There were multiple versions of this Soul instrumental: SOUL SERENADE could be called the theme tune to Soul in the Sixties certainly a contender for the most popular instrumental. The original was from KING CURTIS:
Willie Mitchell
The Mike Cotton Sound
And would you believe it a vocal version by Brooks O Dell the Brooks in the Duo that did: “I Got what It Takes”.
I Got What It Takes: Part One and Part Two and they said Three if they had time.
It was a H U G E 45 on the Manchester original Soul scene.
Well one member of this duo of Brooks & Jerry went on to create one of the top rated Northern Soul records IF YOU ASK ME from Jerry Williams position 31 on Kev Roberts Top 500 Northern Soul recordings.
Part Three became : Jerry ‘Swamp Dog’ Williams AKA Little Jerry Williams released on the Pye label in the UK in 1975 – it almost made it as a Disco hit. He created his alter-ego as Swamp Dog in 1970 and went on to write produce and record right up to 2014.
More About Jerry & Little Jerry
A fantastic way to have 24 x 7 streaming Soul music is with one of these great radios tuned over the internet to on-line Soul stations. I have been listening to loads of Soul stations for a couple of years now on my original Roberts Stream Radio and I can tell you its an amazing piece of essential kit. I can take it all around the house, even in the bathroom and out in the garden. It has great sound quality and quick and simple usability functions. I would recommend anyone who wants instant access to all the thousands of Internet Radio stations to have a serious look at getting one of these. The model shown above is the latest with more functions and better sound than my original Roberts Stream 83i which is a little cheaper but still more than excellent!
Now when you ad this to the Soul stations available you will have hours of fun!
But if you want my advice after my several years of trying out numerous stations out there my top rated Soul stations:
LAUT FM SOULSHMALZ Radio
http://lautfm-soulschmalz.radio.de/
A German station that plays all sorts of Soul, Classic and Northern, with a lot of quirky even strange tracks thrown in now and again. A real treat!
PETE MICHELL’S SOULTIME Mixcloud
Simply the ultimate and best Soul show on the radio by far.
For 24 x 7 Motown – a French station: Nostalgie Motown
http://nostalgiemotown.rad.io/
Of course there are plenty of others, let me know if you find any that are really as good or better than those I have chosen.
You can listen to these stations on any internet connected device, but the Roberts Radio simply makes it easier, more convenient and not only looks great but somehow it ads up to a more richer listening experience, its difficult to explain why, it just is!
If you do decide to purchase a ROBERTS INTERNET RADIO you can link to it on Amazon through this button:
BUY NOW
Starting your buying process here helps with our affiliates link with Amazon and contributes to our site expenses.
The BLUE NOTE was the second great Soul club in Manchester in 1967 – 71 Here is a playlist from that time at that club:
The Mar – Keys – “Grab This Thing“
A great Stax instrumental that Roger Eagle had introduced at the Blue Note – later I found that this was used as the backing track for a Sam & Dave recording. Lots of instrumentals were popular on the Soul scene in those old days and this next one I came to use as my sort of signature tune to kick of an evenings playlist:
Hank Levine “Image“
This track was also recorded by a local Manchester organist who appeared at the Twisted Wheel . As the club was opening, sometimes if it was filling up slowly I would play lots of instrumentals:
“Ooh Baby Turn Me On” – Willie Mitchell
The Soulful Strings – “Burning Spear“
This was an import I obtained; the ‘B’ side was George Harrison’s “Within You Without You” another brilliant instrumental that was also played at the club. And the following track was from an LP I obtained cheap from an import deleted LP’s list just because it was a Chess label and found this fantastic track:
“Afro Harping” Dorothy Ashby
Al Kent: “You’ve Got to Pay The Price“
Gloria Taylor added vocals and we played that back to back.
“One Mint Julip” Booker T. And The MG’s
“The Fife Piper” – The Dynatones
Herbie Mann – “Philly Dog“
Carole King “It Might As Well Rain Until September“
DJ Dave P: I was a huge fan of Carole King, she wrote tons of great Soul songs for numerous artists and I always loved this track and played it many times at the Blue Note when the club was filling up at the start of the evening. 
