TheBigO

Ooooh videos have a lot to answer for - and what about vests over T's!!! NICE! Spencers are still in business: https://www.spencers-trousers.com/ And next time I see you I'm gonna Bitch Slap you

He's lovely but in a large way!!! Hope that explains it

I think you'll find that Spencers are still in business in Sowerby Bridge. Me, I love em!

The lovely Gavin Page is the man behind the wheels of steel upstairs in The Ghetto! at our Saturday 19th March event as Soul Sam i at the Skeggy weekender. Should be a great night up there and in the Main Hall. TheBigO

a tattoo laden heavy metal singer if memory serves right wasn't he?

Just confirmed that the lovely GAVIN PAGE will be the man with the task of filling Soul Sam's large slippers at our Saturday 19th March event! So please spread the word.

Isn't that Dave Rimmer :-))))))

Whilst on this subject of the sounds spun can I just say a big thumbs up to Adam who was always outstanding at the Oddfellows and certainly put me on the road to Modern heaven! J. Balckfoot, Kashiff, Steve Arrington to name but 3 that stick in the mind! The downstairs 6T's Newies room (as we called it) was always a great night and I wonder if the Rockin' Rev or Ally have the unedited video of the anniversary night still as that's something I'd love to have a copy of as so much must have been cut! Same with the Morecombe Pier one as well :-)

God we were all a lot younger then!!! There's me and the rest of the Letchworth crew out on the floor, me talking about Little John 'Wait and See' with Keb behind the decks whilst Gary Rushbrookes on, Graham, Pottsy, Rob, Panda, Pickle, ah the list is endless - where are they all now? It really was a great club and alonside Stafford and the 100 was the only other one promoting the whole Sixties Newies thing. The video captures the atmosphere of the place but misses out on all the fun and the jokes etc etc - who can remember when Tony Clayton spun 'Blowing My Mind To Pieces' as we were forced to leave due to a bomb scare? Or the same evening as we were about to file down the stairs the same Rocking Rev' telling us that the police would be searching the bags and smiling as 100+ soulies headed straight for the toilets for an impromptu stop!!! Sadly not given a mention these days so I for one am glad to stand up and shout that i was there and yes, it was a great club!!! T-shirts with vests over the top, permed hair, loose women (ask Rob K about that!!!!!) just some of the things we will skip over for now :-))) Wiganer - is that you with the dark hair and the snorkel at the end of the video? (and by the way what a great finish to the video that is!!!!) If it is then i remember you!!!!

What's Rod up to these days? I miss the old bugger and his fanzines 'Midnight Express' and of course 'Voices'.

Alison - you think that's bad make sure 1) he doesn't use your shower (ask him about it and he'll go all red!) and 2) we gave him a torch at The Ghetto! once and god bless the cheeky little chappie, he couldn't turn it on!!!!! We adore Sam and as you say he's put us onto more soul wants than any other DJ I can think of!!!

As AOL are being a total pain re: bulk mail out's at the present I'm posting all the latest news from the 6T's Mafia here and asking you to spread the word and to take note. Here goes: 1. We are updating our membership and so if you are a member and do not have a card or do not recieve the newsletter and flyers in the post you will need to send for a new one. This is because we are shortly to be co-hosting an allnighter and going bigger and better in 2006 but for many of these events YOU WILL need to be a member and on the books. S.A.E for your free membership to: N.H 6T's Mafia, c/o 29 Vicarage Close, Arlesey, Beds. SG15 6XH. 2. We have tightend up the security at the Plinston so all members will need to start bringing their membership cards in the future. This will ensure that we keep out any unwanted locals. 3. We are launching our MODERN BY MOONLIGHT sessions at the Plinston featuring the very best in Modern/Crossover Soul on Saturday 16th April 2005 with Taffy, Nathan, Soul Sam, Gary Dennis, Ivor Jones, Simon T and me, TheBigO. Again membership is advised and if all goes well with advance tickets brought or reserved we will then open the upstairs room and book Terry Jones, Gavin Page and others for the night so get up offa that t'ing and get your tickets sorted now!!!!! Flyers are in the gallery with all the information. 4. We are hosting a couple of hit-n-run local nights in June and August at another Letchworth venue and featuring Taffy and me and a few friends spinning across the board soul and 6T's grooves like the old days. Watch S-S for the dates and full info. I'll keep you all posted on future developments here so keep an eye out. Cheers TheBigO

