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westrex

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Posts posted by westrex

    hiya gibby, yes, the nite-owl was JUST a teeny bit before my time on the soul-scene, but l remember seeing the flyers

    and membership that some of my friends had. The flyers had the names of the deejays on them (obviously) and one

    such name was "OWLIN' ROBIN'" but do you know the name of the other featured deejay??

    well, l'll tell you. . it was a guy who called himself "ROCKET" and he was the elder brother of gary (gaz) keen, from leicester!!!

    but l expect you knew that fact already.

    Tony Warot. aka westrex

    l used to deejay at st lves in the 70's and at the re-union nites from 2001 - 2007 when john tompkins, mark sanders and

    steve bounden were running it, then it all changed in 2008 when david hayden took over and excluded me from the dj line up

    he never gave me a reason for doing this and l only knew of my exclusion when somebody pointed out to me that my name

    wasn't on the forthcoming flyer for 2008 reunion, l was very disappointed and felt very bitter. a lot of people have spoken

    and made remarks on my behalf and think it was a bad decision to omit me but never mind, it was good while it lasted.

    Tony Warot.

    l remember neil brackenbridge loaning me his philips "demo" copy of MANY'S THE SLIP, by the Present. l had to thumb

    a lift back home to bedford on the sunday morning, it was 1976 and we were suffering a freak heat-wave, l was scared

    to death that the record might warp whilst in my hold-all, luckily all was well and l returned the disc back the following

    week. cheers neil. Tony Warot.

    WELL, as I was there, at the Calais....thye man;s band did not know Monkey Time and the Major cou'ld.nt remember it((someone from the Bedford crew who were there back me up please) Investigate/Aint no soul....we did not know these tunes, they came later.

    Tony, go to Pemberton on the 10/12....we can to have a chat, Blueten AND Graham Crooke will be there as well so it'll be a good night to reminisce :thumbup:

    hi paul, well as l AM from bedford, l can back you up by saying that you're right, the band weren't clued up at all. l live in huntingdon now but can't

    guarantee makin' it to pemberton centre, will try my best.

    PS. it's 39 yrs yesterday that major lance recorded that album at the torch. 9th December 1972

    best wishes, tony warot.

    Hi Mark.....do you remember Smelly going to Bletsoe?, I cant remember him ever trying to ponce a lift off me and John (Harris) to go up there. Bletsoe was after Wilby and Harborough, and I'm sure George passed on to the great Allnighter in the Sky before Bletsoe ????.

    Glen Bellamy wrote a requiem for him in Blues and Soul, perhaps he'll know. George Atkinson aka 'Smelly' was a good M8 and a well known Luton face, sorley missed at the time, I remember Chiefy, who was there telling me he was pissed and dived into the river outside The Pilgrim in Bedford, nobody missed him till later as they were all pissed as well, all celebrating some football victory, probably Luton beating Watford LOL.

    Sorry Westrex but I have to disagree with you about Bletsoe being brilliant, (even for the time) yes it was somewhere to have a blockup, it beat Toddington Service Station. Good music must have been played, I remember dancing, but cant remember a single tune that was played ranting_1.gif great atmosphere ,especially for us ''dodgy geezers'' who frequented the place, but the venue itself......ABSOLUTE SHITE !!!!!!, which spoilt it some what, now Wilby/Krellmarsh/Earls Barton.....they were brilliant !!!!!.

    Yeah, Alf Billingham, I actually did know that :wave: , I stll have the Blues and Soul issue referred to my earlier post, Would you believe? :)

    hi paul, to be honest with you, l can't really remember much about the atmosphere either cos l spent most of the time outside or at the entrance

    talking about nothing in particular to people like GIBBY and TILLEY (keith tilson from bedford)

    You probably won't remember me but we actually met on the 2nd of december 1972 at the california ballroom watching MAJOR LANCE

    we were right down at the front of the stage shouting at him to sing YOU DON'T WANT ME NO MORE, INVESTIGATE and AIN'T NO SOUL,

    l remember him singing KNOCK ON WOOD and when he got to the hookline of the song, he'd point the microphone at somebody at the front

    and they'd have to sing, "I'M GONNA KNOCK ba ba ba ba, ON WOOD BAYBEEE" sometime after that, in early '73, we were going to the

    CATACOMBS in the back of Johnny Harris's thames van, we got there just in time for the last hour. Two girls from Gloucester asked him for

    a lift to the M5 motorway at closing time, he took em to HIGH WYCOMBE train station instead. the 2 girls in question were ALISON GRECHE

    and CHRISTINE ??? l got a lift home with Grahame Crook cos there wasn't enough room for all of US, and the girls.

    Anyway, best wishes to you paul, maybe we could meet up some time, Tony Warot. AKA Westrex.

    Hi Everyone,

    I was organizing my desk over the weekend and found a couple of the Philco Hip-Pocket 45s released for a short time in the States. Were these released in the UK? If you haven't seen any of these before, I've put a photo of the front and back of the sleeve and the record itself.

