What does it sound like?:
This is the third in a series of collectable packages from Chess Records. It is pitched at a niche market, the Northern Soul fan who fetishes and collects 7 inch vinyl. It is a beautiful box, with a very informative booklet and seven 7 inch singles, each side consisting of a highly desirable Northern Soul ‘stomper’ trawled from their back catalogue and that of their sister labels, Cadet, Argo and Checker. It will set you back about fifty quid but your money may be well spent even if you don’t like the content; the first package has pretty much doubled in value since its release in 2015, provided you kept it sealed.
Ady Croasdell is the mastermind and Northern Soul oracle behind it. He knows his audience well. He fell in love with the scene as far back as 1969, was involved with the 6T’s 100 Rhythm & Soul Club in London as far back as 1979 and has a long association with Kent and Ace Records. He understands perfectly the Northern Soul fan’s hunger for a rare piece of vinyl rotating at 45rpm and fully appreciates the need to include some established classics. He’s selected the ultra rare Joe Cato – I’m So Glad and Jeanette Nellis – Wait, both artists are virtually unknown and existing copies of the latter number single figures. Two tracks were only available on compilation LPs until now: Jo Ann Garrett – Foolish Me and Bobby Womack of The Valentinos – See Me Through. Many first appeared as a B side, their Northern Soul magic hidden until the likes of Croasdell revealed it: Amanda Love – You Keep Calling Me By Her Name, Gene Chandler – Such A Pretty Thing, The Knight Brothers – City Life, Harold Hutton – Lucky Boy and Johnny Nash – Love Ain’t Nothin’. According to discogs, first pressings of the Gene Chandler and The Kindly Shepherds – Lend Me Your Hand sell for over £300 a pop. Jeanette Nellis would probably go for much more but has never been put up for sale. All fourteen tracks are great floor fillers from the mid-sixties. The weakest, dance-wise, is that of the best known name, Bobby Womack, but that’s usually the case with any Northern Soul compilation.
Northern Soul was always more than a music scene, it’s a movement, a movement born of the working class living for the weekend, spending their week’s wages on dancing through the night. Many followers have kept the faith, even into their fifties and sixties. They may gather in basements in the afternoon, rather than all night in a club, and the dance moves may not be quite as spectacular as they used to be, but there is still a tribe obsessed with vinyl singles and willing to shell out significant amounts for the objects of their desire. Chess have cleverly hit on the perfect product, nicely packaged bundles of singles, wisely curated by a man in the know. The purist will still covet the original releases but this latest box hits the sweet spot for most Northern Soul fans of any age.
What does it all *mean*?
This box set should be bought for the love of Northern Soul. Investing in vinyl expecting to make a profit is incredibly foolish. You are better off with stocks and shares or bricks and mortar.
Goes well with…
A dance floor, flat shoes, sweat bands and talcum powder.
Might suit people who like…
Vinyl, Northern Soul.
Jeanette Nellis – Wait
Anyone interested in Northern Soul should read Stuart Cosgrove’s Young Soul Rebels – A Personal History Of Northern Soul. He was into it from the early days and has some fascinating stories about the clubs, DJs, all nighters, record collecting and the culture which was very much an underground scene. It mentions the Mod Top 100 records list which was published in Sounds in 1979. I don’t know if I saw it at the time, if I did then like Northern Soul it completely passed me by. It is an absolutely cracking list.
https://rateyourmusic.com/list/resist_retreat/randy_cozens_top_100_soul_chart__the_mod_top_100_/
Cosgrove was a nicely self-deprecatory writer at the NME in the old days.
I reckon it would cost a pretty penny buying all those on vinyl. Great, great music, though.
Thanks for the Mod 100- to my delight, it’s on Spotify:
Yes indeed. Nice work, Alias. That looks marvellous.
And thanks Tigger for your illuminating background description of the sounds, drugs, clothes etc of the NS scene.
What surprised me was that I own about half of those tracks in one format or another, although the one format I don’t have any of them on is the 7″ single.
This song expresses the sentiment, if stylistically not.
Lovely song, tho’
Hmm. Oh dear.
That’s the GOOD version. This is the worst. I made Clive listen to this and the electro Any Trouble version when I interviewed him last year.
Fuk but that is shite. Much as I love a cover version I won’t be getting that one. Pity the clip I put up was such poor quality as it is a good song.
For sure it is. Have you heard the very electronic album that Any Trouble did? That’s pretty awful too.
I have. It has it’s, um, moments, admittedly few, but was good live: they supported Judie Tzuke in the early 80s at that time, shortly before Clive went TT. Judie Tzuke played her hit early on and had gone metal rock chick, so we went to the bar, where the GAARHMs were carousing. Great night.
