Tag Archives: soul

Resurrection of Subway Soul Club!

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Subway Soul Club action!

A few months ago, Lady Dawn decided to bring back the Subway Soul Club.

There hasn’t been a Subway Soul Club event in about five years, so perhaps a little history is in order. In December of the year 2001, Lady Dawn, a colorful British music enthusiast, and two of her friends who are DJs, got the keen idea of starting a Mod-oriented Northern Soul dance party in New York City. The first few were held in locations in the Lower East Side that no longer exist. Then her buddies left town—one home to London, the other to San Francisco. Around this time, Lady Dawn lost her venue. In comes Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus. He was made the resident DJ of the club and he brought it to Rififi, a bar/comedy club/theater/video rental joint with a large back room on East 11th Street in the East Village. SSC lived there for several years, until Rififi closed down in 2008. SSC events took place erratically and bounced around to different venues in Manhattan and Brooklyn for a few more years after that—sometimes going a year or so between events. The last one was held in November of 2019. It took place at a beautiful club called Venus In Furs in Brooklyn.

Then life intervened. The pandemic happened—it took down Venus In Furs. The Phast Man moved to the Hudson Valley. Lady Dawn got busy with work. Everybody got older…

Then our pal Jon Weiss contacted Lady Dawn. He is booking a new joint called The Francis Kite Club, located on Avenue C in the East Village. Would she be willing to stage a Subway Soul Club event? We’ve dealt with Jon Weiss before and we like him. He was the genius behind the legendary Cavestomp events held during the nineties and early years of the new century. The Boog was called. “Do we want to swing?” said Lady Dawn. “Why not?” said the Phast Man.

A date was set: Saturday April 27… and it happened!!

The Subway Soul Club returned to action in fine form. Guest DJs were rounded up: Lynne K and Mikey Post. Lynne K has been a favorite guest DJ since the Rififi days. She was scheduled to work the gig at Venus In Furs, but was unable to do it due to personal matters. Mikey Post is the fine drummer of The Jay Vons and works at Daptone Records. Plus, Andrew Mair came up from Florida to play a special set. He is an English cat who is quite familiar with the Northern Soul DJ wars in his home country. Also, he used to live in New York City and was a regular at Subway Soul Club when it was at Rififi.

Andrew Mair
Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus
Lynne K
Mikey Post

That wasn’t all that made this event feel like a reunion. A ton of the Subway Soul Club regulars from years passed were able to attend. It was so grand seeing so many familiar faces out on the dance floor and hanging out at the bar. It was as if time stood still and we were all back at Rififi—the golden years of the Subway Soul Club. Lady Dawn wore a sparkly dress and flitted around the dance floor most of the night. If that is not enough, the night was further enhanced by the yummy treats baked by Boogaloo Bag photographer Miss Nancy: pecan tassies and vegan brownies. She baked a LOT of them and they were gone by the end of the night.

As expected, the DJs each played some fantastic records and there was not a single second when there wasn’t somebody on the dance floor. The night started early—8:00pm—and expected to go to some time after midnight, with luck 1:00am. The club kicked everybody out at 2:00am!! During the last hour, the DJs took turns playing two records each. That was a gas.

Everyone was so pleased the way the event took place that it looks like there may be another Subway Soul Club event before the end of the year—perhaps in September. If so, do not miss out!

Here’s a list of all the records played by Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus at the resurrection of the Subway Soul Club:

None of these records are for sale.

Astro Girl swings at Funky Kingston!

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Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus and Leah Beth (Astro Girl) swing at The Funky Kingston

The Funky Kingston takes place on the fifth Saturday of the month. In the year 2024 there are four. The first one fell on March 30. For a guest DJ, host Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus rounded up an old friend from the DJ Wars in New York City—Leah Beth. She used to be a regular guest DJ at the Subway Soul Club, Smashed! Blocked! and other fine DJ nights. Plus she was in such cool bands as The Dancettes, The Nouvellas, PMS and the Mood Swings and Habibi. Also, she has worked as a back-up singer for various Daptone acts. She’s very hip and has been involved with some fabulous stuff so we like to call her “Astro Girl.” Not only that, but she’s got great records and she brought a box of them to the Salt Box and played them for The Funky Kingston faithful. Leah Beth has a place up in the Hudson Valley somewhere, so we hope to see more of her.

Leah Beth swings at the Funky K!

