It may be winter outside Big Daddys Soul Shack

It May Be Winter Outside But In My Heart Its Spring - Seasons Greetings From The Big Fellow........

Firstly I cant believe the huge number of hits my recent posting on the bootleg issue got, its fantastic to gain mainly support for my comments so thanks for that, all we need to do is Keep It Real and we should be fine.

2003 has been a fantastic year on the rare soul scene with many of the venues doing really well, some might say that there is a little too much on at the present time but one thing is the scene is possibly the most busy it has ever been over the past four decades and long may it continue.

Im really looking forward to 2004 as there are already some very tasty events to look forward to during the early part of the new year in particular the second New Century Soul Club Allnighter in Manchester on Saturday January 31st, this time in two rooms and if the massive first event was anything to go by it is hoped that the 700 plus people who attended will return with a friend and then this venue will be without question one of the leading Northern Soul venues in the country. 9pm through 7am -

 DJs include TIM BROWN, MICK H, DAVE RIMMER, JO WALLACE, GARY COPE, KIDDO AND MYSELF IN THE MAIN ROOM AND RUSS WINSTANLEY, DAVE EVISON, STEVE WHITTLE AND BRIAN RAE IN THE DOWNSTAIRS SECOND ROOM which also hosts the after show party for Paul Sadots Once Upon A Time In Wigan production which ends its Manchester run and the start of the UK tour, so very much a Wigan Casino flava in room two that night.

 The New Century event will run on the final Saturday every month throughout 2004 and there are some outstanding DJs booked in to play at future nights. Again thanks to everyone who attended the first Allnighter back on December 6th, it was simply a magic night and has set the venue in a good position to be able to grow to a bigger and better event. Plenty of soul gigs to attend over the Christmas period so have a fantastic time wherever you end up, also if you fancy a good soul night out check out

THE LIME STREET CLUB, CHAPEL STREET, OFF KING STREET, DUKINFIELD NEAR MANCHESTER ON SATURDAY DECEMBER 27TH - FROM 8PM THROUGH LATE, WITH DJS ALEX JONES, EDDIE ENGLES, SID JONES, MARK BICKNELL AND VERY SPECIAL GUESTS MICK H AND BIRTHDAY GIRL JUMPING JOAN - ADMISSION ADVANCE TICKET £4.00 OR £4.50 PAY ON THE DOOR PLUS A FREE SAMPLE CD FROM SID JONES TO THE FIRST 50 THROUGH THE DOOR FOR FURTHER INFORMATION TELEPHONE 0161 330 6267 OR 0161 338 7294 - A fantastic little soul night well worth a visit, good sound system, cheap bar, nice dance floor and used but not abused music policy.

Last but not least the massive Midnight Hour soul weekender is only a few weeks off now and bookings are well over 2000 so if you plan on going i would suggest that you get your bookings in now rather than miss out on what promises to be a huge event, details can be found here on Soulsource so check out the details as soon as you can. I trust you will all get what you desire this Christmas, mines a George Pepp if anyone can help....................... still cant complain as my wife Jacqui paid for a couple of recent Ebay wins as part of my Christmas present so i love her to bits.

Respect and big up to Mike Hughes and all at Soulsource, thanks to all the promoters who have booked me this year, big thanks to Chris Waterman and Lee Crank of The New Century Soul Club for having the faith in me to play at few tunes at their bright, fresh new venue in Manchester at the CIS and for supporting my radio show on Solar Radio,

 SORRY IF I GO OVER THE TOP SOMETIMES ON CERTAIN ISSUES AND TOPICS CONNECTED WITH OUR SCENE BUT I ONLY DO IT AND SAY THE THINGS I SAY IF ITS WRONG OR OUT OF ORDER, WE ARE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER FOR THE REST OF OUR DAYS SO WE MUST RESPECT THE MUSIC, THE SCENE AND EACH OTHER IF WE ARE TO CONTINUE THIS AMAZING JOURNEY, ITS WITH US FOR LIFE GUYS SO LETS AT LEAST TRY TO GET ON EVEN IF SOME OF US CANT, LETS KEEP IT REAL AND STAY TRUE TO THE ORIGINS OF THE SCENE AND LETS MOVE ON AND FILL AS MANY VENUES AS WE CAN THROUGHOUT THE UK, IF NOTHING ELSE THE MUSIC DESERVES THAT RESPECT.

 Its about people, its about sharing the whole deal, no one person is bigger than the music and we must at all cost let the scene survive and blossom because as Dena Barnes said If you ever walk out of my life there be tear drops and heartaches..........imagine life without this beautiful scene of ours.....I cant. To all promoters, DJs, collectors, dancers, record dealers in the land you, we, all of us make the scene what it is, there may be petty politics from time to time, we all dont agree on certain aspects of how the scene is run and worked but what we should all have in common is a passion for what we do and how we do it from the local 200 capacity venue to the monster events they are all keeping the whole thing going and im proud to be a part of just about the best cult music scene in the world.
Happy Christmas -

Keep It Real - Mark Bicknell.

Email bicknellmark@aol.com

Company mark bicknell dj services Location manchester