It's Lyn Varnado or the Rev Lyn Varnado to be exact. She of 'Wash and wear Love' and ' and 'second Hand Love' fame

IMHO Soul Sam is the most talked about and most 'done down' DJ on the scene, despite being one of the very best, and certainly in the opinion of many 6T's Mafia members, DJ's in the UK. I find that Sam can blend a set well, playing a totally different set upstairs in The Ghetto! than the one he plays in the Main Hall and yet having the crowd rooving to his selection that always stays true to his belief that it's the SOUL above all else that should be the overiding criteria. The fact that he's always fully booked speaks volumes and he certainly ranks up there with Butch and Mick Smith as a crowd puller. Now, enough of this love-in! He may be a great DJ and a true Soul Man with impeccable taste but he is still bleeding inept when it comes to using technology!!!! AND he still weras those gingham PJ's when he's sleeping over at my house :-O

Jimmy Beaumont - a North Herts fave since the early days, for me at least, of the late 70's and a great flip too! Why aren't toons like this spun any more???? One I've been respinning at the Plinston, and another old fave of mine, the fab Dee Dee Sharp 'Standing In The Need Of Love'. Class oldie due for a reactivation.

Does Terry know you felt this strong Mischief??????

It's a 12" released via Rod Dearlove f memory serves me right and has 4 tracks on it, all great and all I spin when I get a chance to venture upstairs at the Plinston Value wise I'm guessing at around £20 but these days who knows!

Er, as a former DJ at Morecombe Pier (and what great days those were!) I have to point out that there were 2 rooms at the Pier, the Main hall and The Starlight room at the front. Obviously the chemicals were very VERY good in those days

Great record! Been after one since the wonderful and vastly under-rated Brian Groucher put it on a tape for me. Want one myself! By the way, does anybody have a contact email for Brian as would love to have him play in the Ghetto! at the Plinston! Ta very much.

Ooooh one of the subjects to get the heart rate up!!! As a promtor and collector I agree with Pete, some may find surprising, but at the end of the day it's all about the music and 99% of the dancers don't give a toss. There have been some good points made by both sides and my own view is that we all exist in harmony, because the collectors are vital i order to bring new sounds to the fore, the soul night is the life blood of Northern Soul, setting many a newly aquired leather soled shoe onto the path of Rare Souldom, and the allnighter is the ultimate collectors/dancers/DJ's dream where rare original vinyl should be the norm. Now why don't we all accept that this is an arguement that will run and run forever and get back to promoting the great music that our scene is all about! ..... now where's my Casino Classics Vol 2 :-)

You failed to mention that we then hit another 3 stores after the glowing burger!!!! Ah, you have so much to thank me for Vinnie!!! That was a good day if memory serves right with many a toon heading to a loving home (including if memory serves TC Lee and Oxford Knights) Do you recall the whacked out girl in the record store where all the LP's were, and the HUGE porno picture hanging on the wall. Besides, I think it was just what you deserved having woken up the poor 80 yr old lady in the apartment down the hall at 3am in the morning cause you couldn't remember our room number and scaring the living s**t out of her with your drunken Stevenage twang!!!!!

I am certain that Andy's no longer DJing which in my opinion is sad news as he was one of the best newies DJ's around. maybe he'll be tempted back and I would certainly have him back at the Plinston.

I've many great ones about hunting those elusive 45's in the states but one of my faves is the time I went into a a run-down place in the middle of nowhere in Minnesota, having seen a hand written notice in the window stating 'used records downstairs'. I go in and the room was full of thick heavy dope smoke, some chick whacked out and obviously on planet la-la behind the counter and a HUGE and I mean HUGGGGEEEEE array of sex videos and toys adorning the walls. On the TV a video was playing, a grandma giving a BJ but with her teeth removed and resting them on her chest!!!!, so I go down the stairs into what was obviously the 'specialist' room for such things and find a rack of 45's covered in dust (and I didn't want to know what else!) I start thumbing my way, whilst having a chat of sorts with space chick, and all of a sudden, right in the middle of the crud, I come across a Bobby Paris 'I walked away' demo. Result! I look more and pull out around 40 others, ranging from Gene Chandler demos to a want of mine at the time that Keb had put me onto, Mind & Matter. I go back upstairs, still chatting away with space chick and put the records on the counter. How much? I ask, expecting the usual $80+ to be thrown at me. She says that she really enjoyed chatting with someone from England and those records are crap anyway so I could have them all for $5. Cash down, smile on my face and I'm off out the door.....happy times!