Northern soul grew organically from finger pop Motown sound to funk, as black music production improved northern followed it, not all eg hip hop, go go but most of it- when Wigan came to an end then Stafford folded, the young breed kept going and found house- which was a backlash against overproduced pop soul- the golden years 1985-1987 produced incredible sounds that would have graced Wigan- CC rogers Someday- Nightwriters let The Music Take control,
There have also been recent gems like Gabriel's Love and Hate. The problem with the Northern scene was that it didn't keep evolving like it did in the early years; it stagnated and got stuck in the past.