Smallest...dance Floor

[Mach]

following on from the "Largest dance floor" thread...In reverse, which is the smallest dance floor you,ve ever encountered?...for me it as to be the "Dragons All-Niter" at Farsley ,Leeds in the 1990s,a venue a sat nav could not even find & unbelievably tiny, im talking 12 people and it was rammed,anyone else remember it ?.Record dealers who had travelled far and wide to attend were kettled into a windowless , sound proofed games room next door, it was the poorest venue ever in my experience but needless to say my "old mate Tony Banks Hit it Big later with the Ritz at Brighouse, a Massive Ballroom.But the Dragons will always be remembered by me, even tho i could never ever find the place again..

[Guest chrislokeh]

Always remember Samathas in Sheffield ,they,ve made it a bit bigger now.

[TOAD]

a nighter near brum at a resturant early 8ts forget the name of it

[paultp]

These Old Shoes was about 10ft by 10ft and sloped. Anyone showing off ended up in the corner by the speaker.

Think that should win this one

[Northernjordan]

I forget the name, but on this years LCGB coast to coast the venue was a hotel in st bees was quite big. But the dance floor was minute, about 10 people and it was full. But some how there must hsve been about 30-40 people on it at the end of the night...

[Sutty]

used to run a night many years back where the entire floor was cobbled apart from a single paving slab in the middle. that was a real quality do I can tell you as it was also freezing cold. yet people came!

cheers Sutty

[Davenpete]

Blue Cricle club in Dunstable - one of Mr Buck's and a last minute replacement for Queen's Hall (or whatever it was called) - absolutely tiny and it had been raining a lot outside, so the ample scattering of pre-existing 'talc' (which turned out to actually be Blue Circle product) on the very loose old pre-fab dancefloor rapidly turned into cement when the dripping soulies tried to dance on it... My how we laughed etc. Everyone, including Jon gave the venue up for lost about 4.00am as I remember.

Dx

Edited November 20, 2012 by DaveNPete

[Guest Nick Harrison]

The Irish League Club in Nelson Lancashire !

Tiny upstairs venue with a postage stamp size dance floor - circa 1978/9.

[Ian Parker]

Painted lady, Melton. The oldies room was tiny, I remember 2 of my pals on the dancefloor, I had to dive for cover. Te DJ was behind a small " serving hatch" . . . Tiny indeed

[Raremusicdirect]

Blisworth Hotel, Northants must have been one of the smallest, held 6-10 people ? Least that was the floor I witnessed in the back room.

[Stevie T]

victorias in sowerby bridge , wasnt the main floor , but a secondry floor , metal , approx 1metre square if memory serves me ! i shit you not !

[grant]

Blisworth Hotel, Northants must have been one of the smallest, held 6-10 people ? Least that was the floor I witnessed in the back room.

ideal for a lot of soul nites these days

[Raremusicdirect]

ideal for a lot of soul nites these days

Living Room Soul Club

[Andyf]

These Old Shoes was about 10ft by 10ft and sloped. Anyone showing off ended up in the corner by the speaker.

Think that should win this one

I manged to end up in the corner everytime and I wasn't even showing off

[Guest lambrettanik]

think the ritz in manchester is soon gonna be a contender for this unfortunate title soon!.carlton in morcambe shrunk for a medium sized venue over the few years it was open as an allnighter venue and the carlton club in warrington had a tiny tiled dance floor

[dedji1955]

think the ritz in manchester is soon gonna be a contender for this unfortunate title soon!.carlton in morcambe shrunk for a medium sized venue over the few years it was open as an allnighter venue and the carlton club in warrington had a tiny tiled dance floor

Loved the Carlton

[Pomonkey]

The original Subway Soul Club in NYC was in the back room of a tiny shitty bar actually down inside the subway station at Times Square, funnily that squalid little room was possibly the first place in the world Two Plus Two on Velgo was ever played courtesy of Greg Tormo.

[Guest Polyvelts]

The Royal Oak in tooley St, London se1 - bob jones did a Monday night residency there in 80s, it truly was postage stamp sized !!!!

