Just thought I'd post up this extract from an excellent interview with Roger Eagle, considered by many, along with Guy Stevens, to be the Godfather of the British Soul Scene.
So the majority of the punters at the TW by 1967/8 were nothing more than a bunch of undiscerning, respect-lacking pill-heads who just demanded uptempo soul dance all night.
During 1966, you left The Wheel. Why?
Well, I left because they wouldn't pay me a decent wage. After three years hard graft for maybe £3 a night I asked for a fiver and they said they couldn't afford it. I was also getting bored with the music and there were a lot of pills going on. Kids were in trouble with the pills and all they wanted was that kind of fast tempo soul dance. So, I was very restricted with what I could play and I thought 'I'm not getting paid enough money to do this - I ain't going to do it no more'. So I left and immediately got paid a decent wage by Debbie Fogel at The Blue Note Club. I got a fiver a night for four nights, besides doing other things.
I was able to play the kind of music that I liked. The range of music. Whereas the pill freaks only wanted the same dance beat - which is what makes it so boring. Its okay you know there were some decent sounds but they made it so boring. You're trying to talk to kids who are off their heads all night on pills and its really hard. And the Abadis didn't want to pay me what I felt I was worth.
So you just completely disassociated from them ?
Gone. Yeah. I was a black music fanatic and I had respect for what I was dealing with - I don't think they did.
Full interview here: https://www.soulbot.com/roger-eagle.htm