Twisted Wheel Club
Encyclopedia
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 dance club. The original location of the club was on Brazennose Street, near Deansgate
and Albert Square
. This was a rhythm and blues
mod venue, with Roger Eagle as DJ. The club's later location was on Whitworth Street and was mostly soul-oriented with resident Saturday "All Niter" DJ Bob Dee compiling and supervising the playlist and utilising the newly developed slip-cueing
technique to spin the vinyl between 1968 and the club's eventual closure in 1971. 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-lighted 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.
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 started to import 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 that weren't generally heard elsewhere. However, by 1969 popular songs like Steam's
"Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye
" and Tony Joe White's
"Polk Salad Annie" were added to the playlist. DJ Brian "45" Philips played The Sharpees - "Do The 45"; Jerry Cook - "I Hurt on the Other Side"; Dobie Gray
- "Out on the Floor"; The Artistics - "This Heart of Mine"; Leon Haywood
- "Baby Reconsider", and lots of U.S releases on Ric Tic, Brunswick
, Okeh and other obscure labels.
Each week at 2:00 a.m., Soul artists performed live at the club. Junior Walker, Edwin Starr
, Oscar Toney Jr., Marv Johnson
, 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 leaving from his hometown of Middlesbrough in the mid-60s.
By 1970, the club was reputed to specialize in 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
.
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, and many original members attend such as Brett Speddings, Alan Trotter and John Watson
. Two "Goldmine" recordings,Twisted Wheel and Twisted Wheel Again, feature songs from the original DJ playlists.
Nightclub
A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...
in Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, open from 1963 to 1971. It was one of the first clubs to play the music that became known as Northern Soul
Northern soul
Northern soul is a music and dance movement that emerged from the British mod scene, initially in northern England in the late 1960s. Northern soul mainly consists of a particular style of black American soul music based on the heavy beat and fast tempo of the mid-1960s Tamla Motown sound...
.
The nightclub was founded by brothers Jack, Phillip and Ivor Abadi as a blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
and soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
live music coffee dance club. The original location of the club was on Brazennose Street, near Deansgate
Deansgate
Deansgate is a main road through the city centre of Manchester, England. It runs roughly north–south in a near straight route through the western part of the city centre and is the longest road in the city centre at over one mile long....
and Albert Square
Albert Square, Manchester
Albert Square is a public square in the centre of Manchester, England.It is dominated by its largest building, Manchester Town Hall , a Victorian Gothic building by Alfred Waterhouse...
. This was a rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
mod venue, with Roger Eagle as DJ. The club's later location was on Whitworth Street and was mostly soul-oriented with resident Saturday "All Niter" DJ Bob Dee compiling and supervising the playlist and utilising the newly developed slip-cueing
Slip-cueing
Slip-cueing is a turntable-based DJ technique that consists of holding a record still while the platter rotates underneath the slipmat and releasing it at the right moment. This way the record accelerates to the right speed almost immediately, without waiting for the heavy platter to start up...
technique to spin the vinyl between 1968 and the club's eventual closure in 1971. 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-lighted 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
Blackpool
Blackpool is a borough, seaside town, and unitary authority area of Lancashire, in North West England. It is situated along England's west coast by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre estuaries, northwest of Preston, north of Liverpool, and northwest of Manchester...
under the same ownership.
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 started to import large quantities of records directly from the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. 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 that weren't generally heard elsewhere. However, by 1969 popular songs like Steam's
Steam (band)
Steam was a pop-rock music group best known for the 1969 number one hit song and perennial favorite "Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye." The song was written and recorded by studio musicians Garrett DeCarlo, Dale Frashuer, and producer/writer Paul Leka at Mercury Records studios in New York City...
"Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye
Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye
"Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye" is a song written and recorded by Paul Leka, Gary DeCarlo and Dale Frashuer, attributed to a then-fictitious band they named "Steam". It was released under the Mercury subsidiary label Fontana and became a number one pop single on the Billboard Hot 100 in late 1969,...
" and Tony Joe White's
Tony Joe White
Tony Joe White is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist, best known for his 1969 hit "Polk Salad Annie"; "Rainy Night in Georgia", which he wrote but was first made popular by Brook Benton in 1970; and "Steamy Windows", a hit for Tina Turner in 1989...
"Polk Salad Annie" were added to the playlist. DJ Brian "45" Philips played The Sharpees - "Do The 45"; Jerry Cook - "I Hurt on the Other Side"; Dobie Gray
Dobie Gray
Dobie Gray is an African American singer and songwriter, whose musical career has spanned soul, country, pop and musical theater...
