Markw

Please PM if you have a copy you might wish to sell. Cheers.

Time to put the magic reading glasses on again!

PM'd you Paul.

You two have been at this for about a year!!

As someone who has been involved with co-promoting a new night this year (Second City Soul), there are so many factors at play in all this that it becomes almost impossible to list them all. Such an effort would be a reasonably significant essay/study in product development, marketing, branding, customer engagement and business serendipity!! I can hear Lord Sugar's rasping, waspish voice and see his pointing finger in my head right now, having been brought back into the boardroom after losing the 'Setting up a rare soul night' task..........."The failure of this task is entirely down to your poor project management and your failure to know your market - Mark, you're fired." Seems to me that the only genuinely common feature with all the successful (and I mean successful in terms of being able to attract sufficient numbers to sustain the event, not necessarily 'commercially' successful) is (1) the persistence and willpower to keep going when the temptation is to pack up and go home combined with (2) an ability and willingness to bankroll your early efforts whilst the costs of putting it on outweigh the returns on the door. In essence, no different from any other business venture really. Of course, recent years have seen the rise of a different business model to the traditional Northern Soul model of large hall/ballroom, pay your £5/10 on the door - i.e. the small bar or club venue with free entrance, small or no dancefloor and a wider demographic. This is perhaps a topic for a separate discussion. In terms of getting people to find out about your night, the media now available is frankly better, easier and more widespread than ever and that part of the equation is actually very easy. It has never been easier to get people to find out about your event (however, getting their attention is a different matter altogether, as Lenny alludes to). You can reach hundreds (maybe thousands?) of people (assuming they are all different people?) quite easily through Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Soul Source and flyers at events. The hard part (and the only one that really matters) is persuading them to travel to your night, part with their money and dance or otherwise engage enthusiastically. The even harder part is persuading them to come back for more again.......and again...........and again - the feature of those sustainable clubs I mentioned earlier. Hyperbole (or 'bullshit', as has been described here) has always and will always be a part of the promotion of an event and why shouldn't it? You have to sell your event somehow (though out-and-out lying is clearly unacceptable). To give a simple answer to the original question, it is easier than ever to promote your event. It remains as hard as ever to attract people's attention and to persuade them to come. Thank you for the opportunity Lord Sugar.................

PM'd you Benji.

6. Members asked to refrain from removing any details from the ads after selling [or obtaining a want]. You can edit to show "SOLD" but better to leave the ad intact please, as the information therein contributes to a database other members can refer to when looking up current prices, availability etc

First set (9-9.30): Chuck Bridges - Don't You Make Me Cry (Scoop) Carol Woods & The Executives - Heartbreaker (Perfecto 7) Johnny Summers - I'm Still Yours (Yorktown) The Impressions - Love Me (Curtom) Walter & Sisters - How Long (Studio 10) Eddy Lyon - I Want You To Love Me Boy (Smoke) L J Reynolds - Intruder (Mainstream) Joe McLean - Let's Talk About Love (Ego) Lil Henry & His Soul Express - Baby (Ride) The International Five - I Need You (Starway) Charles Simmons - Save The World (Hit Sound) Second set (11-11.30): Dickie (Sweet Sugar) Wonder - Nobody Knows (Golden Triangle) The Paramount Four - You Don't Know (Southern City) Jerri Jones - Monkey On Your Back (Pal) Entertainers IV - Just Ain't My Day (Dore) Apaches - Trying To Make Ends Meet (Big 8) Tomorrow's Men - Who's That Lady (Congress) Jimmy Lee Bryant - My Little Girl (Jar-Val) Claude Huey - Why Would You Blow It (Galaxy) The Nombres - Cold Wine Pt1 (Beth) Deloris Ealy - I've Been Looking (Velvet) Soul Senders - I Got To Get A Move On (Soul-O-Matic) Cody Black - Mr Blue (D-Town) Fantastic venue and a really nice crowd of people in who were up for a really varied mixture of stuff from classic Northern to 70s to upfront current spins and hard-edged funky stuff. Get yourselves down there. Best Mark White

Should all be half those prices because the labels are the wrong way up....... In which case, I will take the Specials please.

Way before my time, but guessing this was 'Kojak' who was also behind the Inter-City Soul Club stuff in the mid-70s as well. Probably way off the mark!!

Great assessment mate. Well put.

I suspect you need to get out more. There are plenty of venues out there on all the different aspects of the real rare soul scene making records "big", remembering that "big" is a relative term. Just need to get along to some of those venues, keep your ear to the ground and take no notice of the nostalgia-obsessed, youth-rediscovery, dressing-up, re-enactment circus which goes around claiming to be something it quite blatantly is not. Keep it real...........

Probably less trouble than going on Soul Source mate.

Not been to too many places this last 30 years then?

Soul Funktion charges no entrance fee (there is an honesty box on the bar should you feel inclined to contribute). DJs work there unpaid (other than a Soul Funktion DJ slip mat and record middle drinks coaster). They do it because they love it. The place is rammed every time from start to finish. It is full of folk of all age ranges, from 20s to 60s, from new recruits to veterans of Wigan and the Wheel. It does not (generally speaking) play classic Northern oldies; it does not play what might be described as classic Northern. But it has more to do with the true spirit of what Northern Soul once was and was once about than any venue I have attended in years and I am not alone in this feeling. There is a maxim in this world that says that if you keep doing the same thing, you should not be surprised if you get the same result and things do not improve.

Christ Malcolm. Stop wandering around the hills of Buckinghamshire and get back on that laptop. Get with the programme buddy!!

Hi After a copy on Dore 802 - not any of the other releases please, just 802. PM please. Thanks.

Got soundfiles please?

Choice.

Not working for me. Got an mp3?

That's cheap.

Superb. PLeased for you Dave.

I expect you have probably seen this Dave. https://www.raresoul45s.co.uk/shop/rare-soul-over-100-pound/diane-lewis?product_id=2727&category_id=1

On hold pending payment from an SS member in Australia. If that falls through, will message you Dave. Best wishes - Mark

Oh hold. It is a quality 45 and in an ideal world, I would keep everything on the shelves that I like But, needs must and other nice things come along