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well, finally found the time to write the report about my trip to London including this years 100 club anniversary: the weekend started when myself and Toni and Jan, two mates from the local soul
scene went to London by plane on a friday afternoon. arrived at Stanstead airport (30 miles from London) at about 7 pm and went straight to the indoor supermarket for a few cans of beer. after we emptied two cans
each, we felt prepared for the long trek to Cristina and Pierre, a swiss-italian mod couple who were our hosts for the weekend. Left Ealing Broadway tube station at 10.30 pm and straight to the pub for another beer.
two pints later we went to Cristina and Pierre's flat, only to be welcomed with some pasta and another few beers. watched 2/3 of Levine's northern soul video (the interviews are great but the music is sacrilegious).
went to bed
at 4 am.woke up on saturday morning and felt like a living dead. anyway, left at 10 am for the Portobello market to buy some clothes and after strolling around there for two hours all I found were
two 45's. then went to soho to go to Daddy Kool records for some ska and reggae singles, I should have brought a map with me, because instead of buying singles I got completely lost in Soho! then meeting with Toni
and Jan in Camden Town to buy a present for our weekend's hosts, in reality it meant "straight to the pub".Back to the flat for a quick shit, shave and shower and then off to Piccadilly Circus to meet Jo
and her mate Paul TP for some chinese food. Paul was late and when he finally arrived we went to Pub of which the landlord is a collector of mainly motown and girl group stuff. A few free drinks convinced me to shut
up and swallow my anti-motown attitude, actually it was almost impossible to listen to the conversation as the pub was very noisy. After the pub to a nice chinese restaurant with some delicious asian food and then
straight to the 100 club. As I'm not used to queuing standing outside the club at midnight and knowing that I wouldnt get inside before 1:30 am made me feeling rather uncomfortable. Anyway, doors open and went
downstairs, got rid of my jacket and went straight to the record dealers. As I bought, sold and traded records for the next two hours, the only thing I noticed was the incredible heat there! I mean I had sweat
running down my back without going even near the dancefloor! Other things on the down side were the lousy sound system they used, the bass much too prominent, the choice of sounds being played (more of that later)
and finally the attitude (or should I say misbehaviour) of some people. Jo said that an article which appeared in the Guardian a couple of months before attracted quite a few unwelcomed characters, even on the
anniversary night a minor fight took place.Spent the rest of the night chatting, dancing, sweating, record dealing, etc. Returned to the flat at 10 am, straight to bed, getting up again at 2 pm, quick shower, then
off the pub for one for the road, then to the airport and finally, as the flight was nearly overbooked, back to Munich in business class instead of economy class (great). My mates, who were still in economy class,
had lousy sandwiches for lunch and one glass of wine each while I had lobster, chicken, champagne and different choices of red and white wine. Oh how I wish I could fly business class all the time!
Now for the records I bought:at the Portobello market
judson moore - everybody push and pull - capri (only bought it because I collect the label, turned out to be a nice dancer)
tony amario & the chariots
- hey baby/running around - loma w/d (latin flavoured dancer b/w old wigan stomper, label got wol and sol, but plays ex, bargain at 8 ukp)
at the 100 club (all records happened to be on my wants list!)
ronnie & robyn - sidras theme - sidra (great northern instrumental, big fave of mine)
frank foster - harlem rumble - triode ( dito)
sharon smith - I'm waiting - venus (very good r&b)
shufflers - always be mine - crackerjack (excellent early 60s mid to uptempo)
George Smith - I've had it - Turntable (one of the best beat ballads ever)
three jades - show me the way - maurci (good midtempo)
thornton sisters - big city boy - booban w/d (very good r&b/girl group)
shepards - little girl lost - abc (been after that for a very long time, it's not rare but you just never see this)
sounds played at the 100 club:
I've forgotten most of them, much too much oldies, I mean, I've heard Mick Smith dj'ing three times in the last 12 months and he's played the same records (professionals, al
williams, lester tipton, inspirations, etc.). notable exceptions were Milton Parker - Women like it harder and Natural Four - hanging on to a lie, two great early 70's tracks!Roger Stewart played mainly monster
sounds from the early years of the 100 club allnighters, e.g. eddie floyd, didnt like them that much, but when he played Impressions „youve been cheating" I nearly went crazy, still one of the best northern
soul records, I remember saying to Jo „if this was a one-off it would be worth a king's ransom".Ady played loads of 100 club elusives like Little Ann, Audrey Mae Matthews (alternative version of Johnnie Mae
Matthews „I have no choice") and THE current monster sound Ben E. Kings unissued „getting to me" (not sure about the title, but it's just a black pop record anyway).Butch played most of his elusive cover
ups, e.g. Del Larks, Jesse James, Volcanoes, Diane Lewis, etc.And last but not least Shifty with all those ultra-rarities he's known for (Antelects, Excuses, Joanne Courcy,Timmie Williams). Personally I hate him but
what a dj!
That's it. Hope you like my little article.
Benji
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