Sooty

...thought I'd get the chance to say hi at some point Chalky!!x Emperor...correct but folk did look for anything to get at me back then mate...never took them seriously!!...still don't. Carla? was there in London all during the week leading up to the Anniversary...the boxes arrived ready to go...he gave me the 1st out of the box and said i'm the first to get one!!x As for hearing it out there prior....I was with all the nighter DJs UK wide....usually first to arrive last to leave.....never heard it anywhere...and I would have known!x Can you recall who...? I've repeated the story over the years in all the FB forums yet nobody has ever come back with your understanding!x You're usually good at such things!x I frequented the 100 club regularly for 7 years...that's 7 anniversaries...I never knew what tune Ady was gonna put out that night until we got the tune in our hands on the night!x Still stands the record bombed...and to save you adding it...probably cos im a sh*t DJ....I know!x LUV.....YOU....and I mean it...ure 1 in a million....possibly 1.5 million tbf....I like that!x SOOTY X P.S...Ady presented me with this at my St Ives Anniversary All nighter...... proud of it but only he and a few others knew what I'd done to earn it!! X Sorry I didn't go to Wigan as well...I was in kids homes and borstal....!!x Must go...got 937 dying kids in my Sooty Club in hospices UK wide waiting for me to play musical chairs and stuff spinning me Northern!x They luv it...it does me x I'll pop back Saturday before I go to the USA in case you've come up with who re Carla....always willing to be educated....but am no fool mate x They told me that was Rock n Roll too.......folk brewing storms......sad init x

He spoke well of her...nice one Simsy x LUV SOOTY X

...he made my day!x Wonderful guy to meet...and for once listen too!!x We were next to each other for 8 hours at an antiques fair at the Lincolnshire Showground!!x He kept coming over every 20 minutes with a new story....he loved reminiscing and remembered all crystal clear....amazing!x He said until meeting me he hadn't spoke to anyone about the scene for over 20 years...i made his day too!!x He sold probably 50 of his own paintings!!!!!! Wacky way our there pics...which I liked as did many punters! Great day for us both!x LUV SOOTY X

...120 at least haha!x Shakespearean sh*t honest!x Reads as plain as day!!x Always spoke to the people through the flyer!x @@ ~ X

I agree!!x I was told Emperor of my baby's heart wasn't Northern...If you dont know what love is by Fats Domino was Rock n Roll...and Coming Home Baby was a crooners easy listening!!x All said by hard core dealers/stalkers who were in the dark corners of the 100 club when I spun them!x Ady gave me a copy of a tune on the Thursday before the Saturday Anniversary as I couldn't make it as I was DJing at Blackburn Tony's A/N same night. I spun it at a Wellingborough S/N on the Friday...and again Saturday night at my monthly Soul Night...and took it to Blackburn...spun it at 7.15am as the new 100 club anniversary single......on all 3 occasions...it cleared the floor. I was devastated. The record I was first to spin publicly?....Carla Thomas I'll never stop loving you.....!x So yep my friend...I do understand. But folks perception and tastes change over time...I've reckoned!x LUV SOOTY X

Au Contrere Rodders!!x I walked into a cellar in Southend with 15 friends 1993..Stax Soul Club run by Shifty...20 folk there. He spun Danny Woods...Ketty Lester...Kurt Harris...they blew me away as I'd heard a couple of these tracks at the 100 club. He then spun Ray Merrell...and blew my mate Fudge away. Then we woz wiped out as he followed it with a pop tune!!! Innocence personified...and is why I invited him to DJ at his first all nighter!x Like me...he had no idea of context of his tunes to the scene....Oldie...newbie... pop...classic...it didn't matter....people danced!!x He regularly put a pop song in my view in his set!!x Ady Croasdell used to spin a chart Gladys Knight tune at the 100club...he said it is one if his favs...simple pop song which I forget what it was now...but he did it!!x So Shifty spinning Red Light...yup...no shock! Footsie???.....yep...he had that pi** take streak in him too!x Happy Days indeed!x LUV SOOTY X Me...Fudge and Steve at that very 1st Sax night in Southend!x The flyer is Shiftys first ever Nighter spot....even signed it under his own name.....a 'misprint'?!...worth squillions...one excited Lad when I got these signatures for posterity....like now...32 years later!!x I ran a competition to count the tunes featured in the flyer!! 4 free tickets...I gave them to the 4 nearest as nobody got it right!x I think there is 120+...took me 5 hours to think 1 night putting it together...no internet just Richard Domars list and the then new John Manship valuation book to work from!x Proud of that flyer!!x

