The Wigan Casino was a

nightclub A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gen ...

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the north-east and Warrington ...

, England. Operating between 1973 and 1981, it became known as a primary venue for Northern soul music. It carried forward the legacy created by clubs such as the

Twisted Wheel The Twisted Wheel was a nightclub in Manchester, England, open from 1963 to 1971. It was one of the first clubs to play the music that became known as Northern Soul. History The nightclub was founded by the brothers Jack, Phillip and Ivor ...

in Manchester, the Chateau Impney (

Droitwich Droitwich Spa (often abbreviated to Droitwich ) is an historic spa town in the Wychavon district in northern Worcestershire, England, on the River Salwarpe. It is located approximately south-west of Birmingham and north-east of Worcester. The ...

), the Catacombs (

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunians ...

) and the

Golden Torch The Golden Torch, more commonly known as The Torch, was a nightclub in Tunstall, Stoke-on-Trent, England. Opened as a mod venue, it later became important to fans of Northern soul. Peter Stringfellow was amongst the many DJs who at some time h ...

( Tunstall,

Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Staffordshire, England, with an area of . In 2019, the city had an estimated population of 256,375. It is the largest settlement ...

). It remains one of the most famous clubs in Northern England. In 1978, allegedly the American music magazine ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large adverti ...

'' voted Wigan Casino "The Best

Disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric p ...

in the World", ahead of New York City's

Studio 54 Studio 54 is a Broadway theater and a former disco nightclub at 254 West 54th Street in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Operated by the Roundabout Theatre Company, Studio 54 has 1,006 seats on two levels. The theater w ...

. Although there is no tangible evidence of this award ever being publicised. ''This England'', a TV documentary about the Wigan Casino, was filmed in 1977.

Russ Winstanley Russ Winstanley (born October 1952) is an English DJ, originating from Beech Hill, in Wigan, Lancashire. Early life He attended Wigan Grammar School. Career He is best known for his championing of Northern Soul music at the Wigan Casino. Sin ...

and Dave Nowell wrote a history of the club, ''Soul Survivors, The Wigan Casino Story'', which was published in 1996. A stage play by Mick Martin about the Wigan Casino years, ''Once upon a time in Wigan'', debuted in February 2003 at the

Contact Theatre Contact is an arts organisation in Manchester, England that focuses on youth leadership. History Contact was founded in 1972 by Barry Sheppard (General Manager of what was then Manchester University Theatre) and Hugh Hunt (Professor of Drama) ...

in Manchester and has since toured nationally.

History

Wigan Casino was the name of the last incarnation of a Wigan ballroom called the Empress. Local DJs Brian Rigby and Alan Cain approached lease owner Gerry Marshall to run all-nighters. Venue manager Mike Walker brought in Russ Winstanley, who had a DJ set at the local rugby club, to the Casino. At 2 am on Sunday 23 September 1973, Wigan Casino started its first-ever Northern soul all-nighter, with Winstanley as the DJ. After Winstanley and his helper Ian Fishwick, Kev Roberts was the third DJ at Casino all-nighters, who was quickly joined by Richard Searling Soul performers that performed there include

Jackie Wilson Jack Leroy Wilson Jr. (June 9, 1934 – January 21, 1984) was an American singer and performer of the 1950s and 60s. He was a prominent figure in the transition of rhythm and blues into soul. Nicknamed "Mr. Excitement", he was considered a mas ...

Edwin Starr Charles Edwin Hatcher (January 21, 1942 – April 2, 2003), known by his stage name Edwin Starr, was an American singer and songwriter. Starr was famous for his Norman Whitfield-produced Motown singles of the 1970s, most notably the number-one ...

and Junior Walker. Young people from all over the UK regularly attended Wigan Casino to hear the latest northern soul artists and to dance. There were long queues to get in. The second dance floor, Mr M's, stayed open until 6 am and played oldies songs from a variety of DJs including Dave Evison and Steve Whittle. All-nighters generally ended with three songs that became known as the '3 before 8': "Time Will Pass You By" by

Tobi Legend ToBI (; an abbreviation of tones and break indices) is a set of conventions for transcribing and annotating the prosody of speech. The term "ToBI" is sometimes used to refer to the conventions used for describing American English specifically, whic ...

, "Long After Tonight Is All Over" by Jimmy Radcliffe, and " I'm on My Way" by Dean Parrish. Parrish (born Phil Anastasi) remained active on the Northern soul circuit until his death in 2021. Wigan Casino's 500th all-nighter was held on Saturday 16 May 1981, from midnight to 8 am. Over the eight years it was open, it reputedly had over one million people through its doors. Wigan Council owned the building and wanted to extend the nearby Civic Centre, but short of funding, it never went ahead. The club closed on 6 December 1981; that final night of Wigan Casino in its Northern soul state was DJ'd by Winstanley, and the '3 before 8' were played three times consecutively at the end of the night. The crowd refused to leave; according to Winstanley, to "break this spell of hysteria", he picked a 7" at random from his box and played that. This final Wigan Casino song became one of the most famous Northern soul songs of all time, Frank Wilson's " Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)". Annual reunions are held in Wigan and Blackpool hosted by various original DJs. The Casino is commemorated with a

Blue plaque A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term ...

, which was installed in 2014, marking the place where the doors to the club once stood. The site is now occupied by the Grand Arcade shopping centre, which pays homage to the club with its Casino Café.

References

External links

For Dancers Only
The story of Wigan Casino by Chris Hunt, published in ''

Mojo Mojo may refer to: *Mojo (African-American culture), a magical charm bag used in voodoo Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * MOJO HD, an American television network * ''Mojo'' (play), by Jez Butterworth, made into a 1997 film * '' ...

Collections'' magazine, Spring 2002
History of the Twisted Wheel ClubWigan Casino: I'm On My Way – Grand Arcade
* {{coord, 53, 32, 47.24, N, 2, 37, 44.48, W, display=title, region:GB_scale:5000, format=dms Nightclubs in England Soul music Buildings and structures in Wigan

History

See also

References

Further reading

External links