Len

Shant! Nice one All the best, Len

Blimey, that's a 100 Club record if I ever heard one mate! All the best, Len

Brilliant, ain't it nice when that happens? - You've more than likely got most of my 'plays' but don't realise as yet, I've always been an 'other sider' - Trying my bestest to be 'cutting edge' All the best, Len

Oh, ok then Sean; you’ve talked me into it.... My sound for 2013 is this, ‘Billy Stewart - Count Me Out — Chess’ I'd be very surprised if this hasn't had an 'airing' at some venues before, but I haven't heard it out or at least I don't remember anyway - Out of interest, please let me know if someone else has 'championed' this and where they played it, I’d guess Bretby would be a good contender. All the best, Len

They'll catch up one day Great record. All the best, Len

I recon this was a bargain (I.M.H.O) of course! All the best, Len

Well there's the 'same ol, same ol' or the 'same new, same new' and not forgetting the ‘overplayed, underplayed' ..... ....I wouldn't give it too much thought mate, just try and make the most of where you do go - I tend not to analyse things too much The 'Public' do get what the 'Public' want, unfortunately it's not what I want..... All the best, Len

You don't need to explain yourself Ralph, it can't 'happen' for every D.J all of the time - If it did we'd soon moan because we would have nothing to moan about! All the best, Len

Another time (again at The Embankment Club) I had someone come up to me and tell me they were going to smack Butch in the face because they went to ask him to play some oldies, and he simply replied “No” and turned his back on them! — A panic overcame me, and I had too heartily agree with the person in question, saying “Leave it to me mate, I’ll have a f*ckin word, you’ve paid ya money, I’m in charge” etc, etc …..Then of course not doing a thing…. All the best, Len

Hi Ralph, Thanks for responding and I hope you don’t mind me bringing Lutterworth in as an example. I was simply demonstrating that sometimes everything doesn’t go right, this is why I said in my earlier post “I think this set of circumstances was just ‘one of those things’ and not to be picked apart” Let’s be fair here - You have always promoted Lutterworth as somewhere that won’t make too much compromise, so really it did do ‘what it said on the tin’ Maybe some folk wanted it slightly different that night, that’s all. Years ago, I had a night at The Embankment Club entitled ‘Albrighton Comes To Wellingborough’, long story, but it didn’t work and I had a f*ckin’ nightmare explaining to loads of people that the reason I put ‘Albrighton Comes To Wellingborough’ on the flyer was because the theme of the night was ‘Albrighton Comes To Wellingborough’ FFS! — A crowd of people walked across the (empty) dance floor to my table with their coats on and said “We didn’t travel all this way from Bedfordshire to hear this Sh*t” and went home……Nice…… ….My mistake was not seeing that I was one of only a few from Northants that travelled at that time, so lots of my regulars would never have heard of Albrighton……But I did put it on the flyer! — It wasn’t all bad, in fact this was all in the first half of the night, the night ended fine and Chris Anderton had a very busy dance floor — But, the negatives is what I will remember which is a shame. …..I hope that has deflected things away from your event a little mate All the best, Len

I think what the original poster meant by people accusing D.J’s of ‘Playing for themselves’ is when someone thinks the D.J isn’t interested in sharing the enjoyment he gets from his choice of tunes or even cares if people are enjoying them — To me, this is just yet another Northern Soul ‘Urban Myth’ anyway. The other take on D.J’s playing for themselves is of course the correct one — This is when they play their own choice / taste of tunes and hope others enjoy them too. All the best, Len P.s - Enjoy your retirement Jocko, but I will try and tempt you out of it once in a while Heck, the venue is at a Bowls Club after all

It's all so f*ckin' obvious isn't it mate? But what beggar’s belief is that you still get people who think the night is solely for them, and are aggressive with it. We all know the old 'saying' - 'It does what it says on the tin'.....But I honestly believe, some folk don't even read the flyers (Tin) No, matter - We are always going to get these moaning 'Decks Pests', it's just something that unfortunately has to be dealt with. Trying to stay 'on topic', these people that moan are convinced the D.J is playing for themselves and I think that's a real shame. As soon as they make 'their' views known the whole D.J experience can be ruined for someone who is most probably putting a lot of effort in to their set. All the best, Len

:lol: - I was expecting more than three words Terry, but for some 'dark' reason, those few words have tickled me All the best, Len

