TheBigO

Ok, things have now gone MAD!!!!! Tickets are flying out the door at an alarming rate as everyone seems to have woken up to the idea that this Fridays Anniversary looks set to be a sell-out. So, once again, if you are travelling distance to be with us on this unique night (unique in the respect that its an anniversary in September that doesnt mention the word Wigan or Casino!) make sure you either get a ticket from the box office at £8 (01462-672003) or from me (01462-731543 or email at nh6tsmafia@aol.com) otherwise you are running the risk of having to do a Martha - namely dancing in the streets. See you there Friday with the other 400+ for the usual debauchery and fun and games. TheBigO

Havent seen it myself but have had mails saying that the latest ECHOES has managed to not mention our 1st anniversary at all and have also managed to put all our details under another venues event????? If this is the case can you lovely people spread the word that we are on and that we will not be djing at the stated venue. Confused? Not as much as me!!!! Cheers...TheBigO

Afternoon all and time for a shameless plug for our forthcoming event (At least Im honest) at North Herts No 1 Rare Soul club - The Plinston Hall, Letchworth. Read more for very important news! Ive had a couple of mails asking if they can turn up on the night travelling from Manchester and I said yes they can but chances are they wont get in as we expect this to be a sell-out, much along the lines of the opening night last year. Sooooooooo, PLEASE, if you are travelling to the event either reserve your tickets at the box office (01462-672003) or drop me (TheBigO) a line at nh6tsmafia@aol.com and we will hold them with the Sinister Sisters on the door. As the lovely Kay Seabrook is on the door on the night wed suggest you heed our words as she may want to kill you if you travel distance without a ticket and then have a moan that you cant get in....... Weve confirmed Mick H and Terry Jones for the Nov 14th event and the Godlike Butch for our Jan event so make notes in your diaries. Ill be posting the latest Trading Cards and flyers over the weekend and a list of some of the tip top toons weve spun at the venue in all 3 rooms. Right, spread the word and come along and check out one of the most talked about venues in the South. TheBigO * Dave Flynn has agreed NOT to be spinning his rare A-Ha acetates on the night for those that have been concerned after reading his Trading Card!

:-D Just a quickie to let those who are coming to the Plinston Hall in Letchworth tomorrow that we will be selling the anniversary tickets on the door as well priced at £8. Dave Flynn, Mark Bicknell and Soul Sam join the Usual Suspects. Details nest week. Also we will be passing the collection bucket around for the final time for the Royal Marsden so bring extra cash please :-) Lastly Taffy and I would like to pass on our gratitude for all the messages of support and thanks we have recieved following the Soulgate Alldayer. It was a pleasure to be involved with and we are hoping to organise a memorial event in Randys honour/memory every year. See ya soon TheBigO

