The Golden Torch, more commonly known as The Torch, 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 gener ...

in Tunstall,

Stoke-on-Trent Stoke-on-Trent (often abbreviated to Stoke) is a city and 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 in Staffordshire and is surroun ...

, England. Opened as a mod venue, it later became important to fans of Northern soul.

Peter Stringfellow Peter James Stringfellow (17 October 1940 – 7 June 2018) was an English businessman who owned several nightclubs. Early life Stringfellow was born in the City General Hospital, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, on 17 October 1940, to Elsie Bowers a ...

was amongst the many DJs who at some time had a residency there.The main Soul Anighter Dj's were Keith Minshull Colin Curtis Alan Day & Maretyn Ellis

History

The building was located on Hose Street, behind the Sneyd Arms Hotel on Tower Square in Tunstall. It started as a church, before becoming a

roller skating Roller skating is the act of traveling on surfaces with roller skates. It is a recreational activity, a sport, and a form of transportation. Roller rinks and skate parks are built for roller skating, though it also takes place on streets, si ...

rink, and in the 1940s, the Little Regent Cinema. It featured marble pillars, and a balcony overlooking the dance floor. Retaining the original features, the cinema was converted into a mod club by Christopher Burton—a contemporary of Ivor Abadi (founder of 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 ...

. The club was opened on 30 January 1965 by headliners

Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas William Howard Ashton (born 19 August 1943), known professionally as Billy J. Kramer, is an English pop singer. With The Dakotas, Kramer was managed by Brian Epstein during the 1960s and scored hits with several Lennon–McCartney compositio ...

. Acts such as the Kinks and

Wayne Fontana Glyn Geoffrey Ellis (28 October 19456 August 2020

followed. In 1967, after a performance by visiting

soul music Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the African American community throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It has its roots in African-American gospel music and rhythm and blues. Soul music became pop ...

artists

Inez and Charlie Foxx Inez Foxx (September 9, 1937 – August 25, 2022) and her elder brother Charlie Foxx (October 23, 1933 – September 18, 1998) were an American rhythm and blues and soul duo from Greensboro, North Carolina. Inez sang lead vocal, while Char ...

, the Golden Torch became a major soul venue, with a similar clientele to

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

's Twisted Wheel. After the closure of the Twisted Wheel in 1971, Chris Burton took up Keith Minshull & Colin Curtis's suggestion of Saturday Northern soul all-nighters at the Torch, holding its first on 11 March 1972. The Torch's all-nighters proved a massive success, running from 8pm Saturday to 8am Sunday. Although the building was designed to hold a maximum of 500, a record 1300 people attended an all-nighter in 1973. Artists who performed live included

the Drifters The Drifters are several American doo-wop and R&B/soul vocal groups. They were originally formed as a backing group for Clyde McPhatter, formerly the lead tenor of Billy Ward and his Dominoes in 1953. The second group of Drifters, formed in 1 ...

the Stylistics The Stylistics are an American, Philadelphia soul group that achieved their greatest chart success in the 1970s. They formed in 1968, with a lineup of singers Russell Thompkins Jr., Herb Murrell, Airrion Love, James Smith and James Dunn. All ...

, Oscar Toney Jr, the Chi-Lites and

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 ...

. However, it became a victim of its own success, with regular police presences, drug-taking and overcrowding. When the club came to renew its licence on 16 March 1973,

council refused the renewal; without a licence the club simply faded away. The building afterwards burned down in a fire, but (following a public appeal led by former club barman and part-time DJ John O'Brien, and his friend Steve Hoskins) a plaque now commemorates the club on Hose Street. The closure paved the way for the Wigan Casino, now without any real rivals, to become internationally famous as the UK's foremost Northern Soul club, until local council antipathy forced it, too, to close, in 1981.Dave Shaw — ''Casino'', , Bee Cool Publishing

References

External links

The Golden Torch
{{Stoke-on-Trent Nightclubs in England Music venues in Staffordshire Soul music Buildings and structures in Stoke-on-Trent

History

See also

References

External links