Planning and Prep - John Pugh

Thought a great read so a worthwhile pass on

Asked John P for a few possible "watch outs" for this upcoming Sunday. Well all will say that his reply was such a enjoyable read, I had to ask for permission to pass it on ....

Planning and Prep - John Pugh

Hi Mike, re plays at NCSC - talking to Max today he told me that hed spoken to someone who was Monkeying on Saturday, whod said theyd enjoyed hearing the Jackie Edwards duet with Joyce Bond version of I Feel So Bad from the vogue e.p. ( guess Carl W had played it ? ) so think Max says he is gonna stick that one in. Should find room somewhere for the Detroit 5 cover up weve been pushing ? Unusual and less well known things, A Bell Sound beauty that I keep wanting to call Shirley (& the Four) Temples, but thats just me being daft ! (was asked to play it at the last NCSC, but too late to fit it in, so if the same lad is there must try to play that one) Do you know the J.B. Willingham "Dont Want To Be Hurt No More " ? meant to play that last time too. That Laura Lee that shares a similar backing track to Al Kents "Way You Been Acting Lately" went over well last time we were there, so might try that again, to be honest apart from Detroit 5 and Laura Lee cant remember much of what we spun at NCSC ? (lost the playlist I posted, dont suppose youve got a copy ?)

Might do a couple of old Albrighton things that have now got their second, third, or fourth wind - A few weve been playing again lately include, Bitter & Sweets "I Wont Have Any Babies For You" on Anything Everything Records, Percy & Thems "Look In The Mirror Of My Eyes " on Roulette, Ultimates, Vanguards ( cause you usually get asked for it but to be honest Im getting a bit fed up of it now after all these years) How about Target "Give Me One More Chance " on Kama, or Z.Z. & Company, which strikes me as almost a clone (but better) of the overplayed but still very popular Clarence Carters "Messing With My Mind", Whichever, I wouldnt be surprised to find at least a couple of x-overy tunes showing up towards the end. On the rougher almost RnB side, been enjoying playing Jock Mitchells "I Got To Know" and Demetriss Tapp "Ring Dang Doo" on the back of a few classics like Ted Taylor, but around our way the King Curtis one that sounds like Jnr Walker to my ears is going great guns, which leads nicely into the Catacombs oldies that Guy has been spinning Jenny & Jewels, which, if he isnt going to play it, we might ? Our heads have started to get into Cats anniversary mode so might drop a few if asked, but with so many to choose from I honestly have no idea.

Was just listening to Cajun Heart "Got To Find A Way" in the house, and every time I get it out to play I cant help but think itd make a good big room revival sound, you know how certain sounds lend themselves to big rooms, with the way the brass leads the beat in places, the breaks for the dancers etc. Im prejudiced I suppose as I used to love to dance to this - when I was capable but never hear it now, which is a shame, imho You know how sometimes just one person can make a sound popular by bugging every dj in sight to play a particular tune. Recently I keep getting repeat requests for The Demures "Raining Teardrops" and the old Pat Lewis "No One To Love" on Solid Hit. Im sure that in both cases just one person started to ask for these two, and because of them other dancers having heard them again after a few years off the playlists, and now ask for these same two tunes. Nothing wrong in that, I love it when folk ask for requests that you actually have in your box.

So to sum up what is the genuine answer to your question about what we will play - What we normally do is this, Max comes round my house on Thursday nite. We drink gallons of coffee, smoke endless cigarettes, start with a blank sheet of paper, and play our way through piles of records while discussing the weeks news, football, gossip and scurrilous rumours, making notes on the standout tunes as we go (with big arrows connecting stuff that sounds like it would be a nice fit with some other tune that we hadnt noticed might go together before, if were lucky)

When weve got about enough tunes listed to do almost a complete 10 hour Niter, we condense the list to about 30 tunes we really would like to play. By now its usually close to 3 oclock in the morning and Max says for the umpteenth time " Ill Have To Go In A Minute, Gotta Open The Shop In A Few Hours", so we have our tenth final final cigarette and coffee, pack the tunes away, and in the process manage to forget if weve put the right ones into the playboxes, then call it a nite, which usually includes one of those twenty minute conversations on the doorstep about all the stuff weve forgot to say to each other in the previous seven or eight hours. Whether its a Friday, Saturday or Sunday club it doesnt matter, because our routine stays the same.

We go out to the venue, forget virtually everything we decided on the Thursday nite and make it up as we go along, based on what the other djs are playing, what tune the previous dj is ending with, what the dancers are reacting well to, what requests you are asked for, and what the dj on after us is likely to be playing etc. while keeping the flow going and hopefully the floor pretty busy. If we get a chance we like to have a light-hearted post-mortem in the car on the way home. We usually realise that weve managed to play maybe two tunes from our Thursday Nites must play list. Honest !!!

cheers

John