Black Echoes - South London nights out 1987

A window into London soul, funk and reggae nightlife from Black Echoes, 14 March 1987:

A 7 day 'Black Arts Festival' at the Cultural Centre in Woolwich with dance, drama and music with Smiley Culture, Ranking Miss P, Sista Culcha, Taxi Pata Pata and more...

At the North Peckham Civic Centre on the Old Kent Road, Southwark Leisure present 'Art and Soul - a multi-cultural season on events; including Linton Kwesi Johnson and Jean 'Binta' Breeze

Jah Shaka sessionsa the Self Help Centre, 10a Melon Road in Peckham

Soul nights with Bob Jones at the Royal Oak on Tooley Street SE1 (where the Hilton hotel now stands):

Round up of club nights including Chris Nat's under 18 soul parties at the Peter Piper Nitespot (10a Melon Road - same venue as Shaka above) and an under 16s event at the Oneway club in Catford (10 Brownhill Road). There was also an 'under 18 jam' at Steppers, 414 Coldharbour Lane, Brixton (I went there myself when it was Club 414).

And from August 29 1987, Jamaican legend Delroy Wilson appearing at the Golden Anchor pub in Nunhead and La Plaza nightclub in Peckham High Street.

Music Monday: The Drezone - 'End of Summer Blue' on Hilly Fields

SE London musician The DreZone has many talents - multi-instrumentalist, DJ and professional singer who can be found performing tributes to Prince and Stevie Wonder among others. He also writes and produces his own material, his latest song released yesterday to coincide with the turning of the seasons and the end of British Summer Time. 'End of Summer Blue' is a lush slice of classic melancholic soul which put me in mind of 'What's Going On?' period Marvin Gaye (yes Marvin, the guy who danced in Deptford!).

The video was filmed in Hilly Fields, so joining the illustrious company of several other Hilly Fields songs and videos.

The DreZone is on facebook and all the usual channels.

Laura Misch - Playground - soulful South London sounds for summer days

I'm loving 'Playground', the new album by Laura Misch. Self-produced at home by the multi-talented singer, saxophonist and ableton whizzkid from East Dulwich, it has a much fuller sound than you might be expecting from that description. Laura is the sister of Tom Misch, and while there is a similarly mellow vibe she has her own distinctive sound -  lush layers of jazz-tinged neo-soulfulness and understated beats.  You might have heard her on Gilles Peterson's Radio 6 show last weekend. This could be the soundtrack to a languid summer, when the sun comes out.

She has some gigs coming up locally at Bermondsey Social Club next month, which I think is already sold out, and at Peckham Rye Music Festival this weekend where I think she is playing on the Saturday.

Yes she painted the cover too

  .

How Does it Feel to be Loved? at Camberwell Crypt

It was a sad moment this month when the Canterbury Arms in Brixton closed its doors for the last time, due to be demolished to make way for flats. The pub hosted many music nights in its big back room, including the legendary indie-pop/soul club How Does it Feel to be Loved? - where among other things I once shook the hand of Kevin Rowland.

Emotional scenes last month at the last HDIF at Canterbury Arms

A silver lining to this cloud is that HDIF is moving to a new South London location at the Crypt in Camberwell. They say:

'The venue couldn't be more HDIF - a jazz club in the crypt underneath St Giles' church on Camberwell Church Street, it's a beautiful, atmospheric, and ever so slightly eccentric space which feels like it could have featured on the second side of "Tigermilk". It's 150 capacity... with a cool dancefloor, lots of interesting nooks and crannies for chatting in, and a great private garden for the smokers.

The Crypt runs regular jazz nights on Fridays and then the club is mostly unused for the rest of the month, so we're very lucky to have been given the first Saturday of the month. This is a new kind of venture for them and they're understandably wary about hosting a club crowd in such a refined venue, but I've assured them that our regulars are polite, well-behaved, and make frequent trips to the bar - so please come along and do us proud!