For this occasion, Miss Nancy baked some vegan brownies and pecan tassies. By the end of the night, all of them were gone. We were also happy to see many of our local Hudson Valley friends drop in to hang out for a spell—and eat Miss Nancy’s vittles!

Some Hudson Valley pals swing at The Funky Kingston!
More Hudson Valley friends!!
Miss Nancy digs the Bat Signal as her vittles await to be devoured at The Funky Kingston!

Without a doubt, The Funky Kingston is the bossest event happening in Ulster Country. Folks come from all over to dig the hot rhythms laid down by The Boog and his guest DJs. The next fifth Saturday is June 29. If you live in the area, mark it on your calendar on your iPhone, iPad, iBook or whatever iCrap you have so you don’t miss out. If you live far away, come up to Kingston and make a weekend of it. Kingston has some excellent restaurants, art galleries, antique stores and record stores. June would be a great time to do so.

Here’s a list of all the records played by Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus at The Funky Kingston:

None of these records are for sale.

Crankin’ It At Quinn’s!!

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This year, Pete Pop’s spectacular rock’n’soul dance party takes place on the second Friday of the month at Quinn’s, the rock ’n’ ramen establishment on Main Street in Beacon, NY. On March 8, his guest DJs were Peter Aaron and Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus.

Pete Pop
Peter Aaron
Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus

Peter Aaron has been mentioned in the Boogaloo Bag before. Suffice it to say, after having been in a cool rock band (The Chrome Cranks) in the nineties, writing some books and hosting a radio show for several years, he’s got fantastic sense of what makes a party rock. Pete Pop asked him to bring some of his boss seventies and early eighties glam, punk and new wave records to spice up the night. Mission accomplished.

Pete Pop has incredible records and played them all night long. Folks were dancing; folks were falling down and drinks were spilled—a super successful party!

Go Go dancers Bella Bombora and Sheba Shake swing at Do The 45!

Also, this year, Do The 45 features two fabulous Go-Go dancers: Sheba Shake and Bella Bombora. Miss Sheba has been getting some dancing gigs down in The City and at local surf music concerts. Bella Bombora, when she’s not on stage, is the official photographer of the Boogaloo Bag as well as baker of treats for DJ gigs when Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus is involved.

Speaking of the Phast One, here’s a list of all the records he played at the March 8 Do The 45:

None of these records are for sale.

Funky Kingston Swings Again!

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The Bat Signal at the Salt Box signifies that Funky Kingston is happening!! Stuart Millman of The Greyhounds and Miss Nancy dig it!

In 2023, the last fifth Saturday of the month fell on December 30—the day before New Year’s Eve! It was the perfect time for folks to celebrate the New Year without dealing with amateur drinkers. Some folks took advantage of that by attending Funky Kingston at the Salt Box in Kingston, NY.

Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus and Scott Boyko swing at Funky Kingston!

Funky Kingston is the groovy new DJ night hosted by Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus. It features all sorts of funky music (see list below) as well as special guest DJs. For this occasion, we were able to fly in Scott Boyko from south central Pennsylvania and he dropped some heavy, heavy funk and really righteous reggae jams. Mr. Boyko is a serious record collector and has been sharing his sounds at DJ events for more than 20 years. He once was a host of the Garden State Soul Club. Now he guests all over the place: Keystone State Soul Weekender (Lancaster, PA), Soul Finger (New York City), etc.

Scott Boyko in action!
Scott Boyko keeps the action going!

This particular Funky Kingston event went swingin’ly—with all sorts of friends showing up. Some friends even insisted on making this a sort of a late birthday party for Mr. Phreddie as he turned 70 two days before! 70! Wow! That means Phast Phreddie has been DJing for folks for about fifty years—since the early seventies when he worked at keg ’n’ Quaalude parties in San Pedro and Carson, California. Those were the days: trying to play records with one Garrard turntable hooked up to somebody’s guitar amplifier!!

Birthday cupcakes at Funky Kingston!

Anyway, the Funky Kingston had folks funkin’ all over the place. The historic stone building that houses The Salt Box could barely contain the fantastic rhythms that Mr. Boyko and The Phast One were letting loose! Miss Nancy baked some pumpkin/chocolate birthday cupcakes that were devoured pretty quickly.

These Funky Kingston happenings take place on the fifth Saturday of the month, when there is one. The next one will be March 30. Start planning now to make the scene for this fabulous party.