We did that in the 90s....!x @@ ~ X

...just popped back to answer some pms and saw this!x Never heard it spun on the Northern scene UK wide through the 90s/2000s...BUT...when I djd at the Skeggy Scooter rally several years back....it was the most asked for tune across the weekend!!!! I felt obliged to get a copy...'old gold' copy...50p! Sadly it was the most played tune upon request at the next Scooter rally I did... sigh. Great pop tune to my ears....but doesn't get me on the floor....but I have packed floors with it!x So a must have in the collection...if your venturing out there across factions of Soul...Northern and Motown lovers!x I think it has more appeal these days on the Soul Night scene as many of the regular Soulies going to doos nowadays aren't too serious about the music anymore....just out for the social 'love in'....which is why I don't go to them anymore X Look at fb groups and the vast majority of songs posted in major forums....is pop and chart hits in the main!!! Not heard nowt new in many of them...and have to venture to obscure groups to find stuff to get me going...and fortunately I have found a few x Oops...sorry...the Malcolm and the Fovargues tune would get me off my seat....but that's it in the last 10 years of disco and pop!x LUV SOOTY X

...I've said my piece in forums on FB....but Ted was my kinda guy...cut the bo**ox entertain the people with quality...with passion X We shared stages around the UK in the 90s and it was always a pleasure x True Gent of the scene...Rock In Perpetuity Ted x LUV SOOTY X

Hi all!x I haven't been on here for 3 years...popped in to look for summink...not there...but I was welcomed with a 10+ years medal as a member!! WOOOHOOOO!!X I did start posting in 2003...but perhaps me bans here and there started me a new account again?!x Thank you for the recognition tho...much appreciated!x I've also answered a luvly pm from Bob Hinsley which he posted 3 years ago...sorry for the delay Bob!x There...less than a million words...and I'll leave you all to your Sooty free zone!!x LUV SOOTY X P.S....met a proper hard core Soulie from the 70s....EVERYBODY seems to have known him on FB forums until he went to the USA late 70s...for 25 years!x Character and crackers...luvd him...Chris Brick!!!x He told me about the early days before Wigan...he was everywhere...looking after all!!!! Great insight into the 'elite' of today...we all start somewhere!!!x To satisfy curiosity...I just popped in to see if anything was being discussed about Benisoul or the Comedy Carpet relaunching they are doing!x Found nowt.....okdokey!x Arghhhh...it's getting near 1 million words...don't want no trouble...I'm gone!x @@ ~ X ...hope your all good Mike...and thanx for keeping the site going!...and thanx for my medal!!x 20250402_105939.mp4

...i'll tell you this. Youre priviliged. I have a private forum. I talk...folk listen. Most of the UKs Police Forces...Researchers from Westminster...your telly Journos and National reporters and movers and shakers all pile in at every comment I make.....and nobody....sez a word. They just read.....and digest. 25,000 of them. I like that....its called respect. However...I do enjoy a 'chat'. But I don't do bo**ox. My waffle...diatribe...succinct points....are to benefit all. I'm dealing with death each week Chalky. Do you think I can take seriously a he said she said among folk in the same City...when I know them all??? NO...so I say SHUT UP and sort it out. NEXT. You Sir may consider it waffle....but my message...has been received....by those who trust and respect my words. That is who my comments have been aimed at. Perhaps as it wasn't your cup of tea you should have read onto the next thread. As for my waffle on my RLSD thread.I take issue sir....fellow Soulies have contributed quite sensibly and interestingly....comments I enjoyed reading and adding to. I thank them all for that...X Waffle you call it? Divs? Sigh. Music will conquer all.....gather round.... LUV...and I mean LOVE SOOTY X

