It's been an interesting week. The JSR website has been updated - I had the honour of being the DJ to post his playlist. The weekend was really busy so only got to record my JSR show last night. It was an interesting one - as usual I ran out of vinyl and dived into one of the 'party boxes...so it has a sort of interesting vibe - very Jazz Funk to start with then very 'club classic at the end!

Got into an interesting debate with Quinny (Simon) this week regarding radio on http://www.discomusic.com - he is someone who has strong opinions and I have great respect for. To view the thread (which was somewhat hijacked) click here.

This week will begin in earnest to promote the night at the Loaded Dog - details here - hopefully it's going to be hard to miss.

Finally I had another appearance on BBC News24 - talking about the bain of my life - Family Tax Credits. I get very annoyed that I am being made out to be the 'criminal' where in fact the problem is with the government's system. It was announced today that they have overpaid a further £1.8bn. I was one of them!! I empathise with those who are effected by this, and the lack of compassion this government shows. Clearly this government can't run anything (just look at the Home Office) - as far as I am concerned the extra billions this government has raised and spent has been wasted. Possibly the one exception is the Health Service, which I was exposed to this week. Having said that I get the impression that the majority of staff are from an agency rather than directly employed. I know my battle with them has just begun over my situation - I will not back down and have the support of not just the BBC but other people with political influence. I'm not paying the amount they are asking for BACK.

The Webmaster is in hospital at the moment so there will be no further updates on the main site at the moment....we wish him better!! The blog will continued to be updated and if I can find an alternative - that takes 110mb of music then I will let you know from here.

The promotion for the Night at The Dog is well under way - so tell your friends & everyone!!

Aha!! I modified my last blog to take into account the news I received on Monday! That 'A Disco At The Dog' is on!!

The Date: Saturday June 17th 2006
The Venue: The Loaded Dog, 485 High Road Leytonstone, London E11 4PG
The Fee £2 - 9pm - 2am

I've put it on http://www.dontstayin.com the SMR Forum and it will appear on various other places!! I've got to get 300 people to come! My biggest fan can't make it! I have 3 weeks!

Nothing much to report since my last post. I didn't do a show at Smoke this week I was under the weather. I have recorded this week's show (27-05-2006) for http://www.jazzsyndicate.co.uk - this week's inspiration came from http://www.discomusic.com and a thread counting down everyone's top 5. The number one track I have but couldn't bloody find it - MFSB. After humping around the about the fifth box I couldn't be bothered to look anymore, I know I've got it! So played a few others in the Party Boxes. I played Mr. Blindman - Donna McGhee from the album of the same name. It's probably the most sought after Disco LP and the re-release goes for £50 on websites - I've seen the original for sale (and subsequently sold ) for £200! I played Stomp - Brothers Johnson, an evocative song for me.

I was looking at the hits on my tracker for this week and notice that downloads and visits increase on a Saturday andfrom literally all over the World. It's only on the Internet where I can claim to have listeners in the Seychelles! I'd genuinely love to hear from you - tell me what you think - make a request - so send me an email - my address is retrorussell@hotmail.co.uk - you can write it in your own language - I'll translate it.....

Anyway I appreciate your support - thanks everyone!
RR

There has been a slight change in the design of the site, to take into account recent changes regarding copyright. When I play gigs I am covered by the venue's PRS licence...when my show goes out on 'air' on JSR it is covered by the station's licence, however on the website there is no such cover. As the number of visitors to my site increases (over 200 per day on average) there is a danger that 'someone' could cry foul and 'do me' for illegality!! To get around it I can stream something that has already been broadcast. Therefore my 'Track of The week' is always a track that has featured in my show and the actual show is now streamed by pressing the button. We are currently working on a system that will keep the stream going whilst someone peruses the site, using the same browser. I can't sell the music but if anyone's interested I can burn the shows onto CD and send it you if you are prepared to cover the cost of posting and packaging. If anyone's interested then post a comment at the end of this Blog and I'll take a view.

On another subject I am hoping to hear imminently whether "Saturday Night at The Dog with RR" is on!! I spoke to Bernie, the owner, who, very understandly would prefer to build his reputation as a 'Tributes & Covers" band venue - particularly Friday & Saturday nights. I was offered other nights but both I fear clash with other people's own nights playing similar music and I don't want to take a slice of what is already a small piece of the cake!

I do need to do a public gig soon...it's been a while now and The Dog would be great - the sound system is just fantastic! At the moment For Funks Sake is dormant. So no more Lets Get It Together for the time being. So if anyone needs a DJ specialising in 70's Disco, Soul & Funk get in touch!!

Recorded a show today.....sounds reasonable - some good, interesting tracks on it.....plus some more popular tracks from BITD....apologies that there is a delay on this week's show...problem uploading to the site.

Had an audience watching me record it which is always fun - plus I lowered all the levels - so that means when you play it - play it loud!! I actaully got the timimg absolutely perfect. The last track ends at 2.00.19....it doesn't get better than that!! No news on the gig front. I'm not going to harrass the people in East London - although it will probably appear on their website before they tell me!! Two likely dates are the 3rd and the 10th of June but until it's confirmed I can't say anything....I'd like a month to promote it but....who knows!!

Since I last posted - no news on any venues and gigs, although I am confident the Leyton one will happen in June sometime.....Golders Green is definitely off the agenda as we haven't heard from the venue owner. We have tentatively approached him to buy the club!! It has great potential - not just from a Disco perspective but as a restaurant, venue and live music place!! We'll see what happens but I won't hold my breath.

As I type this I am listening to the show I recorded for next Saturday on JSR - pretty cool!! A good mix of rare stuff, popular tunes and interestng stuff. I can always judge if its a good show by the fact that the two hours it takes to record goes much, much quicker than I think. This one sailed by - even listening back it is goes quick. I contacted Million Dollar Disco to see if they objected to me placing my playlists and time of my shows on their site - they kindly agreed so they will appear there as well now! Thank you very much.

I continue to do my private parties for the 'rich &/or famous' and have a few lined up in May and some forward bookings - but I prefer not to talk about that so that's all on that subject. Also it would appear no-one saw my TV appearance, as I suspected - I get more listeners than BBC News24 gets viewers, especially at lunchtime!!