| News
October/November 2004:
Our
newish look super-slim site is back... without the crap bits!
So without further ado, let's get on with the partying...
The SMERSH crew are packing their bucket & spades and
heading off to THE SEASIDE - well, close enough to dip their
toes in... Saturday, 30th October sees the NEW CHAPTER away
team of Mark Houghton, Stevie C, Girth Devon, Niki Golding
& Paul Thrower taking over SOULFUL @ Cagneys (under the
Hilton Hotel) in Bournemouth. They will be bringing along
all your Smersh favourites, anthems & just a few surprises
as well. Not had the Smersh experience before? Then now's
the time. Its running from 8pm til 2am and don't be late -
you do not want to miss ANY of the soulful fun. Need more
info just see the Event Calendar or mail Jason at soulful_at_cagneys@hotmail.com.
November
gets off to it's usual flying soulful start on Wednesday 3rd
with A NEW CHAPTER @ SMERSH, 5 Ravey St (off Great Eastern
Street), Shoreditch with residents Girth Devon, Mark Houghton
& Stevie C.If you haven't yet checked it out then perhaps
its high time you did. You'll be amazed at the regulars (&
DJs for that matter). Most of em need counselling for drink
problems (they can't get enough) or dancing lessons (and lots
of em) - a real unique bunch. I know that YOU are gonna fit
right in !!!!!!. The very special guests for the next one
will be the flowerpot men - Binsy & Ben (Summers). Definitely
one not to miss. As usual its an early start - around 6.30pm
and goes through til around midnight. Respec'.
Niki
Golding has been a very busy lass lately. Renowned for her
love of all things Philly, Disco & Boogie she's put the
lot together in her latest compilation for Suss'd Records,
the home of SALSOUL in the UK. "Salsoul Presents: Philly
Soul Flavas" is released on 22nd November and to kick
the album off in style the launch party happens on Friday
5th November @ the Medicine Bar, 89 Great Eastern Street,
Shoreditch. Playing alongside Reckless Records Jeremy Newall
it's gonna be a night of 70s disco, jazz-funk, big 12-inches.
Contact Niki@soulboys.co.uk to get on the guestlist. Have
a look at the Salsoul.co.uk website for more information on
their reissue and CD comp catalogue - and while you're about
it check out Niki's other compilation for the label "Disco
Divas & Soulful Sista Flavas" and Acid Jazz man Eddie
Piller's "Crossover Flavas". Now get out your platform
shoes and boogie on down to the Medicine Bar!!
We've waited all year and it's finally here. Without a shadow
of a doubt the very best soul weekender of the annual calendar,
TOGETHERNESS begins on Friday 12th November at the Cala Gran,
Fleetwood, Lancs. With live acts this time round from ARCHIE
BELL & THE DRELLS and GARLAND GREEN... it really doesn't
get any better than this. There are three rooms - The Modern
Room covers new stuff, RnB, anthems & soulful house, The
famous Tent reaches the parts that other weekenders cannot
reach with the cream of 70s crossover & rare soul, and
then there's the Northern Room for stomping 60s soul, funny
outfits and talcum powder on the dancefloor. As usual those
nice folks at Expansion Records have released a CD to accompany
the event - "Togetherness 2004" contains all the
best soul tunes of the year like the Sunburst Band, Mike Jiminez
and Darrell Nulisch and a couple of all-time Modern Soul anthems
such as Flower "For Real" , Bill Harris "Am
I Cold Am I Hot" and We The People "Making My Daydream
Real". If you really love soul music then this is the
event of the year... and us Soulboys can hardly wait...
 |
The
last Saturday in November - the 27th sees another episode
of the MENTALness. MonuMENTAL SOUL or Mental Soul as it is
affectionally known. Again it's at The Britannia, 20 Monument
St, London EC3 and this time features special guest IVOR "Friend
to Garland Green" JONES - ??? Curious??? Ask to see the
photo!!!. He'll be there alongside the new regular DJ team
of Niki Golding, Girth Devon & Mole. The last MENTAL Soul
on September 25th was a corker, with top soul girl Selina
celebrating her birthday in great style and with visitors
from as far afield as Yorkshire (yes oop North!). It's great
to have it back. Things will kick off around 8.30pm and keep
you bouncing along nicely til 2am - its £6 in and you
can get more info from the Event Calendar or from Niki at
mentalsoul@soulboys.co.uk.
Signing
off for now,
The mystery news writer(s).
News March 2004:
We
start off the month as always at SMERSH with A New Chapter
on Wednesday 3rd.
