Tom Tower's Boy's Club
Location: Stoke Road, Hinckley
Date: 1979
The Boys Club all-dayers were, to say the least, a labour of love. It was the first attempt by the Hinckley Soul Club to organise and promote their own national venue, and believe me, it's hard work.
A massive hall, used primarily as a sports hall, had all the facilities of a gym. And that's all. Apart from the Mr. Men murals, which added a certain atmosphere.
and Jez running the Badge Bar.
It was about two miles from the centre of Hinckley, hidden up a small road at the bottom of Hollycroft Hill, easy to find if you lived in the area, but if you were travelling in, damn near impossible. This predicament led to scouting parties being organised to tour Hinckley, searching for lost soulies to give them directions!
The Boy's Club was a well-lit venue, with dozens of skylights that had to be obscured by black bin liners to get the right atmosphere. A stage was built for the first all-dayer, which led to many a jumping record, so the second attempt resulted in the decks being installed in the kitchen, requests being taken through the serving hatch. Tasty!
Hutt and Graham Evans.
Still, the DJs turned up, and then some punters turned up and... hang on, this is working! Nobody was as shocked as us to see a home-brewed all-dayer actually happening. In fact, some of us retired to the pub halfway through the first dayer to celebrate!
The Hinckley Soul Club was lucky enough to secure the services of DJs of the calibre of John Manship, Chris King and Nev Wherry, probably due (yet again) to the influence of... guess who? Brian Rae.
and Corrine.
The music theme was predominantly oldies, with tracks like "I'm Not Built That Way" - The Hesitations, "By Yourself" - JD Martin, "She'll Come Running Back" - Mel Britt and "I Hurt On The Other Side" - Jerry Cook being the in-demand tunes.
"Wanted In Three States" by Larry Clinton, "Woman, Love Thief" by The Stemmons Express and "Strange Change" by Herb Ward were the biggies at the time.
Unfortunately, the odds were stacked against the Hinckley Soul Club, mainly due to the poor location, and the Boy's Club all-dayer quickly closed, as it was logistically unviable. Still, it was good fun while it lasted!