my STORY IS SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT. i WAS 11 YEARS OLD IN 1975 AND ON THE RUN FROM A CARE HOME IN BLACKPOOL, I HAD WALKED TO WIGAN NOT SURE WHERE I WAS GOING TOOK ME THREE DAYS TO GET THERE.iT WAS NOVEMBER AND RAINING HARD WHEN I NOTICED A RECESSED FIRE EXIT IN THE OPPOSITE WALL AND TOOK REFUGE IN THERE I WAS VERY COLD I WAS SOAKED THROUGH ,NO MONEY ,NO FOOD,NATURALLY I CURLED UP CRYED AND FELL ASLEEP. the NEXT THING I SEE WHEN I OPEN MY EYES ARE TWO VERY CONCERNED TEENAGE GIRLS 17 OR 18 LOOKING VERY WORRIED ,NEXT THING I KNOW IM INSIDE THIS REALLY WARM ROOM ,LOUD MUSIC LOTS OF PEOPLE DANCING AND THEN THE MUSIC HIT ME ,THEIRS A GHOST IN THE HOUSE ,THEY FED ME THERE OWN SANDWICHES GOT ME WARM A CHANGE OF CLOTHING AND GAVE ME A POUND .I HAVE BEEN IN LOVE WITH THE SOUND OF soul NORTHERN EASTERN WESTERN I DONT CARE SOUL IS SOUL IT SPEAKS TO EACH AND EVERYONE OF US IN A DIFFERANT BUT THE SAME ....PEACE OUT LOVE TO ALL KEEP THE FAITH
Hope life got lot better for you I am old wheeler now 71 but you cant take the soul music from your heart I remember best Junior Walker and the All Stars at the wheel 1969 ? then the Drifters at the Sheffield Mo Jo Older in life Marvin Gaye Albert Hall. loads of other still got the deck and the records and still get people to dance to them keep safe all of you.
I hope you have a good life now I am also old nearly 71 and have been there from the start as I was a dj back in the day and I had keith minshull sitting besides me at a little place in stoke called the 72 club keith was learning to be a dj back then and I still can not get the soul out of me I am keeping the faith
I'm 14 years old and i like to think i'm a old man at heart. My utterly amazing mum has brought me up on so much good music as such northern soul music and it never fails to put a smile on my face. I would in a heartbeat rather listen to this amazing music than whats on now. Remember to always KEEP THE FAITH!
FEKIN right T'uld Luv I'm 54 and still get applauded OFF THE FLOOR After shuffling my feet 2 NS managed 1R2 all nighters at WIGAN CASINO b4 doors was sadly shut
Sitting in bed clapping at the appropriate places and my feet moving like I’m on the dancefloor, singing my head off. Northern does it every time. Keep the faith
Even at 14 years of age there is no reason why you should not fall in love with this music , me and my amazing wife still dance and we have been married 44 year's
I am coming up to 85 and going regularly with two daughters, Northern Souling. Love watching the top dancers. I do my own thing and enjoy every minute 😊
I danced to all of these and many more I'm 62 now and can still do it, but probably don't look has good ...so what if the music plays you dance to it ....keep the faith guys
Every now and then I drag out my 45's vinyl soul collection, play some, shed a few tears at the memories then feel so happy and privileged that I grew up in that era.
I am now y7 years old and have been full of soul even today when I listen to soul my feet will not stay still takes me back to Wigan and Blackpool when I was in my early twenties but that's all I can move these days from my electric chair maybe old and disabled but my mind and feet will never forget those great places and great sounds of soul
I agree with you,I get aches and pains everywhere,but play this brilliant music and they go away,takes you right back to the good old times. Listen get out to venue's they all should have wheel chair access,you might not able to dance,but eh think of the atmosphere and great people around you,remember you were there first time round,chin up😘
Don't care who likes what better, wish all would stop arguing about this and that concerning NORTHERN SOUL. My daughter is battling cancer and this music is all that's keeping able to deal with it . Never stop dancing and KEEP THE FAITH !!!!!!