    Enjoy!

    Tim

    hi tim, these records were never issued over here as "hip pocket records" they were billed as "THE HITS YOU MISSED" at 69 cents each

    About 25 years ago l bought the following hip-pocket titles from Mick Godfrey (from rothwell, northants) for £1 each.

    Aretha Franklin RESPECT

    Fantastic Johnny C. BOOGALOO DOWN BROADWAY

    Mitch Ryder. JENNY TAKE A RIDE.

    Otis Redding. FA FA FA (SAD SONG)

    Jay and the Techniques. APPLES, PEACHES PUMPKIN PIE.

    The Dells. THERE IS.

    I've still got them and you can play them on a turntable (for single plays) such as the technics 1210's or other look-a-like brands.

    they are virtually unbreakable and as loud as a regular 7" 45 single. They are quite literally "COMPACT DISCS" but don't try

    to play them on a "DISCATRON" (made by Portadyne UK) or a "BUSH-CASSETTE ( made by Bush UK) as the discs themselves

    are only 3" in dia, and FLEXIBLE.

    have fun, best wishes westrex AKA Tony Warot

    HI TONY HOWYOUDOIN! AIN'T SEEN YOU FOR OVER 3 YEARS, HOPE YOU ARE ALL KEEPING GOOD, IT SEEMS THAT THERE IS SOME EVENT ON EVERY WEEK BDOWN IN BED, DID YOU GO TO THE WILBY REUNION THIS WEEKEND? AND WHAT IS THE BEST EVENT ON WHERE EVERY ONE GOES, AND DONT GET POLITICLE, DID YOU GET A COPY OF THAT REGAL HITCHIN POSTER?? :ohmy: Mr KILWORTH

    hi dave, sorry for late reply, l'm fine thanx. No, l didn't go to the wilby re-union as l was deejaying in Cambridge (yes, still deejaying)

    Can't really name a best venue to be honest, but l like the a/niters run by Sian & Dean Dowset at the Benn Hall in Rugby and also the

    soul-nites held at Cambridge City FC run by Mick & Karen Janes.

    Haven't got a copy of that poster at the REGAL in Hitchin yet, but some guy in JAPAN bought a copy of it for £10 (mind boggling)

    Anyway, hope all is well for you & family, keep in touch. best wishes Tony Warot

    Hi Mark.....do you remember Smelly going to Bletsoe?, I cant remember him ever trying to ponce a lift off me and John (Harris) to go up there. Bletsoe was after Wilby and Harborough, and I'm sure George passed on to the great Allnighter in the Sky before Bletsoe ????.

    Glen Bellamy wrote a requiem for him in Blues and Soul, perhaps he'll know. George Atkinson aka 'Smelly' was a good M8 and a well known Luton face, sorley missed at the time, I remember Chiefy, who was there telling me he was pissed and dived into the river outside The Pilgrim in Bedford, nobody missed him till later as they were all pissed as well, all celebrating some football victory, probably Luton beating Watford LOL.

    Sorry Westrex but I have to disagree with you about Bletsoe being brilliant, (even for the time) yes it was somewhere to have a blockup, it beat Toddington Service Station. Good music must have been played, I remember dancing, but cant remember a single tune that was played ranting_1.gif great atmosphere ,especially for us ''dodgy geezers'' who frequented the place, but the venue itself......ABSOLUTE SHITE !!!!!!, which spoilt it some what, now Wilby/Krellmarsh/Earls Barton.....they were brilliant !!!!!.

    Yeah, Alf Billingham, I actually did know that :wave: , I stll have the Blues and Soul issue referred to my earlier post, Would you believe? :)

    l knew noreen and effner and what about jackie jenessi knew her as well.....the hotel was the pilgrims. green and clears came in two sizes 7.5 mg and 12mg.....similar for brown and clears

    dave godin's mate was Alf billingham!!

    westrex.

    Before my time on the scene ,I'm told there were nighters held in Bletsoe (on the A6 in Bedfordshire).Ive been working near there of late & can't for the life of me think of a more unlikely village to cater for a soul do ! unsure.gif

    So,

    1.Did they really happen ?

    2.What year?

    3.Where exactly in the village?

    4.What were they like?

    Just curious like ! Any stories ?

    Thanks

    martyn, they were held at haydons farm in 1972/3 and they were, for their day BRILLIANT! full of dodgy geezers

    the health and safety executive council would've s*it themselves if they'd been around, extension cables all over the place

    for the electric, yep,.. you would have loved it..........feed me

    tony warot.

    Kev that is the first time I've heared the drill holes refered to as deletion holes seems to be a fair explaination to a question at the back of my mind for years thank's kev you've cleared a space in the back of my mind to fill with new fancies.All the best Sy.

    The drill holes were deliberately put through the records so when they came into the uk, they had to be sold as damaged

    goods therefore could not be sold at the full price. hope that clears up problem for you kev.

    Tony Warot.

