Neil Gits To The Cinema

Around three weeks ago I wrote on here about watching an old 70s film on TV which I’d never heard of until I discovered Luther Vandross had contributed to the soundtrack. It was actually quite good, although movie-making over the last 50 years or so has changed enormously with all the advances in technology and naturally parts of it were pretty dated ! As a young boy in the 60s I got taken now and then by my parents to the long-since demolished Ritz Cinema in Chapel Street, Billericay to see old Disney films (they were old even then !) such as “Bambi” & “Dumbo” but I hardly recall seeing any new releases in the 70s and it wasn’t until the late 80s that I really got interested in going to the cinema regularly.

I started dating a girl called Michelle from Chelmsford in 1988 and when we first met she was working part-time as an usher at the town’s “Select” cinema on New Writtle Street (also long gone!) and I used to either take her to work or meet her there and get in to see loads of films for free by helping out in the foyer ! Though we were together for over two years and kept in touch for a while after we split up, I haven’t seen her this century, but my interest in movies has stayed strong ever since.

In the 90s I made numerous trips to Thurrock to experience my first ‘multi-plex’ – The UCI – and also dated another girl who had cinema connections, her brother being the projectionist at the ABC in Southend, then after running out of girlfriends, I even went on my own to see blockbusters of the decade like “Titanic” & “The Full Monty”. My son Nathan arrived in 2003 and before you knew it we were regulars for “Cheap Tuesday” tickets at The Empire at Basildon’s Festival leisure Park to catch the latest “Spiderman” or “Harry Potter” films but gradually moved away from the big screen, paying a subscription to ‘Lovefilm’ to get two DVDs a month, then signing up for Netflix instead when that service finished.

Fast forward to 2025 and Nathan now takes me out for treats instead of the other way round ! He did film studies at University and is still a big fan of the movies, more so than me really, so after a recent football visit to Hullbridge he suggested we jump in his car and head down to the Odeon at Southend as he had a monthly free pass to use and we watched “The Naked Gun” – a sort of remake/update of the old Leslie Nielsen comedy films, 20 years after the last roriginal one was made and was surprsingly good. It got me thinking – when did I last go to the cinema to see a film ? Eventually I traced it back to 2013 when I took him to see “Iron Man 3” at the very same Odeon and then on for an afternoon at Adventure Island !

I’ve noticed there seems to be quite a lot of re re-imagining and re-hashing of old classics going on now in the film-world not to mention the endless ‘long-awited’ sequels and even prequels being made. It screams out to me that, just like music you can’t beat the old stuff and there’s plenty of that each week on my Gateway show covering mainly 70s & 80s soul, jazz-funk & disco. Here’s the latest playlist and tune in again soon :

The Tunes – Monday 8th September 2025

Rufus & Chaka Khan – Ain’t Nobody
Benny Golson – I’m Always Dancin’ To The Music
MJ Soul – Echoes In The Sunshine
Raw Silk – Do It To The Music
Crown Heights Affair – Dreamin’ A Dream
MT Jones – Why I Cry
Marvin Gaye – Come Live With Me Angel
Kloud 9 ft Howard Hewett – Falling In Love
Push – My Heart
Rene & Angela – I’ll Be Good
Odyssey – Inside Out
Chi Lites – Are You My Woman
Otis Redding – Love Man
Pointer Sisters – Slow Hand
Commodores – Too Hot Ta Trot
New York City – Quick, Fast, In A Hurry
MF Robots – OTM (One Thing Missing)
Nimbiss – You & I
Meli’sa Morgan – I’ll Love No More
Stevie Wonder – Love Light In Flight
Jerry Butler – (I’m Just Thinking About) Cooling Out
Kool & The Gang – Ladies Night

Feel free to get in touch with your soulful request or just for a mention on the show – put a post on “The Old Gits Soul Show” page on Facebook, text (01268)833978 or message me via e-mail : [email protected].

The Old Gits Soul Show is broadcast LIVE from 7pm–9pm every Monday, repeated on Saturday evening from 5pm–7pm, on Gateway 97.8FM in Basildon & East Thurrock, across South Essex on DAB and available nationally via the Radio Player on your TV as well as online via www.gateway978.com You can listen on your smart speaker or your phone too … plus you can hear it again anytime you like via the “Listen Again” button on the Gateway website – just search “Cool Soul” !