We have been given TWO CHANCES to prove ourselves. First is Saturday October 3rd and then Saturday November 7th. After that, they'll see how the nights have gone and whether they'd like to make this a regular event. If you'd like to have HDIF south of the river, please please come along and support us on these two nights. I can't see many other decent options for a HDIF south, so if this doesn't work out, then I reckon that'll be that.

We play:

The Smiths * The Supremes * The Go-Betweens * Dusty Springfield * Belle & Sebastian * Love * Tammi Terrell * Aztec Camera * The Ronettes * Orange Juice * Beach Boys * The Temptations * Velvet Underground * Felt * The Shangri-Las * Primal Scream * Otis Redding * The Field Mice * Dexys Midnight Runners * Camera Obscura * The Four Tops * Melba Moore * The Orchids

Guest DJ for the night is Chris Stride of Offbeat.'

Usual admission of £4 for members and £6 for non-members. Club will run from 9pm - 2am. Advance tickets here - http://www.wegottickets.com/event/333550

More info from http://www.howdoesitfeel.co.uk/; facebook event details here.

South London Soul Train Back on Track

It's the first Saturday of the month, which means tonight it's South London Soul Train at the CLF Arts Cafe/Bussey Building (133 Rye Lane SE15), a night of funk/soul/rare groove/motown complete with Jack Tyson Charles Band playing live.

I went there for my birthday in January, it was packed with people dancing from the moment it opened. All my friends say that it was the best night they'd had out in ages. Unfortunately I over-indulged in that birthday way - spotted apparently with champagne in one hand, tin of red stripe in the other - so can remember hardly anything of the evening. So definitely going back soon to build up some real memories!

London Weekend Radio - mid-1980s pirate

London Weekend Radio, later known as plain LWR, was a London pirate radio station in the mid-1980s broadcasting from Sydenham, Catford and Peckham (among other places). I came across this article which has the main story:

'London Weekend Radio started life broadcasting from Lawrie Park Road in Sydenham over bank holiday weekends in 1981 and was controlled by Jonny Haywood (Station Manager) and Keith Green (Engineering) prior to going full time, 24 hours a day, seven days a week in a basement in Brownhill Road, Catford London SE6 where they were joined on the engineering team by Pat Sinclair and the station amended the station id name tag to simply LWR and broadcasting on 92.5MHz. Unlike many of its counterparts LWR decided to play new pop music between 06.00 and 18.00 weekdays with the evenings and weekends centring on specialist shows.

Many famous names got a good grounding at LWR with Radio Luxemborg's Peter Anthony working under the guise of Oscar J Jennings (who was pioneering REM in 1984), Radio 1 presenter's Pete Tong and Tim Westwood in the lineup that included the late Robbie May (BFBS) on breakfast duty, a daily afternoon show from Paul Stafford (Invicta/Coast AM) now in Australia, alongside Martin James, Ton Tom, Steve Edwards, Ricky King, John Dawson, Perry Daniels, Dave Shirt and Jonny Haywood himself with guest hosts including World Snooker Champion Sir Steve Davis OBE, Legendary Jazzman Roy Ayers, Imagination singer Leee Johns and Brit Funk band Total Contrast.

The station closed temporarily in August 1984 when changes were made to the law giving greater powers of seizure/confiscation to the DTI. A new frontman, Zac re-activated the station which ran till the early ninties when it finally closed down'.

Comments at that article state that original studio was in basement of 25 Lawrie Park Road SE26  with transmitters variously located in New Addington, Pepys Estate (Deptford), Balfron Tower in Poplar, Shooters Hill, and Church road in Crystal Palace. In its later days it had a studio in 42 Gautrey Road, Nunhead SE15 upstairs from Mad Professor's studio (mentioned here before). Intrigued that Roy Ayers might have made it from California to Catford!

