They say time flies when you're having fun. Well, that's certainly true in our case, as we celebrate our 5th year of existence this summer. To honour this achievement, we're throwing our biggest party to date. And there's nothing we want more than you to be there to celebrate with us, so we've dedicated this issue to letting you know all about it...

SSRadio is 5, so to celebrate this milestone, we're throwing a huge summer party to bring together the many DJs, listeners and music-lovers that have helped keep the spirit alive since 2005. House legends already confirmed include Grant Nelson, Andy Ward and Nick Power - ably supported by a whole host of other SSRadio DJs that have all helped shape the station along the way, including Deep City Soul, Dj Moirais, Wisey, Soultronic, Doobie J, Baked Soul, Neil Carr, The Driver Brothers, Mark Pharoah, Samuel B, Andy Cook, Groove Motion, DJ Delite, DJ Device, DJ H, Rob Wu, Anthony Payne, Luke Richardson, Mark J, and Junior Scott.

Taking place in the UK on Saturday 10th July 2010, this event is being organised in association with House Fetish and Vocal Booth, and will be the official warm-up for Andy Ward's Vocal Booth Weekender in September.

To keep things as centrally-located as possible for everyone, we've chosen Reading, England as the location. With easy road and rail links from around the UK, including the major airports, we hope as many of you as possible will be able to join us for this special event.

Kicking things off at 1pm, we start with an exclusive boat party on the river Thames, with Captain Andy Ward at the helm! Once we disembark, we'll head to the intimate garden space of Mango for an outdoor Balearic-style pre-club party, complete with BBQ on the terrace and laid-back soulful grooves. Then as night falls and we've got you well and truly in the mood to party, we'll open up the main room, where Grant Nelson and company will keep you dancing till the early hours.

If you'd like to attend (we really hope you will), there are two types of ticket - one for the full event including the boat party, and another for those who just wish to attend the evening. To make things as affordable as possible for those travelling from outside the UK, we're offering a number of discounted 'early-bird' tickets for a limited time priced at just £17.50 + booking fee. Once these are gone, the standard price will be £22.50 + booking fee. After this, any last-minute ticket purchases will be £27.50 + booking fee, so we advise you to book early to avoid disappointment. If you'd just like to attend the evening, advance tickets are priced at just £6 + booking fee, and are available to buy online here.

We'll also be reserving some local hotel rooms, so let us know if you need a place to stay and we'll hook you up - first-come, first-served.

We truly hope you can make it, and look forward to seeing the SSRadio family, both old and new, come together in one place to mark this special occasion.

For more info and ticket enquiries, please e-mail 5years@ssradio.com.

Related links:
www.ssradio.com/5years
www.housefetish.co.uk
www.djandyward.net/vb-weekender-2010
www.barmango.com

Official Facebook event page

We've got a selection of 10 CDs from Purple Music and Nervous Records to giveaway this issue, including Ananésworld, My Boyfriend is Out of Town Vol. 2, and The Master Collection Vol. 7.

This time, however, we're going to give them to the next 10 people to purchase a ticket for our 5th anniversary party. All you have to do to enter is buy your ticket online, then email us with your booking reference to comp@ssradio.com. The first 10 people to do so will win, simple as that!

Thanks to our friends at Purple Music and Outpost Media for providing the goodies.

Producing under such guises as Wishdokta, 24 Hour Experience, and Bump & Flex, Grant has been responsible for shaping the sound of dance music for nearly 20 years. He is also heralded as one of the godfathers of UK Garage due to his numerous club hits on his Nice 'n' Ripe record label in the early 90's. It was his sound, along with a few others, that gave birth to the then known as 'Sunday Scene' which went on to become UK garage.

Grant has always remained a house head since his early Nice 'n' Ripe days, and continues to do so to the present with his Swing City Records, a label that consistently delivers top drawer house music.

When we heard that Grant was thinking about starting a radio show, we knew that there was only one home for it, and Grant was only to happy to join the rosta. Just 8 months on, Grant's fortnightly Housecall show on the Deep & Soulful Channel is the number one show on the station, with a huge fan-base joining in the live action in the Shoutbox each episode. So we are without a doubt extremely excited to have Grant playing at our 5th anniversary party.

Andy Ward first gained success as a DJ in his home town of Birmingham, UK in the early 90’s, with his legendary Sunday morning parties at The Marco Polo Bar. This success led to an opportunity to join Choice FM (later to become Galaxy) in Birmingham, using his musical knowledge and tastes to present a diverse spectrum of music to the people of Birmingham.

Not content with conquering the DJ booth, Andy has also enjoyed phenomenal success as one half of chart topping duo Soul Central, and continues to enjoy a healthy solo remix and release schedule.

In 2009, we were pleased to welcome Andy's Vocal Booth Club Sessions show to SSRadio's Deep & Soulful Channel, gaining thousands of subscribers in a very short time. So it's a great pleasure to have Andy joining in our 5th Birthday celebrations for two very special sets both on the boat and in the club!

Initiating his DJ career in 1980, Nick's musical style spans from US & UK soulful & funky House, to funky Disco & old-skool club classics. Nick was one of the original DJs on the legendary pirate Kiss FM, remaining with them when they became legal back in 1990, and went on to run the legendary Kool Club in Cypress' Ayia Napa for many years.

As well as radio, Nick continues to play in some of the biggest and best clubs worldwide. Recognised for his enduring soulful and uplifting sets, his ability to read a crowd and keep them entertained is a quality trait, and one of the things that keeps him at the top of his game.

Nick joined the Deep & Soulful Channel schedule back in early 2008, and since then has single-handedly built up a huge following of loyal fans that tune-in week in, week out, to listen to his soulful selections and humourous banter. With the Soul Kandi Radio Show regularly hitting the top spot of the most-listened to shows of the week, it was obvious that this was one DJ that we couldn't miss off the line-up for our 5th Birthday bash.

That's it for this issue, we hope you enjoyed reading. Of course, we're always looking for ways to improve it, so if you have any comments or suggestions, please do let us know.

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