Russ Explains

Russ has a tastey section on Northern so check out his site

Northern Soul is ... well, as a basic definition try "rare soul of a type enjoyed in the North of England". But it's more than that.

It's appeal has spread Worldwide and the movement has spanned 3 decades. But you can trace Northern Soul's roots back to the Mods of the 1960's. Mods listened to a wide range of music from R 'n' B to Ska and in some cases Jazz. They especially appreciated Black American Soul, and in this field one label reigned supreme, Berry Gordy's Motown. The combination of great songs, great singers and musicians and that infectious Motown beat bought the label a huge following through such artists as The Four Tops, The Supremes, The Temptations and Marvin Gaye.

As the 60's turned into the 70's Soul music began to mellow out and get funkier but some Soul fans still hankered after the floorshaking dance records of the mid 1960's. Some clubs in the North of England stuck with the rawer 60's sounds and people began to travel from all over the country to go to clubs such as The Twisted Wheel in Manchester, which hosted marathon all night Soul sessions.

The music played was still new release, but as the supply of new sounds dried up DJ's started looking back for undiscovered rarities from the mid 60's. There were plenty. As the Motown sound had taken off, many lesser labels had tried to recreate the sound and these were the records the DJ's sought. The phrase "Northern Soul" was coined by journalists to differentiate between the type of music being played in the Northern clubs and the mellower, funkier modern sounds being played in the South of the country.