....no worries Kenb.....'the people' will find my comments and read both threads....the 'buzz' has gone round the FB groups 'Sooty's on Soul Source'......and i have no problem in repeating myself and I.....X X LUV SOOTY X ....AND NO........ I ain't back on Soul Source or any other Northern platform.....i'll stick to the real world and dancing and spinning of tunes taaa.....and see you all there at the next one!x However...i started....so i'll finish or answer comments on my thread I started....accountability....X The real world beckons and I can't wait to tell Bear Grylls next week he's a div.....he loves my tunes!!! Knows nowt but what i tell him......but he takes the pi** outta what I don't know that he knows all the time......PAYBACK!!!x Bear Div....Div Grylls. Yeah....needs thinking on for best impact!X OOOOOMG...just realised who else is a div...my mate Paul Abbott!!!! He sez he went to Wigan once and loves Northern Soul....he asked me to take him to a gig and I will....but he'll be a Div i'm sure! He must be anyway. For anyone to able to write the scripts for Shameless....about divs....must be a div!! Sorry Chalky.....im getting it now....it takes a div to write about a div........I got there in the end!x @@ ~ X

Weddings....are fantastic Chalky...keeps your DJ skills on the ball i'd say!x I use them occasions to PROMOTE our scene. Yes I take the obvious tunes but I slip in several tunes in my quiz....Richard Berry Have Love will travel...Rubin -You've been away....and current tunes featuring on adverts....drip feeding the vibe. How do folk who don't know about the scene get into it if they don't hear the music? I've always been looking for opportunity to include and share the joy we all have. That's a wedding to me. 'Div' venues.......who are the'us'that uses such vernacular for fellow Soulies??? I don't use that as it sounds condescending as in my book that covers most Soul Nights in the UK today....part timers possibly come back on the scene in the last 20-25 years?? Sad to hear they are of no interest to you or others like you. Equally If I DJ at a so called 'div' night then again I put tracks in there among the obvious to enlighten...surprise...educate and make happy. You're sounding like the scene was back in the 90's grumpy old soulies looking to keep it to yourselves spinning labels to each other. These so called 'DJ's' you reckon are out there need to come out of their shells then Chalky as i ain't seen many that can...on the Northern scene. Blinkered one trick ponys is my experience...of many. I surrounded myself with similar folk to me...and that is what the punters wanted...entertainers. JOB DONE. The 'Div' reference sadly sounds like divisionilism...instead of divine followers. They are going to a function to be entertained...sad if the so called echelons' of the scene don't consider them teachable....or keen to learn....and sadly inferior for some reason. I find they are keen to progress. I've got 11,000 kids to entertain next week at Lincolnshire Showground. I bet I get 15-20 Northern tracks away during the week. 9-16 year olds. I was in Borstal at 16....many were bunking off to Wigan. Why do you think the kids of these days wouldn't be inspired....by our music...with the right DJ sharing it? Just like 'divs'. I am optimistic and look to generate new followers. If we followed your suggestions then the scene will be dead in about 15-20 years time as all the 'original' Wigan/Torch hard core old school folk will be gone. It's not your 'secret' for you and ure buddies to take to the grave mate....I suggest!X It's the longest running underground Dance scene in THE WORLD. I'm proud of that....and don't consider anyone a 'div' for liking the music and supporting the scene in any capacity. But that's why i'm loved...by the majority....I reckon!x Those few haters....have never ever ever dared come out of their dark corners to say it to my face....can't...and won't....so I carry on!!x I will have this as the theme tune for the 11,000 kids....and you see what happens after 5 days of them learning it...a spin I had to kick off with at venues Nationwide through the 90's...the punters insisted. I'll get the kids to clap to it as we do....and make them learn the lyrics....i'm motivated....THANK YOU X LUV SOOTY X

