The Wheel And Late 60S Proto Northern Soul Scenes

[Petedillon]

yes I believe Saville was long gone by the time it was a mod hang out..I posted the Wakefield Tiffs scan as Rick Vaughan was an old Wheeler and also dj'd at the Spinning Disc (and recently spun a few tunes in Thailand apparently) also the Bali-Hai is mentioned on the ticket scan ..this was Tony Banks slot at Wakefield..The In-Time ticket was merely a nostalgia post Keith, yes it was an older crowd that went there..Derek Barnett, Bernard Furnell, John Tillotson and a few of the old Three Coins crowd I believe, also some footballers etc..Banksy got me in a few times along with Colin Vernon.

[Funky 4 Corners]

Missed those gigs at Castleford's Tin Chicken Club as by 1968 (when they were staged), I was no longer visiting Yorkshire based niters but was a regular at the Wheel.

All the groups on live (see post # 94) were fakes ......... the Isley Brothers (from Detroit it said, even though even the real Isley's were from New York -- this lot were Sam, Erv & Tom aka the Diplomats also from NY), the Impressions (from New York it said even though Curtis & the lads were from Chicago -- this lot were the Topics I believe), the Drifters (from Memphis ??? -- really the Invitations) and the Fantastics (just renamed by Pete Stringfellow from the Fabulous Temptations).

Most of the groups that were fetched over as 'fakes' were NY based outfits as it was cheaper / easier to fly them over here from the Big Apple.

Back then I wasn't that clued up on the origins of these groups, so it didn't really dawn on me what it all meant. I recall for example one mid week night at the Spinning Disc, James & Bobby Purify were billed and the band came on and played the usual `Knock on Wood ` stuff then two black guys came on and started singing and then after one or two songs they dropped back and then J & B came on. I always imagined that they had been delayed or what ever and had they not turned up, who would have know?

Wakefield Mecca's Solid Gold Sunday drew some good acts and subsequently plenty of Mod kids. I recall Bob & Earl playing a mid week gig to a pitifully small crowd. Went to see Jr Walker but got chucked out. I also recall some disturbance one Sunday night when the Fabulous Impressions didn't show and the Manager had to stick the contract to the inside of the glass door.

On the record shop scene I recall a good stall in Leeds indoor market, Kennedy's, Valances, Wood's and HMV.

I recall plenty of rivalry between lads from Halifax and Huddersfield at Lord Jim's also between the Wakefield crowd and the Dewsbury lads at Earlsheaton YC.

When you look back, there's no wonder that suits, ties, jackets etc were prominent in fashions as all Mecca Locarno's at that time insisted on that for entry.

Although my parents came from there, I only went out in Doncaster twice, once to see the Stones and once to see the Isley Bros at the Coop Ballroom. (Was this the Attic?) Anyhow, on the show were, Traveller's Express, The Mandrakes, Purple Pipeline and the DJ was Dennis `Tamla` Delroy.

[Funky 4 Corners]

yes I believe Saville was long gone by the time it was a mod hang out..I posted the Wakefield Tiffs scan as Rick Vaughan was an old Wheeler and also dj'd at the Spinning Disc (and recently spun a few tunes in Thailand apparently) also the Bali-Hai is mentioned on the ticket scan ..this was Tony Banks slot at Wakefield..The In-Time ticket was merely a nostalgia post Keith, yes it was an older crowd that went there..Derek Barnett, Bernard Furnell, John Tillotson and a few of the old Three Coins crowd I believe, also some footballers etc..Banksy got me in a few times along with Colin Vernon.

Re Jimmy Savile, I never saw him there but do recall many years later on BBC radio when it shut down, Savile DJed and if I recall the last record was the Artistsics, `I'm Gonna Miss You`. Bye the way, re this record, at the time I was going out with a girl from Morley Grammar and she had loaned a copy on Coral from a lad and because it had just been re-issued on MCA, that was the first time I witnessed someone referring to a record as `rare`.

