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By Verity Carson

Sundays, for most, are a day of rest after a busy week. For fans of Northern Soul, however, they are a chance to relive their youth at the Twisted Wheel event, held every month at Manchester’s Alter Ego.

The opening of the Twisted Wheel coffee bar and nightclub on Manchester’s Brazennose Street in 1963 heralded the emergence of the Northern Soul scene in Manchester. The venue held a live soul performance each week with the list of performers, including artists such as Jackie Wilson, Edwin Starr and Tina Turner.

The scene was nothing like anyone had ever witnessed before in the North of England, hence the popularity of the Wheel. The club played a variation of genres, not just soul, with R&B being a popular choice for DJs who played vinyls which had been imported from the US. What made the Wheel stand out, however, were the all-nighters, something of a rare occurrence before the venue was established.

Unfortunately, the Wheel closed in 1971 due to owners, the Abadi brothers, being unable to secure an all-nighter licence and the constant pressure being put on them in regards to drug searches (amphetamine use was rife in the club as a result of the no alcohol policy). Yet it wasn’t until 2000 that the Twisted Wheel was officially re-opened under the management of Pete Roberts who himself attended the original club.

Roberts spoke to us about his reasons for re-opening the Wheel: “I first went to the Twisted Wheel in 1968 just before I left school so I would’ve been just 15 at that time, I went there with a friend of mine. What made me want to go there initially was all the hype around it. It had a very bad reputation and that intrigued me, but, once I had attended, I realised that it didn’t really deserve the reputation that it had.

“So what happened was that I kept pubs for two years, but I always wanted to re-open the Wheel so I approached the owner of the Stageroom in Manchester, which was demolished in 2012, and he said ‘Well, why didn’t you come and see me? I would’ve let you do the Wheel.’ I always said that, when I finally come out of pubs, I am going to reopen the Twisted Wheel and I did but I wish I had done it ten years sooner.”

Fast forward to present day and the demolition of the Stageroom led to the Twisted Wheel finding its new home at Alter Ego on Princess Street.

It’s a long way from the all-nighters of the 60s but what stands out about the new venue is the loyalty that the club goers have to the Northern Soul scene. If you go into Alter Ego on Canal Street on the second Sunday and the last Sunday of every month, expect to see a room filled with women and men (the majority aged 50+), decked out in Fred Perry button down shirts, freshly polished brogues and Adidas bowling bags with the original Northern Soul patches stitched on. They even dance like they did when they were teens. The floor in each room is full of Wheelers shuffling to tune after tune, perhaps minus the splits and the backdrops. The one thing that connects these people is their sheer passion for Northern Soul.

The events also attract the younger generation, many having inherited their love of Northern Soul from their parents. Roberts explained why it is vital that the venue continues to attract the young people: “A lot of the original Wheelers are now unfortunately in the cemetery, which means there needs to be young blood coming through, otherwise the Wheel will die with us. Luckily there is young blood coming through, we do get young mods who come to the Wheel.

“I say to most people that Northern Soul has never been as big as what it is today, but I don’t know if it’s done it a lot of justice because I’m a dinosaur and still live in the 60s. It’s a totally different scene today than what it was then.”

One of the young Wheelers is Jade Bateson who has been attending the event at Alter Ego for five years. She explained what brings her to the event: “I’ve been coming to the wheel with my dad since I was 18 and the event is just brilliant, it’s a good crowd, good music and a good session.”

Bateson who says she was brought up listening to the music explains why she still has an interest in the scene: “My dad is a ‘mod father’, he’s like Steve Marriott (lead member of mod rock bands Small Faces and Humble Pie) so as soon as I was old enough I was coming here, but I became interested in Northern Soul music when I was 14.”

She added: “I don’t think it is the norm, I feel that you either connect to the scene and the music or you don’t, but I am jealous that I never got the opportunity to go to the original Twisted Wheel.”

The Twisted Wheel has continued to thrive despite suffering many setbacks since it was established, not least having been located at more than five different sites since its beginnings on Brazennose Street.

Roberts pointed out that BBC DJ Richard Searling is responsible for the scene still being popular: “A friend of mine who is a very famous DJ and was one of the original DJs at Wigan Casino played a very important part in the Wheel still being open. I always say to Richard that I honestly think that if he wouldn’t have stuck with it then the scene would’ve died.

“I think if anyone has kept the scene alive then it is certainly Richard Searling.”

With the Twisted Wheel being a huge part of the North’s music scene, fans can only hope that the next generation gets to witness the Northern Soul scene still alive and shuffling.