Here's the young Tim Westwood broadcasting on LWR in 1984



... and some more LWR extracts:

Techno-Soul n'House

I had  a good night out at the Bussey Building (CLF art cafe) in Peckham on 13th April, with late 1980s hip hop legends The Jungle Brothers on stage all the way from New York. They did not disappoint, working their way through many of the classics from the period when as part of the Native Tongues posse with De La Soul and A Tribe Called Quest they redefined the possibilities of hip hop. Straight out the Jungle, I Got it Like That and I'll House You all got an airing.

This was one in a series of events promoted by CLF (The Chronic Love Foundation) under the banner 'An Exhibition of Sound', a kind of sonic chronicling of the history of dance musics.  The line up for 'Chapter5 - Techno-soul n'house' on Friday June 29th includes three more pivotal figures.

Adamski was one of the first home grown live perfromers in the early acid house scene, probably best known for the track Killer which launched Seal's career.

Eddie Fowlkes was one of the originators of the Detroit techno sound.

Paul Trouble Anderson has been an important figure in London house and funk since the 1980s when he was a DJ on Kiss FM in its pirate radio days.

(tickets available here)

Detroit Techno: The Creation of Techno Music (High Tech Soul) 

- featuring Eddie Fowlkes

Music Monday: Eternal

A retro turn in this week's Music Monday, as we recall SE London's greatest ever girl group (at least in the soul category - we can talk about Shampoo another time).

Eternal was conceived of by manager Denis Ingoldsby in 1992 as a UK version of En Vogue. He put together sisters Easther and Verna Bennett, with Kelle Bryan and Louise Nurding (the latter of whom Ingoldsby had met in London club The Milk Bar).

Three of the four were from South London - the  Bennett sisters were from Croydon, and were steeped in gospel music via their family's church. Nurding was born in Lewisham Hospital and grew up in Eltham - she went to St.Thomas More RC Primary School in Appleton Road. In fact her grandad had a stall on Lewisham market where she sometimes helped out.

The original line up of the band only lasted until 1995 when Nurding left the band to go solo (she later became known of course as Louise Redknapp); Bryan left in 1998 after a split with the Bennett sisters.

Just a Step from Heaven is one of their better earlier tracks, nice slice of soulful pop plus the slightly surreal sight of the band cavorting to Black Panther Party/Public Enemy imagery (dancers in berets and combats, clenched fists etc):

s

"I Wanna Be the Only One", a duet with BeBe Winans, was a UK number one in 1997 and a bona fide 1990s soul classic:

Downtown Soulville/South London Soul Train

Determined as I am to actually do some more dancing this year, I am spoilt for choice on Saturday March 3rd with two great nights within walking distance of home.

Downtown Soulville is the occasional Northern Soul/Funk and (old skool) R'nB night at the Old Nun's Head, Nunhead Green SE15. I gather the last one was pretty busy. Details on facebook. Trouble is with Northern Soul once I've had a few drinks I imagine that I can actually do spins, flips and drops - and I shoudn't be allowed to try in a public place.

South London Soul Train is a regular event on the first Saturday of the month, held at the CLFArt Cafe in the Bussey Building in Peckham. Hosted by Jazz Head Chronic (DJ Mickey Smith), it offers funk/soul/rare groove and motown.

I think both events are free or as good as, so no excuse, get your dancing shoes on.

South London Black Music Archive

Opening tomorrow at the Peckham Space presents 'The South London Black Music Archive, an exhibition by artist Barby Asante that aims to celebrate, preserve and investigate South Londoners’ personal relationships with moments in black music history. Peckham Space will be transformed into an ‘open archive’ mapping objects which represent and explore the personal stories which comprise the fascinating history of the influence and evolution of black music in South London. Welcoming contributions from the public, this archive will include items such as books, magazines, concert tickets, posters, stories, records and CDs gathered and displayed with the reverence of museum pieces. Asante’s selected objects highlighting seminal moments in this history will share the same platform as visitors’ objects and stories depicting their own experiences through music and memorabilia [all donated items are returnable at the end of the exhibition].

