Geoff

Just seen this. My partner likes to dance, is there a reasonably sized dance floor?

Nice afternoon at the Spitfire Soul Club in the Dhaviland Club, Farnworth, always a good afternoon of mixed styles of soul music. A little bit quieter than usual, but it was Mother's Day, a lot of family stuff going on. Guest DJs were Paul Hayden, Bob Spendlove, and Fred Benson; augmenting the efforts of Pete Eccles and Vance Butterworth. A real mix of tunes was played, some rare and expensive, some cheap but all good quality, as we expect at the Spitfire: Magnetics' When I'm With My Baby, Count The Days, Lady In Green; O'Jays' Just Another Girl; Gerri Thomas Look What I've Got; Harry Deal & The Galaxies' I Still Love You; Eddie Kendricks Date With The Rain; Bobby Wells' Be's That Way Sometimes; Hesitations' That's What Love Is; Betty Everett People Around Me; Silvetti Spring Rain; Gerri Granger Ain't That Funny; Skip Robinson & His Imperials' I Just Can't Wait; Bessie Banks I Can't Make It Without You Baby; Larry Clinton She's Wanted; Jokers' Soul Sound; Underground Express I Never Found A Girl; Classics' One Dance; Al Macarther His True Love For You; and loads more. Nice to see friends there. Thanks to Pete and Vance for running the club and Linda and Julie on the door. Also to all the DJs who entertained us so well. Please keep supporting your local soul clubs, we will miss them if they disappear.

The Shirt club is one of my favourite nights but last night it reached new heights, the music was sublime and the atmosphere was pretty good too. We got there fairly early in the evening, took our seats and the night began. Shane Cheesebrough, one of the guests was on the decks playing an early spot followed by Bob Spendlove. Then John Clement made his debut as a guest and was followed by Dave Cartlidge, then it was Shane again. We left as he was finishing at about 11.30. Musically the Shirt has changed over the last year, when I noticed that to fill the floor you had to play mainly top 500 NS records, but now a more progressive mix is played and it gets people dancing, so good to see. There were some new faces there too last night so the word is getting out. Tunes played included: Beautiful Philosophy (Internationals); Feminine Ingenuity Ruby); Under The Streetlight (Joe Bataan); Come Go With Me (Gloria Jones); Another Love (Ambers); Where Did I Go Wrong; (Spontanes); Keep Me Dancing (True Image); No Other Way (Cautions); Can't Let You Go (Soulful Twins); If It Feels This Good (Barbara Jean English); I'm On To You Girl (Skip Jackson); I'd Rather Leave on My Feet (Emanuel Laskey); Take Me Back (Lee Fields); It's No Sin (Gene & Eddie); Beggars Can't Be Choosey (Eula Cooper); Certain Kind Of Lover (Lovelites); What Does It Take (5th Dimension); I've Got A Feeling (Baby Washington); Storm Warning (Volcanos); I Love The Boy Next Door (Lockettes); It's Not The Same (Anthony & Imperials). As I said above a really wide selection of our music. Always good to see our friends, thanks to the DJs and the Shirt staff.

After a great night at The Shirt we decided to go in the opposite direction from home to Rochdale, to the Masonic Hall for the three monthly soul night run by the Exit21 guys Ste Henderson and Mark Sharrocks. The guest DJs were Paul Eatough and Tony Mac. The Masonic Hall is a very nice venue with tables around the dance floor and a bar to the left. The dance floor is, I'm sure all the dancers would agree, fantastic, possibly the best I've danced on since moving up north, nearest would be the Polish Centre in Bury. I could even spin on it, can't normally risk it on some other floors. It has a good sound system, the music is not deafening which is a problem sometimes at other venues. Musically it is mainly oldies but I heard quite a few that are rarely played, or not when I'm out. There were quite a few played that were far too fast for me to dance to but there were people on the floor all evening. Among tracks played were: Skull Snaps' My Hang Up Is You; Blanch Carter Halos Are For Angels; Baby Washington & Don Gardner We're Gonna Make It Big; The Bitter & The Sweet I Won't Have No Babies For You; TSU Toronadoes' Heart Please Don't Break; Major Harris Call Me Tomorrow; International GTOs' I Love My Baby; The Outsiders' Lonely Man; Parliaments' Heart Trouble; Kittens' Hey Operator; Jimmy Jones' 39-21-46 Shape; Commands' No Time For You; Yvonne Baker You Didn't Say A Word; Mel Britt She'll Come Running Back; Phonetics' Just A Boy's Dream; Ruby Feminine Ingenuity; Gerri Grainger I Go To Pieces...Everytime. Good to see many of my friends there and particularly nice to see Sue Parker whom I knew in London. She was on the dance floor for a very good part of the night. It began to thin out after 11pm and we left around midnight. A very enjoyable evening and I'd recommend it to any soul lovers in the area. Thanks to the DJs, promoters and staff of the hall.

