Soul Essence with Martin Gale

This week, we start in proper vintage territory before bringing things bang up to date. Black Rascals and Roger Harris set the tone, Waterlillies take us back to the garage-house days, and Barbara Tucker brings one of those voices that gets us every time. We keep it soulful with Juan Hoerni and Terry Dexter, then Dr Packer gives Angie Stone a warm disco lift.

Hour two opens with proper Friday feeling from Copyright, Angie Brown and Jocelyn Brown before Dave Lee and Maurissa Rose bring us right into 2026. There’s an Ibiza memory from Masters At Work and India, a lovely lift from Riva Starr and Nic Hanson, then Twism and B3RAO send us back to an eighties favourite as we bring it home.

This week, we begin deep with Helmut Ebritsch, Factor E and Ian Pooley before opening things up into old-skool garage, soulful vocals and plenty of disco warmth. We head back to 1994 with 24 Hour Experience, visit the Vinyl Vaults for Gwen Guthrie’s Padlock, and hear fresh music from Barbara Tucker alongside Bobby & Steve and Gwen Yvette.

Hour two keeps the soulful house rolling with Funkatomic, Tracy Hamlin and Derrick McKenzie, then a pair of Dave Lee moments brings that warm, funky-house feel. Knee Deep takes us back to an Elm Grove memory, Mattei & Omich with Re-Tide turn us towards disco, and Groove Armada’s Love’s Theme lands as one of Martin’s tracks of 2026. Jazzy M and Roog give a classic a fresh wash and brush up before we firm things up for the finish.

This week, we ease in with terrace warmth and a proper US-garage swing, then roll through soulful house vocals, nineties memories and a few favourites brought nicely up to date. MDA Grooves and JKriv set the tone with Caparica Sunset, Dave Lee gives Our Love that throwback garage feel, and Cafe 432 with Lifford bring the warmth on Symphony.

From there, Barbara Tucker and Sounds of Blackness keep the gospel lift high before Evelyn “Champagne” King takes us back with Love Come Down. The second hour opens with Kevin McKay’s vocal-house take on All I Do, then Kenny Thomas and Opolopo lead us into a deeper, disco-tinged stretch. Groove Armada’s Love’s Theme sits right in that sweet spot, Basement Jaxx meet the Isleys on Jus 1 Kiss, and N-You-Up with Mike Dunn and David Penn bring us home with Jack My Body.

This week, we start with warm, summery soulful house on the terrace before heading into a funky room for the second hour. Crackazat brings the shine, DJ Meme gives The Police a fresh lift, and Dave Lee’s Z Mix of Benjamin Diamond adds one of those Y2K-flavoured moments that always gets your tush going.

The second half digs deeper with Harry Romero’s treatment of Radio Slave and Kameelah Waheed, then swings through a dubby Chaka Khan cover, Key To Life and Shakedown’s Ibiza-era throwback. ATFC and Inaya Day bring the vocal house feeling before Aidan Bega and Filta Freqs firm things up for the finish. It’s our usual Soul Essence blend of new treats and the classics we love, all mixed up nice and smooth.

My comeback show on House FM!

I'm on my holidays this week, so I've gone into the vaults and picked out a show from five years ago and my House FM days when I had the ace producer Richard Earnshaw on the show for a chat 🙌🏻

Stay tuned, I'll be back with a new show when I'm home again 👍🏻

A hot and steamy show from the South Coast with a nice pile of fresh tunes for you to enjoy, ranging from some soulful and jazzy house to start all the way through disco to a few bangers at the end as per our favourite recipe 💥

Another big helping of soulful house goodness, from more classics from Physics and Kim English right the way up to date with Micky More and Andy Tee plus Sgt Slick's epic cover of Sade 🎧

Another feast from the soulful cellar: a special blend of classics and contemporary tunes, ranging from Kim English and Billie all the way up to date with fresh sounds from Marc Cottrell and Wh0 🎧

Soul Essence is back after more than two years away!

This one is pure soulful house joy: warm vocals, disco touches, US garage flavours, deep grooves, and a few familiar voices reworked beautifully — from Marvin Gaye and Level 42 through to Louie Vega, Kenny Dope, Dave Lee, Sean McCabe, Mousse T. and more.

I felt real joy putting this together, it's so nice to be back - hope you feel it too 👊🏻