Roburt

For fans of Dony's Horse & Groom soul sessions (that don't already know this fact) .... the Excel Bown was right next door to the H&G ... don't know what's in the building now (the bowling alley / disco occupied the entire 1st floor above all the shops at ground level).

Ady, you're too busy to be on here at present ..... though ..... can you check out the most recent posts on the King Mojo Club 67 thread !!!

I'm so pleased that this thread has brought folk out who were around & involved back in 67, it was a GREAT TIME to be on the Yorks soul scene ... Al Turner (along with Al Chappel) were close friends (but I mixed Turner up with Taylor in my initial post) ... .. the Viking pub, ain't that where they had all the fake acts on, I seem to remember a lot of problems when a fake Carla Thomas appeared there (groups they could just about get away with BUT fake solo acts were taking the biscuit) ... St Leger Bar ... in the Danum Hotel, centre of Dony ... our usual watering-hole for many years (draft Double Diamond please) .... Top Rank on a Tuesday, to see how many new Mojo 45's the DJ had managed to get his hands on & just who could do the latest dance steps ... Excel Bowl, I spent the summer of 66 in there, the discotheque room with a jukebox as DJ ... I wanna play 'Sugar for honey's lunch, what the hell is that records real name, Oh it's a 4 Tops record is it ... we all used to park our scooters out front of the Excel & wander off onto the Town Fields if it was a slow sunny day ... ... RE: a possible Mojo sounds CD .... I'm sure that could be a 'go-er', I'll speak with Ady ... WHEN he's not 2 weeks behind with Cleggy Weekender arrangements as he is now !!! Thanks to everyone for joining in !!!

Well Buddy Bailey's real name was John .... if he had a middle name ... say Jerome (guessing here) .... that would make him J J Bailey OR Jay Jay Bailey .... .... a guy trying for a new image (coz he was known for stuff that was 10 years old), could easily have gone for a slight name change .. OR ... as Buddy, he could still have been signed to a deal elsewhere. Do we know if Tina #900 came before or after Tina #503 ??

Been contacted on here about Charles Pettican of Goole ... they are related ... and it turns out that Charlie (it still has to be Charlie for me) only lives around 15 miles from me these days .... small world .... used to also go to the Paradise Club in Goole with Charlie & other Goole soulies. Records only nites but still good fun (think it was mainly Sunday nites there coz Saturday's were for the niters elsewhere).

Went on-line to see if I could find any pics of the Favorita Coffee Bar where we all used to meet & hang out till time to catch the bus up into north Sheffield .... no photos to be found but did pick this wisdom up ............ ..... anyone go to La Favorita in the mid 60's on Carver Street (think it's a fashion shop now). Think it was one of the few places you could hang out listen to Motown and the such like ...... .......... I can remember drinking "hot lime" with a drop of sugar in it.It was served in a pyrex glass with a stainless steel holder. Might try one again just to recreate old times. Saturday afternoons used to be good, putting your order in to the shoplifters (Angie and friends), Levis for 50p, tab collar shirts from smc. Then getting "blues or bombers” for the all-niter at the Mojo from your local pusher or the lads from Peterborough.

Robb, I came across this on an old computer memory stick when lookin' for sumat else (always the way when I'm looking thru my record boxes as well) ... still this shows that by 1970 Carl carlton was represented by Detroit based management ........

He certainly liked cars ... BUT ... he liked the ladies a lot better .... the times he'd have to get punters @ the Mojo to delay his wife making into the dressing room on a club night were too numerous to mention. When he moved on for Sheffield, his 1st port of call was a club in Leeds ... a bit more upmarket (was it called Millionaires or was that just his Manc club's name). Anyway, his party piece there was measuring the distance between female's nipples (up on stage with everyone else watchin) ... according to him this proved something really significant about a woman if they were the perfect distance apart !!

