Geoff

The Exit 21 night at the Rochdale Masonic Hall is a quarterly event that I don't like to miss. I did miss the last one but that was due to horrible weather. Sandy and I got there just gone 7.30 and there were a good number in, and it filled up rapidly. The Masonic Hall is a nice venue with an excellent dance floor, the best I've encountered since moving up here. The only dance floor comparable is the Polish Centre in Bury. Talc not required. The two regular DJs are Mark Sharrocks and Steve Henderson, the guest was Paul Owen. Musically it was mainly what I call classic oldies but quite a few lesser played were spotlighted. I admit I'm more “u­nderplayed and rare” but I still enjoy an oldies night with some surprises played. Among the records played were: Meet Me Halfway (Lillie Bryant); A Touch Of Velvet (Mood Mosaic); The Inside Guys (Soul Interiors); Do The Monkey With James (Perry & The Harmonics); As Long As You Love (Ronnie & Robyn); I'm Satisfied With You (Furies); Baby Mine (Thelma Houston); People That's Why (Idle Few); Heart Trouble (Parliaments); Up And Over (Jay Traynor); Lover (De-Lites); You Don't Want Me No More (Major Lance); No One To Love (Pat Lewis); You Don't Say Nothing (Tamala Lewis); The Joke's On You (Kenny Gamble); When You Lose The One You Love (Buddy Smith, record of the night for me). A good mix in my opinion. Danced quite a bit, even a few of the fast ones. It was nice to see so many friends there, and Sandy was in her element chatting to friends she'd not seen for ages. We left just before midnight when it ended having enjoyed a great night. Thanks to all concerned.

The 45 Revolutions soul club has only been in existence for a few months but for many of us who enjoy getting away from the tried and tested playlists this club is manna from heaven. Knowledgeable hosts and guest DJs and a gathering of like minded folk who enjoy digging a little deeper for their listening pleasure. The latest night was no exception. Regular DJs Tony Poff and Alan Massey were joined by guests Mark I'Anson and Dave Baggaley ensuring an evening of quality soul. As usual a wide variety of styles was played, even some R&B (Oh Lady Luck by Lloyd Price). I'd say there was slightly more Crossover and medium tempo tunes played rather then Northern stompers. Tunes played included: Blackmail (Bobby Taylor); Only Inside (TSU Toronadoes); Put A Smile On Your Face (EJ & The Echoes); I Bet'cha Couldn't Love Me (Manhattans); Holding On (Detroit Emeralds); Let Me Prove That I Love You/Call On Me (Dynells); On And On (Artistics); The Man That I Am (Ohio Players); Not Only The Girl Knows (Victors); Who's It Gonna Be (Dee & Joe); I Can't Get Over Losing Your Love (Incredibles); Yes Sir Brother (Shirley Brown); 39-21-46 Shape (Jimmy Jones); Let My Baby Go (Embraceables); The Change (Ernestine Eady); Hello Stranger (Capitols); This Kind Of Love (Special Delivery); and many more. I hope this illustrates the range of music played. A good number in, including some new faces. Good to see plenty of my friends there. Thanks to the DJs for entertaining us and to the lady behind the bar, she was kept busy.

Now that the cloud hanging over the D'Havilland Club has been lifted it was all systems go for the Spitfire. And there was a good crowd in to enjoy the music. Good to see Linda back at the door with Julie collecting the money and fitting wristbands. Vance started proceedings and was ably abetted by guests Jimmy Knowles, Steve Thomas and Fred Benson and of course Pete Eccles. Each DJ bought something different to the afternoon, classics, lesser played and some “big tunes”, including I Don't Mind (Carolyn Cooke); I Can't Stand To Lose You (E J Chandler); She's My Beauty Queen (Joe Matthews); Pretty As A Picture (Moses Dillard); Sugar Coated Love (Barbara Lynn); Miss You So (Ted Taylor); Look At That Girl (Otis Redding); Good Things (Toni Washington); Don't Give Me Love (Dorothy Berry); Mama, I Think I'm In Love (Beverly & The Del Capris); Since You've Gone Away (Cliffhangers); Don't Make Me Love You (Huns Review); Wrapped Around My Finger (Poets); Count The Days, Lady In Green (Magnetics); Up And Over (Jay Traynor); My My My Baby (Voltaires); She'll Be Gone (Betty O'Brien), etc. I think this illustrates the depth of music played. I've always found The Spitfire a very friendly club and I spoke to two people who'd not been before and they both told me they had enjoyed it and found it friendly. My thanks to the DJs and to the club staff.