Last month saw yet another mobbed out soulful experience. We need a bigger venue for this monthly
do I feel. The
walls are groaning under the strain month in month out!!! This month should be no exception as we have Eddie Piller
on the decks. This
old bugger has been around the soul scene for a long, long
time so he knows a thing or too.
I’m looking forward to this as we rarely get
the man Djing in this country for some reason.
Having said that he did recently DJ down at Bournemouth
and he went down A Storm. Apparently Ms A. Storm wasn’t
happy about this and is in discussions with her legal team
as we speak ;o) Joining Eddie will be two of the regulars,
from Mark ‘Ranieri’ Houghton, Girth Devon &
Stevie Cee. Who will be left on the bench this
month then?
Friday
5th see the start of the third Prestatyn Midnight
Hour Soul Weekender, yipppeeeeeee!!!
Now I wrote about this last month so just scroll down
to see details about this weekender.
We do have an update though.
Unfortunately The Masqueraders have pulled out, but
the good news is that Bobby Hutton has replaced them at very
short notice. What
a nice chap. The
other bit of news is that this weekender has sold out. So if you haven’t already booked
up, UNLUCKY!!!! See
you at the bar Friday afternoon, I’ll be the drunk one
with a grin from ear to ear :o)
If
you were thinking of going to the next Plinston Hall on the
Friday 19th then I’m afraid it’s been
cancelled. I’m
told this is due to ‘unforeseen circumstances outside
of our control’.
Well I’m glad we sorted that out then!
March
20th is the date of the next ‘Soulful’@
Cagneys in Bournemouth.
This is always a great night and the music that gets
played is right across the board as long as it’s….ermm
well Soulful. Held
at a night club underneath the Hilton Hotel it always has
a lively atmosphere and plenty of alcohol fuelled punters. This time around we have Steve Hobbs,
Dennis Probert, Johhny Mac, Teeeeeeee Davies, Paul Thrower
and Lee Rothman. I
think you’ll need your dancing shoes then!!!!!
If
you can’t make it to Bournemouth on the 20th
then there’s also the first Get Involved.
It takes place at The Pheonix, 37 Cavendish Square
central London. Ivor Jones is running this and he’ll
be joined at the decks by Gary Dennis, Simon Dunmore &
Bob Jones. You can buy a ticket before hand from
Crazy Beat (01708 228678) or from Ivor (07901 652933) and
it’ll cost you £5.
You can also get in on the night for £7.
Should be a night of quality soul music and it’ll
be good to hear Dr Bob playing SOUL music.
Saturday
the 27th sees the second Monumental Soul night. At the moment we have Terry Jones
and Ben Summers confirmed, but we expect another guest to
announced nearer the time.
I’m writing this before the first Monumental
Soul so I can’t really say how it was, but I’m
sure it’ll be a well attended affair with everybody
having a great time and lots of falling over.
Anyway it’s TJ playing this time and you wouldn’t
miss that would you? No I didn’t think so. The venue is The Britannia, 20 Monument
Street and it’s a about a minutes walk from Monument
underground station.
Signing
off for now,
The mystery news writer.
News
February 2004:
Well
it must be SMERSH time again I think. Wednesday the 4th sees
two guests you lucky people you. Mike Ritson and Lee Rothman
will be joining the regulars Girth and Mark Houghton. Stevie
Cee will be missing this month from the decks, but I dare
say he’ll be there at the bar (goodboy!). Now we all
know Mike as the MD of Manifesto magazine, but he’s
also got a great collection of the soulful stuff. He did some
shows on soul24-7 a while back and they we’re top class
so we can expect the same quality here. And as for Lee Rothman,
well we just know him from being a drunken tw*t!!! The atmosphere
in this little bar is fantastic and I really do recommend
it to anybody who loves their soul music with a capital S.
I know it’s on a Wednesday night, but it really is worth
the effort. SMERSH can be found (if you look hard enough)
at Ravey Street, just off Great Eastern Street.
Now
for all you lovers out there on Saturday 14th we have Valentines
Philly Soul Special. This is taking place at the Bricklayers
Arms in Charlotte Road in Shoreditch (where else!). DJs are
Jackie Wilson look-a-like Charlie Mitchelle, Brian & our
own Niki Golding. Well did you really expect Niki not to be
Djing at a Philly night!!!! Entrance is free and partying
starts at 7pm and it finishes at midnight. I can’t make
this myself (boo) as I’m doing the Valentine thing,
yep paying over the odds for a crap warmed up meal ;o)
Saturday
21st is the next Treacle Soul at the Litten Tree in Hemel
Hempstead. Music starts at 7:30 with lights out at about 11:30ish.