[Sweeney]

The Royal Oak in tooley St, London se1 - bob jones did a Monday night residency there in 80s, it truly was postage stamp sized !!!!

When I saw this topic I instantly thought of the Royal Oak.

Used to go to mod nights in the early 80s at the Oak. I think you had to take a ticket and take it in turns to dance!

If memory serves me it was no more than 7-8 foot square.

[Northernjordan]

think the ritz in manchester is soon gonna be a contender for this unfortunate title soon!.carlton in morcambe shrunk for a medium sized venue over the few years it was open as an allnighter venue and the carlton club in warrington had a tiny tiled dance floor

Funny you should mention the carlton in morecambe. It held host to this years pre seson scooter rally, the main is a very decent size. But the northern room was off to ome of the smaller side rooms. It was decent on the friday night when there were no more than 10-12 dancers on the floor at once, it was full of atmosphere. But you could not move in the saturday, wss thst cramped.

[Mattbolton]

Definitely the Smersh sessions that Gareth Sweeney used to partake in. That was the smallest venue EVER!

[Guest manusf3a]

For an all nighter Samanthas small room.

Edited November 23, 2012 by manusf3a

[Guest bish]

got to be my kitchen

[Daved]

These Old Shoes was about 10ft by 10ft and sloped. Anyone showing off ended up in the corner by the speaker.

Or piling into everyone at the bar

[Soulman58]

Shades of Green - Camberly

[Shsdave]

I've been in a venue with 3 or 4 on the floor the majorlty of the night & yet the promoter describing it afterwards as "dance floor rammed all night" does that count?

[Soulwolf]

These Old Shoes and also from the past Raquels, Wakefield Bull Ring - the dance floor was on the left with the DJ booth (Paul Rowan). I think a lot of people took to dancing on the carpet at the front. Upstairs was a slightly

bigger dance floor which catered for pop. Both dance floors were used for the Christmas Day allnighter in 1976.

[Andybellwood]

Soulsville at the Baby Jupiter, Leeds was cosy . Great crowd, tunes, venue- loved it

Edited November 26, 2012 by andybellwood

[Petedillon]

the Metro in Wakefield was very small, about half the size of Mister M's

[Stevie T]

Soulsville at the Baby Jupiter, Leeds was cosy . Great crowd, tunes, venue- loved it

yep ! baby jupiter was in the top 5 without doubt

[Petedillon]

yes it was small, probably slightly smaller than the metro even.

[Guest manusf3a]

Painted lady, Melton. The oldies room was tiny, I remember 2 of my pals on the dancefloor, I had to dive for cover. Te DJ was behind a small " serving hatch" . . . Tiny indeed

I think I went on a coach to an alldayer there with Wilky,Rugr.i.p and Gav r.i.p ,back in what would have been 77 approx and it was a small daancefloor,the whole place from memory was small,reckon Rug might have djed their that day if its the place I am thinking of the "main ",room was pretty tiny as well.Wasnt the whole place the sort of size of a largish pub !

I remember that day quite vividly as I had been up for a couple of days already and doing the usual mistake went shopping for a shirt the day before when hitting the high notes,I bought what I thought was a brilliant half sleeve baggy shirt and wore it to that alldayer.Gavin remarked that the material looked like asbestos and I could see what he meant and I found it funny myself,needless to say it only got worn once,entirely the wrong sort of material,way to thick for anything to do with northern soul and blocking but the day before I saw it as a smart built in pattern to the material not as heayweight(even though half sleeved)and not meant for what was then a very hot summer ,blocking and northern soul venue going in any combination.From then on I made sure I wore lightweight shirts.

Edited November 27, 2012 by manusf3a

[Guest gordon russell]

Catacomb club.....very small dance floor

[Guest gordon russell]

I think I went on a coach to an alldayer there with Wilky,Rugr.i.p and Gav r.i.p ,back in what would have been 77 approx and it was a small daancefloor,the whole place from memory was small,reckon Rug might have djed their that day if its the place I am thinking of the "main ",room was pretty tiny as well.Wasnt the whole place the sort of size of a largish pub !

