Hi Graham and welcome to Soul Source.
Unfortunately you can't be Tyrone Davis and turn back the hands of time. If you could, we could go to the Fleet in 85' and dance to the kind of music you are talking about - one after the other. Times have changed and newer sounds have come along. Though as someone has already said, if you're at a do and you hear the right beat, you should rise up out of your seat and dance.
On the point of playing cd's at do's, well if we allowed that any Tom Dick or Harry would be up there and it would all turn to crap in five minutes. If I'm paying fifteen quid to get into a nighter, I want to hear some rare and obscure original recordings.
In conclusion though mate, it's a nice problem to have, for soul music I believe (Northern or otherwise) is the best kind of music there is!