67-72 Normanton Baths Hall West Yorkshire
those very early days of the UK soul scene
By
Boxy in News Archives
Updated on 24 Jul 2021 ·
Published 24 Dec 2010
Some time ago I compiled a CD of live recordings from the Normanton Baths Hall soul nights for some of my friends. To make it look professional I included a CD booklet containing a short history about how the soul nights started. I thought this may be of interest to some of you who are old enough to remember those very early days of the UK soul scene.
For those of you that can remember the club and the fans who attended, I have been asked to arrange a reunion soul night at the Pontefract Conservative Club.
PONTEFRACT CONSERVATIVE CLUB
NORMY BATHS REUNION SOUL NIGHT
With DJ Dave Box
Saturday 29th January 2011. 8pm till late. Free Admission.
A night of soul music and friends from the early days: Crystal Bowl - Normy Baths.
Hope to see you all there. If there is anyone you think should be there please let them know.
Directions/ Info: www.pontefractconservativeclub.co.uk
NORMY BATHS SOUL NIGHTS 1967 - 1972
The Venue
The Baths Hall, situated in the center of Normanton, was built in the mid-1920s. It accommodated two swimming pools: one large pool and a small pool for non-swimmers and children. The large pool was designed to be covered with a removable dance floor during the winter months when the swimming pool was closed. During the winter months, the dance floor was constantly used for ballroom dancing events and council dinner functions, right through to the mid 1970s. In the '60s and '70s, many pop groups played there. In the mid '60s, the small pool was filled in and converted into a small function room which was available for private hire. This was to be the home of the soul nights and 'nighters that were promoted there by Dave & Howard and their ladies, Val & Lesley, in later years both to become Mr. & Mrs.. In 2006, the building was finally demolished to make way for a Netto supermarket. End of an era!
The Beginnings
Dave Box and Howard Taylor met for the first time at the Crystal Bowl Social Club in nearby Castleford. This venue ran regular dance nights and had special nights when major acts were booked to appear: Zoot Money, Long John Baldry, Georgie Fame, and occasionally soul bands from the USA. Junior Walker & The Allstars, when on tour in the UK, appeared at the Crystal Bowl quite regularly. Most of these events were very successful.
At that time, Pete Stringfellow was resident DJ at the legendary Marquee Club in Sheffield. He and his roadshow would promote 'nighters at the Crystal Bowl, which later became known as the Tinned Chicken, featuring many live acts. The music played was a mixture of pop, Motown and soul, which was a perfect mix to suit the '60s Mod culture. Howard and Dave and their ladies were in attendance at most of these nights. Howard, living locally, managed to get a regular spot DJing in the smaller ballroom within the complex, called the Blue Room, playing mainly soul music. Both Howard and Dave were already keen soul music collectors and Dave would bring his latest finds for Howard to play on these nights. The pair would spend hours going through old stock in record shops, looking for 45s that they had missed on their initial release. Friendship grew, and the two couples, on many occasions, visited the legendary Twisted Wheel Club in Manchester, along with many other fans from the West Riding area.
In 1967, they decided to promote their own soul nights, and hired the small room in Normanton Baths buildings, and what was affectionately called "The Normy Baths Soul Nights" was borne. When the Crystal Bowl nights eventually closed. "Normy Baths" became the place to go. In those early days, most fans didn't have the luxury of their own transport, but relied on public transport or, if you were in the money, you had a scooter! To make sure everyone got home, the promoters provided late night bus transport to surrounding local towns and villages. Not bad for an entrance fee of 2/6d, including a trip home.
During the early days, most of the fans who attended were from the Crystal Bowl nights and were mainly local to the area. One of the main meeting places for fans of the soul nights (those old enough to drink) was the Bluebell pub in Pontefract. The soul nights didn't have a drinks license, never needed one; hot and cold drinks, were sold in the cafe
Some people downed a few pints at their locals before, but the music was the main stimulant to create that unforgettable atmosphere that the club was famous for. Yes, I am sure other illegal substances were used, but the music was everything. Listening to this CD captures some of the atmosphere that was generated on those unforgettable nights.
