Dazed website has just published a northern related feature,...

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Northern soul scenes are thriving despite the cost of living crisis

A nationwide community of young soul fans are finding solace in the dance movement established over half a century ago...

 ...Yet while much of the arts and culture sector flounders, across the country there’s a surge of youth-led northern soul scenes that are not only surviving – but thriving. In a handful of small venues scattered across this grey island are pockets of colour, culture and community, soundtracked by records with an immortal appeal.

https://www.dazeddigital.com/music/article/59687/1/northern-soul-scenes-are-thriving-despite-the-cost-of-living-crisis

A jolly good read, and great that so many youngsters are taking northern soul forward, and without being retro about it.

41 minutes ago, Amsterdam Russ said:

A jolly good read, and great that so many youngsters are taking northern soul forward, and without being retro about it.

What do you mean retro?  The music certainly is, largely anyway.  The article gets one thing right, In a handful of small venues". It is just a few venues as well, large cities with a large young university crowd to target.  Its not the case at your bread and butter venues with youth very much absent. 

I hope some of these in places like Deptford and the one in Bristol do keep the faith as the article likes to eulogise, and travel, that is what is missing, a large travelling contingent of youth.  (Recent) History though would suggest otherwise.

13 minutes ago, Chalky said:

What do you mean retro?

As per the article:

Quote

But the new scenes, though endlessly indebted to their predecessors, aren’t intent on replicating the movement. “We don’t want to be retro. We don’t wanna be that revivalist club night,” says Will Foot, co-founder of Deptford Northern Soul Club...

 

1 hour ago, Chalky said:

What do you mean retro?  The music certainly is, largely anyway.  The article gets one thing right, In a handful of small venues". It is just a few venues as well, large cities with a large young university crowd to target.  Its not the case at your bread and butter venues with youth very much absent. 

I hope some of these in places like Deptford and the one in Bristol do keep the faith as the article likes to eulogise, and travel, that is what is missing, a large travelling contingent of youth.  (Recent) History though would suggest otherwise.

Good luck to 'em. Moses Smith or Sam Smith ? No contest really.

Must admit I get slightly wound up when academic talking heads like Sarah Raine put their oar in.

Emerging in the early 70s as a direct response to the political climate of the era, northern soul acted as a source of cultural respite

I mean WTF does that mean ? 

I'd say emerging in late 60's. For me discovering soul music '68. For others on here earlier. What political climate were we reacting to ? Student riots in Paris, Grosvenor Square and Vietnam, the sterling devaluation crisis of 1967 ?

Yes it was something different to escape everyday work but then so is gardening, rambling, angling and a myriad other pursuits.

The music appealed more than that on the radio or your local disco, Isn't that it ?

You'd think from Sarah's take the clubs were organised by the SWP and we all foresaw the coming of Thatcher.

 

 

Thought it had been written by ChatGPT ... 

34 minutes ago, Modernsoulsucks said:

You'd think from Sarah's take the clubs were organised by the SWP and we all foresaw the coming of Thatcher.

 

 

The clubs would have been much smaller and much less fun but the arguments just as intense.

Raine should stop play. That's what people like her call "cultural appropriation". The rest call it bollocks.

Encouraging to see youngsters giving new life to the music.

Yes great, been to a couple of these London do`s and it is mostly 18-30s getting their first taste of northern , well a South/ london take on northern in some cases!

As for the comments on "talc in the back pocket" in the 70s???? Well...obviously I missed that one, cos talc on the floor never happened at any venues I went to in the 70s. but hey ho the fact that youngsters are enjoying the music and keeping things going must count for something.

1 hour ago, Modernsoulsucks said:

Good luck to 'em. Moses Smith or Sam Smith ? No contest really.

Must admit I get slightly wound up when academic talking heads like Sarah Raine put their oar in.

Emerging in the early 70s as a direct response to the political climate of the era, northern soul acted as a source of cultural respite

I mean WTF does that mean ? 

