11.7.15

Right On ! The Cats






Right On! The Cats (21st. October 1968 - 13th/14th. July 1974)
If you went to the soul nights at the Catacombs club like myself you may have fond memories of a sweaty dance floor, people passionately clapping on the beat and spinning on the bridges (that's the sax bit in the middle) and most of the time nearly falling over or being caught by another dancer.
   I've opened up this page due to the lack of memorabilia for this club to be found on the Internet (2001). So I thought let's start you all off  or perhaps to jog your  memories, so here's some of mine in pictures & sound - let's see what happens.
Mel Brat's 'Impression of the Cat's'
   Dave Krynski from Tipton has recently played me some of the four hours of the last night that he recorded himself. Dave also owns many hours of Wigan live on the nite  tapes as well from 1974 that can  be made available if needed.
   Our achieve also contains interviews with DJ's old and new that made the Cat's club famous these were recorded on its last night.  I was there too, I'm the guy with a beard holding his two fingers in the air (the peace sign.) It was Saturday 13/14th. July,  1974.
   The building was later demolished and made into a car park. Has anybody got a picture of  the club from the outside that would be nice?
Myself & friends
   Your probably thinking what's this got to do with a Black radio station tribute website? Well as a DJ from this station I always found the management supportive to all things in reflection of this era and It's now well recognized that UK black music fans in general did a lot in the support of Black music in general - this page is in the way of thanks to all those artistes that made those great records and perhaps gained no recognition. - We thank you more than you will ever know! 
Blue Max & Basil (DJ's)
   These are the only eight (in focus - 2003) known photographs of The Catacombs Club and all taken on the 'last all-nighter' (apart from one,) The Photo's were taken by Dave Allen but were in my photo album for 20 years and then lent to Dave Krynski for some 8 years - Dave Allen now has them back! Some black & white copies have appeared in the book  'The In Crowd' by Mike Ritson and Stewart Russell. 
   The graffiti writing on the walls was excepted during the last week because the club being closed down - did you write on the wall ? - Tell me about it

The Clubs History
Mickey Nold, Dave Allen, Barry & Dave Krynski
Steve Dobson owned the club from 1967-1972 and he sold it to Astra Entertainments who also owned the Lafayette Club Wolverhampton and later the Wulfrum Hall. DJ Pep regularly organises anniversaries of the club's closure -  please contact him for more details of the next date.

The below year DJ chart was made up from the last night interviews and from the book 'The In Crowd.' Coming soon: pictures of Dave's original Cats light bulb and sign nicked from the cloakroom - how sad is that?


The Catacombs Dee Jays:





A Night To Remember 
The beat can be heard, faintly, through the summer night air, even from 'The Pied Bull' pub on the corner of Temple Street. On a wave of excitement barely contained, we hurry towards a sign of purple and white which juts out from a building halfway down the road. 'Catacombs Club' it reads, the perspex broken in its metal frame.
   Through the wooden outer doors with their grimy glass panels and up two flights of concrete stairs we go, passing graffiti homage to 'The Torch' (complete with crudely drawn logo).
   At the first floor the beat is louder still as we pass through another door into the club itself. To the right is an area to quickly deposit coats, then paying admission at the kiosk (my pink membership card newly encased in plastic after the discovery of its predecessor's sweaty demise!), we enter Wolverhampton's own haven of Rare Soul.
Older snap of club, found in 2003
   The eerie sound of Saxie Russell's intro to Psychedelic Soul, echoing down the long corridors of The Catacombs will stay in my memory for a long time.
   A hot and sticky summer night in 1973 finds us here again, home from home. Along painted brick walls, on high backed, black wooden benches the exhausted sit awhile to recover and, perhaps, chat about 'sounds' - the common denominator of the North - swapping tales of rare discs heard and dreamed of.
   Through the arches and nearer to the dance-floor, a larger crowd gathers, for 'The Cats' is, first and foremost, a place to dance, and here, under low, dark rafters frosted with condensation, dimly lit by the glow from the DJ booth and a few coloured light-bulbs, they dance well.