All depends what kind of DJ you are talking about Hill868!!x I also think 'soul awareness' and 'credibility' are loose words too. As a limo firm i've married over 300 brides in the past 25 years. I offer a complete wedding service...organise the whole lot and DJ at the reception. In over 100 receptions I have took with me The Snake...Frank Wilson...The Champion....Wayne Gibsons Under My Thumb and Tobi Legends legendary tune Time Will Pass you by. Never have I had to play more than 2 of those tunes to satisfy the 'Northern Soul' element in the room. Uncle Ted normally jumps on the floor to the Snake and is puffing for wind by the 2nd minute. That's it. Motown is covered by The Supremes obvious tunes and a couple of The Four Tops and Isley Bros. As A DJ...i'm 'Soul Aware'....thanx to my Mams collection during the 60's. Conway Twitty....Jimmy Jones....James Dean...and Wayne Fontana (RIP x) was in there as her name is Pamela...so Pamela Pamela was on one side and Something Keeps Calling me back on t'other. I danced to all of it in my bedroom aged 6/7/8 before the term Northern Soul was invented. It certainly gave me a wide understanding of 'singers'...songs...and listened to any new tune I heard and it wasn't until I was 13/14in '74 when I discovered Northern Soul tunes at my youth club which like James Deans Big Bad John...and Jimmy Jones's I'll Try...made my hairs raise on my arm. Hooked. My first B side I liked...and Wayne Fontanas Skcmb B side...encouraged me to play both sides of a record....aged 6/7 in the late 60's.... However....I have to say this....what made me a good Northern DJ was having an understanding of different music....and knowing their place. It enables me at a party to go from Soul to Rock n Roll...Reggae...Merseybeat...Motown and pop...and hold the floor. Not many 'DJs' can do that. Most Northern DJ's i've shared the stage with know around 30-50,000 tunes...I know intimately 100's of 1000's. I've collected 3,000 of the best from the past 70 years of music production....covering all genres. Only 600 of them are Northern....yet I have followed Butch often at the 100 Club and many other TOP DJ's....and held my own. I remember spinning Emporer of My Babys Heart in 1994 at the 100 Club. Folk whom had 'cred' and I was wanting to respect said it was rock n roll/Doo wop!!! So whose 'soul awareness' are we going by.......and as for 'credibility'...mines based on leaving dance floors in a pool of sweat wherever I go. The floor tells me how i've done not any collector/mogul lurking in a corner!!! I just added this to my NORTHERN collection....yet it would have sat cosy in my Mams collection with Jimmy Dean and Jimmy Jones...I reckon!x So....I do have tunes that others won't have in their box at a doo..because ' people' demand them. I ain't there to impoose my choice of tunes except at an All Nighter or if DJing at the 100 club.....no....I'm there to 'entertain'. Otherwise I wouldn have half the Northern in my box as I have as most are overplayed and certainly don't get me up as they used too. At a Soul/scooter Night....if asked...and it was right then yes i'd play RLSD....as well as the Snake...despite the fact neither do it for me. Thats what DJs do...entertain the people. Collector DJs however...educate us. I love them all and can't wait for summink new to dance too. Richard Serling said it to me himself....it takes both kinds to provide a full scene for all....and i'm proud to wave a flag for DJs....and respect my fellow 'hard core' Collectors X LUV SOOTY X

Not much 'surreal' about suggesting doing summink about something in the real world Kenb as opposed to 'waffling' in a virtual world about it....surely?!!x What's surreal to me is how this net has made 'us' more talkers than doers. Its why I stay off it. Putin's doing as he likes....cos the rest of us is waffling. To keep it real...i'll say this....for 47 years the Soul Scene was my 'sanctuary'....a place to get away from lifes sh*te....escapism.....dance me ar*e off to music that made me do that...and have a craic with friends. THAT is 'the scene'...to me. The net weren't around when we took the scene by storm back in the early 90's. I made friends with 15-20 other promoters...we met...spoke...danced together. We then worked together and achieved the unbelievable....a new all nighter with 1000+ attending BOOOOM...all done...FACE TO FACE...no mobiles either. ANY problems...were sorted 'in house'...amongst our own. Folk came from around the UK...too a HAVEN....a safe zone....from lifes sh*te...It was a joy to be together to dance....not a football match with opposing fans. So I come on here....see a concerning comment and dilemma....and offer solutions....cos I know its there to do. It's as real as it gets....!x There ain't much left out there that doesn't deserve a drama....but things like this.....is down to being adults....and respecting what we is getting together for....'TOGETHERNESS'. THAT was the Northern Soul scene to me....in the real world.....and i'll say it in this virtual one too.....to all factions who proport to be 'soulies'...X I have a vested interest....my 6 year old will inherit my collection....she loves the music....and want her to have a scene to go to. We're a long time dead....init x LUV SOOTY X

