Samanthas Soul Scene

Samanthas was an upstairs venue above the Silver Blades Ice Skating Rink on Queens Road in Sheffield. The all-nighter was on a Friday and ran from 2am - 8am, as there was a "normal" disco on until 2am. It was a two-room venue. The main room was about three times as long as was wide, it had a relatively small dance floor, with a bar at the far end and ample seating. As you climbed the stairs and entered the room, the decks were on your left, readily accessable for requests. No stage to climb up onto!

Unfortunately, the decks were so close to the dance floor that any enthusiastic "stomping" resulted in the record jumping... "Elusive" by Babe Ruth often caused problems! There was a second room too, the Hallam Suite (later the Mayfair Suite), that ran as an oldies room. Thanks to Andy Stacey from Barnsley for putting me right on that on that one.

The main room "resident" DJ here was John Vincent (on the right, Keith Minshull on the left), often ably assisted by Richard Searling, Ian "Frank" Dewhurst, Twink (from Leeds), John Manship, the occasional appearance from Colin Curtis, and later Paul Rowan and the inimitable Soul Sam.

The oldies room was hosted by Howard Sorsby, aided and abetted by Billy Paul (Wigan), Paul Curzon (Doncaster), Derek Banner (Mansfield), and Rotherhams Derek Sheldon, who I am told named his daughter Sandie! Thanks to Howard who got in touch via email to fill in my rather vague memories here.

The music policy was notable in that Samanthas seemed not to have any preference. In fact the playlist sat squarely between all camps, and changed rapidly with the times. With no particular allegance to stompers, white acts or funky stuff, anything went. Music often ranged from out and out 100mph stormers like "I Can't Help Myself" by Johnny Ross And The Soul Explosion to "Happy Feeling" by Earth, Wind and Fire!

I believe that it is this variety and freshness, as well as a strange sense of intimacy due to the small size of the venue, that made Samanthas stand out from the crowd, and therefore commanded a loyal following. Ask many old soulies who went to Samanthas, Wigan, the Mecca etc "What was your favourite venue?" and many will say.... Samanthas (me included!).

To give you an idea about what I mean about the diversity of the music played at Samanthas, compare these two playlists, one from 1973 and one from 1975.