ILKLEY Soul Club returns this Sunday, March 31 March, to the Hollygarth Social Club on Leeds Road between 3pm and 8pm (Admission £5 OTD). This month’s special guest is a famous face on the scene Blackpool’s Glenn Walker Foster, who is both a club and radio soul DJ Glenn, who has been speaking to Ilkley Gazette about his DJ career, will join resident DJ’s Ian Smith, Keith Hudson, Daniel Steel and Trevor Lofthouse for an afternoon of top northern soul tunes played on the original vinyl releases.

Glenn’s DJ career started in 1972 whilst at public school in Blackpool.

He saod: “Some of the older boys at school were going to The Torch in Stoke On Trent and The Highland Room at the Blackpool Mecca, which sparked my interest in Northern Soul and Tamla Motown. I began listening to Emperor Rosko and Andy Peebles Soul Train on the radio and in fact remember clearly hiding under the bedsheets at night as a young lad with a tiny transistor radio , a torch , pen and paper hastily scribbling record titles and names of all the singers that I could.

“I began organising school discos and along with two friends Jem and Steve a regular Saturday night at our local Y.M.C.A. youth club. By 1974 I had begun attending Blackpool Mecca by myself and in March 1974 also began attending every Saturday night at Wigan Casino. Due to a part time job in a record shop that sold American imported 7″ singles I had built up a substantial record collection and was regularly trading and swapping records in the record bar, at the rear of the casino at Wigan.”

Wigan Casino had a second club within a club called Mr M’s, which specialised in playing the older and more familiar releases, whilst the likes of Richard Searling on the main stage broke many newer and previously unreleased records. As a teenager Glenn actually DJ’d at Mr M’s after a well known face at the Casino, ‘Scatcat’, put Glenn’s name forward on the strength of his record box, when one of the regulars hadn’t turned up. This set Glenn on a course of DJ ‘ing in general and northern soul in particular.

Over the last 30 plus years Glenn has promoted his own events and for a time became a house/rave music DJ in the late 80s and early 90s. After the demise of the ‘underground rave scene’ Glenn returned to his first love – northern soul.

“I initially became the resident DJ at Preston Grasshoppers for its first five years as well as doing regular guest slots at Lowton Civic Hall, where I reconnected with Richard Searling. This reunion as well as my regular soul radio shows (The Northern Soul Sessions with GWF) opened another door for me at soul nights in my hometown at Blackpool Tower Ballroom weekenders and the Winter Gardens”.

Glenn recently moved from Blackpool to Co Durham. He commands regular guest spots at soul clubs in Darlington, Newton Aycliffe, Hartlepool, Barrow, Morecambe and Bradford.

Glenn is optimistic that the scene will continue to thrive in years to come. “In my opinion, despite the Northern Soul Scene once again losing it’s underground appeal and camaraderie, I believe it is more vibrant than ever. There are venues all over the country being well attended by people of all ages and due to the influx of youth and young DJ’s. I believe the Northern Soul scene will continue to thrive for some time to come.”