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The King Mojo Club


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I really enjoyed reading Paul Norton's piece about the Mojo - brought back some great memories!I and a group of schoolfriends were Mojo regulars from early 1966 until the sad night when it all ended.Loooking back from where I am now,that seems like a short space of time,but it seemed like forever and certainly was a huge part of our lives.I remember the first time I went in there & realising that there was this wonderful music,miles away from the chart stuff we'd heard before,and it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up (still does!)

Particular favourites were: I Could Feel the whole World Turn Round - Shotgun Express,Anything He wants me To Do - Doris Troy,Just A Little Misunderstanding - Contours,Love A Go Go - Stevie Wonder and (of course) I'm Gonna Miss You - Artistics.

For some reason,can't imagine why,three of us decided to dress alike & often wore the same outfits,in particular short Empire-line nighties( bought in Richards at the top of Chapel Walk and changed into in the Town Hall toilets,as we'd never have been let out in them if our parents had known!).We may have unwittingly contributed to the Club's demise as one of the complaints from the neighbours was about people in the street in "underwear"!

We did go to some City Hall gigs after the Mojo went,also once to the Hub in Barnsley where Peter was DJ'ing,to Down Broadway & The Penthouse,but nothing came close to the Mojo.

We left school ,went our separate ways to different Unis - how we ever passed any exams I'll never know,as we were out enjoying oursellves most nights.Then life took over - job,marriage,kids etc & I've no complaints.but still look back on those great days with enormous affection & nostalgia.I can't get the music out of my system - and I'm still first on the floor!

People I remember from those days- Pete & Geoff (of course) and their Mum,wee pipe West,Roger Howe (he used to keep a boutique called Lift Up Your Skirt & Fly behind the Peace Gardens),Tony Sandford & a tall guy with glasses who was a brilliant dancer.I think his name must have been Roger, as everyone called him Rogatt.

I must have been about forty before I admitted to my Mum that I used to go to the Mojo -they thought I was at my friend's house(and vice versa)

Thanks for the memories!

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Guest Surfer Joe

Hey Paul Your piece certainly brought back the memories.. espesh the the playlist . Good on ya . Do you or anybody out there know if/where I can get a copy of Dave's " Memories of etc " book.Tried the usual suspects(Amazon, Ebay) but no dice ... We used to come over from Hull & our mate Dobbsy used to do a fill-in /DJ spot for Pete S.

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Hi Surfer Joe and Janet.

Glad you liked my Mojo posts. Copies of Dave Manvell's 'Memories of the Mojo' book might be obtainable through the Sheffield branch of W H Smiths who stock a selection of local interest books, or the Sheffield Star shop next to the paper offices at the end of Fargate, or the Bullet Gallery, Sheffield.

Can't promise but you never know.

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Back then, many live gigs were in, what appear now to be, very small venues. At the Mojo, the stage was only about 2 feet high, and I was close enough, if I wanted, to touch 'Little' Stevie Wonder and Tina Turner and others while they sang on it, no security cordon, no security fencing. The live groups at the Mojo, like many small clubs, even had to walk right through the crowd from the dressing rooms at the back to get on stage. You can imagine what I feel like now when I get a £30-50 stadium ticket and am so far back I can only see the group properly on a large diamond screen! It makes me very nostalgic for the old days I can tell you.

I remember the night that Stevie Wonder played the Mojo. Three of us stood down at the back by the dressing rooms talking to him for 10 minutes before he went on stage. His minders took him up to the stage and 'walked' him round the edge so he'd know how big it was. If I remember right it was 10 shillings (50P) to get in.

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Hi Flips

Wasnt the Steve Wonder gig at the Mojo just fantastic! I'd been talking to Stevie as well, a bit earlier on the front office. What a nice guy. He was really looking forward to getting on stage, and said he could feel the good vibes already.

Do you remember when they played the intro to Blowin' in the Wind (a Mojo fave) and gradually spreading from the back of the club everybody started singing it? I was up front by the stage and the look on his face was sublime. I was nearly in tears!

What times eh?

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Guest Drumbeat62

Hi there only visited the Mojo Club once, that was when Long John Baldry and The Hoochie Coochie Men were there, Rod Stewart filled in whilst Baldry took a break. We were usualy too busy gigging ourselves to find the time to go and see other outfits.

Interesting poster of the Beatles Azena gig, our group/band 'The Drumbeats' lost the support slot on the toss of a coin to 'Mark Stone & The Adens'.

 

 

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From the Star 23/11/11

http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/local/barnsley/king_of_clubs_peter_stringfellow_gets_his_mojo_back_in_sheffield_video_1_3996932

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Some fab memories reading all these post, i am pleased to say i still have most of the records that was played at the King Mo-Jo Club and still play lots of them today in 2012 at a Monthly Northern Soul Night called (Route61) we promote at the Niagara Suite in sheffield which falls on the second Friday each month, it would be nice to see people from the days of the Mo-Jo,

Steve Foster.

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Guest johnny1note

Hi , just found this forum , unforgettable stuff . My friends and I from Skegness and Lincoln used to go to the Boston Gliderdrome , where we saw some great acts , jr. walker ,stevie wonder , jimi hendrix , otis redding etc. . We would then go on to the Mojo allnighter , for more . Then back to Skeg sometimes thumbing a lift , what stamina we must have had !

I particularly remember Tina turner coming offstage at the end of the mojo gig , and squeezing thru the crowd nudging me aside saying " Man we aint coming here no more ! " The place was steaming .

