Bazm

Noticed this great underplayed record on a recent Mick Howard playlist, hopefully it'll get a spin on Saturday as it deserves more attention IMHO

That's a deffo Bob...like you I'm looking forward to hearing it...

Super excited about the prospect of Mick H and Soul Sam, two of the scene's best known and most respected DJ's plying their trade in the main room on Saturday but not forgetting there's also the monthly Modern Room at Culcheth which this month features 'So Soulful 70's' main man, STEVE PLUMB, Top modern collector CHARLIE SMITH, new release champion PETE RATCLIFFE (get there early to hear all the latest new vinyl releases) BAZ MALEEDY and of course SOUL SAM enjoying the opportunities to test his latest acquisitions at his monthly residency! So a real Twofur for those who want something just a bit different from their Soul Night STOP PRESS... Roger Williams will be bringing a BIG selection of 45's, 12" and LP's from his collection to sell, so bring some cash

A record worth making the effort to hear, especially over the big, 'clear as a bell' sound system in the main room at CULCHETH, Proper, real deal, rare soul that's just a cut above... Saturday is calling

Anyone who's listened to the Richard Searling radio shows featuring Steve Connor and Kev Murphy talking about the Lowton Civic Anniversaries, will have heard the story of how came to track this record down... so in respect to Kev, I'll be dedicating this great forgotten oldie to his memory on Saturday...

Gotta say even though we do like our rare gems, there's always a great selection of QUALITY cheaper records get played at CULCHETH in both rooms and here's a point in case... A fiver on discogs and a bloody great 70's record from a well known artist ( thanks to Matt Simpson for the heads up)

Yes, Mate one I'm really looking forward to hearing, both Sam and Mick have this so it's pretty much a cert to get a spin

One things for sure we are going to be blessed with an abundance of riches on Saturday! Quite simply, there'll be some of the best 'boxes' on the stage at CULCHETH owned by a selection of some of the best DJ's on the scene today...as well as the CULCHETH residents we are looking forward to MICK H and SOUL SAM opening their respective payboxes and giving us a masterclass in rare, 'Across the Board' 60's and 70's soulful delights including The Empires, The Dynamics, Jax Transit Authority, Love Warm Affection, Clay Brown, Harvey Scales, King George, Charline and the Soul Serenaders, Barbara King, Marshal Donavon Bloomfield, Bernard Drake, Notations, Psychedelic Frankie, Hopkins Brothers, Chuck Holiday, Appointments, Sir Henry Ivy, United Sounds, Little Ceaser, Willie Feaster, Martinique’s, Magnetics, Johnny Rogers, Two Plus Two, Patrinell Staton, Four Dynamics, Doc Peabody, Fred Williams, Sag War Fare, Soul Aces, Buddy Smith, Eddie Billups, Arthur Willis, The Tranells, Hamilton Movement, Joseph Webster, John and the Weirdest, Cecil Washington and more…

One from Mick for sure...

Would you believe it! It’s June already and we’ve already had a raft of great nights at one of the top North-West soul nights, CULCHETH…Kicking the month off in fine style, after a real busy night at the recent ‘Grumpy Takeover’, another busy night is anticipated with lots of interest already!! Join us on SATURDAY JUNE 7th for a top drawer line up in two rooms, with SPECIAL GUEST Nottingham BOAT CLUB main man and just back from the BENIDORM SOUL WEEKENDER, MICK H! MICK will be joined by SOUL SAM in the main room to present an ‘ACROSS THE BOARD’ Special, so expect the best in rare 60’s and 70’s in the MAIN ROOM, from two of the scene’s top exponents, along with CULCHETH residents SIMON INGHAM, MICK HOWARD and 'Early doors bloomer' BAZ M As always, CULCHETH has two rooms, so for the Modernistas, it’s SO SOULFUL SATURDAY’S SUMMER SOUL SPECIAL with STEVE PLUMB, BAZ MALEEDY, CHARLIE SMITH, PETE RATCLIFFE and SOUL SAM, spinning all that’s best in quality MODERN SOUL from the 70’s right through to today’s latest new releases…so, definitely something for everyone!!