I'd say emerging in late 60's. For me discovering soul music '68. For others on here earlier. What political climate were we reacting to ? Student riots in Paris, Grosvenor Square and Vietnam, the sterling devaluation crisis of 1967 ?

Yes it was something different to escape everyday work but then so is gardening, rambling, angling and a myriad other pursuits.

The music appealed more than that on the radio or your local disco, Isn't that it ?

You'd think from Sarah's take the clubs were organised by the SWP and we all foresaw the coming of Thatcher.

 

 

I agree good luck to them, hope some keep the faith as long as we have

These academics will always go on about the political side of things , but to be honest for most of us it was following your peers , and walking off the dance floor at the local youth clubs when the Bay City Rollers or Gary Glitter was played , didn't give a shit about politics not at the age of 15 , back in 1972 .

Edited April 21, 20232 yr by Happy Feet

3 hours ago, Modernsoulsucks said:

Good luck to 'em. Moses Smith or Sam Smith ? No contest really.

Must admit I get slightly wound up when academic talking heads like Sarah Raine put their oar in.

Emerging in the early 70s as a direct response to the political climate of the era, northern soul acted as a source of cultural respite

I mean WTF does that mean ? 

I'd say emerging in late 60's. For me discovering soul music '68. For others on here earlier. What political climate were we reacting to ? Student riots in Paris, Grosvenor Square and Vietnam, the sterling devaluation crisis of 1967 ?

Yes it was something different to escape everyday work but then so is gardening, rambling, angling and a myriad other pursuits.

The music appealed more than that on the radio or your local disco, Isn't that it ?

You'd think from Sarah's take the clubs were organised by the SWP and we all foresaw the coming of Thatcher.

 

 

I think it was the journalists take, not the academics but b*llocks nonetheless!

9 minutes ago, Happy Feet said:

These academics will always go on about the political side of things , but to be honest for most of us it was following your peers , and walking off the dance floor at the local youth clubs when the Bay City Rollers or Gary Glitter was played , didn't give a shit about politics not at the age of 15 , back in 1972 .

I don't know anyone who got into the scene for social-economic reasons?  We were all simply looking for something different to the local night club, some decent music and like you say all after seeing what our peers were up to....and the sherbert LOL

Another academic article , there probably watched This Is England etc and tried to put the political slant on modern day young people ? 
I train a lot with young people in a young persons sport and I can tell you this their generation categorically view the world different to us old crusties lol 😂. 
It’s all Insta  Facebook etc so if they’re going out and discovering it then bloody great it means they’re not taking pictures of their teeth on Instagram 😆. 
I agree with Karl in a Big University  City and you go out and hear this music and create a vibe around it then brill . That is not too dissimilar to all the second wave mods that got into the scene after the first mod revival in 78 etc . 
The UK scene now is where the Ted scene was probably 30 years  ago it’s squeezing the last bits of goodness out before it gets buried forever . Just my opinion but look at weekends and nighters there are usually more DJs on the Rosta than punters . 
I hope the essence of the underground scene and spirit takes another form because what was the coolest scene has now degenerated into a Dick Waving look out for some , a conglomerate for others and a whole lots of collectors in the middle that simply can’t be arsed anymore  to put up with the nonsense ! 

Edited April 21, 20232 yr by Baz Atkinson

1 hour ago, Chalky said:

I don't know anyone who got into the scene for social-economic reasons?  We were all simply looking for something different to the local night club, some decent music and like you say all after seeing what our peers were up to....and the sherbert LOL

Don't know about you guys but dancing all night off your head sounds like pure escapism to me. And the reason for this escapism might be the social-economics situation back then?

Don't you just love these articles and such like..

Bit like, and how many times have we heard it

vinyl is making a come back..

ffs,buying vinyl has cost me, and countless others, thousands over the past 40 /50  years, right up to this minute, when vinyl was supposedly dead

Good luck to ‘em! 👍👍👍

Hope they enjoy the ride and still doing it in 50years time. And if they are, I wonder what they'll be saying about the "new breed" keeping the faith.

