Russ Vickers

Proper contemporary soul for the 21st Century.........lovin it !!! Best Russ

Abshott Hotel & Country Club - Uptown Down South Promotions......Barbara Lynn - Moovin On a Groove..........Was taking the roof off the place, way, way before the rest of the country caught on......this awesome soul dancer will always hold a very special place in my heart, cos it became, amongst others, our anthem...... Best Russ

Thank you Yogi - I must say I feel very encouraged by all the positive comments, as well as many PM's. I have promoted relatively successfully on the South Coast & Newbury some time ago & have always wanted to do something SPECIAL again.......when the time is right I aim to do this & hope all the hundreds of soul fans & friends who supported my venues in the past will be there for the launch, you lot were a bit special & deserve another night just to get us all in the same room again & create that monster atmosphere that you so famously created on & off the dance floor........there are many others out there who from messages want to join the family........ Fantastic responses from a everyone, I'm very inspired by all the comments on the thread, but especially some of the private emails & messages. Best Russ

Dave - Always enjoy hearing your opinions & you are always very honest.......my personal situation at present would make it very difficult to attempt anything right now, but I do like to keep my finger on the pulse of whats happening darn south particularly the South Coast, also I like to hear what people WANT aswell as whats actually happening.......two totally different things. Watch this space...maybe ....you never know whats round the corner..... BTW I love Sharon Jones & she is totally amazing live.....unfortunately I think she is filling far larger venues now days..... Thank you for your positive comments Dave very encouraging..... Out of interest Dave, do you like 7ts Soul.......or any contemporary soul, just wonderin' ? Best Russ

I kinda quite like Estelle Parker, not keen on JC tho, altho might sound better thru a big system. Russ

Theyre are both on here Grant. Russ

Top show as per usual David.......made my day here in Baghdad thank you. Best Russ

Top man........thank you. Best Russ

Mick - What a wonderful & selfless gesture. The costs could be many & depending on the venue/sound system/DJ's/Promotion etc, etc. It can be done on a shoestring, but in my experience a good venue, sound system & flawless promotion take time & money, no point throwing money at something, without at least some thought to breaking even though, so it must be approached from a proffessional, business like way with regards to finance - my personal point of view is that the SOUL comes first & breaking even would be all you could expect - any profit, which is highly unlikely would go into making the event better or saved to make up the deficit if the next event made a loss........ Whilst I very much appreciate your wonderful offer, I would have to decline on the grounds that much of this thread has to be scrutinised, digested & thought out properly before any decisions were made by me, anyone normal person in their right mind after all of the cogitating & number crunching, potential character assassination etc, etc would be insane to promote a Rare Soul event any where.......however, we aint normal & we're pretty mad even to be on this wonderful, mad, bad & emotional roller coaster of a scene, so you never know what might happen...........thank you for your support & if anything happens you & your plus one will be on the guest list . Kind regards Russ

Stevie - You are a true super star my friend, events I have promoted in the past, albeit some yeras ago now, were always very well supported from all corners of the UK, especially the north. I was always in great admiration that folk travelled down to us passing events on the way !!!.....I would add, that there were far fewer events back then & anything out of the ordinary was almost unique. Thank you for your support. Hope you are well my friend. Best Russ

I'll take that buddy if its available pse. Russ

Thank you, for some fantastic comments people, I'm absolutely taken aback by the level of passion in some of these posts, something I thought may have been lost some what on the South Coast of late......I need to read through this stuff properly as there is a lot of food for thought here my friends......thank you all so much for taking this thread in the spirit it was intended & running with it......f*ck me, I feel inspired !!!. Best Russ

Some folk have burnt thier bridges Dave - it will take some time to rebuild them - thats what happens when ya sell ya soul for a fast buck n a bit of short lived local glory. BTW way, my last comment is not aimed at anyone in particular, just a general observation...... Best Russ

Dave - Thanks for posting mate, I consider you one of the good guys buddy, keep on doin what ya doin, I wish I could attend more, as your policy is right up my strasse & I have mucho respect for ya & what ya doin against all the odds - its very nearly time for the balance to change again my friend & when it does you will be seen as one of the few that did the right thing - IMO if people dont earn the respect through co operation when promoting & just continue to self promote regardless - well, if & when the time comes they will be given the same as they gave, not sure if they'll take it quite as well tho'.......the 'handbagger' soul bubble will burst soon enough, mark my words mate. Respect Russ

I've not got any hard & fast plans for any new promotions particularly, altho I have always maintained that when my personal circumstances with regards to actually being in the UK to do something change & the climate locally is right I would like to promote again. I would only consider this however if I felt I could really do something worthwhile. Every now & again I like to gauge opinions on the area from a soulful perspective, just to keep my finger on the pulse of the general feeling of whats happening & also what people may actually want. There have been some cracking promotions in the area over the years, there are some promoters out there still who have thier hearts in the right place....however IMO its all a bit stale right now, I think an injection of pure passion might be whats needed to reinvigorate a few souls out there, that & maybe a slightly different perspective.......who knows. Mike - I agree pretty much with everything you have said. Thanks to everyone else for the great contributions - I would like to keep this going for a few days & I hope there are more constructive comments posted, before I will finally draw some conclusions........wheres Dave Abbott, Steve C, Charmain, Alfie, Bearsy & others, there are lots of folk out there who's opinions I greatly respect who could really add some more insight into this thread. So keep the opinions coming, so far no bollox either, so would like to keep it that way. Best Russ

Happy Birthday to you too Eddie.....av a gud un mate Best Russ

Howard is the son of Noah Biggs (original Shiptown Records owner) & Ida Sands. Best Russ

I agree with all of that Mike, the Guz lot have always travelled & I was constantly in awe of the miles they put in to attend Nighters..... Best Russ

Its been a hard life, 8 hours on the train to Wigan from Fareham in '78 via Reading !!! Russ

I'll looking forward to that mate.speak soon...... Russ

Any how its 2.30 here & its now officially my 50th Birthday......I'm off to bed now, so look forward to reading some great constructive posts in the morning.......... Night, night........hic !!! Best Russ

Not quite sure what points you are making here, if you have any contributions to make with specific regard to the initial post would love to hear them . Best Russ

Well its been something I have had on the backburner for many years, unfortunately to fill the place would take a good 500+, very few would attend without a very good DJ line up & I'm afraid there might be too many egos & musical differences to pull it off successfully. Ironically when I was gauging opinion on Karens site, it only managed in making me realise that many promoters were not prepared to put there own self interests to one side for the better good of the scene...............hey ho, no biggie for me, my main interest is the SOUL & where I can get a good fix, at present I travel for it, but in the past would also do plenty of local soul nights too, not many that inspire me these days though, I'm willing to be proved wrong though & in some respects my initial question is about that.....I've been attending events down south since 1978 ish, way before the time period your speaking about, so not specifically about that era.......altho during the Blue Lagoon period if you got 60 in on the South Coast you'd had a major result.........dont forget it was just pre retunees & well before handbaggers . Best Russ

Top man Greety with awesome taste.....its them Yate boys ya know . Russ

He got heavy into the Rave scene & never really got back into the soulful fold so to speak, I've seen him maybe a handful of times since the early 9ts. I think I also bought the Montclairs of you that day too ?. How did you know Dickie BTW ?. Best Russ