Terry Harris terry hope ur daughter is well and yourself too that was very personsal amidst all that bickering I'll keep u and ur family in my prayers god bless
60 years old and 2 strokes later, I think my dancing days are over. Still love watching and listening though. Sometimes feel a bit sad that I can't do it anymore 😪
🕊 I love the music & so sad that at 45 12 years back& since I have been struck down with multiple physical health problems & its limited me in life so much. You have my total empathy 🌙
What an era! Great music, dancing and memories of simpler times. Loved dancing to Northern soul in the mid 1970s. 62 years young and still loving the music! Keep the faith.
Mike, Back in 67 with a cart of 45's, amps, speakers and turntables we didn't need to be told to "Keep the Faith" , we lived the music sometimes 4 times a week 7 till 2, and all night long, along with the poor punters who sweated their lives away in the grim jobs in the West Yorkshire and Lancashire towns. Ye we remember the Music , the gigs and always the punters, who knew what they liked, and how to dance to it. I kept all my 45's in their original beer stained sleeves and like all my brothers remember the days when Northern Soul was More than a T sShirt and a handed off phrase. Its great to see that there are some who still remember the real thing cranked out at 110db in a hall full of appreciative people. My later years with Mecca told me how pathetic the club scene had become. Thanks to everyone for the memories. Aka Steve Vann
Azza yorksha lad our youth clubz woz full ov NS we Evan ventured cross the fekin PENNINES as 15/16year olds b4 WIGAN CASINO closed I still get applauded OFF THE FLOOR wen I show these young fellaz/Galz how I shuffle my feet x
I was North London soul boy and have some distant memories of listening to some Northern soul records.I have recently rediscovered the music and am so so hooked.Wonderful stuff!
Still listening in January 2020 a week before our 36th wedding anniversary ! Oh my god it takes me back to those wonderful days waiting for the night to come so we could get on the dancefloor after work. No matter how tired you were, always up for the next tune ! God I miss it all 😭💗
Ex-Pat American living in Ireland for 9 years now. Saw a documentary on BBC about this Northern Soul scene. UNREAL! I had absolutely NO idea this scene existed. My mom is from Cincinnati, and i grew up in lilly-white Salt Lake City. Mom was always listening to Motown, while most of my friends parents were listening to West Coast USA music (Beach Boys, The Doors, etc.) I absolutely love that all these kids up in northern England were discovering soul that the Americans were more or less overlooking. Fair play! Such a movement, and thank you @barvas42 for posting, and for all the guys and girls in Wigan, Newcastle, Manchester, Blackpool for dancing like no one cares!
~ None of this was overlooked in cities like NYC, Detroit, & New Orleans. I am sorry your upbringing was so bereft of so much rich and obscure soul, but better late than never. Right? Cheers, DAVEDJ ~
Yeah a lot of them were backing singers for tamla Motown artists before they were known in there own right..always remember betty Jones for tainted love before soft cell covered it paying homage to the northern soul scene which he really liked
Hi Patrick, I also live in Ireland, but northern soul is not really popular over here as you may have found out, I was a DJ in the 70's and have a vast northern soul collection, and as you rightly say, most of it originated in the states, I'm a bit past the energetic dancing nowadays, but still play the music everyday, it keeps me sane in this uncertain world
Hi, I'm 59 years young, back in the 70's I was in the middle of the Lancashire Northern Soul seen, Blackpool Mecca, Lemon Tree, Wigan Casio and more. Now living in LA when I hear the music today it takes me back to the all nighter's Keep the Faith Rob
I,m a 65 year old retired firefighter, who spent his wayward youth at Blackpool mecca, and the famous (much missed) Wigan casino. My hero,s were Franki and his boys.
I am a life-long American fan of Soul/Motown music and I've had never heard any of these gems until two days ago. How did all of these songs become iconic in the UK without making a blip on the radar in the U.S.? Also, I had no idea so many labels in the U.S. other than Motown, Stax, and Atlantic released this genre of music.