I remember that day quite vividly as I had been up for a couple of days already and doing the usual mistake went shopping for a shirt the day before when hitting the high notes,I bought what I thought was a brilliant half sleeve baggy shirt and wore it to that alldayer.Gavin remarked that the material looked like asbestos and I could see what he meant and I found it funny myself,needless to say it only got worn once,entirely the wrong sort of material,way to thick for anything to do with northern soul and blocking but the day before I saw it as a smart built in pattern to the material not as heayweight(even though half sleeved)and not meant for what was then a very hot summer ,blocking and northern soul venue going in any combination.From then on I made sure I wore lightweight shirts.

Hey manus......l went on that occasion.......RUG bought a copy of the DEL LARKS which had a crack in it which had a plaster on the b-side to keep it together ha ha......do you remeber when GAV used to be off his head and ask perfect strangers...in say leeds....."wheres the beach".....and they'd be scratching there heads trying to think and explain how to get there lol. seems daft now ,but used crack me up back then tezza

[Guest manusf3a]

Hey manus......l went on that occasion.......RUG bought a copy of the DEL LARKS which had a crack in it which had a plaster on the b-side to keep it together ha ha......do you remeber when GAV used to be off his head and ask perfect strangers...in say leeds....."wheres the beach".....and they'd be scratching there heads trying to think and explain how to get there lol. seems daft now ,but used crack me up back then tezza

Gav was brilliant,he used to come out with some crackers but perfect strangers I think were his favoutites to target say when sitting next to them somewhere or in the train or bus stations of a strange town.He had a good one of saying to strangers hed gone up to ",spansules,dex,dex spansules,8 a quid want some,", in a scottish voice mimicking what him and steve e had heard a scots bloke in the west end walking about the dilly advertising his wares.,when that happened by the time they had worked out what the bloke was saying due to his accent hed walked off and they couldnt find him again.You could always gaurentee to enjoy yourself with Mick if you went anywhereone of the biggest and best charecters and persons I got to know through the scene I still have a laugh to myself now and again when I think of things some of them more or less unmentionable on here.Gav,Wilky ,Rug all those lads were the people who made things as good as they were.Gav though was the master of the surreal statement being made to strangers and he would also go for the wierdist oddest looking ones to ask.

The plaster on Rugs Del Larks in a way that could have been symbolic of Rug around that time for the best part of a year he walked about with an elastic band round the toe of his solatios there to keep the sole from flapping,evry now and then he would take the band off and talk to the flapping shoe like a ventriloquist asking it questions

Danny that you mention in .other postings that will be the Danny from the Gav crew I take it,I hear Steve e drives taxis these days,the last I heard of Glen was years ago when he was going to get married I think!,I was talking to Georgina Archdeacon at thee st Ives night and Gav was one of the first people she mentioned as she used to be up for a laugh back then,concerning the post about sleeping at all nighters I believe she had a talent for tying peoples shoe laces together if she caught them napping and she could do it really quickly!wonder how that would go down now ?

Ps I wonder what people would make of it these days if there had been recordings made on those coaches back then of what everyone was talking about ,I mean the Wilky,Gav and the rest of us contingment,apart from sounds and gear there were some really outlandish discussions lol,I dont even know if a lot of it would be considered the queens English, to those hearing it today with no end of strange words and terms appearing,but we knew at least I think we did what we were on about,blocked and talking bollux but loving it.

Edited November 27, 2012 by manusf3a

[Guest gordon russell]

Gav was brilliant,he used to come out with some crackers but perfect strangers I think were his favoutites to target say when sitting next to them somewhere or in the train or bus stations of a strange town.He had a good one of saying to strangers hed gone up to ",spansules,dex,dex spansules,8 a quid want some,", in a scottish voice mimicking what him and steve e had heard a scots bloke in the west end walking about the dilly advertising his wares.,when that happened by the time they had worked out what the bloke was saying due to his accent hed walked off and they couldnt find him again.You could always gaurentee to enjoy yourself with Mick if you went anywhereone of the biggest and best charecters and persons I got to know through the scene I still have a laugh to myself now and again when I think of things some of them more or less unmentionable on here.Gav,Wilky ,Rug all those lads were the people who made things as good as they were.Gav though was the master of the surreal statement being made to strangers and he would also go for the wierdist oddest looking ones to ask.