Here’s a list of records played by Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus at the Funky Kingston:

None of these records are for sale.

Sunday Soul Screeeeeeeeeem!!!!

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OurWickedLady

Our pal Jonathan Toubin, truly a premier DJ of reet music if ever there was one, hosts the groovy Sunday Soul Scream on the rooftop of Our Wicked Lady through the summer months. He is a very busy man. On Sunday July 1, he was scheduled to be in Los Angeles for a series of events and could not make the Scream. To host the night, he roped in Haley Griffin and Bailey Leiter to make sure the evening ran smoothly. One of Brooklyn’s bossest bands The Othermen agreed to appear. Our new  friend The Wig Doctor was signed on to spin records before the band played. Post band DJs picked for this occasion were Avi Spivak of Rebel Rouser and Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus. The night was warm and humid–indeed, everyone was sweatying–and Our Wicked Lady responded with an assortment of frozen cocktails. The moon was out and a lot of our friends showed up to swing with us.

The secret of the evening is the room on the ground floor which is air conditioned. The music from the rooftop is piped in, so no one missed a single needle-drop. Phast Phreddie‘s favorite thing: they have an excellent ginger beer on tap!

On the Googles, Our Wicked Lady is noted as a “hip music venue, arts complex & roof bar.” And so it is. Although the bar itself is of average size, the rooftop area is fairly sizable, allowing for a stage on one end and a bar, with DJ setup, on the other. It is situated in a very industrial area of East Williamsburg where few people live. Thus it can have loud music playing well into the night with nobody complaining. At about five minutes from the Morgan Avenue L Train stop, it is in a very convenient location.

BaileyHaley

Bailey & Haley swing at the Sunday Soul Scream

As Mr. Toubin so aptly put it, Haley and Bailey are “two snazzy babes.” After being on the scene and witnessing things going down for several years, they started their own event Je T’Aime Oh No, which takes place every Monday at Berlin. These gals know how to party, that’s for sure.

BH_Othermen

Bailey & Haley introduce The Othermen at the Sunday Soul Scream.

The Othermen is a grunge rock band in the pure sense of the word (having absolutely nothing to do with the so-called grunge rock movement of the early Nineties). At dictionary.com, “grunge” is defined as “dirt, filth, rubbish.” That’s exactly what this group sounds like, in the most fabulous way imaginable. With every instrument played at levels that achieve stunning audio distortion, this group makes a righteous, rockin’ noise unlike any other–with the optimal word being “noise” and the noise is boss! Highly recommended.

Othermen

The Othermen in action!

The Boogaloo Bag writers first met The Wig Doctor when they DJed together at one of DJ Rata’s Shake It Up Sundays last summer. He played some heavy, heavy mambos and cumbia records that we all dug. He is often seen working on Thursdays at Friends and Lovers in Prospect Heights and spins at Our Wicked Lady fairly regularly. He also pals around with Drew Redmond and they often DJ together, such as their Gettin’ Ugly night at the Beauty Bar. On this night, The Wig Doctor mixed it up with an eclectic set of rock, soul, funk, mambo and several other exotic styles. It was a gas.

WigDoctor

The Wig Doctor swings at the Sunday Soul Scream.

Besides being an incredible artist, Avi Spivak is a cat with a bunch of boss trash. He swings at the Rebel Rouser, a cool record and groovy stuff store. LPs, 45s, books, horror magazines, underground comix, and weird cult movies are all there for the buying. Located on Broadway, near the edge of Bushwick, it may seem small, but everything the place sells is gear. Rebel Rouser has hosted Rebel Rouser Club House nights at Ceremony with Josh Styles, William Martin, usually a rockin’ band and always Avi Spivak. A solid good time.

Avi

Avi Spivak swings at the Sunday Soul Scream.

The rooftop space was place was full of folks to dig The Othermen, and most of them stayed to dance to the solid sounds laid down by the two late-night DJs. Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus did not fool around by playing any lukewarm jive. Every record he played had super Go-Go Beat excitation. He must have gotten hungry around three quarters through the night as he played five food records in a row. Six if you count the Phil Flowers record (“…having to scrounge your next meal”)!

Boog

Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus swings at the Sunday Soul Scream.

Here’s a list of all the records played by Phast Phreddie the Boogaloo Omnibus at the Sunday Soul Scream:

None of these records are for sale. Some of them have links to the youtubes for you to dig.

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