Another superb evening's soul at The Shirt last night. Regulars Bob Spendlove and Dave Cartlidge were joined by three guests Phil Broadhurst, Derek Watmough and Paul Hayden. We arrived just as Bob was ending his first set to be followed by Phil Broadhurst, then it was Dave, Derek, Paul and then back to Bob and Dave. Musically the night was excellent covering all tempos and styles. Tracks included Leave Her Alone (Ray Jiminez); Never Set Me Free (Charades); There He Is (Dream Team); Can We Share It (Rick Sheppard); Hold Me In Your Arms (Eddie Holman); Miss Heartbreaker (Ascots); That's Why I Cry (George Hughley); To Love To Love (Billy Stewart); Tell Me (Vows); Don't Let It Go To Your Head (Lorraine Ellison); I Need A Love (Gene Barbour & The Cavaliers); Deeper Than That (Preludes); Now He's Gone (Bobbie Smith & The Dream Girls); Love Another Girl (Rays Featuring Hal Miller); You Can't Outsmart A Woman (Kell Osborne); Our Lives Are Shaped By What We Love (Odyssey) and many more. A good number in, but a few regulars missing on holiday, etc. Thanks to Bob and Dave for organising such great nights at The Shirt, surely the best club in the Bury area. And thanks to the guests for their music and the bar staff too. Looking forward to the next one.

It was a relief to arrive at the Sudden Social Club for 45 Revolutions last Friday, we'd had a miserable journey that took ages and was very cold, but the music at the club made it all worthwhile. In addition to Alan Massey and Tony Poff, the guest DJs were Dereck Higham and John Baggaley. As usual there were some great tunes played, some I knew but plenty new to me, just what I like. In addition to Northern, Crossover and Modern a couple of ska records were played. No t the biggest fan of ska but the two played were very good in particular Queen Of The Minstrels (Cornel Campbell & The Eternals). On the soul side plenty of good'uns: The Tight Rope (King Solomon's Advisers): Love Went Away (The Objectives); I Couldn't Take It (Little Edith); Don't Give It Away (Isley Brothers); The Hardway (Gwen Kousar); New Lock on my Door (The Kampells); Hide And Seek (Lillian Dupree); That's The Way It Is (Sweet Three); Beware Beware (The Compliments); Hello Stranger (Elkie Brooks); Save Me (Julie Driscoll with Brian Auger & The Trinity); Love Is A 2 Way Street (?Revels); Put A Smile On Your Face (E.J. & The Echoes); If I Could Only Prove To You (3 Pieces); I Know Your Love Has Gone Away (The Drapers); You're After My Guy (Clara Ward); These Memories (Almeta Lattimore) and loads more goodies. Tony played 30 minutes of oldies at the end, great tunes but my pick was Darkest Days by Jackie Lee. It was good to see a large number of people in, the word is obviously getting around. Nice to see many friends. Thanks to all the DJs and the hard working lady behind the bar.

My third visit to this great club which I find is a breath of fresh air musically. Sandy and I arrived around 8ish to find the music playing and quite a few friends already seated. Resident Alan Massey was on the decks playing some nice medium tempo tunes, followed by the other resident Tony Poff who upped the tempo considerably and played quite a few tracks I didn't know. Tony was followed by the first guest DJ Dave Flint who played an absolutely brilliant set, rarities and underplayed, just what I like and also I'm sure all the others present. The second guest Tony Mac followed and continued with a superb set, quite a few of my personal favourites included. For the last hour Alan played and was followed by Tony who ended the night. So many superb records played, unfortunately I didn't note any down so must rely on my inadequate memory: A Dream; Stubborn Heart; Feminine Ingenuity; Our Day Is Here; I'll Run; Try My Love; Catch That Teardrop; Ain't That Just Like A Woman; Make Up Your Mind; And In Return; and so many more. Nice to see so many friends there, Sue Parker, Bill Murray, Sandra Bail, Derek and Janet Watmough and many others, great to be with people who share my love for this music. I note that there is an increase in numbers attending, the word must be out. We left about 11.45 to get the bus back to Bury. I would recommend 45 Revolutions to anyone who is interested in the lesser played sounds of our music, don't miss it!