“Mixed Up Shook Up Girl” – Patti And The Emblems
I first obtained this song on a UK released Atlantic live recording of artists appearing at the Apollo in Harlem New York. Later I got an original copy on import from bidding on deleted 45’s auction lists. On the Northern Soul scene the most favourite is “I’m Gonna Love You A Long Long Time“
“I Need You” The Impressions
“I’m A Fool For You” – The Impressions, and with a great ‘B’ side also played at the Blue Note “Choice Of Colors“
“Heartbreak Hotel” The Orlons
“Love Explosions” Troy Keyes
Dean Parrish – “Determination“
We had this UK release on Stateside and knew that he did a version of “Tell Her” (orig The Exiters) and his double sided “Skate” 45 and when we saw his name listed on a USA import deletions list on a label called ‘Lourie’ around 1968 we got it for 25 bob. Well worth it and about 8 years before it was ‘discovered’ at the Wigan Casino!
“I’m On My Way” Dean Parrish
“Blues In The Night” – Johnnie Taylor
“(I Wonna)Testify” – Johnnie Taylor
“Two Can Have A Party” Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell
“Hooked By Love” – Homer Banks
“The Who Who Song” – Jackie Wilson
Arthur Conley “Funkey Street“
The Spellbinders “Help Me“
“Cool Jerk” The Capitals
“Candy” – The Astors
The Orlons – “Crossfire“
“See Saw” Don Covey
“S.Y.S.L.J.F.M. (The Letter Song)” – Joe Tex
“Aint No Sun (Since You’ve Been Gone)” – The Dynamics
(Orig The Temptations)
“Love Time” The Kelly Brothers
“The Memphis Train” – Rufus Thomas
“If I Could Turn Back The Hands Of Time” Vernon Garrett
“Sock It To Em J B” – Rex Gavin & The Mighty Cravers
“Don’t Mess With Cupid” – Otis Redding
The Tams – “Untie Me“
“Cry No More” Ben E. King
“Ninety – Nine and a Half Just Won’t Do” – Wilson Pickett
Stax all things from Stax was necassary at the Blue Note, it all started with Roger Eagle who was a huge advocate for the label, he introduced to us first at the Twisted Wheel and later and more fully at the Blue Note all of the great Stax tracks that were available or imported by him or given to him by the label. I’m not going to list them all here that were played at the time at the Blue Note. So here are some that were more rarefied that we played, following in Rogers footsteps and keeping up that Stax tradition:
“Bring Your Love Back To Me” Linda Lyndell
And one night in the 70’s I got drunk and lent around a thousand records to a pal from the Blue Note: MIKE ZULE: hey Mike if your out there it would be nice to get some of them back to me, including this one!
Another great 45 from Linda a white Soul singer at Stax was this fantastic dancer, popular at the Blue Note and my copy was imported on the Volt label from a auction deleted list I think I bid ten bob for it!
Linda Lyndell “What A Man“
Chubby Checker – Big at the Blue Note. Big at The Twisted Wheel with these three tracks:
“Hey You, Little Boo-Ga-Loo” Chubby Checker
“(At The) Discotheque” Chubby Checker
“Why Because I Love You” Chubby Checker
Unable to find the last one on YouTube and as mine was ‘loaned’ to a friend in the early 1970 it doesn’t look like I will ever see it or hear it again!
Many Stax records were released on Atlantic here is a great example:
“Never Like This Before” William Bell
“Eloise (Hang On In There)” William Bell
“Soul Power” Derek Martin
“Love Sickness” Sir Mack Rice
“Bama Lama Bama Loo” Little Richard
“Book Of Love” The Monotones
“Paying The Cost To Be The Boss” – B. B. King
The Blue Note was much more of a ‘nightclub’ in its first year it had a bar and a boated a wooden dance-floor, both of these features were missing from the nearby Twisted Wheel. Therefore the clubs Soul sessions covered a more varied playlist and several spots in the evening and especially the last half hour, slower more smoochy numbers were played, here are a few:
Freddy Scott “Are You Lonely For Me“
Otis Leavill “I Love You“
Otis Leavill “Love Uprising“
“Moody Woman” Jerry Butler
Jerry Butler “A Brand New Me“
Often as the last couple of records to end things midweek at the Blue Note in I would play these:
Herb Alpert “This Guy’s In Love With You“
Marvin Gaye “Night Life“
Edwin starred at the Twisted Wheel so many times that it became almost a second home to him. However when he did settle and live in England he chose Stoke-on-Trent, not Manchester. Manchester SOUL MODS Loved Edwin!
Mr EDWIN STARR – he didn’t really need a microphone!
