How you got into northern soul

[Stateside]

My older brother (by 5yrs) was into John Mayall, Cream, Hendrix and my older sister (by 4yrs) went out dancing and bought records like Jimmy James - I feel alright, Oscar Toney Jnr - For your precious love, Marvin & Tammi - Ain't no Mountain, Otis Redding etc etc. Because my dad was attached to the forces we moved around a lot, so although I was born in Cleethorpes, I never lived there.  When we settled in the north west in 1968 I was 15 and went to the local youth club which was playing Lee Dorsey, Jnr Walker, Stax, Motown, Atlantic. All readily available stuff.

Then one day my cousin came from Cleethorpes to visit, 1969/70 I think, and he brought a little box with him that had Mamie Galore, Major Lance, and loads of others that I can't quite recall now. I was hooked. While writing this I keep meaning to ask if anyone knew my cousin Phillip Dade, he has since passed away.

Running alongside that I became friends with another soul fan John Clement and we went together to the Raven in Whitchurch where Soul Sam was dj 1972 I think. This was the first northern soul venue we went to.
After that it was Wigan, Blackpool, The Ritz, The Orwell. The whole time we were collecting records playing them down the phone to each other.

[Julianb]

I would love to comment on this thread but I can't remember 

[Soul16]

This is how I got into Northern Soul.

In 1975, at the age of 12, my best friend in our street had an older sister, who had a collection of cassette tapes lying around the house. She would bring them back from Wigan, a seemingly mystical place that she visited on coach trips. My friend and I would play these tapes without really knowing it was Northern Soul - it was just ‘music’. Music, that at the time seemed to be everywhere in Kidderminster, blasting out of passing cars and open house windows. To be fair, the Prog Rock brigade were also around in numbers and taunting / fighting wad not exactly uncommon, however I managed to dodge all that.

By 1976, we had learned that it was called ‘Northern Soul’ and we began to go to local ‘discos’ at various community centres where NS was played. We also collected records between us and never really questioned why many of them seemed to have poorly printed labels, fuzzy sound and were frequently pressed off-centre. Jeanette Harper - Fools Paradise, springs to mind. Other 45’s were fine, so I guess it was a case of originals being mixed with boots in the same sales boxes, it didn’t seem to matter at the time.

By 1980, we had joined the local Citizens Band radio club, which had a weekly ‘meeting’, in essence it was just yet another excuse for a Northern night. I also have  a vague memory of going to the Fenn Green Hotel where (I think) the West Midland Soul Club held regular nights in the cellar bar at the time.

A few years later, Kent LP compilations were an education, the Old Vic in Wolverhampton became a venue of choice (11pm buffet), together with The 86 Club in Swancote (Red Stripe on draught), Keele University All-nighters and multiple other Soul nights elsewhere, from Tewksbury to Stoke.

48 years down the line in 2023, me and the wife attend the occasional Soul night / afternoon session and also the Llandudno Weekenders. It’s been an enjoyable journey but my eyesight isn’t what it was, my knees are beginning to give up and the 45’s are getting very expensive...

[Eddiefoster]

I like this thread because it's a question I often ask people on the scene when we're first introduced - I've learned that every single one of them has their own unique and entertaining story to tell.....and a common theme is that Northern Soul (or whatever badge you want to pin on it) is all about the experiences, friendships, taste and likes (or dislikes) you have as an individual, which ultimately is all that matters isn't it?

For me the introduction to what we would recognize as 'Northern' began at the local youth club in the late 70s but I didn't go to anything other than that until a good friend dragged me to Maximes in Wigan around 1985...then Morecambe and the odd soul night, but I'd say I didn't really get 'into' the scene proper until the early/mid 90s at venues like Tonys in Blackburn, Winsford, Bretby, The Griffin in Leeds and the 100 Club amongst others...

All that said (and I've boringly told this story many times) I think the moment I was destined to fall in love with this wonderful music was when I pulled out a big record from my mums collection in a shiny silver cover and dropped the needle on it only to hear the Temptations blast out Get Ready from the speakers, I was 11 years old......it still does the same thing to me today 

 

[Soulmark]

Our lady’s youth club lancaster great days

[Bunderthollox]

1984, got hooked by my mate Robin Brace (Cleethorpes, Keele attendee) I stated collecting records in 1981, I was too young fo the famous niters and was into Ska Blue beat, only casually, as I found it limiting. . I'd been in a lot of trouble at football, it was getting worse by the week life was going nowhere and narrowly escaped jail after a court appearance. He gave me a quiet lecture, what do you want. to go round smacking people for etc etc fo and turned the volume up in his shed where we still meet. Records I could buy for 25p at Eddie's (RIP) Mart in Hull and when I came back to Eddie's many years  just before Covid, he was still selling records at 25p a pop., but no Four Voices or Jason Knight

[Bunderthollox]

21 hours ago, Stateside said:

My older brother (by 5yrs) was into John Mayall, Cream, Hendrix and my older sister (by 4yrs) went out dancing and bought records like Jimmy James - I feel alright, Oscar Toney Jnr - For your precious love, Marvin & Tammi - Ain't no Mountain, Otis Redding etc etc. Because my dad was attached to the forces we moved around a lot, so although I was born in Cleethorpes, I never lived there.  When we settled in the north west in 1968 I was 15 and went to the local youth club which was playing Lee Dorsey, Jnr Walker, Stax, Motown, Atlantic. All readily available stuff.

