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What's Northern Soul ?
Well basically, Northern soul is an underground music and
dance culture that had it’s humble beginnings in the early
to mid 60,s in the North of England. The 60’s baby-boomer
generation teenagers from the working class background of
the industrial North, suddenly realised that they had money
in their pockets; the job situation during the 60’s was good
and there was huge economic growth throughout the country.
This cornucopia established the basis for the development of
the mod-culture, where style was placed in the high seat
and the expression designer clothes came into
vogue. Focus was on looking good and been seen; to be one of
The in Crowd.
The mods were a mix-culture, music tastes were varied; the
only pre-requisite was that the rhythm of the music had to
be good to dance to. The Who, The Dave Clark Five and the
Kinks were popular white artists amongst the mainstream of
the mod culture followers. However there were some
innovative clubs in the North of England; The Twisted Wheel
in Manchester and The Golden Torch in Tunstall, that began
to explore the sounds that were being released from the then
fringe record producers in America. The music was different;
heavy dance rhythms sung by predominantly black artists, and
not least with lyrics that could make grown men cry. This
was the sound of Soul Music. Music that was recorded on
small independent record labels like Smash, Backbeat and
early Motown, by hitherto unknown artist like Smokey
Robinson, Mary Wells, Betty Lavette and Carl Carlton to name
a few.
On both sides of the Atlantic Black Music was unpopular with
the Media giants of the time; which is maybe the reason that
the mod Soul followers of Soul Music had to rely on the
underground club scene to listen and dance to the sounds
they loved. This underground music scene developed
throughout the 60’s and early 70’s. Developing in style, the
movement gradually changed, giving rise to new youth
cultures listening to Ska, Reggae and Rock-Steady music.
The Focus on anti-racist attitudes due to the civil rights
movement in the late 60’s, championed by Martin Luther King,
resulted in an increased social awareness of Black culture
and music in both America and in England, Soul Music began
to move into the Media forefront and artist like Diana Ross,
Little Stevie Wonder and the Jackson Family dominated the
popular music charts on both sides of the Atlantic and
became household names. However, in the industrial counties
of the North of England the staunch followers of the
underground Soul Scene rejected the new media-driven
Soul music and moved their attention to even more obscure
Soul releases in an effort to find that ultimate musical
expression that characterised their passion.
It is probably at this point, in the early to mid 70’s that
the Northern Soul scene truly came into its own. It wasn’t a
culture driven by consumer marketing; no artist could simply
choose make a Northern Soul record, it was the club go’ers,
the dancers that decided what should be or shouldn’t be
played at their clubs.
As the underground scene grew, more clubs began to open,
there was hard competition between the clubs DJ’s to find
and play the best Soul dance music; and the rarer the
better. Many Northern Soul classics from this period are
limited pressings of records that never became hits and were
produced by small local recording labels in America. The
search for Rare Soul had started and the enigma of Rare Soul
record collecting began to attract more and more collectors.
A regular comment in the contemporary Northern Soul scene,
which is partly a joke (but may also be quite true) is;
“Don’t go to America to collect rare Soul 45’s… they don’t
have any left, they’re all in England”.
During the early 70’s it seemed as if the growth in
popularity of media-driven Soul caused the Northern
Soul scene to go deeper underground, whilst at the same
time, paradoxically, attracting more and more followers. It
seemed like wherever you went as a teenager in the North of
England, you would hear the odd Northern Soul record being
played; in Clubs and Youth clubs. These places were the
training camps of the new Soulies as the called
themselves; a place where youngsters aspiring to the high
standards of dancing that characterised the scene, could
perfect their moves and talk to their mates about the
records they dreamed to own. The seeds were sown, the future
of the underground sounds of Soul was secure and the scene
witnessed an explosion in popularity throughout the mid to
late 70’s. Thankfully, the independent fan-driven basis of
this underground music culture survived this increased
popularity and the media moguls were held at bay; although
there were attempts to commercialise the Northern Soul
concept they were fortunately rejected by the hard-core fans
and failed.
On September 23rd 1973 a Lancashire based events promoter
Mike Walker together with a DJ by the name of Russ
Winstanley and club owner Brian Child opened the doors of
Wigan Casino to the North of England Soul fans or Soulies.
