Neil Gits DAzzLED !

For the second week running, we are talking about lightbulbs ! Moving out of the garage and onto the mean streets of Mid-Essex, we are all having to drive in darkness more often as it descends way before rush hour, with the shortest day of the year just a few weeks away. Night-time driving isn’t normally a problem for me, after all I spent over 30 years of my working life heading out to pubs and other venues in the evenings during a previous life as a mobile DJ & quiz night host. However, over the last 2 or 3 years an issue has arisen making it more difficult …

I wasn’t happy at first when they introduced energy saving light bulbs for the home – they were much more expensive than the old style ones we’d all used for years and I was unconvinced that they lasted that much longer. Soon along came LED bulbs and these seemed a much better option in the house. I’d already switched to that technology for my disco lighting and it proved much more practical as the effects seemed to last forever – no more carrying big fragile spare red green and yellow bulbs that would often get broken in transit before you could use them !

And then came the modern LED car bulbs that you tend to get in most cars made since 2020 – these seem to have just one setting : BLINDING ! It doesn’t matter if you’re driving around on a grey drizzly Wednesday afternoon when the ‘normal beam’ comes on automatically or carefully negotiating an unlit rural road after midnight when you would expect other drivers to have their headlights on – they are just TOO BRIGHT ! As for “full beam” – don’t even go there ! I have genuinely considered pulling over out of safety concerns when an oncoming vehicle doesn’t get the hint from the old ‘double flash’ that they have accidentally (you’d hope!) knocked their lights on to “maximum dazzle” – all I can see for those few seconds is a big white nothingness !!

Of course there is another school of thought, that me being 63 years old, my eyesight isn’t what it used to be – but I’d like to think that even a 23 year old reading this would agree that LED bulbs on modern cars are just too bright. Also being 63 years old means I have impesccable taste in music ! I grew up on a musical diet of wonderful soul, jazz, funk & disco tunes from the 60s 70s & 80s and love sharing these with you every Monday night. Have a look at the latest playlist and see what you think…

The Tunes – Monday 17th November 2025

Alton Edwards-I Just Wanna (Spend Some Time With You)
Johnny Hammond – Shifting Gears
Juan Laya & Jorge Montiel feat Mikie Blak – The Boogie Is Back
Musique – Keep On Jumping
Musique – Good & Plenty Lover
Mary Jane Girls – All Night Long
Curtis Hairston – (You’re My) Shining Star
Phillip Leo – Don’t Judge Me
Stevie Wonder – Outside My Window
Earth Wind & Fire – I’ve Had Enough
Cheryl Lynn – Shake It Up Tonight
Kenny G – I Wanna Be Yours
Ronnie McNeir – Please Come & Be With Me
England Dan & John Ford Coley – Love Is The Answer
Montell Jordan – Somethin’ 4 Da Honeyz
Cuba Gooding – Happiness Is Just Around The Bend
Kathy Sledge – Another Star
Carol Riddick – I Love Me Too
Joyce Sims – Come Into My Life
Lance Vantile Whitfield – Run Back
Tongue ‘n’ Cheek – Encore
Gladys Knight & The Pips – Baby Don’t Change Your Mind
Q – The Voice Of Q

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” !