Ian Dewhirst

I'm pretty sure it wasn't designed for the critics and I'm pretty sure they wouldn't really get it anyway. This film has had zero support from the UK film business as far as I can make out and I think it's been pigeon-holed as a little English film about a quaint sub-culture which will have minimal commercial appeal and a limited audience. Which is entirely predictable in my view. That's what I expected them to think. So no surprise there. But it's difficult to ignore a little English film about a quaint sub-culture when the soundtrack has entered the UK Top 10 album chart with minimal marketing spend. Not so little anymore. And watch those screens grow. 3 weeks to release. Blackburn premiere this Saturday and London premiere on 2nd October. Lots of PR and Radio coming up and hopefully more and more people will embrace this film. The grass-roots support has been nothing short of incredible. Great stuff! Ian D

I've sent some of my random media mates to see a couple of preview screenings and, without exception, they all said how much the film affected them. Terry Farley - Harmless's Deep/Acid/Classic House guru had some misconceptions about the film and was probably cynically inclined before he saw the film earlier tonight. His text message @ 9.29pm tonight:- "Wicked film! The Wigan scenes with dancers blocking up on speed actually made my heart race and I felt like gagging". Terry knows the symptoms to a tee, so high praise indeed. However, I think everyone involved with the film was incredibly touched by Mi-Soul Radio's incredible review from Ross Allen. Here it is:- "Right I can do this now… Apologies for the delay… This one has been way overdue. Thanks to the many people that have enquired as to what is happening with these mail outs/missives and whether or not they have fallen off the list or whether it has just stopped altogether. I had a break for a few reasons. It has been a manic summer, the time hasn't been there and when it was all I could really write about was going to sound slightly pretentious and a bit large. I don't want to be telling you about all the jet set travels with London Grammar I want to talk about things that mean something to me, are music related and hopefully interesting. It has been a fun summer, the globe has been trod and there have been great things to report but it hasn't felt right plus I have been on and off the radio with an annoying irregularity… for me and some of you. Well I am back and inspired ! I have just gotten in from a very small and intimate screening of the film 'Northern Soul' and it has blown me away. Not that I am the biggest Northern Soul fan, far from it, a lot of it gets on my nerves and just doesn't connect… Too fast, too mid rangy and just not my thing. Black music for white people is what I have regularly called it. Indie kids always like it and it is so far removed from much of todays music - it feels kind of safe, approved as it is a bonafide classic scene - I couldn't care less about that. I need to feel it ! Don't get me wrong there are many tunes from this genre that I love but never enough for me to really get excited about it. A few tracks, if any, on those many Kent compilations and lots of other ones that I have heard and liked but have been impossible to track down and buy. It took me about 15 years to find out what piece of genius Luther Ingram's 'If It's All The Same To Me' (featured in the film in its B side incarnation as Exus Trek) was and then to get it. Anyway, I had heard about the film being forthcoming and was intrigued. I then got sent a promo CD which featured a few tracks that I knew but I was loathed to play it as I thought it would be full of those uptempo stomping numbers that just go whizzing above my forehead. I was wrong, the compilation is possibly the best one of its kind. I don't like all of the tracks but some that I have discovered through being on the compilation are just amazing pieces of soul music. Uptempo yes but not as barn storming, they feel more groove based with a funk and some have an almost jazz feel to the instrumentation. Take Lou Pride's 'I'm Com'un Home In The Morn'un'. This tune is absolutely amazing… a funktified bassline groove with some amazingly out horns and an amazingly soulful vocal (that is a basic pre requisit for this music). Northern undoubtedly but not as I knew it. There are so many tracks on this double CD that have opened my mind to othersides of Northern Soul yet I am still not a 100% convert as ever I am magpieing my way through this and most other music genres (always with a foot heavily in the world of funk, soul and jazz leading me to it's modern derivatives) but I have been so wowed by so many tracks on this album some known and others new to me - Eddie Holman, Rita & The Tiara's, Sam Dee's, James Fountain, Darrow Fletcher, Linda Jones - I could go on. It's a great album and I would highly recommend it. Currently at number 4 in the compilation album charts as I was told tonight above 'Now 2306' or whatever they are up to and many other TV advertised albums - which is nice !! The album features a bonus DVD which I watched and got the back drop to the movie. A chat with Elaine Constantine the director about the making of the film and her inspiration for making it and a great interview with Richard Searling who was a DJ at Wigan Casino (and is a general all round soul legend) and one of the many inspirations for this film. So I was all set for the nights preview but wondering if it would be a good film or another one of those clubby/club based films where it feels nearly right but actually turns out to be crap, let down by bad acting or a bad script. It was neither and an all round triumph. Set in a run down part of Manchester in the early/mid 70's it follows the story of a young discontented guy (lets call him a teenager) who inadvertently discovers the sound and the dancing one night at a youth club's disco when his soon to be best mate is allowed to play one Northern Soul record at that youth club disco. He sees a great dancer doing his thing - the soon to be best mate - and then saves him from a beating from some non convert local kids who knock him for his dancing and clothes. A bond is formed right there, he is intrigued by the sound and the dancing, gets given some speed, a tape of Northern set from a night in Blackpool and then spends all night speeding his head of in his bedroom, freaking out to the music and by the morning he is a convert, keen to learn the ways of Northern Soul. The music, the clothes, the dancing... He is hooked. I wont spoil the rest of the story as it unfolds but he begins a journey into a scene that is not just specific to Northern Soul. The film captures the essence of the passion that music and their associated scenes generate. The kid falls in love with everything about the music. It takes over his life and his journey has begun. Its a troubled one but a joyous one, full of scrapes and encounters but music and dancing is at the core of it. As much as he was converted he starts to convert others and they develop their own scene and he starts to break through in the world of DJing albeit at a very lowly level as his music collecting grows It was brilliant, I could feel an affinity with him. The voyage of discovery, the addiction to it, the need to collect the music, to find out more, the need to be part of something that can and does change your life when you get that into it… The film just drew me in, it seemed very authentic as a period piece - it is meant to be set 40 years ago, not that I have any idea what those clubs where like but it feels like they should have been like that. So in essence I highly recommend it, and the accompanying compilation album. If you have a fleeting interest in it I'd pick it up. You'll discover some great music…and feel the passion"! What an incredible heartfelt review! This film is reaching way beyond the core audience and reaching many people in many ways. Killer film. What else do you need to know! Ian D