     "The DJ played Psychedelic Soul. He hit the floor and lost control. .. "  
 
Grayham Warr, Brian 'S' & Mick Flello
   To either side, fire exits are propped open with house bricks and allow in a welcome breeze. Couples sit outside on the fire escape stairs, made (bizarrely) from timber, while a few characters down in the yard dance 'al fresco', clapping and yelling along with the music.
   Back at the bar, guys buying pint pots of orange squash abandon them on the nearest flat surface as another favorite record is spun - SUPERLATIVES, BOB RELF, MOSES SMITH, NOLAN CHANCE, GLORIES, CINDY SCOTT, SWEET THINGS. . . lost Soul for lost souls.
Cat's DJ 'Pep'
Pep, Max, Graham Warr and Basil have it covered. The 'sounds' come on strong and fast - DOTTIE CAMBRIDGE, OTIS SMITH, HESITATIONS, LOU JOHNSON, VELOURS. . . all are received by whoops of recognition and outbreaks of communal clapping in just the right places!
   Who cares now what time it is? - the windows are painted over and the outside world is forgotten. Time to dance is all that's needed here.
  Words seem inadequate to describe the mood. There's a happy feeling afoot an atmosphere of determined "good times", and one hell of a soulful vibe crackles around the corridors like a banshee.
Cat's DJ Basil

   Later, when it's all over, I wring out my cotton shirt onto the pavement outside and the sounds of Soul vibrate in my ears all the way home. I can still hear them twenty-three years later, 'cause 'The Cats' was a great scene and an unforgettable part of my own Soul experience.

"See You At The Go-Go" - by Dave Krynski, 1996
(first published in Pep's 'Soul Times' Magazine No.7)       




Playlist & recording from the last nite at the Cats

  • 1 - James Bounty - Prove yourself a lady
  • 2 - Soul Twins - A Quick change artist
  • 3 - Exciters  Blowing Up My Mind
  • 4 - Wynder K. Frog - Somebody Help Me  (Inst)
  • 5 - Bob Ralph - Blowing my mind to pieces
  • 6 - San Remo Strings - All Turned On (Inst)
  • 7 - Lit Anthony - I'm Gonna Fix You Good
  • 8 - Laura Lee - To Win Your Heart
  • 9 - Prophets - I Get The Fever
  • 10 - Ike & Tina - We Need An Understanding
  • 11 - Philip Mitchell - Free For All
  • 12 - Joy Lovejoy - In Orbit
  • 13 - Larry Williams/Watson - To Late
  • 14 - Bobby Lynn - Earthquake
  • 15-  Clifford Curry - Can't Get Hold Of Myself
  • 16 - Richard Temple - That Beatin' Rhythm
  • 17 - Fury's - I'm Satisfied With You
  • 18 - Jackie Wilson - Who, Who Song
  • 19 - Jimmy Thomas - Where There's A Will
  • 20 - Dynatones - Fife Piper
  • 21 - Vibrations - Get Along Without You Now
  • 22 - Funk Bros - Back Street (inst)
  • 23 - Mitch Ryder - Breakout
  • 24 - Olympics - Philly Dog
  • 25 - Leon Haywood - Baby Reconsider
  • 26 - Johnny Wyatt - Thing Called Love
  • 27 - Dean Parish - Determination
  • 28 - Dobbie Gray - Out On The Floor
Recording above is hour 3 of the All-Niter (DJ Basil) What shows very well here is the dancers clapping, especially in the rhythm break of Bob Ralph's song. Underneath is Track listing for the first hours plays.    
  • BEVERLY ANN - You've Got Your Mind On Other Things - RCA
  • KARL EVANS - Oo We Let It Be Me Babe - Skyway
  • JON LUCIAN - What A Difference Love Makes - RCA
  • CARL DOUGLAS - Marble & Iron - Buddah
  • THE FABULOUS EMOTIONS - Funky Chicken - Tamboo (new club theme music)
  • PAUL ANKA - I Can't Stop Loving You - RCA
  • THE SERVICEMEN - Need A Helping Hand - Wind Hit
  • THE VELVET SATINS - Nothing Compared To You - General American
  • CASE OF TYME - Manifesto - Legend
  • THE STAGEMASTERS - Baby I'm Here Just To Love You - Slide
  • (CHRIS) CONNIE CLARKE - My Sugar Baby - Joker
  • LITTLE JOE ROMAN - When Your Lonesome (Come On Home) Tuff
  • POPCORN WYLIE - Rosemary What Happened (vocal) - Karen
  • Hour 1/Set 1: Resident DJ 'Blue Max' (Max Millward))
  • ILA VAN - Can't Stop Loving This Man Of Mine - Roulette
  • THE POPPIES - There's A Pain In My Heart - Epic 
  • CHECKERBOARD SQUARES - Double Cookin' - Villa (c/u as Bob Wilson Strings) 
  • THE TIKI'S - Stop, Look & Listen - Ascot 
  • STEVE KARMEN BIG BAND/JIMMY RADCLIFF - Breakaway - United Artists 
  • Hour 1/Set 2: Guest (Wigan DJ): Kev Roberts (Part 1) 
  • ANN BYERS - I'm Happy Without You - Academy 
  • MARSHA GEE - Baby I Need You - Uptown 
  • CHARLIE ROMANS - Twenty-Four-Hour Service - Hickory 
  • JOHNNY HOWARD - The Chase Is On - Bashie
  • NANCY WILSON - The End Of Our Love - Capitol 
  • LITTLE JOE ROMAN - When You Love Lonesome (Come On Home) - Tuff 
  • EARL JACKSON - Self Soul Satisfaction - ABC 