On the soul calendar one night not to be missed if possible is the Ashton Ukrainian. Last Saturday's lived up to my expectations, a mix of soul musical styles in a club with a knowledgeable audience. We arrived in time to get seats, thanks to Derek and Janet Watmough for the lift, and of course good to have Paddy with us. Four guest DJs were on the bill for the night: Roger Banks; “Jumping” Joan Livesey; Simon Ingham and Luci Jones. Each added a different slant to the night's music. Plus of course Phil Dunn and Chris Churm. As always the music was aimed at the dance floor and it succeeded, keeping things moving all evening. Plenty records that were new to me played but I do remember the following: Al Green's Let Me Help You; ZZ Hill's Where She Att; Bob Meyer's version of I Only Get This Feeling;Jim Lee's Let's Go Baby; Lee Tillman's She's The One I Love; Chuck Bernard's Send For Me; Marvin Gaye's So Long; Reachers' I Just Want To Do My Own Thing; Continental Showstoppers' Not Too Young; Innocent Bystanders' Frantic Escape; Monique's Never Let Me Go; The Velvets' Let The Fool Kiss You; Jimmy Soul Clark's I'll Be Your Champion; etc. The list shows the variations in the music played, loads more, too many to mention. A good crowd in, and as I said above the dance floor was busy all night. Nice to see friends before Christmas, the people who attend are part of what makes this night so special. As usual thanks to the DJs and the staff of the club. I look forward to this night continuing in the new year with anticipation.

The Spirit Of The Orwell soul night has become one of the highlights of my soul calendar, the music is always top class with DJs who know their music and are not afraid to play records that most of us present do not know. The DJs know that we are an audience eager for new sounds as well as the more familiar “rare and underplayed”. Unfortunately I was unable to attend the one in November 2022 due to a train strike but this year I was fortunate that Jackie and Pete Ratcliffe gave me a lift, my thanks to them. The room at the Haydock Park Golf Club was filling nicely when we arrived; after getting drinks we found seats and began to soak up the music and atmosphere. I guess the main attraction was Butch, but the other DJs did a superb job. Among the records we heard were Looks Like Rain; That's The Way The Story Goes (perhaps my favourite of Butch's cover ups); Kiss Me Girl On Your Way Out; If I Ever; The Feeling's Still There; Sweet Temptation; Things A Lady Ain't Supposed To Do; Old Time Lover; It's All Over (Baby); Make Believe You Love Me; and so many others. At least half or more of Butch's set were one's I didn't know, and the other DJs also played some that were new to me. Absolutely my kind of night. The night flew by and all of a sudden it was 12.30 and time to leave. It was really nice to see so many people I rarely see now. Thanks to Steve and the Orwell guys, Butch and to the bar staff. I've been to some good soul nights this year but think this is my favourite, no disrespect to other ones.

Not to be missed.

Last Saturday's allnighter marked the 44th anniversary, what a record, longest running soul allnighter, definitely in the UK, probably the whole world. Congratulations to Ady Croasdell and his team. Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond my control, I was very late in getting there, Butch was playing Joseph Webster when I got into the room, but better late than never. Music was well up to the standard we expect, loads of favourites and some unfamiliar records, that's the 100 Club! Records like: Mighty Lovers; Kiss Me Girl On Your Way Out; You've Been Cheating (Ramona Collins); World Of Happiness; Better Off Without You (Little Anthony & The Imperials); Let Our Love Grow Higher; Last Minute Miracle; There's Nothing Left To Say; You Keep Leading Me On; Why Can't It Be Tonight; Don't; and ending of course with I'll Never Stop Loving You and Baby I Need Your Loving. Then it was over, putting our coats on, saying farewell to friends, with as usual the musical background of Walter Jackson's wonderful That's What Mama Say. Actually we seemed to have more time to say goodbye than usual. Then out into Oxford Street for our journey home. It was lovely to see so many of my friends there. My appreciation to Bob and to Pete our driver. Got home at about 10.20. And massive thanks to Ady, Mattie and Faye, plus the DJs who did us proud, and to the staff of the club. Long may it continue.

