Chateau Impney - Droitwich

[Tomangoes]

Drove by this place yesterday (hope the spelling is right) and it looks like the poshest soul venue possible. Heard it was a good venue. Anyone elaborate?

Ed

[Lloydee]

The Chateau used to be brillient but the Managment/Owners changed their policy years ago concerning 'the disco' element, especaily when the locals used to kick the crap out of each other (not me of cause, I'm not that local to Droitwich; very much a local kinkin' for local people!!)

It's very old looking on the inside these day's; Posh Weddings are the order of the day, which means it's expensive to hire what is left of the old room.

Good place for a romantic weekend, food is good etc

Any more local info anyone would like on Worcestershire?

[Guest Dirk Tiggler]

Drove by this place yesterday (hope the spelling is right) and it looks like the poshest soul venue possible. Heard it was a good venue. Anyone elaborate?

Ed

I knew about it in the late 60ts but I was just too young to go. I lived in Halesowen, about 15 miles away which was too far without a car. People I know who did go tell me it was a total dump in those days, but still have fond memories of the place. I think its hey day was about 1969/70 but I know it started a big soul following from around the surrounding area which is still pretty big now.

[Ted Massey]

Drove by this place yesterday (hope the spelling is right) and it looks like the poshest soul venue possible. Heard it was a good venue. Anyone elaborate?

Ed

Think it was called the 47 club Carl Deane was one of the DJ,s

[Guest]

The Chateau used to be brillient but the Managment/Owners changed their policy years ago concerning 'the disco' element, especaily when the locals used to kick the crap out of each other (not me of cause, I'm not that local to Droitwich; very much a local kinkin' for local people!!)

It's very old looking on the inside these day's; Posh Weddings are the order of the day, which means it's expensive to hire what is left of the old room.

Good place for a romantic weekend, food is good etc

Any more local info anyone would like on Worcestershire?

Hey come on Lloydee, as 'Soul Massiah' for Worcestershire you have got to do a better report of the Chateau than that You make it sound like the Bronx !!! (mind you i suppose it was close to the Boycott estate ! & even the guard dogs wore Doc's & knuckle dusters there ! )

To young to have gone myself, but i was always lead to belive that it was frequented by the Cattacombs

crowd & that it had a big influence on converting all those Northerners to RARE SOUL So come on do some delving & let's have a proper report on the desk !! It has been left out of Northern Soul History for too long !!

Edited March 10, 2006 by B-side-B

[billysbag]

Drove by this place yesterday (hope the spelling is right) and it looks like the poshest soul venue possible. Heard it was a good venue. Anyone elaborate?

Ed

this post courtesy of midlands soul dj Jamie Carr

the soul dos were in the cellar at the chateau.it was very dark and dingy.Carl "farmer" Deane was the resident dj.in fact he was the only dj .it was on sunday afternoons.The late Bob Crocker would always be there selling records.The big "cover-up"tune of the time 1970ish was "your ready now" by Bobby Bennett.Carl also covered up "while your out looking for sugar"honeycone.Because it was in the cellar you would get the "sweat drip" same as the torch,cats,etc. Most of the tunes were played on uk copies.The big played import was Baby reconsider,leon haywood.Carl also played "the jazz club"dudley(also dark and dingy". Carl was a mentor for a lot of local wannabe soul djs including me.At the time I was still playing Youth Clubs.

Very approachable man was Carl and a lot of people learnt a lot from him.

memories,memories.hope this serves the purpose of a write up for the chateau

bill(for Jamie who is to computers what cyril smith is to hang gliding.)

[Guest]

this post courtesy of midlands soul dj Jamie Carr

the soul dos were in the cellar at the chateau.it was very dark and dingy.Carl "farmer" Deane was the resident dj.in fact he was the only dj .it was on sunday afternoons.The late Bob Crocker would always be there selling records.The big "cover-up"tune of the time 1970ish was "your ready now" by Bobby Bennett.Carl also covered up "while your out looking for sugar"honeycone.Because it was in the cellar you would get the "sweat drip" same as the torch,cats,etc. Most of the tunes were played on uk copies.The big played import was Baby reconsider,leon haywood.Carl also played "the jazz club"dudley(also dark and dingy". Carl was a mentor for a lot of local wannabe soul djs including me.At the time I was still playing Youth Clubs.