Then one day my cousin came from Cleethorpes 

Running alongside that I became friends with another soul fan John Clement

Liverpool John Clement? Encyclopaedia of soul, lovely bloke. 

[Stateside]

6 minutes ago, Bunderthollox said:

Liverpool John Clement? Encyclopaedia of soul, lovely bloke. 

That's the one!  Taught me everything I know about soul music and I'm older than him

 

[NathanSoul]

Great thread, very interesting stories. It was 1975 at secondary school and in the cloakroom at the end of the corridor was a crowd of boys watching something. I got closer to see three 5th year lads doing spins, backdrops and everything in between to the sound of soul coming from a cassette player. I asked a kid, "what's this?" To which he replied, "it's northern soul you div, dow yow know nuffink?" I was mesmerized and tried to learn and hear more and found out about soul nights in nearby Wolverhampton and other black country venues but my parents wouldn't let me go. So until I was old enough I had to suffer hearing my dad's god-awful modern jazz and my sister's toe curling pop charts sh*te around the house. In 1979 I started technical college and met another apprentice electrician in class who went to Wigan once a month...and the rest is history! I still try to crowbar in a soul night once a month now, despite arthritis and everything else. KTF.

[Twoshoes]

When I look back I see what may be tentative links to my future love of soul music and the slow build to a life long passion, my Dad played in various brass bands for many years hence there were always instruments in the house, up until around the age of eight or nine I reluctantly attended the local Salvation Army where my uncle was the bandleader and taught, why I never took to learning an instrument remains a mystery lost in time but my future love of instrumentals, Jr Walker and the sax in general probably stemmed from there.

  I had two older brothers and a sister, I was the youngest by 7yrs , they had records, not a lot and none specifically soul related, when I reached sixty I did two cd's for those at my party, one titled where it all began ,the other where it ended up. The Ronettes and the Crystals were two of their favourites which maybe led me on to the Supremes and the like, PJ Proby I consider to be my stepping stone into big beat ballads. Luckily Cliff and the Shadows held no interest or I'd probably be listening now to Coldplay rather than the Loma box set for instance.

     Moving on a few years at secondary school a few of us used to watch the Andy Williams Show which had a fair few soul related  acts as guests. This peaked our interest in Motown, a couple of slightly older friends were into soul music, Atlantic Stax etc this led to my first experience of the Motown in the setting of a disco in the local church hall. Hearing Edwin Starr and the Contours had me hooked. Limited funds at 14 or 15 meant trawling the second hand shops for anything soul related.

    Age 17 I get a knock on the door from a lad who lived further up the road from me, I'd never spoken to him and as far as I knew we had no friends in common, his opening question "I hear you are into Northern soul" to which I replied "you hear wrong, I collect soul music ". I'd obviously heard of Northern Soul , by then I'd left school and drifted away from the fellow record collectors there, my older friends had moved away from soul music which was great for me swelling my collection for little money. On seeing and flicking through said collection my new and future oldest mate pronounced half my collection to be Northern Soul. 

    I guess I should have been wiser and looked into it a tad more, I started buying Blues and Soul, became more aware of what records were under the "northern" banner though to be honest to me they were still just soul records. Which is why after dating for a short while a girl whose brother was a Dj at a local Palais and being shown the caravan in the garden he used as a pad strewn with 45's, being told to help yourself, I came into possession of a quantity of Jay Boy, Atlantic and Motown green and white demos. I then happily swapped the haul of  demos for the issues with my new mate, after all they were the same records weren't they?

    That was it for me, all about the music, no history of going to any venues, Wigan a couple of times, collected everything from chart soul, funk, sweet soul, saw most of the major acts of the 70's and early eighties,  most if not all the name Motown acts, the big funk bands Ohio Players, War etc . Then in the mid 80's met up with an old mate who was still on the scene and started going to events, Burnley Miners (the one by the canal), Westhoughton Cricket Club, various venues in and around Todmorden , Parkers in Manchester the Trafalgar opposite Blackburn Rovers ground.

       Took a while to get there with that ramble but after collecting soul music for nigh on twenty years I guess I got into "northern soul" in the mid 80's, or did I?

