TOM HOLLAND

The first 'soul' club I went to was at a place called Oscars near Ilford on the A12. I can't remember if the night had a particular name, I think that that was more of a 1990's phenomenon. It was a Friday night some time in 1981 and I had gone along to see Tom Holland. I wasn't really sure who he was, I had just read about the club in James Hamilton's column of Record Mirror. (I didn't discover Blues & Soul till the following year).

Anyway, there I was. A fourteen year old in a club full of people dancing to my sort of music. I couldn't dance yet, it wasn't done much in the 1970's! Now that I think about it, it was more a Jazz Funk doo than a soul doo, but we didn't have a million different sub-categories yet, it was ALL soul music. In the 19 and a bit years since then, Tom has continued to play quality soul music and has maintained a consistent panda bear shape. I think that he still carries the same 7" singles box with him that he had back in '81.

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FROGGY

It was about the same time that I started to attend a regular 14-18 disco at Ilford Town Hall. I started going because I had heard the DJ on Capital Radio on a Saturday night show called The Best Disco In Town. His name was Froggy and he was the one who played lots of rare import disco and could mix! (Quite a rarity itself on the soul scene). He had apparently acquired the nickname because he leapt about on stage, like a frog, while he was DJing. Those of us who know him better could give you reasons for the leaping about which might suggest a new nickname, but that's beside the point...

Froggy was one of the few original Soul Mafia DJ's who made it quite big on commercial radio. (It may be noted here that the most successful ex-Mafia DJ is Pete Tong - so bloody successful that his name has become cockney rhyming slang.) He did quite a lot of remix work on early British Jazz Funk (Keywi, Loose Ends, Second Image) and continued to mix...

Whether it was due to excessive mixing or a penchant for living in Ilford, Froggy seemed to disappear for a few years around the time that acid house and the rave scene took over British dance culture. This was not, in fact the case. He realised how much more cash he could make by hiring out the 'Froggy Sound System' to the ravemakers. This was the first time that the system had been used to it's full potential. It would have blown up the hearing aids of his original fans.

When he returned as one of the Caister Soul Mafia in the late 1980's he instantly became a firm favourite amongst the newer punters and re-ingratiated himself with the old bastards too. You'll find Froggy up at the bar, waiting for you to buy him a drink...

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"That's about the size of it Chris."

CHRIS HILL

Before my first time at the Goldmine in 1982 I knew who Chris Hill was. I had never heard him play, didn't know what he looked like, had no idea what his voice sounded like but I knew that if we had a Soul Mafia then he was The Godfather. I read about him firstly in Record Mirror in an enigmatically titled article called '...those Caister tapes...' then later, in Blues and Soul. I had no idea what Caister was so the title of the first article was lost on me, but the respect and admiration that this man seemed to command meant that he must be a pretty major player, if not the sole founder of the soul scene, disco in general and the known universe.

The Goldmine was a dream come true. Smiling faces, people who knew all the words to all the songs, dammit people who KNEW all the songs! Hilly was like a sermon and the crowd were his congregation, ready to drop to their knees and testify upon his direction. The 'mine wasn't anything like the Lacy Lady, it was like a sounding block. A place where he could experiment with new forms and combinations and the discerning crowd would let him know whether they approved. If the 'miners accepted it, it was in. As far as British club culture is concerned, the mine was not only seminal in creating and maintaining the 'southern' soul scene but it was the equivalent of the Paradise Garage and Studio 54 rolled into one!

The other day, a friend played me a recording of the Caister Finale from October 1981 (see: www.soulies.com ), Hilly has been playing the same tunes for nearly two decades and everytime he does, I love him more...

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Mark: "I tell you what Gavin you don't 'alf look a plonker in that 'at"

Dr. Jones I presume

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FROSTIE

I have known Frostie, personally, for about six years. I've sort-of known him, socially, for a hell of a lot longer.

At my first caister, back in '83 (*sobs quietly into a large hanky, 17 FUCKING YEARS!*) I was an impressionable *****teen year old and people like Frostie and Big Rick (Ricardo Wendall Joseph) were as close to living gods as you could get.

This type of jazz-funk/soul event was relatively new, so there were literally only a couple of thousand punters countrywide. Anyway...people like the aforementioned already had five or six passes around their necks, they spoke with authority about obscure album tracks by Sadao Watanabe, Boy Katindig and Paz as easily as they spoke about Light Of The World, Second Image and Linx. They addressed the DJ's (THE Soul Mafia) by their first names. For gods' sake, the DJ knew THEIR names!

Frostie has been DJing for more years than I have been a punter, but, he was always more of a promoter. Throughout the 90's he almost singlehandedly kept the Essex and East London Soul Scene together. I will make no apologies if that sounds like an overstatement, it's just a fact. Frosties Bournemouth, Clacton and Great Yarmouth weekenders and one nighters have already become legendary. Chris Hill, Froggy, Gary Dennis, Tom Holland, Mark Webster, Chris Brown and Sean French have all played at his events, repeatedly.

Frostie is responsible for rescuing the career of at least one Dj who I may choose to name at a later time.

