Search:northern soul

A chiming guitar, vibes on full and that heady
Motown / Ric Tic drumbeat with a falsetto vocal…
what’s not to love?
 Originally released on Kapp in 1966 and often
bootlegged, copies go for in excess of £100 for this
excellent, driving floorfiller.
 The Hesitations have a few Northern nuggets to
their credit - ‘Soul Superman’ is right up there with
the best.
 Backed with the super bluesy vocal of the
legendary Bobby Bland on an aching tale of loss
and regret.
 A slow smoochy groove with lyrics of genuine
heartache… and all this with a resilient slow
motion dance beat and some exquisite brass
breaks.
 Featuring a gorgeous vocal-only drop out, it’s a
triumphant return from the man who also released
the beautiful ‘Shoes’.
 Both sides remastered for sprung dancefloorshaking longevity.

Demon Music is proud to bring together a selection of popular and exciting classic Northern Soul Anthems on a new 2LP thirty-three track collection. These are the original recordings by some familiar names and one or two that may have passed you by.

As the Sixties came to a close and the initial success of labels like Atlantic and Motown began to wane, there remained a dedicated fanbase of Soul devotees who would rather be out on the floor than wearing flowers in their hair. They continued to seek out new and previously overlooked releases, many on small labels that had never enjoyed chart success, making surprise hits of a few in the process.

Northern Soul could easily have passed into music history as a fad, something on the fringes of mainstream popular music; instead its popularity has remained and even grown. It is no longer the preserve of venues in the north of England (who had always attracted coachloads of devotees from across the nation), with Soul clubs opening in Europe, Asia, Australia and even - in perhaps the ultimate example of "coals to Newcastle" – America

Every few years Northern Soul enjoys a resurgence in popularity and welcomes a new generation of younger fans, keepers of the faith. This collection is for those with a passing interest and fans both old and
new - music fashions may change but the quality, the infectious excitement and the urge to get up and dance has endured in these fantastic records.

Lucille Mathis was a two-release mystery on the Abet label back in 1968.

 ‘I’m Not Your Regular Woman’ is a girl power anthem that was way ahead of its time.

 The flipside of ‘Am I Asking Too Much’, the track is a stormer powered by roll-heavy drums and some great brass stings and goes for around £300 these days.

 Cut with one of three singles by Holly St James (real name Lorraine Di Bonaventura) that also arrived in 1968.

 ‘That’s Not love’ is an enormous echoey Spectoresque wall-of sound that broods with incisive string chops and Holly’s groovy mid ‘60s vocal, a soul eruption that simmers with emotion.

 A £40 price tag for the original.

 Both sides remastered for dancefloor penetration.

Cindy & The Playmates, led by Cindy Redd (later of The Voices) and
backed by Wanda Cunningham and Manesbia Pierce, deliver an upbeat funky floor filler. Copies go for between three to four hundred pounds for this storming and evocative fist-clenching gem which builds dramatically with strings and an emotive lead vocal. Cut with Paul Kelly’s ‘The Upset’,
which was the B side of his second single for Lloyd Records, the vehicle for Willie Clark’s Florida-based productions. A monster sound with a grinding funky backdrop providing the perfect foil for Kelly’s aching vocal; the chorus break is a guaranteed spine-tingling moment. Copies currently go for around £250, if you can find one.

Two monster sounds from The Trinikas circa 1969, the culmination of the female four piece’s short-lived career.

Recorded in Missouri and sneaking out on the Pearce label, ‘Black Is Beautiful’ was a post-hippie dance anthem that later made a short-lived appearance on their native west coast Century label.

A horn-led classic with a four-part vocal and a truly funky drummer in attendance, it’s a spiritual blast.

The B-side of the original single is dusted off here too; a funkier cut that’s turned up in a few DJs’ setlists thanks to a re-issue via Numero and Jazzman.

‘Remember Me’ with its staccato guitar, upbeat horns and swirling organ is an infectious head-nodder.

Remastered for full-on soul supremacy.

This collection is drawn from throughout the 60's, though it does not
entirely fit the commonly held belief that Northern Soul records are all
ultra-rarities, because half of the tracks here actually were major hits in the US, and four of them were top twenty entries! Included among the twelve artists are people who maintained long careers, some who had great success as writers, and one who went on to have a major No 1 in the seventies. We finish with Charles Sheffield (aka Mad Dog or Prince Charles) and his 1961 gem It’s Your Voodoo Working. A well known track among some classic hits and some perhaps lesser known songs, which is the nature of this must-have collection.