Of course Ed....literary license!x These folk were part of a Scooter Rally event I DJd at and have done for 5 years.....we had a RAVE....and they LUV me!x I like rallys as I get to play stuff just on the edge of Northern....'mod' tunes I suppose...like this which I kick off with........ain't got time to waste init!!!x Red Light was in demand at the main event where I was DJing....I know it was the most popular tune at theee designated Northern venue up the road too...and saw it RAM the floors....3 times in a night!!! Last time I saw that happen was when Keith Minshull spun Too Many People' by Bobby Goldsboro for a 3rd time...at Keele Xmas party 1992....I danced to it all 3 times WOOOHOOOOO WOT A NIGHT!!!x So...as the Duke of Burgundy has said....several times!...it depends on the crowd and nature of the event...as to wether its 'acceptable' or not! Sometimes its a 'I woz there' moment!x LUV SOOTY X

...'ere Chalky...X My co presenter Princess Ruby here asks if you could have handled 17 versions of the 'Frozen' song....in all keys except the right one....at this charitable handbag doo...?!!x Dan and his crew insist I play Susan Cadogans Hurt So Good and Sham 69's If The Kids are United again when we meet and have confirmed after a 'gathering' that I will be stabbed if their Mrs's can't wiggle to Red Light at the next 'handbag' doo we meet......! Marvellous pressure there.....EASY LIFE YOU LOT HAVE....SIGH. Chopsy (Paul Gordon 3rd pic) loves your show.....he sends me tracks asking if i'd heard them.........stuff I was spinning in the 90's or heard at youth clubs in the 70's!!! Innocence...luv it...!x @@ ~ LUV SOOTY X

'Elo Steve....didn't realise it was you!!x That's where I went wrong....tried being on the fringe at the bar....shudda jumped straight in onto the floor!!!x Mind you the dynamic that first night in '93 introduced me to Pat Loasby (RIP X) as a go between...John Hall as an excellent Politician and Colleen...Waynes wife....who thankfully NONE of us wanted to mess with...Wayne in particular hahaha!!x Forgive my ignorance but wouldn't the question you posed been more apt to fire at the people who organise the doo it happened at....assuming lines of comms are as I Iast knew they were ie youre all friends?!x I know sh*t happens....but we both know Dave and he's approachable for sure x The last night I had with Boston folk was at Skeggy Scooter Rally 3/4 months back....i've been to Ireland twice...and the Ukraine 14 times since then...hundreds have died around me in that time so anythings possible Steve back in Boston!!!x I found this this morninjg at a boot sale in Hull...for all you lovely Boston folk x I also found the secret to keeping Wayne on a leish for the past 30 years......I stay close to his Mrs all night...!x ....he deals with it......but he's brewing.....I know that look....hehe!x LUV SOOTY X wayne.mp4

Well said Leicester Boy....X...and if youre speaking on behalf of someone else Soulman then give them our sound advice....its good to talk. It is NOT the 'state of the scene'....its the state of a relationship betwixt your friend and another. Don't let it become a scene....X Folk have been hiding behind...and using computers since 1985 that I know of to vent their spleens and stir sh*te....the real world is where its at. Here's a tune that i've just added to my general collection that will help find the way!x LUV SOOTY X

JEEEEEZ...I knew I shouldn't have popped in. Steve...'Soulman'...Boston. Look at this wonderful picture of me and one of my best mates on the scene...and off it. Yet when we met...at a Boston Soul Night in 93.....he wanted to kick my head in. Thought I was a copper....all neatly cut. He had a thing about me. BUT....I was a 'soulie'...loved the music...and wanted to be 'mates' with all....and just...dance. I told him so...lets be friends. Simple as that. There weren't the net about back then either...or texts. So it was done in the real world. I know EVERYBODY in Boston whose been on the scene in the past 30 years. I've DJ'd there and promoted there....I know the factions...and the fanatics. WONDERFUL CROWD....under siege by Eastern Block too!!x I've figured whose doo you went too. Phone him up and say "Sooty sed there's a war going on 22 hour drive away...a drive he's done 14 times in the past 5 months...and he thinks we should sort this kids sh*te out. Because he reckons we could be friends for the next 30 years if we do"...LIVE the music folks...stopped watching soaps when Meg Richardson died and Sandy ended up in a wheelchair. Felt ever so sad for him. Benny cried....I did....never been able to have such drama in my life ever since. I'm outta here...X LUV SOOTY X Wayne and me....we is luvvers for 30 years........and my favourite dance partner.....boyyyy wee've done some shuffling around each other over the years.....PROPER soulmate....worth fighting for....GO FOR IT STEVE!!!x Dave....sort it out.........i'll pay for his ticket to the Gliderdome...!!!x....looks MEGA...dead jel!x That lad going to Detroit instead of DJing there....has done a wrong un.......I reckon!!!x Gliderdome....Teddy Boys were scrapping in there in the 50's...PROPER NORVERN VENUE...enjoy!x

