COOL AS FUCK, FRIDAY 4th DECEMBER

I’ve been a tinsy touch hard on Hastings, but it must be said that among the hunchbacked Diamond White supping flotsam of this backward seaside town, there are a small number of warm, kind hearted, and generous citizens. I mean, only last time I was there, I wandered straight to the sea, leaned over the railings outside my hotel and was greeted with the unforgettable offer from two carloads of young folk. “Oi! Dirtyman! Suck my Dad’s cock!” I respectfully declined but it was a touching moment.

I might call their bluff next week. Or bring my Dad along to return the favour.

COOL AS FUCK PLAYLIST

Don’t normally do DJ playlists but here’s what I played at Cool As Fuck in Hastings on Friday.

The brief recommended uptempo 45s with a bit of Motown for a mixed crowd including a few scooterists. Seemed a perfect opportunity to revive some old soul classics I wouldn’t normally play at hardcore mod/R&B nights. And no, before you ask, that didn’t include “The Snake”.

The following transformed a miserable depressing hovel of an inbred seaside town so wretched you feel the compulsion to shoot heroin in your eyes, into a sizzling orgy of frantic tail feather shaking.

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Eddie Holland – Baby Shake (Motown)
Sugar & Sweet – You Don’t Have To Cry (Pep)
Jimmy Elledge – Gonna Turn Your Voodoo On (RCA Victor)
Bobby Marchan – Chickee Wah-Wah (Gale)
Dorie Williams – Tell Me Everything You Know (635)
Otis Rush – Homework (Duke)
Artie Golden – Look Out (Sunshine)
The Rollers – Troubles (Bel-Star)
Johnny Watson – I Say, I Love You (King)
Roy Roberts – Got To Have Your Love (Ninandy)
Alder Ray – My Heart Is In Danger (Minit)
The Four Shells – Hot Dog (Volt)
Ray Scott – Right Now (Decca)
Dalton Boys – I’ve Been Cheated (VIP)
Aretha Franklin – Tighten Up Your Tie, Button Up Your Jacket (Columbia)
Edwin Starr – I Have Faith In You (Ric-Tic)
The O’Jays – Lipstick Traces (Imperial)
The Groove – Love Is Getting Better (Wand)
David Dunn – Say Ain’t It So (Lori)

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Rufus Thomas – Turn Your Damper Down (Stax)
Big Maybelle – Quittin’ Time (Direction)
Grover Pruitt – Little Girl (Salem)
The Dippers – Goin’ Ape (Diplomacy)
Rufus Lumley – I’m Standing (Horton)
The Downbeats – Request Of A Fool (Tamla)
Isley Brothers – This Old Heart Of Mine (Tamla Motown)
Kim Weston – Helpless (Gordy)
Gloria Grey – It’s A Sweet World (Warner Brothers)
Sugar Pie Desanto – Here I Come Running (Checker)
Jimmy Bell – What’cha Gonna Do About Me (Hickory)
Banny Price – You Love Me Pretty Baby (Jewel)
Mike Pedecin – Burnt Toast and Black Coffee (Federal)
Ernie Washington – Lonesome Shack (Chattahoochee)
Sugar Boy Williams – Little Girl (Herald)
Prince Conley – I’m Going Home (Satellite)

CAF! FRIDAY 10th JULY

Hastings! Huh! Yeah! What is it good for? Absolutely nothing usually but on Friday 10th July you could do worse than pop your head into Bar-Celona for some choice tunes to sip your sangria (or Stella) to.

I’ll be dragging a box of Monkey Magic on the train to join CAF resident DJs Rowly and Southern Sam to spin some summery sixties soul and R&B 45s. All the details you need are above.

Feeling in an up tempo rhythm and soul mood myself, with a splash of danceable fuzzed-up blues and a few ever-faithful Motown monsters. Cool as fuck.