Stephen “Smackers” Mathers was a young teenager living at Foxhill when he first discovered the Mojo. His memories provide a vivid picture of the club, the people who attended it, the clothes they wore and, above all, the extraordinary musicians who passed through its doors.

What follows is based on an interview with Stephen, retaining his recollections and using his own words extensively.

Discovering the Mojo

In 1964, Stephen was still at school at Yew Lane Secondary Modern and living at Foxhill in Sheffield. His introduction to the Mojo came through another local lad and, somewhat appropriately, a piece of clothing.

“I met one of the lads who lived nearby and I knew that he’d got a Union Jack waistcoat. I’d heard about the mod scene in Sheffield, and I wanted that Union Jack waistcoat.”

Stephen bought the waistcoat for five shillings and offered to go to the Mojo with its previous owner. His first visit was probably in late 1964 or early 1965.

The journey itself became part of the experience:

“We took a bus into town and a bus from town up to Tollbar, Pitsmoor. Walked up the steps, the doors on the right-hand side, walk through the doors, there was a little open window with Mrs. Stringfellow in it.”

Then came his first impression of the club itself.

“Opened the doors to go into the club and the first thing I saw was a big sign that was lit by ultraviolet lights that really showed off anything that you were wearing in white.”

The sign advertised the bands that were due to appear at the club over the coming weeks. Stephen remembered the layout clearly: to the left was a large room containing chairs, barrels and a coffee bar, while the dance hall was to the right.

The atmosphere made an immediate impression.

“Very lively. Loads of people milling around, chatting, dancing, music, unbelievable.”

Until then, Stephen’s experience of going out had largely been limited to youth clubs and Speedway. He remembered Meynell Road Youth Club particularly fondly, as well as the Memorial Hall in Hillsborough.

But the Mojo was something entirely different.

“The different fashions, the clothes, the girls, the music, the atmosphere. It was just a different world.”

And, perhaps most importantly:

“You could go, relax, you didn’t have to bother about anything.”

Meeting at Peter Robinson’s

The Mojo experience began before people even reached the club. Stephen remembered the regular meeting point outside Peter Robinson’s, the women’s fashion shop near C&A.

“Everybody used to meet there and then there were the old buses that didn’t have doors on. You could just jump on them.”

One journey to the Mojo brought an unexpected celebrity encounter. Stephen remembered that plastic rain masks were fashionable at the time, and as he and his friends travelled up to the club, they discovered that the man sitting behind them was singer Dave Berry.

“I can remember him sat on the bus. We chatted to him.”

It was typical of the world surrounding the Mojo: musicians, performers and young fans could sometimes find themselves sharing the same buses and spaces.

The Look: From Union Jacks to Levi’s

Fashion was central to the emerging Mod culture, and Stephen remembered his own clothes in considerable detail.

“I can remember having some black and white, big, checked trousers, kind of flared at the bottom, hipsters, a big thick belt on with a big buckle, a patterned shirt.”

Others wore striped trousers, while early Mod fashion incorporated paisley patterns and increasingly sophisticated tailoring.

Stephen’s Union Jack waistcoat eventually disappeared from his wardrobe after an incident at the Fun House on Blackpool Pleasure Beach.

“I abandoned my Union Jack waistcoat, after getting attacked in the Fun House on Blackpool Pleasure Beach.”

As the decade progressed, fashions changed.

“The clothes evolved, everybody started to wear jeans when Levi’s first came out.”

Those early Levi’s were button-fly rather than zip-fly and were not pre-shrunk, creating a ritual of their own.

“We used to sit in the bath for about an hour.”

For those who wanted a faded look, there were different techniques.

“If you wanted to fade them, some people put bleach on. But the best way to fade them so they didn’t look bleached was to get sand or sandpaper and rub sand on them while they were wet.”

Sheffield’s Mod Shops

Sheffield did not have the enormous range of specialist clothing shops that London offered, but there were important local destinations.

Stephen remembered the Male Boutique on Orchard Street:

“The shop is still there, but I think it’s a sandwich shop now. It’s got a little upstairs and a little downstairs on a little spiral staircase.”

He remembered Rod, known as Boxer, working there, along with Pete Teasdale. Harry Fenton’s on Chapel Walk was another important shop, while Levi’s could be bought from Bunny’s near the market.

For serious shopping, however, young Sheffield Mods sometimes travelled further afield.

“There wasn’t many shops in Sheffield so we would go down to London sometimes, down to Petticoat Lane, but we also went to Carnaby Street.”

Stephen vividly remembered his first visit to the original Carnaby Street.