The Casino, or simply Wigan as it was to be called by
the fans, was a phenomenon. The club was based in a 1930’s
dance hall and had a stately atmosphere, even though the
décor was badly in need of repair. Most importantly it had a
huge sprung wooden dance floor and on a good night the floor
could be packed with up to 3000 bodies sweating and dancing
their hearts out to the music they loved. The club had a
licence to be open all-night (hence the term All-Nighter;
first associated with the Northern Soul scene), but didn’t
have an alcohol license. Not that it mattered, the fans
weren’t interested in alcohol; they came for the music and
the atmosphere!
Wigan became the sanctuary for Northern Soul and its
popularity as a dancers club grew along with its membership,
which managed to hit 100.000 members in the mid 70’s. In
1978 the club was voted as being the best dance club in the
world by Billboard Magazine beating the popular and
prestigious Studio 54 in New York City.
Wigan Casino was the Northern Soul flagship, although there
were many other Clubs in the North of England catering for
the Soul music aficionados, each with its own team of DJ’s
creating that club-specific soul sound; every venue finitely
unique in the style of Soul Music being played, but each
still a part of the huge underground Northern Soul scene.
Competition between the clubs to break new sounds was huge
and throughout the 70’s this competition led to a polarising
of the culture. A Blackpool based club called the Mecca,
which first opened its doors during the mod-boom of the mid
60’s began expanding upon what was normally played on the
scene. Driven by ex-Wigan DJ Ian Lavine’s record searching
trips to the US, the Mecca began introducing newer
recordings to the fans. Although still obscure rarities, the
sounds being played at the Mecca were modern, well produced
and up-tempo with a funkier dance rhythm. It was still
accepted as being Northern Soul, but became to be known as
the Modern Sound. To this day, many Northern Soul
Clubs have two dance floors; the oldies and the modern room.
Unfortunately Wigan was forced to close its doors in 1981,
following a decision by the Wigan Council to build a
shopping centre on the site of the Casino. The Casino burnt
down one year after its closure and the shopping centre that
was the excuse for closing the club was first built many
years later. At the closing night DJ Russ Winstanley played
out with the now famous 3 before 8 (the three records that
marked the closing of the club every Sunday morning at
8-o-clock); Time Will Pass You By by Tobi Legend, Long After
Tonight Is Over by Jimmy Radcliffe, and I’m On My Way by
Dean Parrish. The fans wouldn’t leave, so Russ grabbed a
record at random from his box and put it on. It was the now
legendary Do I Love You by Frank Wilson, the rarest and most
expensive record on the Northern Soul scene.
There are many speculations as to truth behind why Wigan
council wanted to close the club; suspicions of drug abuse
at the club, negative publicity of the Northern Soul scene?…
we’ll never know, but it was a sad day for Northern Soul
fans throughout Britain.
Many of the 70’s Soulies kept there passion for the
music, and throughout the 80’s and 90’s the Northern Soul
scene continued to thrive. However, during the late 90’s and
the early part of the new century there has been a huge
revival of the Northern Soul music scene. No longer limited
to England’s industrial north, the Northern Soul revival is
worldwide with clubs in places like Spain, New Zealand,
Germany, Sweden… oh and of course in Denmark (probably due
to emigration of now middle aged 70’s Soulies from
their homeland !) The newer clubs are characterised by
having a wide fan basis and at gigs the dance floor will be
filled with fans from all age groups; from teenagers to
those who are not so young anymore and who never stopped
loving their Soul music. We are talking about a new
generation of Northern Soul clubs that are part of an
underground music culture that has managed to survive for
over 4 decades.
So, what is Northern Soul? Well that’s a question we would
love to answer; it’s also recently been the basis of a PhD
sociology study. Maybe the answer is simply this: Northern
Soul is everything: The music, the atmosphere the dancing
and the friendliness of the Soul community all come together
to make it so special (and for those of us lucky enough to
remember the 60’s and/or 70’s it’s also a nostalgic journey
back in time). Unless you’ve experienced it, it’s hard
to describe the feeling of freedom and harmony that comes
whilst dancing to your favourite Soul track, with shivers
running down your spine and tears welling up in your eyes as
you let the rhythm of the music carry your body and soul to
paradise. That, I guess is what it’s all about - why not try
it!
Keep the Faith,
Nick, Ken, Kasper and the team |
