Events are only confirmed if printed evidence is available, i.e.. Magazine, Advert,
Ticket, Poster etc. or if verified by two independent sources. Internet
sourced dates are not classed as evidence due to errors being copied from site
to site.
All acts are listed exactly as they appeared in the advert.
It will be noted that in the early years, some of the more famous bands had
differing names and may have been lower on the bill. This usually means
that they were, as yet, relatively unknown.
Additional information and corrections to this list are more
than welcomed.
All the gigs and events at the California Ballroom during 1975
Date |
Valid |
Event |
Comments |
Jan |
4 |
♫ |
Arthur Conley |
With Shossie & John Jones Adm. £1 |
|
11 |
♫ |
The Fantastics |
With Shossie & John Jones Adm. £1 |
|
16 |
♫ |
Northern Soul Disco |
First night. Every Thursday in the Devil's Den. |
|
18 |
♫ |
Jimmy James & the Vagabonds |
With Shossie & John Jones Adm. £1 |
|
25 |
♫ |
Kool and the Gang |
With Shossie & John Jones Adm. £1.50 |
Feb |
1 |
♫ |
Sarah Gordon Soul Show |
With Shossie & John Jones Adm. 70p Blues & Soul Magazine lists this as Donnie Elbert |
|
7 |
♫ |
Emperor Rosko |
With John Jones & Mighty Mouse 70p |
|
8 |
♫ |
Jimmy Helms |
With Shossie & John Jones Adm. £1 |
|
15 |
♫ |
Ace |
With Shossie & John Jones Adm. £1 |
|
22 |
♫ |
Chi-lites |
With Shossie & John Jones Adm. £1.50p Brother Louie presents
Rent-a-crowd every weekend. Learn to dance with expert tuition. |
Mar |
1 |
♫ |
Hues Corporation |
With Shossie & John Jones Adm. £1.50p |
|
8 |
♫ |
Rufus featuring Chaka Khan |
Adm. £1 |
|
15 |
♫ |
The Tymes |
With Shossie & John Jones Adm. £1.50p |
|
22 |
♫ |
Chairmen of the Board |
With Shossie & John Jones Adm. £1.50p |
|
27 |
♫ |
Stuart Henry DJ |
With Mighty Mouse & John Jones Adm. ? |
|
28 |
♫ |
Good Friday |
Ballroom Closed - Pool Bar open - Admission Free |
|
29 |
♫ |
Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel |
Adm. £1.50p |
Apr |
5 |
♫ |
Sweet Sensation |
With John Jones & Mighty Mouse Adm.£1 |
|
12 |
♫ |
New York City |
With Shossie & John Jones Adm. £1 |
|
19 |
♫ |
The Drifters |
Adm. £1.50p |
|
24 |
♫ |
Northern Soul in the Devil's Den |
Last advert found. Adm Guys 40p, Dolls 20p. |
|
25 |
♫ |
Disco |
with Shossey and special guest DJ Mr Super Bad Adm. 50p (we are
convinced that Mr Super Bad was Bruce Benson) |
|
26 |
♫ |
The Three Degrees |
With John Jones & Mighty Mouse Adm.£1.50p |
May |
2 |
♫ |
Pinball Wizard |
With Bruce Benson Adm. 50p Test out the latest pinball machine. |
|
3 |
♫ |
Jimmy Ruffin |
With Bruce Benson & Mighty Mouse Adm. £1.50p |
|
10 |
♫ |
The Jeff Roden Band |
With John Jones & Mighty Mouse Adm.£1 |
|
17 |
♫ |
Glitter Band |
With John Jones & Mighty Mouse Adm.£1 |
|
24 |
♫ |
Edwin Starr |
With John Jones & Mighty Mouse Adm.£1 Blues & Soul Magazine lists BT Express |
|
25 |
♫ |
72 hour non-stop Pool playing in the Pool Bar |
Commencing 9pm through to Wed 28th finishing 9pm. Open 24 hours a day
Adm. Free. |
|
31 |
♫ |
Detroit Emeralds |
Adm. £1 |
Jun |
7 |
♫ |
Major Lance |
Adm. £1 |
|
14 |
♫ |
Rufus Thomas |
Adm. £1 |
|
21 |
♫ |
Desmond Dekker |
Adm. £1 |
|
28 |
♫ |
Osibisa |
Adm. £1 |
Jul |
5 |
♫ |
KC and the Sunshine Band |
With Shossie & Mighty Mouse. Adm. £1.50p |
|
12 |
♫ |
The Flirtations |
Adm. £1 |
|
19 |
♫ |
G.T. Moore and the Reggae Guitars |
|
|
26 |
♫ |
Geno Washington & The Ram Jam Band |
|
Aug |
1 |
♫ |
Stylistics |
|
|
2 |
♫ |
