100 Club - A Hot Lookback - 6th July 2013

A very hot night in London, in more ways than one. And the air conditioning in the club didn't seem to be working. Everyone was saying how hot they felt, and many including myself went up to Oxford Street to take a break for some air.

I did wonder if the weather would affect the numbers attending but my concerns were needless. A good crowd in, and some new faces.

I arrived as usual at 11.15, dropped off my bag at the back of the stage and bought a much needed drink. Ady was doing the first set, but passed the baton on to Keith who, in the event, did three sets during the night. Keith is a most consistent DJ, always playing good records, many lesser known, ideal for the club.

James Pogson was on next for 45 minutes, playing an interesting set, most of which were new to me, but I did recognise the Sacred Four's Somebody's Watching You.

Next on was the other guest Ted Massey, a man with an enviable record collection. I'd had a chat with Ted at Lifeline, he'd asked if I had any requests so I asked for three of my favourite tunes. He played all three of them in this set, kept me happy, and I think many others. Among others he played were I Saw You There and the Profs' There's A Woman.

Ady was on again next, playing some of his Pied Piper tracks, more dance floor action.

Joel was on next, but at this point I was so hot I had to take a break and go upstairs for some fresh air, or as fresh as it could be in central London. When I went back down the dance floor was busy so he had done the business.

Then Keith again, thanks for playing Ask My Heart, a friend had asked for it. He included some Crossover records in this set including Clydene Jackson' I Need Your Love.

James took over from Keith and included in his set current “biggies” the Superbs' Wind In My Sail and Ishola Muhammad's Open Up Your Heart. He played some funk influenced tunes as well.

Ted then did his second set keeping things going with tunes like I'm Gone, Look At You, and Charles Johnson's I Made A Mistake, a record that to me sounds very much in the Bobby Bland mode. He ended his set with George Pep's The Feeling Is Real and George Lemon's Fascinating Girl.

Joel came on for his second set and included the instrumental version of Make My Love A Hurting Thing and Billy Byrd's Lost In A Crowd.

For the third time Keith took the stage, playing a nice set including Karmello Brooks' Tell Me Baby, Bob & Fred's I'm On My Way and Mel Britt's classic She'll Come Running Back.

This took us up to the last 30 minutes where Ady bring things to a conclusion. He played a mix of tempos, I Can Change keeping the pace up, slowing it a bit with Sweet Temptation and Don't Bring Me Down, slowing it more with Annabelle Fox's Lonely Girl and a version of I Just Can't Wait To See My Baby's Face, can't remember who it was by, not the usual ones though, and ended the nighter with Jimmy Radcliffe's Long After Tonight Is All Over, one of the greatest enders in my opinion, and a record that has a certain meaning for me.

Then the lights came on, and we began to pack up to the strains of That's What Mama Say and say farewell. I made a quick getaway as I needed to get to King's Cross to catch an early train, got me indoors at 7.30.

The only criticism of the night, and it's not the fault of Ady, was that the dance floor was not in a great state, in fact it was pretty sticky. It hadn't been polished, so some talc was dropped, but not in an obtrusive way.

Apart from that no worries at all. As usual nice to see so many friends there, Billy, Mark, Gary and Rolly, Paul, Yann and Kym, Trickster, Alan Edge, Liam, and many others. No doubt I'll see you at the next one, if not before.

Once again thanks to Ady and the DJs and the 100 Club staff. Now for a rest.