Ever experienced that flash of blinding light; that sudden realisation that a song you were hearing was opening up a whole new avenue for you...? Here's the ones that changed my musical boundaries & my life...

Thanks to the Beatles, I found Motown with MARY WELLS - MY GUY. 40 years later, Motown is still my first love;

Going to my first local disco, walking in & hearing FORMATIONS - AT THE TOP OF THE STAIRS, thinking "This is for me";

Hearing CHUCK WOOD - SEVEN DAYS IS TOO LONG and finding what northern was all about;

After spending the 80s in a musical wilderness, overhearing on the radio DARRELL BANKS - OPEN THE DOOR TO YOUR HEART & thinking "Shit - I've just wasted 10 years of my life";

Playing JJ BARNES - SWEET SHERRY & deciding to get out on the floor in clubland again.

So no unusual tracks but each of those moments are clear as a bell.

So which tracks turned your life around?

My older sister's LPs

Supremes - with the lip and microphones on the cover

The RCA Jumping at the go go album

both responsible for setting me off

Brenda Holloway - When I'm gone

Kim Weston - Helpless

Jeanette Harper - Pocket (Bee pressing)

£5 - the start of the collection

Also The Supremes lip cover Lp - Got our son as a result of listening to that Lp!

But the first that I ever heard and think f*** ! whats this i have never heard anything like this before was Two can have a party by Marvin & Tammi .From that day on I was converted.

Also The Supremes lip cover Lp - Got our son as a result of listening to that Lp!

But the first that I ever heard and think f*** ! whats this i have never heard anything like this before was Two can have a party by Marvin & Tammi .From that day on I was converted.

link

Were they giving free son's away with the album then Craig?

Were they giving free son's away with the album then Craig?

link

No, but I was at the time!

Round my girlfriends house, her older sis and her boyfriend were playing 'The Big Wheels of Motown', LP. Told them I loved 'Tears of a Clown'.

Conway says, 'If you like that, listen to this'. He stuck on the Capitol Soul Casino LP. End of our Love's opening bars and haunting backing vocals came over the speakers, and I was lost from the world that accepts what it hears on the radio, as a standard to judge music by.

JUST LIKE THAT ooh ooh ooh

Well, records that changed my life? Not an easy questions.

To be honest, I can not remember what record in particular brought me to Northern Soul. I guess it was one of the famous Kent or Goldmine compilations.

But I clearly remember the track that in a way opened the new world of rare groove (however you may call it) to me.

Clarence Wheeler "Right On", played by Florian Keller at "Into Something" in Munich around 1990.

I was listing to Soul/Dance/Rap Music before: Earth, Wind & Fire, Gap Band, RJs Latest Arrival, Sister Sledge, Brother's Johnson, James Brown, LL Cool J, Beastie Boys, Ice T, etc.

But when I heard the Clarence Wheeler track, it just blew me away. Actually all the tracks, whcwhere just absolutely new. I was like: shit, what kind of music is this???

I run to Florian, who is luckily not at all the arrogant bastard type of DJ, and asked him, what he was playing. He gave me the cover, and...of course I did not know Clarence Wheeler.

This is when I start to read more about music and to try find particular albumq (which is not the easiest in Munich )

Got to be (as a thirty somthing) Ghost in my house - R Dean Taylor, I was 13 and all of a sudden I started seeing in colour... More recently I guess it was Lorretta Williams... I'm a man now my son....

Good thread..

Well, hearing the originals (i was/is a hip hop listener) to a lot of hip hop tracks was mind blowing.. stuff like Roy Ayers, Isaac Hayes, Stevie e.tc i just couldn't belive how the hip hop i loved so much could sound so fad when listening to the originals

Also Chuck Wood got me into northern, William Bell "i forgot to be your lover" got me into Stax it felt like someone swept the rug under my feet.. , first time hearing Guitar Ray was mind-boggling e.tc.