Thanks to you mentioning it, I’ve just spent a very pleasant few hours listening to Chess Northern Soul Vol 1 on Spotify.
When that finished, DJ Spotty went rogue and started plaything tracks like this. I did not complain.
Sixties Soul Music is just wonderful, isn’t it. Probably my favourite genre.
“even if you don’t like the content; the first package has pretty much doubled in value since its release in 2015, provided you kept it sealed.”
Are there people who actually do that? Why? Play the stock market if that’s what motivates you. Sheesh.
This post brought to you by Hungover and Sleepless, Inc.
The Northern Soul scene had four main elements: the dancing, the clothes, the records and the drugs. Record collecting is a serious enterprise based on finding obscurities no-one has heard of. In fact, obscurity out-trumps the quality of the song itself. Remember, Northern Soul was a mid to late seventies phenomenon that was based on singles from the early sixties that were never a ‘hit’ at the time of release and never enjoyed a large manufacturing run. DJs used to disguise their source material by sticking on another label renaming both the artist and the tune. Some singles change(d) hands for thousands of pounds. An original Jeanette Nellis, for example, would easily sell for four figures. It wouldn’t surprise me if there were some people out there who are willing to buy these Chess sets for collection purposes, never to play them. They will keep them sealed.
However, I cover your main point under What does it all *mean*?
In the meantime, MC, drink plenty of water and eat fruit.
I am well aware of all that. Plus I didn’t read that bit.
It still makes them people I’d rather not have a pint with.
They are nerdy music obsessives just like us, only a different kind of nerdy music obsessive.
Lovely review @Tiggerlion and very tempting but I do have a number of Northern Soul collections already.
My first job after school was working for an insurance company. My closest colleague in the company shared my love of Deep Purple, Free, Yes etc.
We had another colleague who was obsessed with Northern soul and he would go to Wigan most weekends. He was also obsessed with the clothes, drank no alcohol and at the age of 17 seemed strangely out of place. Shamefully in hindsight we took the piss out of his musical tastes but now I like his music much more than the music I was listening to at the time.
Ah. The follies of youth. We live & learn.
Picked up a reasonably priced copy of the Stax Vinyl 7″ singles box from late last year – stupendously good Richard Searling selected set of mellow dancers and prancers. It sat there for a few weeks sealed but eventually thought it’s a bit pointless never to play them – glad I did as in amongst stuff I knew there’s some serious gems. I know people who do buy these boxsets and other vinyl with a view to keeping them intact as some kind of investment. Seems a bit joyless to me but there you go.
Incidentally, Richard has a weekly show of “northern” and super classy soul on Solar radio with uploads here: https://www.mixcloud.com/spurs1961/
That Stax box is exactly the same concept, fourteen handpicked tracks, seven singles, lovely box. The quality of the music is exemplary. In fact, if anything, Searling is a more credible curator. He was an actual Wigan Casino DJ and spent half his time in America trawling for obscurities. He is credited with discovering Gloria Jones’s Tainted Love, a pure gold Northern Soul classic.
The weirdos I know (they speak highly of me too) buy two: one for playing and one for the future..
Searling sounded like an interesting bloke. I googled..
http://www.theskinny.co.uk/clubs/interviews/skinned-13-richard-searling-wigan-casino
His mention of Hypnotized by Linda Jones as one of his favourite albums reminds me of where I heard of that record. I was travelling with my family on a train to Cambridge. I was wearing a James Carr T shirt and oblivious to what was going on around me. My wife presented the tickets to the inspector and then a few minutes later he reappeared and said to me “excuse me mate, excuse me mate”, I looked up and sort of looked for the tickets and he said “I like your T shirt” I thanked him and he went on to tell me that it had made his day! He used to collect the Goldwax label and went on to tell me about all those records that he loved and I absolutely must hear Hypnotized by Linda Jones.
What a marvellous story, Alias. It pays to wear the right T shirt.
Excellent, insightful article here complete with playlist ….
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/aug/23/northern-soul-10-of-the-best
The NS scene did love obscure records.
beautifully written review @tiggerlion….we are taking pre-orders for this lovely little box set right now at http://www.beatinrhythm.com ….you must come heck us out sometime Tigger…..jump on that M60 and get off at Prestwich…..well worth a trip!!!
Indeed I must. My main worry is that you are likely to empty my wallet.
Ah but we offer mates rates for all Afterworders!!! plus we have a lovely little sale til end of month on all our Northern Soul Compilation Lps……too good to miss really!!!
http://www.beatinrhythm.com/ourshop/cat_1113961-6-Soulful-LPs.html
Looks very tempting.
My greatest regret in life is not being able to dance to Northern Soul.
Yeah, me too. I keep thinking ‘there’s time’ but who am I kidding?
