Mike

The George Hotel Piercebridge 7pm till 3am 1st October 2 Rooms of Top Quality Soul Room 1: Oldies Rare Andy Dyson Life Line. Middleton Civic Paul Sadot Director Once Upon A Time In Wigan Sheridans Steve Thomas New Century Soul Club Toma (Newcastle) Gaz Simon (Aycliffe) Jim Bayles (Darlington) Room 2: 70’s 80’s X-over Terry Jones Southport Weekender Flanny The Orwell (Wigan) Ewan (Darlington) Cubo (M’brough) Daz (Darlington) TICKETS £6 - £7 o.t.d Contact Harry : 07859006682 ( harry.southdurhamsoul@hotmail.com ) Hotel Booking’s & Ticket Hotline : 01325 374576 Special rate: £30 per Room £6 for breakfast Also Available Sunday Carvery The George Hotel ** Junction 56 A1, 1 Mile from Scotch Corner (B6572) Follow Signs for Piercebridge, 4 Miles from A1

Sleepless nights regular newsletter covering Irish Soul Events. Dublin, Cork, Belfast and more, plays, news and info. Hello soulies last week had a great time in Cork (couple of playlists below) this week spotlight is on Belfast with its first All Dayer. Dont forget our next night is at the new venue, on our 40th night; Friday 22nd July Sleepless Nights (SN40) VIP Room Harcourt Street Harcourt Hotel entrance is next to Da2 Nightclub, 9.30-2.30, € 5.00 Usual spinners plus guests tbc, as a first night will try and fit in as many as reasonable. Please try support our first Night here as we strive to get bigger and better. Carlow -Friday July 1st in Cosmo Browns another night from Ade Townsend. 10pm to 2am. DJs Adrian, MartinBradshaw and Paul Davis. Belfast -Saturday 2nd July. The big gig for the Northern Northern boys SATURDAY 2ND JULY ALL-DAYER@ THE PAVILLION BAR KICKS OF AT 1 OCLOCK TILL 1 OCLOCK 12 HOUR SOUL SPECIAL AND HERES THE FINAL LINE-UP: LIAM QUINN PHIL SHIELDS JIMMY MAC GUESTS: DAVID MILLER (EDINBURGH) JOHN DUNNE ( SLEEPLESS NIGHTS ) PAUL DAVIS (SMOOVE GROOVE) DANNY DUGGAN (SLEEPLESS NIGHTS) JOE M (SOUL HEAVEN MAFIA) BIG DADDY ROGER (BELFAST - MODS N SODS) Various ways to get there, train, boat, plane, Aircoach seems cheap bus option from O'Connell Street, though Bus Eireann often do specials at weekends...you could cycle Cork last week Biggest night so far, just about full house, great to see. Lads really know their soul down here.Guests included Paul Grant and good to see Phil Hope too. Martin on top form again, he's just back from interviewing Rance Allen & Sidney Joe Qualls....namedropper Martin set Good Times - Gene Chandler. (Constellation)Look at me - Vernon Greene (Minit). Save Me- Aretha Franklin (Atlantic UK) Crystal Blue Persuasion - Kelly Bros (Excello) Wishing And Hoping - Billy Keene (Vault) You Brought It All On Yourself - Barbara Hall (Innovation II) Man In The Street - William Bell (Stax). I'm So Glad - Sam Dees (Atlantic) Spinning Top - Frankie Gearing (Beale St) I'm So Happy - Phillip Mitchell (Atlantic) My Love Is Your Love- Isley Bros (Pressing) My Baby Came Back - Freddie Hughes (Wee) I've Been Changed - The Right Kind (Galaxy) You've Been Gone Too Long - Ann Sexton (Seventy 7) Me included SF TKO's - Make up your mind Internationals - Beautiful Philospy, Willie kendrick - Give me lots of loving Creations - Dream Mad lads - No time better than right now Willie Tee - 1st taste of heart Laverne Baker - Im the one to do it Pioneers - My good friend james Well worth checking this one out, 4th saturdays of the month. Useful Links MUSIC--------Dont forget Ray O'Reillys internet soulshow, mondays 9-11pm http://www.powerfm.org send requests comments to;studio@powerfm.org INFO--------- Joe's soul website bout whats happening on this green isle: http://homepage.eircom.net/~dublinsoul mike hughes soul source for info and chat on all things northern : https://www.soul-source.co.uk/ RECORDS------------pat brady records, a place to get your vinyl (includes sound bytes); http://www.northernsoul45s.co.uk Hope to see a few in Belfast take it easy if want to be kept uptodate and informed on all things Sleepless Nights drop Danny a email dannyduggan@eircom.net

