Bazm

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

Judging by the selections posted here, Good Friday, GREAT FRIDAY! Wolfies here we come👍

Two rooms of Soulful Delights...

Another Top DJ line up assembled for the CULCHETH TWO ROOM SOUL NIGHT on BANK HOLIDAY SATURDAY MAY 3rd including CARL FORTNUM, SOUL SAM, PHIL THRELFALL, STEVE PLUMB, JOAN LIVESEY, BAZ MALEEDY and more… With GRUMPY SOUL taking centre stage in the main hall DJ’s Carl Fortnum, Phil Threlfall and Jumpin' Joan Livesey, together with Special Guest George Sharp bringing you all the biggies from Iconic Soul Clubs in the 80s Stafford TOTW, Shotts, Morecambe Pier and many more, mixed in with some quality "back of the box" cheapies, just waiting to light up the dance floor!! Add to that a superb MODERN ROOM with the SO SOULFUL SATURDAY’S crew featuring Soul Sam, Steve Plumb, Baz Maleedy, Bill Wildman, Charlie Smith and Pete Ratcliffe, you get the BEST of everything soulful at CULCHETH SOUL NIGHTS Join us everyone welcome 😉👍

One from Dean Andersons excellent show with Dave Raistrick last night...Ashton incoming 😉

Speakin' of The Perfections...

Lookin' Forward to Saturday's shinanikins, new arrival at the towers and a possible spin for the Ashton faithful...

It is with a heavy heart that I am announcing to Soul Source members the passing of one of the Lowton Civic Hall originators and driving forces, and Culcheth resident DJ Kev Murphy. As a mark of respect, I have decided not to run the Culcheth Soul Night event on April 5th.

So here's the heads up... Soul Essence comes to Culcheth! The first weekend in April 2025 will be the first time in 32 years that there will be NO Soul Essence weekender! The Yarmouth Weekender has been an institution on the UK Soul Scene and has spearheaded the rise of 70's/Crossover/Modern Soul to a generation of young & old Soulies from all over the UK (and beyond). In our Modern Room at Culcheth on Saturday 5th April we are proud to hold a 'Soul Essence Special' with original founder Bob Cosby as our Guest DJ. Bob is well known in the North West and we know he'll bring his quality tunes to the Culcheth table. We also have Soul Sam, the man who was the main guest at Yarmouth from the very beginning to the very end, cementing his residency at Culcheth with plenty of Yarmouth classics on the night. Not only that, we also have our resident Steve Plumb playing his memories of being one of the main room DJ team at Soul Essence. Add to that our other Culcheth residents Pete and Nick (who also played at Yarmouth in later years) and you have a potential killer night of 70's, Modern Soul & Crossover at the 'do within a do', the Culcheth Modern Room. See you there!

Deffo a Mecca spin Bob, picked it up many moons ago from 'Out of The Past' gotta feelin' it could get a spin on the 5th 😉👍

ALWAYS the 1st Saturday in the month...RARE NORTHERN SOUL meets QUALITY MODERN SOUL in TWO ROOMS, kicking off April in style and covering the decades and featuring some of the biggest dancefloor packers, laced with underplayed and semi known gems, plus bang up to date modern releases. CULCHETH is leading from the front and carrying on a great tradition in the North-West of spinning tunes that are an all-together refreshing difference from the norm! There'll be a 'SPECIAL' reason to come to CULCHETH on the 5th! WATCH THIS SPACE…😉👍💃👍👏

First of all, a BIG THANK YOU to everyone who came to CULCHETH on Saturday, it really was great to see sooo many happy smiling faces and hear really positive comments about the music policy at CULCHETH in both the main room and the Modern Room. I’m going to quote Mike Roche’s comment from his review, as IMHO it encapsulates the CULCHETH vibe and ethos, Mike said about Saturday; “Culcheth at its best, where the energy of the crowd merges with incredible music to produce a magical night over two rooms.” So thanks to the DJ team and thanks to everyone who made the effort and chose CULCHETH as their destination venue this weekend. Let’s Keep on Doin’ and Keep On Keeping On! https://www.facebook.com/100003177638799/videos/3520622888233932/

A LOWTON big room biggie Si, that's still one of our favourite spins that always gets dancefloor approval...good shout 👏👍