“I saw what looked like a milk float, that was in fact a wheelbarrow with mounds of ice on it and Coca-Cola bottles stuck in the ice. I think it was the first time I’d had Coke.”

As the Mods became more interested in suits, specialist tailors became important too. Stephen remembered Burton’s, John Tempest and the more expensive individual tailors such as Barney Goodman.

His own collection included several striking suits:

“I can remember I had an olive-green mohair suit. I had a petrol-coloured mohair suit, I had a jet-black mohair suit, tab shirts from Banners in Attercliffe.”

Even decades later, the connection with the clothing remained. Stephen still had a tab shirt bought in London.

The Sound of the Mojo

Music was at the heart of the Mojo experience. Stephen had already discovered American and British music through Radio Luxembourg and was a committed Rolling Stones fan.

He saw the Rolling Stones at the Gaumont Cinema when he was just 14, remembering Brian Jones being with the group.

“I can remember standing outside at the side doors, not the front doors, and the Rolling Stones were looking through windows above and all the girls were screaming, and all the guys were watching.”

He liked the Beatles too, although he was not a particularly devoted fan.

At the Mojo, however, the range of live music was extraordinary.

“Going to the Mojo Club, you’ve got so many, so many unbelievable bands.”

Among the acts Stephen remembered were the Small Faces, Spencer Davis Group and Georgie Fame. He particularly remembered Georgie Fame’s large Hammond organ being positioned at floor level because of its size.

The Alan Bown Set was another favourite.

“They were a great band.”

Stephen remembered Alan Bown on trumpet and John Helliwell, who would later become famous as a member of Supertramp, playing saxophone.

Inez and Charlie Fox

One particularly memorable performance involved Inez and Charlie Fox at an all-nighter.

Because it was winter, the club was relatively quiet that evening. Instead of performing from the stage, the artists and club staff transformed the floor into a more intimate performance space.

“They took the benches from the side of the club and made them into a half circle and they performed on the floor.”

Stephen remembered their record Hurt by Love, as well as their version of Mockingbird.

Billy Stewart and Reg Dwight

One of Stephen’s favourite American artists to appear at the Mojo was Billy Stewart.

“Of all the American artists that appeared at the Mojo, one of my favourites was Billy Stewart. What a great night that was.”

Stephen particularly remembered Stewart’s energetic stage performance.

“He had a small microphone which he used to swing round like a lasso and then catch it.”

The pianist in Billy Stewart’s band that night was a young Reg Dwight — the musician who would later become known around the world as Elton John.

Stephen remembered the club being packed. A cloakroom worker named Pat was standing with him watching the performance when she fainted.

After Billy Stewart had left the stage, Stephen found him downstairs in the office area.

“Billy Stewart was sat in a big chair. I asked if it was all right if Pat sits in there while she recovers a little bit? She sat down and I spoke to him for quite a while. A nice guy.”

Stephen particularly loved Stewart’s Sitting in the Park and ordered his album Billy Stewart Teaches Old Standards New Tricks.

“I waited for about three months for it to come.”

The Spencer Davis Group

The Spencer Davis Group produced another unforgettable Mojo memory.

“The place is buzzing, it was absolutely packed, there was condensation coming off the ceiling and I was sat on the piano in the corner of the stage watching them play.”

At the centre of the performance was a young Stevie Winwood.

“Stevie Winwood, what a singer he was.”

The conditions inside the packed club were so hot that condensation was forming everywhere. Stephen found himself unexpectedly involved when Spencer Davis handed him a guitar.

“Spencer Davis passed one of his guitars to me and asked me to wipe it down because it was wet with condensation.”

It was an extraordinary experience for a young fan standing virtually on the stage.

Ike & Tina Turner: “The Best Live Act I’ve Ever Seen”

When asked which performers stood out above the rest, Stephen immediately named Ike & Tina Turner.

“Ike & Tina Turner. The best live act I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen a lot of bands, but Ike & Tina Turner has got to be the best.”

He remembered the sheer scale of the performance and the number of people on stage, including the Ikettes.

Among them were P.P. Arnold and Cindy Birdsong, who would later join the Supremes.

Stephen also remembered seeing Little Stevie Wonder, as he was known at the time, describing it as a fantastic Sunday afternoon performance.

“The bands were just unbelievable. There’s too many to talk about.”

Jimi Hendrix and the Beginning of Psychedelia

Another moment that remained particularly vivid for Stephen was seeing Jimi Hendrix at the Mojo.

He was extraordinarily close to the performer.

“I was stood about a foot away from him, basically in front of him.”

Stephen watched Hendrix perform some of his famous guitar techniques.

“I watched him play it with his teeth. I watched him play it behind his neck.”

