Neil Gits Gripped

I think it’s fair to say that I am well known for my love of football and the many different aspects of “The Beautiful Game” at various levels, but I have always tried to push that to one side when talking on air and writing these blogs. I don’t always succeed, but the music has to come first, even so I do like to bring other areas of my life into Studio 1 to share with you – and as the phrase goes “other sports are available” !

It’s that time of year when for two weeks we all suddenly become experts on tennis, sitting on our sofas at home finding ourselves passionately supporting British players that we’d never heard of before July, in the vain hope that one might get somewhere close to one of the Finals on Centre Court at Wimbledon ! I got sucked into the Katie Boulter match last Wednesday and the great thing about this sport is that even though I hadn’t watched a match for at least a year, I still knew all the rules, it’s a nice simple sport and I could follow the action perfectly, anticipating the play and sensing where danger lay ahead for our girl …

Indeed I used to play quite a lot as a teenager with school friends in the summer on the public courts at Lake Meadows in Billericay and I wasn’t too bad back then. There also used to be a great 9 hole pitch & putt golf course there as well and four of us lads met up EVERY Sunday morning without fail for years right through 6th form days until a good while after we all found jobs. We even ventured onto a couple of full size courses at King Georges in Brentwood and the one in Basildon on which Festival leisure Park was built. I had my moments on the greens too and though I’ve drifted away from the two sports, I did try a revival with Nathan when he got old enough on a court in Wickford & we also tried to hack our way round the 9 holes at Noak Bridge, but my knees said “NO!” so we stick to novelty golf at the seaside when we meet now – but I’m still competitive !

The only other sport I’ve kept a vague interest in is cricket, but they’ve messed around with that so much over the years that it’s harder to follow what’s going on these days. Unlike tennis & golf, I was never any good at it – I played one friendly match in the 90s for charity and faced six balls in a trial as a teenager at Billericay CC’s old ground by the railway bridge, each time getting bowled out first time !! In a rare example of equality ahead of its time in the 70s, one year my school decided to let girls play football in PE and us boys had a go at hockey which was fun – I don’t recall being very good at it, but at least I understood how to play !

So here we are in Summer 2025, it’s Sunday afternoon and I am preparing my next live soul show for Monday, but no doubt once I am done I will be back on the sofa shouting advice and encouragement to Cameron Norrie as he bids to make the next round – not that Emma Raducanu took much notice of me as I spent 2 hours as her unofficial coach on Friday evening ! Now, back to the records ….

The Tunes – Monday 30th June 2025

Johnny Bristol – Hang On In There Baby
Al McCall – Hard Times
Natasha Watts – I Do I Did I’m Done
Bar-Kays – Shake Your Rump To The Funk
Bar-Kays – Hit & Run
Lowrell – Mellow Mellow Right On
Rene & Angela – Imaginary Playmates
Phyrework – Maybe Next Time Around
Revelation – Feel It
Womack & Womack – Life’s Just A Ball Game
Michael Zager Band – Let’s All Chant (12″ Version)
Sugarhill Gang – Passion Play
Betty Everett – Just A little Piece Of You
Velvelettes – Needle In A Haystack
Commodores – Machine Gun
Gary Byrd & The GB Experience – The Crown
Doggett Brothers ft Laura Jackson – Colours
Lavine Hudson – All I Need
Stevie Wonder – Overjoyed
B B & Q Band – Mistakes
Jacksons – Living Together
Harold Melvin & The Bluenotes – Don’t Leave Me This Way
Electrik Funk – I Sing The Funk Elektrik

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” !