THANK YOU ALL....for your reassuring comments.....and to the silent majority...all 1000 views...!x Chalky is hard core as usual and yes Mate i'm sure i've been on the hand bag end of the scene of late due to me being too busy for anything of my choice!! If I ain't at venues then i don't expect to be asked to DJ. I never put a DJ on at any venue I promoted unless they'd been to the venue. Didn't want'creamers'! I ain't one either....so....handbag doo's it is and the occasional Scooter doo!!x I don't get 'free' weekends these days! But when you're invited to DJ....and I get my rocks off with like minded folk....then i'm there. If its a Northern doo'....then I play Northern....but I do have to admit to playing Woolly Bully at the 100 Club Xmas Party 1994..........place went laaary!!!!x BUT....I....can carry it off! I played Dance Dance Dance by the Casualeers too....in a normal month.....most hard core would have give it a Snake/Do I Love you attitude who were in the room that night.....yet the 'kids'....who have now been on the scene for 30 years themselves......LOVED IT...came rushing to the decks wondering wtf that was.....just like I did when hearingt it at youth club 20 years earlier....!!! So there's a time and a place for every tune...as time goes by....and it seems Red Light....is on the Disco pile......and i'm glad my judgement of wot Norvern is hasn't wained even if my attendance at functions has!x Blame the Russians!x Thanx again for all your comments....its good to be amongst ure own...nice one X LUV SOOTY X ....arghhhh.....and I can't help but spin Nellie the Elephant at BIG gigs I do these days......which is anuver reason why I don't get invited to dJ at decent gigs on the scene I figured hahaha...!!!x THEEEE elephant in the room...although i've lost 2 stone since this....thankfully......tadaaa!x @@ ~ X

Evening!x It's been a while since I visited...covid...trips to Ukraine...blah blah...but...in between all that malarkey...I've DJ'd at several venues over the past 2 years....and i'm gobsmacked that the number 1 tune...in demand...TOP NORTHERN TRACK.....has been...Red Light Spells Danger.........???!!!!! WTF. 60+ year old women scream as it spins on the deck....like the Beatles are walking in. I didn't have it....but got a copy a few weeks back. I ain't spun it yet...not even at the Jubilee doo in Hull where I played lots of Northern........didn't even spin it when I had the decks for 5 hours live over the net to a group of music moguls gathering in London! But I played some Northern. Has the Northern Soul as I knew it....finished? I've never known that tune to be a Northern track....never got spun at my Youth Clubs....or even Keele in the 90's??? Anyway...I blamed John from Cambridge when DJing at the Sandcastle in Skeggy....said that he'd borrowed my copy for his gigs end and he hadn't returned it!! That got me off a lynching!!x So the ladies still loved me and we went into the night moaning about the other DJs....as you do!x Am I being rash? Disco is disco...init?x Funk for me from that era...for dancing x Is this....an anti Red Light district.......?...........you're my last hope!x Of Course i'll play it....at a slippers soul doo...like the Snake...and Out on the Floor....but.....you know......sigh. LUV SOOTY X

Afternoon!x A tree rarely seen by the public planted as a 12" sapling by Prince Charles on a private estate in Wales...in 1976!x LUV SOOTY X

The Cutty Sark this Tuesday evening!x LUV SOOTY X

That looks like one of the forts in the background in Cleethorpes to me....!!!!!x LUV SOOTY X ...errr...my limo stuck in the sand not far away from that signpost I believe!!x