Well it all started for me back when I was 13 years old I used to attend a disco at Coles Cranes club in Grantham in Lincs.
One day two lads walked up to the dj with a single and asked him to play it, it was Bobby Parish – Night Owl from that day I was hooked, I soon amasted a small collection of 50 singles that I started to play out at my local youth club in Barrowby .
Not long after I turned 14 I was of to my first all dayer in Notts then on to nighters all over the uk, the rest is history.

hiya pete loving the new forum, sorry to hear about the old forum. Hope the nights at retford are going well and really can't wait till we can get over and see you all again, missing you all .

Anyway for people that don't know me a little bit about me

i first joined the scene nearly 2 years ago after one of my good friends steve re-introduced me to a whole world of beautiful northern soul which i was basically brought up on ( cheers dad ) i then fell madly in love with everything to do with northern soul and did the best thing i joined coops forum where i made lots of friends and one in particular i met my partner my soul mate Foxy.
Foxy then took me to smooth soul Grantham as it was then where i met some of my very good friends that i have today inparticular Pete caveman and little rosie shirl the girl and hayes and gus that night will be in my favourite memories for as long as i live it was such a wonderful night. since then haven't looked back and carried on meeting new friends along the way a few in particular being coops and netty girldancer and tony ianlatics and rett alanthesoulie nottoooldtosoul doug and my shyness clinic bud biz and his lovely wife chris + lots of others. I had a wonderful experience into what being at wigan casino would of been like when i went to stoke all-nighter my first ever and wow what a night i never knew i could stay up all night and still be buzzin in the morning i have also been to see live acts who sang as brilliant as they did 30-40 years ago people like the professionals thelma jones chuck jackson the elgins steve brookstein and the peps a few just to mention. Then the next best thing happened Pete brought smooth soul to retford my home town at the time till i moved to shropshire but we managed to make a few of the nights until i had health problems which i am fast on the repair now and hoping to pick up where i left home as not only is it a special treat to come over to see all my soul friends its also very nice to wake up in the morning and have breakfast cooked by the best western hotel which is highly recommended if anyone is travelling long distance to this venue, which lastly brings me onto the subject i have enclosed my first ever review written on a venue and event:

Retford Smooth Soul (02 nov 2007)
Smoothsoul Retford Review



An absolutely fantastic night to be had by all, in a wonderful venue that

boasts a large wooden dance floor and certainly capable of holding the numbers.

The Bar which was to alot of peoples approval is situated in a different room,

which enabled easier ordering and a chit-chat with your mate without the hoarse throat.

Whats more is it wans't badly stocked and reasonable prices.



What a fantastic turn up, estimated at around 90 people, topping the first months figures.

Among them it was lovely to see Coops, Netty, Biz, Chris, Doug, Linda, Shirl the girl

and of course Pete and Rosie from Our Northern Souls Forum not to forget to mention

Foxy and myself (soulchick).

It was also really nice to meet alot of new faces mixed in with familar faces alot

of new faces to me from the Lincoln crew, and familiar faces included Steve and his lovely wife Sharron,

Daz Howard and his cousin Stuart Morton, plus so many more.

Along with this brought out some excellent floor work to be seen by Gus, Dean

and so many others including Coops, Foxy and Steve.

It was nice to see a few of the ladies doing some nice pieces too, with Dean Taking the certificate for best dancer

in the dance competition judged by Coops.

Deans moves were brilliant and dancing to 3 consecutive songs in a row.

Talking of Coops ' The white sock count ' stood at 4 much to Coops dismay :-)



The Dj line up Consisted of Rosie, Pete, Gus (Mr.Wigan) Paul, Coops & Steve,

And what more can I say except it was a quality line up and fantastic music played across the board

which had the dance floor nicely filled and very busy throughout the night, with numbers only starting to dwindle

after last orders were shouted, with quite a handful, staying until the end.



With a warm friendly atmosphere, a great sound system which was fantastic.

Reasonable bar and prices, a large dancefloor and nicely polished (an absolute dream with talc on one of the best for sometime)

Great music, Dj's and company, What more could anyone ask for a great night out and at only £3 Entrance fee

which just leaves me to say hope to see you all there soon and keep on keeping the faith love

soulchick