On Friday night we went to 45 Revolutions at the Sudden Social Club in Rochdale. It's a new club, this was its second night and I thought it was the best soul night I've been to for ages. The resident DJs are Tony Poff and Alan M, guests were Derek Watmough and Gamekeeper Jones. The club has a decent sized dance floor, and a bar, prices pretty good too. A reasonable number in but I expect it to increase over the next few months. Only downside is finding it, took a while, could write a paragraph about that but who'd be interested? It's worth making the effort to find it. Music was excellent, no top 100, just good soul music, definitely much on the rare and underplayed side of our music. Records played included: Think Nothing About It (Gene Chandler); Lonely One (Steptones); Tell Me You're Mine (Four Sonics Plus One); Ain't That Just Like A Woman (Doug Banks); Dance Senorita (Hollywood Flames); Lonely Boy Song (Kell Osborne); You Better Watch Out (Dorothy Berry); Up And Down The Hill (T C Lee & The Bricklayers); Push Away From The Table (Herbert Hunter); Until (Billy Barnes, played as a tribute to the late Carl Willingham); Without My Girl (Chasers); All Alone With No Love (Contemplations/Rock Candy); I Love My Baby (International GTOs); You Got To Look Up (Drapers); Under The Moon (Rufus Wonder) and loads more. The consensus among our friends was that it had been an excellent night with good music, what you want at a soul night. We left at midnight hoping to return to the next one. Highly recommended.

Just seen this. My partner likes to dance, is there a reasonably sized dance floor?

Nice afternoon at the Spitfire Soul Club in the Dhaviland Club, Farnworth, always a good afternoon of mixed styles of soul music. A little bit quieter than usual, but it was Mother's Day, a lot of family stuff going on. Guest DJs were Paul Hayden, Bob Spendlove, and Fred Benson; augmenting the efforts of Pete Eccles and Vance Butterworth. A real mix of tunes was played, some rare and expensive, some cheap but all good quality, as we expect at the Spitfire: Magnetics' When I'm With My Baby, Count The Days, Lady In Green; O'Jays' Just Another Girl; Gerri Thomas Look What I've Got; Harry Deal & The Galaxies' I Still Love You; Eddie Kendricks Date With The Rain; Bobby Wells' Be's That Way Sometimes; Hesitations' That's What Love Is; Betty Everett People Around Me; Silvetti Spring Rain; Gerri Granger Ain't That Funny; Skip Robinson & His Imperials' I Just Can't Wait; Bessie Banks I Can't Make It Without You Baby; Larry Clinton She's Wanted; Jokers' Soul Sound; Underground Express I Never Found A Girl; Classics' One Dance; Al Macarther His True Love For You; and loads more. Nice to see friends there. Thanks to Pete and Vance for running the club and Linda and Julie on the door. Also to all the DJs who entertained us so well. Please keep supporting your local soul clubs, we will miss them if they disappear.

The Shirt club is one of my favourite nights but last night it reached new heights, the music was sublime and the atmosphere was pretty good too. We got there fairly early in the evening, took our seats and the night began. Shane Cheesebrough, one of the guests was on the decks playing an early spot followed by Bob Spendlove. Then John Clement made his debut as a guest and was followed by Dave Cartlidge, then it was Shane again. We left as he was finishing at about 11.30. Musically the Shirt has changed over the last year, when I noticed that to fill the floor you had to play mainly top 500 NS records, but now a more progressive mix is played and it gets people dancing, so good to see. There were some new faces there too last night so the word is getting out. Tunes played included: Beautiful Philosophy (Internationals); Feminine Ingenuity Ruby); Under The Streetlight (Joe Bataan); Come Go With Me (Gloria Jones); Another Love (Ambers); Where Did I Go Wrong; (Spontanes); Keep Me Dancing (True Image); No Other Way (Cautions); Can't Let You Go (Soulful Twins); If It Feels This Good (Barbara Jean English); I'm On To You Girl (Skip Jackson); I'd Rather Leave on My Feet (Emanuel Laskey); Take Me Back (Lee Fields); It's No Sin (Gene & Eddie); Beggars Can't Be Choosey (Eula Cooper); Certain Kind Of Lover (Lovelites); What Does It Take (5th Dimension); I've Got A Feeling (Baby Washington); Storm Warning (Volcanos); I Love The Boy Next Door (Lockettes); It's Not The Same (Anthony & Imperials). As I said above a really wide selection of our music. Always good to see our friends, thanks to the DJs and the Shirt staff.