So, where to start? Well arriving at the venue with just 8 minutes to spare before my first ever set at my first ever STOCKHOLM SOUL WEEKENDER might seem a good place 😉 No time for hello’s, straight in and straight on, with the first of many Swedish lagers in hand, off I went… A few records in and the sight of some familiar faces and a welcoming atmosphere even at 5pm made it easy to quickly settle in and drop a few sounds from the crates! So here goes.... Friday 5pm till 6pm I’m So Glad The Exits What Am I to Do The Passions It Won’t Hurt The Gentlemen Four Why Can’t It Be The Compacts That Man of Mine The Trippletts Let Me Love You Soul For Sale Show Me The Genuineness Blend Sweet Temptation Sunday Jordan The One Who’s Hurting is You Sunny and the Sunliners Are You Going To Miss Me Bernard Dupree It’s All Over Pearl Dowell Sweet Smell of Your Perfume Maurice McKinnies Bring It Back Johnny Noble Baby I Love You Jimmie Ellis Your Love Has Got Me Johnny Dollar Like Clouds The Districts Carry Me Back Dallas Pearce Find Myself Another Girl The Sonics Change in My Life 2001 Black Essence Someday Baby The Earles Little Girl Blue Webs Don’t Count on Tomorrow The Bootleggers I Really Hope You Do The Sophisticates Saturday 12Midnite to 1am the place was buzzing with a 'WELL UP FOR IT’ Crowd! Detroit Executives Cool Off Joe Matthews Ain’t Nothing You Can Do Bobby Valentin Use It Before You Lose It Heyes Cotton Black Wings Have My Angel Johnny Sayles Tell Me Where I Stand Eddie Bo Our Love Will Never Falter Della Reese Who is He and What is He to You Ann Sexton I Still Love You Angela Davis My Love is So Strong Santiago Feeling Good Jackson Sisters I Believe in Miracles James Brown There Was a Time Willie and the Mighty Magnificents Funky 8 Corners Pt2 Pervis Lee You Don’t Care Solomon Burke Save It Thelonious Beats Not So Easy The Spidels Dream Girl Ray Terrace Listen To Me Les McCann Sweet Little Girl Karmello Brooks Tell Me Baby Willie Tee Walking Up a One Way Street I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank Carl and Jens for the invite to play at such a superb event, to hear new tunes from the excellent group of DJ’s, meet new friends and spend quality time with fellow ‘soulies’ with a special mention to my travelling mukka Richard Free …Thanks and love to all

As we head towards what could be a blistering summer and after our fantastic two-room GRUMPY event earlier this month, our focus turns to the next night at what is fast becoming one of THE places on the NORTH WEST rare soul map, CULCHETH! No ‘horses’ are being spared as we’ve listened to all the folks who said ‘Can’t you bring the rare 60’s and 70’s tunes together in one room?’ Well, yes we can and yes, we have…So JUNE 7th we bring you two of the UK’s best and most respected DJ’s, two, who can seamlessly thread a set featuring MONSTER 60’s and INCREDIBLE rare 70’s packing dancefloors wherever they go…Ladies and Gents, we give you NOTTINGHAM’s favourite son MICK H and the WREXHAM WIZZARD, SOUL SAM! MICK and SAM will be supported by the CULCHETH main room team of SIMON INGHAM, MICK HOWARD and BAZ MALEEDY, so expect something VERY SPECIAL as we bring you a SUMMER SOUL SPECTACULAR this JUNE at CULCHETH!...

Three words sum up the GRUMPY SOUL takeover at Culcheth last night…Exciting, Educational and most of all thoroughly Enjoyable! Peeps waiting for the doors to open at 7:30 was the first sign that ‘All Roads, literally did lead to CULCHETH VILLAGE HALL, no matter what Martin Pitt said about my dodgy map 😉 …as they just kept coming until the main room was absolutely bouncing! The music was just superb from start to finish, with classics, followed by underplayed gems, followed by some of the top rarities from our wonderful, precious scene. The legs ache, the ears buzz but above all the mind and wants list is expanded. Congrats to Phil, Joan, Carl and special guest George Sharp as well as the Modern Room ‘Crew’, Soul Sam, who’s really enjoying himself at Culcheth, Steve Plumb, Charlie Smith, Nick McKinnon and new music purveyor, Pete Ratcliffe for keeping the Modern Room busy all night… Looking forward already to June 7th when Nottingham’s MICK H joins us for another night of quality soulful sounds

As the Bank Holiday weekend approaches, things are lining up nicely for a night of rare soul excellence! The GRUMPY SOUL event on Soul Source has had over 4000 genuine views with folks taking a look at the information there and listening to some of the sounds listed to be featured on the night… Facebook has done its bit as well, allowing us to spread the GRUMPY word to groups of RARE SOUL and MODERN SOUL aficionados alike, all with the aim of bringing together like-minded soulies, looking to come together for a great, soul night out! So, it’s looking like all roads lead to CULCHETH VILLAGE CLUB THIS SATURDAY!

