Russ Vickers

Fabulous post & totally agree...I cant believe that a term we were once so proud to use, has become so tarnished, as to be embarrassing.... Russ

The only criteria is quality....do people really say to themselves I'll play that because its cheap or I'll play that because its rare....I bloody hope not otherwise we really have lost the plot....I thought DJ's played soulful dance records because they were good n they believed in them...another irrelevance that no doubt will be dissected to within an inch of its life...... Russ

Yea then turned up 20 years later to f*ck it up again ***Many a true word said in jest....lol Russ

I agree Steve, I much prefer the term Rare Soul & always have, only thing that frustrates me, as along with everything else, the phrase 'Rare Soul' has been turned into a kind of insult by those that endeavour to ridicule & dis credit that part of the scene. Russ

As I've stated earlier, I have no axe to grind at all, go to the venues that suit you n enjoy yourself, but I thought I should make you aware that your comment above is incorrect as per the events on SS. 'Popular the 3rd Friday in the month atb soul nite Motown,Northern,Philly,60ts Club Classics,Modern Soul' If a person planning to attend a venue read that blurb, it clearly states Northern (Soul). Best Russ

There are actually 2 issues here. One is encouraging & tolerating new folk who are genuinely interested in the music, much like we were when we began our journey & Im all for that. The second is people who are coming along & have no idea really whats going on, they may be vaguely familar with a bit of soul & Motown, but in all honesty you could be playing pretty much any genre of music, so long as its singalong, good time, party music, its a Disco for geriatrics & older singles, who on the whole, want to get pissed n get thier leg over if possible, once tanked up anyone is fair game for a piss take n if there are regular soulies in the gaff theyre at the sharp end. I dont think, that on the whole, proper soul music events suffer that much with the latter & if they do, its usually nipped in the bud. However, there are promoters out there that dont give a hoot about the music or the punters, they are selling a product & NS is the en vogue thing, everyone thinks they know what NS is, if theye of a certain age & the promoters will pretty much give em what they want so long as theyre making a profit, its not about the music or the scene or any thing else, theyve seen a way of getting bums on seats & making money...end of. Go to the events you enjoy & give the others a wide birth. Russ

The Singing Tornadoes - Travelling Through The Land...............wooooooooooooooooooooooooossssshhhhhhhh !!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYIkDReCjJw

LOL...Hope you are well my friend Russ

Which of the Despanza releases are ok to play ? Russ

Yea, I would like to know too....PM if neccessary. Best Russ

Thanks for the input Paul, I very much respect your opinion mate & will take everything on board....lovely to see you t'other weekend as ever. Best Russ

I agree on all accounts, thank you for replying, very much appreciate your thoughts... Best Russ

Hi Manus Thanks for your reply. What made me start to think about this, was that I was totally unaware of Paddys Nighter this year until you mentioned it on FB, have always enjoyed them in the past, but Im sure they could be promoted a little better....I have a cunning plan, but due to work commitments need to give this some serious thought before going ahead with anything....I would ideally like to have a mixture of all things soulful in the main room, mostly traditional, but with an element of the more Modern mixed in.....we did it before, can we do it again or are people just too stuck in thier ways.... ? to me this is how things always were at all the top nighters....would love to see it again.... Russ

Yes I am mate, was there with Billy from Burnley, Molly, Steve C....do we know each other mate ?

Thank you for comments so far...... Russ

Ay up Andy Hope you are well. I very much appreciate what your saying my good friend, but other than Robs annual Nighter, do you really think these events are promoted properly outside of the local area ?....this is not taking away from the quality of the music etc or in any way being critical of current events, but I feel they could be promoted better....could anyone else do any better numbers wise, well thats the million $ question mate....but there is a lot of soulies locally, if you could attract a travelling crowd aswell.... Putting an event on SS or FB is not promoting an event, creating a buzz, handing a flyer to someone personally & looking them in the eye & all the personal contact with the movers n groovers that will travel for the right event is what promotion is about.... having a clear music policy with proffessional DJ's who will add something of themselves, but arnt that far up em selves that they will play to the floor when required.... Has anyone got the required qualifications to pull it off....maybe ??? Russ

I cant remember me own name after being in a Nighter ten minutes..... Russ

You'd have a barrel of laughs with me mate, get to venue, get in the record bar, get on dance floor, see the missus 8 hours later, I sh*t you not....occasionally eyes meet across the dance floor but that's about it, got better things to do....always funny too when blocked n some nutters tryin to do ya head in or your tryin to do their head in....its all part of the fun innit !!! lol Apres Soul conversations n adventures.... Dave A n his gerbils Steve C n course fishing at 6am Captain Detroit !!! Offering a lift to some strangers after a Nighter, starting a conversation in Yarmouth & it finished when I pulled up outside their house on Portsmouth - they hadn't said a word all journey - they left the vehicle like a bullet out of a gun lol Taking nearly 2 days to get home - stopping at every services n café on the way back Losing Randy at the services n him trying to hunt us down as he thought we had abandoned him The fun & friendliness is endless...... Best Russ

TBH I've travelled the length & breadth of the country since I was 15 & never felt out of place any where that I can think of, some places take a couple of nights before you feel like one of the crowd, but thats part of the fun, dont think I've been any where for years & not known some or most of the reprobates in attendance....when they play my kinda soul i feel welcome any where....its not Darby n Joan, its a f*ckin nighter with all the human flotsam & jetsom that they throw up, the good, the bad n the ugly, but we all generally get on when thrown together at a good nighter, the music brings you together......there are people I have nodded to for 20 years at Nighters & feel comfortable in thier presence, but TBH some of em I have no idea who they really are, other than they obviously like the same sort of soul as myself n thats good enough for me !!!.........the problem is the scene has this lovey dovey image, which isnt always true, I have met some of the best friends I will ever meet on this scene, folk who will stick by you no matter what, but there is, was n always will be a darker edgier side to the scene, which some cant admit to or cope with but sometimes adds a little excitment to the proceedings !!! Best Russ

Would you attend/travel to, a South Coast Allnighter ?. A music policy that covered oldies & current big Allnighter newies. Top name national & international DJ's. A second room with a 'freestyle' policy curatored by a respected DJ/promoter. Quarterly which avoided other Allnighters & Weekenders (possibly Friday nights ?). A venue with a 300 - 500 capacity between 2 rooms. Members only policy. There has been a recent Allnighter catering for newies, which was suberb, but unfortunately ill attended & unsustainable. There have also been other Allnighters, most of which cater for a local crowd & are not generally promoted outside of the area very well. Would the faithful travel for an Allnighter consisting of oldies, newies, 6ts, 7ts & beyond on the South Coast near Brighton shall we say. Your thoughts appreciated. Best Russ

Which one ? Russ

Looks like the Kool label was quite well organised & distributed with possible second presses on some numbers (?)...think this may turn up now the information is getting out there ???. Russ

I do Len, theyre brilliant, its also an historical record, as we've all heard with the amount of live recordings available on the net, & the reseach that can be done from them. One of the reasons I asked the question is that we still need these records to look back on more than ever & I dont seem to see many people doin em these days, maybe thats because the technology is quite small & not as obvious or maybe its not seen as being the cool thing to do these days ?. Best Russ

I would also add Roburt that most of the nights I attend you'd be hard pushed to find the majority of stuff on the net anyway....thats the point to those of us that still go out to nights to be enthused by relatively obscure soul 45's... Russ

What is an ikey please... Russ