A recording of the second hour is reproduced thanks to Dave Krynski for recording it.
'THE LAST NIGHT AT THE CAT'S' was recorded by Dave Krynski 13/07/1974.

Free Radio Nold



Free Radio Nold (F.R.N) Reported the Cat's closure in 1974. The Radio Nold tribute to The Catacombs - feat: Davie A (Allen), Blue Max (Millwood), Basil & lots of people there on the night. Recorded at the club on the Cat's last nite. (Sadly DJ 'Blue Max' featured here died in 2010. (Read Express & Star article)
   
The Cats 20th closing Anniversary in 1994


'Pep' on PCRL 1994
DJ Pep organized a remembrance gig at the Wulfrun Hall in Wolverhampton. The original building had long since been demolished. Ian (Pep) also played a Cat's Set on the PCRL All-Niter in 1994. A recording of this also still exists and is reproduced Pep's 20th Anniversary Tribute recording from Mickey Nold's PCRL Northern Soul All-Niter July 1994. Ian, 'Pep' was a regular guest on my Basement Soul show in the early 1990's. Sadly Ian's wife Helen died in 2012 and will be sadly missed by all her friends on the Soul scene. A nice tribute can be found here: Queen Of The Go-Go.

Recently erected in Temple Street
A Catacombs themed CD arrives!
Its only taken 39 years to launch a Catacombs Soul album, still it does include a 24 page colour booklet and a nice cardboard sleeve.
   Old club faves, some that have not found there way on to CD's as yet are on here, tracks like Saxie Russell's Psychedelic Soul, Bob Wilson's Suzy's Serenade, Leon Haywood Baby Reconsider & even The Tic Tocks obscurity Do Me Like You Do Me.
   Colour photographs supplied by yours truly, Dave Allen & Dave Krynski. Some of the other pic's are a bit iffy (The Chosen Few?) but overall it's a very well put together CD even a page devoted to the recently parted club DJ, Max Millward, I'm on the cover in a yellow T-Shirt, Lol, I'd have thought one of the big DJ's would have been more appropriate, but then again they was an ugly lot! Still well done all at Charley Records.

