Len

Yes indeed, at least "I know" is a step above "we like"....Ooo the stress of it all, why oh why do we put ourselves through it aye?! Len.

....Now ya talking.....Right, enough already! I've started another thread that's more 'P.G' than 'Chubby Brown' for gawds sake! lol - If anyone else posts here, please refere to the original post which is actually something many of us can relate to....Sorry it went somewhat 'off topic'...Oh well, it livened up a Monday evening didn't it? lol All the best, Len

This is to all those D.J's out there (Ok everyone!) - Care to share your best, bizarre, worse or all three moments with us? I'm pretty sure there must be some hilarious stories to be told. I'll start the ball rolling — Worse — I was D.Jing somewhere and I was just thinking the set was going "ËœA.O.K' and someone came up to ask for a request.....he said (Dead seriously)...."ÂCould you play something we like?"Â....Doh! - That threw me, I can tell ya! L Bizarre - At the 100 Club in the 90's, I think I must have really "Ëœconnected' with one particular chap who was evidently at the height of his "ËœZone' - He leapt onto the stage, literally grabbed the mike off me and basically let everyone know he was "on top of the world!"Â — It wasn't only hilarious but also a great relief as I thought I was being attacked! Chantel (Beds) said she clocked it straight away and was ready to protect me bless her (and she was well capable of doing so!).....Somebody did later, to the poor ol' Boy's detriment but that's another story...let's just say, it don't matter how much you're enjoying yourself, you simply MUST remember "Ëœdance floor etiquette' or you may live to regret it....especially if my friend is about! Best — "ËœPlaying Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes - Praying' at The Isle Of White Mod Rally (80's) The Mods were very "Ëœnon plussed'...But Danny Huff and The Ugly Bugglies imploded and tore up that dance floor! (I think they may have been at the height of their "Ëœzone' also! lol) Great stuff. Another story, loosely connected with D.Jing (Promoting) I was at The Embankment Club (a local soul event I used to run) one "Ëœlegendary' night. Firstly (Which is fine) This chap asked me if I'd been before, to which I replied "A couple of times but I don't think much to the place"Â - Yep, my "Ëœirony' was "Ëœrife' even back then....(no wonder I never made very many friends over the years)....Anyway, then the guy pointed at Nina (my wife) and asked "Is she spare?"Â — I had to stop my "Ëœirony' kicking in again as I soooo wanted to reply "Yup, go for it Solder"Â (What a bizarre way of asking if someone's single!) All the best, Len

....Never crossed my mind...Where's that milk bottle gone?...Oh yeh, it broke.... x

Lou, you're sooo soppy...alas, I am too as I also can relate to that....Do any of you remember as a kid, taking your Christmas presents to bed? I slept with a football one year because I really was that "Ëœmade up'...Has anyone done that with a record before?....I haven't....really I haven't, honestly......Mind you, who knows, 'us boys' would try anything at the age of 14!..(Don't worry lady's, it's a 'bloke thing').... All the best, Len.

:lol: :lol: That last line of yours has made my day...."Welcome to my world"Â is all I can say!....I'm actually 'socially disabled', I really do find "Ëœsocialising' f*cking exhausting — sometimes it's like playing "ËœSquash against a Sponge'...or "ËœTable Tennis on my own'... the "ËœWritten Word' is soooo much more "Ëœexhilarating'...Bring back the days when no one spoke to each and just got "ËœBlocked' and danced to the music is what I say! Lol...We really shouldn't get to know each other outside of that dance hall... All the best, Len.

Tis' always a comfort when I hear 'I'm not alone in my strange thinkings' ... Len

...and so it would do, it's a blo*dy gift for god's sake! - No one should ever sell a gift as it should mean something to them (if they have anything about them that is!) All the best, Len.

Doh! — I just "Ëœre-read' your opening post...."Âand I'm also not on about people hitting hard times leaving them with no choice"Â... Sorry, but it kind of contradicts what you're trying to say (I think)....Oh, well, I'll leave my post as I would imagine there's lots of folk that can relate to what I said All the best, Len.

