Russ Vickers

Hi Paul - Hope all is well with you, as like you I am very suprised generally when I see an Allnighter as finishing at 4am, however promoters wish to spin this its a Soul Night........IMO an Allnighter should finish at the earliest 6am to be described as such. I can only guess that by misrepresenting events in this way it gives the promoter & or the attendees the presumed kudos of saying they have promoted or attended an Allnighter. We had the best of times Paul & I look back on that part of my soul life very fondly indeed. I'm not sure the scene will ever be the same again or recover fully from the mass of returnees & the sheer volume of localized events that have sprung up to accomodate them all over the country. I think there are still some hardcore attendees & travellers left out there who have always supported the 'real' Northern/Rare Soul scene & there are some great events that cater for them, but on the whole other than supporters of the nostalgia events its a very small scene indeed & will continue to dwindle. You only have to look to our own backyard to see events like the Railway Club in Bournmouth with its more diverse & interesting music policy closing its doors & more oldies/commercial type promotions like the Pier seemingly over flowing with punters, this isnt a critism, just an observation, as a promoter its fantastic news, as a lover of events with a more diverse playlist & a view to at least playing a few unknowns/new or recent releases along side everything else its not so good & the soul scene is a poorer place for it. I tend to agree with all the points regarding my brain wave about using clubs after hours so to speak & I'm pleased it has answered some questions. I should be home mid July mate & we should hook up if possible, give my love to Jay & thank you for the input, I am now removing my rose tinted spectacles . Russ

Now that sounds like a good crac mate........so long as you dont laugh at my records like Disco Dave does...him & Jas have me in bits when we have one of our 'home' sessions......strangely I remember the culmination of one particularly heavy night, was us discussing how we could blow up my shed with nothing more than a bottle of vodka & a sock....I think Mr C was there too ..........I also remember one of Daves birthdays were we were running round Mollys garden half naked pretending to be a horse, I cant remember now how or why any of this happened.............. be scared Paul, very scared . I will be in touch my friend Russ

Thank god Andy........I thought I was the only mad one left lol . Hope you are well mate best Russ

Thing is Chalky, I'm an old romantic & cant help hoping that I can eventually promote successfully again - its not for any personal gain, more about the music & the buzz, its an itch that wont go away. I'm well aware of the venue over kill at the moment & as you know, I'm working abroad right now, but eventually when the time is right I'm hoping to come back with a bang !!!...........& I have a cunning plan Hope you are well mate Best Russ

As I have mentioned this is all about information gathering really, but I would envisage that a bar would be open for the sale of non alcoholic beverages, tea, coffee & snacks. I have nothing in mind particularly other than gauging opinion with the prospect of using the information possibly in the future, but nothing planned as yet.......it was just a thought regarding finding a suitable venue & on the surface of things using a venue after there usual night seemed to be something worth pursuing & the information you guys provide especially the promoters is invaluable in order to make informed decisions. Best Russ

Your very kind Dave, many thx. Russ

An extremely good point mate & one I have been considering for a while now. Thanks for the reply. Best Russ

Hi Chris, thank you for your reply.........I was only just thinking about you & Marcelle, hope you are both well. I think you have a point Chris, its just soooooooo difficult to find suitable venues at the right price, particularly round our neck of the woods, so I was trying to think outside of the box. On the south coast it would be nigh on impossible to even think about getting the numbers in that some where like Radcliffe does, mainly because of the location, nothing to do with how well said venue might be promoted, so a left field approach to securing a quality venue, at the right price seems one way to do it & this was just one idea I was considering. I became a bit side tracked as I wasnt expecting 'no alcohol' to be a major issue & was suprised. This is all a little rhetorical anyway, as in my current situation I couldnt really do any promoting & I would certainly have to think about the busy soul calendar & whether another Allnighter was either wanted or needed at this present time, albeit on the South Coast. Take care mate & love to Marcelle Best Russ

Oi you steady on .........of course there are many people like ya self Dave who can indulge without spoiling it for others & I personally dont mind whether alcohol is sold or not.......it wasnt aimed at you or anyone in particular it was a generalisation & intended tongue in cheek slightly. I also appreciate you travel Dave (which is no mean feat as I know you dont drive). The point is there are venues out there that might be extremely suitable for an Allnighter, which after 2am are sitting empty, I think what I am suprised at is that it seems some people might not attend because there is no bar, especially as in theory & I know not everyone has the same taste, the music policy & line up were right. Also, Karen, I was thinking of the Soul Night being on the door step or extremely close to the Allnighter venue, certainly within staggering distance, this is all supposition of course at the moment. When being insulting, if I have missed a genre of the Soul Scene, let me know & I'll try & include them next time lol . Hope you are well Dave, see ya soon Best Russ

Hi Dave Thank you for the reply mate, could you scan them & post them up pse if you are able. Of course if you didnt need one......... I was the promoter of the Uptown Down South events & have hardly anything to remember them by as we were usually too busy either making sure the nights/Nighters were running well or enjoying ourselves aswell. I was wondering id any 'live' tapes exist too ???. Best Russ

I'm looking for photographs/flyers from the Abshot Soul Nights & the Newbury Nighters - particulary any taken on the Nights when we had Sam Dees or Jeff Perry live. Many thanks Russ