Also I just got sent another link from Ourscreen which gives more details about potential screenings. If you're from these areas, then sign up! https://www.ourscreen.com/search/screenings/?Req.CategoryId=&Req.SearchTerm=northern+soul+&Req.Date=&Req.Time=&Req.ScreeningStatusId=&Req.LocationText=&Req.CinemaId Ian D

Good thinking Mikey. I'll pass to our hotshot Radio promotion guy.... Ian D

Also the Ourscreen route, https://www.ourscreen.com/, seems to be working pretty well too. This was posted on Facebook last night, courtesy of the good Derek Smiley, Georgina Archdeacon and Karen Janes in Cambridge:- From Ourscreen:- "Congratulations!!!! Your screening is now sold out. You're the first in the history of Ourscreen to sell out a private screening. We were wondering if you knew many more people who would like to attend your screening? Because we may have the possibility to get a bigger screen (screen 1 - 236 seats)" The power of positive action! Ian D

Actually I'm getting quite a few PMs and Facebook messages regarding people wanting to show the film in their areas. Anyone who is in this position and knows there will be a strong demand should PM me and I'll give 'em contact details as to how to proceed. Cheers, Ian D

The sweetest sight I've seen for a long time! Northern Soul mixing it with the big boys! Lw Posn Posn Title Artist 2 1 KEEP CALM AND CHILLOUT VARIOUS ARTISTS 1 2 NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL MUSIC 88 VARIOUS ARTISTS NEW 3 NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL DRIVE VARIOUS ARTISTS 4 4 FROZEN ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK 3 5 NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL CLUB HITS 2014 VARIOUS ARTISTS NEW 6 THE NOUGHTIES VARIOUS ARTISTS NEW 7 SONGBIRD VARIOUS ARTISTS 5 8 IBIZA - THE ALBUM VARIOUS ARTISTS 7 9 GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY - AWESOME MIX 1 ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK NEW 10 NORTHERN SOUL ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK NEW 11 ELECTRONIC DANCE MUSIC - EUPHORIA 2014 VARIOUS ARTISTS 6 12 SUPERSTAR DJS - VOL 2 VARIOUS ARTISTS 9 13 NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL CHILLED VARIOUS ARTISTS 8 14 THE GRANDMASTER FLASH COLLECTION VARIOUS ARTISTS 10 15 THE HOUSE THAT GARAGE BUILT VARIOUS ARTISTS 13 16 NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL 21ST CENTURY VARIOUS ARTISTS 12 17 KISSTORY 2014 - THE BEST OLD SKOOL VARIOUS ARTISTS 11 18 MADE IN SCOTLAND VARIOUS ARTISTS NEW 19 MINISTRY OF SOUND PTS THE RUNNING BUG 2 VARIOUS ARTISTS 14 20 NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL SUMMER VARIOUS ARTISTS Ian D