SOULGATE N14 OH HAPPY DAY! - THE REVIEW Jane and I arrived at the ‘Rising Sun’ for 11.30am to be greeted by the collective mugging of the rest of Letchworth’s 6T’s Mafia, bedecked in the memorial T-shirts, and more than a little banter of a very dubious nature! 12pm and the doors opened and Trickster and his new lovely wife, Etsu graced the decks for the first set, spinning some stomping Northern monsters from across the eras. The standard had been set with a cracking start. Many of us were quite concerned about Tricksters memory problem. He obviously has one as he can’t seem to remember who he is and what he looks like, judging by the number of flyers, stickers and magazines that adorned his record box with his face and fine dancing moves plastered all over it!!!!!!! Remember if you see him, remind him who he is as he may be a little confused. ? From here on the numbers started to rise and the DJ’s began to gather (although as usual it was the normal scrum, fighting for prime times etc). The list of DJ’s for the early sessions up to 8pm included the lovely Jo Wallace (who spun a great West Hampstead memories set that saw me trying for my first cardiac arrest of the day); Ivor Jones, Steve Gaunori, Teff, Buey (a man with mad facial hair and an even madder sense of dancing style), Mike Ritson amongst others. (apologises for anyone I’ve left out but my youngest has chewed the list!) The sets ranged from classic 6T’s to current Modern Soul movers that kept the crowd shuffling away throughout the day. This being Soulgate there was a fantastic atmosphere as usual with the accent not only on the quality soul being spun but also on the social side, with many new friendships being forged and many old ones being saluted over many many MANY drinks at the packed bar (can someone tell my wife Jane as she can’t remember a thing past 3pm-hmmmmm). This to me is one of the reasons why Randys alldayers have always been a ‘Must’ on the London calendar. He never lost sight of the fact that ‘This Thing Of Ours’ should be about, not only great music, but also having fun with great mates and building what can only be described as a ‘Soulful Family’. Those that attend will understand completely what I mean, those that have never been can only imagine what it is like to be stood in the middle of a jam packed room, singing at the top of your lungs to Annette Snell, Teddy Pendergrass or the Soul Brothers Six ‘I’ll Be Loving You’ (all Southgate anthems), arm in arm with people who before this day were complete strangers to you but who now, at this time and in this place, were your brothers and sisters. This is the magic of Soulgate, this is Randy’s legacy. The sun shone all day and the numbers started to get bigger by 5pm. A special mention to Paul from Dublin who made the journey for the event and who came up to the decks to express just how good he thought it was. Top bunny. Many people chose to sit outside, watching the world go by to a soundtrack supplied by some of Detroit’s, Philadelphia’s and New York’s finest. The atmosphere was building and many commented that they felt the evening was going to be one to remember. The shout of ‘Free Food’s Up!!’ put that anticipation on hold as the need for nourishment of an unsoulful kind took over. The raffle tickets were going fast and many a loving look was passed over the table stacked full of prizes and auction items donated by Richard Searling, Dave Rimmer, Bee Cool Publishing, Keith Hammond, KRL Promotions, Dave Godin, Scenesvile, Drunken Monkey, Kolla, Ady Croasdell and both myself and Taffy. (Our eternal thanks and gratitude to you all for your support.) The evening came and saw the Rising Sun packed to the rafters with an atmosphere to die for. Mick Smith, Roger Stewart, Ion The Greek (not Colin The Greek as Seabrook called him), Tony Smith and Terry Jones all had the honour of getting the crowd moving and boy did they do a great job! Stomping Soul mixed with upfront Modern and a generous dollop of West Hampstead Rhythm ‘n’ Soul, Deep Soul and mid-tempo gems that Randy had introduced to the scene first (including Bobby Kline, Soul Brothers 6, Jerry Ganey, Theola Kilgore, Lou Johnson…the list is endless.) I admit that there were more than a few of us with tears in our eyes when these were being played. Terry’s set was fantastic and there were many comments saying the same. Top man-top set! The raffle draw took place at 9pm with yours truly behind the mike and being heckled at every stage by not only the bunch of reprobate girlies down the front (hi ladies) but also my wife! Taffy, who was still able to stand upright at this stage quite surprisingly, did his best to keep things moving along but kept getting engaged in deep chat with just about every winner — Muppet! Next was the auction and Taffy took over for this. I feel that he may not have quite grasped the job description of what is required for an auctioneer as on the very first item, the rather wonderful James Brown Rubber Duck (I kid you not!!!) donated by me and that he said wouldn’t raise 10p, we had an opening bid of £5 on. Taffy’s jaw dropped as he uttered those memorable words ‘WHAT! For this piece of shit!!!!???’ His jaw was positively Bob Cratchett like when the final price of £26 was reached. I of course gloated at every opportunity at my superior ability to know what will raise money and what will not. (Note: It transpires that the lady who won was actually using a friend’s wallet and money that had fallen asleep I believe. Top woman!) The other items included a set of Stax UK picture cards that went for £55, signed copies of Casino’ (by Maxine Brown & Dean Parrish) and Dennis Coffey’s book (signed by him obviously — DOH!) £50, a James Brown doll that was donated by Darcy I think and who won it back in the raffle and then asked for it to be auctioned off that raised £55, a picture of Ady looking more dodgy than usual that Kolla paid £30 for and our star item….Dave Godin’s own copy of the ‘Greetings to the UK Motown Appreciation Society..’ 45, complete with Dave’s ‘The Detroit Report’ booklet that raised £150. However, I feel I should point out here that Toby was winning the bids at £120 but sadly was outbid by someone else in the room at £150. His face dropped, his heart sank, a tear made it’s lonely way down his ashen cheek….but not as much as it did 30 seconds later when he realised that the person who had outbid him was none other than his wife who hadn’t realised he was the winning bidder at that stage when she placed her bid on his behalf! There are some things that money can’t buy — for everything else there is Toby’s missus. Priceless. I have to say the whole auction was a good laugh and everyone there entered into the spirit of the event. Even Ian Seabrook who was happily bidding on a few items and who it was pointed out over the mike was obviously there without his wife Kay as he was bidding quite openly and without a hint of fear that we have come to associate with him when out with the lovely Mrs Seabrook. It was then a return to the music right up to the close. Mick Smith and Roger Stewart did the honours playing a mainly West Hampstead memories set mixed with 100 Club toons that really set the seal on what had been an already fantastic night up to then. The place was dripping sweat and every available space was utilised for dancing, including the wall outside (and I hope someone got a photo of the little girl and her dad giving it some soulful welly on it.) Taff and I were doing the last hour but sadly the Noise Police moved in at 12.15am and shut us down an hour early, allowing us only the chance to spin Flame N King ‘Oh Happy Day’, Ann Sexton’s ‘You’ve Been Gone Too Long’ and the Tyrell Corporation’s ‘6,O, Clock’. Then it was all over, the end of an era and the close of what had been a very emotional day for everyone. Over £1400 had been raised (with Johnny T and all at the Valatone adding another £400+ the following day from their door sales that night) and the end saw many hugs and emotional goodbyes. I think all that were there would agree that it was a memorable day and a fitting farewell to one of London’s TOP Faces. The scene is never going to be the same again and he will be missed by all his friends but we know that somewhere out there, at a dancehall ‘up there’, he’s stood at the bar, tape in hand, complete with his usual comments on each track, waiting for us to arrive and kick of his latest event: Soul(heaven)gate. You know it! God bless you mate. Your gonna be missed more than words can say. TheBigO - Best line of the day has to go to Jon Buck commenting on our money raising ideas: Oi! Having heard you were holding a raffle, auction, collection and charity T-shirts and posters I was half expecting to see a Northern Soul Charity Car Wash being held outside the pub!!!! If only we’d have thought of that sooner! Embarrassing moment (Jesus there were loads throughout the day so I’ll go with mine): Me running up to Mick on the decks and raving over the Motown record he just played that sounded absolutely brilliant, obviously some rare acetate he’d just got from Mr Anderson in Kings Lynn I was thinking. Then having to suffer Mick’s gloating grin under that ‘Saddam’ tash of his as he gleefully pointed out it was ‘Anit no mountain high enough’ by Marvin & Tammi — a record that I own just to compound my misery! SHAME! SHAME! OH THE SHAMEEEEEEEEEEE! The Big O (Neil O)