It still happens you know

best

Le

I think my first memories of hearing Northern/Motown were when we were wagging it from school, stand out tunes from back then were Smokey - Tears of a Clown, Leslie Uggams - Love is a good foundation, RD Taylor - Ghost in my house, 4 Tops - Reach out, 4 Tops - Sweet understanding love, keeper of the castle etc, Glo Jones - Tainted Love, Dobie Grey - Abbotts theme eehh by eck not thought about that for years Dave mansfield who's house it was is dead now but i have seen the other guy's in a long long time Geoff McKenna, John Cartlidge, Phil Clack & Mick Kielly right then that's them grassed up to the teacher :o

Exciters - reaching for the best

Sharonnettes - going to a go go

Dobie Gray - out on the floor

Evylyn Thomas - weakspot

Mistura - The flasher

Mike post - Afternoon

Doncaster Baileys 14-18 nights @1975 What the hell was this music that got boys dancing and girls watching. All of a sudden I found my spiritual vocation. As Miss Hopkings sang 'those were the days'.

Ed

For me it was Little Piece Of Leather - Donnie Elbert. There was a family at the end of the street called the Blakes who were skins. I used to hang out with one of them and they had all the Ska, Motown etc.

Up until then I only had pop and one of the Motown collections.

Some months later and I was buying my first Northern tune, Van Dykes - Save My Love For A Rainy Day on a pressing from The Watson Hall All-dayer in Tewkesbury.

Happy days

It might have been hearing James Brown's live album for the first time and thinking, ah, so this is soul music.

It might have been watching that chick swaying in a dream of her own to Timmy Thomas with no other soul on the dance floor, and thinking; "God, I hope I don't have to stand up any time soon".

It might have been hearing Duke Browner at my first all dayer and marvelling how everyone clapped on the exact same downbeat.

It might have been dancing to Linda Jones at Va Va, first high courtesy of Smith, Kline & French.

Kings Hall allnighter Derby 1978.

Soul Sam played the Magnetics - Lady in Green, and emptied the dancefloor, I realised that moment that pushing the boundaries was what the music was all about for me.

I've always admired Sam ever since. And a message to all D.J's, never let the dancefloor dictate what you want to play.

When Tracie and first got back into Northern, The first allnighter we went to was Kings Hall stoke,

First we had the obligatory drinks in the pub, so we already in a good mood when we first went in to the Kings hall,

as i pushed open the double doors that lead from the foyer to the main hall the first thing i heard was that tiny echo-y beginning to Clydie King,s My love Grows deeper Trully fantastic (infact ive listened to twice whillst writing this) When ever i hear this the hair stands up on the back of my neck

and i have village idiot type grin on my face (oops! just put it on again)

Regards........ Andrew

happy and Smiling like a fool!

Marvin Gaye "Heard It Through The Grapevine"

as it was my first Soul tune I heard fror that reason and it created my general interest in this kind of music (still in my alltime top twenyt)

Len Barry "1-2-3"

as it opened my ears for the sounds beside Motown and Stax, as I did not know (although thought so) at that time that there is Soul beside those two giants

Little Anthony & The Imperials "Better Use Your Head"

as it was the first real Northern track I heard for that reason. Since then I fell hopelessly in love with Northern

Marc Forrest

Supremes 'where did our love go'.

jackie wilson 'higher and higher'

isley brothers 'this old heart of mine'

jean carter 'like one'

these songs were like ambrosia to me as a 15/16 year old just leaving school in the mid-80's.

Strangely enough the one that changed my life must be Unique Blend's Yes I'm In Love.

The reason is that after so many years off the soul scene, with the encouragement of people on KTF I'd screwed up my courage and gone to the Dome. I'd met some of them, and was watching the dancing, listening to the music, hoping to hear a record that I knew.

Then Unique Blend came on, and I went out and danced to it. Must have been pretty pathetic, but I pretended no one could see me. And from that moment on I remembered how much I loved dancing, and now when I go to a soul club I just have to dance. It makes me feel so good, forget all the problems, etc.

