1960's London Mod / Soul Clubs

[Sceneman]

last play at the last chance was jimmy radcliff .then the lights went on and all the mods shuffled out to a coffee bar somewhere..last chance saloon was demolished for the new train station..in the mean time it was known as the eidelweiss club for some years in the early 70s .

when the scene closed at 7AM mods used to go to last chance for an extra hour or 2 ,and it was 5 shillings to get in .

[Dimples]

[Sceneman]

we all missed some top name acts at the flamingo and numerous other clubs but a mods miserable wages at the time wouldnt stretch to going to other clubs. after a night out at the scene  there wasnt much money left for seeing other acts  especially the flamingo as it was over a quid to get in to see live acts from america ,and money had to be found to keep a scooter running and clothes and records to buy and daily living expenses ..

the scene was a guinee to get in on a saturday .cheaper in the week .

at xmas time the scene became deserted as mods were at partys  so didnt go there over xmas

[Dimples]

 

Edited December 12, 2020 by Dimples

[Sceneman]

a trip to the door of the scene club

i managed to get a video before the hotel was built

 

dont forget to read the comments on youtube by ex mods and members

Edited December 24, 2020 by Sceneman

[Dimples]

 

Edited December 12, 2020 by Dimples

[Sceneman]

to get in to see jay hawkins at the flamingo was if my memory seves me was 1 pound 17 shillings and sixpence ,,same as most other top name acts from the US and a teenage mods salary was around 2-3pounds as an apprentice so it was a chunk of the wages ,whereas a record night was 10 shillings at most R and B clubs in soho .although the althabet club was 10 shillings on saturday all nighter and weekday record sessions at most clubs ..we had long debates about can we afford it but came to the conclusion we couldnt afford to see jay hawkins or major lance or the soul sisters..ggrrrr

rumour had it major lance was seen in the freight train coffee bar in berwick street  ,a  mods hangout

[noolas]

On 24/02/2019 at 10:48, Dimples said:

R&B Club Guide Jubilee

 

[noolas]

Just now, noolas said:

 

nice to see these old ad's looks like they came from the new musical express or record mirror , i was a regular up west back in 64\65 my main club of choice was the last chance saloon on oxford st , it was the same as la discotheque and the scene open all night full of mods dancing to the latest RnB tunes and fuelled with blues  , then in the morning it was off to liverpool st station hundreds of us gathered there on the station concourse then slowly drifted off , we used to cross over and walk into petticote lane market looking for records , great times

[noolas]

On 22/02/2019 at 13:50, Dimples said:

Yes I've been to Gaz's Rockin Blues @ St. Moritz. Great Club, nice music and the venue has a special vibe! Love it.

do you remember the la poubelle club it was in the same area of wardour st as the st moritz ?

Edited December 15, 2020 by noolas
wrong spelling

[Dimples]

17 minutes ago, noolas said:

do you remember the la poubelle club it was in the same area of wardour st as the st moritz ?

St Moritz is still running nowadays. Did not live the Original Mod scene so I did not know La Poubelle

[Dimples]

Flamingo Club dancers and Tony Knight's Chessmen live at The Flamingo.

[Sceneman]

on saturday we used to get news of who we missed at the scene club during the week ,all big names like bo diddley or little richard used to appear there with no warning ,even the who alegedly played there ..before going into the scene we used to have a swift half in one of the local boozers or the macabre coffee bar in an alley way off wardor street .now it seems to be a basement flat occupied by humans..

the macabre coffee bar had a juke box on which a kathy kirby single ''dance on'' was heard

[Fiftyboiledeggs]

For all you London Mods out there, where did the mod scene actually begin?

Who were the first mods?

Being a spring chicken I'm curious to know;) 

[Sceneman]

i would say in the london R and B clubs but i cant be sure as it was changing fast about then ,it kinda evolved from who knows where ,others may have more info than me ..

the flamingo sound system was pretty poor compared with the scene clubs sound system and the choice of records was better at the scene club as DJ guy stevens had a large collection of just about everything you could think of,  all fresh from the US..on the visits to the flamingo on record nights i was surprised at the lousy selection of  tunes they had and the lack of volume and bass on their piddling sound system .so one more reason to stick with the scene club as the thumping great speakers slung from the ceiling were about as good as you could get, with 2  garard 301s at the other end of the chain and the very best 45s of the time ,supplied by mr stevens

[Fiftyboiledeggs]

Thanks for the info. Curious to hear how the fashions began and where in London.