Our lass wanted to know what I was doing on the computer & when she saw the last post she reminded me of some more facts associated with that Tin Chicken dance competition .... seems that her & Tom Sleight noticed that I'd been selected as dance judge (Dony's Len Goodman), so shot onto the dance floor as a couple. They gave it their best moves & the crowd got behind them ... then this stunning blonde in a short dress (who she recalls came from Stoke !?!?!) joined in .... I picked our lass as the winner ... BUT Stringers (always one for a game looking bird) overruled me and gave her the prize ... he always did have an eye for the ladies & sought out ways to impress them !!

A relevant ad ...............

When the Mojo was closed down, we had to MAKE DO with other venues .......... At one of the Crystal Bowl niters I even got to judge the dance competition. Stringers was always pulling some stunt & this night, he decided to run a dance comp. He knew me & I happened to be close to the DJ stand, so he pulled me up & set me on as judge. I watched the dancers & when asked who should get the prize, I nominated a good female dancer ... why should she win, he asked ... coz she's my girlfriend I replied ... needless to say, the prize went elsewhere. Just shows how strange your memory is ... I can still recall the track they danced to ... Doris Troy's "I'll Do Anything" (always a fave of mine). The Tin Chicken nights were held in 1968 but I haven't kept my old diary for that year so can no longer be sure which of them I attended (as we alternated between Castleford & the Wheel in that period). BTW, the Isley Bros were actually the Diplomats (SAm, Erv & Tom), the Drifters were the Invitations, The Fantastics had been the Fabulous Temptations (& Stringers had become their manager). Can't recall who the Impressions really were at the mo .... checked my article on fake groups & the Impressions who toured the UK in 68 were really the Topics (NY / NJ group on Carnival / Chadwick / Heavy Duty, etc.).

Curt Moore owned Tina Records & ran his record shops ... More info on Curt's ........ In the postwar United States, record stores like Curt’s (here) in Greensboro, North Carolina, were perhaps the place where consumers most commonly interacted with people who made their living from popular culture. Conservative estimates suggest that at least 400 to 500 black-owned record stores—and probably closer to one thousand—were in operation throughout the region during this period. Photograph courtesy of Curt Moore (here), owner of Curt’s. Records is a market that can be used to brighten the future of lots of black people with jobs and higher prestige all over the country,” Jimmy Liggins announced in 1976 to the readers of the Carolina Times, Durham, North Carolina’s most prominent African American newspaper. Liggins, a minor rhythm and blues star of the 1950s, was publicizing his Duplex National Black Gold Record Pool, headquartered in Durham, which sought to “help and assist black people to own and sell the music and talent blacks produce.” With the aid of this “self helping program,” aspiring hit-makers could record and release music that Black Gold sold through mail order and at Liggins’s shop, Snoopy’s Records, in downtown Durham.1 Kenny Mann vividly recalls his frequent trips to Snoopy’s as a teenager in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Liggins “was like a god” to Mann and other young customers who patronized the store. “Everybody knew” Liggins and his two business partners, Henry Bates and Paul Truitt. “These guys, I was listening to them talk about bringing Tyrone Davis and Johnny Taylor and Al Green to town . . . It was fun to go [to their store] because it felt like the place to be; there were girls in there, and I was twelve, thirteen years old.” Not only that, but Mann “never felt the pressure to buy something” like he did in stores in his hometown of Chapel Hill, where white shopkeepers frequently followed young African American shoppers around their businesses, suspecting they might shoplift. “They had a double standard,” Mann remembers. Chapel Hill “really was set up as if they didn’t want to do business with us black people.” In sharp contrast, Liggins envisioned Snoopy’s as “our mall”—a “hang out” where black consumers could buy black music in a record store owned and operated by African Americans. Black-owned record stores like Snoopy’s represented a crucial nexus where African American enterprise, consumer culture, community, and of course, music all met. And by the early 1970s, Liggins was booking and promoting shows for Mann’s band, which eventually became Liquid Pleasure, the popular Chapel Hill-based funk and soul outfit still active today.

