Ady Croasdell

6TS and The New Untouchables have a major new Crossfire date for your diary. Easter Sunday, April 12th, 10pm-6am will see the first all Northern Soul Oldies all nighter in London since the famous Rocket events back in 2002. It will be held at the Venue at the International Student House (ISH) on Great Portland Street, London W1 opposite Great Portland Street tube station. Admission will be £15 on the door. There will be a live appearance at midnight from the great all US girl group The Flirtations (previously known as the Gypsies), featuring their own backing musicians. They will perform ‘Nothing But A Heartache’, ‘Stronger Than Her Love’, ‘It’s A Woman’s World’, ‘Need Your Loving’, ‘Jerk It’ and more stunning sounds. The hugely impressive DJ line up boasts the internationally renowned Keb Darge, who first made his name as one of the best Northern Soul dancers, then transformed the scene with his “Newies” DJing at Stafford and the 100 Club in the 80s. Keb now hosts weekly Northern, Deep Funk and rocking nights at Soho’s Madame Jo Jos club in Soho and has revived his interest in Northern Soul by DJing classic oldies to a new eager young London crowd. 100 club stalwart Mick Smith, who has been DJing Northern since the 60s, makes a rare Crossfire appearance. Mick is undoubtedly the best qualified oldies DJ in the south, if not the world. Fellow 6TS DJ Roger Stewart, who has been wheeling and dealing in records since the birth of Northern Soul, is yet another top oldies DJ who has lived with the scene for nearly 40 years and packs the floor at Bisley and many other southern nightspots, as well as gracing the 100 Club anniversaries with his presence. Our true northerner import for the night is the larger than life Ginger, who plays more major Northern dates per year than any other DJ. Another veteran of the scene, he DJed at the original Wigan casino, Cleethorpes Pier and Winter gardens, St Ives, Blackburn King George’s Hall, Brighouse and in recent years has swept across Europe like the Bubonic Plague. Larger than life, twice as gobby and with a box to swoon for; don’t miss out on this rare southern sighting. Ady Croasdell aka Harboro Horace has run the 6TS Northern Soul all night dances, mainly at the 100 Club, for thirty years and has also run the premier Northern Soul Weekender at Cleethorpes for 16 years. He has been the head honcho at the world’s # 1 reissue label, Kent records for 27 years and went to his first pre-Northern “old soul” dance in the summer of 1969. Old School doesn’t begin to cover it. Our special guest for the night is none other than Ian Levine, the man responsible for more Northern Soul discoveries than anyone. Ian rose to fame at the legendary Blackpool Mecca soul nights and was arguably the top DJ on the scene throughout its mid 70s heyday. He played at all the big Northern events of the time including the opening night of the Casino. Now a resident in London he mainly pursues a music business career producing records very successfully with a staggering 43 UK hits to his name. Some of these have been made for the Northern Soul scene and tracks like The Exciter’s ‘Reaching For The Best’, Frances Nero’s ‘Footsteps’, Sidney Barnes ‘Standing On Solid Ground’ and Chuck Jackson’s ‘All Over The World’ are universally recognised as Northern Soul classics. Ian was the main DJ at the Rocket all nighters on Holloway Road and has agreed to come out of self imposed retirement just for this major event. With such a heavyweight DJing line up and the live appearance of one of the best Northern Soul acts ever, this promises to be the soul gig of the year. Ady Croasdell www.6ts.info