Registering 93 wins during 12 years in the ring is more than enough to qualify as a boxing great.
But Len Johnson had to make do with being a bus driver instead.
Despite a near-century’s worth of victories during a glittering combat career, this Clayton-born fighter passed away in 1974 without the flurry of tributes that would usually accompany such a star.
It is only now, 99 years after his first pro fight, that one of Greater Manchester’s most successful athletes is finally getting the recognition that eluded him during his lifetime.
Manchester City Council is considering building a statue of Johnson in the coming months – with Mayor Andy Burnham describing the boxer’s story as one that “needs to be told and celebrated”.
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A hero who was almost forgotten, Johnson – the greatest champion there never was – could soon be immortalised in bronze.
It’ll be a fitting tribute to a man who never did get the title shot he earned. Simply because of the colour of his skin.
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Johnson was born into a boxing family.
His father would hop into fighting booths at local fairs and square off with members of the public – and he encouraged his son to spar as he grew older.
Johnson Jr started somewhat slowly, with a somewhat mixed record. But soon something clicked – and he turned into one of the sport’s most formidable opponents.
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Renowned for his wonderful ability; Johnson toppled multiple champions during his dozen years in the ring – including a season in Australia (where he won six of his eight fights).
But athletic prowess and a proven record were no match for ignorance – meaning he would never get an opportunity to compete for the biggest honours.
Disillusioned, Johnson hung up his mitts in 1933. But he didn’t leave the sport behind entirely.
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Post-retirement he trained youngsters and wrote boxing columns, before getting involved in local politics and becoming a well-respected trade unionist and community leader in Moss Side; putting food on the table with his bus driving job.
Johnson would attempt to earn a seat on Manchester City Council on numerous occasions, and whilst he never made it onto the main governing body, he did play a significant role in overturning a local pub’s policy on separating white and black patrons.
After being refused a drink in the Old Abbey Taphouse in Greenheys in 1953, Johnson rallied against the racist ruling with the backing of the Lord Mayor and Bishop of Manchester.
The campaign not only convinced the landlord to change the rule – but Johnson was even invited to sit with the landlord for a pint as a peace offering.
During Black History Month, the media surrounding Johnson’s story (including books Never Counted Out by Michael Herbert and Boxing’s Uncrowned Champion by Rob Howard, as well as the play Fighter) is receiving renewed attention.
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Sports scholars and historians are also set to get together with members of Johnson’s family at the Old Abbey Taphouse later in October to celebrate his life.
For too long, the incredible and tragic tale of one of Manchester’s true boxing heroes wasn’t given the spotlight it deserved.
Now, bigger crowds than ever are uniting to appreciate Len Johnson: The man who’s gone more rounds – both in and out the ring – than most boxers would ever survive.
Learn more about what Manchester is doing to celebrate Black History Month here.
Feature
LF System on headlining Amber’s for ‘The Drop’, dancefloor anthems and more
Thomas Melia
Scottish DJ duo LF System are playing an intimate set in Manchester as part of ‘The Drop’, a special monthly event series for a very important cause.
‘The Drop’, sees the hitmakers joining two more greats, DJ Paulette and Turno, as headliners for this remarkable event all about raising awareness and funds for mental health in the music industry.
The mastermind partnership of Headstock and Skiddle, each event champions a charity which benefits including Music Minds Matter (Turno) and Nordoff & Robbins (DJ Paulette and LF System).
The first monthly set comes from the DJ duo behind one of the biggest UK club staples, ‘Afraid To Feel’, as LF System take over Manchester’s newest clubbing venue, Amber’s – who typically keep their lineups private – for an exclusive ‘Coffee Table Session’.
LF System, Conor Larkman and Sean Finnigan, outside their New York session venue.Credit: Supplied
LF System Interview
This event is in aid of Nordoff & Robbins: how important is this cause to you?
We feel like music should be enjoyed by. Anyone, no matter what. Nordoff & Robbins make that possible.
They help everyone, all ages through music therapy. It’s important to us that [this event] supports them. Everybody deserves a chance to have a go at music, it’s a great cause that allows people to have great opportunities.
