Title. The Catacombs
The Catacombs Club
Location: Temple Street, Wolverhampton
Date: 1967 - 1974
The Catacombs was an upstairs venue, based in an old lead smelting works. It was a long, narrow venue, based around a long, bare-brick walled corridor, with arched alcoves where the furnaces used to be and a bar on the right, and the dance floor at the far end. It had a capacity of 500-600 and ran initially from 8-12, allnighters being introduced in the early seventies.
The significance of the Catacombs in the history of Northern Soul cannot be understated. It was the policy of the Catacombs to discover and popularise unknown soul rarities, and if it were not for the hours that it opened, it could have easily have surpassed the Twisted Wheel as the premier venue of the early 70s. As it was, the Catacombs discovered the sounds and the Wheel and the Torch exposed them to the masses. And as if to have the final say, the Catacombs outlasted both the Wheel and the Torch, finally closing in July 1974. The venue started playing rare soul in 1967, and the DJ at the time was Alan S (Smith) who was relatively new to the scene. He was joined by "Farmer" Carl Dene (Carl Woodroffe). Farmer Carl had been a collector of rare soul since 1964, regularly visiting the soul haven of the time, The Diskery, on a regular basis; he was also credited as one of the first people to cover-up records. Farmer Carl was responsible for breaking many famous classics, one of note being "That Beating Rhythm" by Richard Temple. Nobody believed the record existed, assuming it to be a cover-up, due to the "Temple" link with the Temple Street venue. As well as "I'll Do Anything" by Doris Troy, perhaps Farmer Carl's biggest claim to fame is his ability to promote chart sucess. His exposure of "I'm Gonna Run Away From You" by Tami Lynn caused the record to be re-released, and it reached No.4 in the UK in May, 1971. And it didn't stop there... "Hey Girl Don’t Bother Me", by the Tams was another record championed by Farmer Carl, which was picked up on by Peter Powell, the Radio One DJ, who brought it onto the radio. It eventually reached Number 1.
When Farmer Carl left the Catacombs, Alan S was joined by "Major" Robert Crocker, and together they formulated a very sucessful partnership, travelling far and wide to locate new sounds. Together they opened a record shop, and one day, on the way to Leicester to purchase new stock, the pair were involved in a car accident, and Bob Crocker was sadly killed. Alan S was confined to hospital for 3 months.
While Alan recuperated, Mick "Froggy" Taylor took over, as was soon joined by "Blue" Max Millward and Graham Warr. The club prospered, closing briefly in 1972 for refurbishment, but continuing on it's mission to discover bigger and better sounds. Consider the following list of records that are credited by various sources as having been launched at the Catacombs:
The Catacombs Club
Location: Temple Street, Wolverhampton
Date: 1967 - 1974
The Catacombs was an upstairs venue, based in an old lead smelting works. It was a long, narrow venue, based around a long, bare-brick walled corridor, with arched alcoves where the furnaces used to be and a bar on the right, and the dance floor at the far end. It had a capacity of 500-600 and ran initially from 8-12, allnighters being introduced in the early seventies.
The significance of the Catacombs in the history of Northern Soul cannot be understated. It was the policy of the Catacombs to discover and popularise unknown soul rarities, and if it were not for the hours that it opened, it could have easily have surpassed the Twisted Wheel as the premier venue of the early 70s. As it was, the Catacombs discovered the sounds and the Wheel and the Torch exposed them to the masses. And as if to have the final say, the Catacombs outlasted both the Wheel and the Torch, finally closing in July 1974. The venue started playing rare soul in 1967, and the DJ at the time was Alan S (Smith) who was relatively new to the scene. He was joined by "Farmer" Carl Dene (Carl Woodroffe). Farmer Carl had been a collector of rare soul since 1964, regularly visiting the soul haven of the time, The Diskery, on a regular basis; he was also credited as one of the first people to cover-up records. Farmer Carl was responsible for breaking many famous classics, one of note being "That Beating Rhythm" by Richard Temple. Nobody believed the record existed, assuming it to be a cover-up, due to the "Temple" link with the Temple Street venue. As well as "I'll Do Anything" by Doris Troy, perhaps Farmer Carl's biggest claim to fame is his ability to promote chart sucess. His exposure of "I'm Gonna Run Away From You" by Tami Lynn caused the record to be re-released, and it reached No.4 in the UK in May, 1971. And it didn't stop there... "Hey Girl Don’t Bother Me", by the Tams was another record championed by Farmer Carl, which was picked up on by Peter Powell, the Radio One DJ, who brought it onto the radio. It eventually reached Number 1.