[Sceneman]

there was a few fashionable shop selling bit and pieces but it was still the era of montegue burtons and the full monty ,when guys couldnt afford to buy a whole suit in one go ,so bought the jacket trousers and waist coat sepeartely till they had ''the full monty''.. suits were paid for on weekly terms ..

a mod lusted after a mohair suit and then came the mullet haircut but i dont know where from !!

some wore leather coats and jackets at the scene club

this was only less than 20years after WW2 so most folks were hard up and had no TV or housephone just a valve radio and the london skyline was littered with bombed out buildings courtesy of the lauftwaffe ,money was in short supply ,,houses rarely had a bathroom either at this time

 

see the front of paul andersons book for an image

[Fiftyboiledeggs]

Interesting, so that's where the phrase the full monty came from.

When they had all the suit, not just the trousers:)

Going to read Paul Anderson's book later.

[Sceneman]

1 minute ago, fiftyboiledeggs said:

Interesting, so that's where the phrase the full monty came from.

When they had all the suit, not just the trousers:)

Going to read Paul Anderson's book later.

pauls book is the best so do it

[Dimples]

[Sceneman]

i forgot to mention when levi denims suddnely became available .out of the blue ,there was a hardware shop in the kings road chelsea at the fulham end that sold boiler suits overalls and boots and mods discoverd the levi denims in there for quite a cheap fee. the shop had the front missing due to a german bomb and as you went by on the bus all the insides were on display ..just some tarpaulins hung down over the front from the missing roof to keep the rain out..levis were a bit more loose than dickys ideal for riding a scooter and then we found the ex USAAF fish tail parkas  to complete the ensemble from army surplas stores which were ideal for scooter runs..but we also wore the fish tailed parkas to the scene club and soho ,,so you saw gangs of kids in levis and parkas wandering around at night...the cloakroom at the scene was generally full up with parkas as they were too bulky to wear inside ..

you couldnt take your vespa to soho on saturday night as they would get stolen and you came out to find it gone ,so we took the piccadilly line to piccadilly underground ,so after about 12 it was too late so you had to walk home .which wasnt so bad if you had  taken some blues .the time passed quickly

so there was suddenly a kit to wear for scooters ,just add some desert boots or beetle boots and you were ready to go anywhere..beetle boots were too expensive for me as they could costs a weeks wages

so some other boots with cuban heels were available ..the shop in drury lane had queues of kids waiting to buy beetle boots so some could afford them

beetle boots are still made and available !!

 

[Dimples]

[Dimples]

London Mods circa 1964

[Sceneman]

club cards for the attic hounslow and pontiac club putney

the attic didnt have much ambiance and was small .the pontiac was better but the owner didnt pay me for my DJ ing there so didnt carry on

[Sceneman]

all these ads for blue beat and island and king labels 45s but it wasnt easy to buy them as u had to order them for next week ,,nowhere stocked them all..i used to hang around a shop in shepherds bush market where they sold jamaican imports  and blue beat but you didnt know what was good or bad even though they played a lot of records and it was loud on speakers outside the small shop..i was the only white man there at the shop .the titles were on a chalked blackboard outside the shop in top ten format but a few were calypso on the early island issues..i dont recall where they got any air play except at some clubs but u didnt know what their titles were ,so it as all a mystery at the time about treasure isle issue imports

my mates borowed  my good stuff and i never got them back ,hence houswifes choice is missing and quite a few prince buster 45s are missing

[Sceneman]

The Freight Train was opened on the corner of Berwick Street and Noel Street by skiffle player Chas McDevitt early in 1958, following the success of his record of the same name.  Initially it hosted impromptu sessions, where musicians such as Diz Disley and Les Bennetts would jam into the night.  It was also the venue for an early performance by Cliff Richard and the Drifters in June 1958.  Unlike many other local establishments, however, the coffee bar’s basement was not transformed into a music club.  Instead the Freight Train served as, “a rendezvous for many of the London-based groups, a point where they could assemble to leave for a gig or unwind in the early hours returning from work.”  McDevitt claims that it was on one such occasion, in the Freight Train’s derelict basement, “surrounded by empty Coca-Cola crates and broken furniture”, that Brian Gregg, formerly in Les Hobeaux Skiffle Group composed ‘Shakin’ All Over’ in collaboration with Fred Heath of the Nutters.  Heath would make the song another seminal British rock ‘n’ roll number when he took it into the charts with his group The Pirates, under his alter-ego Johnny Kidd.