Enjoy the music 👍

11 hours ago, Benji said:

Don't know about you guys but dancing all night off your head sounds like pure escapism to me. And the reason for this escapism might be the social-economics situation back then?

Not to me it's not necessary that Benji. Because it's never only one thing that brings individuals free willingly around a festive musical thematic party. Even though it could be that too for those that sees it as such. A point of view, a belief or an understanding it is then. Even if only partially true it's a biased diagnostic if used in the 'vindicative' affirmative form. Leaving no room for better finer judgement because of its generalization reduction in assumption. Not contemplating that there's more, other and not only 'trauma' factors at work necessary 🗣️ Blame is easy.

Such recuperation in 'political' statement (not partisan though hopefully) for a niter is trendy (all over again) and supposedly gives those, who states that, the necessary credibility to be taken seriously enough. Not by me though.  

To claim that dancing all night is 'socio-economic escapism' trauma or stance is too simple if stated with humble intentions (as you) and puerile when with detoured intention (This is England). Such socio-politisation analysis of sub-cultural phenomenon like studied in 'sociology' (Human "Science") is tiring because it reduces individual singularities in primitive victimized behaviorist schemes with no room for better determination. Aware converts in such sub-cultures struggle from such "appropriation" in legitimacy from 'outside' or 'higher' views. 😉 Tim

17 hours ago, Benji said:

Don't know about you guys but dancing all night off your head sounds like pure escapism to me. And the reason for this escapism might be the social-economics situation back then?

It was the music and the friends I went to nighters for not to escape politics or my social situation at home or work.  We all had a social and lifestyle choice be that going to the pub, local club or nighters.  Yes you left everything behind for the weekend but wasn't that what your social life was for regardless of what you did with your free time?

Agree with comments that say, basically, to think  we were dancing to escape the socio-political realities of life was complete bollocks.

I was not on the 'northern soul' scene at all, but was very much on the 'southern soul' scene, often going out 4 or 5 times a week in Brighton throughout seventies. Not for one second was it anything to do with escaping 'social' realities, which often weren't great in mid seventies with 3 day weeks, enforced power outages etc. etc. I also did not earn much money at all, but what little I did earn went nearly all on records. I loved the music, simple as that, nothing else.

It's just lazy journalism.

Pretty lazy article really. Not very well researched -and it shows.

If it was about the youth 'spin off' of NS then it didn't mention anyone outside of London, if it was London-centric but 'all ages' it missed out at least one major long running club and if was supposed to be country wide 'any ages' it missed dozens of easily found venues.

It's laughable to pronounce anything connected with NS can not be retro -it's a scene largely built on releases 1965-1975 ffs.

Like most other NS media stories -it had a tiny crumb of accuracy wrapped up in two tons of shite.

Edited April 22, 20232 yr by Timbo58

16 minutes ago, Timbo58 said:

Like most other NS media stories -it had a tiny crumb of accuracy wrapped up in two tons of shite.

That sounds like the scene I recall , all that misinformation spread about at 3am by the wide-eyed 'experts' at all-niters ... 

And by the photos at least the kids are not facing the DJ.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CrA9ncYs0mM/

For the people there, well done, don't allow old people in I say;)

Edited April 22, 20232 yr by Fiftyboiledeggs

It may sound callous, but for the sake of the scene and going forwards 2 room venues 1 on the ground floor, accessible to all , and 1 on the 2nd floor only accessible for those who can get up there without assistance, and djs rotating , if they can get up there too . How else are our loved ones going to offload our collections , when we've all passed if there isn't a demand ? .

Great to see young folk enjoying the music , and not being fed the shite we had to endure circa 75/76 at the WC , I pray that the London Philharmonic don't open up with " Lost Summer Love " ( maybe a little later) but you get my meaning . 

Good morning,( rant over ) everyone .

