www.goldsoul.co.uk The Twisted Wheel was a nightclub in Manchester, England, open from 1963 to 1971. It was one of the first clubs to play the music that became known as Northern Soul. The nightclub was founded by brothers Jack, Phillip and Ivor Abadi as a blues and soul live music coffee bar/dance club. The original location of the club was on Brazennose Street, near Deansgate and Albert Square. This was the rhythm and blues mod venue, with Roger Eagle as DJ.[2] The club's later location was on Whitworth Street. This venue was the mostly soul-oriented club with resident Saturday "All Niter" DJ Bob Dee compiling and supervising the playlist[3] and utilising the newly developed slip-cueing technique to cue in vinyl records.[4][5] The Whitworth Street venue was a converted warehouse, with a coffee snack bar on the ground floor and a series of rooms in the cellar. These lower rooms housed the stage, a caged disc jockey area, and the main dance room. Back-lit iron wheels decorated the simple painted brick walls. Ivor Abadi ran the club without an alcohol licence, serving only soft drinks and snacks. There was another Twisted Wheel in Blackpool under the same ownership.[6] Prior to the opening of the Twisted Wheel, most UK nightclubs played modern popular music, Soul and R&B. The Twisted Wheel DJs and local entrepreneurs imported large quantities of records directly from the United States. Many of the records played at the Twisted Wheel were rare even in the United States; some may only have been released in one city or State. At the time, in addition to records released by larger record companies, there was a huge number of soul releases by a wide variety of artists on a multiplicity of obscure, independent labels. All-night sessions were held each Saturday, from 11:00 pm through to Sunday 7:30 am. DJs played new records generally not played elsewhere. However, by 1969 more mainstream songs like Steam's "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" and Tony Joe White's "Polk Salad Annie" were added to the early session playlist. Allnight DJ, Brian "45" Philips introduced - Jerry Cook - "I Hurt on the Other Side"; Dobie Gray - "Out on the Floor"; The Artistics - "This Heart of Mine"; Leon Haywood - "Baby Reconsider", Earl Van Dyke - "6 by 6" and U.S releases on Ric-Tic, Brunswick, Okeh and other obscure labels.[7] Each week at 2:00 am Soul artists performed live at the club. Junior Walker, Edwin Starr, Oscar Toney Jr., Marv Johnson, Mary Wells, Ike and Tina Turner, Johnny Johnson and the Bandwagon, and Inez and Charlie Foxx were among the many musicians to squeeze onto the tiny stage. Soul fans travelled from all over the UK for the all-nighters; some by car, most by train, coach or bus. Singer Chris Rea on his album Deltics commemorates the club in the song "Twisted Wheel". Rea is said to have written this song because of his chagrin at being too young to go on the organised trips to the club's weekend all-nighters from his hometown of Middlesbrough in the mid-60s.[8] The club gained the reputation of playing rare and uptempo soul. Following a visit to the Twisted Wheel in 1970, music journalist Dave Godin noted that the music played at the club, and in northern England in general, was quite different from the music played in London. His description "Northern Soul" became the accepted term for this genre and subculture.[9] The club shut down in early 1971 because of a bylaw which prevented premises from staying open more than two hours into the following day. Since 2002, nostalgia soul nights have been held in the original Whitworth Street location on the final Friday of every month. These nights feature the original DJ playlists, many original members attend including Brett Speddings, Alan Trotter and John Watson. Two "Goldmine" recordings,Twisted Wheel and Twisted Wheel Again, feature songs from the original DJ playlists. The closure of The Twisted Wheel gave the Golden Torch its opportunity to take the Northern Soul crown for the next few years until it too was shut down under local council opposition. Today its legacy is eclipsed by that of the nearby Wigan Casino. The Twisted Wheel was reopened in the 70's as a fully licensed and expanded venue, The Placemate,on the DJ roster was Gary Abadi a nephew to Ivor, who would become Gary Davies on BBC Radio 1 The physical structure of the Club was finally removed from the Manchester landscape in 2013 when it was demolished to make way for a hotel. This despite attempts to impress on the Council the venue's cultural importance. In the few years before the demolition it was reopened as The Twisted Wheel by Pete Roberts and enjoyed capacity attendance for its Sunday afternoon sessions alongside of those sessions there were also all nighters and Friday evening sessions. But given the age of the protagonists it seemed that the Sunday sessions were the most popular. Hear more Twisted Wheel music via www.goldsoul.co.uk at their events.
Curated by: Goldsoul Classics (159 videos)
Travis Wammack Scratchy A 1964 Memphis session that crossed the ocean to sell, nothing upon release. But would quickly rise to Northern Soul cult status. Little wonder though, to the outsider, the mysterious world of Northern Soul is a bit of a puzzler. Travis Wammack 1965 trip into Soul collides with Garage, Latin & Psyche, creating as unique an instrumental could ever be. One reason why this was not only a Twisted Wheel MONSTER but carried on all through the 70s as a Northern Soul oldies spin. Such was the demand, "Scratchy" was bootlegged numerous times on the replicated ARA label. An infectious stand-alone instrumental that is impossible to compare with any other Northern Soul classic 45. Today this listing displays the summit of it's format. An eye-popping Mint - 1965 UK Atlantic DEMO! Just beautiful.. Current bid: £ 9.00 http://www.raresoulman.co.uk/auction/next-week/ SOUL AT THE STUTE - 21st JULY 2012 ***GUEST DJ ROB SMITH (NOTTS)*** Holwell Sports Club "THE STUTE" Welby road Asfordby Hill Melton Mowbray LE14 3RD 7.30- 1.30 and every 3rd sat of the month ACROSS THE BOARD SOUL & MOTOWN Resident DJ'S MICK JAY, SPANNER, ROB GRAY JOHN MANSHIP & PAUL ROYLE GUEST DJS ROB SMITH (NOTTS) £4.00 Door Tax More Info TEL MICK JAY 07976768324 michael.johnson33@ntlworld.com WE WANT WHAT YOU DON'T WANT - Great website credit or cash offer for you unwanted vinyl. We are looking for clean at least Ex+ vinyl in ALL genres. Especially Northern Soul, Punk, Ska & Reggae, 50s British Rock N' Roll, Freakbeat, Jazz, Progressive Rock etc etc. Let us know whatcha got...generous Web Site credits or cash offer awaits - so why not freshen up your collection the painless way. John Manship Records www.raresoulman.co.uk Tel: +44 (0) 1664 464991 Email: info@raresoulman.co.uk