 

cribbed from soho site

[Fiftyboiledeggs]

On 23/12/2020 at 15:59, Dimples said:

London Mods circa 1964

Qutie a long  shirt collar on the kid to the right.

[Fiftyboiledeggs]

On 09/04/2019 at 16:54, Sceneman said:

https://www.messynessychic.com/2014/08/21/the-tiny-island-on-the-thames-that-once-held-the-rolling-stones-david-bowie-and-the-uks-largest-hippie-commune/

my dear departed friend Liam, did an album there with Flowered Up, camden town kids, badly produced, wasn't till they got the Madness producer Clive Winstanley they recorded "Weekender" a seminal record of that era.

[Roburt]

Some more London venues that were hosting US soul acts back in 1968 ... 

Edited January 24, 2021 by Roburt

[Fiftyboiledeggs]

The New All -Star Club was on a street next to me.

Interesting , thanks.

[Roburt]

We used to (sometimes) shoot down to London early on a Sunday morning in the mid 60's. We'd head straight to the early morning street market on Petticoat Lane. This was just around the corner from the New All Star Club.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GL_NTDK_40o

[Sceneman]

fred heath and the nutters,, didnt know the freight train had a basement and i worked locally just across the road

incidently the cue club had  a bad rep so we didnt go there  due to the stabbings and murders there

 

the el partido was ok though with thumping ska on the top floor

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2xXhU7-4W2Q

[Sceneman]

https://www.facebook.com/MyForthcomingBookModsTheNewReligion/

 

smilers fb page for the book

Edited January 25, 2021 by Sceneman

[Chilli]

1 hour ago, Sceneman said:

https://www.facebook.com/MyForthcomingBookModsTheNewReligion/

 

smilers fb page for the book

And a brilliant book it is too.  I can't recommend it enough for anyone with even a slight interest in 1960s music.

[Autumnstoned]

club cards for the attic hounslow and pontiac club putney

the attic didnt have much ambiance and was small .the pontiac was better but the owner didnt pay 

 

This is in reply to Sceneman - sorry screwed up the quote facility!

Interesting as I now live on Upper Richmond Road. Zeta House is a landmark building in Putney close to the overground and East Putney tube so a great location for a music venue. There’s more info about the club here :- https://garagehangover.com/pontiac-club-zeeta-house-putney-london/

 

Edited January 25, 2021 by Autumnstoned

[Sceneman]

yea i used to live in fulham all my life so passed the zeta house most days ,its had a few clubs over the years

Edited January 25, 2021 by Sceneman

[Bunderthollox]

Went to the dog arse days of the Camden Palais to check out ''Jackie Wilson Live at'' It was full of 80s blondes proper hand-baggers and there was me in a parka like a twart, for me a regular haunt was Happiness Stan's in Farringdon a bit of all sorts club with focus on 60s sounds,  lots of Mod stuff, not sure how long it had been going but seemed a long time, Id get in there straight away, doormen would whisk you down the front and in,  loved that place now sadly gone.  Aniother place was upstairs at the Monarch  in Camden the upstairs room was bouncing more of a soul club, that.  Were talking 80s tho. 

Love these flyers in this post-awesome 

 

Edited January 29, 2021 by Bunderthollox

[Daved]

Loving all the clippings posted.

[Sceneman]