Very approachable man was Carl and a lot of people learnt a lot from him.

memories,memories.hope this serves the purpose of a write up for the chateau

bill(for Jamie who is to computers what cyril smith is to hang gliding.)

Thanks for that you two It's nice to here about all the old venue's from the people who were there.

Was it really as rough as Lloydee's been told though ?

[billysbag]

Thanks for that you two It's nice to here about all the old venue's from the people who were there.

Was it really as rough as Lloydee's been told though ?

i think it was as rough though no rougher than most of the places that we used to go.Anybody from west mids remember the Park Attwood hotel.always a tangible violent element.what about "the swan with two nicks"aka the dirty duck,didnt that have a soul nite closed for fighting?

every where i went from when i was 14 to 17(1968-1971)was local coz nobody drove and had regular fights thrown in.Kidderminsters crowther st,baxter church hall,farmers boy,st johns hall,station hill youth club.Mostly motown or skinhead moonstomp type of things but deffo where my northern soul roots were.anybody remember blakebrook hospital disco being overrun by pissed skinheads and the police closing the hospital?

memories ehh?

ps how can i remember all this so clearly but cant remember where i left my keys or phone?

[Dayo]

i think it was as rough though no rougher than most of the places that we used to go.Anybody from west mids remember the Park Attwood hotel.always a tangible violent element.what about "the swan with two nicks"aka the dirty duck,didnt that have a soul nite closed for fighting?

every where i went from when i was 14 to 17(1968-1971)was local coz nobody drove and had regular fights thrown in.Kidderminsters crowther st,baxter church hall,farmers boy,st johns hall,station hill youth club.Mostly motown or skinhead moonstomp type of things but deffo where my northern soul roots were.anybody remember blakebrook hospital disco being overrun by pissed skinheads and the police closing the hospital?

memories ehh?

ps how can i remember all this so clearly but cant remember where i left my keys or phone?

Don't remember a Soul night at the Swan/Dirty Duck. May have been before my time though. I do recall a lot of tension in there between the bikers and skins/suedes/scooter boys. Used to go in there a lot. My drink at the time was vodka and lime! urgh!!

As for the Chateau, it's a very interesting building. Built in the style of a French Chateau by very wealthy Victorian industrialist for his reputedly home sick French wife.

The soul sesions were on Sunday afternoons, weren't they? The mods would make their way there to chill down after an evening at the Cats, the Bankhouse or the Coppertops etc.

Story goes that Baby Reconsider got it's first spin there and was the original 40 quid record. An unheard of sum around 1971!

Edited March 10, 2006 by Dayo

[Tomangoes]

Cheers guys for the info. It still looks the poshest venue at least from the outside. Its amazing how the scene jigsaw fell into place.

Ed

[Guest]

Thanks for that you two It's nice to here about all the old venue's from the people who were there.

Was it really as rough as Lloydee's been told though ?

Nah the Chateau was a great place.Dark yes but certainly not rough... Some of the best days of my life in there... The acoustics were great and just suited the hollow echoeyness of the sounds.I do remember that you had to be careful or the pet Peacocks which used to cling to the outside of the building,would crap all over you.Saw my first colour tv in there and some of the toughest looking Brummy gangsters gambling upstairs.

[Guest]

Don't remember a Soul night at the Swan/Dirty Duck. May have been before my time though. I do recall a lot of tension in there between the bikers and skins/suedes/scooter boys. Used to go in there a lot. My drink at the time was vodka and lime! urgh!!

As for the Chateau, it's a very interesting building. Built in the style of a French Chateau by very wealthy Victorian industrialist for his reputedly home sick French wife.

The soul sesions were on Sunday afternoons, weren't they? The mods would make their way there to chill down after an evening at the Cats, the Bankhouse or the Coppertops etc.

Story goes that Baby Reconsider got it's first spin there and was the original 40 quid record. An unheard of sum around 1971!

Quite correct .......

First spun - after being discovered by him - by Carl Dene at one of his Sunday afternoon sessions .....

Malc Burton

[Nickinstoke]

Cheers guys for the info. It still looks the poshest venue at least from the outside. Its amazing how the scene jigsaw fell into place.

Ed

I went to the Sunday afternoon sessions, around 1968/69. I think it ran from 4 till 7.They used to play ska as well as soul, and a bit of "latin soul", like Ray Barretto and Mongo Santamaria. I remember being in awe of the girls from Worcester - as a 16 year old they were the coolest chicks I'd ever seen! And no, it wasn't a bit rough.