2am Finish - Staying Over? If you are travelling to Grumpy Soul, here’s a list of hostelries available within a 10-15minute taxi ride of the venue • Pentahotel Warrington • The Glazebury Pub • Premier Inn Winwick • Travelodge Lowton • Premier Inn Haydock Park • The Black Swan Warrington

Great shout Bob and great memories of that night! The Modern Room at Prestwich was incredible due to records like this finding a packed home every month... definitely in the box for Saturday 👍

Perfect example of a great record that could and should be played alongside any recognised 'oldie' or rarity...and what makes it better is it can still be picked up for less than the price of a few pints...a GRUMPY staple 👍👏

Gettin' Ready for the Get Down!

Something for this particular weekend...what a tune!

For those who like their Soul, well and truly 'across the board' this wonderful record will be getting an airing on Saturday courtesy of Joan, as it's one of her favourite spins...Qualidee all the way

Another QUALITY tunes, that'll be gettin' an airing on Saturday 👍👏

Very fitting Phil 👍 Oooh now then... TUNA! 👏

Phil T said...We try hard to get guests with great records but who you tend not to hear much in the NW. As Joan says then, we're dead chuffed to have lured the legendary George Sharp back behind the decks. George has been a rock solid supporter of GS from the get go; more importantly, he is one of the people whose playlists had a real impact and influence on us all those years ago... A perfect introduction and on that basis here's a bit of a 'Bio' for George and his background on the Rare Soul scene... George Sharp - Getting into Northern Soul and its sub-culture Like many at the time, George was an early developer on the Northern Soul scene and started buying Northern Soul records whilst still at school in 1975 and although he was banned from attending all-nighters by parents he visited Leeds Central soul club in the mid70s while still at school but then finally, there was the life changing visit to Wigan Casino late 1977, saying he’d ‘slept at a friends house 😉! The national hysteria and popularity of 1975 had gone but surprisingly Wigan was full on Northern Soul! George will always remember walking in for the very first time to a heaving, buzzing sweat box with 100s of like-minded souls clapping in time to amazing records you’d never heard before. A moment that changed the direction of his life and creating a lifelong bond with Northern Soul music and its sub-culture. George’s first DJ spots (sets) came in 1979 with his first DJ opportunities kindly facilitated by Gary Hepworth. Bradford Ice Rink basement and Jaspers Country Club (York) mid-week soul night where he played current Wigan sounds (ones that were affordable!) The 1980s brought new directions, the 1980s saw more division between total modern soul and a thought was pushed that progressive 60s northern soul was finished and only a handful dissented, with the likes of Guy Hennigan, Dave Withers, possibly Butch and George among them. After Wigan closed, George ran a soul night at the old Bettys Tea Rooms in Bradford, a medium success where the likes of Barry Waddington & Guy Hennigan were guests. Following this he was given regular DJ work by Steve Croft at his first incarnation at Queens Hall Bradford and then at Benson’s Bradford All-Nighters and All-Dayers. Then came the game changer; the Stafford residency! George will always be grateful to Dave Thorley for agreeing to include him in the permanent DJ roster at Stafford ‘Top of the World’ after Dave Withers retired from DJing and a mini ‘shake up’ too place. Guy and Keb were added and George was assigned to play along Gary Rushbrooke. Over the years, obtaining new, rare 60s records became more and more difficult, expensive and extremely competitive! But more DJ slots with regular DJing at Stafford and Warrington Parr Hall, really helped and from then on more and more opportunities came along, including Stafford Top of the World permanent roster, Warrington Parr Hall permanent roster, Bensons Bradford permanent roster, Tony’s Empress (Guy & Ion promoters) permanent roster, 100 club, various gigs in Scotland, Rudy’s Scarborough, Blue Note Derby, Bank Hall Miners, Clouds Preston, Notts Palais, Various West Midlands (for Alan Johnson promoter), Whitchurch Civic Centre, Blackpool Pier, Mansfield Swan … & others. George’s music style in the 80s music style tended to be progressive, relatively unknown Northern Soul, played alongside rare original label Northern sounds, many late Wigan Era. These days, while less progressive, his musical tastes include some classics, some rare, some not so rare from all the important eras Wheel, Torch, Mecca, Wigan, Stafford, Tony's and onwards… but includes everything from full on up-tempo to beat ballads. Influenced by the era of Late Wigan, Stafford, 100 club Tony’s Empress, perfect for the ‘GRUMPY SOUL' ethos, creating a set with mixture of nostalgia and freshness.

Quality tunes all the way, all night from start to finish