This label was associated with Curt's Records stores of Greensboro .... see these articles which have info on Curt's .... .. https://www.carolinasoul.org/site/index.php/site/category/greensboro/ https://www.carolinasoul.org/site/index.php/site/comments/quality_music_for_greensboro/

Any chance of a review copy for on here ?? ...

Thanks Ivor.

Lenny, I got my 1st real job in 66 having just left the 5th Form at school. So, I was living BIG from Sept 66 onwards. Before that, even though I had a Lambretta 175 and so could get about (Yorks coast, Boulevard Club in Tadcaster, nites out in Wakefield & Sheffield), I didn't really have enough money to live the soul / mod life. But that changed in Sept 66 and so we started to spread our wings a bit more. I was working as a Civil Eng for WRCC in Wakefield (helping set out the M1 in the area, which was just being built). ANYWAY, that December, everyone in our office was gifted pocket diarys ... it was 1st time I'd had such a thing ... so I filled in details of my daily / weekly life in it. By chance (coz we've moved house at least 6 times since then), I have always kept that diary. Without it, the info above would be a whole lot more vague !!

I'm told that William will be singing tracks from his new album when he performs @ the Nth Sea Jazz Festival (Rotterdam) in July.

An earlier attempt I made at writing about the Mojo (this dates from the mid 80's) ..... Although it is not more than 30 years since the club closed down, the memories of the King Mojo Club in Sheffield are still fresh for the people who used to go there every week or every time that news about the Peter and Geoff Stringfellow brothers appear in the press. The club was opened in 1964 by brothers Peter and Geoff. They were making a name for themselves thanks to the club and they were successful enough to attract the The Beatles for some shows. This success took them to sign similar bands and to promote gigs for the Rolling Stones and other British R &B bands. The brothers were offered an old dancing hall, Day's Dance Hall, and they rented it for 30m pounds a week after refurnishing it. They choose the name Mojo after hearing the song "Got My Mojo Working" and the club soon attracted a new set of people who followed blues and soul music. It soon earned a great reputation because of the enthusiasm of the two brothers. At the beginning, it only was open on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, but soon an allnighter was added on Saturdays, always with an American soul artist. On Sunday it was time for British R & B or soul bands, opening from 8pm until 11pm. Sometimes, Pete and Geoff could not afford the money a great artist demanded, like Wilson Pickett, so they asked him to sing at 2am, after he had sung at a bigger club earlier the same evening. The artist always charged them less for doing so. All-nighters began in 1965 with a one pound entrance fee and the sessions started at midnight. Soon, a regular crowd began to go, with people from Sheffield and nearby cities like York, Hull and Nottingham turning up. The meeting point was the Favorita Coffee Bar, in the centre of town. At 11pmeverybody went to the Mojo and began to queue in order to ensure they were let in. Of the two brothers, Peter was always the showman and he also liked to DJ. In 1963, ITV had started "Ready, Steady Go", where you could see lots of black artists like Major Lance, Otis Redding or Inez & Charlie Foxx. Peter Stringfellow enjoyed the programme so much that he went to the ITV offices to talk with one of the producers, Vicki Wickham. They gave Peter the task of entertaining the audience in the studio before filming began. He also controlled the dancers. He worked on “Ready, Steady, Go” for a year. During that time, every Thursday he travelled to London to the filming. Peter was supposed remain in the shadows, but he took every opportunity to be in front of the cameras while he was entertaining the crowd. If you were a Mojo regular, Peter would give you tickets to the show, but I never took that offer because you had to spend a lot of time there on a Thursday and also to pay for the trip to London. The Mojo soon changed its name to King Mojo. It was in Burngreave Road, with parking for cars and scooters. It was only one floor and it was quite small, with capacity only for 250 people, although it had a membership of 3,000. The record players were on the lefthand side of a stage that was only 25 feet long and 6 feet high. No alcohol was sold. The decor on the walls often changed too. At first, it was African warriors. Next, it changed to Pop-Art and then gangsters soon after and then, finally, it was flower power paintings. The club’s policy was to play 95 per cent of soul music and some Blue Beat and ska. At the end, there was a record ("My girl, the month of May"- Dion) that was a well known flower power track. It was covered by The Alan Bown Set, one of the main English soul bands of