You’re going to be playing Amber’s, which is one of Manchester’s newest clubbing venues, how are you feeling?
I’ve heard a lot of good things about it, so I just really want to get in there and experience it for ourselves.
It’s weird coming to Manchester at this time of year as well; we’re always here in winter, usually freezing and raining, so it’ll be quite nice to come down this April.
Amber’s nightclub has some very important rules, including a no-phone policy in order to bring clubbing back to its roots – how do you feel about this?
Oh, we’re all for that!
I think there’s been a bit of a problem recently, so anything that can be done to make clubbing all about the music and as immersive as possible the better. It’s about living in the moment. I think that’s a good thing.
I don’t think we’ve ever actually done anything with a no-phone policy before; somehow, they’ve always snuck them in. Exciting.
LF System’s Conor at a recent event in New York.The Scottish duo LF System, playing an intimate set in New York.Credit: Supplied
What can fans expect from your special set for the monthly music series ‘The Drop’?
It may be a bit different to what we usually do as it’s a coffee table session set-up, but there’ll definitely be good vibes and good music all night.
There’ll be a lot of unreleased stuff that we’ve been making recently, mostly from our new EP that’s coming, and it gives us a chance to play our new songs and see people’s reactions. So far, they’ve been good every time we’ve included them.
How come you’ve opted for a ‘Coffee table session’ rather than a huge rave vibe, especially considering how much your music gets crowds up on their feet?
We’ve never actually done a coffee table session in a club before, so that’ll be our first for us. It’s going to be electric and fresh.
You just get to showcase a lot more music than when what you do when you’re playing a club set, different BPMs.
[Coffee table sessions] still get people up and dancing, but it’s just a different type of night. It’s relaxed, happy dance music, you know what I mean? You don’t have, don’t have to go mad ‘fer it, just a nice chilled one.
As well-respectedDJs, it’s only fair we consult you on Manchester’s clubbing scene, so how would you rate the club culture and atmosphere in our city?
We always have a good time in Manchester and there’s always good crowds. It [Manchester] is just like that.
There’s a good culture to do in this city, so I think it’s a good place to bring this session too, and we’re looking forward to it.
It’s got a really rich history and you can always feel that when you’re there, it’s always a good time in any of [Manchester’s] different venues. Everyone always seems right up for it.
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House music is known to improve people’s moods, and ‘The Drop’ is all about music and mental health, so to finish off, what’s your all-time favourite top three mood boosting house tracks?
Sean
‘Music Sounds Better With You’ by Stardust
‘Beautiful People’ by Barbara Tucker
‘In Love With You’ by The Paradise
Conor
‘Why Not?’ by Skate Bård
‘I Think I’ll Do Some Skipping On My Own’ by Sandy B (Opolopo Rework)
‘Night Walkin” by Mermaid S
LF System are bringing their bangers to ‘The Drop’ in Manchester.Spinning the decks just like they will at Amber’s in Manchester later this month at ‘The Drop’.
Manc music icons James on headlining Neighbourhood Weekender, staying power and more
Danny Jones
There aren’t many bands that can say they’ve made 18 studio albums and been playing live music for over 40 years – certainly not from Manchester, anyway – so when we got offered the chance to speak to Manc royalty, James, about headlining Neighbourhood Weekender, it was a no-brainer.
We were supposed to get just 10-15 minutes with long-serving bassist Jim Glennie from Moss Side, who has been part of the furniture of the band since he was a teenager.
What actually happened was we ended up nerding out music and chatting about James for over 40 minutes. It was a joy.
Here’s how it went.
Chatting with Jim Glennie from James
James’ Jim Glennie chatting all things Neighbourhood Weekender and more. (Credit: The Manc Group)
So we’ve obviously seen James on the big stage at Neighbourhood [Weekender] before, back in 2021. What are your memories of it?
Yeah, I mean it was ‘the big gig’ for us. It’s kind of just down the road from Manchester, obviously, so kind of our home support and yeah, it was just a wonderful thing to do. I kind of like festivals where you’re in a town or city and you just kind of take over the place for a couple of days – I love that.