Hi mate, I know EXACTLY what you mean...I have had records on my shelf that I probably haven't played in years but the "Ëœcomfort' was, that I knew they were there. The last few years of business has been awful and after re-mortgaging my house a couple of times, the damn kids still needed feeding so "Ëœsomat had to give'....So (tough decision as it was) I chose the kids and had to sell some records to surface....To this day, the records I think about most (God this sounds so, so very sad) are the ones that I sold and to add "Ëœinsult to injury', it seems every ble*ding time I walk into an event the said records are being played!...Maybe the kids weren't that good after all...."ÂYeh, but you can always buy them back"Â.......Sorry, not the same, those records were "Ëœconnected' to a chase and were as good as photos, reminding me of "Ëœa time''.... ........My heart also bleeds..... Nice thread. All the best, Len (A fellow "ËœSaddo') x P.s — Chris Anderton — "ËœRespect'!

Ok, ok, try Youtube 'Northern Soul All-nighters 1980's' - It's far more palletable! lol All the best, Len.

For Chr*st sakes don't Youtube it!!! lol All the best, Len.

Ref the dr*gs argument - each to his / her own, it's personal choice, anything in moderation is what I say and that includes the booze! I do understand some folk don't approve of dr*g related references but the references on this thread are memories and are good to read, not bragging to me anyway....I've also met some of my greatest friends....ahem.... All the best, Len. Foot note - Legalise em, make em clean, put an instruction leaflet in the packaging and tax em! Sounds callous to some I know, but that's my humble opinion and I'm entitled to it....As Johnny Rotten stated on Question Time "The information needs to be available, and then people can make their own balanced judgement" - rather than being dictated to, which actually has the opposite effect. But hey, let's not let the thread focus on this as we may as well open up the Fox Hunting debate alongside the 'O.V.O' debate....There will be no agreement after hours of the 'ble*ding obvious' being put forward....I think everyone, including Foxes should always play O.V.O....

"Don't knock it 'til ya try it!" ...I was quite flattered! lol All the best, Len.

The first time I went to The 100 Club after years of being put off by people saying "It's cr*p, they play all that rare sh*t down there" Shifty took me after I'd spent the day round his, in awe of his and Steve Chadwick's records (who was also D.Jing that night) I could not believe how good the music was for me and the fact every f*cker was up for it, making 'the wave happen' rather than waiting to be entertained. I was 'dancing on the ceiling' for the whole night....as we were walking back to the car Shifty simply said - "Told ya" with a huge smile on his face. That was the night Sean Adams welcomed me 'into the fold' by picking me up on the dance floor and giving me a huge sweaty kiss! - Twas a great 'moment' lol One of many great moments... All the best, Len.

"Ooo, yeh, yeh, yeh, De dum, dum, du, dum ,dum, yeh, yeh, yeh, I'm soooo haaaappy, so really happy, that ma woman loves me..etc" (Prince Philip Mitchel) - If it wasn't in ya head then, it is now!!! Have a good weekend folks. All the best, Len

Back to Russ's original question - Roger Banks - Under rated by some people, he can do some very soulful sets so his R'n'B can be forgiven! Bob Hinsley - Popular with everyone All the best, Len.

Russ, pull us back if you feel this thread is going a bit 'off topic' - Ref, "a D.J that gets me up to dance" which was mentioned earlier, got me thinking of one of my earliest memories of a soul night and something at the time I thought was rather special but goes the complete opposite way - It was in the 80's and I was at a soul night where this bloke was D.Jing, he had an empty dance floor for his whole set but wasn't fazed by it whatsoever. I remember actually being intrigued rather than annoyed, the man in question was Steve Smith from Gloucester and one of the records he played that really stuck out was 'Bud Harper - Wherever You Were'. The next D.J came on and of course packed the floor to something obvious for that time. I'm sure this type of thing happened a lot back then. I remember at Cliff Steels 'Detroit Academicals' nights, there would sometimes just be a crowd standing round the decks watching the record going round - Don't ask me why, but I liked it! I suppose that was the era where loads of new stuff was being broken, so it was quite normal for the floor to empty every so often. All the best, Len.