New photos have arrived:

Mickey still has the vest! and here's proof!
After 10 years on the net, and asking for more club information, at last some new photos from the Catacombs Club have now emerged. 
   Many thanks to Eddie Matusiak's and his closed Facebook Catacombs site, ask to join if you want to see more. If you want your name added here, please message me at bottom of page. See below for new images - click images for larger views. 
   As this year in July was the 40th anniversary of the Cats closing it doors for the last time I thought I would pull my old vest from the moth balls and see if it still fits, and it did to my surprise! because the last time I took it out was on the 20th anniversary at the Wulfrum Center and I had to hold my stomach in all night, hard work. 
   As you can see I have no hair or a beard any more, the beard only came off recently, but the hair about a week after the first photo. Apologies to Dave K for blocking you out of the photo, but as you chose not to be on the CD I thought you wouldn't mind, anyway your on the original tribute page anyway.

Two outside snaps, one from Temple Street,  & one in the dark and one in daylight
Waiting for a bus? Morning after.


Two nicely draw sketches of the way the club was laid out inside. Showing the building layout on the first floor level. The office is where the interview with Blue Max took place.





Left: Blue Max (red) gets a round in. Above: outside DJ booth, dance floor in distance.

Nice group shot, was in colour, but but very faded. Guys sitting in window frame by fire exit. Dance floor in distance.



Left: 67 Club, the alternative venue in Wolverhampton. Above: Entrance to the Cat's from above. It's the dark doorway in the center. The club was the building with all the sky lights adjacent to the road..

Colour faded, but a sharp image
Inside the building while being demolished in 1975?

Earl, Eddie Matusiak, Speedy & Amarick (2014)
DJ's: Mick 'Froggy' Taylor, Alan S & Pete Van Dyke


Blue Max (in DJ booth?) Copy of Superlatives 45 on yellow Uptight label being shown off. Graham Hawkins holds 45.

DJ Alan Day? & Christine Burroughs
Late DJ: Mick 'Froggy' Taylor



Wolverhampton's newspaper Express & Star reports:



A NIGHTCLUB which was at the forefront of the Northern Soul scene during the 1960s and 1970s is to be commemorated in a new book.
   The Catacombs was renowned for playing new sounds before any other club in the country and even played host to performances from David Bowie and Genesis before it closed 39 years ago.
   The club, in Wolverhampton, which had a capacity of around 300, opened in Temple Street in 1967 where the Jobcentre Plus offices now stand.
   Notorious  for being hot,   sweaty and cramped, it nevertheless made a huge impression on the British music scene during its short life.
   It's hedonistic 'all-nighters' were the stuff of legends, and its intimate atmosphere made it hugely popular with devotees of Northern Soul up until its closure in 1974.
   Now the story of this much-loved music venue is told in a new book by builder and part-time writer Steven Powell from Oxley.
   The 55-year-old of Atlas Croft, used to frequent the club when he was a youngster and has been a fan of Northern Soul ever since. He said: "Catacombs was a fantastic club to visit when I was young. I would meet up with friends there three times a week.
Buzzing
   "I have been a big fan of Northern Soul for many years and that's why I decided to write this book.
   "People came to the club from all over the UK because it played records that other clubs didn't even have."
   Famous DJs included Ian 'Pep' Pereira, and 'Blue Max' Millward, who both performed at the club's last all-nighter, as well as Alan Smith, better known as Alan S, and 'Farmer' Carl Dene, known as something of a legend for discovering little-known records from the US, and turning them into major hits.
   Mr Powell's 170-page book features a history of the club as well as photos of revellers he has collected over the last five years.
   Mr Powell, who appeared on Top Of The Pops as a dancer in 1975, added: "It's amazing to think that Wolverhampton was home to this unique club that played some of the best music and I think it is an important part of the city's history."
   Catacombs closed on July 13, 1974. Its final all night party from 8pm until 8am was raided by police and it was forced to shut early - reputedly because it was packed to double its permitted capacity.
   It was commemorated with a blue plaque from Wolverhampton Civic society in 2010 in honor of its 'legendary status'. (shown higher above)

Dave Allen & Mickey Nold (photo:Dave Krynski)

Ray Webster - Blue  Max - Graham Hawkins

Max on Tizer (photo:Eddie)