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Modern Soul - Where Did The Term Come From?


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Hi Peter,

So what happened to Eric?

A top bloke!

Where was he (and you from)?

Sean

Hi Sean

Eric was from near Grantham. He used to knock around with the crowd from Lincoln in the mid to late seventies - which is how I met him. We used to do the Derby Assembly Rooms all nighters - where I started my all nighter career! I'm originally from Mablethorpe in Lincs - I've lived in Nottingham for the last 14 years. I still get to the odd all nighter. Eric and I used to chat quite a bit to you and Steve etc. Do you remember the time Crofty gave him his first all nighter DJ spot at Clifton Hall - Eric had quite an apetite for comestables at the time and had clearly gone over the top. I don't think Crofty was best pleased!!

Peter

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Hi Sean

Eric and I used to chat quite a bit to you and Steve etc. Do you remember the time Crofty gave him his first all nighter DJ spot at Clifton Hall - Eric had quite an apetite for comestables at the time and had clearly gone over the top. I don't think Crofty was best pleased!!

Peter

I do 'vaguely' remember Eric behind the decks on one occasion.

More a Dancefloor kinda guy though from my recollections of him.

Really 'enthusiastic', so I could well imagine him going over the top!

Yes, I hope he is well too!

Have a good one Peter.

:rolleyes:

Sean

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  • 1 year later...

[These early 'modern soul' tracks would have included

ZZ & Co "Getting Ready For The Get Down"

O T Sykes "Stone Crush"

King Tutt "You Got Me Hung Up"

High Frquency "Summertime"

Rideout "Someone Special"

I well recall the UK's first 'Modern Soul' Allnighter being held in Rotherham Tiffanys in 80/81... not before that... and how the South Yorkshire region was the real Birthplace (or at least the initial hotbed) for the Modern Soul 'scene' with Clifton Hall, Turnups, Sheffield Tiffanys etc.

at the time it was called the 70's scene.... don't know why , maybe because " 60's newies" was the term used for most of the new northern being played ??? i suppose these venues were used as they were easy for Sam and Arthur to get to ???? ...... must say in the day Rotterham seemed a long way from Cambridge and my mk3 cortina only just made it to Romeo & Juliets in Sheffield ..... never seen as many steep roads to drive up coming from a flat area of the country :unsure: ..... what ever happened to Kevin from Bolton ?

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A serious question deserves a serious answer.

I personally dont associate the term 'modern soul' with the Levine / Curtis transition to 'newer' material at all.

Infact, I don't even recall hearing the expression until the very late 70's / early 80's... I'd refute the notion that it was used, to describe the genre, during the mid 70's (at the time of the Mecca - Scene split).

I think you could date the term (as used on the Northern scene) to no earlier than 1979 (or even 1980) and it would have referred to the sounds being played at such places as Snaith by Soul Sam, Arthur Fenn, Mario, and then by the Clifton Hall jocks in 1981 and thereafter.

These early 'modern soul' tracks would have included

ZZ & Co "Getting Ready For The Get Down"

O T Sykes "Stone Crush"

King Tutt "You Got Me Hung Up"

High Frquency "Summertime"

Rideout "Someone Special"

I well recall the UK's first 'Modern Soul' Allnighter being held in Rotherham Tiffanys in 80/81... not before that... and how the South Yorkshire region was the real Birthplace (or at least the initial hotbed) for the Modern Soul 'scene' with Clifton Hall, Turnups, Sheffield Tiffanys etc.

The term hardly existed outside of the region until 82 onwards, when 'After Dark' promotions (Steve Croft and the modern jocks from Clifton Hall ) moved to Cleethorpes Winter Gardens and Bradford Queens Hall. Rock City and Loughborough soon followed.

The Mecca may have played a lot of 'Modern Soul' (in comparison to the 60's stuff played elsewhere) but I honestly dont recall the phrase being used at that time.

Sean Hampsey

Quick plug: Relive those early Modern Sounds at the Clifton Hall Reunion... tomorrow... in Rotherham!

Only 24 hours to go.

Getting excited now!

:unsure:

The term Modern Soul was used long before '79 Sean. I was using the term at least as far back as '75 to differentiate the more contemporary material from the more traditional Northern Soul.

I even seem to remember using the term on a list I printed up circa '77-'78 - the Vinyl Junky list if someone can confirm.

Best,

Ian D

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The term Modern Soul was used long before '79 Sean. I was using the term at least as far back as '75 to differentiate the more contemporary material from the more traditional Northern Soul.

I even seem to remember using the term on a list I printed up circa '77-'78 - the Vinyl Junky list if someone can confirm.

Best,

Ian D

I'm sure you're right, Ian.

What's more, it will almost certainly have been used by Norman Whitfield and the like when the Temptations moved from "Aint Too Proud To Beg" to "Papa Was A Rolling Stone" etc.