But it was what happened after Hendrix left the stage that Stephen found equally remarkable.

“I can remember him walking off stage, twiddling a few knobs, putting his guitar against the amp, and there were all this noise coming out of the amp.”

His reaction was simple:

“That was unbelievable, really.”

Looking back, Stephen felt that the performance represented an important change in the musical direction of the club.

“I think that would have started probably the move into the psychedelic era at the Mojo Club.”

Pink Floyd and the “All Day Love In”

Stephen also saw Pink Floyd at the famous “All Day Love In”.

“Pink Floyd again. Brilliant but not really my type of music.”

His comment perhaps captures something important about the Mojo: it was broad enough to accommodate different musical tastes and was continually changing as new sounds emerged.

Trips to Ready Steady Go!

Stephen’s memories of the 1960s music scene extended beyond Sheffield. He travelled to London twice with Dinky Dawson to attend Ready Steady Go!

He remembered Peter Stringfellow returning from trips to London with Sandy Sargeant, the principal dancer on the television programme.

“What a good-looking lady she was and a brilliant dancer.”

But Stephen’s favourite London trip with Dinky Dawson involved an extraordinary performance by James Brown.

The evening began at a bowling alley near Wembley Stadium before they went to the studio. Zoot Money appeared, followed by James Brown.

Stephen’s memory of Brown’s performance remains wonderfully theatrical:

“James Brown who came on the stage, did a few songs, collapsed, got carried off the stage, came back on with a big cape with a bit of ermine on it, sung another song, collapsed again.”

Then came another entrance:

“Came back on again with the ermine stole on, with a crown on this time.”

Stephen’s verdict was unequivocal:

“What a fantastic performance that was.”

There was also a dancing contest on the programme. Sheffield’s contingent included Roger Howe and Warwick Bower. Dave Senior, known as Bongo, was also on the trip, along with Dave Theaker and his brother. Stephen remembered that Bongo painted some of the murals in the Mojo.

“A lot of the top Sheffield Mods went down by coach.”

Dinky Dawson

Stephen’s memories of Dinky Dawson are particularly affectionate.

“Dinky Dawson, what a character he was.”

And there was one dance move for which Dinky was famous:

“If you want to ever see anybody do the Woolly Bully, he was the guy. He could go the full length of the Mojo doing the Woolly Bully.”

Why the Mojo Still Matters

For Stephen, the King Mojo Club is an important part of Sheffield’s history, not simply a nostalgic memory.

“It’s big part of Sheffield history.”

He also believes that Peter Stringfellow deserves recognition for what he created and what he subsequently achieved.

“Peter Stringfellow for what he went on to do and achieve, knew the music and club scene, he knew the records, he knew the bands, he did things that other people didn’t do.”

For Stephen, that is why the Mojo deserves to be remembered.

“And that’s why people should know about the Mojo Club in Sheffield.”

The Roots of Northern Soul

Perhaps Stephen’s most important observation concerns the legacy of the Mods and their relationship with soul music.

“The Mods in the 60s started the soul scene in the UK.”

He believes that the later Northern Soul movement should be understood in the context of what came before it.

“When people today talk about Northern soul which started in 1970, it was pure and simple soul and people need to be aware of the roots of this unbelievable music.”

Stephen places the King Mojo within a wider network of northern clubs that helped establish the culture.

“The 60’s Mods started the soul movement off in the northern clubs such as The King Mojo in Sheffield, the Twisted Wheel in Manchester, the Dungeon Club in Nottingham and the Night Owl in Leicester.”

Conclusion

Stephen “Smackers” Mathers’s memories capture the King Mojo Club at a remarkable moment in Sheffield’s history. For a young schoolboy from Foxhill, entering the Mojo meant stepping into what seemed like another world — one defined by fashion, music, dancing and a sense of freedom.

His recollections also demonstrate how closely connected the Sheffield scene was to the wider explosion of popular music in Britain and America. Within the same club, Stephen saw acts ranging from the Spencer Davis Group and Small Faces to Billy Stewart, Ike & Tina Turner, Little Stevie Wonder, Jimi Hendrix and Pink Floyd. He travelled to London with Sheffield Mods, attended Ready Steady Go!, encountered major performers and watched musical styles evolve in real time.

But perhaps the most powerful aspect of his memories is the sense of discovery.

“It was just a different world.”

The King Mojo was a place where young people could discover music they had never heard before, experiment with clothes and identity, meet friends, encounter performers at remarkably close quarters and become part of a rapidly changing culture.

For Stephen, that history remains worth remembering — not simply because the bands were famous, but because the people who gathered there helped create something that would influence British popular culture for decades to come.