[Roburt]

Although my parents came from there, I only went out in Doncaster twice, once to see the Stones and once to see the Isley Bros at the Coop Ballroom. (Was this the Attic?)

Yep, the Co-op Ballroom was the venue known as the Attic. It started (under that name) as a soul club and went on to become a skinhead haunt.

[Jim G]

great thread i was just a wee lad in the sixites so it was 1970/1 before I got into the music.

What i love about all the posts is the vibrant music scene that was happening in sixties at the same time as the Beatles (who I can't stand). If you only read mainstream media about the UK music scene in the 60t's all you read about is the Beatles and the Merseybeat era. All the clubs, music and scene detailed in this thread are never mentioned.

Indeed, even the current mainstream interest in "Northern Soul" pays little or no interest to the clubs that existed before Wigan came along.

keep the posts coming, they are fascinating!

Edited December 14, 2012 by jim g

[Petedillon]

in response to your thoughts on Leeds Record shops in the 60's Keith..

Kennedys Records , a little shop on the street down the side of the market..An Irish family business that always had a cracking box of Ska and a box of new release/back catalogue Soul behind the counter..also Kitchens downstairs on King Street. Vallances also had a good selection of stuff, usually reliable for LP's..found a great old Vallances card sleeve..

also there was Isherwoods in Thorntons Arcade

Edited December 14, 2012 by PeteDillon

[Denbo]

.... nice memories for some of you ???

https://youtu.be/sb_eVMpJUwo

Fcuk me, that's the best amateur video of a live stage act I've ever seen. And what was up with the audience? They all look gob smacked. Didn't they know how to dance. Christ, at 16 years old I'd have been bopping me head off at that performance had I been there. Fantastic stuff.

[viphitman]

well, tiles was a rather commercial mod 60's club with just a little soul on the menue but still...nice little footage !!! (thanx ralf)

https://youtu.be/dyq9jEj1tYE

https://youtu.be/rFapPUuw3dU

Edited December 15, 2012 by viphitman

[Funky 4 Corners]

I know this is a music forum but back in the day, music, pills and clothes were inseparable from the scene. Let's face it, Wakefield 1964 was, in the grand scheme of things only just emerging from Skiffle and Teddy Boys let alone grasped the Rocker concept and so you might imagine that being an aspiring 14 yr old young Mod at Crigglestone Secondary was, as they say now a days, `challenging`.

And so Leeds, some 9 miles away was relatively a much more cosmopolitan scene.

In 1965 and we went to the Spinning Disc and early sessions at the Bee Gee and then went home to bed but the older kids, probably 17 / 18 went on to the Wheel or the Mojo.

We'd have a couple of Dex or Bluies and think we were major players, I recall taking a couple of Bluies to school and sprinkling them on my English teacher's dinner before she sat down and her having to go home soon after suffering from a `flush`.

Many, eight years later when I was a teacher in Kent I was confident enough to tell kids that back then, that all of the gear was of top quality Swiss or German origin and that `speed` was shite, manufactured under very dodgy conditions. As it is now.

I also recall that in the mid 60s, possession of controlled substances was not a crime if ingested. Only if they were about your person.

I think that Bradford had a big drug scene compared to Leeds. The La Ambassador off Manningham Lane for example.

I also have memories of good times in Scarborough in the mid 60s, Radio 270 etc. I also went to Skegness Butlins in '65 and met up with some girls from London and they enlightened me about a scene I could only dream of.

While there, I also came across football rivalry for the first time, between Sheffield Weds and United, I watched Leeds and so there was no rivalry other than `the Scum` (MUFC).

Happy days

[Roburt]

I also recall that in the mid 60s, possession of controlled substances was not a crime if ingested. Only if they were about your person.

I think that Bradford had a big drug scene compared to Leeds. The La Ambassador off Manningham Lane for example.

Bradford .... big drug scene ........ whatcha expect, after all Kegsy was from where ????

