Not quite sure about the swift movement between genres as a modern thing.In the v early seventies there were many genres available - Bowie,Stones (still knockin' good tunes out then),Pink Floyd,T Rex etc.So enough to go at and i'm sure many NS fans dabbled in bits if not all that was available and then bingo - tried NS or Motown and that was the one that stuck!
Whilst they may seem transient, I reckon we were until we found something with feeling/soul.
When I see younger folks at Soul do's i'm jealous cos they have virtually unlimitited access to the tunes so they can get the lyrics etc on demand.Blimey the amount of times people used to misquote titles cos we only got to hear them irregularly in the early days - so modern access is great for the scene and looks to provide the health it needed.
The younger generation seem to prefer the uptempo sides when dancing - gotta be a good thing as dancing is critical to the scene (who wants to watch a bunch of old f*rts floatin' around -that's what your parents did!!!!)
Paul