One of the founding items of the South London Black Music Archive will be a ‘limited edition’ vinyl specially produced for the project as a result of the artist’s collaboration with young people from the Leaders of Tomorrow (LOT) mentoring programme. This artwork was created in association with Regeneration & Community Partnerships, Tate Modern with an exclusive record sleeve by graphic design collective Åbäke. Copies will be available from record shops across South London and at Peckham Space for the duration of the exhibition. It will feature Asante’s own take on the BBC’s ‘inheritance tracks’ for which members of LOT were asked to contribute songs that inspire them. Songs chosen include tracks by Adele, Michael Jackson, Edvard Grieg, Nigerian singer Prince Nico Mbarga, Bob Dylan and Lauryn Hill which will be represented as a soundscape alongside recordings of the young people telling the stories and explaining their selections'.

The South London Black Music Archive runs from 17 January – 24 March 2012 at Peckham Space, Camberwell College of Art, 89 Peckham High Street, London SE15 5RS (in the square by the library). Launch event 17 January 6-8pm, otherwise opening times are Tuesday-Friday 11am-5pm, Saturday 11am-4pm, closed Sundays, Mondays. Admission Free.


Other events include artists’ talk on 3rd February, 18.45pm at Tate Modern; Daytime Disco 10 March 2011 at the Ritzy, Windrush Square, Brixton. Further details on the website or call 020 7358 9645 / email info@peckhamspace.com

As a starting point, there's this great map 'a growing record of black music landmarks in South London from venues and record shops to street corners and radio stations'.

South London Black Music Archive Map (click to enlarge)

South London Black Music Archive Map - detail showing New Cross, Deptford etc.

South London Black Music Archive Map - list of Peckham. Brixton and Elephant places

I've got a few ideas about some things I could contribute to this exhibition, and some places to add to the map. Among places featured previously at Transpontine there's:

- St Pauls Crypt and lots of other places where Saxon Sounds played in early 1980s.
- Bob Marley and Johnny Cash in Peckham;
- Ariwa Gautrey Road studio;
- New Cross 1970s reggae shops;
- Amersham Arms and other 1960s clubs
- El Partido in Lewisham
- Dennis Bovell's Studio 80

Lots of other places too I haven't got round to writing about yet at Transpontine - the Lazerdrome in Peckham, Ram Jam in Brixton etc. Where else?

The Mistrale club in Beckenham

In the 1960s and early 1970s, the Mistrale club in Beckenham was a top nightspot for South East London, hosting internationally known bands and introducing people to the sounds of young America and the Caribbean. It was located at 2-4 High Street at Beckenham Junction. Before it became the Mistrale it was the plain old Beckenham Ballroom. Peter Frampton, who grew up in the area, played early gigs there with his teenage band, and bands like The Yardbirds performed (May 1964). Bill Wyman of The Rolling Stones later recalled: 'We would also go to dances at the Beckenham Ballroom, where drainpipe trousers were banned'. It seems to have become the Mistrale in 1968. I have come across two flyers online for the club in that year. The grand opening on 17th April featured Manfred Mann and was followed by others including The Alan Price Set (24 April), Ike & Tina Turner (1 May), Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band (3 May) and Marmalade (8 May 1968).

  In October 1968, artists perfroming included PP Arnold (11th October), and T.Rex with The Pretty Things (18th October). Ska was obviously popular with The Skatelites playing on 20 October 1968 and The Pyramids (who wrote Skinhead Moonstomp) in April, May and October. There was also a twice weekly Rock Steady Disco - according to George Austen this was put on by Little Lee and The Savoy Sound who also played at the Penthouse Club in Bromley and the Amersham Arms in New Cross ( a flyer for the latter in 1968 promises 'Ska, Soul and Tamla Motown' from Lee).