[Roburt]

Rod the Mod's 1st gig at the Wheel .................

[Petedillon]

Bradford .... big drug scene ........ whatcha expect, after all Kegsy was from where ????

yeah but they werent as cool as us!

[Roburt]

I'm sure, that as a young gentleman, Kegsy, and the rest of his mates from Bradford, were very cool indeed.

[Kegsy]

I think that Bradford had a big drug scene compared to Leeds. The La Ambassador off Manningham Lane for example.

Happy days

The L'Ambassadeur was on Mannville Terrace, off Great Horton Road.

Its a curry house now, or was last time I was down that way.

Kegsy

[Kegsy]

Bradford .... big drug scene ........ whatcha expect, after all Kegsy was from where ????

I deny any scurrilous assumptions that people may draw from the above.

kegsy

[Guest]

Fcuk me, that's the best amateur video of a live stage act I've ever seen.

Agree...fabulous quality.

Just dripping with atmosphere.

One of Motown's finest acts...imo.

[Funky 4 Corners]

Kegsy, sorry about the geography, I do recall the proprietors asking everyone who went if they had any drugs? I was amazed at how honest those Bradford lads were when they all said no. Young gentlemen I say.

[Kegsy]

Kegsy, sorry about the geography, I do recall the proprietors asking everyone who went if they had any drugs? I was amazed at how honest those Bradford lads were when they all said no. Young gentlemen I say.

No worries.

Obviously nobody had any drugs, they had all dropped them before they got there.

I remember one of the Bradford squad getting a kicking outside one night.

Also when they eventually busted it the owner "Haig" ended up in the cells with the rest

of us.

Kegsy

[Funky 4 Corners]

On the occasions that I went there all of the staff were Pakistanis, I also vaguely recall there being some white ladies of the hanging around in there?

[Easty]

A couple of things, firstly Ady which was the club that the squad supposedly set up? I am interested to know as I ran a club in Leeds called Hernies in 1970 which got busted after a couple of months and wondered if that was a rumour that went round unknown to me and my partner Dennis at the time. Also Pete the old Boulevard is now a car showroom, the Agrah used to be the Wild Man pub.

Mike

[Ian Dewhirst]

I know this is a music forum but back in the day, music, pills and clothes were inseparable from the scene. Let's face it, Wakefield 1964 was, in the grand scheme of things only just emerging from Skiffle and Teddy Boys let alone grasped the Rocker concept and so you might imagine that being an aspiring 14 yr old young Mod at Crigglestone Secondary was, as they say now a days, `challenging`.

And so Leeds, some 9 miles away was relatively a much more cosmopolitan scene.

In 1965 and we went to the Spinning Disc and early sessions at the Bee Gee and then went home to bed but the older kids, probably 17 / 18 went on to the Wheel or the Mojo.

We'd have a couple of Dex or Bluies and think we were major players, I recall taking a couple of Bluies to school and sprinkling them on my English teacher's dinner before she sat down and her having to go home soon after suffering from a `flush`.

Many, eight years later when I was a teacher in Kent I was confident enough to tell kids that back then, that all of the gear was of top quality Swiss or German origin and that `speed` was shite, manufactured under very dodgy conditions. As it is now.

I also recall that in the mid 60s, possession of controlled substances was not a crime if ingested. Only if they were about your person.

I think that Bradford had a big drug scene compared to Leeds. The La Ambassador off Manningham Lane for example.

I also have memories of good times in Scarborough in the mid 60s, Radio 270 etc. I also went to Skegness Butlins in '65 and met up with some girls from London and they enlightened me about a scene I could only dream of.

While there, I also came across football rivalry for the first time, between Sheffield Weds and United, I watched Leeds and so there was no rivalry other than `the Scum` (MUFC).

Happy days

I always maintain that I was born at least 5 years too late.

