Russ Vickers

Great record mate............remember selling mine for £400 at the time & thinking I had made a good deal.........a priceless tune tho IMO. Russ

Good to hear from ya Jas, I hope all is well with you mate. Russ

Was that Mark's do mate ???. Russ

Gavin, Ive looked at several venues a month for about 8 months now, Ive googled myself silly too, thing is there are a few venues, but not many if any so far are suitable, not for what I have in mind anyway. From experience tho' I know that there will be the perfect venue within 10 miles, guaranteed, its just falling over em sometimes, thats why I thought maybe some one might be able to help on here. It'll reveal itself in good time mate..........remember you doing the first ever Abshott Gavin & despite that, we still made a go of it ..............just need to have one more crack to get it out my system & hopefully give something positive back. Russ

You bet Steve, thanks for the support, thought very long & hard about this, particularly as there are so many events at the moment, but Im convinced that I can bring something fresh & exciting to the party that is missing at the moment IMHO, this is why it has to be intimate, cos its not about anything other than the music & to try & fill a large venue is pointless, it wont happen (initially) with the music policy I have in mind, I would much rather play the music I love & have a passion for, to the people who have that same passion about hearing it, unfortunately I think Im in the minority right now, so an atmospheric intimate venue would be ideal. BTW not knocking what anyone else does & enjoys, in fact Rubyz in B'Mouth particularly does it very well, but the spirit of Abshott & Newbury burns within me still & whilst the last thing I would ever consider is a reunion or whatever, the ethos behind both those events is still something I genuinely still beleive in.................& from little acorns . Russ

References & anecdotes from almost a bygone age............a scene almost unrecocnisable in some respects from the scene you loved Swish........they would have you think its clean & presentable now on the whole & I can almost hear the Tut, tuts from the masses, your poems are beautiful in an honest & brutal way & a true reminder of the original & real underground soul scene, fuelled by gear & soulful dance music to die for.............& some did. Passion, dedication, desperation & a love of all things soulful shine thru the beautiful words..........thank you for sharing. Russ

Gene Townsell - I'm walking away - Dobre was the ender every session at both Abshott & Newbury........always bought the house down, people knew it was the end of the night & went home wanting more.................I remember discussing the 'ender' before our very first event, much to a couple of the residents amusment, but I feel its a very important moment in a night, as this is the last thing folk will remember & the 'ender' therefore needs to leave a lasting impression. Russ

Your right Dave, was in Baltimore Pete a few tears back, but in Jersey now...........great bloke........Wigan market stall to international record dealer residing Stateside..........who would have thought it, extremely helpful person & always happy to share his immense knowledge. Russ

I have looked & looked for nearly a year now, so Im appealing to anyone who might know of a venue in this area. It needs to be intimate & full of atmosphere & character, if it held a 100 ish I would be happy, altho' ideally needs to hold 150-200, but look full with 60 in. Any type of venue is good, hotel, bar, function room, club or pub, but absolutely no square sterile wedding receptioney type venues, obviously PA would be a bonus, but not essential & a licence to a minimum of 1 am altho' 2/3 am preferred.............anyone promoting in the area at the moment, rest assured that IF I do find a venue, I will NEVER clash EVER & for the record the music policy will be a mile away from anything in the area at the moment, so if you have seen a venue that you feel would be right for me, let me know.............no big cavernous joints tho', small, intimate, dark n classy, a basement an attic, a small hotel ballroom..............a left field venue, for a left field promoter ...............c'mon guys n gals PM me & I mean PM me please, as I dont want the details on an open forum for obvious reasons . Russ

Thanks everyone...............I think its great. Russ

I have looked & looked for nearly a year now, so Im appealing to anyone who might know of a venue in this area. It needs to be intimate & full of atmosphere & character, if it held a 100 ish I would be happy, altho' ideally needs to hold 150-200, but look full with 60 in. Any type of venue is good, hotel, bar, function room, club or pub, but absolutely no square sterile wedding receptioney type venues, obviously PA would be a bonus, but not essential & a licence to a minimum of 1 am altho' 2/3 am preferred.............anyone promoting in the area at the moment, rest assured that IF I do find a venue, I will NEVER clash EVER & for the record the music policy will be a mile away from anything in the area at the moment, so if you have seen a venue that you feel would be right for me, let me know.............no big cavernous joints tho', small, intimate, dark n classy, a basement an attic, a small hotel ballroom..............a left field venue, for a left field promoter ...............c'mon guys n gals PM me & I mean PM me please, as I dont want the details on an open forum for obvious reasons . Russ