[Guest wax machine]

Just to clear this "Baby Reconsider" thing up, yes Carl Dene played it at the Chateau FIRST. No One could find a copy and Carl was not going to let it go anywhere.... I ordered one from Ray Avery's Rare Records in California, not

thinking I would ever see it,however one day a white FAT FISH 45' arrived on my door step one day and I played it

at venues in Gloucester. Word soon got around and Docker pleaded with me to loan him the disc to take to the Wheel where it was played for the very first time outside of Gloucestershire/& The Chateau - Carl did discover it,

I just helped it find it's way to The Wheel, as they say the rest is history.

Richard Selwood

[Julianb]

Just to clear this "Baby Reconsider" thing up, yes Carl Dene played it at the Chateau FIRST. No One could find a copy and Carl was not going to let it go anywhere.... I ordered one from Ray Avery's Rare Records in California, not

thinking I would ever see it,however one day a white FAT FISH 45' arrived on my door step one day and I played it

at venues in Gloucester. Word soon got around and Docker pleaded with me to loan him the disc to take to the Wheel where it was played for the very first time outside of Gloucestershire/& The Chateau - Carl did discover it,

I just helped it find it's way to The Wheel, as they say the rest is history.

Richard Selwood

Hi Richard

I seem to remember 'Docker' bringing this to Lord Jims in Huddersfield along with the Sharpees - Do the 45 ( with Les Cokell in attendance) for me to play ( I was the DJ) before we we went to the Wheel later that night ( around 3ish when we got to Manchester!)

Happy days

Julian

PS

Played a nice Fat Fish issue of Baby Reconsider at the Greatstone last Saturday

[Stuart Russell]

A bit more from The In Crowd...

'These deleted UK releases had been popular in the soul clubs for the previous few years, but as US imports began to filter on to the scene, the more dedicated DJs like the Midlands' "Farmer Carl" Dene, became relentless in the search for the rare and unusual. Carl Woodroofe owed his agricultural nickname, to a farmer's hat he wore when he deejayed. Having first bought R&B in 1964 from shops like The Discery in Birmingham, Carl deejayed Sunday afternoons at the Chateau Impney in Droitwich Spa. The Chateau's discotheque was in the darkened basement, and every Sunday afternoon from four until seven o'clock, it became a favourite rendezvous for teenagers. By placing advertisements in Record Mirror, Carl managed to unearth copies of records which were gaining in popularity on the club scene. When Tony Clark's "The Entertainer" was a sought after item, he discovered the whereabouts of a copy by telephone, and immediately drove to the seller's house to buy the record. This same commitment was applied to discovering imports. Carl had heard, from a friend in the States, about Leon Haywood's "Baby Reconsider". Liking the Haywood singles that had been issued in Britain by Vocalion, Carl went to importer F. L. Moore and found a copy. "Baby Reconsider" was first played at the Chateau in 1968, and was the first of the big money records on the soul scene. Others, such as Jackie Lee's "Darkest Days", Edwin Starr's "Backstreet", the Sharpees' "Do The 45", Dobie Gray's "Out On The Floor" and the San Remo Strings' "Festival Time" became the original Northern Soul rarities. As they were heard, collectors like Graham "Docker" White and Richard Selwood would track copies down and introduce them to the DJs at the Twisted Wheel. Brian Rae deejayed at the club in 1967, and in an interview with Dave Evison on Radio Signal, he noted how on his return to the club in 1969, the music policy had changed.'

Stuart

[Ted Massey]

Any one remember the Le Metro in Livery street B'ham used to be a Wednesday night do there think a guy called pete James ran it 1967-1970 all the classics were played like Mr bang bang man

[Guest wax machine]

Stuart, Good to hear from you, Carl used to DJ at Gloucester's "Library Discotheque" and I think it would be right to say that all the Gloucester lads were inspired by him and his record collection including

myself - he certainly had a way with records. After the show he used to come back to my flat and it became a regular Gloucester party where Carl would hold court and talk for hours on the sounds of the

day - I remember when "Do the 45" was the most sought after 45 on this planet and "Darkest Days" by

Jackie Lee not far behind, records changIng hands for ridiculous sums of money (or at least it seemed so

at the time!!) I know Froggy Taylor idolised Carl and became the No 1 collector in Gloucester, Graham

"Docker" White and Trev Curtis were the first I met. I recall going to The Cats at Wolverhampton when

Bob Crocker ruled the roost along with Alan S, in fact it was Carl and Crocker who had the biggest influence on me, these two changed my life and cast long magic shadows. Last night I put on "Cry To Me"

by Solomon Burke which I haven't heard for many years - how lucky we were to have lived in those times

with all that great music, to say nothing about those like minded friends.