When Farmer Carl left the Catacombs, Alan S was joined by "Major" Robert Crocker, and together they formulated a very sucessful partnership, travelling far and wide to locate new sounds. Together they opened a record shop, and one day, on the way to Leicester to purchase new stock, the pair were involved in a car accident, and Bob Crocker was sadly killed. Alan S was confined to hospital for 3 months.
While Alan recuperated, Mick "Froggy" Taylor took over, as was soon joined by "Blue" Max Millward and Graham Warr. The club prospered, closing briefly in 1972 for refurbishment, but continuing on it's mission to discover bigger and better sounds. Consider the following list of records that are credited by various sources as having been launched at the Catacombs:
Title. Notts Palais
The Palais.
Location: Lower Parliament Street, Nottingham.
Date: 1976-1983.
Nottingham Palais was argueably the best alldayer of it's time, simply because of the sheer size of the venue. With a capacity of 2500 people, the Palais was huge, with a superb dancefloor and probably the best PA around at the time. And yes, it even had a balcony!
Another big plus was that it was easy to get to from almost anywhere in the country. There used to be a bus from St. Margaret's Bus Station in Leicester that would get you into Nottingham Broadmarsh at about 1pm, and after a brisk walk through Nottingham City Centre, you would join the end of the very long queue to get in at about 1.30. The return bus was at about 8pm, so you got a good six hours at the venue, and still got home in time for bed!!! Ah... the days of good public transport. Music played often tended towards the cutting edge, as the crowd were always so receptive. Many DJs, Soul Sam especially, treated Nottingham Palais as a "try out" zone, often playing new (and frequently covered-up) records to test popularity.
Nottingham Palais also ran an allnighter for a short period of time, but unfortunately little information is available about it's sucess or lack of it. If you know anything about the allnighter,
The Palais.
Location: Lower Parliament Street, Nottingham.
Date: 1976-1983.
Nottingham Palais was argueably the best alldayer of it's time, simply because of the sheer size of the venue. With a capacity of 2500 people, the Palais was huge, with a superb dancefloor and probably the best PA around at the time. And yes, it even had a balcony!
Another big plus was that it was easy to get to from almost anywhere in the country. There used to be a bus from St. Margaret's Bus Station in Leicester that would get you into Nottingham Broadmarsh at about 1pm, and after a brisk walk through Nottingham City Centre, you would join the end of the very long queue to get in at about 1.30. The return bus was at about 8pm, so you got a good six hours at the venue, and still got home in time for bed!!! Ah... the days of good public transport. Music played often tended towards the cutting edge, as the crowd were always so receptive. Many DJs, Soul Sam especially, treated Nottingham Palais as a "try out" zone, often playing new (and frequently covered-up) records to test popularity.
Nottingham Palais also ran an allnighter for a short period of time, but unfortunately little information is available about it's sucess or lack of it. If you know anything about the allnighter,
Title. Samanthas,
Samantha's.
Location: Queens Road, Sheffield.
Date: 1973-1977.
Samantha's was an upstairs venue above the Silver Blades Ice Skating Rink in Queens Road, Sheffield. A room about three times as long as was wide, it had a relatively small dance floor, with a bar at the far end and ample seating. As you climbed the stairs and entered the room, the decks were on your left, readily accessable for requests. No stage to climb up onto! Unfortunately, the decks were so close to the dance floor that any enthusiastic "stomping" resulted in the record jumping... 'Elusive' by Babe Ruth often caused problems!
