[Closed] Tell me about .... Northern Soul

This will start you off.

I have no idea where to start

Wigan 😉

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This is quite a good place to start.
Lots of great tunes, nice booklet.

There's LOADS out there - hundreds of compilation CD's on many different labels. Just dive into and see what you like. 😀

Try this:

Spotify. Search out a Northern Soul playlist.

Do I Love You by Frank Wilson is the archetypal Northern Soul track.

Look out for events in your local area - they are really friendy and not at all cliquey.

A lifetime ago I used to dj the northern allnighters right across the country (well the late 80s early 90s at least)

Theres always loads of dos manchesters and stoke way, in London youve got the 100 club once a month, and youll find local dos and nights everywhere - soul source is a good place to start, BUT for gods sake dont start collecting vinyl... Its adictive, will leave you skint and you wont believe how much some ofht e 7'' go for (anything from 99p to £4,800...!)

The Kent compiliation cd's are an amazing source of very rare tracks at very little money and can be found on amazon at decent prices...

thanks guys.

Been trying to persuade the better half that we go to a club sometime - She is not convinced ...yet!

As a lifelong soul fan (albeit one who was a 'mod' first time round), I've never really understood Northern soul. What's the difference between it and, say, Jerry Butler or Curtis Mayfield? It just seems to me that a 'Northern Soul' tune is just regular soul but a bit more obscure. Am I wrong?

They're very friendly.

Used to go to one at King George's Hall in Blackburn, it was excellent.
Family affair too, mum, dad & the kids, all ages really.
Everyone dances, everyone's made to feel welcome.

It's more a pleasant night out than radical dance moves, given the age of most of the fans 😀

@ Failed engineer . Yes and no. There are crossovers but the northern sound is more 'footstompy' for want of a better phrase. The casino classics compilations are also a good starting point. But to echo big dawg if you get involved in the vinyl collecting game then it'll make biking look like a cheap pastime.

Rusty,
It was King George's Hall in Blackburn that I was thinking of going to.

Just popped in to Asda and got collection CD. Its OK so far (to my untrained ear)

ridingscared - so it's on the same labels and presumably some of the same artists? Or is it specifically produced to be Northern Soul from the start, if that makes sense?

A Youtube search for Northern Soul would be a great start - too many gems on there

I post a Northern, Funk, Soul or Latin tune every day on twitter @45aday

MadBillMcMad - Member

Rusty,
It was King George's Hall in Blackburn that I was thinking of going to.

Just popped in to Asda and got collection CD. Its OK so far (to my untrained ear)

The Soul Night Out sounds like it could be very good - Ginger Taylor and Richard Searling DJ'ing, so you'll hear some top tunes.

I'm no expert on the the music, I just like a good night out!
I used to get compilations from 'Goldmine' [url= http://www.northernsouldirect.co.uk/index.php?manufacturers_id=4&osCsid=18b3c7c4c5a0dccc2d42e682df63ea51 ]link.[/url]

Bought most of them from Decoy records in Manchester, but that went along with the IRA bomb, sadly.
Tend just to pick a few samplers from their website these days - they're all good.

I'm sure bigdawg and ridingscared can offer some great recommendations for compilations.

good place to start.

blimey. vinyl might be expensive - some of those CDs aren't cheap either

As a lifelong soul fan (albeit one who was a 'mod' first time round), I've never really understood Northern soul. What's the difference between it and, say, Jerry Butler or Curtis Mayfield? It just seems to me that a 'Northern Soul' tune is just regular soul but a bit more obscure. Am I wrong?

Basically your not far off. It developed from the records being brought in by the crews on merchant ships into Liverpool docks, giving dj's in the north a source of American soul records not being heard by or sold to the wider public. Why it happened so much through Liverpool and not other ports I am not so sure (perhaps Liverpool was the main route for shipping to/from the US).

DJ Andy Smith knows a bit about this, the link here has loads of 45 (rpm) sets which should certainly work as a good introduction.

http://www.mixcloud.com/DJAndySmith/

Is Northern Soul still the drug induced night out that it used to be?

I love the music but was amazed when I did some research and found out how so many clubs were closed down.

I had an office in Stoke near where the Torch nightclub used to be. They even have a plaque on the wall in the street.

Pete Waterman used to DJ their but they were refused a renewal on their licence due to all the drugs!

failed engineer- as far as I'm aware nothing was specifically cut as 'Northern Soul' , it became Northern as MSP says once it was picked up in the clubs. So you can have (as an example) an Edwin Starr track thats classed as northern then another by the same artist classed as soul.

A lot of the compilations are more filler than killer, a real nice one is After Hours from 2002 on Warner Bros.

Odd but nice bunch of people all for the love of there music
the guys come complete with a small bag containing a little beer mat
and talcum powder.
Good music though more an Northern thing
The Wigan Casino was an Iconic place

Failedengineer - northern soul is archetypal 4 to the floor (four beats in a bar). It's typified by bass heavy (think funky house if you like) tunes mostly little known philly and detroit soul. So anything that fills this criteria is northern soul. Well sort of. Really if it sounds like northern it is northern soul.

Madbillmcmad - I love northern soul. Spanky Wilson's sunshine of your love. No where to run - Martha Reeves and the vandelas. For crying out loud - bunny siegler. Oh so many more

Ironically, as a geordie living in wigan i'm getting very NS curious too....

I'm having a Northern Soul night at Wigan Roller Rink on 30th March and have been introduced to a 17 year old DJ called Jordan Wilson who is massive in the NS scene and is definitely keeping the faith.....

Member of warwick soul club here.

Make an effort to get to a night as the atmosphere can be refreshing. People go to dance and appreciate music.

Ktf

Do I Love You by Frank Wilson is the archetypal Northern Soul track.

There is only ONE Northern Soul track that matters:

Right, I think I understand now. Regarding rare records though, some of the clubs I went to around 1970-71 played some very rare stuff which DJs would go over to the US to buy. As an aside, Eric Knowles, the Antiques Roadshow chap is an old friend who used to do some DJ-ing in those days. He was a mean dancer, too. He first introduced the Pendle mod scene to Blue Beat. Anyone remember the semi-pron lyrics of some of those songs?