Richard.

A bit more from The In Crowd...

'These deleted UK releases had been popular in the soul clubs for the previous few years, but as US imports began to filter on to the scene, the more dedicated DJs like the Midlands' "Farmer Carl" Dene, became relentless in the search for the rare and unusual. Carl Woodroofe owed his agricultural nickname, to a farmer's hat he wore when he deejayed. Having first bought R&B in 1964 from shops like The Discery in Birmingham, Carl deejayed Sunday afternoons at the Chateau Impney in Droitwich Spa. The Chateau's discotheque was in the darkened basement, and every Sunday afternoon from four until seven o'clock, it became a favourite rendezvous for teenagers. By placing advertisements in Record Mirror, Carl managed to unearth copies of records which were gaining in popularity on the club scene. When Tony Clark's "The Entertainer" was a sought after item, he discovered the whereabouts of a copy by telephone, and immediately drove to the seller's house to buy the record. This same commitment was applied to discovering imports. Carl had heard, from a friend in the States, about Leon Haywood's "Baby Reconsider". Liking the Haywood singles that had been issued in Britain by Vocalion, Carl went to importer F. L. Moore and found a copy. "Baby Reconsider" was first played at the Chateau in 1968, and was the first of the big money records on the soul scene. Others, such as Jackie Lee's "Darkest Days", Edwin Starr's "Backstreet", the Sharpees' "Do The 45", Dobie Gray's "Out On The Floor" and the San Remo Strings' "Festival Time" became the original Northern Soul rarities. As they were heard, collectors like Graham "Docker" White and Richard Selwood would track copies down and introduce them to the DJs at the Twisted Wheel. Brian Rae deejayed at the club in 1967, and in an interview with Dave Evison on Radio Signal, he noted how on his return to the club in 1969, the music policy had changed.'

Stuart

[Guest wax machine]

Julian - That must have been the same very night as I recall "Do the 45" was in the same package and

he only took the original up once as by that time I had acetates made. Docker was/is a close friend, we

share the same Birthday, I love his dry sense of humour, he wouldn't have to do anything to have me in

fits of laughter, unfortunately I've lost touch with him sadly. Now I didn't know he stopped off at your

place first, he forgot to tell me that, now after 40 years I'm finding out the truth, anyway he brought

both back in one piece and that was all I was concerned about at the time.

Best Wishes Pal,

Richard.

Hi Richard

I seem to remember 'Docker' bringing this to Lord Jims in Huddersfield along with the Sharpees - Do the 45 ( with Les Cokell in attendance) for me to play ( I was the DJ) before we we went to the Wheel later that night ( around 3ish when we got to Manchester!)

Happy days

Julian

PS

Played a nice Fat Fish issue of Baby Reconsider at the Greatstone last Saturday

[Guest wax machine]

Steve - Someone asked for a photo of Froggy so I'm trying it here. Do you remember was it Kevin

had a girlfriend (Denise I think) used to live at the bottom of Hare Lane, he came to Torquay with us

if you recall, they used to drink with us at the Tabard Lounge?? Ring any bells, just wondered what

happened to them, do you ever get to Gloucester or are you still abroad? Jinx and Adam, know anything

about them? Hope you are doing well, still playing the sounds?

Take Care Pal, Richard (RS)

Regarding Baby Reconsider...........Gloucester Discovery!!! Was recently talking to Richard Selwood owner of the Wax Machine.

When Levine was making SWONS he contacted Richard and asked about the history behind the record as apparently this was one of the very first imports to be played as a cover up,literally covered with no title(hence cover-up!) later the trend to cover records ith alternate(not real)title these became "secret sounds"

Just shows the effort Levine put into SWONS even if it isn´t popular(cant comment ,not seen it).

Back to original post I didn´t go t to the Chateau but it was a legend in the Gloucester area,along with the Cats,Coppertops,Blue Moon ,Spa Lounge,Dolphin Club ecetera,

All the clubs in those days had fights! What about the legendry Market Harboro all-dayers? Wasn´t it Pep that got locked up for organising fisticuffs at one of these?

