MUCH common ground exists between the development of the rave scene of the late 1980's, and the first strongly identifiable phenomenon deriving from UK club culture in the 1960's - namely, Northern Soul. Northern Soul, and its accompanying subculture (with its motto, 'Keep The Faith'), represents the hallowing of a specific genre of music, a love of musical rarity, and an extraordinary geographical transplantation of a style of music far removed from its original 'New World' marketplace. In this instance, authentic soul music from the industrial heart of America had matured and reached deep into the cultural consciousness of many young people in the north west of England.

The Northern Soul scene (which still remains vibrant today) can be traced back to 1967, and The Twisted Wheel Club, which was popular with Mods in the Manchester area. As DJ, John Knight, explains, Mods set out to have 'a good time, every time, in style'. They became particularly well known for the reverence they felt towards what they perceived to be the most fashionable kind of music, to which they danced during long amphetamine-filled nights (in Nowell 1999: 28).

The Mods wished to embrace the modern - hence their abbreviated moniker, Mod(ern). They fully exploited the new-found opportunities thrown up by the ending of National Service, which coincided with more relaxed social attitudes and an increase in leisure time. Greater disposable income was also available to help them channel their youthful exuberance and energies. By the early 1960s, more money than ever before was being spent on consumer goods such as recorded music, clothes, Italian scooters and, of course, drugs - mainly amphetamines in pill form such as 'Mother's Little Helper' - about which The Rolling Stones so memorably sang. Many so-called Mods spent their time hanging out in the basement clubs that were springing up in major cities, where they could show off their sharp, tailored suits, and groove to the latest sounds. Image was central to the Mod movement, and they aspired to a high level of discernment on the subject of fashion and clothes.

The other essential factor of avant-garde style to the true Mod was, of course, music. Many of them wanted something more meaningful than the current chart-bound sounds, and so they looked west to 'The Sound of Young America' - i.e., that of early Motown from Detroit, USA. Here was a style of music that Mods felt comfortable identifying with. Meanwhile, their contemporary nemesis, the Teds (and later the Rockers), tried to stay true to a perceived golden age in the musical past.

As the '60's progressed and the Motown sound became a worldwide success, hundreds of independent labels in America began to spring up, all making similar sounding records. Most of these small outfits were commercially unsuccessful - mainly due to poor distribution, lower sonic quality, and the avalanche of quality soul records that were already being released by the more established labels, such as Stax, Atlantic, RCA and Chess.

To retain the exclusivity that the Mods craved, they looked on this soul music not only as something to dance to, but also to provide the thematic soundtrack to their own lives. Mods thus coveted these plentiful Motown-sounding records - many of which had been forgotten by the mainstream public. While a lot of these records had been completely overlooked in America, others were minor successes; yet it was to be a decade or more before they suddenly became popular in the north west of England.

Ironically, the so-called modernity of the Mods, as indeed with the Teds, was, in reality, stylistically quite backward-looking. Northern Soul has rarely placed strong emphasis on current releases. In fact, just the opposite often proved to be the case. Indeed, due to the production-line nature of Motown Records itself (modelled on the mass production techniques of the Detroit car factories), a great number of official Motown tracks were never released, and thus never found their way onto the airwaves. Some of these recordings would later become highly prized in the north of England, and were certainly much sought after as time passed.

The net effect of all this was that a vast amount of undiscovered 'soul treasure' lay in record company vaults, much of which was eventually released for retail sale, only to end up in bargain basement bins around the USA. With so much product flooding the market, and with limited shelf-space (and airtime) available for current releases, a lot of soul music was, unsurprisingly, overlooked.

By the end of the 1960's, though, a growing underground club culture had begun to increase the demand for these obscure rarities - largely, and perhaps most surprisingly, in the north west of England. In London and the south of England, however, rock continued to dominate the underground scene, the UK brand of which was also successfully marketed to the USA. Curiously, in several of the northern clubs of England, the rock trend was less significant than one might imagine. It was, rather, through the pursuit of more obscure music that the Mods could show just how cutting edge their tastes were.