Hi Kev, I know John pretty well and one thing I love about him is his dry sense of humour, which takes a while to catch because it’s so blo*dy dry! What I'm saying is, I don’t for one minute think John would say such a thing and mean it, I would imagine he was being ‘Ironicle’. I have to say I wasn’t there, but just wanted to put that point across because I bought his name into the discussion. All the best, Len

Yes, well said. I put loads of thought in a D.J line up - More so, than a set believe it or not. I see a night being made up of layers, building up nicely, usually for the main guest to take it 'up, up and away' (If that makes sense) I've even had people moaning, if I am to play a few not so known Mid-tempo tunes at 8.00pm, which I find ridiculous - You can't go 'Bang' at 8.00pm and keep that 'high' going all-night. Even if that were possible, I wouldn't want to go to a night like that, as it has no 'structure' All the best, Len

This is one example where I think no one is really at fault, but shows how sometimes even the best intensions don’t work. I hope the D.J’s or event involved don’t mind me mentioning them by name - If so, P.M me and I will delete accordingly. The venue was Lutterworth - They had an anniversary do, and thought it a good idea to book Mick H and John McClure, I would imagine their thinking behind this was that those two would bring people to the event, and that they were confident they would go down a storm. Apparently there were enough people there but unfortunately, both John and Mick weren’t received very well at all and poor Mick even had someone have a go at him. I know he doesn’t often do Soul Nights being the busy man he is, so for him (and John to be fare) to D.J there, was doing a kind thing. Now, I think this set of circumstances was just ‘one of those things’ and not to be picked apart (‘should the promoter have booked them or should the D.J’s have turned the booking down?) My point in showing this is that if sometimes something isn’t quite right, let’s not hang the promoter or the D.J out to dry. Especially if it’s just one of a set of D.J’s that doesn’t quite work, because I bet whenever these rare situations do arise, the poor D.J in question would have tried his best and most probably suffered enough - Heck, you still have the rest of the night to focus on Ref the original post, I agree - No D.J plays for themselves, they simply try to share the enjoyment they get from their records, that’s all. All the best, Len

I think people’s views depend on their personal journey; I got into the scene in the 80’s when the music was different to the early years. I hope Jocko doesn’t mind me quoting him, but the other week we were chatting and he said to me “I used to frequent places where, if you cleared the floor it was seen as a compliment” - I fully understand that comment, whereas I know others will be almost disgusted at it. Each to his own an’ all that - I love listening to and ‘dancing hard’ to Up-tempo Soul, but I also love listening to and dancing (not so hard) to Mid-tempo Soul. Sometimes I feel like shouting “Listen Cloth Ears!!!” because I feel so strongly that some people are missing out on these beautiful records. All the best, Len (Sleepy Head)

Yes that’s absolutely correct, we both agree that when the ‘wrong fuel’ is put in it won’t work as well, but who’s at fault? - The promoter or the D.J? I think more often than not, it’s the promoter. I do agree there is a something to be said about D.J’s doing places they don’t frequent….But, in some cases the said D.J could be a very busy one so their visit is literally only when they D.J — This is when it is completely down to the promoter to make the decision whether the D.J would suit the venue or not. All the best, Len

Actually I didn't think it was ....until now you've said! Oh well, it's better than the other one.... All the best, Len

Hi Terry, I understand and agree with your point about D.J's not excepting a booking if they know they wouldn't suit a venue, but in the 'case' you mention it sounds like the D.J in question didn't know what they played there - because he said "didn't know what they played there". My point is, if this D.J was booked, surely it's the promoters fault for booking him - more than likely on a 'BIG NAME' only basis, so actually - the promoter didn't know what the D.J plays. You may expect D.J's to take the responsibility of researching a venue when taking a booking - if so, I disagree, I think if a D.J is booked they should be able to presume the promoter knows what they are doing, thus presume they will suit the venue. All the best, Len

It's a matter of respect........I've always respected people with no taste Len

Yes it was.....Mod Scene first though All the best, Len

......As was this - Len 'Frank Foster - Harlem Rumble'

Yes, very big on the Mod Scene mid 80's, ain't heard it in ages so enjoyed playing that clip. Len

This! - Nuf said. All the best, Len (Scott Bros Orch - They All Came Back)