I plan to pop along to 'Grumpy Soul' sometime purely because of the name. I like miserable looking D.J's, also if I'm growled at by the people on the door as I walk in it's a bonus as then I know it's a proper soul event - Even to this day, I still feel privileged that I'm allowed in! All the best, Len.

Maybe, you've just hit the nail on the head there. Sometimes when I'm at a nighter there comes a point when I feel it would be nice to hear something a bit more obvious along with all the top tunes our 'elders' play - 'Progressive oldies' if you like. So hears the question - Do we want to have a couple of 'supporting cast' D.J's on in between to play the records that our 'elders' don't get time to play? I think we may be divided here, some are saying they only want to hear the top D.J's playing their rare sounds (Obviously along with whatever they reactivate) but I think some would also enjoy hearing a few tunes that don't get played much anymore. I know that's not bringing anything 'new to the table' but it will bring - "Ch*st, I haven't heard that for years, brilliant!". All the best, Len.

As long as the above are your views based on your experiences Bearsy and not just 'Cut 'n' Paste' comments that's fine mate. It's just that some of these type of things are 'Urban Myths', like Mr D.J who turns up one minute before his spot and has the car running ready 5 minutes before the end of his spot....Has anyone actually seen this man? Apparently he D.J's everywhere - I've never seen him! Also maybe you misinterpret someone D.Jing with a serious face as not enjoying themselves - They are most probably really passionate and are just concentrating on doing a good job, no one would D.J if they didn't enjoy it surely. I wouldn't want the scene to change dramatically, we need our 'old masters' - the years of experience they have cannot be replaced with new comers, yes chuck a couple 'in the mix' every so often but don't over dilute it for god's sake All the best, Len.

I think the best way forward is for us to stop analysing it too much and just 'do it', before time really does 'pass us by'.....Ahem, says I - Mr 'Analysis Paralysis' ...Yup, I'm just as guilty as the next person but it's because we care so much isn't it?.... .....But whilst we are analysing - Ref having more guest D.J's on - It must be a very hard decision for a promoter of any big event to give a relatively inexperienced D.J the responsibility of doing a spot because if they didn't quite 'hit the mark' it could really damage the events future - That will be the bit of the night that people will focus on even though everyone will know that the poor D.J in question probably won't be asked back again for that particular event. I know Ady Croasdell has given lots of relatively inexperienced D.J's spots down at The 100 Club over the years and that has worked really well. As he says himself, it has given an added dimension to each night. I think his experience in itself makes for good choices, but I also think as The 100 Club is a smaller venue than the big nighters, there is most probably a slighter less risk, if that makes sense. ....There's now the added problem of even more fragmented music tastes than ever before, so how the heck you can please half the people, let alone all the people, I do not know! ..."You say Tomangoes, I say tomatoes, tomangoes, tomatoes, tomangoes, tomatoes, let's call the whole thing off" All the best, Len.

At last - Andy Rix....Come on, some one mention Ady Croasdell for gods sake! lol - we don't see these two 'out 'n' about' often enough. What Chalky mentioned earlier ref the masses now wanting mainly 60's uptempo at nighters is correct. It is now very different to what people wanted in the 90's - I'm forever playing tapes from that era and saying "Christ, you just don't hear this out anymore" - I personaly like it as it was then, but that's me (I may be on my own here, maybe not?) Remember Winsford 'Teddy Randazzo - You Don't Need A Heart' at 4.00am? - To me, still a nighter sound! All the best, Len.

I wish my customers understood that! - Sorry, completely 'of topic' This has been a 'read and a half' though! Len.

I say to anyone who does fancy themselves as a D.J - Be careful what you wish for - I did 'crumble' a couple of times to be polite and gave a couple of people D.J spots because they just wouldn't shut up about it and when they got up there to D.J they were shaking like a leaf, no exaggeration - It ain't that easy and you also have to be able to take a lot of criticism. All the best, Len.