Renaldo Obie Benson, 68, co-founded the famed Motown group in 1954 in Detroit. He served as the group's bass voice and in the early days handled its choreography. Outside of the Tops, Renaldo Obie Benson was best-known for writing Marvin Gaye's 1971 classic What's Going On after witnessing a scuffle between police and peace demonstrators in San Francisco. Renaldo Obie Benson, 68, co-founded the famed Motown group in 1954 in Detroit. He served as the group's bass voice and in the early days handled its choreography. Outside of the Tops, Renaldo Obie Benson was best-known for writing Marvin Gaye's 1971 classic What's Going On after witnessing a scuffle between police and peace demonstrators in San Francisco. Fellow Top Abdul Duke Fakir said Renaldo Obie Benson lived and enjoyed every minute of it. He put a smile on everyone's face, including my own. Renaldo Obie Benson is survived by two adult daughters, Ebony and Toby. Funeral arrangements were pending. Early History The Four Tops began life in 1953 (some accounts say 1954), when all of the members were attending Detroit-area high schools. Levi Stubbs and Abdul "Duke" Fakir went to Pershing, and met Northern students Renaldo "Obie" Benson and Lawrence Payton at a friend's birthday party, where the quartet first sang together. Sensing an immediate chemistry, they began rehearsing together and dubbed themselves the Four Aims. Payton's cousin Roquel Davis, a budding songwriter who sometimes sang with the group during its early days, helped them get an audition with Chess Records in 1956. Although Chess was more interested in Davis, who went on to become Berry Gordy's songwriting partner, they also signed the Four Aims, who became the Four Tops to avoid confusion with the Ames Brothers. The Four Tops' lone Chess single, "Kiss Me Baby," was an unequivocal flop, and the group moved on to similarly brief stints at Red Top and Riverside. They signed with Columbia in 1960 and were steered in a more upscale supper-club direction, singing jazz and pop standards. This too failed to break them, although they did tour with Billy Eckstine during this period. In 1963, the Four Tops signed with longtime friend Berry Gordy's new label, specifically the jazz-oriented Workshop subsidiary. They completed a debut LP, to be called Breaking Through, but Gordy scrapped it and switched their style back to R&B, placing them on Motown with the Holland-Dozier-Holland songwriting team..... view more here More Weblinks Four Tops Forever The Four Tops Group

Luther Vandross,whose Dance With My Father won four Grammys in 2004, died at 1:47p.m. at the John F. Kennedy Medical Center in Edison, New Jersey, according to his spokesperson. Details on the exact cause of death have not been released. "Luther Vandross had a peaceful passing under the watchful eye of friends, family and the medical support team," read a statement released by the hospital. "As you know, Luther Vandross suffered a stroke two years ago, which he never fully recovered from. Throughout his illness, Luther received excellent medical care and attention from his medical team. Luther was deeply touched by all the thoughts and wishes from his fans." Vandross' publicist, Jeff O'Conner, called the death "a huge loss in the R&B industry. He was a close friend of mine and right now it's shocking," O'Conner told The Associated Press, noting that Michael Jackson, Aretha Franklin, Patti LaBelle and Quincy Jones had called to offer condolences.