V/a - Soul Togetherness Presents Village Soul.
1. Simply Grateful-Kim English
2. Make Love Last Forever-Karen Pree
3. Where Is That Rainbow-Dee Dee Warwick
4. Little Girl-Corey Glover
5. There Has Got To Be A Way-Lulu
6. You Made A Believer Out Of Me-Betty Lavette
7. Sha-La Bandit-Delores Hall
8. Stay With Me-Rance Allen Group
9. Do This World A Favor-Beres Hammond
10. Everybody’s In A Hurry-Ronnie McNeir
11. I Put The Twinkle In Your Eye-Keith Barrow
12. Where Is The Love-M.F.O.S
13. Integrity-Aretha Franklin
14. Tell It Like It Is-The Marriotts
15. Keep Trying-Mildred Clark
16. I Have A Dream-Beverlei Skeete
17. There’s Not Too Many More (Left Like Him)-Jo Armstead
18. I Come Running Back-Sandra Wright
Label : Expansion Records
CDEX17
Ean : 5019421265177
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In the late summer of 1975 I was presented with a challenge. I was asked by the
owner of a bar in Shoreditch, in the East End of London, called the Norfolk Arms,
if I would like to come and play the music there. After being told that the management
of the music policy would be left up to me, I agreed and got ready to transfer
from his other bar, the Sebright, just down the road in Hackney. I had spent the
years since 1970 transforming the Sebright from a Rock pub that ‘entertained’
the odd Motown record, into a bar whose musical menu included four full-blown
SOUL nights, and it would have been easy to stay there and let someone else take
this on. However I was offered a full time job at the bar as well as DJing, so
I accepted the challenge. The possibility of running my own SOUL venue was just
too much, and the thought of indulging in my passion for the best music in the
world every night I played was, frankly, too strong to refuse.
The first challenge would be to get the punters that I had nurtured at the
Sebright, to follow me to the Norfolk, that way we would have to core of the
crowd already into the music that I loved. Although the bar had to be refurbished
I began three weeks before that began in late September 1975. The pub was split
into 3 bars and not conducive at all to entertaining a crowd, and the first
night I spun there, the crowd consisted of 2 old ladies a man and his dog. Although
they slept through most of my set, I do believe they enjoyed the Aretha segment
(you knew there would be one even then didn’t you!) so I was not too dismayed.
The refurbishment happened and little over a month later, the pub opened officially,
with just one big bar, and I was relieved when the SOUL crowd turned up to make
this their new home. I had requested that the DJ box be placed where I could
see every corner of the bar, and as in the Sebright, that it not be raised but
be at floor level so I could get involved in the atmosphere that I hoped to
create. We began in earnest and Thursdays became the 6ts sessions, with the
accent heavily on Motown, Fridays everything from 6ts to new releases and on
Saturdays I played mostly 7ts endeavouring to add ‘different’ types of SOUL
to the all conquering disco scene that was sweeping all in it’s path at the
time. Early 7ts Philadelphia and Chicago tracks were some of the strongest battlers
against the crass disco tunes and artists like the Spinners, Harold Melvin &
The Bluenotes, Tyrone Davies and Garland Green became allies in refining the
musical assortment. The crowd steadily grew and began to include well-known
faces from what was then the underground SOUL scene in London. Regular visitors
included Chris Forrest, a Motown fanatic, who I had met at the Sebright and
who had become one of my closest friends, and it would be Chris who would join
me in promoting the Village, as it was about to be re-named, and who would also
be instrumental in getting me to leave my London roots in the late 8ts and join
the nationwide SOUL scene that was out there and make a name for myself outside
the capital. Other regulars in the early days included Blues & Soul columnist
Sharon Davies, and Tony Rounce, a well known character on the SOUL scene who
I had worked with for a time at P & J Records in Hackney, and a guy with
easily the most musical knowledge of anyone I had ever met before or since,
and 30 years on, we are still good friends. It was Tony who actually designed
the 1st ever Village flyer, when it was the general opinion of the punters,
that more people should know that the Village existed and that it was considered
by many, to be the Home of Real Soul Music in London. With ‘faces’ like these
in attendance, the Village was becoming the place to go in London on a Friday
night, to hear real SOUL music, and I could sense something special was happening
here.
All through the 8ts, the Village continued to fill up each Friday with some
of the most knowledgeable SOUL punters around and was now attracting the Goldmine
& Caister Weekender crowd, as a number of the SOUL tribes had adopted it
as their London home every Friday night. Well-known faces continued to visit
the bar as the notoriety spread. David Grant from the jazz funk band Linx, had
his stag night at The Village, Bill Fredricks from the Drifters was seen propping
up the bar, and one week Odyssey turned up with Sharon Davies, to drink champagne
with the punters and give away signed copies of their hit single Inside Out.
During this time, a massive ‘across the board’ play list containing something
from all eras had been built up at The Village in an effort to keep the music
fresh. Also, having to play a 6-hour set each Friday on my own meant this was
crucial to keep me interested as well as the punters.
It was around this time in the mid-8ts that I was also running another bar
up the road called the Spreadeagle (another story) and I was beginning to get
so immersed in business that it was impossible for me to give the music the
attention it deserved. I eventually decided to sell the ‘Spread’ and get back
to The Village full time. It was then that Chris Forrest suggested that I take
some time out, go to the SOUL Weekenders up north and get my enthusiasm back.