Northern Soul music is a basic 4/4 beat, albeit quite fast. The dance is a simple two step shuffle embellished with kicks, spins and drops. Try this tutorial for starters:
Thanks, yes I’ve seen that before (but not actually *done* it).
Shake some talcum powder over your kitchen floor and give it a go!
Right, so I tried the video early this morning.
I did well on the first tutorial (above) so I got cocky and went on to the next tutorial. This was by a magnificent Nothern Soul veteran; raspy fag-hewn North West accent and plenty of swears.
I added the ankle twist and my vulnerable left knee just….went. Ouch. I do have proper dance shoes though; socked feet plus carpet is not good for knee torque.
Ah, the hubris of the formerly-agile middle-aged woman.
Anyway, I put a Spotty playlist on and just freestyled for a bit. Much fun and I will try again.
I also danced around the kitchen to ‘Feel it Still’ by Portugal. The Man, so all in all I’m calling that a victory.
Freestyle shuffling is fine. The main thing is to have fun. All the additional moves are simply to show off.
And, if in doubt, there’s always the hand jive of course.
That is a cracking song, Ruby, and would fit in well on a NS dancefloor. Portugal the Man is a very silly band name though,
Yeah, the full stop makes that band name extremely irritating. Especially as I had to look up where to put it: Portugal. The Man.
Portugal The. Man.
Portugal The Man.
I have bought an instructional DVD so I shall be soon visiting the Deptford Northern Soul club ‘dropping’ a black bomber and doing a spin and a high kick. Ooooh me back.
What happened to the splits? Asking for a friend.
You’ll need them for when Sugar Pie Desanto comes on.
I like the flares you’re wearing in that video Tiggs. Not that keen on your curtains though (no offence intended).
@rubyblue
I’m glad it’s not just me who wants to dance to Northern Soul and who has a dodgy knee. Tiggerlion, you make it seem so simple…Simply embellish a few kicks, spins and drops!
Managed a bit of low level frugging and air bass to Temptation by New Order in the kitchen yesterday (It’s always the kitchen, dunno why) but that’s about my limit.
Damn my meniscusses/menusci(?)
The young lady dancing to Happy (below) is having a great time & she only does a little spin, no drops, no kicks.
I think I will stick to air bass or hairbrush singing.
@moose_the_mooche Spilts are good! Not there yet but God loves a trier. Even if my hamstrings don’t.
Ha! Remember, it’s not the getting there… it’s the incredibly unpleasant journey that’s important… like sitting through Trout Mask Replica.
Here’s a reasonably internet-famous meme that always cheers me up. “Northern Soul Girl” dancing to Happy by Pharrell. Nice also because of the Northern Soul connection in the song itself.
Thanks MC, That Northern Soul Girl clip hits the spot every time for me. So much joy in her dancing.
The guest spot by Northern Soul Geezer also adds a certain something. He looks like an AWer who has been watching a few vids at home.
If that hits the spot I’m sure this lady will too. I’m currently reading Nelson George’s book Soul Train – The Hippest Trip In America. The first of the dancers he features is the amazing Damita Jo Freeman. Look at James Brown in the first clip, hardly a slouch on the dance floor himself, he cannot take his eyes off her. The second clip is another joyous example, this time with Jo Tex.
Magnificent stuff. Thanks. Damita was in a class of her own.
And as for Joe Texs white leather cowboy boots. Yee ha!
Must look out for that book.
Googled and discovered this article. Soul Train was shown at 11.00 am on Saturday morning! TOTP or Ready Steady Go on Friday evening had a better time slot!
https://www.rollingstone.com/tv/news/dance-dance-revolution-nelson-george-on-soul-train-20140424
More Googling. Soul Train really was a gamechanger in US television.
https://www.npr.org/2014/04/03/298736685/how-soul-train-shaped-a-generation
It is odd how very few of the Northern Soul floorfillers, or the artists who performed them, are known to the rest of the world.
Like this monster NS hit from Tobi Legend that I read about for the first time this morning.
Many of them were factory workers or shop assistants, just ordinary people with ordinary lives in North America who went into a recording studio once and cut a single, never to be heard of again, yet becoming a ‘legend’ in a country thousands of miles away. That’s probably the case with Joe Cato and Jeanette Nellis in this set.
Bit of a fairy story really how ordinary Joes and Janes from the US became legends in Wigan!
What is rather touching is how much effort the Northern Soul DJs made to try and locate their favourites. Just read the notes to that Tobi Legend clip.
Fancy footwork and flares! The Wigan Casino sounds remarkable.
There weren’t many that enjoyed anything that could termed a ‘career’ in the music business. Part of the appeal for Northern Soul was obscurity. The DJs were looking for a song no-one actually bought in the sixties by an act no-one had heard of. They wanted an absolute ‘miss’.