  Other gigs included: - Black Sabbath, 25 September 1968. - Kaleidoscope, 29 Novemeber 1968 (advert below). - Isley Brothers, 20 December 1968. - King Crimson on 11 July 1969; guitarist Robert Fripp recorded in his diary: 'Mistrale, Beckenham. Bad, but they know how to clap: faster, baby, you’re slowing me down. £50'. - Genesis, 2 March 1970. - Mungo Jerry, 31 Decemeber 1970. - Mott the Hoople, 9 April 1971. - Fleetwood Mac, 23 July 1971.

 

There's some good discussion about the place at Beckhenham History Forum. Seemingly there was a Rolls Royce on the way in where people paid their entrance money. Mike Loveday was the owner. One regular recalled: ''In the days of the Mistral the club was on 2 floors. The resident DJ used to play downstairs and guests – e.g. DJs like Emperor Rosko & Johnnie Walker and acts like Jimmy Helms - used to play upstairs. After you paid your entrance fee to the lady in the Rolls Royce you walked past a games room that had a pinball machine and table football before turning right to go past the bar and into the main (downstairs) dance area. In 1973/1974 the biggest night of the week was Friday night, with lots of good Soul music played. Saturday was not as busy and was a bit more “commercial”... the upstairs part of the club always used to close before the downstairs - which meant that the final few dances were always downstairs. Closing time was 2am, and the last record played at 1:55 am every night by the resident DJ (whose name I think may have been Lee) was "Goodnight My Love" by Jesse Belvin - a classic!'

Some of the DJs who played out at the Mistrale were national big names. Don Moss is named as 'popular DJ' for the 'opening of our Discotheque' in April 1968, presumably the same Don Moss who was a BBC radio DJ and one of the presenters of 60s TV pop show Thank your lucky stars. Emperor Rosko and Johnnie Walker were both DJs in the early days of Radio One. In around 1974 it became Tites Disco - Lee was still a resident DJ along with Rocking Richard and Dave Mitchell. The central ceiling between the ground and first floors had been removed to create a single floor warehouse-like club. Later still - in the 80s - it became Langtrys and then its latest incarnation, The Bridge Bar. 

  If you liked this you might also be interested in: 

 - Mods in South London. 

- 1960s ska and soul clubs in South London. 

- 1960s jazz and r'n'b in Blackheath (Green Man). 

Downtown Soulville

A Northern Soul night in Nunhead - sounds enticing:

'DOWNTOWN SOULVILLE returns for a another night of Northern Soul in one of the best venues in South London - the fantastic pannelled room above the Old Nun's Head. As some people said after the last event, 'that room was made for northern'. There's also an absolutely cracking sound system.

FREE entry, 8 - 2am, Saturday 28th May at THE OLD NUN'S HEAD, Nunhead Green, SE15 3QQ.

Spinners on the night:

JOEL MASLIN (100 Club, Va Va Voom, Crystal Palace Soul)
SAM WALLER (aka Southern Sam)
JAKE LINGWOOD (Downtown Soulville, Stag O Lee, Crystal Palace Soul)
OLLIE LAILEY (Crystal Palace Soul)
WILL NICOL (Gentleman's Pinch, Big Fun)
STEVEN TWIGG (fantastic collector with some great tunes)

Expect plenty of sixties soul and crossover, with a nice dash of R&B and funk to boot. It's all about the party. A whole lotta shakin is likely to be going on.'

Facebook event details here.

Nunhead Soul

The Twisted Wheel.... Wigan Casino... and now.... the Old Nun's Head .

Northern Soul in Nunhead - what's not to like? Saturday 25th September sees Downtown Soulville bringing the noise to the pub on Nunhead Green, SE15. Further information at their Facebook page. I went to the Brockley Soul night some of these folks put on at the Wickham Arms earlier this year, and can confirm they have great record collections. Bring your own talc.

Brockley Soul

Friday night, 30th April, sees the launch of the new Brockley Soul night at The Wickham Arms (69 Upper Brockley Road, SE4). It promises a night of Northern And Rare Soul, Funk, Crossover And Modern 70's Soul until 2am.

