Memories
I was brought up in Oldham and went to the Twisted Wheel and the Oasis Club in Manchester, it would be about 1967/68. I never attended the all-nighters.
I got two buses, the B bus which stopped outside my house and then the 98 down Manchester Road, then walked to Whitworth Street.
I remember seeing Junior Walker and the All Stars, Edwin Starr and of course the St Louis Union, who had a massive following as you know. I remember the Union playing the Astoria ballroom in Oldham and hearing Heatwave by Martha and the Vandellas for the first time played by them. They were unique as they had a sax and an organ and did great soul covers. It was ages before I heard the original version and I still remember quite vividly hearing the song for the first time.
A few years ago I was in Selectadisc in Nottingham with my daughter and got a copy of Central 1179, the story of Manchester's Twisted Wheel Club and was overwhelmed with all the memories it brought back. Great days!!! Janet Chow
I visisted the Wheel regularly around 1969/70 and met many people with very flambouyant names. Like Batman from Leicester and Haggis from Sheffield, Little Dave from Levenshulme and Joey Eager from Liverpool, Kathy and her sister from Glasgow and a lass from Keighly who talked a lot. I spent the whole night in the loos chatting once. I think it was Linda ?
Judy from Stafford who went with Janet from Telford.
I was fortunate enough to work on the ground floor directly above the Wheel in Brazennose St. Talk about mixing business with pleasure! Friday afternoons I could hear that night's bands doing their sound checks, such as they were. The message being that the weekend had already started. Spent each Saturday buying records and was totally broke come Monday morning. It has always remained a mystery to me how some people seemed to have money for not only records but clothes and pills as well! When The Wheel moved to Whitworth St. it lost it's feel for me. The sound was crap and the place just didn't have the same feeling about it. It became too much a "scene" place to be. I guess that's why Roger Eagle upped sticks though I may be wrong.
John Irving
You think Roger Eagle was the only DJ at The Twisted Wheel in Brazennose St.? The first night I ever attended,(Memphis Slim/Georgie Fame) the man on the decks was Roger Fairhurst(Who's still alive and kicking) and he was playing John Mayall's "Crawlin' up a hill". He's still got a terrific collection and is a mine of information. The Wheel wasn't just a one man band.
John Irving
I visited the Twisted Wheel regularly in 1963/64. I don't think it had been open long. Us girls used to do the classic thing of dancing round our handbags!!
If nothing much was happening at the Wheel we used to go round to the Oasis. I remember one night Dave Berry was on at the Oasis. I thought he was strange!
Never went to any all nighters, there would have been hell to pay at home. I used to get the bus in from Cheadle and sometimes walk a lot of the way home (Couldn't do that now, for lots of reasons).
I really liked the Hollies, they were there a lot, if I remember rightly. Happy days.
J Simpson
Read with interest the comments re dj's at Brazenose Street Wheel. Whatever happened to Peter(Bongo) Van Dort. Does anybody remember him?
Ron Finn
The first thing I used to do when entering the Old Wheel was request the DJ to play my favourite record of the time, 'Crossroads' by Homesick James.
Saw some great performances there too by John Lee Hooker, Carl Perkins, The Yardbirds, Spencer Davis, Sonny Boy Williamson, and Long John Baldry: who used to wander about the place ducking the archways that led from room to room with Rod Stewart at his side looking even smaller than he is.
The pea soup was another memory, very tasty: along with the pretty girls with their long hair and panstick lipstick.
Peter Bradford
There was a dark side to the "Wheel" that at the time was very cool, and that was what we all called "pep pills". To stay up dancing all night at the all-nighters in those days you needed some amphetamines. Most of which were knocked-off from local chemists. We did not have any chemical names, we just called them by their colours, red'n'blacks, brown'n'greens etc.
Spencer and the other bloke (forgot his name) from the cops used to search us as we were lining up to get into the all-nighters on a regular basis. We used to buy the pills on Picadilly station and slide them inside the turnups of my bleached blue jeans. Boy, the state of us in the El Mogambo round the corner on Sunday morning, getting it together to go home. my kids don't believe half the stories.