Saturday the 16th meant another trip to my favourite soul club in Greater Manchester, the Ashton Ukrainian for an evening of rare and underplayed soul music played by knowledgeable and enthusiastic DJs. And as usual I wasn't disappointed; a good mix of better and lesser known records being played, and nearly all well away from the top 500. Nothing wrong with the latter by the way but many can be heard regularly in other clubs. We arrived shortly after 7.30 but the main room was filling up nicely. After getting seats with our friends and getting drinks it was time to concentrate on the music, and we weren't let down, rather the opposite. The DJs in order of appearance were: Phil Dunn, Geoff Stubbs, Derek Watmough, Simon Ingham, John Parker, and Chris Churm. Among the records played were: I'm Having So Much Fun (Willie Tee); Look At Me Look At Me (Vernon Greene); I Can't Find Her (Rotations); Stop And Think It Over Baby (Charles Drain); If It Wasn't For Love (Jimmy Bee); The Meditation (TNT Band, a nice Latin funk track); I Don't Love You No More (Exsaveyons); Something About You Sends Me (Royal Robins); It's Our Time To Fall In Love (Cody Black); So Blue (Joe Murphy); Without You Baby (Irma & The Larks); Beside Myself (Pee Wee Shucks & Huey); Love Slave (Antellects); I Need Your Loving So Bad (Lewis Clark); Don't Knock Me (Connie Tanzel); I'd Think It Over (Sam Fletcher); What Does The Future Hold (24 Karat Gold) and loads more that I can't remember at this time. And plenty that I didn't know, one of the reasons to attend is for me to hear tunes new to me. The dance floor was kept moving the whole night by the music and I imagine everyone left satisfied with the variety of records played, I certainly was. Good to see many friends there, and the usual thank you to Derek and Janet for taking Sandy and me, and to Paddy our companion. And of course thanks to all the DJs, promoters and the friendly staff of the club.

Sandra and I made our first visit to the Exit 21 Soul Club at Rochdale Masonic Hall courtesy of a lift from Derek and Janet Watmough joined by Paddy. When we arrived it looked as if the building was closed but on investigation we found it open at the back. We entered to find a large room with a big dance floor, a bar and a stage for the DJs. After taking our seats near friends and getting drinks it was time to look around and take in the atmosphere. Not a great number in at first but it gradually filled. The regular DJs are Steven Henderson and Mark Sharrocks, the night's guest was Paul Shirley. Among the earlier sets were Just Loving You; I Don't Know About You; Girls Are Against Me; Ooh Boy; It'll Never Be Over For Me; Can We Talk It Over; She'll Come Running Back. People were dancing from early on; always a good sign and nice to see. The last record played before Paul took over was the beautiful I Have No Choice by Johnnie Mae Matthews. Then it was guest DJ Paul Shirley's turn on the decks and he hit us with some big classy tunes, starting with Jimmy Bo Horne's I Can't Speak. Among others he played were Someone Tell Her; Bernadine; Joseph Webster; Poets' Wrapped Around Your Finger; I'm A Bad Go Getter by Jean Shy, great R&B; my requests Ask My Heart and The Hurting Is Over, thanks for playing them; Lady In Green; slowing things down with This Girl and James Phelps' The Look On Your Face and ending with Sag War Fare's Don't Be So Jive. The latter one probably unfamiliar to some there, I was the only one dancing I think. After Paul finished the regulars kept the pace up with That's What I Want; Baby Don't You Weep; All Of My Life; Can You Remember, etc. Nice to hear Lou Johnson's original of There's Always Something There To Remind Me, it really took me back; Show Stopper; and the night ending with Long After Tonight Is All Over and Tony Michaels' I Love The Life I Live. Both Sandy and I really enjoyed the evening, I haven't danced so much for ages, my legs are feeling it as I write this. The dance floor was one of the best I've been on lately. Good to see so many friends, hopefully seeing them again soon. And thanks to Derek for the lift and to the DJs for entertaining us, and to the one barman who was kept busy all night. I certainly will put Exit 21 on my list of clubs to return to.