The vox is nasty IMHO tho'. Russ

Cheers Pete.............it kinda sounds familiar in some ways, but dont think I ever heard it during my time during the last few years of WC. Cracking tho'.........would punters dance to this these days ?................could they dance to it ?, as the art of propper stomping/shuffling is pretty much long gone with most dancers these day's. Russ

Thank you Sean, I thought as much to be honest, but I personally had not heard it until recently & it knocked me a little side ways, as you dont hear this kinda record very often these days..........not everyones cuppa I know, but as a pure dance record, with that X factor (for me anyway) it could work again methinks.......?. Russ

LIBERTY - GIRL YOU BETTER WAKE UP - Instrumental Not normally a great lover of instrumentals.............but this has knocked my socks off.........wow !!!!!!. The other side has awfull very white vox, which I dislike.......but the instrumental is another story. Cant remember when a 7ts instrumental went big last, but this has the lot IMHO cheap as the proverbials too. Waddaya think, any good or just me getting over excited again. Russ

I'll try & get a definitive list of all sounds we have mentioned on this thread up in the next couple of days, we can then maybe go thru it & see what we come up with, with regards to classics !!!!!.................should be interesting. Thanks to all again for keeping things interesting & positive. Russ

No, I agree with you with regard to the social bits before mate, just the actual Nighters I prefer to be a little ...........kinda hate the sterilising of the scene & 'Chicken inna Basket' & 'Soul Dinner Dances' are as far from true NS ethos as ya can get.........are you at Hitsville Mac.........cos if you are I can feel a Paella n Sangria Fest coming on ............. Best Russ

I mentioned it earlier, as its one of my fave 100 Club tunes, I wasnt sure about JM, so Im pleased youve confirmed that Ady & of course who could forget the brill Hytones................also has anyone mentioned the San Franciscan TKO's...........whoa choon,........also Nancy Wilcox - Gamblers Blues.........................the 100 Club's contributions in them selves are almost endless. I also find it incredible that, some of the tunes are virtually only known to the 100 Club crowd, speak to almost anyone else & theyre in the dark over some of the best NS ever to have graced the decks.............. Russ

This is the important bit, before not during................had a massive argument with someone about Chicken inna Basket Soul Nights few years ago, I know none of us are getting any younger, but apart from cleaner bogs & not having to go thru the pain of actually getting to venues in anyway you could including jumping the train, hitching (& I actually hitched from Plymouth to Hinckley one night & back), one night even ended up in a stolen car, loooooooooooooooooooooooong story, missed the coach to Wigan from the Brit, totally gutted, mate(ish) turns up in a motor, didnt know it was nicked until we got to WC !!!!!!!!!!!!!................Yeah, so apart from that I dont want all the other shit, keep it in the gutter, thats what makes it exciting. Russ

This quite a difficult task........but wondering if Dolly Gilmore fits the bill.......funkeeeee 7ts Sweet, Sweet Baby is pretty sleazy in production, but not quite sure if it fits the bill completely ....................thinking cap on now. Russ

Loved the Winding Wheel, as you say Chalks hoofin' venue !!!!. Russ

The uncut unissued version of Jackie Wilson & Laverne Baker - Think Twice.............totalally in the gutter...........but sheer brilliance, all singing away to this in the car last week end on the way some where........chicks n all...........brilliant power house filth. Russ

I mentioned it earlier mate Ronnie West-Lil Woman-Goins........was Deans Soulfay c/up late 9ts maybe ?????? deffo not Stafford. Russ

The uncut unissued version of Jackie Wilson & Laverne Baker - Think Twice.............totalally in the gutter...........but sheer brilliance, all singing away to this in the car last week end on the way some where........chicks n all...........brilliant power house filth. Russ

Thank you to everyone for all of the fantastic contributions, the info in these few pages is priceless. My intention was to initially draw attention to all the brilliant tunes that have been discovered & played since Stafford & other 8ts venues of a similar period, but we have ended up with soooooooo much more. Kebs playlist is an important piece of NS history just in its self............thank you all for keeping the politics etc out too..........dont have time right now, but I'll return later after I have thought of more tunes !!!!!!!!!!!!.............thanks to everyone & keep it up. BTW Does any official play list for Butch exist, from any period in time ????. Russ