In the June 1970 edition of Blues & Soul magazine, Dave Godin coined the phrase Northern Soul, to distinguish the underground soul scene in the Midland & Northern towns of Britain from the more commercial sounds being played down South. There had been soul clubs in Britain since the early sixties. When Dj's like Roger Eagle in Manchester's Twisted Wheel club and Guy Stevens in the Scene club in London played to packed crowds every Saturday night. All-nighters became the focus of the scene, and Wigan casino became the main venue, attracting up to two thousand Northern Soul devotees a week between 1973 and 1981.
The music played on the scene today can't be easily defined; it could range from up tempo American soul, to ballads or the Motown sound. It is diverse enough to include big name stars like Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, & Dusty Springfield and lesser known names like Dean Parish, Lorraine Chandler and Maxine Brown.
Generally speaking, for a song to be accepted then it shouldn't be widely known. People go to all-nighters to hear new songs that they can't hear elsewhere, although some tunes have found outlets outside of the scene. "You Can Count On Me" Sammy Davis junior, became the Hawaii 5 0 theme, "Sliced Green Tomatoes" Just Brothers, is the backing track to funk soul brother, and unlikely songs like,Jackie Wilson's "Reet Petite"or the theme tune to Joe 90 have all been added to the mix.
At the end of the day if the crowd dance to it, then it's Northern Soul. What keeps the scene alive though is that once a song becomes too widely known then it gets dropped to be replaced by newer sounds that the crowd haven't heard yet. Some bigger venues like Bury town hall also have a smaller modern soul room, along with record stalls and a balcony to chill out from and check out the crowd.
The Northern soul scene today has spread as far as Japan, Sweden, the USA, France and Germany. As well as All-nighters there are weekend events and all-dayers throughout Britain. Some people think nothing of paying 4 figure sums for original vinyl 45s, or travelling hundreds of miles in a weekend to events. It's not all big money and rare records though; many of the songs that have packed dance floors in legendary clubs like the Wigan Casino, Blackpool Mecca & Stoke on Trent's Golden Torch have been compiled onto CD or uploaded to mp3. The scene still manages to attract new people and seems set to continue.
First published in Grab Magazine. Copyright Peter Bailey 2006