The plaster on Rugs Del Larks in a way that could have been symbolic of Rug around that time for the best part of a year he walked about with an elastic band round the toe of his solatios there to keep the sole from flapping,evry now and then he would take the band off and talk to the flapping shoe like a ventriloquist asking it questions

Danny that you mention in .other postings that will be the Danny from the Gav crew I take it,I hear Steve e drives taxis these days,the last I heard of Glen was years ago when he was going to get married I think!,I was talking to Georgina Archdeacon at thee st Ives night and Gav was one of the first people she mentioned as she used to be up for a laugh back then,concerning the post about sleeping at all nighters I believe she had a talent for tying peoples shoe laces together if she caught them napping and she could do it really quickly!wonder how that would go down now ?

Ps I wonder what people would make of it these days if there had been recordings made on those coaches back then of what everyone was talking about ,I mean the Wilky,Gav and the rest of us contingment,apart from sounds and gear there were some really outlandish discussions lol,I dont even know if a lot of it would be considered the queens English, to those hearing it today with no end of strange words and terms appearing,but we knew at least I think we did what we were on about,blocked and talking bollux but loving it.

Off topic l know,but......gavs best one was we,d be in boots the chemist or armsides and he,d go up to the girl on the prescription counter and ask bold as brass....."have you got any broken dexy's or water damaged duraphet capsules?" always made me laugh to see the puzzled look on the girls face as she wasn,t quite sure what he mean,t....sometimes she,d go and ask the pharmacist.......and all hell would break loose lol.....we,d have security chasing us all over the gaff :lol:

Danny.....was/is Danny Price who l go to nighters with along with John McClure and Irish from Cambridge and of course the ladies......Dan does a bit of djing (resident at burnley) as does John Mcc and mighty fine players of dancing soul music they are.......although danny's a bit tight lol :lol: only joking

Edited November 27, 2012 by gordon russell

[Guest manusf3a]

Off topic l know,but......gavs best one was we,d be in boots the chemist or armsides and he,d go up to the girl on the prescription counter and ask bold as brass....."have you got any broken dexy's or water damaged duraphet capsules?" always made me laugh to see the puzzled look on the girls face as she wasn,t quite sure what he mean,t....sometimes she,d go and ask the pharmacist.......and all hell would break loose lol.....we,d have security chasing us all over the gaff :lol:

Ha ha magic, just loke him getting a coffee on a train and insisting they put the duraphet in ! broken dexys ,classic!

[Guest DaveSwift]

two that come to mind are These Old Shoes and The Bell, Newcastle Under Lyme.

Funny think about these old Shoes was venue (River Bar) got renovated with bigger dance floor and nice flat wooden floor but hardly anybody came - shame as it was really handy for me

[Guest rodw]

The Center in Southampton in the 70's but Ghetto Soul (Upstairs Room) @ Empire Hall, Totton Near Southampton has a very small dance floor too.....Cracking little venue tho for stuff you don't often hear at other Soul Clubs in the area.

[soulpaul0]

I manged to end up in the corner everytime and I wasn't even showing off

allways a good night but felt like i scaled mount snowdon walking back up the slope after every record-need jo to do a monthly london gig again!

[sir cumference]

two that come to mind are These Old Shoes and The Bell, Newcastle Under Lyme.

Funny think about these old Shoes was venue (River Bar) got renovated with bigger dance floor and nice flat wooden floor but hardly anybody came - shame as it was really handy for me

D`ya mean The Bear?

[Guest DaveSwift]

yes i did mean the Bear thanks

[Guest manusf3a]

Wilky and Rug done a couple of soul nights back in the seventies in the open hearth pub Corby,the dance floor/space must have been all of six by six feet.I also remember a club called camelot near huntingdon that I went to a few times with Ronnie Edwards after being at an all nighter the night before.Camelot was a night club ,quite small with a small to tiny dance floor if recall serves me well though not really a soul do more disco popish stuff Ronnie would bring a few records and sit with his entourage when one of his records got played the already small dance floor became even smaller as ronnie well out his head par normal would leap on the floor arms flailing and covering what ground there was with rapid movements causig anyone on the floor already to run for cover so he had the floor to himself ,leather coat flapping behind him like a cape as he strutted his stuff.Yes that dance floor looked small as Ronnie filled all the space himself.

