Music Career's Resurrected By The Northern Soul Scene

[Missgoldie]

Which artists have forged new careers as a direct result of the NS scene?

[Mike Lofthouse]

Which artists have forged new careers as a direct result of the NS scene?

Not sure many artists* ever have.  Plenty of less talented opportunists have mind!  there are six pages of hero worship for one particular character on one topic alone in this forum.

 

* - singers, writers, musicians, producers, arrangers etc

Edited May 1, 2015 by Mike Lofthouse

[El Corol]

Snake Davis?

[Ady Croasdell]

I don't know about new careers but Maxine Brown and Dean Parrish have worked more since their Cleethorpes appearances. Mary Love since Southport or wherever it was for the Modern scene. Melvin Davis since Prestatyn and Edwin Starr, the Flirtations and Tommy Hunt have earned a few quid. We kept Bettye Lavette simmering and eventually she sang at the inauguration of a President. Doris Troy had a good couple of years work in London after Cleggy too. Sidney Barnes has had a ball since appearing at the Dome. Marva Holiday has got involved in music again, as have the Diplomats. Darrow Fletcher has been able to accept the plaudits of fans and earned some much needed cash. Little Ann had a glimpse of the career she never had.

[Md Records]

Sometimes I think that the public in general is obsessed with celebrity and that if an artiste is not on the front of the tabloids constantly, having million selling albums,  earning £10 million a year etc etc they've somehow "failed". I think it's great if these guys can earn a decent living doing what they love doing to a crowd that appreciates them - How many of us can say that about the jobs we do to earn cash

 

Des

[Mike Lofthouse]

I don't know about new careers but Maxine Brown and Dean Parrish have worked more since their Cleethorpes appearances. Mary Love since Southport or wherever it was for the Modern scene. Melvin Davis since Prestatyn and Edwin Starr, the Flirtations and Tommy Hunt have earned a few quid. We kept Bettye Lavette simmering and eventually she sang at the inauguration of a President. Doris Troy had a good couple of years work in London after Cleggy too. Sidney Barnes has had a ball since appearing at the Dome. Marva Holiday has got involved in music again, as have the Diplomats. Darrow Fletcher has been able to accept the plaudits of fans and earned some much needed cash. Little Ann had a glimpse of the career she never had.

I think promoters like yourself have done a wonderful job Ady - but rather than relaunch successful careers  I think you have given them the platform to have their wonderful careers recognised and for us fans to pay our respects.  The obvious example for me is Bettye Swann - a wonderful night and a chance to say thank you to her.   But  I can't see how   Maxine Brown and people like that would work more in the US as a result of a UK appearance.  I would of thought she would of done the oldies circuit and such like in the US.   Look at the lineup for this years Ponderosa Stomp in New Orleans - so many recognised by the UK scene but presented in a fashion that has absolutely nothing to do with 'Northern'    As for Edwin and the other UK based performers they were just hard working artists who would of earned a living whatever for example Martha Reeves is on in a restaurant in Middlesbrough Sunday night - 'The purple Pig' on Sunday night for £20 a pop - nothing to do with 'Northern'.

 

You are not one of the 'opportunists'  I speak of Ady but please,  keep up the good work!

 

Mike

[Daved]

There are people like Frances Nero who had a pop hit decades later as a result of her NS popularity. The Flirtations got a bit of a new lease of life following the KFC ad. Going back as far as the 70s may acts like The Tams, R. Dean Taylor and others sold hit records many years after their original release as a result of NS.

[Missgoldie]

Thanks all. I was in a rush out the door when I posted this, I'd been pondering it all day. To articulate it a bit better, it was more about the artists who had left music and been found by people on the scene and started to perform again. Many had fleeting careers in the 60's and played as much if not more later for the soul scene

 

Terry Callier started touring again after been found pumping gas I think?

[Guest son of stan]

Terry Callier started touring again after been found pumping gas I think?

No. That's rubbish. He was a computer programmer and in higher education. I think i read he withdrew from music because he had a kid to look after.

And it was interest from the jazz dance scene, not northern soul that led to his comeback.

Edited May 4, 2015 by son of stan

[Guest]

I think The Real Thing have quite a lot to thank us for!

[Benji]

No. That's rubbish. He was a computer programmer and in higher education. I think i read he withdrew from music because he had a kid to look after.

And it was interest from the jazz dance scene, not northern soul that led to his comeback.

 

Exactly. It was after he gained custody for his daughter, BTW.

 

Saw him live twice. What a performer and a true gentleman.

[Missgoldie]

No. That's rubbish. He was a computer programmer and in higher education. I think i read he withdrew from music because he had a kid to look after.

And it was interest from the jazz dance scene, not northern soul that led to his comeback.

One of those urban myth stories floating around.