The Twisted Wheel 60th Anniversary

Now all the hullabaloo has blown over regarding the 50th anniversary of Wigan Casino (6Ts Soul also celebrated their 44th anniversary the same weekend), two other Northern Soul venues are celebrating anniversaries this year. Morecambe Pier it's 40th in April and, the daddy of them all, the birthplace of Northern Soul, Manchester's Twisted Wheel club was 60 on 27 Jan 2023 and celebrated the 60th anniversary of their first black music all-nighter on 28 Sep 2023.

The Twisted Wheel was founded by the Adabi brothers who bought the premises of the Left Wing Coffee Bar in Brazennose St. It got it's name from all sorts of wheels used as decor (notably the DJ booth pictured below) and ran from 1963-71. The last event held at the the Brazennose St. location was in Sep 1965 before relocating to Whitworth St. The club began playing blues and beat music but, with the introduction of DJ Roger Eagle, began playing rhythm and blues. It later developed as the pioneer in the UK for US imported rare soul music which was later to be dubbed Northern Soul by Dave Godin in his Blues & Soul column "Land Of A Thousand Dances" (in issue 50 Jun 1970). He had used the term since 1968 in his Soul City record shop after noticing that Northerners visiting the shop preferred different records than those bought by Southerners.

The first session was held on 27 Jan 1963. At the all-nighter sessions US acts would regularly perform. Artists such as Junior Walker, Edwin Starr, Jimmy Ruffin, Ben E. King, Little Richard, The Shirelles, Oscar Toney Jr., Marv Johnson, Mary Wells, Ike and Tina Turner, Johnny Johnson and the Bandwagon, and Inez and Charlie Foxx all played the club along with many UK acts including Georgie Fame and The Rolling Stones.

The club was shut down in 1971 owing to a new by-law which ruled that clubs couldn't open more than two hours into a new day meaning it had to shut by 2 a.m. putting paid to all-nighter sessions. Edwin Starr performed live on the closing night to a packed house. 

Running concurrently were two midlands venues Chateaux Impey (1965-67) and from 1968 The Catacombes in Wolverhampton. Catacombs DJ Farmer Carl Dene (Carl Woodroff) regularly attended The Wheel and supplied records to DJs there so naturally, although not an all-nighter, The Catacombs took up the mantle until the opening of The Torch (The Golden Torch, Tunstall, Stoke) where all-nighters began in 1972. Although running for only a year, The Torch became legendary. Upon it's closure in 1973, Wigan Casino was its successor as, arguably, the country's number one all-nighter. Soul nights at Blackpool Mecca's Highland Room also began in 1971. Other venues sprung up in the early/mid 70s such as Up The Junction and Blue Orchid (Crewe), VaVa's (Bolton), Cat's Whiskers (Burnley), Cleethorpes Pier/Winter Gardens, Samantha's (Sheffield), Queen's Hall (Bradford), Yate, King George's Hall (Blackburn) and 100 Club (London). Clifton Hall (Rotherham 1980-?), Morecambe Pier/Carlton (Apr 1983-86) and Top Of The World (Stafford May 1982-Feb 1986) picking up where Wigan Casino left off in the 80s.

The Wheel re-opened later in the 70s, this time with a licensed bar named Placemate 7 and underwent several name changes to Follies and finally as a gay bar Legends. Regular attendee Pete Roberts vowed to re-open it as a Northern Soul venue which he did in 2000 after pestering the owner for six months he got the green light to run a Northern Soul night and the first night commenced on 20 Jul 2000. 

The Whitworth St venue was demolished in 2013 to pave the way for a new hotel after much protest from locals who wanted it preserved as a building of cultural significance with it being the birthplace of Northern Soul. The final event at Whitworth St. was held on 30 Dec 2012. The club relocated to Night People in Princess St. and in 2022 relocated again to Band On The Wall. 

Many of the records discovered by The Wheel DJs such as Roger Eagle, Barry Turner, Brian Walker, Paul Davies, Brian Rae, 'The Godfather of Northern Soul' Brian '45' Phillips, Phil Saxe and Les Cokell have become Northern Soul anthems played to this day. We've selected 50 of our favourites from The Wheel era below.

The first book written about The Twisted Wheel was by Keith Rylatt and Phill Scott published in 2001 titled "CENtral 1179" after the telephone number for the club. Another, "6 Whitworth Street, Manchester - The Birthplace of Northern Soul",  was written more recently by Wheel goer Rob McKeever in 2020. Both are now out of print so you will need to fine them on the re-sale market.

Copyright © 2009-2023 SoulStrutter All Rights Reserved