Birmingham Locarno

Birmingham Locarno seems to be a lot of peoples favourite all-dayer, according to what forums and message boards say. A fairly large three-room venue, the main room played northern soul, there was a Jazz-Funk room towards the back, and another room upstairs, which played Mod music later on.

The northern soul side of things was promoted by Neil Rushton and the Heart Of England Soul Club. The all-dayers were held once a month on a Sunday.

Music played in the main room was a good mix of oldies and newies, very similar in style to Nottingham Palais. DJs included Chris King, Brian Rae, Clive Jones, Steve Whittle, Danny Smith, Chris Plant, Soul Sam, Richard Sealing, Jonathon and many others.

The in-demanders at the time included "Ten To One" and "You Fooled Me" by Lou Roberts, "Tough Girl" by Billy Arnell And The Sparkles and "Trick Me, Treat Me" by Cobblestone. Featured oldies were tunes like "By Yourself" by J.D. Martin, "Hey Sah-Lo-Ney" by Mickey Lee Lane and "Ever Again" by Bernie Williams. I also remember hearing "He'll Never Love You Like I Do" by Charlie Gracie a lot, but I could never figure out if it was a newie or an oldie!

Alongside the northern soul played in the main room, there was a Jazz-Funk all-dayer on in the "Bali Hai" room towards the rear of the venue. There was never any animosity between the supporters of the two music genres, and often us soulies would wander over and have a listen to what was being played. Once I was in the "funk room" and I heard this tune by the Real Thing called "Can You Feel The Force?"... not bad, I thought, could be a hit that!

While we're on this subject, it always makes me smile how many tunes crossed over from the northern scene to funk rooms... take "Theme" by Webster Lewis, "New York City" by Miroslav Vitous and "Prance On" by Eddie Henderson for example!

Birmingham Locarno re-invented itself several times, being re-named The Powerhouse in the mid-1980s which still held all-dayers, then Ritzy in 1990, Pulse in 1996, Zanzibar in 1999 and then Oceana in 2008, and finally The Electric until it closed in 2015.