There was a second room too, the Hallam Suite (later the Mayfair Suite), that ran as an oldies room. Thanks to Andy Stacey from Barnsley for putting me right on that one. The oldies room was hosted by Howard Sorsby, aided and abetted by Billy Paul (Wigan), Paul Curzon (Doncaster), Derek Banner (Mansfield), and Rotherhams Derek Sheldon, who I am told named his daughter Sandie! Thanks to Howard who got in touch via email to fill in my rather vague memories here. The "resident" DJ here was John Vincent (on the right, Keith Minshull on the left), often ably assisted by Richard Searling, Ian Dewhurst, Twink (from Leeds), John Manship, the occasional appearance from Colin Curtis, and later Paul Rowan and the inimitable Soul Sam.
The music policy was notable in that Samantha's seemed not to have any preference. In fact the playlist sat squarely between all camps, and changed rapidly with the times. With no particular allegance to stompers, white acts or funky stuff, anything went. Music often ranged from out and out 100mph stormers to tracks by Earth, Wind and Fire!
I believe that it is this variety and freshness that made Samantha's stand out from the bunch, and commanded a loyal following. Ask many old soulies who went to Samantha's, Wigan, the Mecca etc "What was your favourite venue?" and many will say.... Samantha's. Compare these two Samantha's play lists, one from 1973 and one from 1975.
Samantha's.
Location: Queens Road, Sheffield.
Date: 1973-1977.
Samantha's was an upstairs venue above the Silver Blades Ice Skating Rink in Queens Road, Sheffield. A room about three times as long as was wide, it had a relatively small dance floor, with a bar at the far end and ample seating. As you climbed the stairs and entered the room, the decks were on your left, readily accessable for requests. No stage to climb up onto! Unfortunately, the decks were so close to the dance floor that any enthusiastic "stomping" resulted in the record jumping... 'Elusive' by Babe Ruth often caused problems!
There was a second room too, the Hallam Suite (later the Mayfair Suite), that ran as an oldies room. Thanks to Andy Stacey from Barnsley for putting me right on that one. The oldies room was hosted by Howard Sorsby, aided and abetted by Billy Paul (Wigan), Paul Curzon (Doncaster), Derek Banner (Mansfield), and Rotherhams Derek Sheldon, who I am told named his daughter Sandie! Thanks to Howard who got in touch via email to fill in my rather vague memories here. The "resident" DJ here was John Vincent (on the right, Keith Minshull on the left), often ably assisted by Richard Searling, Ian Dewhurst, Twink (from Leeds), John Manship, the occasional appearance from Colin Curtis, and later Paul Rowan and the inimitable Soul Sam.
The music policy was notable in that Samantha's seemed not to have any preference. In fact the playlist sat squarely between all camps, and changed rapidly with the times. With no particular allegance to stompers, white acts or funky stuff, anything went. Music often ranged from out and out 100mph stormers to tracks by Earth, Wind and Fire!
I believe that it is this variety and freshness that made Samantha's stand out from the bunch, and commanded a loyal following. Ask many old soulies who went to Samantha's, Wigan, the Mecca etc "What was your favourite venue?" and many will say.... Samantha's. Compare these two Samantha's play lists, one from 1973 and one from 1975.
Title. Northern Soul Clubs / Twisted Wheel
Twisted Wheel in Manchester was originally an unlicenced coffee bar/drop-in club in Brazennose Street, Manchester, originally opening in 1963. It was primarily a club that played rhythm and blues and had many famous names grace it's stage, including Manchester's own, John Mayall also the Spencer Davis Group, Long John Baldry and Alexis Corner. Many US artists that were on tour at the time also made an appearance, including John Lee Hooker and Solomon Burke.
With the arrival of Roger Eagle as the DJ, a music policy of a blend of hard Rhythm and Blues and emergent American soul music soon caused the Twisted Wheel the place for any self-respecting Mod to be seen at. The club was also one of the first to start importing records. Unfortunately similar to its contemporary counterpart in Manchester, the Hacienda, the council revoked its license and on January 31st, 1971. But the story doesn't end there. The Northern Soul Scene of Today has seen The Twisted Wheel in Manchester re-open in 1999. Thanks to the tireless efforts of one of the Wheel's old boys, Pete Roberts, the Wheel did spin again with DJ's "Stan the Man" Evans, John Green and Ian Dunning. The format was classic Northern Soul stompers and the re-opening was almost exactly 40-years after the original Twisted Wheel opened in Manchester's Brazennose Street.