A few years ago 6Music did a great documentary on Northern Soul legend Dean Parrish. He hadn’t sung for decades and had no idea of his cult following in the UK. They actually played a clip from the phone call when the DJ finally got hold of him and tried to explain, and you could tell that Dean’s incomprehension was utterly genuine.
The happy ending was Dean getting flown over to Cleethorpes(!) to perform at a soul weekender event. It was only when he came out on stage that most of the audience realised he was white…
I’m on my way was the last ever song played at the Wigan Casino
Dean really rose splendidly to the occasion on discovering he was a superstar in Cleethorpes.
Another NS favourite whose career went on to get a second lease of life thanks to his popularity in the UK was Terry Callier.
Odd to think how a song recorded in 1965 went on to become a NS floorfiller and then an 80s TOTP hit for Soft Cell.
And that Gloria “Tainted Love” Jones went to on become Marc Bolan’s girlfriend and the mother of his son Rolan Bolan.
She also drove the car that crashed at 4 am resulting in Bolan’s death. She is American and soon left for LA with her son, escaping any charges. An American driving in the UK (other side of the road and all that) in the middle of the night after drinking wine at a restaurant. It was 1977.
Unbelievably the Cleethorpes Winter Gardens was flattened a few years ago. A venue with an incredible heritage, not just the Northern Soul connection.
I’m On My Way was the last song pretty much every night. It was the last in a signature DJ sequence known as Three Before Eight.
First was Jimmy Radcliffe’s Long After Tonight Is All OVer
Followed by Tobi Legend’s Time Will Pass You By
With Dean Parrish as the big finish.
And let’s not forget the last track ever played at the Wigan Casino…
Frank Wilson – Do I love (Indeed I do)
Wonderfully up-lifting stuff!
What a revelation this thread has been. Before it started, all that I knew about Wigan and Northern Soul I had learnt learnt from George Orwell
The 1984 Hitmaker may have attended a few all-nighters but he didn’t really have the moves.
Now I am up to speed with NS, I am off to buy a few vinyl boxsets, the Stuart Cosgrove book which sounds like a must (thanks Alias)
https://scotswhayhae.com/2016/05/31/the-northern-delights-a-review-of-stuart-cosgroves-young-soul-rebels-a-personal-history-of-northern-soul/
and a Vespa.
I am on my way,
Great to have another convert, KFD. Keep the faith, brother!
Very pleased to be on board. See you at Wigan Casino at 1.00 a.m.
So what is the origin of this “Keep the Faith” and the patches with the clenched fist? Lots to find out about.
This excellent documentary filled in a lot of gaps and has some stupendous footage of the dancing.
Welcome to the club. Here’s the best intro to Northern Soul records you’ll get:
http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/steveparker/northern_soul_top_500.htm
It’s not comprehensive though. One or two of my favourites are missing from it.
Thanks atcf. An excellent resource. That will keep me busy for days.
Fortunately, there is a lot of NS on both Spotify and YTube.
I was searching YT and came across this film clip from Wigan. I wonder what the Grateful Dead, veterans of the Fillmore Ballroom, made of the northern nightlife.
The Casino opened in 73 so they were a year too early to visit.
To my shame, I have not the faintest idea where Cleethorpes is. Did King Henry the 8th marry a lass from those parts? Anne of Cleethorpes.
The Winter Gardens attractedDJs from Ibiza! Respect!
https://www.google.se/amp/s/www.grimsbytelegraph.co.uk/news/grimsby-news/you-remember-freedom-cleethorpes-winter-902910.amp
These tales of the glories of Wigan and Cleethorpes made me think of the El Monte Legion Stadium in California. Zappa used to visit and it was the playground of the local teens.
A big contract to the likes of Studio 54 which were for celebrities. Did any slebs ever go to the Wigan Casino? They created their own in a way by rediscovering all those forgotten singles.
A lot of the NS clips on the Tube have photos of Vespas.
Is there a connection in some way with the Mod movement?
In case there any Vespal Virgins here, this might prove useful.
You’ll have to be quick. Sixteen of them are leaving for the coast.
16 Vespal Virgins. Leaving for the coast on Lambrettas!
Excellent piece on the history of the Wigan Casino.
https://sabotagetimes.com/music/the-inside-story-of-wigan-casino
The term Northern Soul dates back to 68 and record shop owner Dave Godin in Covent Garden….
This thread has made us confront some of the big questions.
Predictably, it was Moose that made me ask: Where has Sugar Pie Desanto been all my life?
At the age when I should have been digging Sugar Pie, it was all Hair Pie: Bake 1 for me.
Youth really is wasted on the young,