As rivalry increased between DJs - each of whom wanted to possess the most obscure and exclusive vinyl, and as the dangers of bootlegging were becoming more apparent - so the practice of covering up record labels became quite widespread, with the original artist and title often being changed. (Indeed, it should be remembered that importing records remained an illegal activity in the UK until 1972.) DJs sought to protect their new-found treasures by any means whatsoever. Northern Soul was now an important, and highly-prized, commodity.

THE TERM 'Northern Soul' is derived from the activities of travelling football supporters from the north of England. Supporters of these teams came south to watch matches in London. It became apparent to Dave Godin - a crucial figure in Northern Soul (who in the 1960's had helped set up the UK arm of Motown, co-owned the Soul City record shop, and later became a writer for Blues and Soul Magazine) - that there were marked differences in taste between consumers from the north and south. He reminisces that northerners did not seem interested in 'buying what was subsequently called funk' (the 'in' music of the time, which was selling well in the south). So Godin coined the term, 'Northern Soul', to refer to exactly that type of music enjoyed by his northern customers, and which he would play whenever such clientele graced his record shop in any numbers. The term soon caught on. (In Brewster and Broughton 2000: 93.)

When The Twisted Wheel club opened in 1963 in Brazennose Street, in Manchester, it played a mix of blues, soul and jazz. By the time it had moved to neighbouring Whitworth Street, in 1967, it was well on its way to establishing itself as the seminal club of Northern Soul. It became pre-eminent largely due to its policy of restricting the music to up-tempo soul sounds.

Roger Eagle was resident DJ at The Twisted Wheel, and felt his choice of tracks to be limited because of the narrow demands of the regulars, subsequently becoming fed up with not being able to play a full range of music. The police and the local authorities eventually closed The Twisted Wheel, due to repeated trouble and the prevalence of drugs. The musical legacy, though, was substantial - nuggets of soul gold unearthed at the Wheel included All For You by Earl Van Dyke, Here I Go Again by Archie Bell and The Drells, and Just Walk In My Shoes by Gladys Knight and The Pips.

The Catacombs club in Wolverhampton, with its DJ, Farmer Carl Dean, was closely associated with The Wheel, but since the Catacombs closed early (at midnight), it never had the same impact. Its influence was still important, though, as it was among the first clubs to seek out ultra rare vinyl, and thus aired records like I'll Do Anything by Doris Troy, which later became a Northern Soul classic.

Even in the early years of the Northern Soul scene, club hits were beginning to edge their way into the national charts (even without the crucial airplay listings that are normally deemed essential). Tami Lynn's I'm Gonna Run From You, for example, reached No.4 in the UK in May, 1971. This was followed, a couple of months later, by The Tams' Hey Don't Bother Me - a record first broken by Farmer Carl, and a No.1 single in the UK. Such popularity and increasing sales volume began to motivate other record labels in the UK (such as Pye Records) to reissue more of this rare and forgotten music.

Another venue, The Torch, in Stoke-On-Trent, only ran for one year from 1972 to early 1973. Despite this fact, it managed to secure a legendary reputation by playing records like Sandi Sheldon's You're Gonna Make Me Love You. Even today, it vies with many other seminal clubs as one of the greatest. Its reputation was also enhanced by Major Lance (a Northern Soul favourite), who recorded his live performance album there, Major Lance Live at the Torch, on 9th December, 1972.

Meanwhile, various other venues began to spring up, creating a flourishing Northern Soul scene - clubs such as the Blue Orchid (Crewe), the King Mojo (Sheffield), the Cats Whiskers (Burnley), Vava's (Bolton), the Holgate (York), the Queen's Hall (Bradford), Clifton Hall (Rotherham) and the King George's Hall (Blackburn).

