Geoff

When I saw the name of this night it immediately piqued my interest, The Flamingo, one of the haunts of my youth, now sadly gone. But this Flamingo is a nice basement bar in High Holborn, WC1, which is central London, roughly between the City and Oxford Street, just near Chancery Lane tube station, an area I used to work in. The night was most enjoyable, top music and company. Good to hear John Parker in London, he's got a very impressive collection and entertained us with some big tunes plus quite a few that were new to me. The other DJs did sterling work, keeping the tempo very danceable. And there were lots of records I didn't know so playlists would be most welcome. The only downside for me was that I found the dance floor very difficult, I just couldn't slide at all, others seemed to manage okay so it must be me. Jim Watson told me that the lady who runs the bar plans to get a wooden dance floor in for September's one. it was good to see plenty of my friends there, all seemed to be having a good time. I'm happy to report that there are some good NS nights in London, e.g. Walls of Heartache, Soul Giant, and this one that get away from the overplayed tunes. Good news for those of us who like to delve a little deeper into our music.

The last proper 100 Club allnighter was at the beginning of December last year. There had been the appearance of the “100 Club Road Show” at the Springfield allnighter in January but the majority of regulars weren't able to make the trip to Wales. So there was much anticipation among those queuing in Oxford Street outside the club. Unusually there was little security presence, no one on the door to check our bags and as far as I could see only one bouncer. When we got to the ticket office Ady was taking the money and Fay was wielding the rubber stamp. Rolly and Garry were late due to traffic. Down the stairs and Keith Money is getting the proceeding under way. As I stowed my coat and bag away I remember him playing Hey Girl by the Topics and Jerry Butler's Aware Of Love, nice to hear the latter, not often heard out. Ady took over and kept the music spinning. By this time it was beginning to fill up and eventually was full. At this time the dance floor was slippy, I had to be careful walking across it with leather soled shoes. Later it became a bit sticky, which unfortunately isn't uncommon. Next on was Tomas McGrath, one of our younger regular DJs. For his first set Tomas kept mainly to Northern Soul but included the odd Modern Soul tune such as Gotta Strange Feeling. Then it was time for Butch's first set and in this one in the main he kept to Northern Soul, starting off with Arthur Willis, switched to the 70s for Free Man and back to the 60s for Chuck Jackson cover up; Pee Wee Shucks & Huey; Bessie Banks' acetate of I Want A Guarantee; J Hammond; Hopkins Brothers, etc. Naturally the dance floor was busy. Following Butch was the night's guest Brad Hales, from Detroit who runs the world famous People's Records shop. He started off with the Professionals' That's Why I Love You, followed it with Crook Your Little Finger and mixed well known tunes with unknown (at least to me) records. I liked a Latin one he played fairly early on with Spanish lyrics. Ady returned to the decks for his second spot of the night, playing some well known ones, e.g. the Demures; Voodoo Mademoiselle; I'm Not Afraid; Willie Kendricks' She'll Be Leaving You, Sorry Is The Word, plus some I didn't recognise. Ady always delivers the goods. Time for Keith to do his second set and he too always keeps the dancers happy with tunes like Hipper Than Me and Somebody Tell Her. Time for Butch's return and for the first part of this set he was in a Modern Soul mood: Shardup; Life Is A Miracle; Don't Want My Love; Wayward Dream (a lovely one in my opinion) but later in his set kept the more traditional 60s fans happy with World Of Happiness, Love Is Alright, etc. Something for everyone. Tomas continued in the Modern mood starting off with the Pretenders' Just Be Yourself and followed it with a version of I Love Music. You could say his first few of this set had a slight “disco” flavour, oh my God, call the soul police! But he then went on to more conventional 70s sounds like I Can't Move No Mountain, Best Is Yet To Come and I Wanna Be With You. Final appearance by Brad, and again he mixed the familiar and lesser known. Tracks like The Time Is Right For Love made people dance but they danced to the lesser known ones too. For his final set Keith included some classic oldies but they never fail to satisfy. She'll Come Running Back; Job Opening; You Don't Love Me, they may be familiar but they have a certain something. Is it nostalgia or is it just that they're superb tunes that still hit the mark today? Big Mistake by Brenda Jones was one of the last he played. For the last 30 minutes it was, as usual, Ady starting with uptempo tunes like Spyder Turner's version of I Can't Make It Anymore but slowing down to include Sweet Temptation and Just Say Goodbye. The penultimate one was of course I'll Never Stop Loving You by Carla Thomas and the ender was Baby I Need Your Loving, what else? We were ushered out pretty quickly, no time for the usual photo but you can understand the staff want to clear up and go home. As I said above it was pretty full with plenty of new faces, plus of course the “old stalwarts”, you know who you are. Always good to meet and talk to friends. Although it did clear out from about 3 am there was still a good number at 6. I didn't dance that much, the floor didn't help but my legs gave out basically despite my attempts later in the night. I had a decent journey home, the tubes running all night make it easy and I got indoors at about 7,25, not bad at all. So as usual thanks to Ady and the DJs for entertaining us and to the staff of the club. Next one is in April, put it in your diary.