Sad I guess, but it changed my life for the better.

Lotsa tunes for lotsa reasons but one that sticks out is Laura Lee (To win your heart).

It was used as intermission music at my local Odeon in Warrington for years and I used to love it without knowing what it was.

On my first sojourn thru the blue doors into the Empress Ballroom at 15, it was the 1st tune I heard played and at that moment, I made the connection between music that 'does something for you' and the Northern scene and all it meant.

The rest, as they say, is a complete blur.

Neil.

My older sister's LPs

Supremes - with the lip and microphones on the cover

The RCA Jumping at the go go album

both responsible for setting me off

Brenda Holloway - When I'm gone

Kim Weston - Helpless

Jeanette Harper - Pocket (Bee pressing)

£5 - the start of the collection

link

Yeah that supremes album opened my eyes aswell, I remember being 11 and playin it to my mates who were just blank, I couldn't understand why they didn't feel like me. ..."The love bugs gone bitten me...Dum Dum Dum." superb.

Place in the sun stevie wonder got me off my depressed teenage angst

and teddy P life is a song worth singin, why dont ya....sing it

Then I found House for sale and kansas city international playboys every bodies goin wild and its been northern ever since, with a little electrofunk for the smoke of it all.

That supremes album though. I'd worn it out

Happy Days

Fonzie tried to finger me

Potsy did f*** all to stop it!

Peace Del

Whilst in the last 18 months at school, probably early 19**, I was listening to heavy rock, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin (even saw them live, HardRock in Stretford), ELP, Yes, etc.

One Saturday I was talked into going to a night at the "Navada" in Bolton by a couple of mates in my class, it was roller skating rink in the week and a "disco" on Saturdays, it was a huge place, big dance floor, and can remember hearing "The Night" by Frankie Vallie and Jimmy Ruffins "What becomes of the broken hearted". After few more visits that was it I was hooked, I used to note down the records I 'd heard then the following week, go to HMV on Market Street Manchester (Upstairs as it was then) and thanks to Derek Howe my collection slowy increased...and never looked back.

I still have all the heavy rock LPs stored away...

Regards

Peter.

Whilst in the last 18 months at school, probably early 19**, I was listening to heavy rock, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin (even saw them live, HardRock in Stretford), ELP, Yes, etc.

One Saturday I was talked into going to a night at the "Navada" in Bolton by a couple of mates in my class,  it was roller skating rink in the week and a "disco" on Saturdays,  it was a huge place, big dance floor, and can remember hearing "The Night" by Frankie Vallie and Jimmy Ruffins "What becomes of the broken hearted". After few more visits that was it I was hooked, I used to note down the records I 'd heard then the following week, go to HMV on Market Street Manchester (Upstairs as it was then) and thanks to Derek Howe my collection slowy increased...and never looked back.

I still have all the heavy rock LPs stored away...

Regards

Peter.

link

Tears of a clown & This old heart of mine in 1970 & in 2004 they still sound as breathtaking as ever ! Buying Darrell Banks - Our Love etc on Million Seller label (did it ???) cause I read about it in B&S. How could you not be hooked after hearing stuff like that ?

Whilst in the last 18 months at school, probably early 19**, I was listening to heavy rock, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin (even saw them live, HardRock in Stretford), ELP, Yes, etc.

One Saturday I was talked into going to a night at the "Navada" in Bolton by a couple of mates in my class,  it was roller skating rink in the week and a "disco" on Saturdays,  it was a huge place, big dance floor, and can remember hearing "The Night" by Frankie Vallie and Jimmy Ruffins "What becomes of the broken hearted". After few more visits that was it I was hooked, I used to note down the records I 'd heard then the following week, go to HMV on Market Street Manchester (Upstairs as it was then) and thanks to Derek Howe my collection slowy increased...and never looked back.