Most UTUBE videos seem to believe that Edwin’s early records were made at Motown but NO they were made in another Detroit Recording Studio – GOLDEN WORLD: Edwin’s early records were put out in America on the RIK – TIK label a subsidiary of Golden World and were released on the POLYDOR label in the U.K. It was several years later that Motown bought out Golden World and re-released Edwin’s great early productions onto the MOTOWN Label. Allegedly Berry Gordy was furious that he had competition in the same city (Detroit) and that he discovered that a lot of his session musicians (The Funk Brothers) were moonlighting at Golden World and giving the backing some of that ‘Motown’ treatment. The success of Edwin’s recordings forced the issue and Gordy made an offer that Ed Wingate owner of Golden World couldn’t turn down. This was OKay for Edwin as his recordings were the re-released on the Motown label. However others that Gordy acquired in the deal, languished in the Motown vaults for decades. Artists like J.J. Barnes, The Holidays and Steve Mancha.
Edwin Starr “Stop Her On Sight (S.O.S.)“
Edwin Starr “I Have Faith In You“
The Golden Word story and other insider secrets about Berry Gordy’s business operations etc can be found in a most revealing book by his second wife Raynoma Gordy Singleton; who actually built the early Motown business, but has been almost erased from history.
“Berry , Me, and Motown”. Allegedly a book that Gordy tried to buy up and destroy all copies, its rare but can be obtained. See also on this blog: The curious story of ‘MY GUY’ .
Edwin Starr “Headline News“
Always seemed to be on at the Wheel!
Long before Edwin actually appeared at the club we were dancing there to: ‘Agent Double O O Soul’ which was an import that Roger Eagle obtained – ‘Headline News’ – and ‘Stop Her On Sight’ we had also begun to love ‘I Have Faith In You’ the fabulous ‘b’ side track. So the build up to Edwin’s arrival was getting exiting. He had a great stage presence and the man had such a great and loud voice that he probably didn’t need a microphone. Edwin recorded his first three hits in Detroit but not at Motown, it was at Golden World: released and on RIC – TIC Records. It was a few years after, that Motown bought the RiC – Tic catalogue and Edwin became a Motown Star! From the book: The MANCHESTER WHEELERS “We asked Edwin questions and he told us that he recorded ‘SOS’ at a little recording studio in Detroit, with some guys from Motown. When it becamea hit the chiefs at Motown were pissed – he meant annoyed not drunk, and they bought the entire studio, Golden World, to get at Edwin’s recordings. He said it was a great deal for him as he always wanted to be signed to Motown, but not so good for the other acts there.” Edwin was at the Twisted Wheel so many times we lost count. It was very fitting that he was the last, final and closing act at the very last All-nighter show in January the 30th 1971 Sadly he died unexpectedly in April 2, 2003. during a touring show going around the UK.
Golden World – The other Detroit music empire that wasent! Edwin recounted some of this on an early Sunday morning to a couple of the Wheel All-nighter goers and its included in the book THE MANCHESTER WHEELERS.
Roger introduced a plethora of music to the MOD youths who danced to it at the Manchester SOUL Clubs. Blues was his first love, R&B, and Soul. He was an evangelist with a messianic approach to educating his audience to American, mostly, black music. Most people interested in the subject about and surrounding the roots of Northern Soul, The Twisted Wheel and its amazing eclectic DJ do not know that there were two Soul clubs in Manchester and both had Roger as the DJ: this other club was The Blue Note on Roby Street. At the Blue Note Roger was able to have a free hand and play the emerging kind of Soul that he loved like lots of Stax and slower sounding Soul that was becoming out of favour by the Dance music only scene growing at the Wheel All-Nighter. After he left the Blue Note club he founded his own The Staxx club on Fountain Street, before moving on to the Hippy Scene in 1968 at The Magic Village. These facts about Roger have gone completely missing even absent from his biography from his friend Bill Sykes.
Roger was responsible for driving interest in a wide range of music, mainly black American but also other types: for example Surf music was a must play genre at the wheel, and Blue Beat, SKA and embryonic Reggae and he followed through with these at the other clubs he worked at. His promotion of the Jamaican sound is another aspect that escapes later day biographers; so hopefully this article puts it right. 