I was referring to never having heard the expression in reference to the cultural split on the scene itself, which will definately have been late 70's / early 80's.

When Levine, Curtis and others (inc your good self) started playing newer tracks on the Northern scene, they were still classed as Northern records, to the many - They were Modern Soul records, of course, but only later did we hear about "New York Disco" creeping in and then 'eventually' the breakaway 'Modern Soul' scene coming about, spearheaded by Soul Sam, Arthur, Richard etc. in 79 / 80.

:unsure:

Sean

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I'm sure you're right, Ian.

What's more, it will almost certainly have been used by Norman Whitfield and the like when the Temptations moved from "Aint Too Proud To Beg" to "Papa Was A Rolling Stone" etc.

I was referring to never having heard the expression in reference to the cultural split on the scene itself, which will definately have been late 70's / early 80's.

When Levine, Curtis and others (inc your good self) started playing newer tracks on the Northern scene, they were still classed as Northern records, to the many - They were Modern Soul records, of course, but only later did we hear about "New York Disco" creeping in and then 'eventually' the breakaway 'Modern Soul' scene coming about, spearheaded by Soul Sam, Arthur, Richard etc. in 79 / 80.

:wicked:

Sean

I don't think they were still classed as Northern records in '75/'76 to be honest Sean. I can remember having countless arguements back then about when the Anderson Brothers, Carstairs, Montclairs etc were classed as 'Modern Shite' LOL.....

I usually had boxes of sale records @ the gigs in those days and quite often you'd have to give a verbal description of what the sound was like, so if you had a diverse box you'd be using terms like Modern all the time. In fact, you'd often have to preface a more contemporary track with sentences like, "it's modern but really brilliant" if only to differentiate from more traditional Northern stuff from the 60's.

So I'd say the term crept in around '75 or therabouts. I'm hoping someone can back me up here LOL.....

Ian D :lol:

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[These early 'modern soul' tracks would have included

ZZ & Co "Getting Ready For The Get Down"

O T Sykes "Stone Crush"

King Tutt "You Got Me Hung Up"

High Frquency "Summertime"

Rideout "Someone Special"

I well recall the UK's first 'Modern Soul' Allnighter being held in Rotherham Tiffanys in 80/81... not before that... and how the South Yorkshire region was the real Birthplace (or at least the initial hotbed) for the Modern Soul 'scene' with Clifton Hall, Turnups, Sheffield Tiffanys etc.

at the time it was called the 70's scene....

I can't recall it being called that. Not in South Yorks anyway. Always the modern soul scene. Or Sam and Arthurs modern soul scene :wicked:

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I don't think they were still classed as Northern records in '75/'76 to be honest Sean. I can remember having countless arguements back then about when the Anderson Brothers, Carstairs, Montclairs etc were classed as 'Modern Shite' LOL.....

Yeh... and you're still bloody arguing about it :wicked: .

Could it be that things were all so different then?.... Or has time rewritten every line?

All I know, Ian, is we used to call those things 'newies'.

The titles you mention were definately classed as 'Northern Soul' at the time.

I don't doubt that you called 'em 'Modern' but I didn't. And I don't recall anyone else doing, at least in deepest South Yorkshire (as I'm sure Mr Mannion will verify).

Sean

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Yeh... and you're still bloody arguing about it :lol: .

Could it be that things were all so different then?.... Or has time rewritten every line?

All I know, Ian, is we used to call those things 'newies'.

The titles you mention were definately classed as 'Northern Soul' at the time.

I don't doubt that you called 'em 'Modern' but I didn't. And I don't recall anyone else doing, at least in deepest South Yorkshire (as I'm sure Mr Mannion will verify).

Sean

Verified Mr H. Sir. :wicked:

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I can't recall it being called that. Not in South Yorks anyway. Always the modern soul scene. Or Sam and Arthurs modern soul scene tongue.gif

[/quote

maybe it was the handfull that came up from Cambridge , not sure what the other 6 people in the room called it ?? maybe if i can find Kevin from Bolton and the others that came with him he could tell us what they called it ?? tongue.gifMaybe it changed to Modern when it became more popular ? at Romeo & Juliets one room was funk and packed and the other was the 70's room with Sam, Arthur and Guests :thumbup:

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Yeh... and you're still bloody arguing about it :ohmy: .

Could it be that things were all so different then?.... Or has time rewritten every line?

All I know, Ian, is we used to call those things 'newies'.

The titles you mention were definately classed as 'Northern Soul' at the time.

I don't doubt that you called 'em 'Modern' but I didn't. And I don't recall anyone else doing, at least in deepest South Yorkshire (as I'm sure Mr Mannion will verify).

Sean

Haha this one will run and run.....

