Twisted Wheel Club
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The Twisted Wheel was a club in Manchester, UK which during it's 1963 - 1971 two venue life, was the birthplace of what became known as Northern Soul.
The Soul club was a converted warehouse which had a coffee snack bar on the ground floor and a series of rooms in the cellar area. These lower rooms hosted the stage and caged disc jockey area along with the main dance room. Back lighted iron wheels were used throughout against simple painted brickwork. The club was owned by Ivor Abadi and had no alcohol license. All night sessions were held each Saturday. 11pm through to Sunday 7.30am. Rare and uptempo soul, Blue Beat and Motown records played along with stage performances by touring soul artists (the 2am slot). This is thought of as the first Northern Soul venue which was then followed by The Golden Torch, The Blackpool Mecca, and the famous Wigan Casino. The club had two locations in Manchester during its existence, Brazenose Street which was the original Rhythm and blues mod venue with Roger Eagle as D.J. and Whitworth Street the Soul venue. In recent years, nostalgia Soul nights are held in the original Whitworth Street location.
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[edit] History and significence
Prior to the Wheel, UK clubs played mod music and UK releases of soul records. Wheel DJ's and local entrepreneurs imported large quantities of other soul records direct from America. At the time The Wheel was the only place to hear this range of soul music and helped give the club its distinctive atmosphere.
On a visit to The Wheel in 1970, music journalist Dave Godin noted that the music and scene at the Wheel, and in the North generally, was quite different to London. From this the expression Northern Soul became accepted as a description of this particular music genre and sub culture. twistedwheel.net
[edit] Raves
Although the expression was not current at the time, The Wheel was possibly the world's first rave. Young people travelled from all over the country to experience the all night dance scene, its reputation developing almost entirely by word of mouth. The all night uptempo dancing resulted in widespread amphetamine use which alarmed the authorities and club's entertainment license was withdrawn, the club closing in January 1971. It was the end of the Wheel but the start of Northern Soul which spread to other clubs in other towns.
[edit] Connections
Chris Rea wrote a reflective song about the Twisted Wheel Club. As a youth in the north east of England town Middlesborough he had watched the slightly older boys head off each weekend for the 150 mile journey down to Manchester with longing. The song which he named "Twisted Wheel" is an ode to this lament and appeared on his 1979 album "Deltics".
Lyrics:
I can see you now- Standing on a street corner- Pastel shades, and a candy stripe parallel- Good time love, oh that I'd been much older- Go messing with the boys from the in crowd- But all I could do was wish them farewell.
What's that strange new music?- What's that funny rhythm?- Man they call it Blue Beat- But you can call it- Young love- You can call it Tamla Dream- Down at your local Motown machine- I need to be loved- Down at your Twisted Wheel.
And I can see that little stage- All the hands up in the air- Bombers and blues gonna see us through- Got my new lime suit mohair- With a single vent sixteen inch- Got my two-stroke wheels outside- We only need the High Numbers now- And anything on Stateside- Down at your Twisted Wheel.
From "Whitworth Street"
Manchester wasn't the gentrified place it is today. A trip to the Wheel meant dodging winos, pimps, nutters, hookers, muggers, residual football hooligans, Manchester Drug Squad and other assorted low life.
One foot inside and you were enveloped by this sound and atmosphere like no other. It made your hair stand on end and your elbows burst. You didn't need to take amphetamines to get high but we did anyway.We danced through the night on concrete floors with condensation running down the walls and wanted to be nowhere else in the world.
The DJs played music you couldn't hear anywhere else at the time. Even the undercover drug squad took to it. They were the ones with funny haircuts who wore last year's Top Rank dress style and who danced as if their shoes were full of dung and custard. I don't know how many were converted but they appeared to enjoy the work.
With that music in that atmosphere you could barely keep still and it was at the Wheel we learned to dance properly. No self conscious, diffident stumbling around, we just went for it and boy could some of them dance. We know blue men can't sing the whites but we found white men could dance to soul.
The Wheel wasn't just the birthplace of Northern soul, it was the birthplace of a way of life.
[edit] Reopening
In 2002 the Twisted Wheel Club reopened at the same venue, last Friday of every month, featuring the original playlists with many visitors original members such as Alan Trotter and John Watson.