the time, just because of the popularity that song had at the Mojo. Some of the records that caused an impact at the all-nighters were things like "Love a go go" by Stevie Wonder, "You've been cheating" (Impressions), "Determination" by The Contours", "365 days" by Donald Height, "Oh baby you turn me on" by Willie Mitchell, plus the singles of the time from artists like Jackie Wilson, Homer Banks or Motown. The Artistics sounds “I’m gonna miss you” was the most important song: it meant the end of every all-nighter. The best American artists played there: Ike & Tina Turner, Billy Stewart, Alvin Cash & the Crawlers, Ben E. King, The Spellbinders, Garnett Mimms and Stevie Wonder. The best English bands also were there: Geno Washington, Jimmy James & The Vagabonds, Chris Farlowe, Alan Bown Set, Georgie Fame, Zoot Money and Jimmy Cliff (who was then still in this soul phase). Even the Small Faces had one of their first gigs there. The stage was opposite the dressing rooms, so when the club was crowded it was a problem for the artists to go up and down to the stage. The night Ike & Tina Turner were at the Mojo, they had to push their way to the stage with the three Ikettes and the 13 piece band. That helped creating an atmosphere for every show. Peter was a real Yorkshireman. He wanted as much as he could from every band he signed. That’s why he sometimes encouraged the audience to block the way for the artists to the dressing room until they had performed a couple of more songs. That night with Ike & Tina Turner, they had to sing three more songs. Then, he asked the crowd to let them go to the dressing room. As the club had no air conditioning, sweat and condensation fell from the walls. Around 1966 and 1967, having a great record collection was not important for your status. To be with the in crowd you had to wear the correct clothes: Mohair suits, Levi’s, brogues shoes, leather gloves… You also had to be good at the latest dances. Then, dances changed every seven or eight weeks. The best dancers performed on the stage. If you were brave enough, you could dance on a barrel that was close to the stage. The only problem was that it was placed on the outskirts of the town and it was complicated to get there at night. Being out there also spelt the end for it. As it was surrounded by a residential zone, the neighbours complained. In a bid to stop the complaints, no more allnighters were organised. The last one was on April 15st in 1967 with Geno Washington. Alldayers were held on Sundays, along with live shows and more young people could go to the club. When it was clear that the police would not support a new license for the club, a show with Jimmy Cliff & The Shakedown Sound was prepared on September the 30th in 1967. We had an incredible atmosphere. The next week it was time for the last show at the Mojo: an alldayer with Stevie Wonder. This time, lots of young people were able to go and that spoiled the atmosphere a bit. Thanks to his status in the North and the Midlands, Peter Stringfellow was always required to spin in mod clubs. He used to DJ at the Dungeon inNottingham. By doing that he could earn some money when the Mojo closed. Also, he ran new all-nighters for his loyal supporters at the Crystal Bowl Club. The Mojo crowd would go out to other clubs like the Nite Owl in Leicester, the Bin Lid in Dewsbury or the Twisted Wheel in Manchester. The Stringfellow brothers did not leave the scene and opened new clubs. The old Mojo was turned into a Bingo hall and with the money from that deal, the brothers invested in a Sheffield basement. In another of their clubs, the Penthouse, they had problems with the license and they could not run all-nighters. Years later, in the 80’s, all-nighters could be held at the Penthouse. But by then, the Stringfellow brothers had nothing to do with that club. Peter became a multimillionaire. In London he opened "Stringfellows", a place for the rich and famous. He also managed the great Hippodrome disco. From London, he went to the United States and the two brothers are still there in the club business. The old Mojo building was a Bingo hall until 1982, when it was demolished. Now, a modern apartment block of stands over what it was a legendary club. The Mojo might be only a name from the past for the soul music fans of today, but I can say that the legend that was built around the Twisted Wheel in Manchester would have been smaller if it was not for the demise of the King of Clubs, the King Mojo of Sheffield. The ads for the last all-nighter at the Mojo had nostalgic and funny lines: And so it came to pass, the great and famous King Mojo All-Nighters had to stop! A wailing and crying as never heard before over took Britain's Mod Populous And at the last one, Saturday XV April MCMLXVII multitudes of all creeds gathered (except the dreaded greasers) and paid homage. And from in their midst came the great Prophet: Geno Washington & His Ram Jam Followers

