Twisted Wheel Club

I didn't often go to the Twisted Wheel or should I say I didn't often get in. It was well known for being open nearly all night. There were bouncers and so you didn't always get in if you didn't have a tie or whatever they chose - well at least I didn't. Girls always got in no matter what they were wearing. I must admit that I didn't actually go there for the music. It was close to UMIST on Whitworth Street and hence on a route from the Plaza Cafe to the Picadilli bus station.

........was going to post an old flyer here, but if you search you'll find them...

There is now an official web site from the owner here http://thetwistedwheel.com

There is a 'rip off' new club apparently and some other Mod sites which have great photos
http://www.twistedwheel.com/page7.html

The DJs there played the sort of music that girls liked to dance to so I would go in the hope of meeting someone. If you used to dance round your handbags to Northern Soul and occasionally found some student types trying to muscle in then that could have been us. Mostly the girls were polite, would dance one tune and then turn their backs. Sometimes they wouldn't even have one dance. The other move was for them to pick up their bags and go to the loo or wander off.

I did get in once when there was a live session from some famous American soul singer and support acts by dressing as smartly as I could. I was friendly with some Mod Lang girls and they helped me. Also arriving with three girls and a super smart, smooth Mod Lang boy helped convince the bouncers I was OK. I did enjoy it, but it was uncool to admit it to my friends.

There are posts on Manchester blogs which can give you a better idea of what the place was like and why it was special to the Manchester scene. The sound system was good and there was a good atmosphere from the throbbing sounds. You could wander from room to room and occasionally find that you and two friends double the audience in that room. The most frightening thing is that I continued to turn up at the club in the early hours to see if I could get in for about a year after it had closed!