Will see what the updates are tomorrow as I'm sure there'll be an updated list following the weekend. Ian D

Sunday Evening 21/09/2014 19.38pm Well, we made it! Yes folks, 'Northern Soul: The Soundtrack' has entered the national UK compilation album chart @ a magnificent No.10! Congratulations to Elaine Constantine and everyone involved with the forthcoming film. This is a massive achievement considering that it's almost impossible to get into this chart without a huge TV advertising budget or without a firm commitment and campaign from the big supermarkets. But hey, a Top 10 album is a Top 10 album. We're off and running now! Roll on the film launch from 17/10/14! Thanks to everyone for supporting the soundtrack and film! Ian D

I kinda wish I'd gone on the Friday. Great as it was, I thought the Thursday show was their standard U.S. show which included some numbers that weren't as popular in the UK as they were in the U.S. They were great on Thursday but there were some significant omissions, some of which got included on the Friday night I believe. I thought they still had it vocally. Great group. Ian D

Bang on Greg. That's exactly what happened when I saw it with a bunch of friends and colleagues. Once you've recovered from the visceral sensory overload from hearing those tunes so perfectly aligned with that incredible imagery, you can then get into whether that Lou Pride was an original or not. It's quite an experience for anyone, but, as above, this film appealed to my colleagues who were not on the scene and were not into the music. And guess what? All of 'em want to see it again. I'm the biggest cynic out of all of us, so I deliberately held back from seeing the film until late on. I knew the music choices would be quality and I knew that Elaine was one of the few people who would be able to translate this era accurately and thank god she did. I'm hopefully gonna see it again shortly. Ian D

Soul Explosion was a U.S. RCA marketing initiative. Can't help you with the designer though..... https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=AgkEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA10&lpg=PA10&dq=soul+explosion+rca+records&source=bl&ots=zPm8tU6VGi&sig=R4jN6lcnM0BsW1QYWZEbwyOwtzo&hl=en&sa=X&ei=nm8dVNblMurd7QbWsoDICw&ved=0CCYQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=soul%20explosion%20rca%20records&f=false Ian D

Hi All, Just to cap a near perfect but very manic week, "Northern Soul: The Soundtrack" is incredibly still holding @ No.7 on the Friday midweek! Truly brilliant stuff! Lw Posn Posn Title 2 1 KEEP CALM AND CHILLOUT VARIOUS ARTISTS 1 2 NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL MUSIC 88 VARIOUS ARTISTS NEW 3 NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL DRIVE VARIOUS ARTISTS 4 4 FROZEN ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK 3 5 NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL CLUB HITS 2014 VARIOUS ARTISTS NEW 6 THE NOUGHTIES VARIOUS ARTISTS NEW 7 NORTHERN SOUL ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK HARMLESS 5 8 IBIZA - THE ALBUM VARIOUS ARTISTS NEW 9 SONGBIRD VARIOUS ARTISTS 7 10 GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY - AWESOME MIX 1 ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK Let's hope it can hold over today and tomorrow! Ian D

Thanks Russell. Essentially the soundtrack is the advance guard for the film. We figured we were always gonna have a battle to get the film into public consciousness with no major marketing budgets so the soundtrack album coming 4 weeks before the film launches and hitting the Top 10 UK Compilation Chart, positions the film beautifully and is probably worth more than a £200K TV ad spend in my opinion. The general public will either get or they won't. Right now it looks like they're getting it big time. I was thinking earlier tonight, that the battles we're going through to get the film into as many cinemas as possible in the 3 day window before the DVD release, echoes the self-same problems that the Northern Soul records we all loved faced back then. So the uphill battles we're fighting everyday are completely appropriate for Northern Soul in general. But hey. These artists are now finding themselves in the UK National Top 10 Compilation Chart plus a killer film to follow. Whichever way you look at it, it's a pretty good validation of an incredible scene which many people admire. Ian D

Yep. It's the thin line between between legitimate promotion and the Wild West. I can live with it on this release 'cos this is confounding all expectations and turning into the fastest-selling release that I've ever been involved with. It's the real niche releases that will only do limited numbers that worry me. There's a little bit more latitude with a Top 10 UK album which is selling at this rate. We'll take support from everywhere right now. The job of the soundtrack release is to boost the film and we're kinda getting there touch wood... Ian D

