Thinksmart

George 'Bad' Benson's 'Supership' on CD for first time (I think) plus other Jazz-Funk-Disco played in 70s and beyond. Great work by Cherry Red. https://www.cherryred.co.uk/product/cool-heat-the-best-of-cti-records/

Enjoying this thread immensely. Just picked up the reissued soundtrack of 'The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh' by Thom Bell with some great Modern Soul songs on it. A wonderful album. There are still many good reissues - Four Top's 'Nature Planned It' and others on the way. But I'm keen to see many more while we can in the CD era.

Loving it.

Fairly standard progression from Mod revival into the seemingly illicit next level of NS. It was like the almost secret next level to me as a youngster buying all I could afford on vinyl, even taking a hard but very well paid Saturday job at Nottingham's Victoria fish market then spending it all that afternoon on vinyl. Rob Smith, John at Arcade Records who also as a DJ was a fount of knowledge, and Pendulum Records for compilations on Kent, Inferno etc, then Record Fairs were my start. The older Mod and NS guys I hung around with would come back with tales of nighters, misdeeds, sewn on badges, vinyl and fanzines that all seemed unbelievably exciting to this council estate kid. There was an amazing local Thursday night supposedly kids session in Clifton that adults would come on scooters and in vans for the visiting NS DJs. That was a doorway to another world hanging with the adults outside, learning from them, carrying in the boxes of records for the DJs, getting better at dancing, hearing much more obscure plays. The DJ I recall most was Psychdelic John playing such as Manifesto, The Trip, Autumn of Your Tomorrow, Psychdelic Soul that bust my mind open. I was buying Blues and Soul magazine, swapping tapes and then headlong into the scene. Within a year or so after finding NS, the uptight Mod aspect faded but the Soul continued through to today. Rob Smith helped me with bargains, guidance, free cheap records for making tea and sorting the carrier bag collections he buys but never checks. I was going to NS nights around East Midlands and Wirrina all nighters while still a mid teenager by about 1984. When scene was fermenting to come back big after years of nights with sometimes five to ten of us, I was part of that and ready, so then out 2-3 times every week including Sunday night pub 'hold onto the weekend a bit longer' sessions, trying all new sessions in East Midlands and London where I was a lot for work. London was great as nobody had preconceptions about oldies vs newies at all, as they just didn't know or care. Kev would come into Robs and I would stand for ages listening to them talking through plays, reissues, memories and upcoming events while sorting bits out on days off or sneaking out for a bit at lunch or during legal hand deliveries. I was buying every CD as that started fro Charly, Soul Supply/Goldmine, Sequel, Spectrum then Kent joined in moving from vinyl after most labels (but doing it best). I bought all the NS CDs, pre internet by hand from Rob (who hates them and never heard any of them) when Kev bought them in or Selectadisc and soon reviewing, did a few CD booklets and compilation guidance. At the time I didn't know anyone else who cared about the CDs but I moved across quickly as space and desire to hear music dictated. I used to buy a lot of vinyl originally by mail order pre internet and would be delighted when such as Pat Brady sent me replies, notes and always great cheap suggestions. I was subscribed like many of us here to a dozen or more, often seeking out a small list seller in Record Collector or at Record Fairs. Pat was really helpful as were others back when we all had much more time in a seemingly slower world. Pete Smith and his stunning CDrs becamd a postal/ early email mate too who enriched my soul appreciation more than anyone. From around 1991 to about 2007 when my career took me away and our children were small I was out all the time. We had great years in early soul groups such as KTF, Nite Owl, Modern Soul one and then eventually like Pete Smith and others, here we are. Apart from a parallel interest in early House music and dance scene 86-92 (some of which is now accepted on the MS scene) I have continued to enjoy and explore all aspects of NS, then Modern Soul and all related soulful, blues and jazz based danceable music since.

Depends on the event, for a small or local event then everyone has to get involved. For a big commercial enterprise, then it's the company running it. It's not a clear either/or though with the internet, social media etc these days.

"the rare Northern Soul scene can’t support a nearly-monthly all nighter any more" That statement really hit me and I do understand it. Maybe it's just me, but I do feel in the phases of the scene, we're coming towards the gradual end of one again.. That doesn't mean there won't be great events, more discoveries and so on - but overall moving from a peak into a consolidation stage as the scene does in its evolution.

My pre-order arrived yesterday via Amazon, still not listed by any other sources to buy. It's extremely expensive (which I didn't realize until after I paid) but a wonderful quality double CD release. Thanks

Looking forward to this hugely. Great that Kent (and Ace more widely) have embraced quality 1970's soul over recent years.