Chris W
I started to go down the Wheel with my older brother Tony (Rest his soul) and my mates back in 68-70. We lived in Nelson Lancs and would alternate between either The Wheel or an all nighter close to home in Brierfield called the Bird Trap,
We would go down our local dance hall called The Imp to see some of the great Soul Acts like Sam & Dave, Otis Reading etc and then off down the good old all nighter to dance the night away.
If only it was still like that now a days!!!!! Long Live Soul
David West
I was a regular at the wheel 69/71 great times me and friends from Doncaster. I remember batman, haggis, nobby (from Derby)
Chris Farrell
I remember the Twisted Wheel club in Brazennose Street and later at Whitworth St. I attended reularly from about 1963 to 1965. I saw many artists including Sony Boy Williamson. I went to the all night sessions and the next day the dedicated went to Blackpool, where we finished off the weekend with more clubbing.
The club was non alcoholic, but by the time the all night session opened, most of us had been drinking in the local pubs. However, there was a lot of uppers and downers used. When the police raided one night, the floor was covered in pills and the less fortunate were scrabbling around the floor trying to scoop them up.
That aside I had some fantastic nights dancing to the beat of r&b. I also remeber the Oasis club, where I saw several budding artists who late became pop legends, but I found it rather commercial and less of a buzz than the twisted wheel. I didn't think the reopening in Whitworth St was as successful as the original club. Later, I progressed on to other (alcoholic) clubs and got stuck into a professional career, but I can still remember many of the faces and pals I had, but not their names. I would love to hear from them.
My tastes these days extend more to Paolo Conte than modern pop, but I when I hear the r&b I have to dance, and memories of my carefree youth come back.
Alan Brooks
Had many great nights at the wheel with the Heywood "in Crowd" Ebb, Sid, Bone, Tud, and Dennis "Hutthur" Kingslow and the girls Mooresy, Flower,and Petal.
Used to meet early and spend a few hours in the "Jigsaw" before moving onto the Wheel. Saw some good artists including Ben E King, Spencer Davis and Edwin Starr.
Just for interest my brother Roy was lead singer with "The Powerhouse". A great Manchester soulband who should have acheived more.
If any members of the Heywood "In Crowd" read this and want a reunion night you can contact me. I'm in the phone book. That's Chris (Ebb) McLean, Anthony (Tud) Loxley, Jeff (Bone) Greatorex , Sid (TheNose) Pinde, Dave (Albums) Hayes, Dennis (Hutther) Kingslow plus the Girls - Val (Mooresy) Moores, Janet (Flower) Gannon and Petal not sure of her name. Also Lesley (Les) Waterhouse.
Let's relive our youth again before it's too late.
Alan ( Alby) Gibbs
People do not believe the times we used have. It will never be repeated - we would go out on Friday night and not go home till Monday morning
Roy Barry
I went to the Wheel 66 to 69. The great thing was the fact it was so frendly and in the moring you went to the Salvation Army for tea for a cup of tea then the Blue Note just to come down. Then we got the train back to Carlisle.
Bill Elliott
Great trip down Memory Lane reading about the Wheel.
Used to go there in the early Sixties. Coming from the "Country" (Wythenshawe:-) we would get the 102 to Albert Sq and then "tank up" in the Rising Sun before heading to the "All Nighters".
Agree, fantastic times, great groups (Spencer Davies with "baby" Steve Winwood on vocals and organ, ike and Tina Turner etc.
Sunday night we would then get our "best mod gear" on and go to Belle Vue. Saw long John Baldry/Rod etc.
Often wonder what happened to Samantha who "helped" Jimmy Saville on the stage. Supposed to have gone to America with Mickey Dolenz of the Monkees.
Talk about full circle, now live in NYC and Peter Noone appearing at an oldies reunion a few miles from here next week. He couldn't sing when he lived in Sale and presume he still can't
Peter Appleton
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