Venue Address: The Shakespear, Gibralter St, Sheffield, S3 8UB
Lee
writes...
“Right
then, it's time to get fully focussed here at King Bee towers on the
extravaganza that is the August All Day Shindig. Things are falling into place
with at least 6 quality vintage sellers confirmed and a record bar with some
stunning 45s up for grabs. We have an afternoon DJ line that blows most evening
club nights out of the water (to be revealed over the next 2 weeks) and Mr
Metcalf as we all know is sorting out the weather (hope he hasn't peaked too
early!).
So you
know who one of the guest DJs are, none other than Sheffield music legend
Richard Hawley (who has inundated me with clips of new 45s purchased since his
last spot and is itching to spin them in his favourite club), so who is the
other guest. Well he's DJ'd at virtually every top club on the R'n'B and Mod
scene , and a fair few of the big Northern nights as well. If you buy 45's
chances are you've put some money in his pockets over the years as well as he's
one of the country’s top sellers who just keeps on finding new tunes that go on
to be dancefloor faves. It is of course the one and only Mace, an absolute
stunner of a DJ, and all-round top bloke. In our usual King Bee fashion I've
let him pen a few (ahem) words telling us his musical journey.........so I'll
hand over to Mace...”
"I
remember first hearing about Mods in my last year at junior school, one of my
mates declared he wanted to be a mod and we should all go to town that weekend
to buy those tacky shiny black skinny ties with different logos on them (think
mine was a Two Tone one?)
A
passion for music from and early age resulted in me looking beyond the obvious
revival bands and back to the 60s, then onto the tunes that inspired the likes
of The Small Faces/Who/Stones/Kinks/Spencer Davis etc. Early RnB and Motown
were obviously major players, and a love for black soul music soon took its
grip.
I was
fortunate that Stoke has always had a healthy Northern Soul scene, so there
were plenty of local events to hear such obscure soul tunes. Scooter rallies
were quickly replaced with Mod Weekenders, and before long a group of us
ventured down to Birmingham for a mod event. We were totally blown away by the
style and music we discovered that night. Friendships were formed with many of
the Brummie Mods (plenty of whom are still active on the Mod scene), and I was
soon spending most weekends in Birmingham, scouring the stalls in the rag
market on a Saturday morning for oddball 45s and driving shoes!
It was
around this time that I first recall meeting Rad (Lee Radforth), probably at a
mod club in Derby/Notts if my memory serves me right.
My
thirst for finding tunes has remained ever since, local Stoke Northern Soul
dealers were happy to sell me R&B and odd instrumentals tunes that were
getting big on the mod scene as they were too leftfield for them or their usual
customers. Through these guys I also developed a taste for rare 60s soul 45s,
predominately stuff that was played at Stafford Nighters (Top Of The World),
which included lots of big voiced mid-tempo 45s.....many of which were also
popular on the Belgium Popcorn scene.
I
co-promoted the Rhythm & Soul Set Mod Weekenders with Rob Messer for a few
years in the late 80s and early 90s, great times with varying degrees of
success, but as these events came to a natural demise, I soon found myself
becoming more and more disillusioned with the Mod Scene on the whole and
drifted back to attending events to cater for my second love of Northern Soul.
Things
changed again when the Hideaway Club started up in Manchester, I attended a few
early events at the Mitre Hotel, but was hooked by the time they moved to the
Waldorf......the sudden pace of new discoveries, either from DJs or
collector/DJs, was frightening! I can honestly say those early years at the
Waldorf were truly magical for anyone who had a love for early to mid 60s
R&B.
I learnt
so much about music from a likeminded group of friends/collectors, that paved
my way for digging deeper into the many various genres of 50s/60s music that
made its mark at that club.
The only
club to ever equal the passion and hunger for discovering new tunes and playing
them to an eager and accepting crowd was The Pow Wow Club a few years
later.....I'd lost touch with Gav Arno over the years and wasn't aware he had
such great taste in music....!
I was
searching Ebay for records quite early on, and was regularly bagging
bargains.....my hit count soon started getting affected by one main buyer,
regularly outbidding me, by the ID of Chubbychops...turns out that this was
actually Joe Dutton...!
Scouring
Ebay for elusive 45s was soon replaced with bi-annual trips Stateside, hunting
down oddball 45s, where I was soon to cross paths with Joe again.....he's a
f**ckin menace to be fair!
So a
longwinded write up brings me to present day, still actively collecting and
spinning elusive and desirable 45s from the 50s & 60s.
I'm
really looking forward to spinning a few tunes at The King Bee August event.
This
wonderful music has ensured that friendships formed with those involved with
this club and named above, will result in our paths crossing once again.
Hopefully
I can entice a good few of you to shake your stuff on the floor before the fine
ales on offer affect my general ability to stand upright for more than 5
minutes!”
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