:-D Just a quick post until I can recover enough to send in a full report and photos later this week. The whole day was a great sucess and a fantastic atmosphere throughout, with many of the old faces coming down for this a celebration of Randys life and music. The auction and the raffle raised over £1400 for Cancer Research UK and Royal Marsden Hospital and the place was rocking right up until the Noise Police closed us down around 12.15am. Result!!!! On behalf of Taffy and both Terry&Paul Cozens Id like to express our sincere thanks and gratitude to everyone who attended and donated prizes. The big man, if he was looking down, would certainly have been smiling and I guess would have been very proud. Full report later - bath and a full recovery await. TheBigO

As promised heres a little taster of whats in the raffle for this Saturdays event in aid of the Royal Marsden Hospital...... * 15 pairs of tickets for the August Ritz Allnighter * Tickets for the next Drunken Monkey event * 4 pairs of tickets for the Northern Soul @ The Plinston Anniversary on Sept 5th * Full colour A3 repro of 60s soul concert posters * 50+ latest CDs from KRL, Kent and Richard Searling * Bee Cool books and a years subscription to Manifesto magazine * Baseball caps *The Strange World of Northern Soul DVD box set * Kent 45s * Auction items will include the wonderful James Brown rubber duck; Dave Godins original and stone mint copy of the greeting to the Tamla-Motown UK appreciation society etc 45 with Daves booklet The Detroit Reportand the memorial Tshirt in memory of our dear friend Randy. We are getting more stuff arrive every day and both Taffy and I would like to extend our heartfelt thanks and gratitude to everyone who has donated prizes. Also to Johnny T and everyone at the Valatone who are donating all their door money from their event this Saturday to the collection. Top men!!!!! If you cant make it to Saturdays event and would still like to take part in the raffle please mail us at: nh6tsmafia@aol.com, stating how many tickets you want (£5 for a sheet of 5) and we will make sure you are put into the draw. The same applies for those that want to bid on the 45, duck or Ts etc. Money must be with us by Monday morning at the latest. Address will be supplied. Right, thats it. Look forward to seeing as many of you as possible on Saturday between 12pm-1am for a great day. KTF TheBigO :up:

