Way back in September 1968, Motown artiste Edwin Starr sang those immortal words from his 1967 hit Headline News, alongside “S.O.S. (Stop Her On Sight), 25 Miles and other classics from the era. But where was this at?
The Broken Wheel on Wharf Road, Retford was the venue that attracted some of the biggest names from the 60s’ Soul Scene, including Starr; Junior Walker and The All Stars; Jimmy Ruffin; Marv Johnson; Arthur Conley; Percy Sledge; Oscar Toney Jnr; Ben E King; The Fantastics and local hero Jimmy James and The Vagabonds.
Former Retford businessman John Kirk fell in love with 60s’ Soul music after gaining ‘illegal’ entrance to the Wheel, to see Edwin Starr on stage on 29th September 1968 (‘illegal’ as in he was only 15 and the regular admission age was 17).
Over the years John hung on to the great memories that the Broken Wheel gave him, even researching with the original owner Lenny Hatton and popular DJ Dave Growns, enough information to produce a book entitled ‘Another Saturday Night’ – one man’s recollection of the Broken Wheel 1967 – 1971. John felt the club should be properly recorded as it was a key part in the history of Retford’s music scene and should never be forgotten.
Since publishing the book, several hundred copies have been sold through Bookworm’s online book store, and the author’s fee has been donated to the Bassetlaw Hospice.
So swiftly on to today. A number of people who kindly bought the book started asking: “Wouldn’t it be good if a Broken Wheel reunion gig could be done?” Sadly, the main player in this – Edwin Starr – died in 2003. However, his brother Angelo continues with the great music legacy through ‘Angelo Starr and The Team aka The Edwin Starr Band’.
John decided to give it a go, booking the band, Retford Town Hall and local DJ Ian Beech – whilst keeping his fingers crossed that the large number Retford ‘Soulies’ would turn up and support the event – and they have.
Join the fun on Saturday 16th September from 7.00pm to midnight at Retford Town Hall.
There are small number of tickets still available but when the magic number is reached the ticketing software will just block any new enquiries, so don’t delay – get online and secure your tickets. See https://bit.ly/soul-event.
All proceeds have been pledged to Bassetlaw Hospice and at this stage the organisers are confident of donating around £2,500 to the Hospice. So if you can help by supporting this event, it will really help the Hospice do the fantastic job they do.