Ah well, you lot were listening to the Rolling Stones, Beatles etc, we went over there and knicked all your records as you lot didn't want them :-). RnB had a massive following in the UK in the 60's when Motown, Atlantic, Stax releases started to dry up enterprising British collectors went over on record collecting trips and found other labels from 'soul' neighborhoods in other US cities - hence a tradition developed through the 70's and 80's for more and more people to go over, more and more connections made. This continually fuelled the rare soul scene in the UK and Europe. That's the simple version, of course the full story is far more detailed and complicated :-)
"The Snake" by Al Wilson was a Top 20 hit & a Top 15 hit in Canada thanks to airplay on Detroit radio stations CKLW & WKNR. Frank Wilson's record was promptly rejected by Berry Gordy. He didn't have faith that it would be a hit, believe it or not, and persuaded Frank Wilson to continue his songwriting career. Supposedly at least 200 discs were originally pressed by Motown, then melted down into other Motown discs by Berry Gordy's orders. Only four copies were saved, and put away into a Motown company desk for a couple of decades until they were rediscovered in the mid-1990's. A shame, really, Frank Wilson could have been another Marvin Gaye if Berry had more confidence in the song. The other records on this list were either minor hits on Billboard's R&B Hot 100 or missed the US charts completely.
Out on the floor is the epitome of Northern Soul . There are other great tracks but that was written for Northern soul dance floors . Timeless classic !
This music puts me in a surreal world where just lose myself and if when im dancing to this music feel like im the only one there it's my first choice of music and always puts me in a happy carefree place ....j6st love it and to dance northern soul is amazing xx
Me to, you have to be an oldie as I am,62 in 3 days!! To really get that message, an so no its true!! I'm at tower wk end, the most greatest soul event I been to, always go fantastic, brings back so many emotional past memories, of the life I had back in the day, so thankfully to northern soul, its my core!!
Do I love you.....indeed I do. Always my favourite song, forever...who remembers the Pheonix in Caversham Square and the all nighters at the 100 Club in Oxford Street? Best days of my life
Do I love you. Frank Wilson. 😍 I was born in 1969. So I presume my parents listen to northern soul. As I love it all and Motown etc. All 70’s music. Showing my age now 🙈
Frank Wilson only ever released one single. However, 1965's 'Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)' became a cult Northern Soul track. Only 250 copies of the 7" vinyl record were pressed and most of them were destroyed when Wilson decided he wanted to focus on writing and producing. Only two or three copies of the single survived. One was sold in 2009 for a massive £25,000, making it the most expensive record ever sold at auction. Wilson began working for Motown Records in Los Angles, but transferred to their Detroit office in the mid-1960s. He co-wrote The Supremes' 'Love Child' and 'Stoned Love' as well as 'All I Need' by The Temptations and Marvin Gaye's 'Chained'.as well as a host of other songs. Born: December 5, 1940, Houston, Texas, United States Wilson died on September 27, 2012 after a long battle with prostate cancer. So much for these being covers.
Love, do I Love you, it would be up there for me, along with Ghost in my House and I've got the Fever...but also You didn't say a word and so many others!
My all time favourite, that bass line is awesome ! I just cannot stay still when I hear this beauty, never feels old, that’s the miracle of Northern Soul - and as soon as I hear those first few bars I’m not old either
Great list of northern soul classics here, but here is my top 10 in descending order. 10. Soul Time - Shirley Ellis 9. More Today Than Yesterday - Spiral Starecase 8. Heaven Must Have Sent You - The Elgins 7. What - Judy Street 6. Higher And Higher - Jackie Wilson 5. There's A Ghost In My House - R. Dean Taylor 4. Do I Love You - Frank Wilson 3. 25 Miles - Edwin Starr 2. Out On The Floor - Dobie Gray 1. The Snake - Al Wilson Northern Soul is my kind of music, KTF!