Worse case scenario it will be a nice drink to some top tunes, but it looks like it could be much better than that. DJ Ollie Lailey already puts on Crystal Palace Soul at the Alma, SE19. There's even a Brockley Soul mix you can download to get you in the mood.

Anyway, planning to give it a go and hopefully have a dance.

Puts me in mind of Deptford Soul City.

Southwark Clubbing History

Excellent article - by Tim Burrows in the Daily Post (5 February 2010) on the clubbing history of Southwark. There's even a helpful map for the South London disco tourist. Among the places featured are:

- the Royal Oak, Tooley Street (demolished to make way for the Hilton hotel) - the location for Nicky Holloway's pre-acid house Special Branch soul/disco nights in the 1980s, where Danny Rampling, Pete Tong and Gilles Peterson also DJed.

- Dirtbox warehouse parties in Tooley Street (where Hay's Galleria now stands) put on by Phil Dirtbox with DJs including Jay Strongman and Rob Milton.

- Shoom - Rampling's early acid house night, held in the Fitness Centre on Thrale Street (Southwark Bridge end).

- Clink Street - home to the RIP parties in 1988, legendary hooligan house: 'Chelsea fans and Arsenal fans would warily eye each other up but later on they’d be having a right good chat and dance, just chilling, which was obviously due to the ecstasy' (Mark Easton).

- Jacks, 7-9 Crucifix Lane - still going, this was the venue for Andy Wetherall's Sabresonic parties in the mid-1990s.

- Cynthia's Robot Bar (later Club Wicked, now Astria), 4 Tooley Street - location for 21st Century Bodyrockers, electroclash AcidHousePunkRock nights in 2002.

Much of this activity took place amidst the ruins of dockside industry, but before the developers moved in. Until the 1960s, the Pool of London between London Bridge and Tower Bridge was a thriving dock, but it was all over by the end of the 1970s. The article quotes Rampling: “It was rundown. The whole south side of the river was a series of closed warehouses and industrial units, so it was like a ghost town after dark. But the night spots that sprang up drew people into the area from far and wide.” In this supposed wasteland, London acid house and rave culture was born.

The Daily Post is a temporary free newspaper linked with the Red Bull Music Academy, a month long series of musical happenings with its HQ also on Tooley Strreet.

(cross posted from History is Made at Night on account of its South London content)

Alexander O'Neal for Free in Southwark Park

Tomorrow is a bumper day for free music in South East London. As well as Lewisham People's Day, it's also The Event in Southwark Park, with the headliner, due on stage at around 8:15 pm, none other than soul legend Alexander O'Neal. Which is as good a reason as any to post this clip of his great 1987 hit, Criticize:

1960s Ska & Soul Clubs

Further to my post last week on South London mod clubs, John Eden pointed me in the direction of the flyers section of George Austen's great Ska2Soul site. George has reproduced a collection of 1960s flyers from South London clubs playing soul/ska/rocksteady, including: - a 1967 flyer from the Ramjam Club in Brixton, with artists including The Skatalites and Geno Washington. - a flyer for a Duke Reid sound system 'Night of Happiness' at 42 Carmenia Road, Balham, SW17 in 1966. - A 1968 flyer for the Mistrale club at Beckenham Junction, where PP Arnold played in October. - a July 1966 flyer from El Partido, 8 -12 Lee High Road, with one night featuring Duke Reid plus The Groove and the other an All-Nighter with The Partisans, The Tea Set and 'London's Top Sound' Soul Sound. All for 50p (1o shillings). The example I've reproduced here is for a 1968 night at the Amersham Arms in New Cross, with Little Lee and the Savoy Sound offering 'ska, soul and Tamla Motown'. Little Lee apparently also ran the Rock Steady Discotheque at Mistrale in Beckenham. As always memories of these places and people actively welcomed. See also: Mods in South London; Deptford Soul City.

