Roburt

They just kept on & on making great music … one from the 90's …

Didn't the Ricky-Tick operate out of a few different premises in Windsor down the years, the Star & Garter Pub, the Thames Hotel and a building on Barry Avenue ? …. their posters just about always featured the face of an anguished black singer …. When Roy C was on there, he saw the poster & took it that the face was meant to be his … he wasn't at all pleased until told it was just a generic picture.

The Dells live in DC back in the day … end of December 1967 ... I was one of the lucky fans who got to see them perform @ Trentham Gardens a few years back; a magical night.

Sidney Barnes just stated that the Dells' Chuck Barksdale passed away earlier today... another great loss to soul music … R.I.P. ... the guy will certainly be going HIGHER & HIGHER today ... Tap to view this Soul Source News/Article in full

As a bunch of Peterboro lads were regulars @ the Mojo in 66/67, I always assumed that the town had little going for it back then (soul wise) BUT it seems it did have one venue worthy of mention back in the late 60's (& into the 70's) -- CLOUD NINE. There's an article on the venue here … https://theyplayedpeterborough.com/?p=7114 Poster for a gig staged there in early 1970 ...

It seems that Malvern Winter Gardens was a big music venue in the 60's & 70's … in the 70's, it was mainlyrock bands that were booked but in the 60's it was R&B / soul bands that were often on there …. one London based 'lesser known' outfit who headlined there were Jeff Curtis & the Flames. This outfit had a number of different managers but by 1965 they were signed with Roy Tempest (the guy who brought all the US soul groups over here in the mid to late 60's but got them to perform as outfits such as the Temptations & Marvelettes). Members of the group quit to join other outfits such as Beau Brummell & The Noblemen & Manchester’s Playboys. Many of Roy Tempests UK groups were used on tours and backed up visiting US soul acts. Anyone know if Jeff Curtis & the Flames got to tour behind a US act ?

The Ricky-Tick organisation ran nights at a number of locations/ towns, but Windsor was their top venue ….

I have been to Botanica in the past (when my son lived in NY). Apart from being conveniently situated, having good folk in charge & featuring great soul music, the night has nothing going for it.

Yes, I included that in my initial post. I attended that nite, getting to see the group who had been the Velours & became the Fantastics. Here's another for a nite I didn't actually attend at the club but my mate Tom did (I was @ the Mojo niter at the time but saw Garnett at the Mojo dayer on that Sunday -- the next day). I posted other Owl bits on an old Nite Owl related thread on here.

Back to Nottingham … it had the reputation back then for being the city with the most fine women going out clubbing on a regular basis … that & decent soul tunes (live & from record) in a number of venues … not a bad place at all … Bits & pieces about three of its top mod / soul haunts; the Beachcomber, Dungeon & Brit Rowing Club … BTW, if you think having Amen Corner on at a soul club was strange, don't forget the mainstays of their live show back then were songs such as OUR LOVE IS IN THE POCKET, EXPRESSWAY TO YOUR HEART, LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL / FEEL: SO GOOD, I DON'T WANNA DISCUSS IT / AMEN and more ….

So did the Blue Orchid niters just feature records or did they also have live soul acts on ? (guess the likes of the Fantastics, Flirtations, J J Jackson, Jimmy James & Vagabonds, etc would play the place on it's cabaret nights). When did their niters start & finish ? Nottingham seemed much more soulful in the 60's, though Derby did have CLOUDS which booked many US + UK based soul acts for live shows.

Anyone here got any memorabilia relating to the Blue Orchid in Draycott, Derby. Seems to be a venue for which little to nothing exists on-line. I believe this modern day map shows the location of the place (a country club in the middle of nowhere) ...

We used (in mid to late 67) head off most Saturdays to the Nite Owl in Leicester. We'd either hitch down there via Nottingham (meeting up with local soul boys in their fave Notts pub), get a lift to the club in a car that would go via Lincoln (where the driver would pick up his girlfriend) or catch the train to Leicester from Sheffield Midland Stn (a few minutes after midnight so we could buy a day return) …. I liked the club for the brief period it was in biz between the Mojo niters ending & the Owl being closed down in early Dec 67. BTW, lots of similar info in this old thread from 2008 …

Being from the West Riding (now Sth Yorkshire), I always class the likes of Chesterfield, Worksop, Retford & Lincoln as being in the Midlands … AND … being from God's country, I can't ever be wrong … so Retford's top club fits well into this thread …

Then there was the Blue Moon in Cheltenham.

Pete Stringfellow got involved with the guys who produced the book 'DIRTY STOPOUTS GUIDE TO 1960's SHEFFIELD'. He provided info & stuff about the Mojo Club. After the book did well (alongside all the other DIRTY STOPOUT GUIDE books), he floated the idea of someone collaborating with him on a similar book on the London club scene in the 60's (he was a regular in many down there when he was running the dancefloor on RSG) … OF COURSE, Pete being Pete, just wanted to share all his memories & old club related stuff & wanted A N Other to do the donkey-work. I'd lost touch with him by then (he was spending most of his time with his latest young wife in Majorca), so didn't get in touch. He passed away not long after, so an opportunity lost me thinks.

After the Mojo was closed down (in Oct 67), Stringfellow became a regular in the Nottingham clubs. He headed up a weekly nite at one in late 67 / 68 (it was the Dungeon) ….. the Groove A GoGo Ravin In Scene …

By the end of the 60's, his live act had moved in a more funky direction …

A link to the book on Amazon (if anyone wants to buy a copy) ... https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mods-Connection-Memories-Leicester-Nottingham/dp/1780915861/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3AK7V66F9WCFZ&keywords=mods+two+city+connection&qid=1557558193&s=books&sprefix=mods+two+city%2Cstripbooks%2C163&sr=1-1-catcorr

A regular bunch of soulies from Peterboro & Lincoln used to travel up to attend the Mojo niters in the mid 60's … folk from Kidderminster were among the usual crowd at the Wheel in the mid to late 60's. I also know folk from Newark, Grantham, Derby, etc would gravitate to the clubs in Nottingham most weekends plus folk from Brum, Walsall, Northampton & the like were frequently @ the Nite Owl in Leicester … but other crowds must have travelled to the more mod / soul orientated cities on a weekend back then.

The topic on 60's London clubs proved popular, so (as there's a decent book just out on the 60's scene in the Midlands) I thought I'd start this one ... .. hopefully we'll get lots of input about clubs out of my sphere back then (in say Northampton, Peterboro, Harboro, Gloucester & the like) ... I'll open things up with info on (& an extract from) the book & a few old ads …

Don't think this place still exists …

Got some info back from Lou Ragland too …. I recorded Eddie Woods at Boddies recording studio. Eddie also sang as lead vocalist with Don Gregory and the MontClairs on gigs at the Music Box (club) In Cleveland. Wonder if that Boddies mastertape still exists … just maybe it was one of the unknown artist tapes that Numero got hold of (& released ?).

More Jerry O / Jerrio related bits … he seemed to live off his 'boogaloo' connection most of the time but broke from it in his White Whale & Wand days … @ the Howard Theatre in DC, they organised a special Boogaloo dance contest to coincide with his week long appearances in Nov 67 at the venue (guess he had to select the winning dancers).