Most notable, though, was the opening of The Blackpool Mecca (and its Highland Room, with resident DJ, Ian Levine). Although the Blackpool Mecca was constrained by conservative licensing laws, it adopted the novel practice of staging all-dayers (from noon to midnight), as opposed to all-nighters. This club proved, arguably, to be the most innovative of all such clubs, and all-dayers soon became a feature at other venues. Unfortunately, damaging friction with The Wigan Casino (which opened soon afterwards) ultimately caused the Northern Soul scene to split and branch out in different directions.

The Wigan Casino, opened in 1973, seemed custom built for the all-nighters that ran there from 1975 to 1981. It had a sprung wooden floor that was ideal for dancing - especially when compared to some of the earlier clubs (which had stone floors). The venue could hold 2,000 clientele. Many of these patrons were almost religious in their fervour for obscure soul music, and were spiritually hungry for the undiscovered classics that were now resurfacing - records such as I Got To Find Me Someone by The Velvets, The Duck by Willie Hutch and Born A Loser by Don Ray. At its height, The Wigan Casino had 100,000 members. In 1978, it was voted the 'Best Disco in the World' by no less a publication than Billboard Magazine - ahead of that New York superstar hangout, Studio 54. Competition for this coveted award was intense: the previous year it had gone to New York's Paradise Garage. This was also the era of Saturday Night Fever, when disco culture was becoming an international phenomenon.

The first resident DJ at The Wigan Casino, and indeed the man whose idea it was to use this building for the purpose that made it famous, was Russ Winstanley. The charge that was often levelled against The Wigan Casino, though, was that it played safe with the Motown-sounding 60's classics, and also with the more established discoveries - as opposed to the experimental and progressive nature of The Blackpool Mecca. It was, nevertheless, beyond dispute though that The Wigan Casino was responsible for breaking more such records than any other club, and thus for spreading the word of this underground phenomenon further.

The Wigan Casino was closed in 1981, to make way for a civic centre (that never actually materialised). The derelict club later caught fire and was demolished. For the rest of the 1980's, the Northern Soul scene struggled to fill the void left by the passing of The Wigan Casino, especially with The Blackpool Mecca also being closed in the same year. The 'faith' was maintained in England in a series of lower profile venues, such as those in Morecambe (Lancashire) and Stafford.

Ironically, just when Northern Soul was going through such hard times, and when the charts were now populated by new electronic and synthesizer based acts, the north of England duo, Soft Cell, covered the Wigan Casino classic, Tainted Love, by Gloria Jones. This track succeeded in turning a cover version into a UK No.1 hit single - the best-selling single of the year, and a multi-million selling worldwide chart hit. More recently, Fatboy Slim (aka Norman Cook) enjoyed massive chart success by turning another Northern Soul standard, Sliced Tomatoes, by The Just Brothers, into 1998's The Rockafeller Skank.

In general, there has been a marked resurgence of interest in Northern Soul recently. This has been facilitated by CD compilations and re-issues for a new audience - especially through the Goldmine and Kent labels. Quality CD product has also been instrumental in kick-starting renewed interest from the original connoisseurs. Likewise, some of the DJs from the seminal Northern Soul clubs have been servicing demand for reunion events. Indeed, new all-nighters and other events have sprung up right across the north of England.

Thus a strong market still remains for original Northern Soul records. In 1998, Scottish aficionado, Kenny Burrell, captivated by an unreleased 1965 Motown track, Do I Love You? (Indeed I Do), by Frank Wilson (from his Wigan Casino days), paid a record £15,000 for what is believed to be one of only two remaining promo-copies of the track. This is still considered to be the rarest and most expensive 7" vinyl record in the world.