Yeah, I saw that but typically didn't have time to listen. So not sure is the answer. We sent out double CD promos a couple of months back so maybe a journo got creative and uploaded it? I can live with You Tube promos, it's the illegal downloads I have the problem with. Mind you, strangely enough, this is also a huge digital seller too and in the I-tunes charts too. Looks like we're reaching a wide demographic market with this release. Mucho interest overseas too. Good spot Russell. Ian D

13/10/14 Steve. Ian

Well, an extraordinary week. As of today's mid-week chart, we're still mixing it with the big boys in the UK Compilation Top 10:- NEW 7 NORTHERN SOUL ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK HARMLESS We've just done some background checking and if we hold in the Top by next Monday, this will be the highest-charting none TV advertised Northern Soul CD ever! Ian D

Second that. That stall used to groan from the weight of those Broadways 7"s. The world has gone crazy.....this has always been a £1 record in my book. Ian D

Yep, the Sisters Love was deffo a Samantha's biggie and virtually a staple in many a playbox. There was a spate of Mowest action in that period with Frankie Valli and Thelma Houston's "I Ain't Going Nowhere" all pretty massive. I'm still waiting for the Bobby Taylor U.S. Mowest track to take off one day...... Ian D

I remember that period really well and can remember Ian breaking that tune first. No one could believe there was a new discovery on UK Verve. Well done you guys for finding that. Took me years to find one and by then no one was interested. I think the only place it was ever played was via Ian's gigs at the time. I miss these bold, brassy UK Northern releases. The UK production teams in the 60s were quite often better than their US counterparts at the time in my opinion. 'Deep Blue Train' is s real weird one. Props for finding it. Proper digging. Ian D

Actually I've been meaning to go visit him but I've been pretty submerged over the last few weeks. One of my labels is the Disco Recharge imprint which releases classy Disco/Hi-Nrg compilations and we've recently been repackaging and remastering much of Ian's back-catalog from Evelyn Thomas, Miquel Brown, James Wells and Barbara Pennington which are all selling very nicely for niche market releases. Here's most of 'em to date:- https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_14?url=search-alias%3Dpopular&field-keywords=disco+recharge&sprefix=disco+recharge%2Cpopular%2C134 However, we're about to release two specific Ian Levine compilations which have been compiled by Simon White and which are both getting some great reaction and doing very nicely in the Amazon rankings:- 24 Hours A Day - Ian Levine - The Disco Years https://www.amazon.co.uk/DISCO-RECHARGE-HOURS-LEVINE-YEARS/dp/B00JYDGIYG/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1410883249&sr=1-1&keywords=disco+recharge Beating Faster - Ian Levine - The Hi-Nrg Years https://www.amazon.co.uk/DISCO-RECHARGE-BEATING-FASTER-LEVINE/dp/B00JYDGJ0E/ref=sr_1_2?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1410883249&sr=1-2&keywords=disco+recharge Both albums are currently both in the Top 10 Funk and Top 20 Disco Amazon charts which are the most lively positions he's seen for a few years I reckon. So I'm just waiting to get the finished copies in my hand and THEN I'll go see him! I'm pretty sure that will cheer him up some! Ian D

I'm trying to check the stats but as far as I can remember I don't think a Northern Soul album has charted at anywhere near this level on the first mid-week chart. Naturally there's a huge amount of pre-orders in that figure so it'll settle down over the next few days but I think we'll be in line for the highest-charting Northern Soul album ever with a bit of luck! Couldn't happen to a better project and sets things up beautifully for the film, which, as of today, is up to 53 screens I believe..... Ian D

Well I'm one happy bunny today. I've just achieved the highest mid-week chart entry of my 40 year career with the phenomenal "Northern Soul: The Soundtrack". Yes folks, we've smashed into the UK Top 40 Compilation first midweek chart @ an incredible No.6! In fact, due to an anomaly, we're in the Top 40 twice with the same album 'cos the digital version is No.40 too. The cumulative position actually makes us No.4 overall. We're surrounded by NOW albums lol. NEW ENTRY 6 NORTHERN SOUL - THE FILM VARIOUS ARTISTS HARMLESS An amazing start to an amazing film! The only thing I can say, is just go buy it! Soundtrack album of the year without a shadow of a doubt! Ian D

You had Sheila Anthony on Landa?????? Ian D