Further update on the alldayer - The raffle prize fund is growing (all proceeds going to the Royal Marsden Hospital as per Randys wishes) with donations coming from KRL records, Manifesto, Dave Rimmer, Dave Godin, Richard Searling, Keith Hammond to name but a few. The prize fund includes latest CDs, back issues of Togetherness and Soulful Kinda Music fanzines, Videos of Rare Soul Acts from the 60s, Rare Soul books etc etc. There will be an auction on some of the tasty items including the Motown Greetings to the UK supplied by Dave Godin and the booklet of Daves trip to the Motor City (a lot of interest in this so far!); original Stax publicity cards and, my fave and newly arrived, the James Brown Rubber Duck (and NO I am not kidding!!!) To maximise the money raised we will be allowing those that may be just visting the dayer for a few hours to make their bids early or they may phone in to place a phone bid. A full list of the auction items will be published here later this week. So, please dig deep and help us to raise as much money as possible. The hospital needs it and will be grateful of anything they recieve. Laters TheBigO p.s: Special T shirts will be available on the day as well

Late last night I got the news from Taffy of the passing away of our good friend Randy Cozens after a battle with cancer. I am sure that there will be many of you who will be shocked at the news. All of us here in Letchworth wish to pass on our heartfelt and sincere condolences to his family and friends and we are all deeply upset at the loss of one of own. Randy’s last wish was for the Alldayer to go ahead no matter what happened to him and we will do our best to ensure that it will be a suitable fitting event for a truly top man. Rest in peace Randy – one in a million.

Under the banner of This Thing Of Ours Presents.....Maxine, The Mob & Me! the line-up of DJs has been confirmed and a fantastic weekend of Northern Soul in the capital city of this great nation of ours looks set to be in store. To recap: Saturday July 28th at Ye Olde Rising Sun in Chase Side, Southgate, London N14 is the venue for 13 hours of across the board SOUL from 12pm-1am with a line-up that is sexier than the girls from the Bada-Bing Club doing the wild thing with each other....Taffy, Dave Greenhill, Stuart Russell, Itchycoo Mark, Ady Croasdell, Steve Gaunori, Roger Stewart, Chris Forest, Marco, Ion, Rob Holmes, Tony Smith, Mick Smith, Jo Wallace, TheBigO, Dave Greet, Mike Ritson, John Farrel, Ivor Jones, Teff, Bevy, Valatones Johnny T and Trixster - spinning Northern, Modern, Crossover, R&B. This is a free event in aid of raising funds, at Randy Cozens (the main man behind Soulgate events) request, for the Royal Marsden Hospital and in all likelyhood will be the last event under the This Thing Of Ours banner after 18 glorious years. A full house is expected as always and another fantastic day/night looks set to be in store. All are welcome to eperience the magic and to see why this is always a MUST event on the London soul scene. If that wasnt enough there is also the chance to do a spot of venue hopping as Johnny Ts Valatone night is also on and there is the 100 Club Allnighter on straight after to carry on the good times. Ye Olde Rising Sun is situated right next door to the Southgate tube and a mere 10 mins straight drive from the M25, Potters Bar turning, down the A111. Record dealers and raffle prizes are also amongst the attractions on offer but it is the unique atmosphere and the great soul sounds that really make people keep coming back again and again. Be there! TheBigO :up: Further Info: Taffy on ian.guy@ntlworld.com or nh6tsmafia@aol.com

:up: 2 weeks before the next soulful night at North Herts Biggest Rare Soul event and the phone lines are begining to light up! Its another 3 room packer with Taffy, Nathan and Soul Sam doing the business in the upstairs Modern/Crossover room (The Ghetto); Fingers, Ab, Leon and TheBigO in the R&B/RnS room (The Mojo Room) with special guest Dave Edwards and Hammie, Fingers, TheBigO joined by those 2 lovely cuddly allround soulful bunnies Tony Warot and Pete Hulutt in the Main Hall for 6 hrs of current Monsters, Forgotten Oldies and anthemic Crossover - Oooooh er! Full details can be found under the events listings and look out for the gallery of pics taken at the last event being posted later today (if I can get the b****y thing to upload :-x ) See ya on the night.

Dust off your copies & prepare for the price hike. Seen in London last night, latest KFC ad featuring the Easter Bunny & Roadrunner followed by Laura Green Moonlight,Music & You. Not sure but think there was a football match being played at night? Only caught the end after dashing in from the kitchen from cooking chicken ( honest I kid you not!)