The emotion-packed O’Jays on a stellar mid-tempo groove from 1966, the cream of their mid-‘60s time on the Imperial label. Released just a year before their anthem ‘I Dig Your Act’; it’s a side that smoulders behind the vocal of Eddie Levert, a sax-powered gem. Original copies go for between 30 and 50 quid, more if it’s in good condition.

Remastered for maximum tear jerking power by the DNSC Stateside guru.

Backed with a Ric-Tic/Motown-styled drum and harmony classic from the mighty Willie Hightower. A £60 nugget when released on the original Capitol label back in ’67. With a hand clapping time change, wayward guitar and gorgeous brass stabs, plus a wild all-girl harmony backing that elevates it to an evocative high.

A Deep City Records release (one of five for Helene Smith) that
originally came out in 1965 on the Miami-based label, ‘True Love Don't
Grow On Trees’ is a gorgeous mid-tempo soulful heartbreaker, while the flipside and its wandering guitar line sounds like girl group buried
treasure that would have sounded fantastic covered by Dusty
Springfield. In the hands of Helene Smith, both tracks are nothing short of magnificent. These two tracks only previously appeared as a long-lost single that goes for £300 a pop these days. Acclaimed as the First Lady Of Miami Soul, Helene Smith came back into prominence with the issue of Numero’s 2006 ‘Eccentric Soul’ album of Deep City cuts.

Quantrells’ only single release from 1972 goes for two to three hundred pounds if you can find a copy on the Chicago-based Yambo label. A deep soul smoocher with a glorious vocal with enormous brass stabs, it’s like a roughed up version of The Jackson 5. Backed with Promise’s ‘I’m Not Ready For Love’; one of two singles from the mid ‘70s by this all-girl teenage four piece on the New Directions label. Built with a driving bass and the girls’ gorgeous vocals dropping into party mode over a funky guitar break midway through, it’s a classic ice breaker. Copies go for around £100.

Two classic sides from the Michigan soul singer
with a stash of soul goodies in his repertoire.
 The original pressing of ‘What Good Am I Without
You’ from 1967 on Jacklyn Records goes for just
over £200 and one listen explains why.
 Featuring an emotional, heart-wrenching vocal
soaked with flying strings over an impulsive
rhythm, it’s a lovelorn anthem; an emotional
rollercoaster.
 Backed with ‘That Certain Little Something’ from
the Groovy label 12 months earlier.
 A funky guitar-led scorcher with a bluesy brass
break and a spin and drop chorus aided by a
rampaging drummer.
 Two must-have sides from Fletcher, a child
prodigy, who found success in Chicago in the mid-
1960s which led to shows with Stevie Wonder and
BB King, among others.

The UK’s love affair with American soul music blossomed in the
mid 1960s, with the launch of the Tamla-Motown record label in
Britain. But by the end of the decade this passion took on a
distinctly homegrown twist with a new movement that grew out
of the North of England and Midlands’ underground soul and
R&B scene. It was here at dancehalls and clubs such as
Manchester’s Twisted Wheel and the Wigan Casino that
devotees danced the night away to uptempo, joyous US soul
records that always came with a heavy beat. Pretty soon the
movement had a name: Northern Soul. This collection is the
next best thing and it is all on vinyl, exactly how the movement’s
fans originally heard them

Originally released on the Ovide label from Houston, Texas in 1970 and currently going for around £175, if you can find a copy.
‘Get Your Point Over’ is a brass-led funky dancer that beautifully compliments Sebastian Williams’ soulful vocal style, while the flipside, ‘I Don't Care What Mama Said (Baby I Need You)’, is a slower
groove that lets that vocal really soar, arriving complete with a groovy psychedelic guitar break before Williams testifies to his lady amid some punchy brass stabs.
Two stellar tunes from Sebastian Williams (aka Roger Williams of no-hit wonders The Quarter Notes), whose solo recording career amounted to just three 45s, all five years apart, along with a couple of releases as Sebastian And The House Rockers and finally, in 1975, just Sebastian.
Imagine vintage Tavares lead singer Chubby Tavares at his gritty best with a funky brass section in a soulful Harold Melvin And The Blue Notes styled blast.

Both tracks mastered from the original sound source for maximum soul sound.