As well as Marcus Djing we also have Niki, Dave Blow, John
the Jester & Sean Daley joining him at the decks. With
a line up like that if you close your eyes and stand in the
corner you might think you was at the Sebright :o) The last
one had a good turn out of punters and we even had the natives
joining in dancing to a bit of Northern thanks to Stavros.
Now if anybody can get a floor moving it’s our Niki
so just move the pool tables off the dance floor. I’m
sure the locals won’t mind honest!!! Oh and it’s
free of course.
On
Saturday the 28th we have a brand new soul night in London
(about bloody time). Monumental Soul takes place at The Britannia,
20 Monument, EC3. The venue is about fifty yards away from
Monument station so it’ll be easy to get to. The promoters
of this night are Mark Houghton and Colin Brown of Setting
the Standard fame along with Gary Thomas. It starts at 9pm
and goes on until 2am with admission only being £6.
To start this new night off in style we have three guests
in the shape of Ivor Jones, Shay & Fish. Music we understand
will be anything from Crossover to the more soulful of new
releases and everything between. It’s about time we
had a regular real SOUL do in London on a weekend so this
could kick off big time. See you at the bar & mines a
large one!!!!
There
you go that’s all for this month. It’s a bit quiet
I know. However I think it’s worth mentioning the Prestatyn
Weekender early. It’s on the Friday 4th and goes on
until late Sunday 7th, staying until the Monday. Now last
year was flipping great, the hi-lite being Ann Nesby’s
live PA. What a voice this lady has, absolutely stunning.
Now this year we have Phil Perry live!!!!!! Although I’ve
not seen him live (yet) he really does have a great voice.
Really looking forward to this on the Friday night. It’s
a four roomed affair so plenty of choice for everybody. In
the Modern room we have Chris Anderson, Gareth Donovan (Girth),
Arthur Fenn, Steve Jackson, Mick Farrer, Steve Hobbs, Mark
Simpson, Ivor Jones, Mark Randle, Paul Sutton & more.
The Northern Room has Andy Rix, Roger Banks, Mark Bicknell,
Tim Brown, Dave Rimmer, Mick H, Pat Brady, Rob Smith &
more. Now to be honest I’m not a Northern room person,
however it was rammed last year and you could hardly get on
the dance floor which says it all in my book. You’ll
find me in the Modern room, especially with a line up like
that!!!!!! Now I know there are a few names missing (like
TJ), but I really do think the line up is one of the best
I’ve seen for a weekender. There will also be a 24 hour
radio station. Oh yeah and the third room is at the Queen
Vic pub next to the Modern room. Friday night will see a London
Calling night, with sets from various nights in London, “These
Old Shoes”, “The Dome”, “ScenesVille”
& “Talk Of The South”. Saturday night is a
60ts R&B special & Sunday is a Connoisseurs Night.
The fourth room is only on Friday & Saturday nights and
has an Oldies All-Nighter with Dave Evison, Keith Minshull,
Brian Rae & Snowy. Phil Perry isn’t the only live
PA either, Saturday night we have The Masqueraders, Baby Washington
& Melvin Davis in the Northern room.
Signing
off for now,
The mystery news writer.
News
January 2004:
Well
that’s another year flown by then. I could waffle on
about how great it was, but this is a news page not a review
page (any volunteers?).
Right,
we start the month off as usual with SMERSH on the 7th. The
last one was a great success with Niki, Alfie and the residents
playing some great, great SOUL music. I don’t think
you could have got another person in the venue if you tried.
We even got Gary Dennis for a night out without his better
half!!!!! This month it’s the turn of Mark ‘Binsy’
Taylor to spin with, Mark Houghton, Girth Devon & Stevie
Cee. Now I’ve not heard Binsy spin before, but he used
to DJ at the Norfolk with TJ (nuff said) & I know what
he likes so it should be another blinder.
Saturday
the 10th sees another Treacle Soul at The Litten Tree in Hemel
Hempstead. Put on by the penguin attacking Marcus Bell, the
last one was a great success. This time around joining Marcus
will be Dave Blow, Stavros & ScouserPaul. Stavros played
a wicked set at the last Soul Village Weekender on the Saturday
afternoon and he also regularly plays at Big Stu’s soul
kitchen. ScouserPaul can turn his hand to House and Modern
so you’ll just have to get yourself there to find out
what he plays this time around. Blowey likes his Jazz and
expect some modern soul gems from Marcus. The pub is on Leverstock
Green Road in Hemel which is five minutes from the M1. Oh
and if you have a pet penguin leave it at home!!!