I'm 57 now but I was 10 in 1965 and was already looking at the possibilities that life had to offer because I'm quite precocious when it comes to having fun. I lived in Roundhay up till 1966 and then Mirfield thereafter and often went into town with my parents. So as a kid being dragged around the Leeds arcades from 1964-68 I saw the action on Saturday lunchtimes first-hand and felt frustrated that I wasn't old enough to have that kind of fun. I also read the papers about the Mod/Rocker rucks at the seaside and realised that it was all going on and all I could do was watch from a distance.

I started collecting records in 1967, I got educated musically by radio, youth clubs and older people's record collections. By 1969 I was sneaking into the Bin Lid in Dewsbury and pretending to be a junior mod. By 1970-71 I was getting into Northern big time, buying 40 records every Saturday for £2 from Bostocks and collecting like a maniac. By 1973 I was deejaying everywhere. An unbelievable period.

But I'm so pissed off that I didn't get there 5 years earlier, 'cos I think I would have loved the early 60's and fitted right in there like a glove LOL.

Can't win 'em all ay?

And talking about Kegsy, I believe that he was around at the first ever DJ gig I did at Bradford Polish Club. I was still finding my feet and understandably nervous, when this guy appeared and asked to look through my records. He pulled out Art Freeman "Slipping Around" on UK Atlantic (a record I got by default via a collection I'd recently bought) and immediately asked me if I wanted to sell it. I'd only played it a couple of times and was still getting my head around it and didn't realise it was even rare but something about the guy's enthusiasm to buy the record flagged me and I decided I'd better hold on to it. Smart move ay?

I really wish there was some kind of foundation or trust which could preserve as much of the era as possible because I think it was important period and says a lot about British culture. We're still in a position to collate and preserve a lot of stuff and the opportunities have never been better, primarily down to sites like Soul Source. If anyone wants to seriously talk further about the possibilities, especially vis a vis national heritage or lottery funding then please drop me a line because this is something I'm genuinely interested in persuing.

Being born 5 years too late is a bugger LOL.....

Ian D

[Ian Dewhirst]

I deny any scurrilous assumptions that people may draw from the above.

kegsy

Quite right too. I'm happy to verify that you were the shining example and perfect role model for teenagers in the early 1970's. I shudder to think what would have happened had someone else had that role. The consequences could had been awful.

The rare occasions when you were foaming at the mouth, making random intelligible statements and careering into tables full of drinks, I put down to nervousness and peer pressure..........

Ian D

Ian D

[Roburt]

The rare occasions when you were foaming at the mouth, making random intelligible statements and careering into tables full of drinks, I put down to nervousness and peer pressure..........

Ian D

Are you talking about Kegsy back in the day ... OR ... how he carries on @ every Cleggy Weekender (coz it certainly sounds like the later to me).

[Ian Dewhirst]

Are you talking about Kegsy back in the day ... OR ... how he carries on @ every Cleggy Weekender (coz it certainly sounds like the later to me).

Back in the day but an old leopard doesn't change it's spots now does it?

Ian D

[Roburt]

I always maintain that I was born at least 5 years too late.

I really wish there was some kind of foundation or trust which could preserve as much of the era as possible because I think it was important period and says a lot about British culture. We're still in a position to collate and preserve a lot of stuff and the opportunities have never been better, primarily down to sites like Soul Source. If anyone wants to seriously talk further about the possibilities, especially vis a vis national heritage or lottery funding then please drop me a line because this is something I'm genuinely interested in persuing.

Being born 5 years too late is a bugger LOL.....

Ian D

I totally agree with you Ian. There are some decent books out there that capture some of what went down in the 60's (The In Crowd, etc.) but they can only really scratch the surface as there were mod / soul crowds / scenes/ clubs in just about every big town & city. If something isn't done soon to collect up & preserve old club membership cards, club ads & flyers & peoples memories they will be lost forever.

Its the same as is happening at present with old master tapes (crumbling away before the treasures they contain can be preserved.