Edited April 23, 20232 yr by Happy Feet

Academics or not, it’s no secret to say there has always been appreciation of black music within the youth/sub culture throughout history by working people in the UK and probably a tangible link between most of us having to work jobs all week to keep heads above water and wanting to do something a bit different on the weekend but I don’t know if they’re linked and wouldn’t agree it’s for any singular reason or what the article alludes to… It reads more or less as if it’s written for a journalism module on a media course. Definitely below university standard, anyway.

There aren’t a lot of young people at nighters, weekends or alldayers in reality, you can probably count people below 35+ on two sets of hands at any given do. I will say I’ve never been to Deptford Soul Club I’ve seen photos online and as mentioned earlier it seems largely to be a uni crowd that you’d see going to Ministry of Sound, KoKo (they don’t look like typical crowd) and seems to me a more or less convenient opposite to the original ethos of the clubs in the 60s/70s/80s etc… I.e: Less focus on pushing ‘new’ sounds, all original sets and it travels to the clientele instead.

Young people these days aren’t totally loyal to one thing and individualism is a lot more fragmented. Not really sure why they’ve declared their difference to other clubs, prerty much everyone in those photos vests and vintage clobber?

It’s Techno on a Tuesday, Soul on the Saturday.
Main part is they’re enjoying the music. 

Edited April 23, 20232 yr by Clee93

On 21/04/2023 at 16:58, Modernsoulsucks said:

Good luck to 'em. Moses Smith or Sam Smith ? No contest really.

Must admit I get slightly wound up when academic talking heads like Sarah Raine put their oar in.

Emerging in the early 70s as a direct response to the political climate of the era, northern soul acted as a source of cultural respite

I mean WTF does that mean ? 

I'd say emerging in late 60's. For me discovering soul music '68. For others on here earlier. What political climate were we reacting to ? Student riots in Paris, Grosvenor Square and Vietnam, the sterling devaluation crisis of 1967 ?

Yes it was something different to escape everyday work but then so is gardening, rambling, angling and a myriad other pursuits.

The music appealed more than that on the radio or your local disco, Isn't that it ?

You'd think from Sarah's take the clubs were organised by the SWP and we all foresaw the coming of Thatcher.

 

 

Brilliant!  🤣

It is great to see youngsters enjoying themselves and I've always support them and encouraged them.  But articles like this are not representative of the scene, they never are and these academics try to look for things that aren't there or put a slant on a youth movement suggesting we are moving against something, the socio-political aspect for instance which has never really been the case.

There always has been people from across the social and political spectrums and a scene like Northern embraces them all whereas godown the pub and your socio-political arguments would rise to the for if Lord Snooty walked in to the Dog and Duck or a bunch of council estate types went into some West End gentleman's club.  Yes we escaped all that but that wasn't the reason, it was far more simple than that, just good night out dancing and getting off ones tits, buying records and talking bollox all night.

On 21/04/2023 at 21:05, Baz Atkinson said:

Another academic article , there probably watched This Is England etc and tried to put the political slant on modern day young people ? 
I train a lot with young people in a young persons sport and I can tell you this their generation categorically view the world different to us old crusties lol 😂. 
It’s all Insta  Facebook etc so if they’re going out and discovering it then bloody great it means they’re not taking pictures of their teeth on Instagram 😆. 
I agree with Karl in a Big University  City and you go out and hear this music and create a vibe around it then brill . That is not too dissimilar to all the second wave mods that got into the scene after the first mod revival in 78 etc . 
The UK scene now is where the Ted scene was probably 30 years  ago it’s squeezing the last bits of goodness out before it gets buried forever . Just my opinion but look at weekends and nighters there are usually more DJs on the Rosta than punters . 
I hope the essence of the underground scene and spirit takes another form because what was the coolest scene has now degenerated into a Dick Waving look out for some , a conglomerate for others and a whole lots of collectors in the middle that simply can’t be arsed anymore  to put up with the nonsense ! 

Very well worded post Baz and correct in everyway on every point.