After a month off in December Plinston Hall returns on Friday
16th. This months guests are Butch & Mick Smith and from
what I understand both are doing a spot in the northern room
and the modern room (along with Soul Sam) so that should be
interesting. Will they be able to keep the high standards
that Soul Sam and Terry Jones set in November? Let’s
hope so, they certainly have the collections to do it.
Soulful
@ Cagney’s is changing to every other month this year
if the rumours are right. Saturday 17th is the first one of
2004 and it looks like a great line up again. Ray Rose, Roger
Williams, Simon Petts, Ralph Jefferson join Valatone's Soulful
Chris and our Niki this time around, so get yourself down
to Bournemouth for another great night of soul music. You
never know we might be joined by a dozen or so firemen again!!!
Now
as well as spinning at SMERSH this month Mark ‘Binsy’
Taylor is also celebrating his 40th on the 23rd at On the
Rocks, Kingsland Road. We’ve got Niki, Val Palmer, Eddie
Piller & the magnificent Ivor Jones playing at this one
so we’re guaranteed quality soul music with these DJs.
So if you haven’t been invited…. UNLUCKY!!!!!!
Happy Birthday Binsy you old bastard.
Now
on the following Sunday, the 25th there’s something
a bit special in store. The Grapevine alldayer at Bar Lorca
kicks off at 1pm and goes on…… well all day really!
It should finish up about midnight and the list of DJs is
an impressive one. I can’t be asked to list them all
here (a more comprehensive list can be found on the events
calendar), but it includes Niki (she gets about a bit this
bird doesn’t she), Gavin Page, Johnny T, Mark Randle,
Roger Banks, Brummie Mick and ….. (drum roll)…
Terry Jones. So get the Monday booked off work & get yourself
down to Brixton Road. And don’t worry the local A&E
ward has been warned.!!!
Time
to tell you all about a few new things being released soon.
First up is Phillip Michell’s “Just The Beginning”,
this contains twenty previously unreleased tracks recorded
in the early seventies. We can thank those lovely people at
Grapevine for this release so it should be good. Tracks will
include his version of Corey Blake’s “How Can
I Go On Without You” (he wrote it you know) & “Home
Is Where The Heart Is” and there will be some unheard
of stuff on there too. Grapevine will also be re-issuing the
Corey Blake choooone on a seven too, so we’ll all be
able to afford it.
Simon
White compiled “On The Real Side” last year on
Castle music and so we now have a follow up to look forward
to. It’s called “Flying High” and if it’s
anything like the first one it’ll be a stormer. Tracks
include “Don’t Take Your Love From Me” by
New Sounds, “Falling Out Of Love” by Derek Martin
& “Raining In My Back Yard” by The Moments
(we like this one). Should be out now actually.
Signing
off for now,
The mystery news writer.
News
December 2003:
First
off there has been a domain name change. You might want to
change your links to www.soulboys.co.uk, the other links are
re-directed to here mind so they should all still work. Please
report any broken links to niki@soulboys.co.uk
Right
I suppose we'll tell you all about some up and coming do's.
First off on Wednesday 3rd December is another session of
"A New Chapter". Along with the regulars Mark Houghton,
Stevie Cee & Girth Devon are this months special guests
Alfie and the lovely Niki Golding!!! For those who love their
quality choones you can't afford to miss this soulful extravaganza,
come on is there anything else to do on a Wednesday night!!!!!
This takes place at SMERSH BAR, 5 Ravey Street, London EC2,
not far from Old Street station & Liverpool Street station.
Starts at 6:30 and finishes about 11:30 and best of all it's
free. You never know Girth might turn up on time. Oh and watch
out for the stairs, penguins have been known to fall down
these!!!!
Saturday
6th December sees the Christmas edition of Valatone. DJ's
are Johnny T, Phil Beckwith, Buey, Soulful Chris, Arthur Fenn
& Gavin Page. This has become so much more than just the
warm up to the 100 club and is a great do in it's own right,
anybody who knows Phil will tell you he has an amazing collection
and Arthur Fenn is on fire at the moment. We tried to set
Gavin on fire, but he just kept drinking the cans of petrol.
Venue is St. Aloysious Club, 20 Phoenix Road, London, NW1.
It's just around the corner from Euston Station. Starts at
8pm and finishes at midnight and it's £4 to get in.