Also the same for the recollections of 60's era soul singers / musicians. Times were very different back then & so how they lived, survived & held it together on the road and in the studio needs to be documented. No plush jets to get them from gig to gig. It was travelling through the night in station wagons to fulfill chiltin circuit bookings whilst (in many areas) finding it difficult to buy food and find lodgings.

......... I've just 'updated' an old article I did on Edwin Starr's years in Cleveland and it was Bill Doggett that 'discovered' Edwin there and took him on the road. Now Bill Doggett was a major artist over a 50 year period and enjoyed 10 or so massive US hits (including "Honky Tonk" which was No.1 in 1956). Bill didn't sing himself (his recordings were just about all instrumentals) but on tour he always had featured singers. Edwin became one of those featured singers from 1963 (when in the year I have no idea) through to May 1965. Betty Everett toured with Doggett some in 1964 (though she had already started having solo hits & was cutting duets with Jerry Butler). If you want to find out info on when singers joined & left Doggett's Review it's almost impossible.

Another singer who toured with Doggett for some years was Betty St. Clair.

Born Betty Waddell in 1927 in Columbus. Ohio. It was there that she started singing with bands while attending East High School. Next, still a teenager, she won a big beauty contest. In the 1940's she got her first break with Butterbeans & Susie. She went on to sing with Errol Garner, Howard McGhee & Dizzy Gillespie (1949). Landing her own record contact, she recorded four albums between 1955 and 1960. During those years she was based in New York where she was a regular performer in local clubs.

Sometime in the early 60's, she hooked up with Bill Doggett and toured with him until after 1966. She then seems to have retired until she succumbed to cancer in 1972.

Betty's work was much respected in jazz circles & her LP's are collectable. She also had a jukebox 7" Little LP out in the mid 50's as her music was popular on juke joint machines. But as far as jazz people know, she disappeared after cutting her last LP in 1960. When she teamed up with Doggett & eventually left his review doesn't seem to be detailed at all.

She was with his review from the early to mid 60's, spending some time with him in conjunction with Edwin Starr.

Doggett played 'down & dirty' R&B tunes, Edwin sang straight soul but she was an 'out & out' jazz singer. How all 3 styles held together to end up with a cohesive show every night I have no idea ..... AND ... we're never likely to know now. That info seems lost forever.

Betty's singing style ................

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8H5N6l3OtE

If something isn't done to 'capture' the 60's soul / mod info, we will also loose much of that too.

Edited December 22, 2012 by Roburt

[Funky 4 Corners]

Ian, re your notion about missing a certain era; I suspect that most people do, I bet that in the mid 60s there were plenty of folk who were too old to join in the Mod / Soul Club scene and were green with envy. Things were ultra intolerant back then, anyone who was over 21 was looked on as old and maybe odd and so they would have been wishing they were younger. Many mid '60s teenagers may well have looked at you new Northern Soul scene pioneers with envy, they may have got married and had a mortgage or kids by the early / mid 70s. They never had access to the massive wave of US imports that you did, travel to the USA when Freddie Laker hit the scene became accessible to ordinary people etc.

I was born in 1950 and suffered my own frustrations; being at school then college, little money to buy clothes, records, scooter etc. I read every tiny detail I could lay my hands on about the London Club / Mod scene, wishing I lived there and could be part of it. I just soaked up every second of RSG! or ads in the music press for the Stevenage Locarno, Orchid Ballroom Purley or the West End Clubs. I could only envy some of those kids in Leeds with tonic suits, Levis suede jackets and Eddy Grinsted Vespa Hurricane's. I have always maintained that these lost moments are the things that motivate the likes of most who go on this forum. Why do we keep those flyers, cards, posters etc? I also maintain that regretting the selling / swapping of rare records is also part of making us what we are. Let's face it, who hasn't regretted getting rid of records in the past? Or worse, missing open opportunities to obtain some. Down here, those who were on the scene, exclusively are not interested anymore, not one jot. I reckon because it was a majority fad that was quickly dropped. That was good for me however as in '73, the place was awash with UK releases.