A real character was Ronnie,I still see him from time to time doing deliveries for a catering firm him and his sister run sopplying sandwhich shops etcHuntingdon saw some crazy times during the years him and johnny mac were doing the do over there but didnt everywhere,Corby,Wellinborough Bedford etxc.Ronnie no longer has his trademark very long hair that made colin curtis look like he had a short back and sides but you would still recognise him straight away

Edited December 7, 2012 by manusf3a

[Guest manusf3a]

Off topic l know,but......gavs best one was we,d be in boots the chemist or armsides and he,d go up to the girl on the prescription counter and ask bold as brass....."have you got any broken dexy's or water damaged duraphet capsules?" always made me laugh to see the puzzled look on the girls face as she wasn,t quite sure what he mean,t....sometimes she,d go and ask the pharmacist.......and all hell would break loose lol.....we,d have security chasing us all over the gaff :lol:

Danny.....was/is Danny Price who l go to nighters with along with John McClure and Irish from Cambridge and of course the ladies......Dan does a bit of djing (resident at burnley) as does John Mcc and mighty fine players of dancing soul music they are.......although danny's a bit tight lol :lol: only joking

I seem to remeber having to beat a hasty retreat from that same said centre and its security staff on at least a couple of occasions,one invoving piling into a three wheeler car and making a getaway and ending up in northampton,something to do with a few blokes having a go and Mick went to kick one in the Niagras missed and ended up connecting with a bag of shopping belonging to a bystander sending its contents skywards I had just bought an ice cream cone so stuck it on the end of the nose of the bloke mick had aimed at who just stood there wearing his new nose extension, the security appeared like a blitzkrieg.I remember while beating the retreat in the three wheeler Gav telling me about going to the Torch in a three wheeler with Barry Mckay and your self I think among others ,that must have been some journey ,I think he mentioned something about six people crammed in to the said three wheeler.

ppsJohn mac C always had a classy collection of records from back then good to hear hes djing regular and getting em on the floor..

Ps these events were in the long past distant youth and excessive amounts of energy and since then over many years I and all around me have no doubt matured into highly responsible citizens and in no way do I condone any such behaviour in these present times lol

.Reckon there must have been quite a few places in wellingborough dreaded being visited by Gav and co.Only went there a couple of times but didnt you all use the drum and monkey for a local for a while where Gav,Glen etc would have fun swinging on the chandeliers asking the usual types of impossible to answer questions of other people who were drinking in there,they really were what you could call "fun pubs".

Edited December 8, 2012 by manusf3a

[Guest Mrs Williams]

My bedroom when im ironing.......love to dance to some tunes when im ironing, it's more enjoyable & i get it done quicker lol...

Debbie x

[Winnie :-)]

These old shoes definitely one of them, can always remember one of the skinhead lads crashing down the slope, getting a bollo*king off of Jo W and hopping out of the club LOL

Another one was in Bedford at the soul cafe, just about room for one person on it, didn't go to many do's there consequently

[Guest gordon russell]

no ones mentiond the catacombs club......that had a rather small dancefloor right up the end great club though

[Paul Shirley]

original dance floor before it was changed at the sink club liverpool

[Tank]

These old shoes definitely one of them, can always remember one of the skinhead lads crashing down the slope, getting a bollo*king off of Jo W and hopping out of the club LOL

Another one was in Bedford at the soul cafe, just about room for one person on it, didn't go to many do's there consequently

Hey Winnie! Prince's Soul Cafe in Bedford had just changed it's name to The Blue Lagoon when we started those nights there. Mark Turner was the promoter and we had some good guest jocks and nights there despite the tiny dance-floor and it being on Sunday nights. Can't believe it's about 12 years ago since we did them!!

[Tank]

no ones mentiond the catacombs club......that had a rather small dancefloor right up the end great club though

Only ever got to The Cats once Tez - but what an atmosphere! And remember that dance floor at the far end well.