I've not commented on the Ashton Ukrainian Club's Rare Soul Night recently, not because I've not enjoyed it, it's been excellent but didn't have any more superlatives for it. However last Saturday's was so good I felt the need to comment. Derek and Janet Watmough kindly gave Sandy and me a lift there, we were as usual joined by Paddy. We arrived about 7.35 and there were quite a few in. At 7.45 the first guest Phil Dick hit the decks with a set of rare soul of the first order. Tracks like the Mello Souls; Ramona Collins' You've Been Cheating; Court Davis' Try To Think What You're Doing; Sidney Barnes' Cheatin' Kind; Honey & The Bees' Dynamite Exploded and many more, quite a few I didn't know. A nice taster for the Cleethorpes weekend. Quite a hard job to follow Phil but Derek Watmough was up to the job. Among his plays were the Topics' She's So Fine; Arthur Freeman's You Got Me Uptight; Ollie Jackson's Wipe Away The Teardrops; and Rocky Gil & The Bishops' It's Not The End. Lately I've used Shazam to help me note the records played, my memory is not as good as it once was, and it failed to find more of Derek's set than any other DJ that night. There were a lot of records played during the night that were new to me. At 9.45 Phil Threlfall started his set with I Saw You There by the Appointments following it with the Puzzles' I Need You; Man From Soul; I'm Moanin' by Rose Brooks and I'm Having So Much Fun by Willie Tee; the Magicians' Love, Let's Try Again and Hank Hodge's Eye For An Eye. Phil ended his set with the Purple Mundi's Stop Hurting Me Baby. Phil continued the high standard set by the earlier DJs. Baz Maleedy was the fourth guest and kept the floor moving with more rare classy soul. The Lovelites' I Don't Want To Cry; Darrell Banks' I'm Knocking On Your Heart (I started dancing to this but had to give up, too long for me these days); Tell Me Baby; What Can I Do by George Kirby; Rudy Love's Sufferin' Wrath; Hayes Cotton's Black Wings Have My Angel; one you don't hear often Joan Baker's Everybody's Talking; Nancy Butts' I Want To Hold Your Hand give an idea of Baz's set, great tunes. For the last set Chris Churm took over and really kept the floor going with records like She Just Sits There; Drown My Heart; I Need My Baby; Down And Out. He said his last record would be Mr Blue by Cody Black but the crowd demanded more so he actually finished with Ain't Gonna Give You Up by the Volumes. For me the night flew by, a sign that it had been very enjoyable. It was good to see so many friends there: Carole and Donna; Sue Scott and Les; Joyann; Dave and Maria; Joan Livesey; and others, too many to mention. The Ashton Ukrainian is a friendly club with knowledgeable people, it never lets you down. The guys who run it can be proud; it's a night not to be missed if you are serious about our music. Once again thanks to the promoters, DJs, and staff of the club; and to all present for making this a great night.

The Spitfire is consistently a very good afternoon of soul music, the DJs always get away from the tried and tested records that you hear in some clubs and in my opinion are overplayed. But last Sunday's was absolutely wonderful. Each DJ's set was different from the others, giving the listeners a smorgasbord of soul sounds, a true delight. A good friend, Lawrence Crossley, gave Sandy and myself a lift there, we actually got in before the music started at 2 pm so we were sitting down comfortably when the show began. Regular Spitfire DJ Vance Butterworth as usual started proceedings. Among the records he played were Wilmer & The Dukes' Give me one more chance; Andre Williams' You got it and I want it; Chuck Willis' Whatcha gonna do; Little Luther's Eenie meenie minie moe; ending his set with The Isley Brothers' That's the way love is. Gary Thomas followed Vance and started with Baby baby baby by The Tokays. Another mixed set including The Diplomats' Cards on the table; Ike & Tina's Somebody somewhere needs you; Padded Cell's Mr Misery; and Helen Shapiro's Stop and you'll become aware. Second guest was Bernard Lowe, who used to guest at the Bury Town Hall, as I was told. More nice tracks here including The Hyperions' Why you wanna treat me the way you do; Cajun Heart's Got to find a way (bringing back memories of the Capital Soul Club at the Dome); Bobby Hutton's Come see what's left on me; upping the tempo with The Silhouettes' Not me baby and Jimmy McFarland's Lonely lover. Bernard ended his set with a couple of slower tunes with Quiet home by the Sea Shells and Reggie Alexander's It's better. Then it was Paul Shirley's time on the decks and he treated us to a set of rare soul, absolutely up my street musicwise. Starting off with Jean Shy's I'm a big go getter, then Teardrops by The Soul Brothers. Others played included Ask my heart (Eddie Billups); My love is so strong (Joseph Webster); and The hurting is over by Arthur Willis & The Soulful Dynamics (surprised and delighted to hear that one, so rare). Paul ended with the sublime Lady in green by The Magnetics, a masterclass in rare soul. As normal at the Spitfire Pete Eccles took the last set, starting with The Constellations' I don't know about you. Among others Pete played were What's happened to our love by The Ringleaders; Marjorie Black's One more heartache; Turley Richards' I feel alright; The Precisions' Why girl; Tony Galla's In love; and ending the afternoon with Corey Glover's Little girl and Timi Yuro's It'll never be over for me. As I said earlier an excellent afternoon, pretty well attended despite other soul events including the Stafford reunion. A good number of dancers, I danced a few times, but haven't been feeling on top form since a few days in hospital recently so I missed a few of my favourites that I'd normally be on the floor to. The Spitfire's a very friendly club, I would recommend it to anyone who wants to hear slightly lesser played soul sounds. It was good to see all our friends there and a big thank you to Lawrence for driving Sandy and I there and back. And as usual a big thanks to Pete, Vance, the DJs, the club staff and the ladies on the door.

