The Leisure Centre

Location: Coventry Road, Hinckley

Date: 1980-1998

The Leisure Centre was a constant for many years, providing a home for northern and Tamla Motown nights. A national and local venue, it has provided a stage for international acts such as Martha Reeves, Junior Walker, Major Lance and Edwin Starr, hosting everything from a local Motown night to all-nighters.

The credit for this versatility must, in part, go to Tim Puffer, the past manager of the Leisure Centre. Tim has been a soulie for many years, and together with his wife Cath, has put together many a night to remember.

The Leisure Centre was unfortunately demolished back in 2016, and the land stands empty to this day.

After the Bubble's all-nighters ended, the venue shifted to the Leisure Centre, which provided a choice of rooms. The "Big Hall" was a massive room, which hosted the main live acts. The "Small Hall" played host to all-nighters and local Motown/Northern nights. Both rooms had good facilities, and that necessity for all good venues, a balcony. The all-nighters ran sporadically for two years, but were never a regular occurrence. I think this was more due to the Leisure Centre having sporting commitments on the following Saturday morning, more than a lack of organisation or promotion. On a couple of occasions, the all-nighter moved to the Regent Club, a few yards away, when the Leisure Centre was unavailable. In either case, the Leisure Centre all-nighters were always well attended, especially when live artists appeared.

A number of artists appeared live at the Leisure Centre, and tracking down detailed info has been difficult, but here is what we have so far. Thanks to Adrian Harley, Mark Swift, Julia Marabella, Malcolm Greenslade and Wayne Garratt via social media for various photos and badges.

Major Lance

Major Lance appeared at the Hinckley all-nighter on November 13, 1982. At only a fiver a time, soulies got to see the Major perform many of his top tunes including "Ain't No Soul", "Monkey Time" and the northern classic "You Don't Want Me No More". Promoted by Chris King, the all-nighter was deemed important enough to prompt a new Major Lance "live" album, emulating the famous "Major Lance Live At The Torch" classic, which was released in December 1982.

The Major Lance "Live At Hinckley" album is rare now, and we are lucky enough to have been provided with cover scans to display on this humble site. A big thanks to Dave Nicholls, for providing the the album sleeve photos for us.

Edwin Starr

Edwin Starr appeared at Hinckley Leisure Centre in the early 1980s. Many thanks to Glen Wilkie from Blackpool for sending these excellent photos in.

Curtis Mayfield

Curtis Mayfield appeared at the Hinckley all-nighter on June 17, 1982. Again promoted by Chris King and the Weekend Soul Club, the event was a packer.

Junior Walker

Junior Walker appeared at the Hinckley all-nighter on May 7, 1982, yet again promoted by Chris King and the Weekend Soul Club.

The Ric-Tic Revue

On January 21st, 1983, a magnificent collection of legendary artists came together on one Hinckley stage. Pat Lewis was peforming to a Northern crowd for the first time, leaving a Cole Porter show to travel to the UK. Al Kent performed playing the piano, awaiting the publication of his first novel. J. J. Barnes sang "How Long" and "Sweet Sherry" to an almost hysterical crowd. Lou Ragland was invited by Edwin Starr (they had been friends since 1964), and as a result of his experience in the UK, he returned to Las Vegas and released a cassette album entitled "Lou Ragland And The Great Lakes Orchestra". And as for Edwin Starr himself... he was just Edwin doing what he was good at. A Soul Superstar that always had time for his fans, was always approachable and always willing to make people feel good.

As Frank Elson said in his comments on the Ric-Tic Review:

"... it was such a wonderful day. Surely the largest - and most enthusiastic - crowd at a northern soul venue since the Casino closed, and even then Wigan was a pale imitation of it's former self. Friday, 21st January, belonged to Ric Tic Records, and Golden World, and a dozen or more small town labels that presented the world with sounds like 'Breaking Down The Walls Of Heartache', 'Call On Me' and 'At The Discotheque'. It belonged to people with bellies getting larger as hair gets thinner - it belonged to another era, a time that is past and will never appear again."

Other Live Performances

Many more artists appeared at the Hinckley Leisure Centre, but little information is recorded - here's some photo's instead!

Leisure Centre Badges

The Motown Nights

The Motown Nights ran for about 3 years, ending in about 1996. These were always well attended, usually starting playing well-known, commercial Motown, but invariably ending in a full-blown northern soul session, always by public demand.

I know that at least one Motown night was committed to video by a certain Chris 'Click' Clark, a stalwart of the northern soul scene for many years. I would love to see that video!

Further Information

There is a Facebook group 1980s Hinckley leisure centre northern soul allnighters that is full of memories and is well worth a look.

There is also a Soul Source forum thread that makes interesting reading, with some live audio of the Leisure Centre all-nighters posted by Mark Randle.