Devil's Den with Brother Louie |
Little Richard in the Vista Bar & Pool room open. Adm. 60p |
|
7 |
♫ |
Discovisto |
Little Richard in the Vista Bar Adm. free |
|
9 |
♫ |
Devil's Den with Brother Louie |
Little Richard in the Vista Bar & American Pool room open. Adm. 60p |
|
16 |
♫ |
Junior Walker and the Allstars |
Blues & Soul magazine lists both 2nd & 16th Aug. Adm. £1.50p |
|
23 |
♫ |
Devil's Den with Brother Louie |
Little Richard in the Vista Bar & American Pool room open. Adm. 60p |
|
30 |
♫ |
Hamilton Bohannon |
With John Jones & Mighty Mouse. Adm. £1.50 |
Sep |
5 |
♫ |
Big Give-away Night with Emperor Rosko plus his International Roadshow
and Go-Go Girls. |
With John Jones & Mighty Mouse. Adm £1 Apparently they were going to
be giving away Rosko's Chopper Bike but due to the gaming laws they were
unable to do so. |
|
6 |
♫ |
Smokey |
With John Jones & Mighty Mouse. Adm. £1 |
|
13 |
♫ |
Disco Tex and the Sex-O-Lettes |
With John Jones & Mighty Mouse plus guest DJ Bruce Benson. Adm. £1.50p |
|
20 |
♫ |
Devil's Den with Brother Louie |
Little Richard in the Vista Bar & American Pool room open. Adm. 70p |
|
27 |
♫ |
The Drifters |
Adm. £1.50p |
Oct |
4 |
♫ |
Fatback Band |
Making their first ever British appearance Adm. £2 |
|
9 |
♫ |
The Temptations |
Reviewer Terry Murphy said in Blues & Soul Magazine that no words could do the show
justice. Her one complaint was that they sang full versions of all the new
songs and only did a medley of the old ones. Adm. £3 |
|
11 |
♫ |
George McCrae |
Adm. £1.50p |
|
18 |
♫ |
B.T. Express |
Adm. £2 |
|
25 |
♫ |
The Tymes |
Adm. £1. Blues & Soul has both KC and the Sunshine Band and the
Tymes for the same date |
Nov |
1 |
♫ |
The Chants |
With John Jones & Mighty Mouse Adm. £1. Blues & Soul has Ben E King
listed for this date |
|
8 |
♫ |
Four Tops |
Adm. £2.75p in advance £3 on the door
|
|
14 |
♫ |
Winter Madness Fancy Dress Night |
With John Jones Free admission to anyone arriving in fancy dress
between 8 and 9pm |
|
15 |
♫ |
Devil's Den with Brother Louie |
Little Richard in the Vista Bar & American Pool room open. Adm. 50p |
|
21 |
♫ |
Devil's Den with Paul Gray |
John Jones, Mighty Mouse & Brother Louie in the main Ballroom Adm. 70p |
|
15 |
♫ |
Devil's Den with Brother Louie |
Little Richard in the Vista Bar & American Pool room open. Adm. 50p |
|
22 |
♫ |
Limmie & Family Cooking |
With John Jones & Mighty Mouse Adm. £1. |
|
28 |
♫ |
Pernod Night |
Everybody will receive a voucher on the door entitling them to a free
Pernod. Plus superb sonic assaults on your otoscopic organs (the discos are
quite good too) Adm. 70p |
|
29 |
♫ |
The Exciters |
With John Jones & Mighty Mouse plus Brother Louie in the Devil's Den
Adm. £1 |
Dec |
6 |
♫ |
Dee Clark |
With John Jones & Mighty Mouse Adm. £1 |
|
13 |
♫ |
Hot Chocolate |
Adm. £1 |
|
17 |
♫ |
Donald Byrd & the Blackbyrds |
|
|
19 |
♫ |
Tony Prince with the 208 Roadshow |
With John Jones & Mighty Mouse plus Brother Louie in the Devil's Den
with the Rent-a-crowd Christmas reunion. Adm. £1 |
|
20 |
♫ |
Devil's Den with Brother Louie |
La Vista Disco with Paul Gray Adm. 50p |
|
21 |
♫ |
Funkitis (Soul on Sunday) |
Adm. 40p |
|
24 |
♫ |
Osibisa |
With John Jones & Mighty Mouse Adm. £2 |
|
26 |
♫ |
Boxing Day Party |
Devil's Den Adm. 50p |
|
27 |
♫ |
The Real Thing |
Adm. £1 |
|
28 |
♫ |
Funkitis (Soul on Sunday) |
Adm. 40p |
|
31 |
♫ |
Mac & Katie Kissoon |
Adm. £2 John Jones last night at the California |