    

[Bunderthollox]

1 hour ago, Stateside said:

That's the one!  Taught me everything I know about soul music and I'm older than him

 

John does one of best shows on mixcloyd he's heard to keep up with Haha 

[Neil Austin]

17 hours ago, Soulmark said:

Our lady’s youth club lancaster great days

Ahh , superb Sunday evenings ,

martin , Freddie , Sheila , shaun , Marc 

howie , chippy so many more 

[Neil Austin]

Dixieland all dater morecambe 77 

start of a passion for the music , still with me today 

[Soulmark]

Hi Neil hope your well great people went to our ladies Morecambe crowd I remember Alison bell Marie lambert Christine smiley Sarah can’t remember her last name good times

[Neil Austin]

10 hours ago, Soulmark said:

Hi Neil hope your well great people went to our ladies Morecambe crowd I remember Alison bell Marie lambert Christine smiley Sarah can’t remember her last name good times

Me too , great group of people, we were very lucky to be with so many that really 

got the music and the scene, the willis boys also made the occasional visit 

let’s not forget Jed on his 175 cc bike

mare you in contact with any of the girls 

[Hooker1951]

Listening to American music on Radio Luxenbourg on an old transistor dansette radio in 1963 and preferring their music to ours, hearing the early Tamla sounds , ie Velvelletes, Marvin Gaye, Miracles, etc etc,then in 1964 the pirate stations Radio Caroline north, and Radio London playing loads f American R n B, and Tamla all through the night sounds you would never here over here ,same years listening to local beat groups who in their sets nearly always played their versions of American music, Then in 1965 going to my first all Niters Room at the Top Wigan in Wigan every week for Two years nothing but Soul played there Club Soul Stax Atlantic Motown,  etc , Then working on the fairgrounds where at least 50% of the music was soul oriented by that time in was ingrained in me, The Best Music in the World.

Mick L

[skiinspain]

Simple story really listening to Radio Luxenburg & Radio Caroline in the mid sixties and being amazed at the tunes coming from the big lit up bush radio in our living room twirling the knobs for fun finding all these new sources of music. A whole new world was appearing to me so living in a terrace in Oldham suddenly became worthwhile. So after collecting & going to every possible Soul venue in the UK & abroad for 54 yrs. I now live & still play music & DJ in Spain for the last 20 yrs. Still love the music every single day & always will. Simply Soul.

[Shaafi P]

I was born in Birmingham but my dad is from Keighley, his name is Qamar or Cammy/cam is his nickname people call him, some here may know him has been on the scene since the 70’s, when I was really young probably when I was around 8 years old we would drive from Birmingham to keighley every other weekend to visit family and my dad would play old tapes that he had on the journey up. My first memory of my exposure to northern is I used to always ask my dad to play this one specific tape and one specific song, I don’t know why I loved it so much and wanted to hear it every time we’d be in his car but something about it just spoke to me, the song was Anderson brothers - I can see him loving you. That was my first real exposure to northern soul, I did’t even know what it was at the time, and now i’m 26 and soul music is my life theres no going back

Edited October 21, 2023 by Shaafi P

[Soulmark]

6 hours ago, Neil Austin said:

Me too , great group of people, we were very lucky to be with so many that really 

got the music and the scene, the willis boys also made the occasional visit 

let’s not forget Jed on his 175 cc bike

mare you in contact with any of the girls 

No mate not seen any of the girls for a very long time 

[Lfcjunkie]

5 hours ago, Shaafi P said:

I was born in Birmingham but my dad is from Keighley, his name is Qamar or Cammy/cam is his nickname people call him, some here may know him has been on the scene since the 70’s, when I was really young probably when I was around 8 years old we would drive from Birmingham to keighley every other weekend to visit family and my dad would play old tapes that he had on the journey up. My first memory of my exposure to northern is I used to always ask my dad to play this one specific tape and one specific song, I don’t know why I loved it so much and wanted to hear it every time we’d be in his car but something about it just spoke to me, the song was Anderson brothers - I can see him loving you. That was my first real exposure to northern soul, I did’t even know what it was at the time, and now i’m 26 and soul music is my life theres no going back

Knew your dad well ! He's done a good job on you hope he's all good shaffi 

 

5 hours ago, Shaafi P said:

I was born in Birmingham but my dad is from Keighley, his name is Qamar or Cammy/cam is his nickname people call him, some here may know him has been on the scene since the 70’s, when I was really young probably when I was around 8 years old we would drive from Birmingham to keighley every other weekend to visit family and my dad would play old tapes that he had on the journey up. My first memory of my exposure to northern is I used to always ask my dad to play this one specific tape and one specific song, I don’t know why I loved it so much and wanted to hear it every time we’d be in his car but something about it just spoke to me, the song was Anderson brothers - I can see him loving you. That was my first real exposure to northern soul, I did’t even know what it was at the time, and now i’m 26 and soul music is my life theres no going back

Knew your dad well Shaffi, he's done a good job on you there's a good chance I did him the tape I remember doing some for him , hope he's all good and well

Dave L

[Shaafi P]

1 hour ago, Lfcjunkie said:

Knew your dad well ! He's done a good job on you hope he's all good shaffi 

 

Knew your dad well Shaffi, he's done a good job on you there's a good chance I did him the tape I remember doing some for him , hope he's all good and well

Dave L

Yes mate all is well on our side! Also regarding the tape if it was you then thanks to you too!! 