And the book The Manchester Wheelers tells lots of real-life stories about Roger. Argumentative and prickly; Roger hated to do requests unless the song you asked for was one he liked or one that intrigued him: I remember asking him for The Miracles “Dance To Keep From Crying” he smiled and put it on immediately then watched as we all practised a new dance to it on a week night when the club was empty in 1964. The type of music that Roger introduced at the Wheel was eclectic, here are just a few a examples: 
The Miracles “I Gotta Dance To Keep From Crying“
The Cheater – Bob Kuban And The In Crowd
Push It Or Pull It – Donny Elbert
My Boyfriends Back The Angels
Good Time Charlie Bobby Bland
Don’t Mess With My Man Irma Thomas
Surf Music was popular at the Wheel, here are a few I remember:
Surf and Dragster music was ‘hot’ at the Wheel in 64′ tracks like Surf City Jan & Dean and lots of Beach Boys too.
Roger played a wide range of music and here is one of the slowest record that I ever heard him play at the club, a rare import:
Mischievous, maybe; the Rolling Stones (BBC) banned ‘B’ side (1964) was played often, was Roger having a poke at the clubs clientèle?
It was Roger with a little help from his friends who also DJ’d at the Wheel (Roger Fairhurst ) introduced the Motown and Stax and Sue Records sound to Manchester. Roger had lots of arguments with the Abadi Brothers and thought he should be paid more than £3 a night, especially as he new all the music the clientèle came for, he had initiated it; that ‘educational’ music mix, he also knew which blues artists to book, as the owners were in his words were “clueless” and also tight with their cash. Eventually after threatening to leave on many occasions he finally did so, going to the Blue Note, just around the corner from the wheel for a fiver a night. This caused big problems at the Wheel because they had a minuscule record collection and Roger’s huge and popular 45’s went with him to his new DJ location. And at the Blue Note: “Knock On Wood” Eddie Floyd “Grab This Thing” – The Mar-Keys “Marching Off To War” William Bell. And at the Staxx Club Mainly concentrating on Stax but by this period also heavily mixed with Ska and Blue beat: one I especially remember was “Prince Of Peace” Prince Buster.
Rogers Biography:
More about Roger: Roger The Eagle Has Landed BBC Radio iPLAYER
A new edition of this book is now available soon. With new additions left out due to space and print costs with the first edition. This new version is also illustrated with pictures from those days and also lots, and lots of pictures of the record labels of the period.
Digital copies at: AMAZON
And printed limited edition at: Manchester Soul.
So here I am featuring some of the music mentioned in the book:
Play @ YouTube
In the early days the Twisted Wheel’s first location was in Brazennose Street off Albert Square (Town Hall) and the club was into BLUES:
Just two examples of the blues tracks from the ‘Wheel’ there were hundreds and hundreds more, many are mentioned in the book.
The Brazennose Street ‘Wheel’ played a variety of music including Surf Music and SKA and had great live artists every week. A full and complete and amazing list can be found @ Manchester Soul.
This next 45 started out at the first Wheel and was often played at the second incarnation of the club – Whitworth Street.
Going to the Second Twisted Wheel; we first hung out outside the Wimpy Bar – here people would bring along their latest 45 discoveries:
Then one night at the Blue Note Club ‘DL’ brought his fantastic hit 45 that the Wheel played, to show everyone he now owned a copy: it was impressive, it was in a picture sleeve: The FANTASTIC Flamingos with ‘The Boogaloo Party’
You will find hundreds of record labels and a great surrounding story telling it like it was @ THE WHEEL
Here are a few more, some that don’t get much attention these days but were big hits at the ‘Wheel’
Not Available
And there were TWO songs about the American football theme, both with Backfield in Motion: See Mel & Tim /Poindexters?
Mainley a Blue Note record but did make it to the Wheel
A Roger Eagle special!
Again more of a Blue Note player, but did make it for some midweek plays at the Wheel and Dusty’s version is just as brilliant:
Played louder than you could believe this track set a mob dance in action; in an atmosphere only those who were there could believe: God Bless Roger Eagle for blasting us with Motown!
A 45 that all the ‘Wheeler’ girls loved.
This was a major hit at the Blue Note club Manchester before it eventually caught on at the Wheel, because Roger Eagle had left the club in late 66′ and took this and all his amazing record collection with him.
Play@YouTube
Yes we got more Soul: there are so many more and lots shown or mentioned in the Manchester Wheelers book. Everyone who wants to know about the Soul scene in Manchester in the 60’s will find realism in this book. And a great debt of gratitude goes to Roger the DJ who turned on a generation of Mancunians to Soul; and yes no matter what some have said: Roger Eagle started it all off. He was the instigator. And there are a lot of passages in the book about him. And of course credit goes to all the DJ’s who followed him; moving the scene along to 100% Soul, becoming the roots of NORTHERN SOUL.
