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By Greg WILSON On April 2nd 1974, a new ILR station began broadcasting to Greater Manchester from Piccadilly Plaza. One of its original team of presenters was Londoner Andy Peebles, formerly of BBC Radio Manchester, whose weekly ‘Soul Train’ programme on a Sunday would quickly establish itself as essential listening for black music fans throughout the region. Over a quarter of a century later Stu Allan would play his final record on Piccadilly offshoot, Key 103, bringing the shutters down on an entire era, which started with Peebles, was nurtured by Mike Shaft, and saw Lee Browne take a bit part along the way. This is the story of how a Manchester radio station played a key role in shaping the city’s celebrated club culture.
Even as far back as 1974, Manchester already had a long established Soul scene, with the now hallowed Twisted Wheel (1963-1971) setting in motion the Northern Soul movement, which would flourish during the ‘70’s, whilst in 1967 The New Reno would open its doors in Moss Side, catering for the black community. Piccadilly Radio (261 on the medium wave band) was the main commercial station outside of London, so ‘Soul Train’, named after the classic US TV show, attracted a sizeable audience, laying solid foundations for a lineage of dance music radio in Manchester, which continues to this day. In 1978 Peebles left Piccadilly, having landed a plum position at BBC Radio One, leaving his ‘Soul Train’ slot vacant. Cue Grenada born Mike Shaft, a DJ who’d built a solid reputation as a Soul and Funk specialist playing at Manchester clubs like Rafters and the multi-roomed Pips. Having read about Peebles’ departure he headed straight to Piccadilly Plaza, where he put himself forward as the heir apparent.
The Mike Shaft years would number 8, during which time he played an integral role in the black music scene in the North-West. The main difference from Peebles’ tenure was that Shaft placed greater emphasis on dance music, with the programme becoming more reflective of what was being played at the upfront Manchester club nights, including Rufus, his own main residency, and by DJ’s like John Grant and Colin Curtis, who were packing them in at Rafters. The programme also underwent a change of name, metamorphosing into ‘Takin’ Care Of Business’, or ‘TCOB’ for short. Disco was at its height, but whilst the mainstream audience embraced ‘Saturday Night Fever’, and the Bee Gees became the genre’s most recognisable act, ‘TCOB’ reflected the black scene, where most of the music played was only available on import from the US, with just one record shop in the entire region stocking the very latest tunes out of America – the quintessential Spin Inn, then on Manchester’s Cross Street. By 1980, Mike Shaft, along with Robbie Vincent and Greg Edwards in London, was regarded as the most influential Soul Show presenter in the UK, playing a superior selection of Soul, Funk, Disco and Jazz-Funk, whilst making regular appearances on the All-Dayer circuit in addition to his weekly club slots, which included, in ’81-’82, the Main Event, a joint promotion between Piccadilly and Blues & Soul at Placement 7 (on the site of the old Twisted Wheel), which he co-hosted with John Grant, and later Colin Curtis. It was around this point that I took over the Wednesday Jazz-Funk night at Legend, which had previously enjoyed a purple patch under John Grant’s stewardship, but was now struggling to survive, given Grant’s defection to the Main Event, which was dominating the local scene. I was very much the new kid in town, having announced my arrival via my successful Wigan Pier residency, picking up an increasing amount of All-Dayer bookings as a result. Nine months later, in May 1982, Legend had hit capacity, turning the entire scene on its head in the process. With its sound and lighting arguably the best in the country, it was the ideal environment for the oncoming Electro-Funk epoch. Furthermore, I’d placed the emphasis on mixing, which set me apart from all the other black music specialists North of Watford.
What was happening at Legend was a whole new thing and, despite not being the biggest fan of this new electrophonic direction, Mike Shaft, in a similar way to how he reflected the interest in Jazz by involving guests like Colin Curtis and Hewan Clarke, invited me to put together a mix for his show – the first of its type in this country, focusing on the imports I was playing at the time. The fact that my night at Legend was in direct competition with Mike’s, at Placemate 7, didn’t stop him from making a decision that would have far-reaching ramifications, hastening the demise of the Main Event as a consequence, whilst considerably enhancing my own status on the scene. Making an objective appraisal, Mike Shaft had realised that, although it wasn’t what he was personally into, a large chunk of his listeners were wholeheartedly embracing this Electro dawn. Wisely acknowledging that the show wasn’t about him, but his listeners, he’d taken this somewhat altruistic step. His foresight was rewarded – the mixes, as author and DJ, Dave Haslam, would later observe “were probably some of the most taped programmes in Manchester radio history”. Gerald Simpson (A Guy Called Gerald) remembers their significance and the ritual that accompanied their broadcast; “As soon as I heard there was going to be a Greg Wilson mix on the radio I would run over to Shadus, the local electronic shop, and buy a brand new Chrome C90 TDK cassette tape. I would make sure I was in front of the Amstrad with my finger on the pause button when that mix started. It didn’t matter what was happening anywhere else. That mix would get played to death - the tape would be worn out until his next guest appearance on Piccadilly Radio”. COPYRIGHT - GREG WILSON – JULY 2008
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