The King Mojo Club, often known as the Mojo, was a nightclub in

Pitsmoor Pitsmoor is a former village, now a suburb of Sheffield, England. The name derives from ''Or-pits'' as, anciently, the main local industry was the mining of ore.J. Edward Vickers, ''The Ancient Suburbs of Sheffield'', p.17 (1971) The village fal ...

, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England located at 555 Pitsmoor Road, that operated between 1964 and 1967. Peter Stringfellow and his brothers had been running the Black Cat Club from St Aidan's church hall in the city, which proved a success. In 1964, they opened a new venture, the King Mojo Club, in a converted house on

Road to the north of the city centre.Profiles: Peter Stringfellow
, '' BBC News'', 19 June 2008 The house had recently served as Dey's School of Ballroom Dancing and benefited from a sprung dance floor.Nikky Wilson,
Big names at the King Mojo Club
", '' Burngreave Messenger'', February 2007 The club never received a drinks licence, but did have a coffee bar. The club quickly became a venue of the Northern Soul scene, with popular American acts such as Wilson Pickett (backed by

Reg Dwight Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

's Bluesology),

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...

, Ike and Tina Turner, and Geno Washington playing. It also hosted Edwin Starr's first UK gig, and Don Covay and The Goodtimers. Stringfellow experimented with a records-only night on Tuesdays, then an original concept. He advertised the list of records which he would play in advance in the local newspaper. The club hosted up and coming live acts, including

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...

and The Who. The Small Faces played their first gig outside London at the Mojo, and The Kinks worked out the arrangement of " All Day and All of the Night" while at the club. The Mojo Club was also known for its art. Its walls were decorated by Dave Manvell and Paul Norton in a pop art style, Stringfellow himself painting African warriors dancing. Colin Duffield designed innovative posters for the club, later using his skills to produce a wide range of posters for other local venues. In 1967, Stringfellow along with his brother Geoffrey decided to refocus the club on

psychedelic music Psychedelic music (sometimes called psychedelia) is a wide range of popular music styles and genres influenced by 1960s psychedelia, a subculture of people who used psychedelic drugs such as LSD, psilocybin mushrooms, mescaline, and cannabis to ...

, renamed it the "Beautiful King Mojo", and redecorated it accordingly.1967: The summer of love
, '' The Independent'', 5 May 2007 they booked

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...

, who played despite a complaint about drug use. The Mojo also received complaints about noise, and its licence was revoked later in the year. It was converted into a bingo club and was demolished in the 1980s. As a stopgap before their new club "The Penthouse" opened, Pete and Geoff ran Mojo nights in the basement ballroom at the City Hall. This was a much bigger venue than the old club with a proper stage. Pete played records and introduced live acts including

Johnny Johnson and the Bandwagon Johnny Johnson and the Bandwagon were an American vocal soul group, prominent in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Career Originally known simply as The Bandwagon, they were formed in 1967 and featured Artie Fullilove, Billy Bradley, Terry Lewis and ...

and

Martha and The Vandellas Martha and the Vandellas (known from 1967 to 1972 as Martha Reeves & The Vandellas) were an American vocal girl group formed in Detroit in 1957. The group achieved fame in the 1960s with Motown. An act founded by friends Annette Beard, Rosalind ...

. The Monday club night after Otis Redding's death in December 1967 he played Redding's songs virtually all evening.

References

{{reflist, 2 Music venues completed in 1964 1967 disestablishments in England Music venues in South Yorkshire Nightclubs in Sheffield 1964 establishments in England