I have had to re jig Mother's Day and some family birthday's on occasion in order to make my fave nighter in the past. Once sold my Megadrive (remember them) and all it's games to finance a nighter when I was skint. I've been struck down with flu before, but loaded myself up with Day Nurse, Red Bull etc and still gone. Once saw Trickster at a nighter, on crutches with his leg in plaster!

I wonder what tales there are from folk putting their soul nights and nighters first? What lengths do people go to? Ever kept a Sunday lunch date off the back of an all nighter? What porkies have family and friends been told in order for you to keep that date in the soul calendar?

  Ian Sims said:

Ever kept a Sunday lunch date off the back of an all nighter?

Good topic Ian.

Back in the late 70, mate of mine Nicky Hillier got back from Wigan, had a quick sandwich Sunday lunchtime & nodded off in the armchair His family came round for tea around 5pm & he awoke to find them all there in the sitting room staring at him. Regrettably he still had the same sandwich from lunch time in his mouth.

Happy days.

  Ian Sims said:

I have had to re jig Mother's Day and some family birthday's on occasion in order to make my fave nighter in the past. Once sold my Megadrive (remember them) and all it's games to finance a nighter when I was skint. I've been struck down with flu before, but loaded myself up with Day Nurse, Red Bull etc and still gone. Once saw Trickster at a nighter, on crutches with his leg in plaster!

I wonder what tales there are from folk putting their soul nights and nighters first? What lengths do people go to? Ever kept a Sunday lunch date off the back of an all nighter? What porkies have family and friends been told in order for you to keep that date in the soul calendar?

Back in the mid 80,s my wife had just arrived back in the country after taking her sick mother to Lourdes as she got in the house i said hello, did you have a good time and left to go to a Soul night. PS she is now my ex wife, give me Soul anytime

  winsford soul said:

Back in the mid 80,s my wife had just arrived back in the country after taking her sick mother to Lourdes as she got in the house i said hello, did you have a good time and left to go to a Soul night. PS she is now my ex wife, give me Soul anytime

Talking of Lourdes, I feel the 100 Club has the same healing powers. As previously stated, been there with a stinking cold, but the music, the atmosphere and the dancing etc burnt through those symptoms and I came out in the morning feeling much better.

  Ian Sims said:

Talking of Lourdes, I feel the 100 Club has the same healing powers. As previously stated, been there with a stinking cold, but the music, the atmosphere and the dancing etc burnt through those symptoms and I came out in the morning feeling much better.

I thought the last Stoke might have had similar healing powers. Alas non. I knew I was in trouble leaving the hotel (minor chest infection). By 2.30 I had trouble breathing and had turned a nice shade of grey, all this despite natures finest supplements. Back in bed by 3.00. Stupid or what?

Col.

  Soulsmith said:

I thought the last Stoke might have had similar healing powers. Alas non. I knew I was in trouble leaving the hotel (minor chest infection). By 2.30 I had trouble breathing and had turned a nice shade of grey, all this despite natures finest supplements. Back in bed by 3.00. Stupid or what?

Col.

Yeah colds are one thing, respiration etc is a bit serious though.

Don't think anyone's going to be able to top Jo Wallace's car accident on the way to wigan story. "Do you want to go to hospital"? "No I want to go to Wigan"!

I remember going to the Ritz niter when i was 8 and a half months pregnant, complete with all my maternity notes in case of !!!!!!!! Del xx

In going to the SSCDT Derby Alldayer back in May, I had to agree in allowing the wife & kids getting a dog! Guess who's left taking him for his walks!

  nubian75soulsis said:

I remember going to the Ritz niter when i was 8 and a half months pregnant, complete with all my maternity notes in case of !!!!!!!! Del xx

I got that phone call while Djing at Bretby. Needless to say just made it

Many moons ago I had some minor surgery on one of my eyes but really wanted to go to Greg Pollitt's 40th and then on to Blackburn I think it was ..... had to keep my sunglasses on due to the not so pretty site of my eye.... couldn't see a bloody thing and the pain in my eye wasn't very nice ..... doctor's had advised not to go into smokey atmospheres for a couple of weeks after the surgery ... needless to say the eye took longer to heal than it should have

Met up to go to Wigan one night and there were 6 of us and a ford escort, one of the lads went there and back in the boot! ( about 5 hours in total )

1984/5 Got a bus to London Victoria, then a coach on to Leicester for the Odfellows nighter. However when we got there it had been cancelled

Only the names have been changed tro protect the guilty..

