Davenpete

When we looked after him he couldn't say enough about the sheer talent of Marc Gordon. Dx

Even Mr Wilson thought it was a weak record - not something he was very proud of (he was proudest of his work with Lenny Williams). Dx

When it starts smelling of Camembert and Wet Dogs. Dx

Dave Lowe from Wantage way probably - he did it at the 100 Club once too 'no they're not for sale - just bought them for people to look at'. Dx

Les Cokell DJed there too - Pete used to go a fair bit during the late Mecca disco period - he has a big Angels sticker on his old tape case. He said it was Thursdays and mainly Jazz Funk and that it was actually Richard's promotion. Dx

The average moron soul night if you want to play something interesting and different. Dx

I was given to understand it was played at the Wheel (though the boss doesn't remember it from the 69-70 period he was there - not that I would have expected it to be played at that point). Dx

Is it true there'll be a special live performance?....

Is it true that Amos Brierly recorded for Motown as Amos Milburn? And can anyone comment on him laying down studio time with Granny Ryan as the North Yorkshire Hillbillies? Dx PS Watch out for sheep on the dancefloor - oh sorry that's already a problem.

Old age and drinking instead of taking drugs.

Fair play - that's what the boss told me when I mentioned it. Dx

Different group.Dx

RIP Mr Bellars. Dx

Report him to eBay. I would say that recently I sold a high value (£200) limited edition book I published that the buyer HAD clearly damaged it by dropping it out of the slip cover when opening it (the cover was ripped and scraped on an area fully covered by an undamaged slip case that contained it and there was no damage to speak of to the double book box it was sent in) - I had to refund it in 'good faith' knowing he'd undoubtedly done the damage (especially knowing in the past that when I accidentally sent the wrong Marketts to someone and then sent the replacement and the buyer didn't return the original - eBay's reaction to my complaint was to fully refund the buyer for the original cost of record out of my account - so he had BOTH 'Stirrin Up Some Soul' AND 'Bela Delana' AND my money)... Luckily the post office footed the bill on the book as I sent it insured and they ain't smart enough to think the damage through properly. Dx

Yes I was there at that too, was in a dodgy state (however the fire was an insurance job) - me and my mate hid on the pier and blagged our way in (the tickets were being taken at the town end) passed Bear - who has sadly just passed away. Dx

Brilliant

The other venue was the Winter Gardens - there was a fourth (a club type pub - think it was owned by one of Sean's many relations) venue used for warmups round the corner from the Carlton that I believe Sean held a couple of nighters at, trouble was the squad got wise and used to pull people on the 150 yard walk up to the Carlton. Used to be a lot of Bombers, Dex and back streets around at the Carlton when it first opened. Went as often as I could once out of college - met my close friend Pete Hollander for the first time in the queue outside the Carlton in 87 (lots of hair and a silly moustache back then - plus absolute belief that anything that wasn't played at the Torch was crap - that soon changed of course) - believe it was his first nighter back. Seem to remember James King doing a PA for Memory when it was released here - anyway me and Mark Sargent took a load of 12's up for his lordship. The little room used to be good at the Carlton - Gary Taylor, Mark Walmsley etc playing all sorts. Despite being 250 miles away there was always a big chunk of the Swindon/Oxford/Cheltenham/Gloucester crew with Scouse running a monthly minibus from Swindon, plus a few cars (even did it on a scooter, as I did most nighters back then, both from Hull and Abingdon) - remember we picked up these two hitchers in the Swindon minibus once - after a while they asked if they could skin up, needless to say they ended up absolutely smashed at the nighter. Third anniversary was the best nighter I ever went to (got the train from college in Hull - by the tim it got there it was packed - with people dancing in the isles lots of record etc dealing going on), absolutely incredible - remember lending the DJ my copy of the Pockets, Catch Me, 12" and the place absolutely exploding. Was talking to RS a while back and he was enthusing about how brilliant the nighter was and how it doesn't get the credit it deserves. Always liked Sean too, even though he was a serious wide boy. The much remembered long drop toilets you could see the sea through were a strange one when you're off your head. Dx

I'm NOT talking about Dreamin etc! The below is a fine example of cat strangling. Dx

HRH could only be Loleatta Holloway. Dx

Bub wrecked on the mike telling everyone to get off their tits. Accidentally breaking Paul Hamers newly bought Three Caps and telling him in years to come he think I did him a favour (alright I DID pay for it too!). Locals having a punchup in front of the entrance and the doormen clearing a path so we could get in. The pub at the top of the hill run by an old nighter goer who used to shove our tapes on whilst we stood around watching Vince Ayers hammering everyone for money playing pool and arm wrestling. Anyway always a madhouse night preceded by a madhouse pub crawl. Dx

We really loved the Mussleborough niters (and of course the half dozen or so Shotts niters I went to, Bathgate I found a bit strange - had that weird Whitchurch vibe about it to me) - even took Les Cokell up there. Absolute madhouse and fantastic music. Dx

If we're talking Northern history then The Bang/The Blues/The Block (all the same dance pretty much) and The Fox are important as they were the big 'official' mod dances (long before my time of course being a mere pup in my 50s) remember my old mucker Vince Ayers swore that Northern dancing was essentially the Four Corners. Always love watching Franny dance - cool as a cucumber. Remember there was a very sharp couple used to come to Brian's Wheel revivals who used to do a sort of skipping dance (not unlike the Hully Gully above) in exact unison mirroring each other perfectly which I'm told was a key mod dance style from the Wheel of the mid-60s (though I'm sure I'll be corrected on all the above). Dx PS Philly Duck (brilliant Jerry Williams stormer)

I loaned a big batch of my best records (probably £20k++ worth in today's prices - this was back when I still had the goodies) to Les Cokell when he was ill, we arrived the next week to take him to a nighter to find he had 'helpfully' 'sorted them out for me' (the early onset altzheimers did that sort of thing) by stacking them across the floor of his front room all mixed up with Chris Morgan's collection - sadly he had trodden on my beloved green Luther Ingram in the process of laying them out putting a big crack in it - obviously I was very upset, but couldn't show it as Les would simply not have understood at that stage... And at then end of the day I chose to take a significant risk in lending them to him to cheer him up knowing he wasn't well. One strange one I had on a VERY cold night at Shotts (which was very hot indeed inside) was buying a stone mint George Smith, I took it out to the Crewe minibus and put it on the dashboard for safe keeping - unfortunately the in-nighter to -10ºC outside shock cracked the styrene - though so cleanly that it plays perfectly. Dx

Bobby Womack - Gypsy Woman - remember RS playing it at Morecambe and announcing it wasn't due for release in the States for another 3 weeks. Dx