I still have all the heavy rock LPs stored away...

Regards

Peter.

link

After paying for my groceries last night, I hung around behind the checkouts until Jimmy Ruffin stopped playing. What a beautiful beautiful tune.

Records that changed my taste in music over the years are:

Arthur Conley - Sweet Soul Music

Wilson Pickett - Land of 1000 Dances

The Capitols - Cool Jerk

The Younghearts - A Little Togetherness

Marie Knight - That's No Way To Treat A Girl

Anita Baker - Rapture LP

Donna Allen - He Is The Joy

John Edwards - Tin Man

Marvin Gaye - Come Get To This

As stated earlier a very hard one to whittle down in just a few short lines. However for me it was sat around Taffy's flat and hearing Frankie Valli's 'You Ready Now' for the first time - BANG! CRASH! WALLOP! I saw the light and from then on it was Northern Soul all the way, with similar experiences along the way that led me into Modern, Crossover, Funk etc etc. But for me the first time was hearing that record....thinking of which I'm going to spin it at the next Plinston because I've not heard it out in ages!

Seeing my Dad get up and dance to R.D.Taylor 'ghost in my house' and my mum doing her bit to the Supremes 'baby love' were fond memories of my youth.

I just remember preferring the motown bit at functions (weddings, birthdays etc) in the early 80's when I was about 8. I used to love the one where you would all do the can-can - Woolly Bully or something - forget the title. The one where you would kick your grandma up the backside and get away with it.

Although the first record I played to death was a Jimmy Ruffin lp with stuff like I've passed this way before etc. I think I was about 14.

Shane

The Poets, 'She Blew a Good Thing' and Al Kent 'You've got to pay the Price' played side by side. No chance really was there?

Seeing my Dad get up and dance to R.D.Taylor 'ghost in my house' and my mum doing her bit to the Supremes 'baby love' were fond memories of my youth.

I just remember preferring the motown bit at functions (weddings, birthdays etc) in the early 80's when I was about 8.  I used to love the one where you would all do the can-can - Woolly Bully or something - forget the title. The one where you would kick your grandma up the backside and get away with it.

Although the first record I played to death was a Jimmy Ruffin lp with stuff like I've passed this way before etc. I think I was about 14.

Shane

link

You can't be much older than 14 now !

You can't be much older than 14 now !

link

Do I know you Steve?

Shane

Seeing my Dad get up and dance to R.D.Taylor 'ghost in my house' and my mum doing her bit to the Supremes 'baby love' were fond memories of my youth.

I just remember preferring the motown bit at functions (weddings, birthdays etc) in the early 80's when I was about 8.  I used to love the one where you would all do the can-can - Woolly Bully or something - forget the title. The one where you would kick your grandma up the backside and get away with it.

Although the first record I played to death was a Jimmy Ruffin lp with stuff like I've passed this way before etc. I think I was about 14.

Shane

link

Went to a scooterboys wedding. The DJ played the record played at the end the TV show 'Bottom'. All the guys were shouting bollox! at appropriate times. The 8 year old borother of the bride thought this was fantastic. I last saw was him, his mother was trying to drag him off the floor. Classic.

My first words as a baby were not 'mama' or 'dada', but 'da da da da-da-da, da da da da-da-da' - the chugging beat behind Philly Allstars 'Clean Up The Ghetto'.

Dad was impressed, Mum not as much.

I even picked up a lovely unplayed, glossy WD about 7 months back and not played it out yet.

Might give it a spin tonight at 'Leeds Central Revival'

I'll post some details in events.

Jamie

Do I know you Steve?

Shane

link

Think so. Attercliffe sandwich cabin ?

If not accept my apologies and blame vault of souler

Think so. Attercliffe sandwich cabin ?

If not accept my apologies and blame vault of souler

link

I know you now mate. Hi Steve! Welcome aboard on here.

Ponds Forge tonight?