The history of the northern scene really is an epic in the making!

Steve

[Guest posstot]

The Chateau used to be brillient but the Managment/Owners changed their policy years ago concerning 'the disco' element, especaily when the locals used to kick the crap out of each other (not me of cause, I'm not that local to Droitwich; very much a local kinkin' for local people!!)

It's very old looking on the inside these day's; Posh Weddings are the order of the day, which means it's expensive to hire what is left of the old room.

Good place for a romantic weekend, food is good etc

Any more local info anyone would like on Worcestershire?

Yes, who what where and why is worcester sauce? Or is worcester sauce called worcester sauce but made in grrrrrrrrrriiiimmmmmmsssssssbbbbbyyyyyyyyyy!

[Guest wax machine]

Worcestershire sauce (pronounced /ˈwʊstərʃɪər sɔːs/^[1] WOOS-tər-sheer saws), or often Worcester Sauce (/ˈwʊstər sɔːs/ WOOS-tər saws) is a fermented liquid condiment used for flavouring many cooked and uncooked dishes, especially with grilled or barbecued meats. It is also used as an ingredient in the preparation of cocktails and drinks.

First made at 68 Broad Street, Worcester, England, by two dispensing chemists, John Wheeley Lea and William Henry Perrins, the Lea & Perrins brand was commercialised in 1837 and has been produced in the current Midlands Road factory in Worcester since 16 October 1897.^[2] In 1930 the business was sold to HP Foods and was subsequently acquired by the Groupe Danone. It was purchased by H.J. Heinz Company in 2005 who continue to manufacture and market "The Original Lea & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce", under the name Lea & Perrins, Inc. Other companies manufacture similar products, often also called Worcester Sauce, and marketed under different brands.

Richard Selwood

Yes, who what where and why is worcester sauce? Or is worcester sauce called worcester sauce but made in grrrrrrrrrriiiimmmmmmsssssssbbbbbyyyyyyyyyy!

[Jerry Hipkiss]

Hello Richard, to answer a few of your questions yes still in Germany, no not djíng

last saw Jinx at a soul do in Cheltenham four years ago.Last saw Adam mid eighties he was still living off the Bristol road.

The Kevin was "Kev Jones" he lived nearly next door to the"YM" (strangely enough i bumped into him in Portugal in 1982! hadn´t seen him since early Wigan, his then girlfriend Denise Johnson married a guy from Tamworth? and moved away from Gloucester mid seventies .

Cry to me Solomon Burke What a record saw him live in Berlin last year brilliant night a bit of a lounge jobby but terrific anyway.

take care

Steve

Jinx is still out and about, he and I were both dj'ing at Berkeley for Andy Edwards last weekend and he'll be at Soulfusion 21 November as usual - and Steve, I've a feeling that it might have been Denise who looked out for me at the Torch as mentioned in t'other thread!

Never got to the Chateau, too young, but in Cheltenham between the Blue Moon closing and the Spa Lounge opening (1968) there was a dump of a little club next to Alstone Baths where two girls in the year above me at school played the tunes, Froggy, Docker et al used to come over so the tunes were pretty hot, always remember going down there with Simone Oliver, who lived a few doors away from me, and her mate April (can't recall her surname but remember where she lived cos it was on my paper round!) and being hacked off cos the Gloster boys picked them up and took them home leaving me to walk all the way home across town!

Edited November 11, 2009 by Jerry Hipkiss

[Guest wax machine]

Jerry, Now isn't that just typical of the Gloucester boys to leave you to walk home, it's a good job I was

born and bred in Cheltenham but unfortunately worked in Gloucester so I saw both sides of it, besides I

used to buy all my clobber from the excellent boutiques, Ben Sherman shirts Cashmere Jackets and Ravel

shoes and I used to get my white stiff collars done at the Chinese Laundry, remember those???

Are you sure about the Blue Moon closing and re-opening in 68' I saw Jimi Hendrix there in 66', I know it

was 66' as he had just charted with "Hey Joe", I thought that was the Spa Lounge but maybe memory is

playing tricks but did see some great groups there and people like Long John Baldry, John Mayall, Edwin

Starr, Cream etc etc, the sounds weren't exactly northern as we know It but the beginnings of, the early

Stax/Atlantic and Motown sounds were popular at that time, like "Hold on I'm coming" and "Respect",

"Soul Man"- here is a photo from my collection of yours truly with Levi Stubbs of the 4 Tops, this was

about that sort of time, it was about the same time as I opened the shop in Gloucester, only one of

them left now, I thought they were great and still do.... now you watch it on that scooter!!