Book about Roger Eagle:
It was amazing in those old Soul days how a tune stayed in your head; even caught on with other artists who made versions and used similarities on their own material, or even made ‘answer back’ recordings inspired by the original like:
Theola Kilgore responding to Sam Cooke’s ‘Chain Gang’. Oooh, Agh, She did her own great version, about her man working on the Chain Gang: “The Sound of My Man (Working on a Chain Gang)”: PLAY
Sam Cooke: who many say ‘invented Soul music’ used church Gospel songs and made secular variations – so everything ‘original’ had initial roots: 
CHAIN GANG : YouTube
Another great ‘riff’ came from Al Kent: ‘You’ve Got To Pay The Price’
It went ballistic at the ‘Wheel’ and Blue Note clubs in Manchester in 1967:
PLAY @ YouTube
Then Gloria Taylor did her version with lyrics:
PLAY @ YouTube
And also Barbara Lynn caught the bug and used the same riff at least in the intro to; ‘You’re Losing Me’:
PLAY @ YouTube
Another from the very early days of original R&B: a song every group did on the Beat club circuit and incredibly popular at the Twisted Wheel in 1964; was Tommy Tuckers ‘Hi-Heel Sneakers’: a song about women’s shoes.
Chess stablemate Sugar Pie De Santo did her variant; ‘Slip-In Mules (No Hi-Heel Sneakers)’ The ‘B’ side of ‘SOULFUL DRESS’
There was Don Gardner with the fantastic ‘I Need Your Loving’ which was first heard by us in 1964 from Alexis Korners Blues Incorporated, with quite amazing vocals from Herbie Goins:
PLAY @ Utube
And here is the original 1962 recording from Don Gardner and Dee Dee Ford – simply brilliant!:
PLAY @ YouTube
A song original by Chris Kenner, was almost eternally popular at the Twisted Wheel and it produced two good but different themes on the same song with the Na nana na na added on both of the re-makes below, and of course there are many more versions by others:
The version by Cannibal And The Headhunters was dismissed by original Wheelers in Manchester’s Twisted Wheel as not only a poor version (of the two above) but also they were white. In the late sixties one dejay at the Wheel made this version popular over the other two previously preferred versions; maybe the later Wheelers had forgot the originals: oh horror!
The Twisted Wheel was always going its own way, due to its fabulous Dejay’s and as other clubs played the popular Twist by Chubby Checker at the Wheel you mainly got the original by Hank Ballard And The Midnighters:
PLAY @ YouTube
To be fair to Chubby Checker the Wheel favoured his ‘Lets Twist Again’ and of course many others: ‘(At The) Discotheque and many more.
Now for two great versions and both were heavily featured at the ‘Wheel’:
Joce Bond’s ‘Do The Teasy’ a SKA track was a big hit at the ‘Wheel’ and ‘Sugar’ its ‘b’ side was also featured:
The amazing Detroit Spinners, Motown Spinners or The Spinners; of course were best known for ‘I’ll Always Love You’ but their earlier release ‘Sweet Thing’ was deleted and hard to find and difficult to get as an import; only Roger Eagle had it. When he left and took it to the Blue Note, the Wheel Dejay’s had to use the version from Georgie Fame:
PLAY @ YouTube
And turn it off before the second track kicks in!
A more direct copy was this next one, a twist on gender. Sam And Dave were thought of as Stax artists but were in fact signed and owned by Atlantic Records, whereas Jeanne & The Darlings were thoroughly STAX / VOLT :
PLAY @ YouTube
Otis was pure Stax and Aretha pure Atlantic in the UK they both came out on the Atlantic label as this company did the distribution for Stax eventually ‘allegedly’ ripping off our great Stax originals!:
PLAY @ YouTube
Here is an interesting story: Yes we loved originals at the Twisted Wheel and rated everything highly from Major Lance: but his version was eclipsed in play time by the version from blind ‘country singer… and white too! Ronnie Milsap:
PLAY @ YouTube
For this next song you had to go around a few streets from the Twisted Wheel; up to Gore Street, to the Blue Note in 1969 to hear it. The DJ there was always playing Dusty Springfield songs, but the original was by Jerry Butler – they are almost exact copies:
PLAY ‘ YouTube
Another huge hit at the ‘Wheel’ from the Blendells, and the original was by Little Stevie Wonder:
PLAY @ YouTube
Stevie returned to this and put it on his intro to ‘My Cherry Amour’
Going back to the very early days at the Twisted Wheel in Brazennose Street in Manchester – The First location of the Wheel:
PLAY @ YouTube
Two ‘Road Runners’:
PLAY @ YouTube
And the story of Junior Walker appearing at the Twisted Wheel in October of 1967 is told in the book:
Click Wheel card to see a listing of ALL the artists that appeared Live at the club.
