Roburt

The soul club scene in the UK in say 1967 was starting to diverge between what was played in the north & elsewhere. Most clubs in Yorkshire, Derbyshire & Notts (Donny, Leeds, Barnsley, Selby, York, Hull, Goole, Lincoln, Grimsby, Newark, Nottingham, Derby, Chesterfield, etc) took their lead from the Mojo in Sheffield. BUT, I'd still say that they weren't yet NS clubs. Come 68 / 69, the playlists at clubs like the Wheel and Pete Stringfellow's 'on-tour' promotions in Sheffield, Castelford, Nottingham, Leeds were beginning to develop a playlist that was (IMO) the emergence of NS .... probably other clubs in the region of Manchester (taking their lead from the Wheel) were doing the same ... We'll never be able to point to one club / one month when the 1st real event we could term as a NS niter took place ... it all just evolved that way. Certainly the Wheel was very influential. I went there a lot from late 67 thru to 69 (& on a more infrequent basis into 70) ... I never bothered to find out who the DJ's were at the club but would regularily ask what the last record they played was ... LOTS OF TIMES YOU'D BE TOLD ... (say) .. oh, that's the O'Jays "I Dig Your Act" but it's just been deleted on British Stateside. So some sounds were already being 'held back' till the 45 was more difficult to get (imports were still quite rare & expensive) .... was that the true start of the UK rare soul scene, well maybe. In the print media, B&S / Contempo were just about the 1st (probably taking a lead from DG & the Soul City shop) to reflect the new trend in their 'records for sale' ads .... still recall that in each edition of the mag around the late 60's (& in 70), the most expensive import 45's they'd be selling in the Contempo ad would all be current NS club in-demand sounds.

Not heading off to Chicago area stns just yet ... staying in the New York thru to Baltimore area for this post .... Schaefer Beers ran a radio jingle contest in the 60's / early 70's and lots of soul acts made & submitted their efforts for consideration. The beer company turned it into an annual contest and announced the top entries each year. Lots of these were then aired on radio stns and a winner chosen. Would love to get to hear at least 8 of them (if they still exist that is) ...

The Gospel Pick of the Week cuts from above (Jan & Feb 64) ... the O'Neal Twins is a later version though ..

Various Baltimore radio stn bits ... radio show ads, radio stn DJ promoted live concerts, etc .....

This ones a bit different ... an article about an outfit who made radio jingles to go out on air to black audiences in the US ... The guy, Walter Grady, ran a number of labels; Witches Brew, Cobra, Linco & more .... https://www.45cat.com/label/witchs-brew https://www.45cat.com/label/cobra-north-carolina

A doo-wop sounding track ... a new release bu seemed old even back in 62 .. (off to get some dinner now, back later) ...

Some WSID chart tunes .........

WSID in Baltimore ....

Not sure if this side of the Fidels 45 was also spun by the stn's jocks back then ... would guess it was, as it had that 'current sound' ...

KATZ chart sounds .... BTW, I need a KATZ safety antenna ball, anyone got a spare one ??

Still in St Louis ... with KATZ this time ....

Some stuff on their charts ....

Onwards & upwards then ... over to St Louis ... from when Jimmy Bishop was on the city's airways till Bernie Hayes was on & simply a radio jock .... Back in 1962, look who was No.1 on their chart ... don't think the lady lasted long in the biz !!!

Can post up loads & loads more (old radio stn charts & related stuff) if there's much interest.

A pic of the Oriole Plant in the village, it had originally been Baker's Garage before the Levy's bought the building in the 50's & converted it into a record pressing plant ... also a pic of two young workers at the place in the early to mid 60's ... I've been told it was a bit of a ramshackle place even back then ... ... NOTHING AT ALL LIKE ... EMI's massive high tech facility in Hayes or the new CBS facility up the road in Aylesbury ... .... The street scene in Aston Clinton looks very different today (see modern London Road pic) .. the Rising Sun Pub is now a Chinese restaurant.

AGAIN ... a couple of the above charts ... wanted to pick George & the Highlanders ‎– The Hawk ... but it ain't on Youtube ..

Up to Cleveland now .... WJMO ....

AND a couple of their spins ...

Another famous soul stn ..... Philly's WDAS ...

A couple of cuts off the above WDIA Charts ...

Next up is a REAL soul stn, Memphis's finest R&B outlet ... WDIA ... a ground breaking stn started up in 1947. Played tunes aimed at a black audience from day one & even featured black presenters (many soul stns in the 60's still employed mainly white staff & DJ's) ..

A typical WSSB spin, their No.1 track in Nov 67 ... a real pop throw-away track with a touch of a Beatles hippy vibe .. But also on their charts were some great soul cuts ...

One of the reasons for the rise of soul music in the 60's was the effect of some US radio stns ... Much like the DJ's on the NS scene, American radio jocks would make their names by picking obscure local label releases to push, making them sought after 45's and helping them gain national distribution deals THUS going on to become national chart hits. They'd also flip a 45 and plug the B side, again getting listeners attention and promoting an obscure cut into becoming a hit. They'd also reactivate non-hit tracks from months / a year or so earlier and again push the 45 back into the spotlight. Most times, they'd be doing this to help progress their own careers, though some had a deep love of the music & just had to push neglected tracks they loved. If a radio jock picked winners on a regular basis, he'd build up a dedicated band of regular listeners & get offers of better posts on bigger stns. Some jocks on pop stns would pick many soul sides to spin (especially in the 1963 - 1968 period) when soul was becoming hot on the charts. They'd be playing soul sides that became popular and entered their stns charts, even when many of the other things given heavy airplay on their stn were by the likes of the Beach Boys, Beatles, Monkees, Bobby Vee, Lovin Spoonful, Frank Sinatra, etc. So, by viewing old US radio stn chart run-downs you can get a feel for those time and the way in which soul music was surging in popularity ... I'll start by posting bits from a pop stn down in Durham (Carolinas) ... WSSB ....

Found a bit more info on the Oriole / CBS set-up in Aston Clinton. I've established where the plant was in the village, where Oriole's plant managers house was (next to the pressing plant site) & where a record storage warehouse that was certainly used in CBS days was ... see maps ..... ... at both locations, the industrial buildings were demolished and housing (+ a surgery) erected.

This one has a straight reggae beat but it's still soul to me (probably coz I love the US original so much ) .. bought the 45 as a new release ..