Roburt, again I agree that all will be lost unless it's documented on paper. In the Wheel book we tried to document as much of that scene and era as we could. Let's face it the Manchester Soul scene was massive compared to Yorkshire and the realisation of that immediately put me on the defensive and ever since I have tried to champion `our` scene. Around 1980 I put out a short lived fanzine called `Come & Get These Memories` and featured the West Yorks Soul scene in the first issue.

[Eddie Hubbard]

I know Banbury had " The Gaff " which was an all nighter in the 60's , lots of the older crowd remember it ,and I've met people who travelled to it from afar .It was very close to the police station , and the site is now a Gala bingo hall .Great thread .....Eddie

[Funky 4 Corners]

RE Bostocks market stalls, what's the story behind their stock? I don't recall one on Wakefield market but may well have opened up after I left. I did go to the one in John Street Market in Bradford a few times, that would be winter '72. In an old Manifesto I recounted a story about how I got greedy, I'd studied Soussan's list and pulled out James Bounty, Shalimars, April Stevens, Triumphs etc. Then when I'd borrowed some money from mummy, I went back and pulled more stuff out but then stumbled across the Charts `Desiree` which Soussan was asking big money for, so I dumped the rest and went for about 10 copies of it. It was on the Lana label, which I was cocky, stupid and greedy enough to assume was the original label, only to find it was Doo Wop when I got'em home. And to rub it in, even that was a reissue.

There was another second hand record stall on John Street, they sold ten for £1 in clear plastic bags.

[Ian Dewhirst]

RE Bostocks market stalls, what's the story behind their stock? I don't recall one on Wakefield market but may well have opened up after I left. I did go to the one in John Street Market in Bradford a few times, that would be winter '72. In an old Manifesto I recounted a story about how I got greedy, I'd studied Soussan's list and pulled out James Bounty, Shalimars, April Stevens, Triumphs etc. Then when I'd borrowed some money from mummy, I went back and pulled more stuff out but then stumbled across the Charts `Desiree` which Soussan was asking big money for, so I dumped the rest and went for about 10 copies of it. It was on the Lana label, which I was cocky, stupid and greedy enough to assume was the original label, only to find it was Doo Wop when I got'em home. And to rub it in, even that was a reissue.

There was another second hand record stall on John Street, they sold ten for £1 in clear plastic bags.

They bought all the 45 stock from the MGM/Verve U.S. warehouse - probably millions of 45's which obviously included all the MGM/Verve stuff but also countless other labels including Detroit ones. That stock got distributed all over the UK and would turn up everywhere in the early 70's.

Ian D

[Easty]

Just been trawling through this post and happened to see the scans of Keith Rylatts membership cards. Couldn't believe it when I saw the one for Hernies. It weas actually my club , along with Dennis Billingham, and I don't even have one, though having said that after two marriages and various realtionships I think I'm lucky to still have my record collection.

[Ady Croasdell]

A couple of things, firstly Ady which was the club that the squad supposedly set up? I am interested to know as I ran a club in Leeds called Hernies in 1970 which got busted after a couple of months and wondered if that was a rumour that went round unknown to me and my partner Dennis at the time. Also Pete the old Boulevard is now a car showroom, the Agrah used to be the Wild Man pub.

Mike

Hi Mike, I'm told by a good friend that it was actually somebody that was called Phil Holt's birthday party that got raided, though I thought it was a club in the Wakefield area, certainly not Leeds. Ady

[Sammy Seaman]

HI ADY IT WAS THE METRO IN WAKEY YES PHIL HOLTS BIRTHDAY, I WAS 1 OF THE UNFORTUNATE, NOT SO FEW WHO WAS TAKEN AWAY TO BE PISSED TESTED,WHAT GREAT TIMES WE LIVED IN THEN,WISH I COULD TURN THE CLOCK BACK, CHEERS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR SAMMY SEAMAN

[Ady Croasdell]

I think Jumbo and a few from Harboro were there, thanks for sorting that.

