Bumped into an old friend I hadn't seen for years last week who was around in the late 60s/early 70s and I was telling him about todays scene and how Weekenders had become so popular and that live acts were a big part of them and we got onto who we wished we had seen in their hey day.

His was Frankie Valli / 4 Seasons who are still a favourite of his today and whilst he had seen them performing their more commercial stuff wondered what it would be like to see them perfoming their Northern songs and I admitted to having a soft spot for "You're Ready Now" because it reminds me of my youth club days and he asked if I was aware that it was the first legally UK reissued song for the Northern scene.

He explained that after it started to get plays in the 60s the original UK issue had proved hard to get hold of and that the mod/soul crowd of that time lobbied the record label for at least a couple of years to reissue it and then out of the blue in late 1970 they heard from a DJ at the Wheel that the record company had linked these requests to the term "Northern Soul" which had come into popular use only months earlier and realised there was money to made.

It was reissued in time for Xmas 1970 (bigger sales market) and that so many of the mods/soul boys preordered the record that it went straight into the the top 30 as a new entry, but Philips hadn't done any marketing and the radio weren't playing it so sales plummeted for a couple of weeks and it almost dropped out of the top 50. Philips then got their act together and did a feature on it in various music papers and the radio stations then started to play it and it went zooming up the charts eventually becoming Frankies first ever top ten hit in the UK in early 71.

So was it really the first legally reissued song specifically for the scene?

Even if it wasn't its a great story

"Hey Girl Don't Bother Me" The Tams was reissued on Probe because of plays on the Northern Scene. (Twisted Wheel etc) Originally on the HMV label in the UK. That got to number 1 in the UK charts in 1971 on Probe. After giving it some thought, I think the Frankie Valli was earlier than the Tams reissue.

Edited June 27, 20213 yr by D9 Ktf

Lots of singles were released before You’re Ready Now by UK Majors specifically with the Northern scene in mind(although not coined that at the time)

Edwin Starr - SOS/Headline News

Jamo Thomas - I Spy

The Flamingos- Boogaloo Party 

to name but three. 

One of the earliest I can think of is Doris Troy I’ll do anything Cameo Parkway 1966, reissued on Toast 1968 and then again on Mojo 1971.

Spellbinders on direction

Bob kuban on bell

artistics mca

james and bobby purify  let love come / shake a tail feather bell

baby do the philly dog action

11 hours ago, D9 Ktf said:

"Hey Girl Don't Bother Me" The Tams was reissued on Probe because of plays on the Northern Scene. (Twisted Wheel etc) Originally on the HMV label in the UK. That got to number 1 in the UK charts in 1971 on Probe. After giving it some thought, I think the Frankie Valli was earlier than the Tams reissue.

Yes I thought the Tams might have beaten it, but it charted six months after Frankie

11 hours ago, Goldsoul said:

Lots of singles were released before You’re Ready Now by UK Majors specifically with the Northern scene in mind(although not coined that at the time)

Edwin Starr - SOS/Headline News

Jamo Thomas - I Spy

The Flamingos- Boogaloo Party 

to name but three. 

Thanks Kev but as you say these were prior to the term Northern Soul being used and I didn't make it clear in my post but his point was it the first one for the newly christened scene and that it appeared to be that categorisation that alerted so many record labels to that market.

But as you rightly say the more aware labels were already doing it so we would probably have seen the explosion in reissues regardless,