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The Leisure Centre. Location: Coventry Road, Hinckley. Date: 1980-98. |
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The Leisure Centre has been a constant for many years, providing a home for Northern and Motown nights. A national and local venue, it has provided a stage for international acts such as Martha Reeves, Junior Walker, Major Lance and Edwin Starr, hosting everything from a local Motown night to All-nighters. The credit for this versatility must, in part, go to Tim Puffer, the past manager of the Leisure Centre. Tim has been a soulie for many years, and together with his wife Cath, has put together many a night to remember. |
| After the Bubble's All-nighters ended, the venue shifted to the Leisure Centre, which provides a choice of rooms. The "Big Hall" is a massive room, which hosted the main live acts. The "Small Hall" played host to All-nighters and local Motown/Northern nights. Both rooms had good facilities, and that necessity for all good venues, a balcony. The All-nighters ran sporadically for two years, and were never a regular occurrence. I think this was more due to the Leisure Centre having sporting commitments on the following Saturday morning, more than a lack of organisation or promotion. On a couple of occasions, the nighter moved to the Regent Club, a few yards away, when the Leisure Centre was unavailable. In either case, the Leisure Centre All-nighters were always well attended, especially when live artists appeared. |
When researching this venue, some interesting facts came to light courtesy of
NorthernSoul.Co.Uk Survey 2002:
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| A number of artists appeared live at the Leisure Centre, and tracking down detailed info has been difficult, but here is what we have so far ... |
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| Major Lance | ||
 Newspaper Advert |
 The Major and Carole Thornley |
 Playing to the Crowd!! |
 Click on the image to zoom in. |
Major Lance appeared at the Hinckley All-nighter on November 13, 1982. At only a fiver
a time, soulies got to see the Major perform many of his top tunes including
"Ain't No Soul", "Monkey Time" and the northern classic "You Don't Want Me No More". Obviously in demand, the Major appeared next day at an alldayer venue called Razamatazz in Longton, Stoke-On-Trent. Is it me, or does that location sound familiar? Promoted by Chris King, the allnighter was deemed important enough to prompt a new Major Lance "live" album, emulating the famous "Major Lance Live At The Torch" classic, which was released in December 1982. |
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 Click on the image to zoom in. |
This album is rare now, and we are lucky enough to have been provided with cover scans to display on this humble site. A big thanks to Dave Nicholls, one of the organisers of the Hinckley Classic Northern Soul Night for providing the scans. |  Click on the image to zoom in. |
| Edwin Starr | |
 Nice trousers, Edwin! |
Edwin Starr appeared at Hinckley Leisure Centre in the early 1980s. Many thanks to Glen Wilkie from Blackpool for sending these excellent photos in. |
 Edwin Starr plays to the crowd. |
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 Edwin Starr from the dancefloor. |
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| Curtis Mayfield | ||
 Newspaper Advert |
 Live at Hinckley |
 A Master at work |
| Curtis Mayfield appeared at the Hinckley All-nighter on June 17, 1982. Again promoted by Chris King and the Weekend Soul Club, the event was a packer. | ||
| Junior Walker | ||
 Click on the image to zoom in. |
Junior Walker appeared at the Hinckley All-nighter on May 7, 1982, yet again promoted by Chris King and the Weekend Soul Club. Unfortunately, we cannot find any other information about this event. | |
| The Ric-Tic Revue | ||
 Newspaper Advert |
On January 21st, 1983, a magnificent collection of legendary artists came together on one Hinckley stage... what more can be said. Pat Lewis was peforming to a Northern crowd for the first time, leaving a Cole Porter show to travel to the UK. Al Kent performed playing the piano, awaiting the publication of his first novel. J. J. Barnes sang "How Long" and "Sweet Sherry" to an almost hysterical crowd. Lou Ragland was invited by Edwin Starr (they had been friends since 1964), and as a result of his experience in the UK, he returned to Las Vegas and released a cassette album entitled 'Lou Ragland And The Great Lakes Orchestra'. And as for Edwin Starr himself... he was just Edwin doing what he was good at. A Soul Superstar that always had time for his fans, was always approachable and always willing to make people feel good. A sad loss.
As Frank Elson said in his comments on the Ric-Tic Review: |
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| The Motown Nights | |
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The Motown Nights ran for about 3 years, ending in about 1996. These were always well attended, usually starting playing well-known, commercial Motown, but invariably ending in a full-blown Northern session, always by public demand. I know that at least one Motown night was committed to video by a certain Chris 'Click' Clark, a stalwart of the Northern scene for many years. I would love to see that video! |
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Just a quick mention of the Prince Of Wales pub, opposite to the Leisure Centre on Coventry Road, Hinckley. It is the only pub I know that has the Wigan Casino Story on the Juke Box. Pop in for a pint and a back-drop! |