior to taking over the helm of the CP a year ago , The attendees started to moan about the lack of guest name DJs : They were not satisfied with - this is no disrespect to the guys and their record collections who were were guest DJs - the " lesser names " on the scene : they wanted the " Big Guns " on .

Upon taking over , I made the decision to give the people what they wanted - i.e. name DJs . Guest DJs in the year included John Poole ; Dave Raistrick ; Dave Evison ; Gary Belcher ; Sean Chapman ; Ginger Taylor and Colin Curtis .

These gentlemen were selected for their varied selection and mixture of music , and should have suited all tastes ....... Wrong .

It did not matter whether the night featured oldies , modern , rare , crossover , soulful house , motown or whatever , the numbers started to dwindle , resulting , as stated , in the number through the door last Saturday of 32 .

Another contributing factor was that the management of the CP have constantly voiced their feelings to me , making it very clear that if the attendances did not improve , it would be no longer economically viable to them to have me stage the night ; they could , and would , make more money from weddings and other functions they could stage on these nights that were tied up .

It also be possible , despite attempting to revive its' fortunes by having name DJs on , and going from monthly to every three months , that it could be that the CP had come to the end of its' life ......

I could debate , what went wrong with the CP until the cows come home ( cue Clyde McPhatter ..... ) , but I will not ; the CP has gone ......

I am negotiating for a replacement venue ( well away from Mexborough ) , which I hope to announce the relevent details of , in the near future ; watch this space , as they say ......

Malc Burton

Edited April 24, 200718 yr by Malc Burton

Thanks for posting this Malc.

I was interested because "Room at the Back" crossover/ 70s - Y2K nights in Derby have also just finished - similar reason really lack of attendance. Again they had some great DJ's.

I actually, and rather controversially perhaps, think that DJs have less / limited pull compared with times gone by. I think the number of DJ's who'll make a difference to an attendance you can count on one hand and still have enough fingers left to eat peanuts comfortably. Plenty of gigs have struggled with top line ups - even the last soulshakers suffered on a crowded weekend.

I also think that people are becoming less willing to go out - partially because they're getting older by and large and secondly because many now get their fix at the ever expanding number of weekenders out there.

I am sorry Mex has come to an end. Also sorry that the proliferation of venues locally - presumably staid oldies - has had an affect on attendances.

It comes down to the point that SHS Dave puts on his posts - support your local night, or it may not be there any longer.

Steve

Edited April 24, 200718 yr by Steve G

sad to hear this malc. keep your chin-up and good luck with the new venture.

shane

I actually, and rather controversially perhaps, think that DJs have less / limited pull compared with times gone by. I think the number of DJ's who'll make a difference to an attendance you can count on one hand and still have enough fingers left to eat peanuts comfortably.

Steve

[/quote

Personally I don't think this is a controversial statement.

Over 40 events on this weekend in the SS guide.

Surely there is only a finite number of people able to attend all of them?

Will a 'name' DJ really make a difference?

Travel 150 miles for the name or stay local?

Depenedent on the venues music policy and what an individual prefers I can't see much of a contest.

All this is IMO of course.

R.I.P.

THE

CORNER POCKET.

FINALLY PASSED AWAY,

21ST OF APRIL 2007.

THE

sad to hear this malc. keep your chin-up and good luck with the new venture.

shane

Hi Shane .......

Chin ? don't you mean chins ?

I thought I would get the reply in before Mannnion does .......

See you at Soul Encounters next month .

Malc Burton

Edited April 25, 200718 yr by Malc Burton

Thanks for posting this Malc.

I was interested because "Room at the Back" crossover/ 70s - Y2K nights in Derby have also just finished - similar reason really lack of attendance. Again they had some great DJ's.

I actually, and rather controversially perhaps, think that DJs have less / limited pull compared with times gone by. I think the number of DJ's who'll make a difference to an attendance you can count on one hand and still have enough fingers left to eat peanuts comfortably. Plenty of gigs have struggled with top line ups - even the last soulshakers suffered on a crowded weekend.

I also think that people are becoming less willing to go out - partially because they're getting older by and large and secondly because many now get their fix at the ever expanding number of weekenders out there.

I am sorry Mex has come to an end. Also sorry that the proliferation of venues locally - presumably staid oldies - has had an affect on attendances.

It comes down to the point that SHS Dave puts on his posts - support your local night, or it may not be there any longer.

Steve

Hi Steve,

I can understand the statement Staid Oldies has an effect, but look at the played out oldies thread on here. At the time of writing, 3108 views and 206 replies. Oldies will always be popular, and Malc has clearly tried to give the people what they want, but it is bloody hard and expensive to get them in.

Just shows how difficult it is to get a good venue, but the difficult bit is sustaining it. Good luck with the next one Malc.

