Va-Va

Located on one of the main streets in Bolton, Elizabeth House had a cellar which had been converted into a nightclub. Va-Va was a modern club with a capacity of around 400, expensively decorated with a small tile dancefloor, surrounded by small alcoves partitioned off by clear Perspex screens, which, reportedly, punters frequently walked into. With £10,000 worth of sound equipment, it was certainly a luxury venue by northern soul standards.

There has been a lot of conjecture as to how the name "Va-Va" came about, but the best explanation I have heard is this... in Spanish, the word "va" means go... hence "go-go". Simple eh?

A local Bolton DJ named Wycliffe 'Wick' Barrett had heard that the owner of Va-Va was looking to run an all-night venue, and as The Golden Torch had just closed, the timing seemed right.

Richard Searling got a call from 'Wick' Barrett in April 1973, asking him to DJ at the venue. Evidently, Richard's name had been put forward by several soul fans in the area because of his involvement with Global Records and his record collection. As Richard had just returned from a three-week trip to Philadelphia at the time, he was eager to play his new discoveries, and so accepted the offer. The following Friday, Richard was DJing at the first Va-Va all-nighter.

Va-Va ran every Friday. After starting slowly, with 100 or so on the first night, by July 1973 it had become firmly established as a premier national venue. Normally a 1am-8am session, Richard Searling regularly did 4-5 hours a night, assisted by the likes of Ian 'Pep' Pereira, Martin Ellis and Alan Day. Richard himself remembers some of the sounds he played:

I found myself 'slaving behind the hot turntables' at Va-Va from 1 - 8 AM, spinning (if my memory serves me correctly) sounds like 'One In A Million' - Maxine Brown, 'Love Is Like An Itching' -Timothy Wilson, 'Tainted Love' - Gloria Jones, 'Last Minute Miracle' - The Shirelles, 'Slow Fizz' - The Sapphires, 'Just Ask Me' - Lenis Guess, amongst many others. They were all tremendously popular, but obviously other records were featured over the following months, some taking off, others remaining semi-underground until later years. Examples of this are 'Love Is Wonderful' - Paula Parfitt, 'No.1 In Your Heart' - Herbie Goins, 'Baby I Need You'- Marsha Gee, 'Laws Of Love'- The Volcanos, 'Easy Baby'- The Adventurers, 'Worth Every Tear I Cry'- Dee Dee Warwick, 'What Love Brings'- Kenny Bernard, 'Can It Be Me'- Mel Williams, 'Hide Nor Hair'- Earl Grant, and 'I Don't Mind'- Carolyne Cooke. (Courtesy of New Soultime)

The secret of Va-Va seemed to be that it became a regular meeting place, pulling a loyal crowd of people that would turn up week after week from Yorkshire, the Midlands and the South. Incidentally, it was here that Richard Searling met Russ Winstanley...