The
next Soulshyne has moved to a Saturday so we can all get drunk
with out having to worry about getting up to do a days work
in the morning. This is no problem for D'Arcy who never does
a days work (he does like to moan though). It's on the 20th
December at the Ocean Rooms, starts at 10pm and finishes at
2am. DJ's include Cleveland Anderson, Gavin Page, Teee Davis
& Girth Devon. Tickets are priced £10.
This
years Xmas Soul Crusin' takes place on Sunday 21st December.
If you want a ticket I suggest you hurry. To contact Captain
Farrer e-mail him on
soulman1707@yahoo.co.uk. Now if you're a fan of 70ts soul
then this is the place to be bar none. I've never heard a
bad set played on the downstairs deck on this boat. To be
honest I don't think I've ever seen a sober person on the
boat either, which makes it a not to miss do (Clarkey can
sometimes be found feeding the fish). DJ's include Gary Dennis,
Steve Hobbs, Mick Farrer, Chris Brown, Sarah Watts, Pete Smedley
& Conrad Bool.
Saturday
27th December is the date of the next Soul at the Sebright.
Don't miss this one as Jester & Niki are celebrating their
Birthdays, and Jester said he's buying every punter a drink!!!!
Now you can't say fairer than that. Starts at 7pm and will
go on until midnight. The Sebright is dead easy to find as
it's only five minutes from junction 23 of the M25 & junction
1 of the A1(M). It's on the Alston Road, Barnet. DJ's are
Jester, Gilo, Niki Golding & Lee Rothman. It's also free
to get in so if you want to burn away those Xmas calories
get yourself down there. You might even see Dave the landlord
smile, we thought we caught him smiling once, but he was just
grimacing to cover up a fart!
Looking
for somewhere to go on New Years Eve? Well you'll be pleased
to know that the Double Shot is back. It's at the same venue
as last year The Wheatsheaf, 25 Rathbone Place, London, W1.
It's just off Oxford Street a few hundred yards from the 100
Club. It starts at seven and finishes at 3am. Upstairs will
be Ben Summers, John Browne, Andy Mann & John Weston.
Playing downstairs is Miles Eastwick, Teee Davis, Paul Sutton
and Girth Devon. Now I would like to say that last year was
a blinding event, but if the truth be known I can't remember
a bloody thing. I was told I seemed to be having a good time
coz I was grinning all night, well they do say ignorance is
bliss!!! It’s also a certain Queen of Cheese’s
birthday that night so no doubt there will be a few messy
soulboys around to see in the new year. Don't forget that
buses & the underground are free all night (cheers Ken).
Now
a quick guide of some new releases I think you might like.
I
know that Village Soul isn't that new a release, but it's
just so flipping good we had to say something about it. So
many outstanding tracks on here it's difficult to know where
to begin. Let's just say it's probably Expansion
records best release to date and we know how many great compilation
albums they have done over the years. Compiled by some bloke
called Terry Jones who we've never heard of before. Standout
tracks for me are Karan Pree's "Make Love Last Forever",
Corey Glover's "Little Girl", Bares Hammond's "Do
This World A Favour", "Tell It Like It Is"
by The Marriotts, "There's Not To Many More" by
Jo Armstead and of course the sublime Sandra Wright's "I'll
Come Running Back". For me though the track that makes
me go all of a quiver is "Sha-La Bandit" by Delores
Hall, a remarkable piece of soul music that just HAS to be
played again & again & again.
Dottie
Pearson recorded "A House Made Of Love" back in
1978, but it never got released. We don't know why so don't
ask. Anyway those lovely people at Grapevine
records have finally put it out if only on CD (boooooo, we
want vinyl!!!!!). A truly stunning LP, which makes you wonder
just why it's taken 25 years to get released. The whole album
is strong, but tracks worth a special mention are "I
Don't Want Nobody", "Bring It Over Baby", the
funky "Look Around" & "Imagine Me".
If you like a bit of 70ts soul, just buy it. If you don't
think it's the best thing you've heard this year you can call
me Susan.
Ever
heard a sixteen year old blue-eyed girl from Devon sing soul,
me neither. However there's a storm brewing about Joss
Stone who is just that (a sixteen year old Devon girl
that is, not Stoned). Now I've not heard this yet, but anybody
who's anybody who has listened to this just can't stop raving
about it. Is it all just hype or is it really that good? The
CD features the likes of Angie Stone, Latimore & Betty
Wright so this must add weight to the argument. If you've
got it let us know what you think by putting an entry on the
forum about soul music, it not the usual thing to do I know,
but why not give it a go!!!! |