One of England's top rock & roll outfits before the Beatles led the early-'60s Beat Boom, Johnny Kidd & the Pirates are best remembered today for one international rock classic ("Shakin' All Over") and as a seminal influence on several more famous groups, most notably the Who. Johnny Kidd (born Frederick Heath) had formed his first band, a skiffle group called the Five Nutters, in 1957. They quickly outgrew their skiffle roots and, after a short period fronting the Fred Heath Combo, he joined Alan Caddy (guitar), Tony Docherty (rhythm guitar), and Ken McKay (drums), in early 1958 in an outfit that was dubbed Johnny Kidd & the Pirates, who were spotted by an EMI Records representative and signed to the label. The group cut their first record, the outstanding Please Don't Touch, in April 1959, highlighted by Heath's menacing vocals, which reached number 26 on the British charts. The group's subsequent records were an uneven mix of solid R&B-based rock juxtaposed with awkwardly covered standards. In May of 1960, however, the band was in the studio to record one of those standards, "Yes Sir, That's My Baby," with an original B-side that they hadn't fully worked out. That B-side, a Heath original called "Shakin' All Over," became the A-side of a number one single that became the first original rock song in England to achieve the status of an international rock standard. Driven by Caddy's guitar and a mournful, ominous lead vocal by Heath, the song topped the charts and completely astonished everybody who heard it that such a track could have come from an English rock & roll band. Unfortunately, like every other British label of the era, EMI was never sure how best to deal with rock & roll success, and the group was made to record any amount of dross in the wake of this success, amid some superb follow-up numbers. Several membership changes followed, most notably the addition of Mick Green on lead guitar. The group was among the finest rock combos of the early '60s, with a wild stage act that had them playing in pirate regalia, but it never had enough consistent chart success to put it back in the top ranks of Britain's rock hierarchy, though they received a great deal of respect from the younger generation of rock & rollers. Early in their career, the Who played on the same bill as Johnny Kidd & the Pirates, and it was through watching the Pirates at work that they arrived at their own sound of a solo singer backed by a guitar, bass, and drums; the band also added "Shakin' All Over" to their repertory. Heath and his band struggled onward into the mid-'60s, even remaking "Shakin' All Over." Green left in 1964 (replaced by John Weider) to take over as a member of the Dakotas, Billy J. Kramer's backup band, and Heath put together a new combo during this period. The mid-'60s seemed to be a more favorable period for Heath's brand of R&B-based rock & roll. He put together a group called the New Pirates, and was about to embark on a new phase of his career, when he was killed in a car crash on October 7, 1966. the New Pirates continued on for a time, with Johnny Carroll fronting the group until mid-1967, when they called it quits.

[Roburt]

What you needed with you if you went to the Flamingo niters back in 63 / 64 ... 

[Roburt]

The early days of the London R&B scene ... 63 / 64 ... many clubs hosting R&B nights were mainly jazz venues the majority of the time ... 

[Sceneman]

a blocked mod wandering around soho at night could get rolled for a packet of gum as they were in short supply in the am

 

 

 

[MikeStart]

On 12/02/2019 at 14:10, Sceneman said:

there was only 1 the scene club in ham  yard and it gets very few mentions ..georgie fame and blue flames was the biggest down there but he never mentions it ,,always the flamingo .but it wasnt a MOD hangout like the scene club ..

guy stevens was DJ

zoot money and a host of stars inc the who and bo diddley played there ..and the beatles allegedly but i never saw em there

Hey there, we're currently making a documentary film on Guy Stevens. Love to know your experiences down at The Scene - especially on Monday nights when Guy was DJ-ing.  Mike

[MikeStart]

On 14/02/2019 at 17:22, Dimples said:

THE SCENE CLUB (HAM YARD)

LOVE these photos. When were they taken?

[MikeStart]

On 16/02/2019 at 15:47, Sceneman said:

heres a piccy of my old club card issued in august 1963 ..scene only lasted a few years but they were good years ..theres a photo of me in a parka being dragged out by cops during a drug raid on the front of a sunday paper and subsequent appearance at Bow street magistrates court on a charge of being in possession of ampethamines 

Wonderful stuff! : )

[Dimples]

2 hours ago, MikeStart said:

LOVE these photos. When were they taken?

1964 @ The Scene Club (Ham Yard. London)

[MikeStart]

23 minutes ago, Dimples said:

1964 @ The Scene Club (Ham Yard. London)

Thanks for replying.

We're currently in production on a documentary film on Guy Stevens. As such, we're looking to track down as much archive material (photos, footage, flyers & ads etc) as possible - specifically around the time Guy was DJ-ing at The Scene. If you have anything you can share - we'd love to see it. We will of course pay to license anything used in the final film. Do own these photos? These are great! Mike

 

[Dimples]

Tiles Club (september 1966) as reported on front cover of Coming events in Britain magazine.

 

Edited October 5, 2022 by Dimples

[Kenmidgley]

Brilliant read that

[Roburt]

One week in London -- December 1965 ...

when you could go to 100's of different nights over a 10 day period & see dozens of great live acts (most UK based though) ...  Hedgehoppers Anonymous didn't qualify, but there were loads of good acts on at the silver Blades Ice Rink ...

BACK THEN it was normal to board over say an ice rink or a swimming baths pool, to put on a dance (R&B night even).