A GREAT CD from a Mod UK Soul group, released in August 2010.
Pye record producer John Schroeder had somthing to do with producing the recordings at Pye for The Ferris Wheel.
A Group that appeared several times at the Whitworth Street Twisted Wheel in Manchester: Saturday All-nighter on 4th of November 67 and again on 2nd of December that same year.
A great UK Soul Band and this is also a great CD!
Here is a link to all the live acts at the Wheel in 67 – http://manchestersoul.co.uk/TWheel/1967.html
One member of this group went on to have greater fame: Linda Lewis.
THE TWISTED WHEEL
The place that originated Northern Soul!
The Twisted Wheel known affectionately as the ‘WHEEL’ goes down in history as the place that generated the genre known today as Northern Soul.
There were in fact two Twisted Wheel locations: The first Twisted Wheel was in the old premises of a late 50’s beatnik coffee house that had a large cellar beneath: it was called the Left Wing Club and it had lots of goatee bearded blokes in there with duffle coats and Jazz playing on a record player.
The location was on an alley corner in Brazennose Street off Manchester’s Albert Square, were the City’s Gothic Town Hall stands.
Two brothers Jack & Ivor Abadi took over the premises in late 1962 and opened up the underground cellar, they put in some cartwheels and bicycle wheels into the walls with back lights and with a mesh of bicycle wheels with cogs covering the DJ area. They put in two stages and opened it as a club for teenagers; mostly because they had no alcoholic drinks licence. It opened for business with a local group from Blackley called the Karl Denver Trio headlining on Saturday 27th of January 1963. A full listing of all the live performers at the Twisted Wheel can be found on the Manchester Soul Website.
Soon the ‘Wheel’ was attracting lots of teenagers and young adults and many were gravitating to the new youth movement in England – The MODS. The club soon became THE MOD club in the city and its clientele followed the unwritten rules of Mod culture with rapidly changing styles and ‘IN’ crowd signals only known to ‘members’ within this stylish sub-culture. The way you back-combed your hair, the way you buttoned your jacket, the shoes you wore, etc it was an endless stream of such things in late 63′ & 64′ Then it fizzled out in London: its birthplace (Scene Club Ham Yard), but in Manchester it evolved into SOUL MODS who kept the smart suited style and adopted Soul music and some other related musical influence, evolving from KING’s (King Mods) into SOUL MODS.
The ‘Wheel’ went through several distinct periods and styles, first pop, reflecting the U.K. pop music, the Beatles music was huge at the club in 63’. The local groups The Hollies, Herman’s Hermits, Wayne Fontana and others appeared as live acts. The music was British pop and often songs from the USA: early Soul, R&B and Blues. There was a Blues boom in England in 1964 and Alexis Korner became the Clubs resident band. Others appearing were the Spencer Davis Group, Zoot Money and Geogie Fame and the Blue Flames. The music played by the club DJ’s was Blues, Soul, R&B, Surf, Some Jazz (Jimmy Smith) and Blue Beat & SKA.
Roger Eagle the clubs music mentor, who arrived in late 63 was by 1964 was encouraging and booking Stateside Blues artists to appear live at the club. Sonny Boy Williamson appeared at Christmas (Boxing Day) in 1963. All the English groups including the Beatles and of course the Rolling Stones were doing versions of Stateside material, Georgie Fame had a complete repertoire of songs from Soul artists, Jamaican Ska, and Jazz.
The club had a totally unique an eclectic atmosphere.
It had clientele coming from all over Great Britain by 1967 at its second location, across town from the first one to a location near Piccadilly Station, on Whitworth Street. 
The Saturday All-nighters were what most wanted and Amphetamines fuelled these all night Soul rallies.
The legend goes on and on and expanding right up to today. Many believed it was the Wigan Casino that began it but this is wrong.
It began half a decade before the genre was christened NORTHERN SOUL in 1970 by Dave Godin of Blues & Soul Magazine.
It was ALL about MANCHESTER
And it was ALL about the MUSIC!
To know much more visit MANCHESTER SOUL
Play@YouTube
Soul-Directions 