Dave

1 hour ago, Clee93 said:

Academics or not, it’s no secret to say there has always been appreciation of black music within the youth/sub culture throughout history by working people in the UK and probably a tangible link between most of us having to work jobs all week to keep heads above water and wanting to do something a bit different on the weekend but I don’t know if they’re linked and wouldn’t agree it’s for any singular reason or what the article alludes to… It reads more or less as if it’s written for a journalism module on a media course. Definitely below university standard, anyway.

There aren’t a lot of young people at nighters, weekends or alldayers in reality, you can probably count people below 35+ on two sets of hands at any given do. I will say I’ve never been to Deptford Soul Club I’ve seen photos online and as mentioned earlier it seems largely to be a uni crowd that you’d see going to Ministry of Sound, KoKo (they don’t look like typical crowd) and seems to me a more or less convenient opposite to the original ethos of the clubs in the 60s/70s/80s etc… I.e: Less focus on pushing ‘new’ sounds, all original sets and it travels to the clientele instead.

Young people these days aren’t totally loyal to one thing and individualism is a lot more fragmented. Not really sure why they’ve declared their difference to other clubs, prerty much everyone in those photos vests and vintage clobber?

It’s Techno on a Tuesday, Soul on the Saturday.
Main part is they’re enjoying the music. 

At heart of soul (mentioned in the article) we definitely try to push new sounds and it all goes down so well!

On 21/04/2023 at 15:58, Modernsoulsucks said:

Good luck to 'em. Moses Smith or Sam Smith ? No contest really.

Must admit I get slightly wound up when academic talking heads like Sarah Raine put their oar in.

Emerging in the early 70s as a direct response to the political climate of the era, northern soul acted as a source of cultural respite

I mean WTF does that mean ? 

I'd say emerging in late 60's. For me discovering soul music '68. For others on here earlier. What political climate were we reacting to ? Student riots in Paris, Grosvenor Square and Vietnam, the sterling devaluation crisis of 1967 ?

Yes it was something different to escape everyday work but then so is gardening, rambling, angling and a myriad other pursuits.

The music appealed more than that on the radio or your local disco, Isn't that it ?

You'd think from Sarah's take the clubs were organised by the SWP and we all foresaw the coming of Thatcher.

 

 

Great post Rod, i was only involved in a similar conversation the other night the majority of people i knew who entered the Northern Scene as kids all had jobs or how else would they afford to travel around the country in the first place ? and not dead end jobs as we led to believe, but proper indentured apprenticeships, jobs with futures which many excelled at eventually owning and running their own businesses, and yes they did part take in the darker side activities of the scene so no saints there. 

Dave

 

Edited April 23, 20232 yr by Louise

45 minutes ago, Shaafi P said:

At heart of soul (mentioned in the article) we definitely try to push new sounds and it all goes down so well!

Good to know, as any one worth their salt should!

That part of my comment was referring to the clientele who go to DNSC specifically and not all of the clubs mentioned in the article and I wasn’t speculating about the authenticity of any of the clubs either but was just noting how the attitudes of younger people who go to those kinds of events aren’t the same as their seniors. They’re more bothered about the sound it’s self where some older people will only dance to originals and proudly tell you that. 

There are plenty of young DJs in the UK who have incredible collections and push great stuff rare, new, unknown & old alike and everyone knows who they are. 

Edited April 23, 20232 yr by Clee93

1 hour ago, Clee93 said:

Good to know, as any one worth their salt should!

That part of my comment was referring to the clientele who go to DNSC specifically and not all of the clubs mentioned in the article and I wasn’t speculating about the authenticity of any of the clubs either but was just noting how the attitudes of younger people who go to those kinds of events aren’t the same as their seniors. They’re more bothered about the sound it’s self where some older people will only dance to originals and proudly tell you that. 

There are plenty of young DJs in the UK who have incredible collections and push great stuff rare, new, unknown & old alike and everyone knows who they are. 

Yeah I guess, I’m really trying hard to get people my age just as obsessed with the music as I am so hopefully it works

2 hours ago, Louise said:

Very well worded post Baz and correct in everyway on every point.