I think that gives them a real character of their own, and yeah, I really, really enjoyed it; amazed and loving the fact that they’ve had us back again as well!”
That’s the wonderful thing about when you play a show like this: it’s not just you’re there to do your bit, you kind of have a day out as well, so you get to go and see loads of other bands, which is brilliant. Looking forward to spending time back in Manchester too; my family is still there and my granddaughter’s coming with four of my mates.
Brilliant. Well, since you brought it up, who on the lineup are you looking forward to seeing there?
I mean, on our day, I know there’s The Wombats, The Snuts— I love the Snuts. I was reviewing their first single in the early days before they had any success and I just absolutely loved it. I remember just kind of praying they’d they’d do alright, and they did.
The Slow Readers Club – we’ve played with those a lot, too. I think they’re so underrated, and I think they should be absolutely huge. So again, we’ve got loads of mates playing, which is quite nice.
A lot of Northern names in there as well. What is it you think about artists from those regions and our crowds that sets us apart?
I think it kind of goes without saying that there’s an independence of thought and character, and I don’t think that those are bad qualities in music. Also, the fact that to some degree you can be left to your own devices; you’re not in London where there’s the spotlight directly on you, you know?
You can kind of keep yourself to yourself a little bit, perhaps and also just focus on what’s important: the music. I think it was probably more prevalent when we were starting off because unless you were in A&R (artists and repertoire) who could be bothered coming all the way to Manchester, you were left alone.
I think it’s a little bit different now with socials because I there’s more of a window into people’s worlds, but I still think it’s true that you’re physically away from it slightly that you can just get your head down and develop your talent, your skill, write songs properly without the pressures of either being reviewed or people trying to sign you or all the gubbins and nonsense and distractions that comes with it.
When you start inevitably dealing with the business, initially, you need to focus on being an artist, writing songs, and becoming strong – becoming strong as a unit. If you’re a band, the relationships need strengthening before you take it out into the big wide world. Otherwise, you’ve had it.
Absolutely. And what about Manchester, specifically?
Well, that’s another positive thing that’s supported by all the amazing music that’s come from Manchester. I mean, it always has, you know. We always seem to have this rich vein there. I think it’s also kind of second city syndrome.
Birmingham would probably debate whether they’re the second city, but there’s definitely a chip on the shoulder that adds character and the desire to not just do something but prove something.
I think it’s very different in Manchester now, but certainly when we started out, a fair chunk of what drove people to be in bands was poverty and unemployment. You wanted some way out, potentially, or at least just in the moment to do something that was positive and enjoyable.
Manchester’s an incredible place. Whenever we go back there, we’re bowled over by this feeling of positivity, the change and sheer transformation that’s happened there over the last couple of decades. Very different place.
Yeah, I think we definitely take it for granted at times. Touching on it there, what was it like coming into this whole thing? Can you remember what it felt like when it all started kicking off?
I mean, we struggled with the industry to start with. The industry kind of couldn’t really find a place for James, I think, because we’ve always been a little bit difficult as people to some degree, but also musically, we don’t really easily fit into a category.
As soon as you’ve got your head around what we’re doing, we tend to change; as soon as you’ve got your head around what we’re doing, we tend to change, so I don’t think the industry particularly likes that – I think it’s more of a struggle for them.
You know, it’s probably what’s kept us here: I think that wanting to move on and change and shift even if it doesn’t help the industry label and package you. What supported us was playing live, and predominantly playing live in the North.
— ᴍᴀɴᴄʜᴇꜱᴛᴇʀ ᴍᴜꜱɪᴄ ꜰᴏʀᴇᴠᴇʀ™️ (@MANCHESTERMUS10) January 11, 2024
It’s where we lived, it’s where we were from and building the fan base in and around Manchester. We got huge here before the rest of Britain knew who we were. You know we’ve sometimes been considered ‘Manchester’s best kept secret’, and it often felt like we were.
We had a massive Manc following, and that’s what fueled us and gave us our self-belief. You go from 500 to 800, then it’s 1,200, and it really does drive you.