I hadn't been to the 100 Club since the anniversary last September and to be honest I was a bit worried how I'd get on. When I woke up Saturday morning I thought I must be out of my mind to consider a trip to London and to stay up all night, but as the day progressed and 11pm approached my excitement increased, First I'd like to say a big thank you to my travelling companions: Phil Jones who did the driving, Pete Ratcliffe and Bob Spendlove, who organised everything. Phil picked me up at 2.30, Bob joined us and off we went to pick up Pete and then on to London. After arriving in central London our first port of call was the Blue Posts where we met up with many who were going to the club. Lovely to see Garry and Rolla, Suzy, Billywhiz, Ann, Dave Rippoles and others. I left my companions so I could get in early and obtain a table, they usually get snapped up quickly. Joel Maslin and guest Frank Webster were double decking setting the mood for the night. My companions joined me and Phil got his first look at the club, this was his debut there. It was fantastic to see so many of my friends there and they remembered me, I've only been a few times since moving from London. I realised how much I missed it and the camaraderie. The club has such a special atmosphere, has to be experienced to understand. Musically as usual there was a mix of styles. For example Ooh Boy; Attica Massacre; I'll Let You Slide; Sweep It Under The Shed; Shadow Of A Memory; Beside Myself; Things A Lady Ain't Supposed To Do; You're Gone; Heartaches Souvenirs; Kiss Me Girl; Will You Ever Learn, Sweet Temptation, etc. Ady played a lot of his acetates in his first set plus my favourite of the night: Timmy Carr & The Persianettes' I Could Never Stop Crying. Butch no longer does two sets but just one long one, very nice it was too, mixing lesser k own with better known records. As usual Ady played the last 45 minutes. He included Don't Tear Me Down; Sorry Ain't The Word; Rules; ending with I'll Never Stop Loving You; It's An Uphill Climb To The Bottom; and of course Baby I Need Your Loving. Then it was time to sort yourself out, get your coat and say farewell to your friends. In all honesty nighters are more of a challenge these days, especially from the north of England, fairly easy when it took an hour to get there and an hour back home in London. But I must return soon, just such a special night. Thanks to Ady, the DJs and staff of the club.

I think I can speak for my travelling companions, Derek, Janet and Paddy, that the rare soul nights at the Ukrainian club in Ashton-Under-Lyne are not to be missed at almost any cost. And obviously our view is shared by many others as we only just got a seat in the main room at 7.30, it was so busy early on. I know I repeat myself when I say how good this club is but it is true. Great music played by DJs with good taste and an audience who know and love their music. What could be better? From the off the music hit the spot, mixing tempos, mainly on what would be called the rare and lesser played side of our music. For me good to hear the 100 Club classic Welcome To Dreamsville shortly after arriving. Looking down my lists of records played I'm not sure who played what. Tracks included Irma Thomas' What Are You Trying To Do; Percy Wiggins' It Didn't Take Much; Dream Girl; Hush Don't Cry; Breakaway (Linda Lloyd); Never Will I Make My Baby Cry (hadn't heard that for ages, always loved it); Since I Found A Love; Carl Henderson's That Girl; Sufferin' Wrath; Geater Davis' My Love Is So Strong For You; I Got A Good Thing Going; The Feeling I Have; Whisper You Love Me Boy, Quiet Home and many others. You get the picture. It was very nice to see Ginger Taylor on the decks there playing some very nice rare tracks. All too soon the night ended and it was time to go home although you can add at least 15 minutes to say farewell to friends. Thanks to the promoters of this event, and of course all the DJs. The club staff do an excellent job behind a very busy bar; and of course to my friends for taking me there and for their company.