Croston All Dayer

[John C]

Bit late with the posting to say the least,great day ,but had to leave about 8ish due to consumption of the local brew !!

John

What a day - a charity Soul All Dayer to remember.

I started the charity Soul nights with Danny Clegg, the son of my mate Rd

Clegg, in February 2007, and after two successful Saturday night sessions we

embarked on our first All Dayer at the venue. And so on 6th May an amazing

crowd of genuine Soul lovers descended on the tiny village of Croston in the

heart of rural Lancashire, 3 miles from Leyland and 7 miles south of Preston. The Mill / Quality Hotel had got Soul fans booked in for overnight

accommodation from as far afield as Manchester / Stoke / Sheffield / York etc and with

travellers arriving from Blackpool., Wigan, Ormskirk, Preston and Liverpool

etc. the place was jumping, even early in the afternoon.

John Cloynes, a local collector, kicked the day of at 1 pm with an eclectic

mix of Modern and Xover gems, with the odd classic thrown in and Southport

young gun Danny Clegg followed with a fine mix of classic oldies and current

biggies. I followed Danny around 3 o clock. spotlighting mainly sixties Detroit

gems. Danny¢Å¾¢s dad Rod continued with the a fine mix of xover and Northern

anthems.

Neil Jones had made a marathon run up from London and provided a wide

ranging quality set that kept the Soul fans out on the floor and then Paul

Metcalfe, who runs the On The Scene magazine made a rare appearance as a DJ with a

fine mostly Modern set that was varied enough to keep all Soul fans content

with some oldie tracks from Joe Tex, The Olympics etc. I feel sure it won¢Å¾¢t be

long before Paul returns to the decks.

Local Chorley born Mick Hindey followed with a fine solid Motown spot that

kept the dancers happy then another young Southport Soul fan Andy Simpson hit

with a set of classic oldies and popular floor fillers.

Tony Brookes who runs the Ormskirk Civic and Comrades nights was next up and

he played a set that ranged from blue eyed Northern Jay and The Americans to

R&B like Etta James , Northern oldies and even a few seventies gems. Kev Farley kept the dance floor packed with more classic oldies and the

place was throbbing to the likes of Tony Clarke¢Å¾¢s Lanslide and Charlie Rich -

Love Is After Me.

Julian Bentley stepped up next and played some fine rarities and yet was

still able to respond to the requests that were pouring in from the ever

willing dancers. Including Beverly Ann, Lou Ragland - I Travel Alone, James

Fountain - 7 Day Lover and The Four Perfections - I¢Å¾¢m Not Strong Enough among the

many stand out tracks

I followed Julian, not easy, and by now it was classic floor fillers and

stompers only with Exus Trek, Linda Jones - Just Can¢Å¾¢t Live My Life, Lee David -

Temptation Is Calling My Name and Dottie and Millie - Talking About My Baby

among my set finishing off with Jerry Butlers immortal - Moody Woman. Young Danny finished the night off with more classic oldies including some

of the oldest oldies like Breakout, Ain¢Å¾¢t Nothing Like A House Party and Make

Me Yours. Sadly before too long we were closing with our ender - Roy Hamilton

- Reach Out For Me.

A massive thank you must go to al the DJ¢Å¾¢s who gave their time and efforts

to help raise money for charity and the biggest thanks of all must go to all

who attended they made it a night to remember.