    :hatsoff2: HI ...I REALLY CANT REMEMBER, BUT IT WAS A SOUL EVENT, AS THE RECORDS & DURAPHET WAS THERE AND PEOPLE FROM BEDFORD WHO WENT TO BLETSO, ALL THESE TEARS LATER, I THOUGHT I HAD ATTENDED EARLS BARTON AND IT TURNS OUT TO BE A MEETING OF THE BEDFORD AND NORTH HAMPTON CHEMIST BREAKERS SECRET 1 OFF GET TO GETHER, STILL I WENT THERE, WHERE EVER THERE IS, I NO I WILL MAKE A BADGE FOR THE UNKNOWN ALLNIGHTER??ph34r.gif DAVE

    I used to go to bletsoe "DISCO CLUB" as advertised on a piece of wood that used to be a box of kippers,

    50pence admission from 12 midnite saturday till 6am sunday morning, what a frightening place full of

    dodgy geezers like john tappenden,, chief, paul brennan, dougie brown and smelly george atkins.

    less dodgier people were keith tilson (tilly) gibby glenn bellamy and the many gorgeous women

    that used to go for a pee in the field nearby, AND in pairs, tradition is a mighty thing!!

    Tony Warot.

    I remember soul packs from years ago, 10 for £1 from contempo's record shop at 42 Hanway street

    which was the very last street off Oxford street on the left hand side towards tottenham court road.

    It wasn't so much a shop, it was a very, very tiny room about 8x8 ft with a counter and millions of

    title lists on every square inch of wall space, every so often John Abbey would appear to greet

    customers in between scoffing bacon sanwiches that one of the girls working there would cook and

    then throw across the room for him. The soul packs consisted of 10 records by well known artists

    that somehow missed the container saying RUBBISH!! there was always a couple of motown items

    from artists you'd never associate with motown such as Bobby Darin, Soupy Sales, to name just two.

    But having said that, I've had the PARLIAMENTS This is my rainy day, PURPLE MUNDI Stop

    hurting me baby, TERRY CALLIER Look at me now and BILLY ECKSTEIN, I wonder why

    (nobody loves me) and guess what l did with them. . . yes, l binned them because l was scared

    to tell people what l'd got for less than 10p each !!! still four biggies in 40 years ain't bad, l wish

    l'd kept them, but christ, l was only 17 years old when l bought my first pack, be reasonable

    Tony Warot

    I found an old album & thought I'd share some photo's of the old days

    recognise anyone?

    enjoy

    Mark (Swift)post-12571-1234813465_thumb.jpg

    Bloody hell, what a picture, that's me sat behind the record box wearing a red Lonsdale sweatshirt

    AND A MOUSTACE, l hope local CID aren't interested in this.

    Tony Warot.

    what's the current value of EVER AGAIN on US "BELL RECORDS?

    l've got a bell issue (sh*t rare) l paid £40 for it in 1977 I've played it

    to death and it sounds noisy from all the wear and tear.

    I'm considering putting it up for sale. . .any ideas on it?

    Tony Warot

    ==============================================================================================================

    Yes Webby......

    I've bored people with this before.....but I don't care.

    This is my only possession from my previous life!

    Bought Feb 1976 at Wigan Casino for £6.

    I have the Wille Mitchell Hi EP but I still play this one out.....all the 'clappy' sound I don't like is 'bassed' out...it sounds brilliant!!!

    It's on refosoul as 'Willie Mitchell Acetate'....listen and you'll see what I mean....it's got everything...squeaks, change of volume but it's the bizz!!!!

    Best

    dogstoat

    The handwriting that you're refering to belongs to a guy called ANDY KAGGAN from southport

    who sold ACETATE LAQUERS ( emidiscs) of top nighter tunes in the record bar at Wigan.

    they were cut by Derek Tompkins from Kettering in a small workshop that repaired washing machines

    and vacuum cleaners. The sound quality was excellent because derek was a sound engineer

    at BECK AMPLIFICATION in Wellingborough NORTHANTS

    Tony Warot.

    I remember a guy called "Larry Lightening" who used to stand in the doorway of the beachcomber cafe

    adjacent to the casino asking every one to lend him 10p. He asked me to lend him 10 pence to make a

    phone call to a friend, I said, "here's 20 pence, ring all of 'em"

    Tony Warot (certified loanshark)

    for the last 34 years my favourite record was Bernie Williams, "EVER AGAIN" that l bought back in 1977 on a "BELL RECORDS" issue for £40

    but l'm getting a bit fed up with it now so, . . l've decided that the record that describes northern soul is. . "LET NOBODY LOVE YOU"

    by Virginia Blakley. what an absolutely penetrating tune, during the terror of "hurricane katrina" a few years ago, a friend of mine told me

    that a dealer he knows, had a couple of boxes (25 copies per box) water damaged by the hurricane consequently washing off the labels,

    completely, so if anybody has a copy in this condition and the vinyl is okay, if they're willing to give it away for free & gratis!! I'M YOUR MAN.

    Tony Warot.

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