Jim started playing out in the late 70's, with a love for disco. Playing firstly in bars in the reading area, Jim progressed to clubs in the early 80s where his feel for music changed to soul & boogie. With regular Thursday & Sunday nights at the Majestic.
Saturday lunchtimes became a way of life for about 150 diehards @ Beadles wine bar. Where one of the soulpranos became a regular fixture at the bar, you guesed it frosty. This ran for 2 years where it started to outgrow it self. Jim was then introduced to Sean French and they took the afternoon set to the majestic. Within a couple of months the crowd increased to over 500.
Jim then decided enough was enough, and changed direction, he sold all of his tunes and moved into the fantasy world of CLUB 18-30. After taking as much as I could (lunatics not drugs) I decided there were only so many mental trips & songs I could cope with, so in went my resignation, to my amazement they accepted it. No more early mornings, and days to myself It couldn’t get any better , the only thing that I didn’t have was MONEY. It was then I was approached by the local mafia and I’m not talking Hilly & co. but one of the club owners who had been across to the uk, and had visited the dizzy heights of Caister, and that’s what he wanted at the club. The rest is history.
Meeting up again with frostie in the early 90s the said man talked me into playing at one of his mad Norfolk village nights, where I became a regular name, this was followed by the Bournemouth weekenders. Playing alongside Shep, Webster, Brownie & all, I think that’s when the enthusiasm came back, the lure of playing 70s soul and 80s boogie was to great, and meeting up with old friends I hadn’t seen for years made it all make sense. Although my musical taste has changed I think I’ll always be a soulboy.
Today you can catch Jim at the Soul village weekender, the tv at Southport and a load of dodgy dusty places normally with a few of the Soulpranos.
That’s it for now.
Cheers
Syrup