One of my mates Bert is not allowed out to all-niters by his partner. Some minor bad behaviour in the past. But he is allowed to go and watch soul artists in concert. So everytime we do an all-niter its agreed that we've really gone to see the O'Jays or whoever & apparently we book into a hotel. Just to make it more interesting, he also fabricates a little story.

Last time we were all out on a normal social event, Bert says "if my wife asks anything about last week-end, you had to share a hotel bed with Ernie" I looked confused & was further advised that there had been a mix up with the beds at our imaginary hotel. Apparently he'd got a bed ok, but I had to share!

Why he'd made up that particular story I have no idea, but thats what happens when you choose your mates on entertainment value!

  Soulsmith said:

Only the names have been changed tro protect the guilty..

One of my mates Bert is not allowed out to all-niters by his partner. Some minor bad behaviour in the past. But he is allowed to go and watch soul artists in concert. So everytime we do an all-niter its agreed that we've really gone to see the O'Jays or whoever & apparently we book into a hotel. Just to make it more interesting, he also fabricates a little story.

Last time we were all out on a normal social event, Bert says "if my wife asks anything about last week-end, you had to share a hotel bed with Ernie" I looked confused & was further advised that there had been a mix up with the beds at our imaginary hotel. Apparently he'd got a bed ok, but I had to share!

Why he'd made up that particular story I have no idea, but thats what happens when you choose your mates on entertainment value!

Where was this nighter again, Sesame Street?

  Ian Sims said:

I have had to re jig Mother's Day and some family birthday's on occasion in order to make my fave nighter in the past. Once sold my Megadrive (remember them) and all it's games to finance a nighter when I was skint. I've been struck down with flu before, but loaded myself up with Day Nurse, Red Bull etc and still gone. Once saw Trickster at a nighter, on crutches with his leg in plaster!

I wonder what tales there are from folk putting their soul nights and nighters first? What lengths do people go to? Ever kept a Sunday lunch date off the back of an all nighter? What porkies have family and friends been told in order for you to keep that date in the soul calendar?

Just thougth of another one. Me and a girlfriend decided to go to Dunstable Queens hall niter Fine you may think but we lived approx 200 miles away, Winter, no car . not much money so we hitched it it took us 12 hrs and when we got to the venue it had been moved to what to me looked like a scout hut, we got there to hear the last 4 records of the night. Friend had gone london after niter So i was left on my own till one of my mates turned up with a spare helmut for his scooter, it took him 6hrs. we left dunstable mid afternoon on sun 2 up, me with my best blazer on ( January ) 4 service station stops later frostbite had set in so we phoned a very nice man ( AA ) who brought us all the way back north in a warm cab. It was 1am mon when i got home.

  winsford soul said:

Just thougth of another one. Me and a girlfriend decided to go to Dunstable Queens hall niter Fine you may think but we lived approx 200 miles away, Winter, no car . not much money so we hitched it it took us 12 hrs and when we got to the venue it had been moved to what to me looked like a scout hut, we got there to hear the last 4 records of the night. Friend had gone london after niter So i was left on my own till one of my mates turned up with a spare helmut for his scooter, it took him 6hrs. we left dunstable mid afternoon on sun 2 up, me with my best blazer on ( January ) 4 service station stops later frostbite had set in so we phoned a very nice man ( AA ) who brought us all the way back north in a warm cab. It was 1am mon when i got home.

Wow! When was the last time anyone hitched to a nighter eh? Oh to be young again

1996...

29th May..bank hol monday......Rushed to hospital having near fatal heart attack.

8th June...released from hospital........

10th June Cleethorpes Weekender

Not a personal story but i remember someone (Carl Fortnum possibly? Not sure) swapping a then top grade custom scooter for a copy of 'The Airplane Song' back in the mid 80s.

Popular reckoning put the cost of the scooter at around £4000 then.

I might get a bootleg of The Snake for mine