ATB

Brian B

Hi Malc

Sorry to hear the news

Myself and Mark whiteley struggled with the friendship for four years not too far from you in barnsley, trying everything from 60ts to modern and got bellyache from the third finger left hand brigade

In south yorkshire especially barnsley if you dont play the tried and tested and i mean to death (dont try to slip a slight newie from 1971 in their or they'll nab you) forget it.

I didnt come and support your venue myself but then after the friendship finished last april ive stopped going out..sick of listening to the same old tunes.and sickened with the many peoples attitude to the music if its not blatent oldies etc etc.

maybe if more people like myself who like a progressive venue had supported you, it would still be on!!! who knows

Geeoooordie

Malc

You can only do your best. Youve been there before. If you look at the area and a 10 mile radious, there must have been 100 'venues' (including the venue, conisbro).

On your last night, I was in Tenerife for the Soul in the Sun do, packed out solid (about 280).

As you say, too much competition. Maybe time for all the promoters to pool the resources and go for a monthly 'biggie'.

I think you have been trying to reach your goal too long to give up on your journey now.

Ed

Malc

You can only do your best. Youve been there before. If you look at the area and a 10 mile radious, there must have been 100 'venues' (including the venue, conisbro).

On your last night, I was in Tenerife for the Soul in the Sun do, packed out solid (about 280).

As you say, too much competition. Maybe time for all the promoters to pool the resources and go for a monthly 'biggie'.

I think you have been trying to reach your goal too long to give up on your journey now.

Ed

This seems to be a national problem rather than just in some areas, far too many venues with not enough people to go round, every aspect of the current scene has reached overkill, it's bending fast and is about to snap, perhaps time for everyone to take stock and do something about it before it's too late, it's getting watered down and more and more people are calling it a day or simply staying away from the venues, the Corner pocket is not the first to close and i suspect not the last, it's a shame that venues fall by the way-side after all the effort and hard work that goes into putting an event on, what i find hard to deal with is the constant in - fighting, bad blood, clashing and total lack of consideration in some circles, far too many less than average nights which seem to want to run no matter what continue to run and this is a shame and a sad reflection that all is not well on this wonderful scene of ours, time to get our house in oder before it falls down.

Regards - Mark Bicknell.

This seems to be a national problem rather than just in some areas, far too many venues with not enough people to go round, every aspect of the current scene has reached overkill, it's bending fast and is about to snap, perhaps time for everyone to take stock and do something about it before it's too late, it's getting watered down and more and more people are calling it a day or simply staying away from the venues, the Corner pocket is not the first to close and i suspect not the last, it's a shame that venues fall by the way-side after all the effort and hard work that goes into putting an event on, what i find hard to deal with is the constant in - fighting, bad blood, clashing and total lack of consideration in some circles, far too many less than average nights which seem to want to run no matter what continue to run and this is a shame and a sad reflection that all is not well on this wonderful scene of ours, time to get our house in oder before it falls down.

Regards - Mark Bicknell.

All spot on Mark... and I don't wish to make light of a very serious subject, especially as I was the last DJ at the Corner Pocket (and am probably one of the reasons Malc decided to shut up the shop! ) but isn't it funny how Soul DJ's tend to write and speak using classic Soul titles.

I counted 7

How many did you spot?

before it's too late Jackie Day

more and more Little Milton

it's a shame Spinners

after all Sam Dees

hard work John Handy

circles Atlantic Starr

house in order Arnold Bryant

Just an observation...

On the serious side, 100 venues in a 10 mile radius sounds a bit extreme... but it's obvious that there's far too much going on at the one time and that 'promoters' who deliberately clash in any locality are doing their local scene no good at all.

Isn't it true though that every venue has its own life cycle... and that all good things come to an end?

Whatever you do in the future, Malc (and I believe that plans are afoot) I hope it goes well for you.

Sean

All spot on Mark... and I don't wish to make light of a very serious subject, especially as I was the last DJ at the Corner Pocket (and am probably one of the reasons Malc decided to shut up the shop! ) but isn't it funny how Soul DJ's tend to write and speak using classic Soul titles.

I counted 7

How many did you spot?

before it's too late Jackie Day

more and more Little Milton

it's a shame Spinners

after all Sam Dees

hard work John Handy

circles Atlantic Starr

house in order Arnold Bryant

Just an observation...

On the serious side, 100 venues in a 10 mile radius sounds a bit extreme... but it's obvious that there's far too much going on at the one time and that 'promoters' who deliberately clash in any locality are doing their local scene no good at all.

Isn't it true though that every venue has its own life cycle... and that all good things come to an end?

Whatever you do in the future, Malc (and I believe that plans are afoot) I hope it goes well for you.

Sean

My sincere thanks to all who have conveyed their best wishes to me .......

As Sean Stated , I have plans afoot in relation to a new venue ; more news as and when I have it .....

As they say , watch this space .......

Malc Burton

Edited April 30, 200718 yr by Malc Burton

Just an observation Malc.

I was in the RUFC suite (Old Tivoli/Windmill) at the weekend and it looks better than ever for a soul night. Not sure if this info is any good, but it was an easy venue to get to and the Sunday dayers and soul nights with Derek Sheldon used to be well attended as you will remember.