Dave

Took the exact words out of my mouth Dave 👍 

2 hours ago, Shaafi P said:

At heart of soul (mentioned in the article) we definitely try to push new sounds and it all goes down so well!

What do you mean by new sounds?  New releases? Modern?

Shaafi try and follow what Curtis and Levene, and Soul Sam did to some extent. Keep pushing new records, go forward and drop records  which would have been played at the Casiino or the Mecca,

don't get lost in nostalgia.

 

Two for me would have been Ten City- That's the way love is-

Moodyman- The Thief That stole my Sad Days 

36 minutes ago, Fiftyboiledeggs said:

Shaafi try and follow what Curtis and Levene, and Soul Sam did to some extent. Keep pushing new records, go forward and drop records  which would have been played at the Casiino or the Mecca,

don't get lost in nostalgia.

 

Two for me would have been Ten City- That's the way love is-

Moodyman- The Thief That stole my Sad Days 

Or don't let be told what or how to play, do or act like.

Still, look-out, listen with your heart and learn from elders.

Not just from one, two or even three elders that you  look up to.

But as many that are not necessary "recommended". Make up your own mind.

Do your own do's. Maybe make it more "open". Only young is as bad as only old in my book.

9 hours ago, Shaafi P said:

Yeah I guess, I’m really trying hard to get people my age just as obsessed with the music as I am so hopefully it works

I’m only a bit older than you and like the large bulk of people, buy with my ear. 
Not many in our age category can afford to get involved with the acetate side of things but those who do - you have to take your hat off to them. I always like to include some obscure stuff that’s either out of vogue or just never played within the rare soul circuits these days.

One of them is a jazzy bit of garage soul and the other hardly anyone has heard cos it wasn’t spun by a top DJ or a massive sound at the time. There’s only one picture sleeve without the disc on Discogs and I’ve only ever seen one other copy go on eBay for less than a fiver which I missed - I ran it past a veteran DJ who also does mod stuff and a younger guy who does a lot of obscure 6T’s stuff and neither of them had heard this tune and the other one is the flip of an old Nev Wherry spin from KGB / Cleethorpes Winter Gardens, that ones a psychedelic stomper. (The side Nev played is a bit more standard 6Ts fare which is known but I prefer to play it’s twisted/funk edged b side.

I’ve been told they’re ‘a load of shite’ to the standard of one of my good mates who’s more than double my age. However, when I recently did a set for a long time mate band’s single release, the crowd of just shy of 90 were all below 35 minus 2 older people received both of these tracks really well along with the rest of the stuff and had more people dancing than the bands on that occasion.

There seems to be more and more mixed genre events that draw younger people a bit like Crossfire that have a broader lens in terms of what’s played rather than dedicated oldies / modern do’s. I was at a rocksteady / soul event last weekend that would ruffle purists but was a good time with good tunes played all night. 

Edited April 23, 20232 yr by Clee93

2 hours ago, Fiftyboiledeggs said:

Shaafi try and follow what Curtis and Levene, and Soul Sam did to some extent. Keep pushing new records, go forward and drop records  which would have been played at the Casiino or the Mecca,

don't get lost in nostalgia.

 

Two for me would have been Ten City- That's the way love is-

Moodyman- The Thief That stole my Sad Days 

 

2 hours ago, Chalky said:

What do you mean by new sounds?  New releases? Modern?

New releases, modern, all good stuff. We’ve only been running a short amount of time, but It’s cool to see the people hearing tunes for the first time and testing how the crowd reacts to different sounds! Wether it be Daybreak or george kirby or even something Neo - your smile. All three of those went down extremely well the atmosphere was electric

Edited April 23, 20232 yr by Source
quotes sorted out

33 minutes ago, Shaafi P said:

New releases, modern, all good stuff. We’ve only been running a short amount of time, but It’s cool to see the people hearing tunes for the first time and testing how the crowd reacts to different sounds! Wether it be Daybreak or george kirby or even something Neo - your smile. All three of those went down extremely well the atmosphere was electric

New to them/you, got you.

