Steve Brown

As a co promoter with Jem perhaps I can go some way to answering your questions. A good job in my opinion is when our venue is packed with atmosphere, the dance floor busy, but above all to see obvious enjoyment on faces. From my own experience this results in the vast majority of that audience coming back to the next one. Additionally it is great to hear the feedback. How satisfying is it to hear of someone who has suddenly been inspired to start going out again after a number of years away because they actually enjoy the event and their passion has been rekindled? Or someone who has discovered the music for the first time and wants to learn all about it. I always say to Jem that if we can carry on doing this it makes all the effort worthwhile. As far as customer care is concerned we make every effort to keep everyone informed of what we are doing from our database. We have great co operation from fellow promoters in our area, and work with them as much as possible to avoid date clashes. We think long and hard about our venues and strive to improve the facilities, ie seating, dance floor, and bar service etc. We also offer a friendly greeting on the door as well as mingling during the night chatting to as many people as possible. Finally we try to keep the sound system crystal clear and deliver the musical taste that people want, not what someone thinks they should have! I rarely bother commenting on here these days because as usual it turns into a political debate. Funnily enough it seems to be a case of same old faces, same old moans as 5 years ago. ATB, Steve.

Thanks for your support guys! It is so good to know that we have plenty of friends out there, it keeps us motivated.

We have him headlining our last Pembo in December and I can't think of a more fitting man to ensure we will have a night to remember! I am also providing him with his B&B so that should be interesting.

Having been involved in the running of the Pembo for the last 5 years, I am sad to say that the December Soul night will be our last. We have had several issues with the management particularly the finishing time and we feel that for that reason it h... Tap to view this Soul Source News/Article in full

Nice one . I'm sure I'm going to regret asking this but what did he do on Opportunity Knocks?

Guys, you have completely misinterpreted what I said.. I don't mean that the promoters are elitist, far from it. What I am getting at is that a very small number of the peeps that go to such events are vehement in their comments on here and put off a lot of people from trying it hence the post from Spike. I love all sorts of nights and go to wherever I fancy and when there, find the people very friendly and not at all off putting. Chalky I think it is brilliant taking a rarer night to the bigger stage, people should go and try it and make up there own mind. There is plenty of atmosphere and good dance music is good dance music wherever it is played. As for Peggy, sorry mate but wrong again. I am passionate about my music as all that know me will confirm. Yeah, I run a little local Soul Night. That would be 'The Pembo' which is pretty big actually, always rammed. Always has a top name headline DJ and always manages to play some interesting and imaginative tunes mixed in with the oldies. An ethos that Len himself has championed in his time as one of the promoters. I know you are passionate yourself but I just wish you would get your facts right. I may not go to the same venues as you but I have just as much passion for the music as you have .

Interesting post. I think you represent the thoughts of many. Unless there is more effort to encourage people like you along to some of the rarer nights we will be having these debates for ever. Listen up Promoters, hear what's being said. It proves what I have thought for a while that a lot more would attend some of the more 'upfront' nights and listen to some new tunes but are put off by the attitude of the few that seem to want to keep it elitist. I bet this is not the last thread on this subject .

Top man. Thanks for a great deal on Lavern Baker! You have some good prices there. All the best, Steve.

To some a celebrity to others a nobody but I think that's why this has been has been a great thread as we have had such a wide and bizarre collection of 'faces'. How much further apart could you have than Eric Knowles and Paul Weller! Any more?

Fantastic! C'mon you Canaries. I knew most of his Clubs but that is a new one on me. BTW Don't forget you got free Pembo tickets if you decide to come along.

Good stuff guys. Wes Brown is a new one. I had heard about Kevin Rowland but not the others. I find it fascinating who crops up in these threads.

Jem Brittin and myself were asked if we would do a private soul night for a 40th birthday in sleepy Stanwick in Northamptonshire. I was only able to get there for around 9.30 by which time a fair few people were dancing. Right in front of the decks was former Man Utd footballer Dion Dublin dancing away like a good un. There was also a strange guy dressed in a Zoot Suit wearing spats and a Fedora. I said to my Mrs 'Who does he think he is, Kid Creole?' Never thought too much more about it until Jem suddenly appeared with a record sleeve with writing all over it and announced that he had just got it signed by Kid Creole! It didn't end there. One of the guys on the dance floor who had come with Mr Creole turned out to be the main man from Odyssey, unreal!. All three were top blokes just having a good time but it made me wonder who people have spotted on the dance floor that were there purely for fun. I know these guys were guests at a party so don't strictly qualify but thought this might be a bit of fun seeing who we might come up with.

Direct hit! Sorry that I got the first bit wrong, but it was about a week ago. Just checked on you tube. New to my ears but lovely track. Quite an odd place to hear it. Thanks, Steve.

I also think the next line is 'I believe I'm falling in love' Hope this helps.

No it's not that either. Much more mid tempo and old school. I was quite surprised myself. Even my mate commented on it at the time. I wish I'd have asked but I guess it was an mp3 multi track and the girl would have been clueless. I knew this would be tricky.

Definitely not Darlene Love (quality track) and not Timberland. I will check out the other track though. Thanks for the suggestions .

Deffo not!!!! Next .

This is a real longshot but as I was having a coffee at Stanstead in the departure lounge, a track came on that had the lyrics (I think) 'Too late to say I'm sorry.' It was mid tempo with a male vocal and although sounded 60's, I suspect that it may be recent. Any thoughts? Thanks, Steve.

Pete, I promise you that it does get a lot of the background pops and clicks out. Jem has done a few for me that have turned up from evil bay looking wrecked. He has managed to turn them into very playable copies that I would have binned.

Try contacting Glenn Bellamy from Out of The Past Records. He will clean a record up and improve the grading as can me old mate Jem Brittin who is a member on here.

Good point! Interestingly though, that was a lookback. As I said before, I tend to look at these before I decide to visit a venue. My other point is that lots of people look on here but only as guests. For us it is very important to put out our information through this media, as well as our other forms of promotion. I suspect that for our local events it helps put a few on the door but for our main 'Pembo' nights it brings a lot of travelling support from all over. Also Chalky makes a good point that nighters are very different and I do think a much higher percentage of attendees are regulars on here. With regard to Mikes point, whilst there is often good friendly banter about who might be going etc, the Pre Event threads are definitely used by the organisers as promotional tools to reach a wider audience. In no way am I having a swipe at SS, in fact I think it is the only way to keep in touch with what's going on across the Country. I'm sure, like me, when people have a free weekend, they browse the forums on a Thursday or Friday night thinking where they might go over the weekend.

Couldn't agree more! And yes, I do think people don't post as much now because of some of the venom that has come their way in the past.

As a joint promoter, I often wonder how we manage to always fill our venues, yet hardly make a ripple on the surface of the Events Threads whilst other promoters run page after page of pre event hype that ends up with only a handful of attendees. Do we really take any notice and does it influence where we go if an event thread is very busy? Personally, I tend to look in the previous Lookback thread to see what sort of revue the event has had from anyone other than the Promoters and DJs. Does anyone else do the same? During our nights, I talk to a lot of people and it is surprising how many either do not look at Soulsource or only look as guests and therefore don't contribute. Maybe the more exclusive the event then the higher percentage of members from here attend? Any thoughts?

Big Maybelle sorted!