Remember the group called "Wigan's Ovation" ???

               Records the like of "skiing in the snow"

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                     Below is a copy of a letter written by Jim McCluskey of Wigan’ Ovation. 

          Hello all, I really do not know where to start or for that matter where to finish. Let me tell you a bit about Wigan’s Ovation, well I joined the band in 1973, then their name was “Forum.”  I’d never sang live on a stage before and one of the reasons for joining the band was that I could not go on working shifts any more. The band took a chance with me because they had been going since the 60’s. Back then they were called “The Wigan Peers.” They were very good, and on occasion they were supported by groups of such calibre as The Moody Blues, The Squires and an up and coming welsh lad called Tom Jones. They didn’t do to bad for themselves did they?  Anyway “The Forum” and later, in the glitter days, “Sparkle” we did all the working men’s clubs and discos up and down the country, trying to make a name for ourselves, then one day we were booked to play a ballroom in Wigan called of course The Casino. We used to play there about every six weeks or so. Then one night around mid-night as we were packing our gear away and getting ready to leave the doors burst open and all these kids rushed in. I asked Mike (Walker,) who was the manager of Wigan Casino and who, two years later, was to become the manager of Wigan’s Ovation, “What’s going on?” And he told me that, “It was something new he was trying for a few weeks, you never know,” he said. “It may even catch on.” Of course it was the first Northern Soul all-nighter. It was a massive success and the rest they say “is history” 

          I had always been a fan of soul music, all my friends thought I was mad, they were all into the Beatles and Rock ‘n’ Roll. I used to be into bands like James Green, The Clovers, Ray Charles etc. so the all-nighters were a breath of fresh air to me. However being on the road a lot with the band meant that I would not be able to go to as many as I wished I could have done, but some Sundays we would go straight to the Casino around 4 or 5a.m. It was unbelievable. 

           One day, in 1975, we were doing a couple of soul tracks in our set, Skiing in the Snow and The Snake. We couldn’t do to many soul tracks when doing a gig because we had to earn a living and not many people in the clubs we did liked that type of music. Mike Walker asked us would we like to go down to London to record a single version of Skiing in the snow. We jumped at the chance and were very excited. We never thought that the single would do anything but it was a challenge and a break from all the dingy working men’s clubs.  We waited for the word to go to London and in the meantime I wrote Northern Soul Dancer. for the B-side. We had a load of fun in the studio and we thought everything went well so we returned home and back to the working men’s clubs, performing either side of the bingo. Then about three weeks later while we were in Hartlepool doing a week of shows we got word that the record was finished, all the trumpets and violins had been added. We very quickly acquired a copy and dashed off to the Casino to hear how it sounded in a big room. Mike put it on the decks and we listened, it sounded fantastic we couldn’t believe it. I had to pinch myself I couldn’t grasp that it was me singing. Two weeks later we were invited to perform the single on Top of the Pops, not bad for two lads from Bolton (Alf the drummer and me) and two lads from Wigan (brothers Phil and Pete on guitars).  All together we had three singles in the charts in 1975, Skiing in the Snow, Personally and Superlove and appeared on Top of the Pops 13 times in total. The band actually split in 1976 but not before being ripped off by promoters and the like, but I mustn’t go into that too much. 

          I started a band of my own but I was never happy without the lads they were like family to me. So in 1977 we got back together again but by then the spark had gone, we kept going on and off until about 1984 when our manager Mike Walker killed himself for what reason nobody knows to this day. We all gave up after that, we’d had enough, and we had done things that were far beyond our expectations. We were there at the beginning and the end of the Casino which, lets face it, is as near to the cavern of the 60’s as you can get. There will never be another Wigan Casino it truly was an unbelievable place. I’m sure the legacy will remain strong even though the building has gone. I hope you enjoyed my little reminisce and if there are any questions reply to adrian@smiffies3.freeserve.co.uk and I’ll be more than happy to answer them.

Good luck, Keep the Faith.    Jim McClusky

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