1967
– I’m still in short trousers, but the
underground circuit of clubs which play Black
American Soul music, but only British releases,
is already starting to form. Clubs like The
Flamingo and The Scene in London, The Mojo in
Sheffield, The Night Owl in Leicester, and
perhaps the most significant name of all, The
Twisted Wheel in Brazenose Street, Manchester.
1971 – By now the DJs had
started to play imported records, and London had
deserted Soul music. Journalist Dave Godin took a
trip to The Twisted Wheel in Manchester, and
coined the phrase ‘Northern Soul’,
little did he know then what effect those two
words were going to have over the next thirty
years ! I’d also discovered Soul music by
this stage, and was a fanatical buyer of Blues
& Soul magazine, it was natural, living in
the North West (Warrington) that I would
gravitate towards the uptempo side of things, it
was the music at our youth club. 1971 was
also the year that The Twisted Wheel was finally
closed down by the Councillors of Manchester.
1972
– The Golden Torch Ballroom, or The Torch as
it became known, in Hanley, Stoke On Trent, had
taken over as the number one allnighter. Northern
Soul was becoming a cult ! Bigger numbers
attending, live acts recording live albums at the
club. It was also the era when bootlegs first
made an impact. The records were becoming more
and more esoteric and obscure, the DJs were
searching harder and harder to find that one
record that would become an exclusive sound for
them. Many other clubs were also starting up, The
Catacombs in Wolverhampton, is one that springs
to mind. Blackpool Mecca has also started to make
a name for itself under the guidance of Ian
Levine and Colin Curtis.
1973 – The Torch is closed
by the Police, VaVas in Bolton starts an
allnighter, a young man by the name of Richard
Searling is the main DJ, but by August Va Vas is
also closed down. To fill the void a venue in
Wigan decides to run an allnighter. Wigan Empire
as it was called when my parents used to dance
there in the 1940s and 1950s had changed
it’s name to Wigan Casino, and that name
became a legend in it’s own right, voted
number one nightclub in the world in the mid
Seventies no less ! I’d also started
attending allnighters by this time.
1978
– Publicity, a curse, or a benefit ?
Northern Soul had made it big, TV programmes, Top
of The Pops, Newspaper articles, coach loads of
‘daytrippers’, crowds of 2,000 people
at the Casino, a membership of over 100,000
people. The DJs playlists had also altered. A lot
of DJs had overlooked, what to me was essential,
the Soul content, and were playing anything with
the right beat, mindless instrumentals, pop
stompers. Enough was enough. I stopped attending
and went to work in North Wales.
1979
– Northern Soul makes it’s first
reappearance in the capitol under the name of 6Ts
Rhythm & Soul headed by Randy Cozens and Ady
Croasdell. The venue they eventually ended up at,
The 100 Club in Oxford Street, London celebrates
it’s 20th anniversary in
September of this year. Now that is a real
achievement !
1981
– Shock, Horror, The Casino
closes…eventually ! For many people this was
the end of the Northern Soul scene. For many
people it was a welcome thing because the Casino
had turned Northern Soul into a circus, and
people were ashamed to admit they were actually
Northern Soul fans. An alternative name developed
around an alternative niter. The Top Of The World
allnighters at Stafford brought a breath of fresh
air to the Rare Soul scene. Promoters Dave
Thorley, Keith Minshull, and later Chris King,
allowed DJs to play slower beat ballad records,
and many more Seventies tracks found their way
onto the decks. However, Sixties Soul had found
new champions under the guise of the Sixties
Newies Mafia, headed by Guy Hennigan and Keb
Darge. I missed all the Stafford years, but now
feel that the records which came out of this
shortlived, but legendary niter were amongst the
best ever played on the scene.
1986
– The scene fragments with the closure of
Stafford. Many allnighters start, but none become
the national focus that the previous ones had
been.
1988
– I’ve moved to the Midlands, sold all
my singles, but continued buying albums. I keep
seeing adverts for Northern Soul nights in
Wolverhampton run by Pep, a name I remember from
the Casino and The Catacombs. I’m married,
with two kids and a mortgage. Eventually I go.