It’s hard sometimes when you’re in a band or you’re an artist because you feel like you’re banging your head against a brick wall. It feels very easy just to pack it in and think nothing will happen, but the people of Manchester kept us going.
Yeah, I mean even around the area or at other gigs and festivals, you see that logo everywhere – did you ever realise it was going to become such a big thing?
It was by happenstance. I mean, our merchandise empire just went bonkers and our t-shirts just went silly. I think a lot of people used to wear James shirts not even knowing it was a bloody band – absolutely fine, no problem with that, by the way.
I think it was a mixture of two people: I think it was like Justin, our head honcho when it came to merch and then our actual band manager, Martin. I don’t think we realised at the time it was anything.
Well, similar to that point on the shirts is the music: I know part of it is a product of having been around for so long, but what is your relationship like with having so many songs that people know and love even if they don’t realise it’s James? That’s something I noticed growing up.
I think that’s very true – you hit the nail on the head there. I think a lot of people do know more of our songs than they probably realise, and that’s fun at festivals in particular. You know, we do a James [headline] gig and it’s a very different kind of journey.
They can two and a half hours or something of us taking our time through the back catalogue, but in a festival you can’t get away with a lot of that. You’ve got to deliver, you’ve got to pull people in – you’ve got to get their attention and batter them around the head before that final uplift end curve of hits.
Musicality-wise, we cover such a broad spectrum of things, but we do want to send people away tired, sweaty, hot, knackered, and losing their voice from shouting and singing. That’s what we’re aiming for: big grins on their faces and the challenge of pulling people in. It’s the best job in the world.
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I mean Tim [Booth, frontman], he’s always been famed for his dancing; we batter him with great tunes, so we make him dance. He’s not as young as he used to be, none of us are, but it’s what he does and he loves it – we’re still amazed by his energy to this day.
No matter the ups and downs we’ve had in the past, we’re really enjoying ourselves up there, and things are going well for us right now.
There have been times in the past where we’ve been successful, but we’ve felt bloody struggles, and it’s easy to ball this up. If you’re not careful, you can make a real mess of it. It’s easy to have one of the best jobs on the planet, and it takes you a while to fully appreciate it.
It might not quite be the size of Glasto, but here’s a taster of what James at NBHD Weekender 2025 will look like.
Words of wisdom. What about sound? If you had to describe the current James vibe, what would it be?
Wow, I mean that’s really difficult because I have absolutely no objectivity on this at all. None, that’s all right. We don’t consciously decide where we’re going to go with the songwriting; we always react to what we’ve just done; we kind of want to build on it but not do the same, so that’s why we kind of zigzag.
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I mean, I suppose we’re most known for, you know, anthemic, uplifting tunes and I’ll take that as a description any day of the week. But we’re kind of more than that. We’ve got a cello and a violin in the band, we love using technology, and there is just the traditional bunch of guys with guitars bashing around some chords and having a sing-along stuff. We’ve got a f*** of a lot of songs we have!
Fair enough, haha. What about an underrated song that you don’t feel gets enough love?
I mean there’s things like ‘Curse Curse‘, which I think the band love but we’ve ended up calling it ‘Rehearse Rehearse’ because we always used to do it in soundchecks and then in the gig we’re doing the soundcheck. It sounded amazing and then we’d never do it in the gig for some reason.
Another song called ‘Oh My Heart’, which again I think the band absolutely adore but for some reason we don’t put in the gigs; ‘Play Dead’ off Whiplash, and I think that’s coming [into the setlists]. We’re going into rehearsals at the end of April to start doing the shows for the summer, and we’re going to work on some new old songs to put in the set, so yeah, some of them might be in there.
The songs I enjoy the most change as the months and years go by because it’s all so different and I’m sure that will be the same case for the festivals because we’re reframing it now and that’s absolutely fine.
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You mentioned Whiplash there but what about Yummy?! I’m sure waiting around for a number one album all these years must feel like you’re pulling your hair out at times. How did you all react?