Two more stormers from Deptford Northern Soul
Club. Floor fillers primed for the DJs returning to
the club circuit.
Featuring The Soul Stirrers’ funky, backbeatthumping classic ‘Don’t You Worry’, with gorgeous
harmonies and a tortured lead vocal.
A gem filled with the kind of soulful positivity we
need right now. In every sense, an upbeat classic
that fetches around £200 on 7” on the original
Checker imprint out of Chess back in 1969.
Backed with The Spinners’ ‘Memories Of Her Love
Keep Haunting Me’, an essential piece of lost
Tamla Motown from the late 1960s that’s never
been officially released as a single before.
Powered by that Motown slap drum sound and a
conga player on uppers, it’s a stomping tale of love
lost with a super Motown production and a great
horn break.
Both mastered from the original sound source for
maximum soul sound.

A classic Vee-Jay side from 1965 that originally sneaked out on the Bay Area Wee label. The´original goes for around £100, the second Wee press for £75, while the Vee-Jay version is 50 quid a throw. That said, copies are few and far between these days.
Featuring an upbeat, brass-powered Temptationslike harmony with a call and response, a deep sax
wail and a piano motif pushing it forward towards a
glorious middle eight that breaks into a Gospel roll
out.
Powered by Ric-Tic-like drum rolls; a euphoric
soulful classic split into two essential parts.
The Ballads were a four-piece from Oakland,
across the bridge from San Francisco, featuring
Freddie Hughes, who would later sign to Wand.
The band themselves almost made it, charting in
1968 with the Willie Hutch-produced ‘God Bless
Our Love’ but this earlier recording is the business.
Both sides remastered from the original sound
source.

Originally released in 2008 on Mr C’s and going for over £80 a throw, the band’s excellent funky debut 45, remastered for maximum dancefloor appeal. The stellar stand-out cut from the band’s 2010 album ‘The Outsiders Are Back’ was released on Luaka Bop. Think Curtis Mayfield with Fela’s horns and a percussion backing set to self-destruct; a spine tingling anthem, no less.

Cut with Willie Tee’s Gatur Records’ flipside that goes for £250 minimum. An organ-led, brass-powered groove from the New Orleans’ soul legend, originally released in 1972 A deep, soulful croon with an enveloping rhythm and a euphoric lift, remastered from the original sound files for added soul.

Two classic cuts from the Presidentcatalogue.

Doris Willingham ‘You Can’t Do That’ - A big Northern floorfiller from a renowned soul backing singer who cut her own material later as Doris Duke.

Her only release under the Willingham name, originally out on the super cool UK Jay Boy imprint in 1968 (the label’s debut release - BOY1).

Produced by Bernard Purdie (Funky Donkey label) who was at the controls for a number of super rare Northern sides.

An early gem from the artist who ended up working with the legendary Swamp Dogg (Jerry Williams) charting with the ballad ‘To the Other Woman (I’m The Other Woman)’.

Pat Hervey With The Tiaras ‘ICan’t Get You Out Of My Mind’ - An anthemic, handclap-friendly gem that goes for anywhere between £50 to £100. Released on the UK President label from 1966.

Blue-eyed Canadian soul backed by black Canadian harmony group The Tiaras (not to be confused with the LA harmony outfit).

A slow burner that ramps up the horns and strings behind some funky guitar chops and Hervey’s euphoric vocal, her one-off stab at the soul charts guaranteeing obscurity and legendary status.

The “nighters” at Wigan Casino initially ran from 2am-8am every Saturday night/Sunday morning. From midnight onwards, crowds would gather outside and spill over onto the road blocking the local traffic. As attendances grew the crowds became a problem, particularly to the local constabulary, and on the eve of the Casino’s 1st Anniversary – with a genuine threat of closure looming – a momentous decision was made. Gerry Marshall, the Casino’s owner, somewhat reluctantly decided to open the club’s adjoining cabaret lounge, known as “Mr M’s” (named after the man himself).

That night Northern Soul history was made. It was the start of an era, the birth of the “club within a club” and, as it proved to be, a temple to fans of Northern Soul “oldies”. Eventually at 3am the black double doors – which separated Mr M’s from the upstairs balcony of the main ballroom – burst open, and a sea of soulies hit the dancefloor for the very first time to the banging sound of “Hey Sah-Lo-Ney” by Mickey Lee Lane, spun by DJ Alan Cain and featured here in all of its remastered glory (side 1, trk 1).

Such was the incredible response to that first night in Mr M’s in 1974 that a petition did the rounds gaining over a thousand signatures demanding that it should continue every week! What had intended to be an emergency one-off event had unintentionally ended up being the longest, most popular “temporary” oldies venue EVER!

M’s, as it was more affectionately known, soon became the No.1 oldies venue in the 70s. It was unashamedly “100%” oldies and “100mph” dance tunes!!! It was like an engine room churning out vinyl memories week in, week out and the atmosphere and sounds are captured here!