[Soulmark]

16 hours ago, Soulmark said:

No mate not seen any of the girls for a very long time 

Did you know that ged passed away a few months ago he was a great lad

[Lucky One]

In my case it was all to do with the estate I lived on. A lot of the older lads went to the Catacombs and the Torch in the early seventies, one of the few advantages to living in Bushbury Wolverhampton. As I got older I got more interested simple as that really. On to Wigan in 1976 just after I left school. When I look back on my life it is certainly one of the better things I have done.

[Kathryn Magson]

I got into it all before it was even known as Northern Soul - I started going to The Wheel in 1966 (aged 15) & there was just no looking back - I was absolutely sold on it all! Used to tell my parents that I would be sleeping at a mate's house - she told her parents that she was staying at mine. It all worked just fine until her mum came to my house one Sunday afternoon looking for her daughter......I was grounded for weeks! Eventually I got thrown out of home & ended up in a bedsit, so then I could please myself - Twisted Wheel every single weekend for me! 

Come Saturday evening, my overnight bag would be packed & ready to go....I used to catch the bus from Bradford to Manchester - usually along with a few others - but often on my own & then I would meet up with mates from other areas when I got to Manchester. After the Wheel, I usually spent Sundays at The Top 20, but a couple of times went to The Blue Note - music was good but I found the atmosphere there a bit oppressive, so The Top 20 was always favourite.

I was always skint - I would pay my rent & after that every penny of my wage would be saved for the weekend. Luckily for me, the place I worked at had a very cheap canteen so I didn't need to spend money on food! Weekends didn't really involve eating did they? 

I went to The Wheel pretty much every weekend for 4 years & had a great time - I saw so many brilliant bands there - way too many to list. Here's a few off the top of my head -- Jr Walker; Flamingoes; Band Wagon; Ike & Tina; Root & Jenny Jackson; Joe Tex; J.J. Jackson; Geno Washinton; Edwin Starr............I could go on forever & bore you all to tears!

Would I turn back the clock & do it all again??? You bet I would - in a bloody heartbeat! (Maybe go a bit easier on the whizz this time though........)

Edited October 22, 2023 by Kathryn Magson

[Kathryn Magson]

On 19/10/2023 at 18:24, Julianb said:

I would love to comment on this thread but I can't remember 

I'm surprised I can remember as much as I do Julian - it's all a bit of a jumble though......... 

[Neil Austin]

6 hours ago, Soulmark said:

Did you know that ged passed away a few months ago he was a great lad

No mark , didn’t know that , grand lad 

so sorry to hear this news 

thank you for letting me know 

[Bunderthollox]

1 hour ago, Kathryn Magson said:

  could go on forever & bore you all to tears!

 

I can assure you Kathryn, we'd be all ears! Get a pen and paper out

[Kathryn Magson]

1 hour ago, Bunderthollox said:

I can assure you Kathryn, we'd be all ears! Get a pen and paper out

Ok - blame Bunderthollox for this one!

I was there for around 95% of these nighters - I tried a few other venues but none lived up to The Wheel. I was there most weekends from 1966-70 - off my head & bouncing around the floor! 

 

[Kathryn Magson]

Feeling a bit nostalgic now looking at all the old flyers, so I thought I'd have a bit of a dig around online & see what I could find in the way of photos from those heady nights at The Wheel. I have to say I don't recall ever seeing anyone with a camera - think a lot would have been freaked out by it - but someone obviously managed to take a few pics.

Here's a selection of some of the photos that I found - I just can't resist scanning the faces to see if I can spot anyone familiar! lol  I think the only face I really recognize for sure is Ivor Abadi standing outside the entrance......

[Lucky One]

Thank you Kathryn for finding these photos of the Wheel, never really seen the inside of the venue before. A friend of mine Glen who is no longer with us used to go to the Wheel, Torch and the Catacombs always spoke very highly of his time at the Wheel.If their was such a thing as time travel that's one of the places I would go to.

[Mal C]

I have removed several Posts and Images from this thread due to reported concerns. Just so members are aware, that includes any quoted posts.

Any issues pls PM me.

Malcolm