Shane

Round my girlfriends house, her older sis and her boyfriend were playing 'The Big Wheels of Motown', LP. Told them I loved 'Tears of a Clown'.

Oooh good call, was trying to think of some trendy turnaround record, but that LP was probably my first major soul record that I really listened to.

Another must be Cecil Washington to an empty dance floor at Wigan, and starting to explore the world of newies and another was Bobby Thurston lp being played to clapping 60's fans!!

But in reality the Big Wheels LP wins most life changing record I think!!

Cheers

Jock

Is this the same Jocko I met in Paris earlier this year?

Shane

I know you now mate. Hi Steve! Welcome aboard on here.

Ponds Forge tonight?

Shane

link

Definitely.

Anyway, back to the thread,

Temptations - 'My Girl' and then Eddie Foster - 'I Never Knew' a few years later.

I don't have any one single life-changing record, but my tastes went through phases and progressed through my youth, so here are a few milestones for me:

1977: 5 going on 6 years old: "Runaway"-Del Shannon. This was what got me listening to old music in general and gave birth to my record collecting which started in June of 1978. I liked 50s and early 60s music almost exclusively for many years after.

1982: 10 going on 11 years old: "Shotgun"-Jr. Walker. This was my first real introduction to soul music. It made me realize there was something else good out there besides the 50s stuff. My older cousin who was a kid in the 60s who grew up in Cleveland, brought me his old 45s and made a small pile of about 25 of them. He pulled out "Westbound #9" by The Flaming Ember with the long intro and "Get On Your Knees" by Los Canarios, which was one of his favorites. I still have those particular copies in my collection to this day. At that time, "Shotgun" really grabbed me, though.

1984: 12 years old: "It's Like That"-Run DMC. This record was the beginning of my youth culture and social life. I got into breakdancing and developed my skills as a DJ. This was a great time in my life and I have a lot of great memories from this time between 1984 and 1987. It also eventually made me see how much soul was an influence on hip hop music.

1991: 20 years old: "Sidra's Theme"-Ronnie & Robin. Holy crap! I finally made it! Summer of '91, I was running an ad in my local newspaper in Wheeling, West Virginia-where I grew up, advertising that I was looking for old records. So this woman calls me around 8pm on a Saturday evening, and I go to her place and it's a TOTAL hillbilly set-up. It's in a public housing project on a dead-end street in the worst part of town. There's garbage EVERYWHERE outside and the kids are running around, babies crying, dogs barking, etc. Anyway, I go in to this tiny kitchen area and this gross old fat woman brings out about 300 45s on a broomstick with cut-out pieces of newspaper between every single record. And the whole time, she's handing me little stacks and picking them up and bringing them up all the way over the stick and I'm peeling paper off and seeing all sorts of junk, like I expected. But then things started to look up. I grabbed every small-label odd-looking item I could find in any genre of music. So, by this time, it's dark and I'm hot as hell and finished in there. I give her a whopping $10 for about 50 records, which she was pleased with. So when I get home, I start playing these records and one of them happened to be a VG looking copy of "Sidra's Theme" that played very nicely. I was awestruck with this record immediately and played it again, much louder and got into it even more. Not more than a month or two later, I see the term "northern soul" for the very first time on a Craig Moerer Records by Mail sales list. I studied the hell out of the list not knowing what the term meant or what the common thread was between these 45s. As I realized that I had some of the records on the list, I listened to them and put the pieces together and made it my mission to learn about northern soul. It took me until 1994 to learn what it really was, because I got my first CDs of it. For the three years up to '94, I was almost completely on my own trying to pinpoint the sound, armed with about nothing except a Simon Soussan price guide I eventually got a hold of, which confirmed so many of my guesses of which records were northern but told me nothing about the history or the music itself. Of course, I eventually found out "Sidra's Theme" was considered northern soul. With no prior knowledge of any sub-culture, I continually sought out the sound, developed a keen ear for it. The more that I learned about the dancing and culture, I realized that this was for me and never looked back. Now I'm hooked for life and loving it!

