Pete Collins' Heaven In The Afternoon

Episode 240: In memory of Chris Hill

Pete Collins — Wed, 17 Sep 2025 17:06:51 +0000

I wasn't quite sure what to do regarding paying my own small tribute to the dj who played a pivotal role in establishing a flourishing soul, jazz and funk scene here in the UK back in the 1970's and 80's. He wasn't "just a dj" however, he was a consummate entertainer in his own right and had that rare knack of having a great ear for all kinds music and recognising the latent talent of many musicians.

As part of his activities, Chris was also co-owner of the Ensign record label which boasted not just many of the UK's Britfunk groundbreaking acts but also a good number of successful rock and pop artistes on its roster too. You may have heard of the Boomtown Rats and the Waterboys but at the same time not have realised that Chris and his Ensign partner Nigel Grainge signed those bands up and propelled them to the top of the pop charts. Chris was also the "man behind the curtain" who first discovered and signed Sinead O'Connor to Ensign. Her amazing rendition of Prince's 'Nothing Compares To U' hit the top spot in many countries and was Billboard's designated number one world single of the year in 1990. Although she was still with Ensign the release was under the Chrysalis banner who had taken Ensign under their wing whilst it was still being run by Chris and Nigel.

Due to the fact that a fair amount of Ensign's output was inevitably soul and jazzfunk I thought that a 2 hour showcase of music taken from that area of the label would be a good way of paying tribute to a man who hugely influenced many dj's and music lovers over the years. All of the tunes during this two hour journey bar one are from his label, the odd one out being a track on the famous Blue Note jazz label. Chris was a dedicated jazz fan and an avid collector of Blue Note and Verve vinyl so I decided to include the tune as a reminder of his love of the genre.

The music is interspersed with my personal recollections of Chris (I dj'ed for many years on the Caister Soul Weekenders team which was headed by Chris). It wasn't scripted so everything is ad lib, if I got any facts wrong I apologise in advance. There were a number of tunes I had earmarked for the show which I just didn't have time to fit into the 2 hours, maybe I'll do a follow up if there's a demand for it.

Chris sadly passed away on 11 September 2025 at the age of 81.

Episode 239: Heaven in the Afternoon, Stomp Radio 18th April 2025

Pete Collins — Fri, 25 Apr 2025 09:22:10 +0000

Welcome to my podcast which covers my weekly show on Stompradio.com from the UK.
The show broadcasts live from 12 noon to 3pm UK every Friday and is a nostalgic trip back to the golden era of soul music from the late 1960's through to the early 1980's. There are a few occasional newer tunes in the mix provided that they fit the style of the podcast. It's your weekly 3 hour wander through classic, rare, modern and northern soul which will hopefully delight the ears of all mature soul fans.

Episode 238: Heaven in The Afternoon Special dedicated to our maate Frostie. Stomp Radio 4th March 2025

Pete Collins — Sat, 05 Apr 2025 19:01:42 +0000

Steven Frost was well known by many soul music fans here in the UK. His nickname was Frostie and that was also his DJ monicker - very few people called him Steve so it was always 'Frostie'. He was an original soulboys from the 1970's, definitely a larger than life character and lived life to the full. Everyone knew him for his regular greting of 'Hello Maaates!'. He DJ'ed at many events including some of the biggest weekenders and soul music festivals both in the UK and in Europe. Much loved by the soul family, Frostie passed away recently and was buried on the 4th April 2025. The funeral and wake were attended by several hundred people, a measure of his undisputed popularity.

I had a very difficult decision to make - my scheduled Friday radio slot clashed with the funeral . What to do? I didn't want to seem disrespectful so made the decision to go ahead with a special show to celebrate Frostie's life rather than be at the funeral. The show includes many tunes which I know were among his favourites plus some other songs which I selected and thought would be appropriate for inclusion as well. Sprinkled throughout the show are some anecdotes of mine about Frostie and myself when we were both appearing at the same events.

Now, I've never really spoken to many people about this particular subject so will mention it here. I had given up dj activities for a number of years but eventually drifted back into the soul circuit via weekender radio. Frostie was one of several people I have to thank for pushing me to take up the DJ baton once again and I'm grateful to him and others for doing so. As it turned out this second sojourn into the DJ world became more successful than anything I had done before. I do hope you enjoy the show and will leave it up on here for more than just a few weeks. RIP Frostie.

Episode 237: Heaven in the Afternoon, Stomp Radio 3rd November 2023

Pete Collins — Thu, 31 Oct 2024 22:30:54 +0000

Episode 236: Heaven in the Afternoon, Stomp Radio27th October 2023

Pete Collins — Thu, 24 Oct 2024 17:49:38 +0000

Episode 235: Heaven in the Afternoon, Stomp Radio 6th October 2023

Pete Collins — Wed, 25 Sep 2024 16:57:07 +0000

Episode 234: Heaven in the Afternoon 29th September 2023

Pete Collins — Tue, 17 Sep 2024 21:55:14 +0000

Episode 233: Heaven in the Afternoon, Stomp Radio 22nd September 2023

Pete Collins — Thu, 05 Sep 2024 18:55:58 +0000

Episode 232: Heaven in the Afternoon, Stomp Radio 15th September 2023

Pete Collins — Wed, 21 Aug 2024 18:09:58 +0000

Welcome to my podcast page which covers my weekly show on Stompradio.com from the UK.
The show broadcasts live from 12 noon to 3pm UK each Friday and is a nostalgic trip back to the golden era of soul music from the late 1960's through to the early 1980's and a few beyond, a 3 hour wander through classic, rare, modern and northern soul to delight the ears of all mature soul fans.

It's been a bit of a tough year with health and limited mobility making the looking after of 2 weekly shows on Stomp and keeping house a rather fraught affair. I'm way behind on posting up shows so many of the ones being uploaded now are fairly old shows which are stored safely on one of my spare hard drives. Apologies if it causes you confusion, I'm having nightmares sorting it all out!!

Episode 231: Heaven in the Afternoon, Stomp Radio 5th July 2024

Pete Collins — Thu, 15 Aug 2024 17:32:22 +0000