When it comes
to northern soul clubs, there are usually a few that immediately come to mind;
Wigan Casino, The Twisted Wheel in Manchester and slightly further afield, The
Golden Torch in Stoke-on-Trent.
However for a
short moment in time, a small Bolton venue became the place to be to hear the
exciting sounds of rare American soul music.
In the 1960s,
the Twisted Wheel was the undisputed king of northern soul, with the term
originally being coined by journalist Dave Godin following a visit to the club.
Once it
closed in 1971, The Golden Torch took its crown and reigned over the scene for
the next two years until Stoke-on-Trent Council refused to renew its licence in
March 1973.
Until Wigan
Casino opened in September of that year, there was an overwhelming demand for
northern soul all-nighters, which Va Va in Bolton gladly took advantage of.
Hidden down
the stairs of Elizabeth House, just off Great Moor Street, the venue held
around 400 people but it was its futuristic decor that raised eyebrows.
In his book
'Young Soul Rebels', Scottish journalist and author Stuart Cosgrove notes that
the "short-lived" Va Va was "memorable for its mirrored walls
and the paranoia they induced" in those who caught a glimpse of themselves
while dancing under the influence.
A review of
the club in an old issue of Blues and Soul Magazine said that the club
contained more than £10,000 worth of equipment and lights. Writer Pete Fell
also described the dancefloor as "small but adequate" and said that
the drinks prices were "extortionate".
One of the
people who regularly helped to pack the club out on a Friday night is Brent
Howarth and the former Smithills Moor Grammar School pupil remembers his local
northern soul club fondly.
Brent, who
also worked at the venue during the week, said: "Bolton for some strange
reason seems to have had more than its fair share of these clubs, record
collectors and DJs, as well as soul enthusiasts and good dancers.
"Va Va
was quite unique in that it had an all-nighter on Fridays. This was due to a local
by-law that stated that the only premises that could obtain a music licence to
play records after 2am on Sunday mornings were members only clubs.
"A few
of us would often take a few records down on a Saturday night and when the
locals had fallen asleep we would dance away to our favourite music.
"I
worked at the venue during the week, and knew the management well. After a
while, and having borrowed records from older soulies such as Jimmy Muirhead
and Mick Gooding, Hank and Dave Urmston, the management were approached and the
question of playing soul from the start of the session was posed. We were told
'find a DJ and you're on'.
"Legendary
Bolton DJ Wycliffe 'Wick' Barratt was asked and he said that he knew a mate who
worked at Global Records in Manchester.
"Within
weeks, what had been an all-nighter littered with sleeping bodies became a hot
sweaty mass of dancing soulies that came from as far as Scotland, Barnsley,
Sheffield, as we spread the word about a Friday 'nighter in Bolton.
"All
this on two dance floors; the biggest of which was about the size of my bedroom
and the other as big as the rug in it."
Wick
Barratt's friend from Global Records was the, at that time, relatively unknown
DJ Richard Searling.
Richard, from
Tonge Moor, has since become a legend of the Northern Soul scene as the
resident DJ at Wigan Casino and fronting soul shows on stations such as Smooth
FM and BBC Radio Manchester.
But in 1973,
he relished the chance to make a name for himself playing the music he was so
passionate about in his hometown.
Richard said:
"I remember taking the call one afternoon when I worked at Global Records
in Manchester from Wick Barrett, asking if I wanted to DJ and I jumped at the
chance. Had it been six months earlier, I wouldn't have been interested because
it was only when I went to Global that I started to accumulate records during a
trip to Philadelphia.
"I
walked into Bolton from where I lived in Tonge Fold, about a mile away, with a
couple of little record boxes and it was enough to get me through most of the
night. Other DJs like Ian 'Pep' Pereira, Alan Day and Martin Ellis would come
in the odd half hour to help me and give me a break.
"The
venue was state-of-the-art but the weird thing was that the all-nighter went on
straight after a Bowie and Roxy Music night and they started letting our crowd
in before they'd kicked them out.
"The DJ
booth, or the 'cockpit' as I call it, was below dancefloor level so if someone
wanted a song they had to lean down and tap you on the back of the head. The
dancefloor itself was really small, it was the size of someone's front room.
"If you
went in now, you'd say 'there's no way a northern soul all-nighter would work
here' but it did work because of the void between the Golden Torch closing and
Wigan Casino opening. Va Va filled it perfectly."
One of the
records that Richard had in his box was an obscure single by American recording
artist Gloria Jones, that he had bought on a trip to the United States.
The song,
which was almost 10 years old at the time was completely unheard of in the UK
but Richard used it to pack dancefloors at Va Va and it eventually became a
staple of the Northern Soul scene.
That track
was Tainted Love, which has since taken on a life of its own due to various
covers, including the most popular by Soft Cell.
Other
Northern Soul classics spun inside the small venue include My Dear Heart by
Shawn Robinson, I got to find me somebody by the Vel-Vets, Slow Fizz by The
Sapphires, and Lynn Randell's Stranger in my Arms - which Richard notes was one
of the last songs to be played at Va Va.
"We'd
had issues with the drug squad in around July 1973 but we managed to
reopen," Richard said.
"However
when Wigan Casino opened in September, it became a waste of time.
"I got a
call on the Wednesday or Thurdsay, prior to the all-nighter on Friday, and I
was told that we'd lost our licence, meaning that we had to finish at 2am.
"As we
finished at 2am, people were still arriving. I remember a coach rolling in and
they had to sit on the car park.
"Obviously
there was no social media or email in those days so it was difficult to really
tell anybody. It was very disappointing."
As Richard
alluded to, Va Va was eventually closed down due to drug use inside the venue.
Bouncer Fred
'Dicky' Dickinson said: "People took amphetamines to keep them awake and
dancing all night long.
"The
effects of the drug made it easy to tell who was on it - their eyes would be
like saucers and they wouldn't be able to stop talking or chewing. That meant
it was always easy to spot the drug squad whenever they sent cadets into
mingle. They stood out like a sore thumb.
"I only
ever threw one person out and that was because he was a p***head rather than a
soulie, and he was causing trouble."
After Va Va
closed, the venue went through a number a name changes over the years including
Pips, Rotters, Space City, High Society, Kiss and Club Liquid.
Today it is
completely empty, as it has been for some time, with the unit available to rent
on Rightmove.