KTF

Jason

Shop Around

12 years old driving round Rainhill with my mum and saw this bloke in a suit that changed colour in the sun. I said to my mum "Wow look at him!" "He's a Mod" she said.

"I'm gonna be a Mod" I said.

Three days later my 13th birthday I'd already told my Auntie i was gonna be a Mod and she bought me the Motown boxed set. After the introduction (really cool voice I thought) the line "...was The Miracles" then the opening line "When I became of age my mother called me to her side..."

Totally hooked!

22 years later skint but wouldn't change it for the world.

Is this the same Jocko I met in Paris earlier this year?

Shane

link

is that you you jock? stupid question.

record that changed the whole thing for me was, hearing ,"the changing scene - when the city sleeps" for the first time at shotts allnighter in the early ninetys, covered as steve mancha.

Is this the same Jocko I met in Paris earlier this year?

Shane

link

is that you you jock? stupid question.

record that changed the whole thing for me was, hearing ,"the changing scene - when the city sleeps" for the first time at shotts allnighter  in the early ninetys, covered as steve mancha.

link

Hi Shane, yes it is me, back in the UK now, hope you are well, I will be seeing Chuddy tonight.

Hi Lenny, yes its me, trying to learn all about this wacky scene again, much easier with sites like this. Hope to see you soon, now am back will be regular at Cally soul, hopefully you can post dates up here at some point.

Changing Scene, now that was a record, how would that fit in todays scene, both sides are killers. Anyone know who has that now and if any more copies around.Another one broke big first at Allanton, although no doubt somebody will be telling a different story somewhere!!

Cheers

Jock

Started out for me when my Ma and PA were running a youth club, I was about 11 or 12. The older lads used to turn up on a Sunday evening after Wigan and take over the tiny record player to spin their new sounds. No memories of excat tunes; however the "no turning back moment" happened at the tender age of 13 walking up the stairs at the Stars and Stripes Yate (the brief second coming of the club) and being hit by the heat and fervour as everyone flew to the floor to the opening bars of L. Allen Can't We Talk it over.

Over the years my hair has stood on end so much that it's all but fallen out now!!!

Hi Shane, yes it is me, back in the UK now, hope you are well, I will be seeing Chuddy tonight.

Hi Lenny, yes its me, trying to learn all about this wacky scene again, much easier with sites like this. Hope to see you soon, now am back will be regular at Cally soul, hopefully you can post dates up here at some point.

Changing Scene, now that was a record, how would that fit in todays scene, both sides are killers. Anyone know who has that now and if any more copies around.Another one broke big first at Allanton, although no doubt somebody will be telling a different story somewhere!!

Cheers

Jock

link

Hi Jock

Nice to hear from you. Say hi th Chuddy.

We are off to the 100 club later. Next week we are at the lifeline where I am sure Chuddy is a regular.

Hopefully see you around mate

Shane

Exciters - reaching for the best

Sharonnettes - going to a go go

Dobie Gray - out on the floor

Evylyn Thomas - weakspot

Mistura - The flasher

Mike post - Afternoon

I see someone remembers the BIG records from the Casino, ain't it funny when you have an anniversary night you never hear them, but that's another story.

For me the records which set me on the road to Soul Heaven:

Tams - Hey Girl Don't Bother Me

Formations - At The Top Of The Stairs

Wiilie T - Walking Up A One Way Street

O'Jays - I Dig Your Act

+ All those Motown Tracks

There was never a chance in Hell for Slade, Bay City Rollers or ABBA.

Late 70's my mates brother lent me a tape, on it Major Lance "Its The Beat", Donnie Burkes "Satisfaction Guarenteed" and the almighty Jackie Wilson "Sweetest Feeling"...sort of made me look at my own vinyl in a different light........brilliant memories