Best Regards

Richard.

Jinx is still out and about, he and I were both dj'ing at Berkeley for Andy Edwards last weekend and he'll be at Soulfusion 21 November as usual - and Steve, I've a feeling that it might have been Denise who looked out for me at the Torch as mentioned in t'other thread!

Never got to the Chateau, too young, but in Cheltenham between the Blue Moon closing and the Spa Lounge opening (1968) there was a dump of a little club next to Alstone Baths where two girls in the year above me at school played the tunes, Froggy, Docker et al used to come over so the tunes were pretty hot, always remember going down there with Simone Oliver, who lived a few doors away from me, and her mate April (can't recall her surname but remember where she lived cos it was on my paper round!) and being hacked off cos the Gloster boys picked them up and took them home leaving me to walk all the way home across town!

[Guest wax machine]

Steve,

Many thanks for your reply, I often wondered if Kev and Denise made it but obviously not, Oh well

that's life I guess. Good to hear Jinx is still on the scene, truly amazing after all these years, yeah I

reckon that Dave Godin should have included "Cry to me" on one of his Deep Soul CD's as that is

really what it is, I still find it very very moving, a real stunning piece of wax! The other one I really like

from his CD is Jean Stanback's "I still love you", I used to play that as my last record at the night club

in Worcester Street, do you remember the night I booked Alan Day to do that venue? I hear he is doing

a Torch re-union now that should be interesting!. If you do see Kev again remember me to him will you?

Is there a Northern Soul scene in Germany, I know it has taken off in the USA and Canada, it just goes

to show how strong the music is. I thought I'd tell you some Al Jolson stories but maybe we'll leave it

until next time, lucky you! Great to hear you are still on the scene.

Best Always Richard.

PS - In this photo is left to right, Alan S, Froggy, who are the other two do you know?

Hello Richard, to answer a few of your questions yes still in Germany, no not dj­ng

last saw Jinx at a soul do in Cheltenham four years ago.Last saw Adam mid eighties he was still living off the Bristol road.

The Kevin was "Kev Jones" he lived nearly next door to the"YM" (strangely enough i bumped into him in Portugal in 1982! hadn´t seen him since early Wigan, his then girlfriend Denise Johnson married a guy from Tamworth? and moved away from Gloucester mid seventies .

Cry to me Solomon Burke What a record saw him live in Berlin last year brilliant night a bit of a lounge jobby but terrific anyway.

take care

Steve

[Ezzie Brown]

hey up rich an steve.......hope u ok,,, ,,,,,,,every friday afternoon in the wax machine, with a trip to the tabard thrown in.......ice on ice jerry butler lp .....remember buyin that from you rich...........not seen or heard from mel for ages, guess he is in chesterfield most weekends as he hasnt brought any washing round to our house lol...............i still got a membership card for compass club in torquey, gave others to my mate or sold um, ..................that was a rare photo of froggy .......no coat ..........i still see matchee occassionally and was talkin to some guys i know from carlisle , who said they used to go to the chatue and blue moon, great stuff .atb ezzie

[Guest wax machine]

Hey Up Ezzie,

Hey Up - now that's a typical Gloucester term, now I'm sorry but I can't quite put a face to you,

age does not come alone you know! I remember we used to sell that Jerry Butler LP The Ice Man

Cometh - do you have a photo of yourself back then to upload as I want to see what you look like,

so I can fit the jigsaw in, are you Cheltenham or Gloucester, you obviously know Mel and Steve and

everyone else from those days but I just can't see your face for some odd reason. Hope you are not

offended by my memory lapse which usually is quite good, I can remember things clearly that happened

40 years ago but don't ask me what I had for lunch yesterday ha ha!! Glad you liked the photo of Froggy

I've got tons of them, I probably have a picture of you somewhere if I only could remember what you

looked like.