You can catch Frostie playing all over the place, The Goldmine Reunion, Lacy Lady and Caister to name but three :o) If you catch him at a weekender, it's alright, he hasn't hurt himself, that's snakebite all over his T-shirt.

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TERRY JONES

Although hailing from South London, Terry Jones has always had an affinity with Northerners. The brand of soul music that he plays has often been called 'Northern', at least by us Southerners. This, however, is not an accurate synonym. The music that Tessa plays is more than likely from America than anywhere else, so we might as well call it 'Western'.

He is the only jock who has been playing for more consecutive years than Chris Hill! He was the resident at the legendary Norfolk Village for more than 21 years, for Hilly's sake! The things that Terry pulls out of his singles box, we mortals could only ever DREAM about getting on a dodgy bootleg 'complimation'. Terry Jones has broken more toons than any other DJ in England - he IS Mr. Modern Soul. We owe him more SOUL than most 'fair-weather' punters will ever realise. Ms Jones is the closest thing that we will ever know to a living legend.

I hope that the old bastard retires soon, and leaves me his record collection.

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CHRIS BROWN

The first time that I asked Chris Brown to marry me was at one of the first few Up-North weekenders. You know, the Alex Lowes thingies - they used to be called "Blackpool". Anyway, he had just finished playing an 'old bastards' afternoon set in the club room, if that's what it was called. I remember that he touched my heart and soul with the music, I SWEAR that's all he touched!

It's not that I fancied him or anything, it's just that he was already quite old and I was still quite young. I thought I'd outlive him and get my hands on his records. Alas it was not meant to be...there were rumours, of course, involving his best friend and an oven ready chicken, but it's not my place to spread gossip, or is it?

Brownie is still DJing 36 years later and his sets improve with each and every pension cheque.

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GARY DENNIS

Gary Dennis' career began in a little club on Canvey Island as the warm-up DJ for one Mr. Christopher Molehill who later changed his name to Chris Hill. Gazza's own style soon caught the attention of Jim Henson and Frank Oz and he was asked to audition for a leading role in their new TV series.

He was successful and landed the part of Sweetums in what was to become the most sensational, inspirational, celebrational, Muppetational, Muppet Show. He stayed with the Muppets for 5 years and enjoyed the celebrity lifestyle that went with critical acclaim.

After leaving the muppet show in 1980, Gary went on to star in his own sitcom, Gary & The Gazettes. However, the show was a complete flop so Mr. Dennis put what little he had left into a secondhand record shop in provincial Essex. The record shop rescued Gary's career and when he subsequently found god behind an old box of records his life changed completely. Turning his back on the rock-star life, he began DJing again and soon found his niche amongst sad old bastards like us. People who appreciated the dedication that it took to keep playing funky soul music whilst other DJ's sold out and made fortunes.

You can hear Gary play at the hugely popular Goldmine Reunion on Canvey Island (see Event Calendar) or pop in to see him at Crazy Beat Records in Upminster, Essex where you'll find the music and Mr. Dennis' personal knowledge to be second to none. Of course, it's best to leave any credit cards at home and DO NOT GO JUST AFTER PAYDAY - or you'll go hungry the following month!

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SEAN FRENCH

I initially encountered Mr. F at a little bar called The Swan And Sugarloaf (S.A.S. for short). The bar was situated in Dockhead, South East London, just off of Jamaica Road, if you're interested; next door to the fire station where they film London's Burning... Anyway, it was a Friday night and I used to go along with the 'soul patrol' I was with. The *****. There were four or five regular members and up to 10 part-timers, it was a blast!

The warm up DJ at the S.A.S. was a young man named Keith Robles, fuck knows what happened to him, probably got married and moved to Essex. However, he did give a good indication of the quality of music to come. It was Keith who first introduced me to the talents of Judy Roberts, Sue Raney, Sylvia St.James, Leroy Hutson and Terry Callier. In those days it was quite usual to have a jazz/soul set as a warm up for a harder disco/boogie set. (This is what Jeff Young and Gary Dennis both did for Hilly, although Mr. Hill was known to play the odd blindin' jazz set at the 'mine.)

Well, Frenchie came on about 10.00ish and had the bar rocking with tunes like Sweet Thunder's 'Everybody's Singing Love Songs', The Crown Heights Affair's 'Dancin'', Brass Construction's 'Movin'', and War's 'Me And Baby Brother'. In between track's he'd slur some incomprehensible, drunken nonsense (Sean was still a single man!) and the crowd would go wild. I'd like to make it clear that when I say 'crowd', I'm talking about 150 people. The S.A.S. was a tiny venue and was always full to capacity. Because of it's size and the nature of the music you can imagine just how goddamned friendly the place was!

By the time last orders had been called and chucking out time came (at 12.30) we were bloated, legless and totally smashed! (We invented snakebite's, you know!) It is for this reason that I could never tell you what the hell Frenchie played towards the end of any set. The beginning? Yeah, fine. All I know is that this is one of my earliest memories of feeling the 'family' vibe.

Sean is as popular today as he was way back then (when?) although he is rather more rotund, but after two kids, who wouldn't be?

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