Good luck anyway.

Ed

Just an observation Malc.

I was in the RUFC suite (Old Tivoli/Windmill) at the weekend and it looks better than ever for a soul night. Not sure if this info is any good, but it was an easy venue to get to and the Sunday dayers and soul nights with Derek Sheldon used to be well attended as you will remember.

Good luck anyway.

Ed

Hi Ed ......

I have been considering the subject of staging a Windmill " Revival " for several years ....

I was , along with Bill Payne , more or less the last promoter of regular soul nights at The Windmill ( the Sunday nights at the beginning of the 1980s , which ran for several years ) , The problem is in respects of doing a revival for the it , is getting the the four of us who DJ'd during those halcyon years - Sean Hampsey , Bill Payne , Andy " Biggles " Newbold , and myself , together again ......

Sean and I , as you will have noted by our numerous posts on Soul Source , DJ spots , club promotions , ligging at various gigs , supermarket openings , etc. , are still very much around ; Payney , I am sure , could be tempted to tread the boards once again given enough philosan , but as for recruiting Biggles , that may be more of a challenge , as he seemes to have done a Lord Lucan .....

Still , as they say in these parts , " Thall never know owd cock , what'll happen when thi puts thi mind to owt " ........

Watch this space .......

It would be worth doing it just to hear Payney do his famous " Detroit , Michigan ; This is Motown ; This is the Motown sound " bit ........

Malc Burton

Edited May 2, 200718 yr by Malc Burton

Hi Malc,

I think I can claim some inside track as to the potentiallity of a return to the 'decks' by Bill Payne, to quote Don King "slim to none, and slim just left town."

However, although he's made more comebacks than Ali, a return now would roughly equate to George Foreman leaving the pulpit and lacing up them again....hang on...ah well, you never know then!

He insisted his last job, a favour to a mate who wanted war-time, big band stuff, was his last. 7 Mabels, 3 Doris' and an Ivy in the corner all agreed it should be. That was about five or six years ago, from memory.

He still bids on stuff on ebay, so the pilot light is still on.

Dave

Final note, the Windmill factor could be a strong bargaining tool. I think he remembers those nights (Sunday's?) with the most affection. Mostly, because he earnt a few bob for a change!

Edited July 31, 200717 yr by PayneyJnr

Commercially speaking, I am told the Windmill costs £150 to hire.

Not being a promoter, I am not sure if that is a good price or not, but RUFC deffo need the cash.

Again good luck if you go down that route.

Incidently, I thought the CP had fired up again, clashing with the regular Lord Conyers night.

Ed

Didnt it reopen last month on a friday night, the same night as Lord Conyers ?

Hi Ed ......

I have been considering the subject of staging a Windmill " Revival " for several years ....

I was , along with Bill Payne , more or less the last promoter of regular soul nights at The Windmill ( the Sunday nights at the beginning of the 1980s , which ran for several years ) , The problem is in respects of doing a revival for the it , is getting the the four of us who DJ'd during those halcyon years - Sean Hampsey , Bill Payne , Andy " Biggles " Newbold , and myself , together again ......

Sean and I , as you will have noted by our numerous posts on Soul Source , DJ spots , club promotions , ligging at various gigs , supermarket openings , etc. , are still very much around ; Payney , I am sure , could be tempted to tread the boards once again given enough philosan , but as for recruiting Biggles , that may be more of a challenge , as he seemes to have done a Lord Lucan .....

Still , as they say in these parts , " Thall never know owd cock , what'll happen when thi puts thi mind to owt " ........

Watch this space .......

It would be worth doing it just to hear Payney do his famous " Detroit , Michigan ; This is Motown ; This is the Motown sound " bit ........

Malc Burton

Hi Malc,

I think I can claim some inside track as to the potentiallity of a return to the 'decks' by Bill Payne, to quote Don King "slim to none, and slim just left town."

However, although he's made more comebacks than Ali, a return now would roughly equate to George Foreman leaving the pulpit and lacing up them again....hang on...ah well, you never know then!

He insisted his last job, a favour to a mate who wanted war-time, big band stuff, was his last. 7 Mabels, 3 Doris' and an Ivy in the corner all agreed it should be. That was about five or six years ago, from memory.

He still bids on stuff on ebay, so the pilot light is still on.

Dave

Final note, the Windmill factor could be a strong bargaining tool. I think he remembers those nights (Sunday's?) with the most affection. Mostly, because he earnt a few bob for a change!

I remember Bill, he used to live in Thorne didn't he, I haven't seen him for years. Must be the Early/Mid 70's since I saw him.

Edited July 31, 200717 yr by 45cellar

I remember Bill, he used to live in Thorne didn't he, I haven't seen him for years. Must be the Early/Mid 70's since I saw him.

I'd like to say he hasn't changed, and I suppose on the inside he hasn't much.