London Stories: London Soul

Join DJ and music writer Bill Brewster his guests Dr Bob Jones, Ady Croasdell and Ian Dewhirst for a discussion that will delve deep into the history of soul music in the capital (and its suburbs) and how it has impacted on music, clubs and fashion.

Dr. Bob Jones has been a soul man for the whole of his life.

By his early teens he was getting tickets for Ready, Steady Go and dancing at the Whiskey-A- Go-Go and Flamingo as well as collecting blue, soul and jazz records.

He began DJing in 1971, quickly building up a reputation as a forward-thinking DJ in the suburbs of London – a precursor to what later became known as the Soul Mafia, whose influence around the M25 ring road was huge during the late 1970s and ’80s.

Midlander Ady Croasdell is the principal reason that the popularity of northern soul in the capital was the equal of any other city in the UK.

He moved down to London as a student in 1970 and started the now legendary and long-running all-nighters at the 100 Club on Oxford Street.

More recently, he was involved as a consultant in Elaine Constantine’s excellent film Northern Soul.

As a teenager Ian Dewhirst played at the mighty Wigan Casino and many other northern soul haunts.

During the 1980s he was the man behind the seminal series Mastercuts – since then he had worked for Simply Vinyl and Harmless Records and has been responsible for hundreds of classic compilations.

Tickets are free for members and £3 for non-members.

All proceeds from our cultural programme go to the Kibera Hamlets School in Nairobi, where Second Home has funded the construction of a new school building designed by our architects Selgas Cano.