You are there again and I am always late one year lol I think I would a night out I work and sleep and I love to dance don't care what people think but I think that I dance how it should be dance to
made holes in my wranglers &.levi jean knees sliding to this music. inthe, manchester night clubs never any trouble thenjust.everybody enjoying themselves
Some nice classic Oldies mate - stuff I stopped travelling to hear as I had them all at home and wouldn't do now either .. but still evoke great memories :-)
Wow barvas, now over 1.6 million hits! I love this great music from an era that has long passed us by and will never come back. I'm 66 now but glad I was around to appreciate such great music from that era. Thanks for posting these classics.
I always wondered if the American singers and artists were aware of a bunch of us northerners throwing moves in quaint northern mining towns. I really hope so. KTF
I always called this music Motown, I was from 150 miles north of that city. My mother was very young and I remember her fiddling a bakelite radio she had brought from home, trying to get Detroit on the wire. I think it was a bit subversive for a provincial lil white girl at her time.
Great compilation of timeless classics. I was more of a Motown kid and a bit too young for the Northern Soul phenomenon and also a Londoner, but I just loved dancing to these and that unmistakable mid-tempo groove. x
Yvonne Baker a classic among classics - her voice captures the moody edgy energy of the song "You didnt say a word" so beautifully, and all those Bond theme analogies and comments are so apt.
... absolutely brilliant, totally agree with you . That was my favourite in this excellent top 10. Disco, Funk, Soul, House & Hip-Hop are my music of choice, but I didn't realise this stuff was Northern Soul . One or two I'd heard before, on adverts, but overall, this genre is so varied. I am now a bonafide fan . I'll research and listen to as much as I can . This was a great post, but your comment prompted me to reply . Excellent Music .
Great selection. Love them all. The best ? Top 10 , depends on the day and how I feel. Always uplifted by "On the Floor" & "Do I Love You" Thanks for sharing. KEEP THE FAITH
The challenge with our music is that you hear one not heard for years, and over a month or two, you will have changed your mind several times, and I'm happy to do that. There was so much talent out there, and lots that pre-date Northern Soul. You don't have to be limited by a number. Keep em coming - KTF
Happy Christmas to Northern soul fans everywhere, keep listening to sounds like Mitch Ryder[You get your kicks],Moses Smith[Girl across the street],Edwin Starr[My weakness is you]Ronnie and Robyn[As long as you love me]]Moniters[Share a little love]Jerry Williams[If you ask me], ] i was there in 78/79/80 Life was good then and it still is now ktf
~ Frank Wilson! Al Wilson! The top ten designation of these tracks is subject to debate, no accounting for taste with literally hundreds if not thousands to choose from, but NONETHELESS. these are all iconic dance/r&b dance tunes, and greatly appreciated, each and every one. Some things, like American soul & r&b, make life worth living and bring joy. Thank you!! Cheers, DAVEDJ ~
HOW CAN THERE EVER BE A TOP TEN WHEN DEPENDING ON HOW GOOD OR BAD YOUR DAY WAS , WHAT YOU HAD DONE THAT DAY , WHO YOU HAD SPOKEN TO AND WHAT ABOUT , MY TEN WOULD CHANGE DAILY , LOVE ALL OF THE SOUNDS IN ONE WAY OR ANOTHER AND COULD NEVER FORM A TOP TEN ! I HOPE I EXPLAINED THAT PROPERLY :)
Well said.....I have to say while lots of the tracks mentioned are great records there are literally hundreds that really are are way way better. If The Snake is in peoples top ten, fair dos, but check out the abundance of other stuff that’s been played for the last 50 + years. Think their top ten would change drastically !!