Twisted Wheel in Manchester was originally an unlicenced coffee bar/drop-in club in Brazennose Street, Manchester, originally opening in 1963. It was primarily a club that played rhythm and blues and had many famous names grace it's stage, including Manchester's own, John Mayall also the Spencer Davis Group, Long John Baldry and Alexis Corner. Many US artists that were on tour at the time also made an appearance, including John Lee Hooker and Solomon Burke.
With the arrival of Roger Eagle as the DJ, a music policy of a blend of hard Rhythm and Blues and emergent American soul music soon caused the Twisted Wheel the place for any self-respecting Mod to be seen at. The club was also one of the first to start importing records. Unfortunately similar to its contemporary counterpart in Manchester, the Hacienda, the council revoked its license and on January 31st, 1971. But the story doesn't end there. The Northern Soul Scene of Today has seen The Twisted Wheel in Manchester re-open in 1999. Thanks to the tireless efforts of one of the Wheel's old boys, Pete Roberts, the Wheel did spin again with DJ's "Stan the Man" Evans, John Green and Ian Dunning. The format was classic Northern Soul stompers and the re-opening was almost exactly 40-years after the original Twisted Wheel opened in Manchester's Brazennose Street.
Title.Cleethorpes Pier
thorpes Allnighters and Alldayers
Location: Cleethorpes Pier and The Winter Gardens.
Date: 1975 until today ( 2007)
Mary Chapman started in the promotions business at Walscott Village Hall in 1972. From these humble beginnings arose the Lincolnshire Soul Club, and after a sucessful alldayer run by Mary and Colin Chapman at the Winter Gardens in Cleethorpes, the idea of running an allnighter was born.
The Cleethorpes Pier "Talk Of The North" Allnighters were started in February 1975, and ran every two weeks. With a massive 700 capacity dance floor and a 300 seater cafe, such was the sucess of these allnighters that it put the wind up Mike Walker, the manager of Wigan Casino, forcing him to start a rival allnighter in the Winter Gardens. They were a resounding failure and ceased after only four nighters... which was lucky for Mary. She promptly took over the Winter Gardens as a second venue, as due to the sucess of her allnighter, the Pier was in danger of falling into the sea!
The sucess of Cleethopes was probably due to complicated mix of music played. Featuring as many as twelve DJs in a night, you could expect to hear classic stompers, rare 70's and current favorites. Imagine Soul Sam, Ginger Taylor, Poke, John Manship, Pep, John Vincent, Richard Searling, Kev Roberts, Tony Dellar, Rick Scott, Chis Dalton, Dave Appleyard and Graham Coates together. An eclectic mix indeed!
The club's most popular tracks included The Anderson Brothers "I Can See Him Loving You", Kim Toliver "I Don't Know What Foot To Dance On", "http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~zalasta/hsc/music/creamofthecrop.ram", and the truly awful Rain "Out Of My Mind" (but that's a personal opinion). Mixed in with those would be wierd and wonderful tracks such as "http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~zalasta/hsc/music/rawsoul.ram", The Crow "Your Autumn Of Tomorrow" and Life "Cat's Eyes".
Mary Chapman has been quoted as saying:
"Our DJs musical policy was not only the envy of every other club in its day but the most varied ever attempted on the Northern scene up to that time. It led the way with a reputation for activating more unknown rarities as well as countless currently in-demand releases. The DJs were brave in the face of criticism and the dancers, often oblivious to the price tag on any given record, the most adventurous and skillful".
Quote taken from the sleeve notes of The Cleethorpes Story (Goldmine/Soul Supply CD GSCD86)
Not satisfied with just records, several live acts appeared at Cleethorpes, including Viola Wills, Tamiko Jones, The Trammps and even Major Lance graced the Pier with his presence at the last but one allnighter. For thirteen months, the Cleethorpes allnighters proved to be a credible challenge to Wigan Casino, some insisting that that the music and the atmosphere was better than the Casino. Whether Cleethorpes would have stood the test of time we will never know, as, yet again, the authorities called a halt to the nighters after little more than a year. The Cleethorpes story does not end there however. In 1994,a certain Ady Croasdale (yes, he of the 100 Club) started the annual Cleethorpes 6Ts Northern Soul Weekender. Regularly attacting over 1000 attendees from all over the world, it is considered one of the scene's premier events.
