Neil Rushton

Latest news on the upcoming Newquay Weekender from Neil Rushton Everything looking good for the 4th Newquay Weekender from April 3 to 6. When we started the event we hoped the combination of Cornwall and Soul Music would result in something different from the other Weekenders and that has certainly proved the case. It's not the biggest or brashest Weekender but it is small and friendly - - everyone seems to spend the weekend smiling The music is always diverse (if you are looking for the same old, same old, you won't get it here) and uplifting. A lot of people take advantage of the surroundings to go out exploring Cornwall in the day and come back well up for the evening sessions. So far we have always enjoyed great weather. The DJ's love the event - Mick H is getting as many of his crowd as he can to make the trek down here - and they all play what they want, without any guidelines from the promoters. Thursday night is an open decks night, anyone who wants to play should PM me. As usual the music is at The Griffin Hotel with the Northern/Rare side of things downstairs in the (very) atmospheric cellar bar and there is an alternative room upstairs which over the weekend will feature everything from Crossover, Modern Soul, Classic Disco, Jazz-Funk and Soulful House. Weekend passes are £20 each. This time around we are also taking over the nearby Cliffdene Hotel for accommodation. Bed, breakfast and dinner for Friday and Saturday, with weekend pass included, is £99 which we think is great value for money. You can book securely on line or by post. For more info please see flyer and visit the web site (link at bottom) website http://www.soulvation.biz

The Joe Boy and Inferno labels are being revived to jointly issue an EP and CD album by The Precisions to tie up with their appearance at Prestatyn. The album tracks the complete Drew label single releases incluidng the withdrawn "Sugar Ain't Sweet". 1 - Such Misery 2 - A Lover's Plea 3 - Sugar Ain't Sweet 4 - Why Girl 5 - What I Want 6 - If This is Love (I'd Rather Be Lonely) 7 - You'll Soon be Gone 8 - Instant Heartbreak (Just Add Tears) 9 - Dream Girl 10 - A Place 11 - Never Let Go plus bonus tracks 12 - I Do, Don't You 13 - Such Misery (unreleased Ist version, featuring Paul Merritt) 14 - Send Me A Sign - Roger Fluker 15 - Baby You're Mine - Lou Ragland George McGregor (Rose Battiste,Terri Bryant, Barbara Mercer, Timmy Willis etc) was A&R director at Sidra/Drew. He has written a foreword to the album in which he says The Precisions on stage dance routnes were so amazing they put everyone else, including The Temptations, in the shade. He says that if the group had been on Motown they would have been major stars. Turns out that George recorded "Mr Soul Satisfaction" - Timmy Willis at his own cost. He did it at Muscle Shoals to get the Southern Soul horns sound and then took the master to Sidra and did a deal with them for it. They subsequently licenced it on to Veep and the success of this meant George got the job as A&R director. He knew The Precisions from when they were on D-Town and he joined Sidra after "Such Miisery" had been released. He decided to base the sound of the group around Billy Prince as lead vocalist and co-wrote "Why Girl" to capture the sound he envisaged. At the time copies of "Sugar Ain't Sweet" c/w "What I Want" had been pressed as promos to be the second Drew single but were off centre. Rather than remaster them George took the chance to get rid of "Sugar Ain't Sweet" which had been put together by Dale Warren as the A side of the single and replace it with "Why Girl". I imagine any spare copies of "Sugar Ain't Sweet" were junked and this is why it is so rare. George was partners with Mike Terry at the time and got him in to arrange the recordings, most of which were done at Terra Shirma except for "If This Is Love" which was laid down at United Sound. He has revealed that the female intro to "A Place" was done by Sandra Neal, who was a secretary at Sidra, because no female vocalists were around at the time! The bonus tracks are recordings that never got released by Drew. "I Do, Don't You" was a massive tune at the Trentham Gardens al-nighters and has been the cause of speculation as to whether it is The Precisions or not. George still has the master tape and says it definitely is the group, he wrote the song and produced the track, with Mike Terry doing the arranging. Track 13 is the first version recorded of "Such Misery" and was tried using Paul Merritt on lead vocals. He left the group shortly afterwards and his version was not used for the first Drew 45. This version wes previously released on a Joe Boy single credited to Timmy Willis due to duff info. "Send Me A Sign" was thought to be The Precisions in the past but is in fact the group's choreographer Roger Fluker. His dance routine inventions were so important to The Precisions that Drew let him make a record! "Baby You're Mine" is another Drew recording credited to The Precisions in the past. It is in fact Lou Ragland. There is also an EP coming out Why Girl Instant Heartbreak I Do, Don't You Such Misery (Paul Merritt version) Both the EP and album will be on sale at Prestatyn. Any record dealers interested in buying stock at Prestatyn should PM me. All the Best