We never called the Carstairs, Montclairs, Anderson Brothers newies 'cos they weren't! They were actually older records from a couple of years before which had only just surfaced. They were relatively rare too and never turned up in any quantity apart from a bunch of Montclairs.

Newies were actual new releases which you could obtain from any import record shop at the time - George 'Bad' Benson, Gil Scott-Heron, Marboo, Ronnie Walker etc, etc.

Ian D :D

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Haha this one will run and run.....

We never called the Carstairs, Montclairs, Anderson Brothers newies 'cos they weren't! They were actually older records from a couple of years before which had only just surfaced. They were relatively rare too and never turned up in any quantity apart from a bunch of Montclairs.

Newies were actual new releases which you could obtain from any import record shop at the time - George 'Bad' Benson, Gil Scott-Heron, Marboo, Ronnie Walker etc, etc.

Ian D biggrin.gif

Right Ian... so Newies were George 'Bad' Benson, Gil Scott-Heron, Marboo, Ronnie Walker etc...

But Carstairs, Montclairs, Anderson Brothers were called 'Modern'...

...cos they were older!

laugh.gif

Thank Fcuk it's all Just Soul to me!

:rolleyes:

Sean

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Right Ian... so Newies were George 'Bad' Benson, Gil Scott-Heron, Marboo, Ronnie Walker etc...

But Carstairs, Montclairs, Anderson Brothers were called 'Modern'...

...cos they were older!

:ohmy:

Thank Fcuk it's all Just Soul to me!

:thumbsup:

Sean

And anything in-between Newies and Modern was called 'New Modern' or 'Modern Newies' - did I not mention that? Mainly for the Canadian releases like Today's People, Debbie Flemming etc which always got here 6 months after release...............

Ian D :)

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Right Ian... so Newies were George 'Bad' Benson, Gil Scott-Heron, Marboo, Ronnie Walker etc...

But Carstairs, Montclairs, Anderson Brothers were called 'Modern'...

...cos they were older!

:lol:

Thank Fcuk it's all Just Soul to me!

:thumbsup:

Sean

With you on that Sean :ohmy:

If Anderson Brothers, Carstairs, and Montclairs were new plays today, then they'd be labelled crossover :)

Why do we make things so complicated :) ...too many labels, when just the one word would do.

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With you on that Sean :thumbsup:

If Anderson Brothers, Carstairs, and Montclairs were new plays today, then they'd be labelled crossover :)

Why do we make things so complicated :) ...too many labels, when just the one word would do.

Yep, it's all Just Soul, Cliff...

(...Except that 'Modern' stuff...

...that's just Disco!)

:lol:

Some interesting comments on the 'Todays People' thread, don't you think?

Somehow, in '76, uptempo NEW stuff was generally accepted on the Northern scene. Sure, we'd had the Boby Franklin issue at the Casino, but that was cos it was deemed too 'funky' rather than because it was 'new' or 'Modern'.

The examples from Pete: Johnny Williams 'Kinda Mellow', Creative Source "Don't Be Afraid", East Coast Connection "Summer In The Parks" were definately just seen by the regulars as 'Northern' for that period. They certainly weren't (in my recollection) tagged as 'Modern Soul' - as a genre.

g.gif

Personally agree with you that over the past 30 odd years we've all allowed it to become complicated and that has restricted some listeners to only the stuff that 'pigeon holes' nicely into a particular style, genre or period.

Guess that's the magic of Soul Essence. Everything SOULFUL from all eras, all tempo's and to suit all tastes.

Can hardly wait!

:ohmy:

Sean

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Yep, it's all Just Soul, Cliff...

(...Except that 'Modern' stuff...

...that's just Disco!)

:lol:

Some interesting comments on the 'Todays People' thread, don't you think?

Somehow, in '76, uptempo NEW stuff was generally accepted on the Northern scene. Sure, we'd had the Boby Franklin issue at the Casino, but that was cos it was deemed too 'funky' rather than because it was 'new' or 'Modern'.

The examples from Pete: Johnny Williams 'Kinda Mellow', Creative Source "Don't Be Afraid", East Coast Connection "Summer In The Parks" were definately just seen by the regulars as 'Northern' for that period. They certainly weren't (in my recollection) tagged as 'Modern Soul' - as a genre.

:g:

Personally agree with you that over the past 30 odd years we've all allowed it to become complicated and that has restricted some listeners to only the stuff that 'pigeon holes' nicely into a particular style, genre or period.

Guess that's the magic of Soul Essence. Everything SOULFUL from all eras, all tempo's and to suit all tastes.

Can hardly wait!

:(

Sean

Yep 30 years ago, new releases played alongside traditional 60's tunes, often within the same set, and you're right we just accepted them as part of the deal, no tags.

Amen to Essence - makes you appreciate how special it is :yes::lol:

See ya at the bar :lol:

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