The Sapphires agree with the Yum Yums BTW- Little Joe & The Latinaires, Ralfi Pagan & Van McCoy all did versions of 'Ain't No Big Thing' and later Rainbow Brown had a song of the same name that is likely to be the Donna McGee one (I'll check when I have time).

The Yum Yums disagree.....

Hi Roger - I do look to see if it is your cover on every soul release I get. A habit I've had since the old days of the KTF group. Unfortunately there has been over-saturation of the same tracks on NS compilations and the whole area is now a bit discredited with endless out of copyright pre-1962 R&B (and pop) being issued as NS and confusing listeners who become wary. It's not just NS, the same is happening in Mod, Jazz, Blues and others - but NS has more crossover. I note that some of the credible compilers aren't doing them now - Richard Searling for example did magnificant 1970s Modern Soul compilations series. I've probably kept 25% of the CDs I bought and every year I move some more onwards. I don't keep them in the brittle plastic cases anymore, which reduces the room they take considerably. I'm keen though to support the work of those putting in the effort - Ralph Tee, David Nathan, Outta Sight, Ady and all at Ace/Kent/BGP/Westbound etc - there's loads more but you get my point. I'll be there to the end of CDs. I realise they may not have the rights to the masters now but Kent should certainly do a hurrah of reissuing their LPs, with the same covers as CDs. It may be too late now, but it was such an obvious idea that was only barely done at all.

I don't play the CDs other than to create a lossless copy, I keep many quality ones as a master or resell those I don't need which helps cover the costs of keeping it going. CDs probably will be obsolete at some point as you say, but we will miss their convenience when they are gone. Nobody is or will issue FLAC/MP3 decently collated sets, so CD may be the last mass hardware medium possibly. Vinyl is good but no good for compiling lots of music and even worse to store. Increasingly it seems some albums and tracks will never get any kind of reissue or remaster and be lost to anything other than the original vinyl. Not just obscure artists but ones like Jerry Butler who has not had a fair amount of his catalogue reissued. I have a Pioneer XDP100 music player that has 2x200GB cards in it to play music on the go taken from the CDs, plus a Google Cloud with 50,000 there to stream (the Pioneer also streams, it's an amazing bit of kit). I still value the CD though, receiving it, reading the notes, ripping it myself at the right quality level I want. When CDs do go, the long term implications for many decent reissue labels will be foremost in their minds I'm sure.

After earlier threads saying there were less soul CDs being issued - there are loads right now from Kent, Soul.com, BBR and dozens of others. The new Outta Sight Soul on the Real Side set just arrived and is good.

Those Motown singles sets were deleted quickly and will become a future Soul CD grail I think.

Yes I have pre-ordered and they'll match the lowest price on first day of sale - so usually end up at right price. I haven't seen any independent stores list it yet. Thanks Mark

Hi everyone Released 7th July - Complete Loma Singles, part 1 and 2 on double CD. All Loma Singles to be released in 4 volumes. There was a double CD singles anthology years ago but this has far more and all from the master tapes (bar one song). https://shop.realgonemusic.com/collections/upcoming/products/the-complete-loma-singles-vol-1-2-cd-set

Thanks for the reply. It's the usual version that has Modern Soul spins. I can hear it online at YouTube and I know there are apps to scrape tracks off YouTube but the quality isn't there. I'd like a proper offline track to listen to when out and about.

Hi everyone, this has only been released on an out of print limited run 7" that came with a download of the song. Is there a way to buy a legal download of it? Thanks.

Loving this CD on regular play!

That is a great article, thank you. The album is classic Hi style Memphis Soul that is authentic 1970's Southern Soul music.

Excellent. CD of new album arrived yesterday. Listening today while reading the article. Thanks.

Chalky - my point about giving records to them is that we will be so old we have no use for them, our kids probably won't be that interested other than to sell them (in many but not all cases) and I assume many of us would like the next generation to continue the scene. I guess it doesn't really matter, age will make the decisions for us.

Awful???

I wonder how NS vinyl is going to reach the next generation. They will never be able to afford it. The financial commitments to young adults now are huge to have a future quality of life. At a certain point and I am serious about this, we are simply going to have to give it to them to keep it going. Cue gasps I am sure, but as people age, pass away and move beyond vinyl being an active part of their lives, it will either be passed down family, sold off anyway or left behind. Wheel go-ers are at a minimum into their sixties now as are many DJs. This becomes an active consideration from this point on and I welcome perspectives. At a certain point of age the money will become irrelevant that can be recouped on vinyl, it will just be more money the state can access for social care. It will be the continuation that is most vital at that stage. Thoughts?

A great book and bargain at that price.