22 minutes ago, Chalky said:

New to them/you, got you.

Yeah from what ive seen most have them have heard very surface level northern soul (which is still good dont get me wrong) so im trying to show them all the amazing music that they may not have heard yet and its just great 

Hopefully, one day in the future, you will break a record first at your own venue :)

11 hours ago, Louise said:

Very well worded post Baz and correct in everyway on every point.

Dave

Cheers Dave I do a lot of jiu Jitsu with kids 16 and up there attention span is shite to get them in any venue enjoying Soul Music is the real victory not accepting our view of it is crucial, imho there need to put there own stamp on it . Sone of the younger people getting into the scene and adopting our ways are missing the point imho . That point being don’t take it too series ffs get pissed/smashed  make new friends and enjoy , the obsession might follow , it does not have to however ! 

8 hours ago, Kev Cane said:

Took the exact words out of my mouth Dave 👍 

Eh up Kev we spend our best years putting fun first mate . Doing the USA 100 club etc , you can’t replace youth and skullduggery and we had plenty . The scene is so saturated now with a lot of people that would not know a Bobby Womack 45  but would pay thousands for unadulterated crap. 
I hope young people piss on the serious side of it to be honest then it might evolve and not keep going backwards . 
Hope to catch up soon pal x 

 

8 hours ago, Kev Cane said:

Took the exact words out of my mouth Dave 👍 

 

Edited April 23, 20232 yr by Baz Atkinson

On 23/04/2023 at 12:52, Shaafi P said:

At heart of soul (mentioned in the article) we definitely try to push new sounds and it all goes down so well!

I'm quite envious of young kids getting into northern now - think of the vast amount of music to be 'discovered' by their ears!

The things older soulies would regard as 'played out' oldies, things we've heard a thousand times before , things we might even call 'boring', because familiarity definitely does breed if not contempt then something like apathy - there are many thousands of such tracks, amazing sounds, waiting to batter virgin eardrums.

Plus youth-focused venues must be a genuinely underground and exclusive scene now, which was certainly a big part of the attraction to me when I was young.

I was too young to go to Wigan, when it was huge, and when I started it was a very small scene with only a few hundred to a couple of thousand travelling to nighters (I would estimate), and personally I loved that sense of exclusivity and special quality - I didn't want to go to the towny nightclubs and dance to Wham with everyone else, basically.

On the other hand, there's likely to be something necessarily more ephemeral to it now.

When we were young, having to wait for eg Pat Brady's list to arrive, and then seeing a record you'd heard once at a nighter and had on a Keb tape from Stafford (or something), and having to hand over a lot of money to get your hands on it, because there was no CD with it on, no LP, and YouTube and Spotify etc hadn't been invented, and that was the only way you could really own it barring a crappy, tinny C90 cassette - it was like a full-time job all of its own.

And I think that either it bred fanaticism into you, or the non-fanatics fell by the wayside because they weren't committed/mad enough to keep it up, or maybe both.

I suppose what I'm saying is the romance of the collecting and home-listening has surely (?) mostly gone now forever unless it already lives within you - but that doesn't mean people won't want to hear and dance to this amazing music, and I find the fact that they do very uplifting.

Keep on keeping on!

 

So I recently went to a Deptford Northern Soul Club event with my godson. Something I could never have imagined him doing. We had a great time and he enjoyed the music. We normally share around his large collection of hip hop, dance and jazz and my eclectic collection of albums and tracks of all genres, so irrespective of the reason, though it was a cheap night in relative terms, I think it's great more young people are exposed to Soul in it's many forms. We've got more music and gig events lined up, and I expect a few more Soul nights down the road....I've just asked him what he could like for Christmas, usually 4 vinyl albums, so I am quite looking forward to his choices. It will be pay day for me if he does get into Soul, as he's an avid record buyer...and we all need one of those in our lives! Slightly off topic, but we've just bought tickets to see Duty Moonshine Big Band, so if you see some one "older" at the back of the hall. Please feel free to say Hi