A Northern Soul Obsession.....By Nina

I first became aware of the Northern Soul scene through Modernism. Even though I wasn't totally committed to being a mod until approximately three years ago, the interest in the music was already there. Not all of mods were into it however. You could easily distinguish them in three categories: the ones who didn't care at all about NS and much preferred white R&B, those who had an obvious interest for the music and used to attend soul nights regularly but never considered NS the end of it all, and finally the soul devotee, the ones that were involved in the scene to a higher degree, who would live the music as an obsession rather than just a hobby and would become sooner or later record collectors. There was little chance I didn't fit into the third group.
For me NS had it all: the friendliness of the people, the excitement in the atmosphere, the best music ever to be heard, the dancing (which I never get tired of) and so many things. Two mates, record collectors themselves, got me into collecting (something I still regret now when I look into my bank account) as I used to spend all my monthly wages on records rather than clubbing or clothes. It was good to have them as friends, they would always have the latest record in demand or tape for me their regular DJ's set and I learned a lot by their side. They were founders and former DJ's of the most popular soul weekender in Barcelona, the infamous Floorshaker, that still today is regarded as the best soul event in the country. It was always crowded and the atmosphere was superb (if you happen to be in Barcelona don't miss in in December).
I remember the first NS record I bought, Frankie Beverly and the Butlers "If that's what you wanted" and the song that got me into Motown and therefore into NS was the always genial "Reach out, I'll be there" by the Four Tops. The great thing about Northern is that you never  cease to find and discover other superb records. You can have a 20.000 records collection  and still find something new and appealing, magic.
Talking about the scene in Barcelona... there's no such a scene!. If you make an exception to sporadic allnighters, there're no clubs to go, not a lot of people to share the music with (except some mods) and definitely no chance to improve this situation, at least in this neck of the woods. However, we'll always have England. Next year I'm gonna live in London (and I'm still 21) and I've the intention of running a club dedicated exclusively to Northern Soul with the aim of attracting the younger generation and gain new converts to the scene that help to keep it going on.
Northern Soul in the heart of Southern London? Well, that's a possibility. Venues such as the 100 Club are already doing this and little by little succeeding. We're always faced with the same problem: the lack of people that are my own age. I admire and respect those persons who still today attend the allnighters like they did in the 70's, but the younger people look for their own events and are not very keen on attending regular weekenders with people who nearly double their age (something understandable anyway).
Though I've not been there myself, my mates have gone to Cleethorpes twice and they still swear those were the best moments of their lives. I'm dying to go some day...when I have the money. Wouldn't it be great if we could have our own Wigan Casino or our Mecca and all those great memories back again? Maybe I'm daydreaming but if we don't move quickly, who's gonna support the scene in the next century? We need more clubs that help to spread the scene further and faster. I know that if Northern Soul gets the exposure it deserves it will attract more young people. Lots of my friends had been huge soul fans (Motown-minded) but never had heard about Northern. When I try and show them what it is, they're easily hooked on it. If Northern Soul has been an obsession for me in the middle of this demential decade of techno and dance music, there is no reason why it wouldn't be the same for any other youngster. Maybe we need to change from soul survivors to soul revivers. What do you think?

That's just one opinion anyway.
Nina