Ady

[Easty]

Hi Ady

Ah, The Metro Bistro bust. Phil was one of the Barnsley team and it was just pot luck that they were all there that night. When The Wheel closed all the Yorkshire crews started going there and a few of us were lucky enough to get jobs there doing anything that was asked, door, cloakroom, bar even deejaying in bits and pieces and ventilation engineer, this basically meant wafting the emergency exit door back and forth to create a draft. The only night we had off was the night it got busted. One of the Keighley crew, Paul Atkinson-better known as Flash, was having his 21st at a pub in the town so a few of us went there. We actually arrived back in Leeds in time to go there but due to a lack of planning, and staying awake material,most of us opted to do something totally out of keeping with our normal Saturday night routine and went home early. Sadly Flash died a few months later when he got out of the bath, having been listening to reords whilst he had a soak, and recived a fatal electric shock when he went to lift the arm of the record.

[Ady Croasdell]

Blimey, I remember that story about the bath too, it could have been me if I hadn't heard and learned.

[Julianb]

HI ADY IT WAS THE METRO IN WAKEY YES PHIL HOLTS BIRTHDAY, I WAS 1 OF THE UNFORTUNATE, NOT SO FEW WHO WAS TAKEN AWAY TO BE PISSED TESTED,WHAT GREAT TIMES WE LIVED IN THEN,WISH I COULD TURN THE CLOCK BACK, CHEERS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR SAMMY SEAMAN

Bloody hell, I was DJing at that event!

[Sammy Seaman]

it was all your fault then, ha ha

[Kegsy]

HI ADY IT WAS THE METRO IN WAKEY YES PHIL HOLTS BIRTHDAY, I WAS 1 OF THE UNFORTUNATE, NOT SO FEW WHO WAS TAKEN AWAY TO BE PISSED TESTED,WHAT GREAT TIMES WE LIVED IN THEN,WISH I COULD TURN THE CLOCK BACK, CHEERS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR SAMMY SEAMAN

Lightening strikes twice.

I remember our coach to the Torch, we had set off early to

stop off at a club in Barnsley, not long after we left said club to go to

the Torch the coach was busted.

Why had we stopped off in Barnley ?

It was Phil Holts birthday party.

Kegsy

Edited December 29, 2012 by Kegsy

[Easty]

Intersting about your bus to The Torch getting busted, the same thing happened to us one Saturday night on Alan Stevensons "Magic Bus" from Leeds just as we pulled into Huddersfield. My first ever experience of a strip search. Nothing was found, even after touching my toes, but I must have been the luckiest man alive that night as the squad never saw my pack of gear that was stuffed down the side of the seat sail through the air and disappear down the back when they lifted the seat to look underneath. My heart nearly stopped but they just labelled my wife and myself and sent us off to be searched. Needless to say when I got back on the coach and retrieved it I was off the bus like a flash to find a drink and not give them a second chance. If I remember correctly Kegsy, Sue Bushby and some of the others from Bradford were on that bus.

Edited January 3, 2013 by easty

[Funky 4 Corners]

I know the thread is getting old but thought some of you might like to see these. Both fly posted in Wakefield, one '67 the other '69.

[Guest chris farrell]

loved the mojo

[Roburt]

A CD box set due out in around a months time ...............

no doubt many of the tracks featured would have been regular plays at the Wheel's 1st incarnation (Braznose St) .....

.......... 'Boogie Chillen: Early Mod's 1st Choice Vinyl ..............

https://www.amazon.co..._sim_sbs_m_h__1

Edited February 6, 2013 by Roburt

[Roburt]

Just read a piece about the Irish soul scene (or lack of one) back in 1969.

By all accounts, all the Irish show bands (think of much worse versions of the Commitments) filled their acts with covers of soul hits but the original artist 45's weren't selling too well there. Clubs played soul records to a reasonable response but few soul acts visited the country to play live dates.