This worked wonders and once again I was hooked. I delved into my collection
and once again pulled out those forgotten tunes that I had heard once again
the weekenders, realising that there was a definite chance to attract those
punters that I had met up north who had never heard of The Village. I concentrated
more on promotion having flyers for one off nights and gaining a much higher
profile. Promoters began to see The Village in a different light and began to
approach me to bring their artist down to entertain. Al Johnson was perhaps
the highlight at this time, when he came down and proceeded to rehearse for
his up and coming Southport date. 200 enthusiastic SOUL punters clapped, cheered,
stomped their feet and sang to every song, while Al, using me and a cassette
deck as his band and backing group was blown away. Such was the impression left
on this great SOUL singer, that on stage the following week at Southport, he
told the crowd, ‘if you think this is good, you should have been at The Village
last week, now that was awesome’.nuff said. Al encouraged other SOUL friends
of his to come to The Village after, not just to sing, but to hang out, as he
knew that they would all be made welcome and be amongst friends. On one occasion,
Clifton Dyson, Al Mason and Rick Webb all came on the same night and entertained
the crowd for 2 hours, it was an incredible evening. The ‘Village Choir’ as
they were known now, were in such good voice that evening, signing to everything,
before, during and after the ‘show’ impressed Al Mason so much with their rendition
of Corey Blake’s How Can I Co On Without You, that he recorded it for his next
CD which was released a few months after. This trend of artists appearing carried
on and Rick Webb became a regular visitor, sometimes turning up with a hold
all full on his latest CD single, or sometimes just coming to hang out with
the fans. One time he brought with him, fellow DC recording artist Desi, who
took the mike for a great rendition of his independent hit Together Forever
and a few others besides.
Because of the popularity of the Fridays at the bar, we decided to re-promote
the Saturdays by re-introducing the Saturday sessions and inviting well-known
DJs from all over the country to spin alongside myself, Chris and other local
jocks. Village Soul, as the Saturday sessions were called was an instant success
and drew an enthusiastic crowd from all over the country. A veritable who’s
who of top SOUL spinners came to spin. Soul Sam, Adey Croasdell Andy Taylor,
Gavin Page and Andy Davies, Tom Jackson, Bob Jeffries, Alan Paterson & Brian
Murray from Scotland, and London’s own included Ivor Jones, Tony Rounce and
Terry Davis. But perhaps the biggest coup of all, was getting the country’s
top SOUL DJ Richard Searling to join us on a couple of occasions. This to me
signalled that The Village had now garnered the respect it deserved after all
the years of hard work and it was indeed a proud moment for me, and on a more
personal note saw the forging of a great friendship with friendship, one that
had begun a couple of years earlier.
In the latter part of the 8ts, Colin Johnson & Peter Blacklock, a couple
of punters from Durham in the North East of England, who had become regulars
at The Village while working in London, asked me for a tape of one of the Friday
sessions. Unbeknown to me, they took it to Alex Lowes, who ran the Up-North
Weekenders who then called me to ask if I would like to be a guest of Richard’s
on the Saturday afternoon Connoisseur’s Sessions at Southport. Of course I jumped
at the chance and so began a great friendship with Richard and a regular place
on the bill at Southport, which led to other residencies and gigs all over the
place, and the rest, as they say is history. I do owe a big hug of gratitude
to both Colin & Peter, 2 of my biggest supporters, for lighting the fuse,
Richard for helping me gain the respect and trust of the punters up north
As the bar’s popularity went into orbit, the music reached stellar proportions
and listening to some of the old Friday tapes I still find it incredible how
I managed to get away with playing so much brilliant music in that little pub
in Shoreditch, we had come a long way form the 2 old ladies and the old man
and his dog. The Village was now the place where SOUL punters headed for when
they arrived in London for the weekend, knowing they could pick up flyers for
nationwide events and being secure in the fact that they were sure to meet like-minded
people who loved the best music in the worldSOUL MUSIC. Tragically
after 21 years of entertaining the country’s SOUL fraternity, becoming undoubtedly
The Home Of Real SOUL in London, and being recognised as the longest running
weekly SOUL night, The Norfolk Village closed it’s doors at Easter in 1996 when
the venue was sold. I doubt there will ever be a place like it, certainly not
in my heart anyway. People will say when the place is remembered in conversation
in years to come, as I did after Angela Johnson’s epic performance at the Hilton
earlier this year, you may have heard about it, but I WAS THERE. The Norfolk
Village certainly deserves a place in SOUL folklore amongst the more illustrious
venues up north, like the 100 club, it is there on merit.
The natural progression from all this has been my tie up with several other
SOUL movements around the country including of course Togetherness. I am part
of the DJ roster on most of the events and occasionally contribute to the magazine,
so it was a pleasure to get involved when Ralph Tee asked me to put together
a collection of tracks that would reflect the glory days of the Village. A chance
to pay respects to the music, the DJs and most of all, YOU the punters, who
made the Village what it was, what it stood for and why it is still revered
today. Not such an easy project as you might think, as most of the huge records
at The Village Vivien Reed, Betty Swann, John Valenti, Corey Blake, the
Spinners and many others have already appeared on countless other collections.
So what we decided to do was to include maybe 10 tracks from the 7ts that were
massive tunes at the venue and then to supplement these with not only some tracks
that appeared in the latter days before the closure, but also some that have
appeared since, that retain the old spirit of The Village, and surely would
have been ‘Village Classics’ had the old place survived. ‘Across the board’
was always the way to go at The Village, anything from any era could be played
as long as it was considered quality, very much the Togetherness Weekender kind
of feeling today. With 21 years to look back on, the collection could indeed
be a box set and the sleeve notes a book, so here we go with just a taste of
TOGETHERNESS PRESENTS VILLAGE SOUL.
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