Is everyone that serious about the no alcohol thing ?........I'm quite shocked that people are that bothered about getting p*ssed up at a Nighter ..............a Soul Night maybe.....but a Nighter . Whilst I enjoy a drink.......at Nighters alcohol doesnt bother me at all (apart from the odd Vodka incident ). I thought thats what the divs' did & we were a bit above all of that..........all about the music & all of that kinda thing. Thanks for the input to this thread........must say my romantic idea about back to basics Nighter format seems to have well & truly fallen flat on its arse.........any one for a Sunday afternoon, on the door step, in bed by 10pm, soulful tea dance.......caffeine free of course ???. Its a shame that its come to this really & I feel quite despondent.........it used to be so exciting, now nobody wants to go anywhere unless its on the doorstep & spoon fed to em..........being a Southern Soulie if I didnt travel, then I wouldnt have any where to go & its pretty much always been like that for us , too many people being spoilt with an over kill of local events maybe...who knows, but the day there are no proper Nighters to attend, would be the day I would have to seriously re - evaluate how I enjoy & dance to the music I love.................................sad . Best Russ Russ

How about a shed load of stimulants & a fantastic DJ line up, would that help...its not that many years ago when the 100 Club started at 0130 & IMHO was one of the things that made it special. I only ask this question as it seems harder & harder to find suitable venues for Allnighters, & on the South Coast particularly, any half decent venue is (a) realistically beyond the financial scope of most promoters on the Rare Soul Scene & (b) well booked up at the weeekends with the normal tosh. It occured to me that a venue manager/owner might be happy to earn extra money when the club might usually be closed...........makes perfect sense to me, but if you guys need to be tucked up with ya hot milky drinks early................ . Wernt we all spose to be a bit left field , underground & slightly dodgy..........someone pse restore my faith............. OOOOOOHHHHH........is that the original sound of the underground or just the the kettle boiling............we need to be pro active, left field & darn right inspirational when it comes to Nighters.......stopping up all night dancing & talking bollox, still seems appealing to me, although I respect you old codgers opinion......... 'shootin' thru' Russ

In this day & age would you be prepared to travel to & attend an Allnighter that started at 2am with a 9am finish, no alcohol served, just softies, tea n coffee, on the assumption that the venue, music policy & DJ's were to your liking - possibly a soul night on the same night near by running until 1.30 am ???. Serious question - your thoughts appreciated. Best Russ

Lovin' the show Johnny, one of the online shows that keep me sane out here in the sand pit.....long time no see, must catch up when I'm back home again . Best Russ

What a day/night out this could turn out to be......Record Meet/Greatstone/Burnley.......I might even be home for this ish.......fingers crossed, if I'm back from the sandpit I'll be there with bells on !!!. Best Russ

Wow..........I think I'm in love ..........so many happy memories of danciing to your records, you are a true soul LEGEND Lorraine, words arnt enough to reflect the way you have enhanced all of our soulful lives......the night I heard the previously unissued 'You Only Live Twice', the first night it was ever played out on the scene is indelibly etched in my mind........it blew the entire club away & the roof nearly went off the 100 Club.....that is one killa tune..........do you remember the session ???. Welcome aboard & enjoy the ride...... Love, Peace n Soulfulness Russ x

Your opinion about the quality of the tune is irelevant Bri, I bought this when it was first listed, the description was deliberatly misleading with no sound file & regardless of whether you like it or not thats wrong - I'm sure there are records you buy that I wouldnt give you the time of day over, but I wouldnt want you to be ripped off by the seller........ Russ

No worries mate - think I played it to Disco Dave Abbott round my gaff before I returned it, not sure if Dave would remember what it sounded like now, but at the time I was gutted, but still raised a smile at Daves expression when he heard it . Best Russ

When it was listed previously it was graded at VG+ & there was no sound file - I took a punt as its a disc I have wanted for many years, the description was totally misleading - mate ya wanna see some of the communication (when there was any communication) it was laughable, if there had been the sound file & the later very slightly more accurate grade when it was relisted no way would I have gone any where near it. Best Russ

I think i was justified in the extreme to blame the seller mate, when this was first listed it was graded higher & there was no sound file, the scan also makes the label look better than it actually is & on the reverse there is serious felt tip....... I would also add that on my Technics this was almost inaudible through the noise & trust me, there was no gloss, it was dull & looked like it had been used to skate around the back yard on, the run out groove does look reasonable in the scan, but when you get the record in the flesh it is completely trashed & as I stated in my feed back would barely grade G-, I have never seen a more poorly graded record in my life & whilst this time there was a sound file, so no excuse really, it should never be up for auction, I wouldnt give that away to my worst enemy !!!. If all that wasnt enough the woman was completely obstructive with a refund & I had to take it to ebay to get my money back, then the b*tch lied when replying to my feedback...... Anyone who deals with this seller in the future beware, I would personally avoid like the plague, not worth the hassle. Best Russ

Thats the first time I have been burnt on ebay & I buy pretty much weekly & have done for several years. Russ

It sounds like the copy I bought, it was appalling & I sent it straight back, I also had the devil of a job getting my money back too, had to get ebay involved in the end, but fortunately on the very last day for a dispute 'she' refunded my money. The audio was that bad you could barely hear the music I was very disappointed & upset, to the point where I would have jumped on a plane, I shit ye not..........& there was no gloss, it was the roughest record I have ever seen for sale, there is no way in a million years that the seller could not know this record was absolutly trashed, then the c*nt added that bit to her feedback about the buyer not being able to afford to pay & some other bollox aswell..................really wish I had posted summat on SS now, but was back in Baghdad & work kinda took over events.........BTW I paid a lot more than $650 too..........scum bag !. BTW there was no audio when it was first listed if it is the same copy, which it sounds like it is. Do you have a link ?. Best Russ