It's been a fair time since the last one. Was good to see the 100 Club roadshow at the Springfield nighter, where Butch did a superb set in the Modern room as well as his normal Northern in the main room. As usual Ady, Keith, Joel kept the flag flying for the club. Decided to be a bit cheeky and request a couple Butch played at Boomerang and the Springfield respectively: Go On And Laugh, and Queen Of My Universe. If you don't ask you certainly don't get. But no problem if they aren't on his playlist plan. I'm looking forward to seeing all my friends there, I haven't seen some of you for ages.

Hopefully will make this one all being well.

Hi there, thanks for your reply. Couldn't get there last night, I'm staying with a friend in Bury and have to say I've never felt as cold as on Wednesday and Thursday so really on Friday didn't feel like travelling any distance. However I will make the effort to come to your night when I'm up here, I like an across the board approach, just don't want an evening of very fast classic oldies, can't keep up nowadays.

What is the music policy for this event? Classic oldies, across the board or other?

For me it's been a good week for soul, first Soul Prescription on Thursday with Ady Croasdell, and last night Boomerang with Butch guesting. There was a small gathering of Maria's friends to celebrate her birthday before the start of the night and then it was all systems go. Maria's husband, Arthur Fenn, started the proceedings to a very packed room, with Quiet Home by the Sea Shells, proceeding to mix Northern and Modern Soul in his inimitable way. Thanks for playing Butterfly by the Ballads, hadn't heard it out before. Then it was Butch for his first set, which soon got me up for Esther Grant's Let's Make The Most Out Of Love and Romona Collins' You've Been Cheatin'. Butch too mixed both 60s and 70s with Modern Soul like Frazelle's Today Is The Day, KLC's You Don't Want My Love, 21st Century's Shadow Of A Memory and the Saints' I'll Let You Slide for example. He ended this set with Annette Poindexter's Wayward Dream. Next up Maria, doing her only set of the night but keeping the quality high in her own inimitable way. Included in her set were the Hamilton Movement, the Four Voices, Betty Wilson, the Martiniques, and the Out Of Sights. Arthur did the penultimate set and again mixed the styles but kept it danceable. Little Love Affair, I've Been Untrue, Every Time I'm Near You, One More Broken Heart, There's A Girl Somewhere For Me, ending his set with the Paramount Four's Sorry Ain't The Word. Butch came on to carry on till 1 am, He started with the Just Brothers' Go On And Laugh followed by Old Time Lover by Martha Jean Love, two of my favourite records. I'd asked him earlier if he had MJL in his box and he'd said yes. Great news for me as I love it. Following these two with the Mighty Lovers, musical heaven. Classic after classic followed: Life Is A Miracle, Don't Bring Back Memories, A Man Of My Word, Kiss Me Goodbye Girl On The Way Out, Just Can't Leave You, Think It Over (the Chesterfields), Shake Cheri, Your Love Is Everything, etc plus quite a few I didn't recognise. He slowed it down with a nice beat ballad called I think Lonely Lonely Night, a cover up I believe. By this time it was 1 am but he carried on for another 15 minutes, tracks like Things A Lady Ain't Supposed to do by the Four Dynamics keeping the floor busy even this late. The room was packed, might have been the busiest I've attended. Loads of friends there, great to see everyone. Travelling up to Thorne and back with Martin Ainscough (Rbman) again was really good, what a laugh we had, hope this will be repeated. Thanks for driving Martin, the weather on the way home was unexpectedly snowy. Thank you Maria for putting on such a superb night, every DJ did their bit and it's a night that won't be forgotten.

An excellent night in the Betsy Trotwood. All the DJs were good but Ady Croasdell, the guest, hit a new high in my opinion with a set starting off slow with Chuck Jackson's I can't stand to see you cry, through old 60s Mod tunes like Rhythm and I keep forgetting to some NS ending with Amos Milburn's classic One Scotch, one Bourbon, one beer. He included some acetates and a couple of forthcoming Kent releases. I hadn't been to Soul Prescription for a few months so was good to see it was still a really worthwhile visit. Don't miss it if you like a range of styles and tempos.

I missed the last one due to helping Sandra after her op so this one really looks good. And I'll be travelling up with an old friend, just like the old days. Getting quite excited in my own way.