Daved

Going back a couple of Fridays and here's a review by Dave D of his adventures at the Winsford All nighter, complete with modern room playlists...... Liberation - Winsford 18.8.2001 It was my first trip to Winsford and one I had been looking forward to immensely since the beginning of the year as I promised myself that Id pay it a visit. My main reason for visiting was to establish if the recent rave reviews about the modern room, titled Liberation, were substantiated. After a lengthy but trouble free drive from Chatham, I checked into a b&b, got changed and arrived at the warm-up at The Queens pub at 9.15. It was not very busy at that time and northern soul was blaring out to get people in the mood. Said hello to Roger Williams who was, I suppose, warming himself up for the long night ahead. Also had a chat with a few others until a minibus full of the Soul Down South crew with Terry Jones arrived at about 10.30 and seemed to take over the place. They missed the brief modern spot and was back to northern. I enjoyed The Queens - the music was good, it wasnt too busy and it was a good opportunity to have a few pints and a laugh before the allnighter. Over to the allnighter. Poked my head in the northern room. its huge - sound system is good playing Terry Callier and John Bowie. Oh no - its gone silent; technical hitch so Im off into the modern room. Theirry Boulanger, over from Belgium for the weekend, is playing Sunshine Anderson. My wife walks straight into the room and onto the dancefloor. In fact, quite a lot of people are dancing, and its only 11.15. The modern room is a nice small square shape. There are big potted plants and nice comfortable seats set in an almost complete rectangle shape in two corners creating a lounge bar type of environment but there was no lounging going on. The DJ and decks are on the ground, not elevated which all goes to create a intimate party atmosphere. The music was very good ranging from 70s to brand new, rare to very easy to find but the emphasis is on good modern danceable soul music. Roger Williams and Terry Jones played their sets back to back for what seemed a marathon three hours because the music was so good. Ive listed Rogers set below and Terry played lots of different things from Vivian Reed to the new Ollie Woodson cut due out on Expansion soon. Tony Dawber also played a very good set of recent big tunes including Bob Sinclair, Darwin Hobbs, Freddie Jackson and Cynthia Biggs/Sharon Bryant. The occasional tune did not do it for me but I think thats to be expected for an allnighter lasting nine hours. There was one 30 minute stint where the music was a bit eclectic for my taste but overall 95% did do it for me and thats an excellent hit rate. An excellent crowd also made for an enjoyable night and it was well worth the long trip. Recommended. Theirry Boulanger GWEN McCRAE - Winners together (Together LP) G.C. CAMERON - Im gonna give you respect (Love songs LP) BETTY WRIGHT - Keep feelin (Explosion LP) BEN TANKARD - N-da-spirit (15") (Git yo praize on CD) C + C MUSIC FACTORY - Searchin (Same CD) DRAMATICS - Shes my kinda girl (New dimension LP) ANDRE DE LANGE - A friend (C&J R&B Mix) (Worth the wait CD) ATLANTIC STARR - All because of you (All because CD) RONNIE McNEIR - The good side of your love (Rare McNeir CD) III FRUM THA SOUL - My body (Same CD) HAROLD WHALEY - Playthang (Simply Soul 3 CD) ZHANE - Request line (Saturday night CD) SUNSHINE ANDERSON - Heard it all before (18") (Your woman CD) LATANYA - Why you acting shady (19") (Same CD) OLU - Dont cry (Soul catcher CD ROBBIE DANZIE - Summer (Best Of CD) Roger Williams Sweet & Wonderful - Jean Carn/Glenn Jones Love Town - Booker Newberry III Circles - Atlantic Starr Dont Let Love Get You Down - Archie Bell & The Drells Didnt Know About Love Til I Found You - Lenny White Share The Night - World Premiere Dont Let It Go To Your Head - Jean Carn Seventh Heaven - Gwen Guthrie What Am I Gonna Do - Akwaaba People Ribbon In The Sky - 2 Men 4 Soul Wilder - Stargate featuring Tyler A Miracle - Dez I Should Be Groovin - Mr. Alexander Find A Way - Trey Lorenz Spread Love - Messengers featuring Lisa Millett We Are One - Urban Blues Project featuring Bobby Pruitt By Your Side - Greg Gaulthier & Tony L featuring Michelle Weeks Learn To Give - Arnold Jarvis Wishing On A Star - Randy Crawford Oh, and a little forthcoming Expansion eksclooosiv!! - twice, again!! Everybodys Talking - Rance Allen Everyday Love - Dazz Band Here With My Best Friend - Stephanie Cooke Keep It In The Family - Leon Haywood Syreeta & GC Cameron (cant remember the title!!) Dave D

Review of Terrys Chocolate Soul Nite Always good to get stuff from the man on the street and heres a good one a review of last Fridays - Terrys Chocolate Soul in London town - by Dave Dixon sounds like a good one -read on...................... I arrived at 9.30pm, walked up the stairs of the Catch bar where Chocolate Soul is held. I paid the an at the top of the stairs and I was in. My first thoughts were that its much smaller than I imagined it would be. The room is L shaped, with a bar to the left and the DJ stand and dancefloor at the back. There was also, for the first time, a record/CD dealer positioned at the front. Very reasonable his prices were too. There were not many people in at this time but this was probably due to the football still being on. I knew it was going to be a packer as it was Terry Joness birthday, Gavin Paiges wet the babys head night and also several other regular punters birthdays. In fact, there were a variety of cards at the front door for signing. The music at the beginning was great modern soul i.e. new stuff from the last couple of years. TJ came on afterwards and it was suddenly very busy and played his usual very high quality set that included brand new sounds (Janita) and old classics (George Benson - "Love Ballad"). Mike Stephens was the nights guest DJ and played a set that most people would normally expect from - mainly brand new stuff, most of it not very well known although he did slip in a few very popular tunes. I did hear some people say they felt that the tempo of the stuff he played was a bit slow and verging on RnB (Im talking Jaheim here, not Charles Sheffield). Having said that, the dancefloor was still bust throughout his set. He also got more than the customary hour that guest DJs seem to get. I reckon it was 90 minutes which I thought was good because theyre are usually the most interesting sets of the night. TJ finished off the last hour with a storming set of northern and modern classics including The Constellations, Voices of East Harlem, Ace Spectrum, Tavasco, B.G.L., Drizabone, Barbara Acklin, Jackie Wilson, Bobby Reed, Beloyd and 4 Below Zero. The place was absolutely rocking with hardly any room to dance anywhere. There were people there from different soul backgrounds but all appreciated the same fantastic music and really enjoying themselves in a very friendly atmosphere. . I had a great time. It was my first visit but it wont be my last. . Dave Dixon . . Event details . Terrys Chocolate Soul. Last Friday every month. . 9.00pm-2.00am. £5 + usual concessions. . Terry Jones, Sourmash and monthly special guests .