After a great night at The Shirt we decided to go in the opposite direction from home to Rochdale, to the Masonic Hall for the three monthly soul night run by the Exit21 guys Ste Henderson and Mark Sharrocks. The guest DJs were Paul Eatough and Tony Mac. The Masonic Hall is a very nice venue with tables around the dance floor and a bar to the left. The dance floor is, I'm sure all the dancers would agree, fantastic, possibly the best I've danced on since moving up north, nearest would be the Polish Centre in Bury. I could even spin on it, can't normally risk it on some other floors. It has a good sound system, the music is not deafening which is a problem sometimes at other venues. Musically it is mainly oldies but I heard quite a few that are rarely played, or not when I'm out. There were quite a few played that were far too fast for me to dance to but there were people on the floor all evening. Among tracks played were: Skull Snaps' My Hang Up Is You; Blanch Carter Halos Are For Angels; Baby Washington & Don Gardner We're Gonna Make It Big; The Bitter & The Sweet I Won't Have No Babies For You; TSU Toronadoes' Heart Please Don't Break; Major Harris Call Me Tomorrow; International GTOs' I Love My Baby; The Outsiders' Lonely Man; Parliaments' Heart Trouble; Kittens' Hey Operator; Jimmy Jones' 39-21-46 Shape; Commands' No Time For You; Yvonne Baker You Didn't Say A Word; Mel Britt She'll Come Running Back; Phonetics' Just A Boy's Dream; Ruby Feminine Ingenuity; Gerri Grainger I Go To Pieces...Everytime. Good to see many of my friends there and particularly nice to see Sue Parker whom I knew in London. She was on the dance floor for a very good part of the night. It began to thin out after 11pm and we left around midnight. A very enjoyable evening and I'd recommend it to any soul lovers in the area. Thanks to the DJs, promoters and staff of the hall.

On the soul calendar one night not to be missed if possible is the Ashton Ukrainian. Last Saturday's lived up to my expectations, a mix of soul musical styles in a club with a knowledgeable audience. We arrived in time to get seats, thanks to Derek and Janet Watmough for the lift, and of course good to have Paddy with us. Four guest DJs were on the bill for the night: Roger Banks; “Jumping” Joan Livesey; Simon Ingham and Luci Jones. Each added a different slant to the night's music. Plus of course Phil Dunn and Chris Churm. As always the music was aimed at the dance floor and it succeeded, keeping things moving all evening. Plenty records that were new to me played but I do remember the following: Al Green's Let Me Help You; ZZ Hill's Where She Att; Bob Meyer's version of I Only Get This Feeling;Jim Lee's Let's Go Baby; Lee Tillman's She's The One I Love; Chuck Bernard's Send For Me; Marvin Gaye's So Long; Reachers' I Just Want To Do My Own Thing; Continental Showstoppers' Not Too Young; Innocent Bystanders' Frantic Escape; Monique's Never Let Me Go; The Velvets' Let The Fool Kiss You; Jimmy Soul Clark's I'll Be Your Champion; etc. The list shows the variations in the music played, loads more, too many to mention. A good crowd in, and as I said above the dance floor was busy all night. Nice to see friends before Christmas, the people who attend are part of what makes this night so special. As usual thanks to the DJs and the staff of the club. I look forward to this night continuing in the new year with anticipation.

The Spirit Of The Orwell soul night has become one of the highlights of my soul calendar, the music is always top class with DJs who know their music and are not afraid to play records that most of us present do not know. The DJs know that we are an audience eager for new sounds as well as the more familiar “rare and underplayed”. Unfortunately I was unable to attend the one in November 2022 due to a train strike but this year I was fortunate that Jackie and Pete Ratcliffe gave me a lift, my thanks to them. The room at the Haydock Park Golf Club was filling nicely when we arrived; after getting drinks we found seats and began to soak up the music and atmosphere. I guess the main attraction was Butch, but the other DJs did a superb job. Among the records we heard were Looks Like Rain; That's The Way The Story Goes (perhaps my favourite of Butch's cover ups); Kiss Me Girl On Your Way Out; If I Ever; The Feeling's Still There; Sweet Temptation; Things A Lady Ain't Supposed To Do; Old Time Lover; It's All Over (Baby); Make Believe You Love Me; and so many others. At least half or more of Butch's set were one's I didn't know, and the other DJs also played some that were new to me. Absolutely my kind of night. The night flew by and all of a sudden it was 12.30 and time to leave. It was really nice to see so many people I rarely see now. Thanks to Steve and the Orwell guys, Butch and to the bar staff. I've been to some good soul nights this year but think this is my favourite, no disrespect to other ones.

Not to be missed.