- "Out on the Floor"; The Artistics - "This Heart of Mine"; Leon Haywood
Leon Haywood
Otha Leon Haywood is an American funk and soul singer, songwriter and record producer. He is best known for his 1975 hit single "I Want'a Do Something Freaky To You", which has been much sampled by Dr. Dre and others....
- "Baby Reconsider", and lots of U.S releases on Ric Tic, Brunswick
Brunswick Records
Brunswick Records is a United States based record label. The label is currently distributed by E1 Entertainment.-From 1916:Records under the "Brunswick" label were first produced by the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company...
, Okeh and other obscure labels.
Each week at 2:00 a.m., Soul artists performed live at the club. Junior Walker, Edwin Starr
Edwin Starr
Edwin Starr was an American soul music singer. Starr is most famous for his Norman Whitfield produced singles of the 1970s, most notably the number one hit "War".-Biography:...
, Oscar Toney Jr., Marv Johnson
Marv Johnson
Marv Johnson was an American R&B and soul singer, most notable for performing on the first record to be issued from what became Motown.-Biography:...
, Johnny Johnson and the Bandwagon
Johnny Johnson and the Bandwagon
Johnny Johnson and the Bandwagon were a U.S. vocal soul group, prominent in the late 1960s and early 1970s.-Career:Originally known simply as The Bandwagon, they were formed in 1967 and featured Artie Fullilove, Billy Bradley, Terry Lewis and lead singer Johnny Johnson Johnny Johnson and the...
, and Inez and Charlie Foxx
Inez and Charlie Foxx
Charlie Foxx and his sister Inez Foxx were an African-American rhythm and blues and soul duo from Greensboro, North Carolina. Inez sang lead vocal, while Charlie sang back-up and played guitar.Their most successful record was with their novelty composition, "Mockingbird"...
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
Chris Rea
Chris Rea is an English singer-songwriter, recognisable for his distinctive, husky voice and slide guitar playing. The British Hit Singles & Albums stated that Rea was "one of the most popular UK singer-songwriters of the late 1980s. He was already a major European star by the time he finally...
on his album Deltics
Deltics
Deltics is an album by Chris Rea, released in 1979. The title is a reference to the Deltic-class locomotives that were used on the UK East Coast rail network in the 1960s and 1970s.-Track listing:All songs by Chris Rea.# "Twisted Wheel" – 05:15...
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 leaving from his hometown of Middlesbrough in the mid-60s.
By 1970, the club was reputed to specialize in rare and uptempo soul. Following a visit to the Twisted Wheel in 1970, music journalist Dave Godin
Dave Godin
David Edward Godin was an English fan of American soul music, who made a major contribution internationally in spreading awareness and understanding of the genre, and by extension African-American culture.-Biography:The son of a milkman, Dave Godin spent his early childhood in Peckham before...
noted that the music played at the club, and in northern England
Northern England
Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North or the North Country, is a cultural region of England. It is not an official government region, but rather an informal amalgamation of counties. The southern extent of the region is roughly the River Trent, while the North is bordered...
in general, was quite different from the music played in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. His description "Northern Soul
Northern soul
Northern soul is a music and dance movement that emerged from the British mod scene, initially in northern England in the late 1960s. Northern soul mainly consists of a particular style of black American soul music based on the heavy beat and fast tempo of the mid-1960s Tamla Motown sound...
" became the accepted term for this genre and subculture
Subculture
In sociology, anthropology and cultural studies, a subculture is a group of people with a culture which differentiates them from the larger culture to which they belong.- Definition :...
.
The club shut down in early 1971 because of a bylaw
Bylaw
By-law can refer to a law of local or limited application passed under the authority of a higher law specifying what things may be regulated by the by-law...
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, and many original members attend such as Brett Speddings, Alan Trotter and John Watson
John Watson
John Watson may refer to:In politics:* John Christian Watson , known as Chris Watson, Australia's third Prime Minister* John Bertrand Watson , British Member of Parliament for Stockton-on-Tees, 1917–1923* John S...
. Two "Goldmine" recordings,Twisted Wheel and Twisted Wheel Again, feature songs from the original DJ playlists.
External links
- TwistedWheel.net
- TwistedWheel.com
- Thetwistedwheel.com
- The Manchester Wheelers
- ThisIsLancashire.co.uk Letter by Bob Dee to Bolton Evening News, published Monday 10th March 2003 with references to his work at the Twisted Wheel
- ThisIsLancashire.co.uk Response letter to Bolton Evening News, published Saturday 15th March 2003 regarding Bob Dee's work at the Twisted Wheel & re-submitted by the same author to the Manchester Evening News, Saturday January 3rd 2004 page 20)