We’d had three number threes and four number two albums, so I’m much more practiced at my coming second speech than I was at my coming first! You know, always the taking part that counts, so it was a shock and a surprise that I actually was bothered – I didn’t think I’d be bothered!
It meant a huge amount to me and all of us when we got to number one, it actually did. I think we were all taken aback by how surprised and how kind of pleased we were by that as some kind of mad achievement in all of this. Only 18 tries of getting there – we eventually made it, so don’t give up!
More than anything, I think it was a big deal for the fans, you know? It meant a lot to them as well because they’ve been cheering us on all these years, so yeah, we were really pleased with it.
Hey Folks, Because of you, Yummy is the number one album this week.🩵🩵🩵🥳🥳🥳 Thank you so much. Your passion and love continually drives us on to reach for the stars, whilst staying planted on the Earth. Long may it continue. Nothing but love.
An incredible amount of persistence. Just for those who don’t know, how many albums have you actually made?…
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18 and we’re working on the 19th now. We’re constantly writing in James; we don’t stop and then promote an album and then start again – we’ll quite often start writing the next before an album even comes out. We’ve got sessions coming up and May, and that [next record] will be out in May.
It’s just a continual process for us; we’ve always done it, it’s just finding the time that’s the big problem.
I mean, I can’t think of many more bands that are this level of prolific. How do you still keep things fresh after all these years?
It’s still as fresh as it ever was and we’re still really enjoying it. As I said before, we’re getting on well: that makes a huge difference – it means you can be happy. You’re not just in an amazing job, but you can actually be happy and enjoy it to its full.
I don’t know how long it’s going to last, haven’t the foggiest, but we’re going to keep going as long as it feels we’re relevant, as long as we feel that we’re keeping up to the standards that we’ve set for ourselves in this, regardless of anybody else’s – and I think that’s standard is quite high.
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We’ll keep going and we’ve enjoyed it too much to consider stopping now. You’re right: we’ve done a tonne of work, but we don’t tend to look over our shoulders too much.
The 40th anniversary kind of changed that slightly because we’re always just you tend to get pulled into what you’re doing, do you know what I mean? But you don’t tend to kind of stop and look backward over the journey because it’s still going on.
It’s been all my adult life. When I started in the band that kind of morphed into James, I was in school. I was only 15, and it’s ridiculous that things have got gone this far and that we’re still here and going out there and playing shows and enjoying it. People keep coming year after year.
It kind of feels like the epitome of just working harder at it and having patience. We just kept chugging along, which I don’t think you can say for many bands.
So, if you had advice to give to those younger bands and artists starting out, what would it be?
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I suppose the main thing is for people is doing it because you love it. You know you’re in it to be a musician or to write songs because you love it, because it comes from your heart. It’s not about fame or success, and they shouldn’t get pulled into any of that kind of nonsense.
It’s about creating stuff which you can be proud of. Do something that moves people, that’s important to you, and be solid enough; show some belief, and that is difficult because it’s hard at times, but going through it in a band as opposed to a solo is a little easier. If you’re feeling down, you’ve got three or four other people to pull you along and vice versa. I think you need that.
Work at those relationships. Don’t just presume because you’re a bunch of mates in a band, everything’s going to be cool. Don’t take that for granted. Really work at making sure that the relationships between the people are strong because there’ll be a lot of pressure and they’ll be tested.
At the end of the day, you have to put the hours in: it’s not going to just sit there and wait until you pluck it from a tree. You’ve got to graft; you’ve got to get sore fingers and blisters. Bash it out and know and learn your craft, then go and take on the world f***ing world.
Amen.
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A daft joke that got a big laugh – we’ll explain one day… (Credit: The Manc)
James are one of the headliners for this year’s Neighbourhood Weekender Festival, and we can’t wait for them to tell us to ‘Sit Down’ over and over again as thousands of gig-goers ignore them.
Come on, as far as puns go, that’s an absolute tap-in.
They’ll join the likes of Stereophonics, The Lottery Winners, The K’s and countless others in filling Warrington’s Victoria Park with a full weekend of music.
You can see our chat with fellow headliners The Wombats down below:
The Manc -
13th October 2020 