The Sounds
In those days, the term 'Disco' had not been invented, and you certainly could not purchase sound equipment for that purpose locally. Dave, trained in all things electrical, got the job of providing the sound equipment. It basically comprised of two BSR record decks, rescued from old radiograms acquired from a local secondhand shop. These were then mounted together in one box "the birth of twin decks"! Amplification was provided by two old guitar amplifiers, along with a microphone from a previous life, when Dave played in a band. Eventually, the decks were replaced with Garrard SPMk 4s (sheer luxury), and a new PA system was bought. All the equipment was valve powered - for the uninitiated, glass tubes that got red hot! Aah, those were the days, but the sound was just great.
The music played at that time was mainly soul with a sprinkling of ska, reggae and blue beat, and anything else that was popular at the time. As time passed, the club matured into a soul only club where most of the records played were 100% UK 45rpm releases: Atlantic, HMV, Stateside, RCA, Tamla Motown, etc. Many were current releases at that time. USA imports were only just starting to appear in the UK, but our knowledge of USA artists, other than those with UK releases, was very limited. We would listen to pirate radio stations and AFN, the BBC's Mike Raven and Emperor Roscoe shows to increase our knowledge of all things soulful.
Soon things became easier, with a handful of record dealers selling soul records by mail order. The addresses of dealers in the USA who would send records by mail order was a well kept secret: Town Hall Records in Brooklyn and Randy's Records in Gallatin, Tennessee, were just two that Dave and Howard used.
The Soul City record store in London started business at that time, and listed 100s of USA 45s in their catalogue. It wasn't long before many of our local secondhand shops were awash with USA soul 45s. In 1970 Dave & Val, newly married, visited relatives in Chicago, USA. Quite a trip in those days. They came back with hundreds of USA 45s, (at 10 for a dollar!) many on artists we have never heard of. Many of these records were to become classic tracks in the future, but were played at the club for the very first time in the UK.
The Lost Tapes
When the old building was finally demolished in 2006, Dave felt that his memories of the club were all that was left, but remembered an old cassette tape that he had, which was recorded in the '60s at the club, using an old Phillips portable recorder (state of the art at the time). Unfortunately, most of the C120 tape was damaged, but some parts of it had survived the years. The good parts were recovered and copied to CD. Dave then remembered recording one of the nights on an old Grundig reel to reel tape deck, but where were the tapes? After many visits to the loft, fighting cobwebs and goodness knows what else, he managed to find an old reel tape marked "Normy Baths". Great, but he had no player for it. The Grundig had found its way to the bin many years ago. Dave eventually got hold of an old player that once belonged to his father, which played the tape. Wow! the memories came flooding back.
Some of the recordings had been taped over, but much remained intact. The sound quality had deteriorated, but the nostalgia was still there. After working with the sound quality of both tapes, this CD was eventually produced.
The Tracks
Dave at the decks.
- Loneliness Made Me Realize - Pontefract Temptations. Before the phrase 'karaoke' had been coined, some of the regulars at the soul night took part in sing-along sessions to a couple of their favourite tracks. The Temptations track featured here was one, and Bettye Swan's Make me yours was another. The line-up varied but the main contenders were Bob Synnott, the late Peter Slygoe, John Edwards and Steve Blackett (see pictures of the boys in action). Please note this is not a polished performance by any stretch of the imagination, but has been saved from the ashes for you to hear once again. At the end of this track, Steve Falkinder can be heard enthusiastically asking for a request, but unfortunately using the recording microphone.
- 60 Minutes Of Your Love - Homer Banks. A true club classic.
- Prove Yourself A Lady - James Bounty. During this track, Dave frantically tries to keep order when somebody knocks the decks, and announces that he's surrounded with drunks.
- Hooked By Love - Homer Banks.
- Just A Little Togetherness - The Young Hearts. This went out as a request for Kenny Coleman, master of the spins. Kenny loved to dance to this record.
- Little Queenie - Bill Black's Combo. Another request for Kenny Coleman and partner Bev Hutchinson. Another couple that became Mr. & Mrs. This track is still one of their all-time favourites, and always produces lots of clapping and singalongs
- Can't Get Enough (of your love) - Johnny Sayles. A Chicago find for Dave, which always rocked the dance floor.
