Tailormade Gaz B

On April 02, 2023 I wrote an introductory piece that gave a sense of what our new club night was all about. Entitled, The Glamour of Manchester, the article sought to set the scene for what we hoped to achieve. A roadmap of sorts, it spoke to the notion that the environment you host your event in and the people who attend, are as important as the music. It’s a triangulation of sorts. To get all three right is the key! Well, 15 months in, 5 nights in the bag (all with complimentary DJ mixes available here), we’re a matter of days off our first All-Dayer on Sept 7th. In anticipation of this we have been working in collaboration with a local brewery, Seven Brothers and Manchester based Creative-Studio, We Are Willow to create our own beer! The 'Golden Gooden' is a Home Run Soul Club X We Are Willow colab which celebrates the 1980's baseball legend Dwight 'The Doc' Gooden in the format of a 4.8% Golden Ale. Sound tracked by the Black Smoke Band – I’ll Keep Searching, licensed and distributed by our All-dayer guest, Yann Vastie’s own Epsilon Records, the promo video gives us all a sneak peak of the production and caning process. Wrapped in a bespoke Home Run Soul Club label, we’ll be giving 2 of these limited-edition cans to each of the first 100 guests who buy all-dayer passes, along with a sticker and limited edition ‘save the date’ flyer for our April 2025 event. Tickets are available here and only £10 for the full day, plus the goodie bag! In addition, we’ll be screening Dean Chalkey’s Young Souls film in the basement behind the decks on the night, complimented an exhibition of his photographic work upstairs (oh and he’ll be DJing too!) As I noted in my initial article last year, Manchester is alive with creative ideas and innovation. It is an environment that is also ripe for collaboration. Home Run Soul Club is built on this logic. As Manchester legend Tony Wilson (didn’t say), “We do things differently here”. Its true, we do.

As we continue to profile our guests at the Home Run Soul Club (more can be found HERE including Dave Ripolles, Pat Bleasdale and Chris Anderton) our aim is to build an archive of those we've had play whilst offering a little sense of who they are and what drives their passion for soul. For our first home run Soul club birthday we've picked another great character from the scene (with a great story) and a some of the records you might hear on the day. Phil Shields How long have you been collecting? I’ve always been in love with music from well, about aged 8/9. I remember my parents taking me to buy the top 30 singles of the time (oops best keep that bit quiet), then when I went to secondary school I started buying all Bowie’s LPs. Then in around 1977 I started hanging out with my older brother going to local discos, they called them soul nights even though there was no soul in Belfast but loads of disco and a bit of jazz funk. Anyway, I loved it and after a month or so I couldn’t stay off the dance floor and certainly wasn’t easy to live with if I didn’t manage to get out 3/4 nights a week. I was buying Black Echoes and was intrigued by the back pages, what were these records they were talking about? I didn’t know any of them. I think I was 15 when I persuaded one of my parents to write a cheque and voila my first soul pack arrived one damp grey Saturday morning and WOW, that was it for me I was hooked, late 1977 and I’ve been buying (and selling) ever since. Do you remember your first buy? To be honest, it’s over 45 years now so not sure. I know that first soul pack was all bootlegs and I remember Frankie & Johnny on Hickory and Johnny Bragg on Elbejay being there. I did start buying blind from Soul Bowl, them originals that came my way in those early days included Patrice Holloway – Stolen Hours on Capital, Steve Mancha on Wheelsville and The Blue Jays on Jay, all long since sold but one bought back years later but a lot more expensive. What’s your favourite record in your box? This is an impossible question, it depends on so many things but here goes but I couldn’t just have one, so here’s three that have been consistently my fave 45s and ones that I’m lucky enough to own – Johnny Gilliam – Room Full Of Tears on Cancer – Words fail me on this one, spine tingling soul of the very highest quality. I’m now on my 2nd copy after foolishly selling the 1st one Dusty Wilson – It’s Gonna Be A Tragedy on Mutt – Heard this in the 90’s when I started collecting again, my kinda tune! Maurice McAllister – Your Love Is Slipping Away – Well it’s Mr. Soul – What Happened To Yesterday on Genuine. A song I had on tape for a long time, I wore that tape out finally got a copy a few years ago Which record do you regret selling the most? Where do I start? sold too many over the years but there are two that I really do still miss – Soul Shakers You’re Turnin’ on Teri De Cal Green – I’ll Give You Just A Little More Time on Filmtown What’s your fave all time soul club? Sorry… three again from me – Rugby Soul Club – Just the perfect venue with a totally across the board music policy and run by two of the loveliest people… oh, and it’s two minutes from my door Middleton All-Niter – I was very lucky to be taken under Carl Willingham’s wing, absolutely loved this guy and I was over the moon when he called me up as joint resident in his room. And finally the amazing Belfast Soul Club – Never dreamt there would be a club in Belfast like the one me and Liam Quinn, some fantastic nights plus a couple of weekenders in the mix and the music was incredible! What’s your all time want? I give up on wants lists a long time ago, it would be a book by now and I’d need to win the euro millions to buy them! Ticket for the next event and all other info available HERE See you all on the 7th Sept