It’s like being transported back fifteen
years…the same atmosphere, the same beat,
and even people I know. Almost immediately
I’m hooked again, Soul Music never goes
away, it just rests within you.
1989
– I’ve started doing allnighters
allnighters again, and believe it or not, The
Twisted Wheel is open again every Bank Holiday
weekend. I’m still into the Oldies side of
things because that’s what my memories
consist of. At one of the Twisted Wheel
allnighters I buy a mag off a guy called Derek
Pearson, it’s called ‘Shades Of
Soul’. Very specialised, full of
discographies, label listings, record reviews I
realise this is what I’ve been missing.
Something to read. Blues and Soul should really
be prosecuted under the Trades Description Act in
my opinion by this stage, I’m still buying
it, but can find precious little Soul, and
certainly no Blues in there. An idea germinates,
and by the September of 1989 the first issue of
Soulful Kinda Music appears (At the first Keele
Allnighter anniversary in fact). The next few
years are a crazy period for the magazine because
I manage to publish six issues a year for the
first three years.
1990
– I start buying Vinyl 7"
again……..Oh God !
1991
– I’ve realised that I missed the
Stafford era, and have become a Newies fan,
I’ve started visited The 100 Club on a
regular basis, and made lots of new friends, as
well as some old ones who I had lost touch with.
The change came about because I became bored with
hearing the same records again and again. The
Twisted Wheel, The Torch, and Wigan Casino were
all Newies venues in reality. It was always about
hearing new records. Oldies only became a big
part of the scene at the Casino. By 1992 I’m
bored with hearing records I first heard in 1974.
Fortunately I’ve got all the Stafford period
to catch up on. I buy my first PC and the quality
of the magazine improves dramatically once I
learn how to use the damn thing.
1992
– Weekenders have become a big part of the
scene, twice yearly extravaganzas with live acts
from the States. I start Djing at local venues,
and we even manage to bring J J Barnes over from
the States for a show at Bentleys Night Club in
Dudley.
1995
– I get my first allnighter spot at The
Wilton Ballroom in Normanton. Thanks must go to
Saus for getting me the spot, I also get to DJ at
the Cleethorpes weekender for the first time. The
magazine is now well established on the scene,
and up to issue 21 (I’ve dropped the
publication rate down to four issues a year), and
has now taken over as the most prolific magazine
on the scene having just overtaken Derek Pearson
and Shades Of Soul. What’s more Dave Godin
has agreed to start writing a regular column for
the magazine.
1996
– We start to run Soul nights at the Station
Hotel in Dudley, and have a music policy which
definitely avoids played out Oldies, but
concentrates on Sixties rather than Seventies. In
the West Midlands this is rather adventurous
because of the area’s staunch Oldies fan
base (There is only one other Soul night not
playing Oldies, and that’s the Lea Manor at
Albrighton, which is basically run by the same
people). We’re looking forward to the third
anniversary in September this year. The magazine
goes to a colour cover for the first time as
well.
1997
– A world exclusive for the magazine. I
manage to solve a puzzle which has long been
outstanding on the Northern Soul scene. During
the course of an interview with Don Juan Mancha
he mentions that he can tell me who Jack
Montgomery really was. Say no more ! The
interview appeared in Issue 32.
1998
– My first international booking as a DJ at
the German Northern Soul Weekender in Nurnberg. A
great weekend.
1999
– Bang up to date, Issue 38 has just been
published. With contributions from writers in
this country and The States. The internet has
made it so much easier than the old days when I
used an old manual typewriter, tippex, a pair of
scissors and prit stick to put it all together. .
I’m now DJing at the majority of the
UK’s allnighters and Soul nights on a
regular basis, but more of that elsewhere.
2000
- Still going strong with the magazine, the website and the
DJing. The year has been spent improving all three.
2002
- Two new Weekenders start up, Prestatyn and Llandudno, both on
the Welsh coast, both within a week of each other. I DJ at both
and both are great fun. I get to DJ in Italy for the first time,
and my book, 'The Rare Soul Bible' is published in June at the
Cleethorpes Weekender.