Mods in South London

Where were the South East London mod clubs?

A friend (Mick H.) has told me that he used to go El Partido club in Lewisham (8-10 Lee High Road) in the 1960s, a place he remembers being frequented mainly by young Jamaicans as well as some local white mods. King Ossie Sound played out there regularly. Other guests included Jimmy Cliff and the Duke Reid Sound System from Jamaica (both in 1966) and Bo Diddley in 1965.

George Austin recalls at Ska2Soul: 'music was a mix of Ska, Blue Beat and American Soul/Motown. The Club was on two floors, it had a small stage and very low ceilings just the place for live acts. Usually with two sound systems, one on each floor. Upstairs Duke Reid played with his home made sound system tucked away in a small corner, it was a large box, stood about chest height, which housed the amp with a single record deck on top. It had a selection of small lights on the front. The sound was turned down at the end of each record as it was removed and replaced with another disc, a large record box stocked with the latest sounds stood by the side, it's lid open displaying the contents. Speakers stacked up to the ceiling in each open room, pumping out the sound, using about 200 watts. The smell of hash in the air people dancing everywhere'.



There was also the Savoy Rooms in Catford (75 Rushey Green), originally a 1950s ballroom and known in the 1960s as the Witchdoctor. At some point the downstairs was named Mr Smiths, and I've also seen it referred to as the Black Cat - a later incarnation? The Rolling Stones, The Who (April 1966) and Desmond Dekker (1969) all played there. There is a delightful poem called The Savoy Rooms by Marie Marshall, in which she recalls being 'thirteen trying for sixteen in the court of the mohair miniskirt'. In March 1966, a man was shot dead in the club in a gangland battle involving members of the Richardson gang (including Frankie Fraser)

I've also seen mention of the Glenlyn ballroom in Forest Hill (15 Perry Vale - later Crystals Snooker Club) - the Kinks, Stones, Byrds and The Who all played there too.

Interested if anyone's got any memories of these or other places - happy to host any scanned photos, flyers or newspaper clippings people may have lying around too.

See related posts:

The Who in South London
The Mistrale Club in Beckenham - 1960s/1970s
The Green Man in Blackheath - 1960s jazz, r'n'b and Manfred Mann
The Fellowship Inn in Bellingham
Soul City record shop in Deptford

Deptford Soul City

In autumn 1966 the first specialist soul records shop in Europe opened at no. 21 Deptford High Street, with a speech about freedom by novelist Brigid Brophy. The shop, Soul City, was the brainchild of 'an Esperanto-speaking vegan-anarchist from Bexleyheath, Dave Godin' (see here) and his friends David Nathan and Robert Blackmore.

The shop attracted enthusiasts from all over the country in search of soul obscurities, and later in 1967 (apparently after a burglary in the Deptford shop) it moved to Monmouth Street in Covent Garden).

Dave Godin (1936 -2005) was a key figure in promoting soul music in the UK through his shop, record labels and writing in Blues and Soul magazine. Born in Peckham and raised in Lambeth and Bexleyheath, he has been credited with introducing soul music to Mick Jagger at Dartford Grammar School and with coining the term 'northern soul'. As well as the record shop, Soul City was also a record label for a while.


The image above of the Deptford shop is reproduced from 'The In Crowd: The Story of the Northern and Rare Soul Scene' by Mike Ritson and Stuart Russell. The bottome picture shows Trevor Churchill, later of Chiswick and Ace Records (left) and Dave Godin (centre) outside the Deptford shop.
As with all our history material on this site, we'd love to hear more - anybody out there remember the Deptford shop?

Catford Soul

Some classy soul nights coming up at The Broadway Theatre in Catford in the next month. Next Friday (the 8th) they've got Alexander O'Neal, followed a week later by The Drifters. Then on March 1st, there's a show with Eddie Floyd, Geno Washington and Pauline Black. Details here.