Cheers Mate Richard.

hey up rich an steve.......hope u ok,,, ,,,,,,,every friday afternoon in the wax machine, with a trip to the tabard thrown in.......ice on ice jerry butler lp .....remember buyin that from you rich...........not seen or heard from mel for ages, guess he is in chesterfield most weekends as he hasnt brought any washing round to our house lol...............i still got a membership card for compass club in torquey, gave others to my mate or sold um, ..................that was a rare photo of froggy .......no coat ..........i still see matchee occassionally and was talkin to some guys i know from carlisle , who said they used to go to the chatue and blue moon, great stuff .atb ezzie

[Ezzie Brown]

i was the little one who had the twin , used to go to torch with the freeman brothers sid pratt, dave cooper etc we was only the youngsters, 17 when i went to the torch my brother worked with anderson in bon marche...........god help him!!!!!!!!!!........ezzie

[Guest wax machine]

Ezzie - Sorry I'm none the wiser, Dave Cooper rIngs a bell though and do you mean black Andy from the

Bon Marche (no racial pun intended!) Yeah I know him OK what happened to him? Always thought he could buy my records for peanuts, no matter what price you gave him he would exclaim "HOW MUCH!!!!"

Now come on Ezzie what about a photo, not shy are you? Don't remember any twins, did you live in Gloucester or Cheltenham?Where did you work, if you worked which most people did in those days apart

from Mel ha ha.......

Regards Richard.

i was the little one who had the twin , used to go to torch with the freeman brothers sid pratt, dave cooper etc we was only the youngsters, 17 when i went to the torch my brother worked with anderson in bon marche...........god help him!!!!!!!!!!........ezzie

[Jerry Hipkiss]

Are you sure about the Blue Moon closing and re-opening in 68' I saw Jimi Hendrix there in 66', I know it

was 66' as he had just charted with "Hey Joe", I thought that was the Spa Lounge but maybe memory is

playing tricks but did see some great groups there and people like Long John Baldry, John Mayall, Edwin

Starr, Cream etc etc, the sounds weren't exactly northern as we know It but the beginnings of, the early

Stax/Atlantic and Motown sounds were popular at that time, like "Hold on I'm coming" and "Respect",

"Soul Man

Blue Moon closed in summer 67 Richard - the Hendrix gig was 11 February 1967, with Geno the next month! It was then converted to the Spa Lounge by the same owners but IIRC the soul boys had to find somewhere else for a while as they were aiming for a different market, hence the dump of a venue I mentioned. Of course we got back in there and it became THE venue right up to 73, can remember "The Major" (Andy Anderson himself!) along with some others spinning up there - R Dean Taylor on a single when it was dog rare, Guy Darrell, Dottie Cambridge and more!! Andy also ran a couple of coaches to Whitchurch dayer, remember the "bomb scare" one?

Oh, and the clothes shops - Leslie Hull, Roydens etc!!

[Jerry Hipkiss]

Just out of interest, here's a list of the live acts that I know of who played at the Blue Moon - these acts often went on to play places like the Golden Torch or the Carlton in Warrington on the same tour...the ones in bold I actually saw!

BLUE MOON.doc

[Ezzie Brown]

soz rich cant do clever stuff on here, im in churchdown, as i was then. yep black andy is the guy,very dodgy in more than one way imo.............i went to the whitchurch dayer hippo speaks of , but in cars, and left to go to stafford at bomb scare time!!!!!!! have to meet up if your near, i still have the remainns of a wax machine paper logo on a record box upstairs..........i worked nights at walls so could be in the shop most friday afties ..loved it, used to go to manchester a bit then to..........regards ezzie

[burt weedon]

DUDES THEY DID A SOUL NITE IN THE 70,S WE USED TO GOOO,,

SUM FROM THE BLACK COUNTRY....WIV SUM OV THE WORCESTER DUDES

IT WOZ AUWIGHT.....

DONALD WOZ A F..KIN NITEMARE SA PER THE NORM.....

[Guest mickeyb]

Is Donald still about? Got some great memories of him - like dancing across the car park at the services after St Ives singing Monday Monday at the top of his voice.

[Jerry Hipkiss]

Is Donald still about? Got some great memories of him - like dancing across the car park at the services after St Ives singing Monday Monday at the top of his voice.

He he, I'd forgotten that! - yes, he was at Soulfusion a few months ago and celebrated his birthday at Coppertops earlier this year as well.

[Okehdownsouth]

I hear that there was an All-Nighter there on Saturday 24th October with a very impressive line up of DJ's.

I would have gone had I know earlier, any news and views would be appreciated

[Pat]

Hi Paul

        Yes there was a nighter there last week-end & there will be a Dayer there on Dec 27

                         Alan C.