THE LEGACY of Northern Soul in the UK music scene has been made manifest in many forms. For example, celebrated record producer, Pete Waterman (of Stock, Aitken and Waterman fame), was a former Northern Soul follower in the north of England - the classic Motown sound providing much of his inspiration. Even Scottish alternative act, Belle and Sebastian (winner of the 1999 Best Newcomer Brit Award), have acknowledged Northern Soul as an influence. Meanwhile, successful English alternative act, The Verve, named their 1995 album, A Northern Soul, since they hailed from Wigan (considered by many to be the spiritual home of Northern Soul). One important Northern Soul DJ, 'Frank' (aka Ian Dewhirst), clearly sees this style of music as an early precursor of House Music. To him, the whole Northern Soul scene was an incredible phenomenon - incredible that in the depressed north of England, where hard, boring, ill-paid, repetitive work was the mainstay of so many lives, there was still the energy and enthusiasm left to indulge in, and cultivate, such a vibrant musical scene. 'When the whole rave thing went ballistic it felt like Northern Soul twenty years on,' Dewhirst remarked of this later phenomenon, going so far as to argue that 'House is this generation's version of Northern Soul' (in Brewster & Broughton 2000: 84).

Yet still the Northern Soul scene lives on. As recently as October 2000, 2,000 people were attracted to a Northern Soul 'Blackpool Soul Weekender'. The power and reach of the Internet has had a profound influence on the Northern Soul scene of today. Instead of relying on word of mouth for coming events, a mass of information is now available on Northern Soul. Prices and availability of existing vinyl and recent record finds can all now be gleaned from specialist sites and collectors. This freely available information has helped foster the worldwide spread of Northern Soul and has fed both local and international ( - largely expatriate) scenes, in such unlikely places as Italy, Australia, Canada, Berlin, Denmark. A vibrant scene even exists now in the country that gave birth to this music - America. Specialist radio shows are now broadcast on the Internet. The peerless Richard Searling and his Cellar Full of Soul show on Jazz FM in Manchester is a useful outlet for his encyclopaedic knowledge and passion for soul music. Meanwhile, The 100 Club in central London, with a capacity of 300, has now played host to the longest running all-nighter in the UK (from 1980 to the present day) and is still holding nights there every month - thus proving that Northern Soul was not just the preserve of Northerners.

Specialist record companies now service tangible demand for recorded Northern Soul product. The key labels providing for this market are Goldmine Records (based in Yorkshire) and Kent Records (based in London). Merchandise is also readily available, and a peculiar and specialised market for Northern Soul venue badges is particularly strong (each club having its own distinctive logo).

In conclusion, the Northern Soul phenomenon provides us with a useful case study in the curiosities of the music business. Socially and culturally, it is difficult to ascertain the precise basis for the popularity of obscure US soul music in the north west of England. A combination of factors, such as venues, DJs, imports, the desire to be different (and to be musically sophisticated), and other more general factors - including increased disposable income and more leisure time - no doubt, all played their part. However, in terms of structure, the Northern Soul scene was never manufactured, defined or regulated. It therefore represents a music industry subculture, which was, and still is, fragmented, yet has always been clearly discernible and highly influential.

Regardless of its confused origins, it is clear that Northern Soul has made an indelible mark on underground dance music culture in the UK. With many newcomers still being converted to Northern Soul - and seeking to 'Keep The Faith' - this genre of music is likely to flourish for some time yet.

Brewster, Bill and Frank Broughton [1999] (2000), Last Night A DJ Saved My Life, updated edition. New York: Grove Press; London: Headline.
Nowell, David (1999), Too Darn Soulful. London: Robson Books.
Winstanley, Russ and David Nowell [1996] (2000). Soul Survivors: The Wigan Casino Story. London: Robson Books.

This Is Northern Soul! Vol.1 (1997). Debutante 530 818-2.
This Is Northern Soul! Vol.2 (1998). Debutante 530 814-2.
Northern Soul Floor Shakers! (1996). Music Club MCCD 236.
Wigan Casino 25^th Anniversary (1998). Goldmine GSCD 103.
The Torch Story (1995). Goldmine GSD 61.
The Best Northern Soul All-Nighter ... Ever! (2001). Virgin Records VTD CD 377.

http://www.acerecords.co.uk/
http://www.nightowlclub.com/
http://www.northern-soul.net/
http://www.soul-source.net/
http://www.soultime.demon.co.uk/
http://www.soulupnorth.org/
http://www.thisoldsoul.net/

Article text © Music Business Journal 2001

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