Well I remember this 'black label' version BUT it ain't what you're on about ....

I remember some of those names, others are lost in the mist of time .. ...... AND ... yes, I did go to the Attic, even DJ'ed there once (when J J Jackson was the live act) !!

Some names of repute get a mention in this article .......... https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/04/04/aretha-franklins-american-soul

Robb, I'm a Brit -- we don't do foreign languages or foreign street names .......... everyone has to speak English to communicate with us !! AND anyway, it's only us Brits (here in the UK) that can watch BBC 'catch-up' .......... so don't b'trublin yersen owa sumit yer canna watch anywise. BTW, if anyone wants to know what Eddie's 60's blues track sounds like -- the one on the Hawee 45 (speld it datway jusfa Robb) ............. you can listen to it here ... .... https://www.amazon.co.uk/Time-People-Dave-Cash-Collection/dp/B00EEMLGVC/ref (Track 17) . . . . CHEERS Robb, we actually have a lot of Poles over here in the UK .... a lot came here after WW2 to escape communism and even more (lots of builders , etc) have come in the last 10 years to find decent paying jobs. We have loads of Polish shops ...... but no Polish street names yet.

During that 'Chicago Blues' BBC documentary (I discussed it above) ... there's a street scene where a poster for a soul club gig comes into view (strapped to a lamp post or similar) ... anyway, the club which seems to have been called the Cougar Club (1812 Sth Pulaski, Chicago) has long since been demolished but one of the acts who featured at the club was blues guitarist (& in the 60's, soul man) Eddie C Campbell. Eddie had a long & distinguished career on the Chicago music scene until he relocated to Europe in 1984 (Holland then Germany). Eventually, he went back home but would return to Europe to play blues gigs. Unfortunately, whilst over here doing a gig (Germany; 2013), he suffered a stroke & had to be flown home on an ambulance plane to recuperate. I believe he has recovered a bit from the immediate severe effects of the stroke.

I know just about all of them were released in demo form ... can't confirm if every single one was though !!

This doesn't help with the facts surrounding the demise of Chicago Soul .... BUT ... if you have catch-up on your TV system, go into the BBC catch-up section & seek out an old (mid 80's) Arena documentary 'CHICAGO BLUES' (you can do a search using that name) .... it's part of a 6 part BBC 80's series on the Blues. The episode on Chicago Blues opens up with a short chat with BB King (from the 80's) & then goes into a film (50 mins in length) about black Chicago that seems to have been shot around 1970. You get street scenes, church scenes, market scenes (with record stalls on view), you get interviews shot in record shops, club scenes with people dancing & blues singers / musicians doing their thing. You get shots in the projects & footage taken from trains on the L (elevated railway). All in all, it's explaining how urban blues developed, how gospel influenced most music the blacks played, how being in the city forced the music to evolve ... in short just about every factor that led to the development of Chicago Soul. The footage is priceless, it's like you've jumped into a time machine; the clothes, the cars, the attitudes, the daily life captured. At one point in a blues club, a live performance is captured ... the singer hands over to the guitar player (Buddy Guy I think) for him to go his guitar break ... BUT .... everyone knows the cameras are there & shooting footage .... so Buddy extends his guitar solo TILL the singer has had enough & he just grabs hold of the neck of Buddy's guitar and stops him playing ... normality restored, the singer goes back into his vocal delivery ... PRICELESS STUFF ....