Again, many major artists have appeared live at the Weekender, including Dean Parrish, Maxine Brown, Tommy Hunt, Doris Troy, Al Wilson, Bobby Hutton, Little Ann, Hoagy Lands, Sidney Barnes, The Velvelettes, Dennis Coffey and Willie Tee.
The 12th 6Ts Weekender is on 11th, 12th and 13th June 2004 at the Beachcomber Holiday Centre, Cleethorpes.
Audio Player::- Dee Clark / That`s My Girl
thorpes Allnighters and Alldayers
Location: Cleethorpes Pier and The Winter Gardens.
Date: 1975 until today ( 2007)
Mary Chapman started in the promotions business at Walscott Village Hall in 1972. From these humble beginnings arose the Lincolnshire Soul Club, and after a sucessful alldayer run by Mary and Colin Chapman at the Winter Gardens in Cleethorpes, the idea of running an allnighter was born.
The Cleethorpes Pier "Talk Of The North" Allnighters were started in February 1975, and ran every two weeks. With a massive 700 capacity dance floor and a 300 seater cafe, such was the sucess of these allnighters that it put the wind up Mike Walker, the manager of Wigan Casino, forcing him to start a rival allnighter in the Winter Gardens. They were a resounding failure and ceased after only four nighters... which was lucky for Mary. She promptly took over the Winter Gardens as a second venue, as due to the sucess of her allnighter, the Pier was in danger of falling into the sea!
The sucess of Cleethopes was probably due to complicated mix of music played. Featuring as many as twelve DJs in a night, you could expect to hear classic stompers, rare 70's and current favorites. Imagine Soul Sam, Ginger Taylor, Poke, John Manship, Pep, John Vincent, Richard Searling, Kev Roberts, Tony Dellar, Rick Scott, Chis Dalton, Dave Appleyard and Graham Coates together. An eclectic mix indeed!
The club's most popular tracks included The Anderson Brothers "I Can See Him Loving You", Kim Toliver "I Don't Know What Foot To Dance On", "http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~zalasta/hsc/music/creamofthecrop.ram", and the truly awful Rain "Out Of My Mind" (but that's a personal opinion). Mixed in with those would be wierd and wonderful tracks such as "http://homepages.nildram.co.uk/~zalasta/hsc/music/rawsoul.ram", The Crow "Your Autumn Of Tomorrow" and Life "Cat's Eyes".
Mary Chapman has been quoted as saying:
"Our DJs musical policy was not only the envy of every other club in its day but the most varied ever attempted on the Northern scene up to that time. It led the way with a reputation for activating more unknown rarities as well as countless currently in-demand releases. The DJs were brave in the face of criticism and the dancers, often oblivious to the price tag on any given record, the most adventurous and skillful".
Quote taken from the sleeve notes of The Cleethorpes Story (Goldmine/Soul Supply CD GSCD86)
Not satisfied with just records, several live acts appeared at Cleethorpes, including Viola Wills, Tamiko Jones, The Trammps and even Major Lance graced the Pier with his presence at the last but one allnighter. For thirteen months, the Cleethorpes allnighters proved to be a credible challenge to Wigan Casino, some insisting that that the music and the atmosphere was better than the Casino. Whether Cleethorpes would have stood the test of time we will never know, as, yet again, the authorities called a halt to the nighters after little more than a year. The Cleethorpes story does not end there however. In 1994,a certain Ady Croasdale (yes, he of the 100 Club) started the annual Cleethorpes 6Ts Northern Soul Weekender. Regularly attacting over 1000 attendees from all over the world, it is considered one of the scene's premier events.
Again, many major artists have appeared live at the Weekender, including Dean Parrish, Maxine Brown, Tommy Hunt, Doris Troy, Al Wilson, Bobby Hutton, Little Ann, Hoagy Lands, Sidney Barnes, The Velvelettes, Dennis Coffey and Willie Tee.
The 12th 6Ts Weekender is on 11th, 12th and 13th June 2004 at the Beachcomber Holiday Centre, Cleethorpes.
Audio Player::- Dee Clark / That`s My Girl