Funny thing, there was often a spot of bovver at the Gliderdrome but there was always a bunch of serious bouncers there to sort it ! . . .But I NEVER saw any trouble at the mojo just great people celebrating life . Different times I guess .

Anyone out there who remembers anyone from skeg or lincoln ? . . . Morg

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Guest jsoulsmith

I was a Mojo regular in 66/67. Went with the Dony crowd (where I was from) and we would hang around in a town centre coffee bar waiting for the Hull, Goole, Scunthorpe & Lincoln lot to turn up. Loads of great mates back then just one big happy family of mods who were soul / ska fans.

People who's names I recall are (mainly Chrisiam names only; as we would call them by their town of origin usually; i.e.. Pip from Scunnys here) ...........

Scunthorpe > Fred Benson, Mick, Graham, Steve, Bob King, Pete, Ben, Steve P, Pip, Penny.

Goole > Charlie, Jean

Hull > Paul Quinn, Rupert, Mick Bird, Steve Jenny, Nick, Dunc, Tom, Denise, Jill Everingham, Val, Liz, Pat Mercer, Phil Smith

Lincoln > Godon Raft, Johnny Street,

York > Veronica, Dee.

Nottingham > Click,Kenny Sharp, Sue, Eric, Sue, Dave, George.

The Dony Mojo crowd was MASSIVE though some of the locals in our social circle didn't go to the allhighters but did do the local clubs & Mojo Sunday nights. JOHN SMITH

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Guest johnny1note

Hi to john smith , morg here again from skeg ,had to reply saw a coupla names on your post I knew . Fred benson who went to lincoln college same time as me , and gordon raffy from lincoln , also from lincoln "wiggy", greg organ , spanner , and remember a "tootsie" possibly from scunny . I remember a couple of girls from sheffield angela krylow , pat pearson , and peggy hartley , anyone recall them , so many great times .

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Hi to john smith , morg here again from skeg ,had to reply saw a coupla names on your post I knew . Fred benson who went to lincoln college same time as me , and gordon raffy from lincoln , also from lincoln "wiggy", greg organ , spanner , and remember a "tootsie" possibly from scunny . I remember a couple of girls from sheffield angela krylow , pat pearson , and peggy hartley , anyone recall them , so many great times .

Bill 'Wiggy' Hildred is still DJing in Lincoln. Gordon Rath lives in Grantham. Other Lincoln names were Chris and Graham Harrison, Neil Blanchard, Glenn Field.

Gordon and Neil can be seen in the RSG Otis Redding special.

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Guest morvanman

We think this photo was taken at the Stevie Wonder all-dayer. We were part of the Hull crowd who arrived by coach organised by the legendary Paul Quinn (his words!)

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Hello from Spain, the dog Fune that you mention belonged to my sister Peggy she sold it to Peter before she emigrated to Austrailia ,she now lives here in Spain. I remember lots of fun with this beautifull dog.Never went to the Mojo not my scene, but remember its reputation well !

The Mojo does indeed look like a house from the outside. The ground floor rooms of the house were used as club offices to the left and dressing rooms to the right. The rear of the house led into the club area near the toilets. The first floor was a flat where Peter, his wife Coral and a very large Pyrean mountain dog called Fune lived.

The actual club area at the Mojo was behind the house really. The entrance was reached by walking down the side of the house from a car park situated area to the left and in front of the house. At the club entrance was a small cash booth, then a corridor ran to the left and turned right into the main club area ahead. It was a fairly large room, enough for several hundred at a push. It had a sprung wooden dance floor (it had at one time been a dance hall). As you came in, the main stage and DJ area was to the left at one end, doors at the other end leading to the toilets. A coffee snack bar area was behind a screen to the left of the stage, and a coat/handbag bar to the right as you went into the main dance area.

But in those days groups hardly ever played in large venues or footfall grounds etc. there werent many large gigs to play, nor as compared to today, did the groups have several vans full of equipment. Sure there was the likes of the Albert Hall in London and other places, and nearer to home the Sheffield City Hall, some ballrooms, some cinemas with stages, workingmens clubs etc. But this was only 1964, two years in from the music and youth culture explosion which emanated nationally like a tidal wave from the success of the Beatles, and many (possible) gig places either hadn't caught on or weren't even built - yet; least of all thinking of putting on a 'pop music concert in a stadium.

Back then, many live gigs were in, what appear now to be, very small venues. At the Mojo, the stage was only about 2 feet high, and I was close enough, if I wanted, to touch 'Little' Stevie Wonder and Tina Turner and others while they sang on it, no security cordon, no security fencing. The live groups at the Mojo, like many small clubs, even had to walk right through the crowd from the dressing rooms at the back to get on stage. You can imagine what I feel like now when I get a £30-50 stadium ticket and am so far back I can only see the group properly on a large diamond screen! It makes me very nostalgic for the old days I can tell you.

Paul Norton

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Guest Surfer Joe

Hey John from Donny ! Good to hear of some other survivors eh ? Not been on this site for yonks hence pretty late reply..etc Still keep in touch with 2 other original Hull gang: Chris F and John R (but only v occassionally see any other faces)...in fact i burned cd for Chris last year...& wasn't 'til I checked the above blog that realized it was most of all 64/65/66 playlists.

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Just caught up with this thread. The former occupiers of the Mojo was Day's Dancing...the son of whom was Dave Allen... who later not only was a Director of Sheffield Wednesday but also opened Josephine's.

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EE7TiItX4AMRp0T.jpg

King Mojo Club card showing the address as Tollbar, Burngreave Road, Sheffield 4
Telephone number 23516

Anyone know what this card is/was?

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