Became a DJ... 45 years ago and still going strong..... Someone said to me there's this club in Wigan where people just dance all night and drink nothing but water!!!... Really (baffled)?????.. So in 1978 on home on leave from the Royal Navy, a mate of mine took me. I can say it was an honour to have been and became a long life fan.... wherever I pal today no matter what the event whatever genre I still play a few tracks... just can't help myself still keeping the faith
These tunes have become the commercial standard face of Northern Soul...which if you ever asked the original "All Nighter" Soul Crowd ...commercial Soul would have been the last thing they were into ...These are great to give you a intro and gateway into great music but scratch under the surface and you'll find the real stuff
l grew up in this era, wow party party what a fantastic time for music, l truly believe its coming back and rightly so, a few drugs not to much drinking but the dancing was every body,s high love it
I made a heart felt comment here and I'm amazed that a year later I am still getting responses to my comment. I'm amazed at how many people are true enthusiasts of originality in untouched.unaltered first time recordings on vinyl....especially the classic one hit wonders in soul music, Rn'B recordings going back almost half a century...wow ! I'm just glad so many younger people are equally passionate about vinyl as I am.
Mike Hoyes Honestly, vinyl just sounds better in regards to oldies...Fuller, richer, the way music was meant to sound back then, especially with old soul music. Example: A year ago, I found a remastered "Walk In The Night" by Jr Walker & The All-stars. A few seconds into it, I had to stop and "dirty it up" (what I call it when an oldie sounds too clean and "thin" and needs its fullness back). Basically, some old songs, like some houses, just "feel" better when they have a fuller sense of life to them....if that makes sense.
+Antonyo L. You're right - vinyl still does sound better. Digital has no atmosphere or feeling......it's too clean. Live music isn't clean, it has an attitude which digital loses.
Anyone remember Rotherham Herringthorpe Leisure center, 76 to 77.Too young to go to Wigan. I always wanted to dance N Soul. Only just found out how, but now I'm too old to do it. I remember having my trousers made in Wellgate. Twenty pockets and buttons galore. How my heart yearns for those great cherished days. Soul boy forever. thank you for such a great list of great songs, bringing back those years.Keep the faith.
How have I gone from listening to sad songs and crying to northern soul and being happy I spose that's bi-polar for you keep the faith 2019 great tracks by the way
Most of these tunes actually put me off Northern Soul first time around, thank god I got to hear quality soul tunes like The Ringleaders, Baby what has happened to our love, Antellects, Love Slave, New Yorkers, I don't want to be your fool. Two People, Stop , leave my heart alone ect or I may never have seen the light.
Those are all great tracks. With 816 Northern Soul tracks on my playlist it's hard to choose, but some of my faves are Nancy Wilson 'The End Of Our Love', Thelma Houston 'Baby Mine', Brenda Holloway 'When I'm Gone', The Poppies 'There's A Pain In My Heart', The Contours 'Just A Little Misunderstanding', Judy Street 'What', Tammi Terrell 'All I Do Is Think About You' ... yeah, I know, all the obvious hits, but I love em all :)
"The Snake" is the most familiar song on this list, a top 20 hit on Billboard from 1968,and a CKLW favorite. The original version was by Oscar Brown Jr. On Columbia Records in 1962. The Frank Wilson tune from 1965 ('Do I Love You') has a now famous familiar story behind it: Berry Gordy felt that Frank Wilson was a better songwriter than a singer, and reportedly had around 200 copies of "Do I Love You" on Soul Records destroyed (melted down to be recycled into other Motown discs was the believed story) save for (at least) four copies that were stashed in a Motown company desk for historical safe keeping. These four copies were rediscovered in the mid-1990's when Motown was sold to MCA, then Polygram, and one was purchased by a collector in England for around $500-900. The other three are indeed valuable, reaching sales status of about $1,000 for their scarcity. MCA/Universal did make some limited current edition 45's in 2017 for record store day sales; these are around $5-10 each. Definitely one of Motown's most valuable records, and an overlooked oppertunity by Berry Gordy to make Frank Wilson a star if he only had more faith in the song to become a hit.
I'll second that mate, I was dancing to that in the Yuca Bar in Skala, Kefalonia this year. I made it half way, I was knackered, I have to remember I'm bloody 60, I'm not 20 any more. WTF, it was fun.
My favourite to danced for my neighbours on veday last week in my culdisac to dobie gray and do i love you ,the snake im 63 and going strong my neighbours all came to see me and i finished with clapping and cheering put my talc down felt so young again forgot they were there just enjoyed my self .