Apparently Ben E King added an Irish date on to a UK tour he undertook back then but he was booked to play a ballroom. The local 'soulies' back then had long hair and wore 'way out clothes' (their words, not mine). When they tried to gain admittance to his gig, they were turned away as the usual crowd that attended the venue wore suits & ties. So the show wasn't a major success and no more soul acts were booked to play there.  

[Roburt]

There seems to be little or nothing about the Attic in Doncaster on-line, which is a great pity as lots of top soul acts played the venue till it morphed into more of a skinhead hangout.

The Attic was 'housed' in the old Co-op building ballroom (top floor of the building I seem to recall). As the Co-op Ballroom it had been around for ages and it had a link to the early UK R&B (Beat) group era via the live acts booked to play the venue around 1962/63. By the mid 60's it was seen by local mods as very un-hip and not the sort of place we would have frequented. That only changed when it took on it's Attic identity.  Back in 1962 the likes of Cliff Bennett & the Rebel Rousers (May) & the Beatles (August) played the Co-op Ballroom .............

Strangely, the most popular place for Dony Mods to hang out in 1966 was the disco room in the Excel Bowling Alley, right next door to the Horse & Groom (another place we wouldn't have frequented back then). 

 

   

[Roburt]

This clip from youtube has a few bits about the Mojo Club ..........

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDZJpOHpNAE

[ulyssees]

The Lantern all nighters at Market Harborough ran around 1970.

[Hooker1951]

Ive said it before and I'll say it again there were a good number of NS type venues long before the Casino and the Torch, the Casino itself was playing the term NS at least 3 years before RW and the allniters in 73 I myself started to go on a regular basis to allnighters in Wigan from 1965,66,67  weekly! Every Saturday in fact at the Room at the Top in Wigan market square. Geno Washington and his Ram Jam Band were one of the resident live bands there. This club was running parallel at the time to the Wheel in Manchester, there was at the time lots of venues in the NW playing what was termed NS  and the dancing was just the same as it was 7 to 8 years later,Sorry if you weren't old enough to be there but it happened I seen it.

Always Remember just because you didn't see it, it doesn't mean it never happened.

Keep on Keeping on 

ML

 

. 

[Ik001]

What about Harrison Hoist, Earby. Don't know what the music policy was there as I was too young and naive to venture in,  but a lot of Wheelers went there and as the Wheel an others ( i.e.Lord Jims) it was raided and then closed down.

[Davenpete]

On 22 December 2012 16:03:21, Eddie Hubbard said:

I know Banbury had " The Gaff " which was an all nighter in the 60's , lots of the older crowd remember it ,and I've met people who travelled to it from afar .It was very close to the police station , and the site is now a Gala bingo hall .Great thread .....Eddie

Eddie - Wasn't there also an early club out on the Coventry road right next to where it now crosses the M40? Remember Tony Adams pointing it out to me back when I was still at college in Banbury. Dave

On 21 November 2015 13:56:47, ik001 said:

What about Harrison Hoist, Earby. Don't know what the music policy was there as I was too young and naive to venture in,  but a lot of Wheelers went there and as the Wheel an others ( i.e.Lord Jims) it was raided and then closed down.

Les Cokell was involved in promoting it (possibly with Franny) - he certainly DJed there, it's only a few miles from Settle where he grew up. Dx

[Ik001]

2 minutes ago, DaveNPete said:

Eddie - Wasn't there also an early club out on the Coventry road right next to where it now crosses the M40? Remember Tony Adams pointing it out to me back when I was still at college in Banbury. Dave

Les Cokell was involved in promoting it (possibly with Franny) - he certainly DJed there, it's only a few miles from Settle where he grew up. Dx

No I know Fran well. He told me he only went for the drug intake LOL. It was run by a chap called Frank James who had a butchers shop across the road. I do know that when it was raided it was reported in the Daily Mirror.