- You Just Don't Know - Chubby Checker. The clapping continues. Double clapping was a craze at that time and was always great to hear, and added to the atmosphere.
- I'm Gone - Billy Sha-rae. Great track., but sadly part only. The tape was damaged at this stage, but it needed to be included.
Howard at the decks:
Howard and Dave always took pride in putting together sets where the tempo flowed. Here's an example, where Howard is spinning some of his personal favourites.
- At The Top Of the Stairs - Formations.
- Sweet Happiness - Newby & Johnson.
- Little Misunderstanding. - The Contours.
- I'll Never Forget You - Chris Jackson.
- Somebody (Somewhere) Needs You - Darrell Banks.
At this point, the flow was interrupted by Bob Synnott, who finally persuaded Howard to play a newly discovered sound by the O'Jays, called 'Deeper In Love'. The record sticks in the middle, is again encouraged to play, but it proves to be too fast for the dance floor. After a number of requests to take it off, Howard quickly queued up another classic whilst being interrupted by Andrew Wright requesting 'Heartbeat'. Howard can be heard saying 'shut up, Andrew'.
15. Deeper In Love - The O'Jays.
16. I'll Always Love You - The Spinners.
More double clapping.
- Hooked By Love - Homer Banks. Yes, for the second time - it's that good. The variation in the volume on some of these tracks is caused by people walking in front of the recording microphone. This just adds to the authenticity of the recordings.
Dave back on the decks.
- Tired Of Being Lonely - The Sharpees. To this day, Dave still loves the sounds of the Windy City.
- Working On Your Case - The O'Jays. This one went out as a request for Rob Lemoine, who loved the tune and boy, could the guy dance.
- Come On And Swim - Bobby Freeman. An apt tune for the building that we were in. 'Deeper In Love' has the same tempo as this but being played for the first time I suppose people needed to get used to it. It did in fact become a classic in later years.
- You Turned My Bitter Into Sweet - Mary Love.
Howard returns to the decks.
- You Gotta Pay The Price - Al Kent.
- I'm Gonna Run Away From You. - Tammi Lynn.
- Shake Your Body Girl - Larry Williams. With additional credit announcements by Steve Falkinder.
- Some Day We're Gonna Love Again. - Barbara Lewis.
- That's What Love Is Made Of. The Miracles. Always a top tune at the Baths, and the crowd always loved to sing over the chorus. Listening to this is amazing. It must be a piece of history.
Last two tracks from Dave.
The sound quality on the next two records is only just good enough to be included in this CD, but it would be a mistake to have left them out.
- What's Wrong With Me Baby. The Invitations.
- Nothing But Blue Skies. Jackie Wilson.
Well, that's it. I just hope that the wonderful memories of these soul nights make up for the poor quality of these recordings. After all, these tapes are almost 40 years old.
Fans came to "Normy Baths" from all over Yorkshire, and when the allnight sessions were on, from all over the UK. The venue was very successful for five years, but that success ended in 1972 at one of the allnight sessions, when one of our enlightened fans tried to sell illegal substances to a local undercover drug squad officer!!!! This resulted in the club being closed for good.
2007 - Howard and Lesley emigrated to Perth, Australia, and started a family. They still attend soul nights down under from time to time. Dave and Val still live near Normanton and are still very much involved in today's soul scene. Dave, now in his 60s, is still DJing, and is a co-promoter of two soul events: The Frobisher and The Wilton allnighter, He is still a dedicated collector and is involved in A&R and consultative work with the Grapevine/Soulscape record company, compiling releases on many old Chicago soul artists.
Well, I know you will have enjoyed listening to this CD. The production isn't polished, but the nostalgia is definitely unforgettable. On behalf of Howard and myself, I would like to thank all the fans who made the Normy Baths soul nights so successful.
I am sure that listening to this CD, and seeing the pictures again, will have refreshed your memories of the fans who frequented the venue, especially the ones who are, sadly, no longer with us.
David & Val Box
February 2008
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