Petedillon

Sunday afternoon could be good!

Also what about reduced entry for original membership card holders? or even a special guest list for ex-club employees as mentioned by Roy earlier...A one-off badge or even better...a commemorative limited edition 45 given on the door!!! I'm buzzing already, Steve!

Think you'll struggle to get the club on a weekend , Friday would be ace if you could though......Obviously no Mr.Banks, but I'm sure Ian(if we tie his jazz-funk hands up!!)& Pat Brady , also Swish for the later 70's would be up for it. Be good if yourself and Chris could do it too...me I'll just wallow in the nostalgia ! Cracking idea but it has to be at the Central for it to work, for me. Anywhere else and its just another oldies night really.

Will have some bits somewhere. I know Ive still got membership cards.

Roy, I'll have a look mate.

good point. I dont recall it at the Torch!! Mind you!!

Just thinking it wasn't them it was another dodgy group with youngsters in..got it!! Sweet Sensation!! I'm sure they were on..

Oh yes, we were awesome buddy! haha. thats so sad know. John & Gary Street, Chip Fisher, Eddie Cawley, Scotch Andy, Wee Tam, and the West Indian guys -Jerome, Martin and Dennis. also Harehills Mick and others I cant recall by name. Lulu's (previously called Ioannou's ) was on a back-alley really. It was where the Bird Cage is now, between Albion Street and City Square. Higher up was the Three Coins club. legendary in its time for hosting R&B giants such as John Lee Hooker. I was too young to go there!! It was the top Mod place in town before the BeeGee, Lulu's & the Central. Le Conq D'ore was in the next backstreet too.

Was that Whitchurch all-dayer the one with that dodgy pop-soul band- The Real Thing!! from Liverpool on? Seem to remember going on train from Leeds via Manchester after an all-nighter at the Central so it would be early 70's I think. Took us forever to get there.

I believe the original badges go for 3 figures now. Somebody told me Mally had recently bought one.

Malc, did you remember what the club behind Lulu's was ?

Hello Stu , how are you? long time mate...

There we are...Uncle Peter with his amazing recall! dont know where I dug that up from. Malc can you remember what the club that backed onto Lulu's was called, cant for the life of me think of it.

Chris Jenkinson was last seen , by Dave Maltas a few years back in the Grand Theatre with his dad, watching an Agatha Christie play!!! I kid you not, people. Even ore bizarre was that Dave Maltas was there too !! He lived in Lovell Towers flats in Little London around 90-ish, used to visit occasionally, if you know what I mean. Every time you went it was a cloak & dagger operation getting in. Only to find the flat full of ravers and that Leeds band..Utah Saints. Strange Days indeed.

was it called the Acropolis?

sorry duplicate

Alas, the promised pictures will be delayed for a few weeks. But I promise everybody that I will get them on here as soon as possible. In the meantime can anybody list any tunes which were first broken at the Central? Think Ian and possibly Pat Brady might be able to help with this. I know one which was definitely broken at the club. The Triumphs-Walking The Duck!!! I bought it at Bradford market in the afternoon, and Kim Dent from Bradford dropped it on the floor in the evening! Broken in three pieces .!! by the way Roy, that last post of yours was brilliantly put. Regarding the closing down crisis jogged my memory. I worked on the membership and cloakroom counter for a while.

Ian, I really think you summed it up well with regard to the newcomers role on the scene!. I myself was the young upstart to the older BeeGee and Wheel lads from Leeds myself. Couldn't get even near the Three Coins though! I'm only 57 mate I started going to the Spinning Disc near the end of 1967 at 13, was an old looking teenager and had a Keyhole club membership card , got nicked on a scooter at Roundhay Park and was dropping gear at 14! So wrong!! Somewhere else on here, Sue Bushby from Bradford tells stories of going to The Spinning Disc on a Saturday afternoon so she too will have some memories to share on this subject. I myself only went to the Saturday afternoon sessions in the summer, I was at Elland Road during the winter. Yes, Joan and her hubby Derek were a pair weren't they? In the early days at the Central, they would do a waltz if a dj played a slow number at the back end of the night.She was as rough as a bucket, hard as nails but a lovely lady. She died quite tragically I seem to recall. Len Cave was the owner even then, a bit of an eccentric figure, himself. Malc, you say "we" with regard to Willie Richardson and his Ventures records and before "we" opened ! What year was this mate? let me know whats your connection to the Central & how old are you ? Really puzzling me and some of the older Leeds lads to be honest. Not doubting you, just cant place you at all. Pete

Ian, I should add, I remember yourself and Twink when you first arrived , you a fresh faced young upstart. We didnt give you the respect that you later obviously deserved for your record collection and expertise, mate. well, that and we were Leeds Soulies and we were well hard!!

Hi Ian and Roy. Great to hear from you both. Yes Ian the Central was a big influence on the Leeds and surrounding areas developing Soul scene. I first ventured there around 1968,when it was simply a mod club playing the usual mixture of soul,motown and ska & rocksteady.Also a few tunes which blew our minds brought along by any of the older guys who ventured further, if they were not down at the BeeGee up the road. One of the dj's then was a guy called Andy he took me with him to the Wheel, then after that I ventured to the L'Ambassadeur, Metro etc . It was myself ,Mick Eastwood and people like Tony Jackson , Chris Mallows ,Dave Maltas etc who talked the manageress-Joan into having all-nighters. Previously we used the Central as a starter point before heading off to the all-nighter of choice..The rest is history, as they say. The few pics I have in my gallery are all I have, but hopefully by next week I may be posting a load more. Roy, Willie Richardson was awesome, ex-Mr Universe, I think. He once picked me up by the skin on the inside of my arms, I still have the scars!. In all honesty, I loved the Central. It was our spiritual home. Before that the Spinning Disc was another cracking venue! if anybody doesnt know what it was like, its best described as a replica in lay-out of the casino! I lost my first job because we used to go to the mid-week lunchtime 12-2 session 1 shilling to get in , cop off and not go back to work, spending the afternoon in the El Toro or Lulu's. Great times haha. Rick Vaughan used to play Billy's Bag by Billy Preston at the end as you left. Saw all the great touring soul bands there, Geno, James & Bobby Purify, Lee Dorsey,Jimmy James. best Pete Dillon

put a few in my gallery, should have some more soon