Talk:Northern soul

DJs and clubs

I think it is time to expand this page with a list of the main DJs on the scene, the period of residency at each club plus a comprehensive list of the actual venues/clubs.

Also, I think the section about Artists and records is misleading and lacking in many important details.

Northern soul dancers

Guys, this is not the place to advertise record shops. Also, this article deals with Northern Soul, not the Frank Wilson single. If you insist that the info on the Frank Wilson single belongs on wikipedia, please give it its own page, perhaps linked from this page. If someone doesn't revert this page to the version of 04:15, 1 January 2006 by Emann15, I will do it.

Clarification needed

From the article: "It has nothing to with the "Northern USA" per se. ... from northern cities like Detroit and Chicago (in contrast to southern styles like Memphis soul)."

I find this confusing. The article says, that Northern Soul has nothing to do with the "Northern USA," yet then goes on to make the distinction between Detroit/Chicago and southern styles like Memphis a sentence or so later. I think this needs to be re-done to be a bit more clear. Oswald Glinkmeyer 03:09, 14 February 2006 (UTC)

I think the story is this: 'Northern Soul,' as a 'genre' of music, received its name in soul record shops in London. Records in the 'Northern Soul' section were those that were popular in the north of England, in relation to the clubs mentioned in the article. (There is a particular record-shop owner accredited with coining the term, but I forget where I read that.) This is where the name originates, so it is a coincidence that 'Northern Soul' is largely originally music from the north US, because the 'north' in question is the north of England. However, this scene has been self-sustaining (reviving artists such as Major Lance, and giving rise to new recordings made for the clubs,) and influential, (it should be noted in the article that northern soul was a major forerunner of contemproray dj culture, being itself a genre founded by dj selections) to the extent that 'Northern Soul' clubs in Southern California are referencing Wigan before they are Detroit. Hence the name. So basically, in good Wiki fashion, if someone wants to throw a bit of etymology in at the beginning, everything will work out fine.

Simon Feb 2006

The term "Northern Soul" was coined by Dave Godin, who ran the Soul City record shop in London and wrote for Blues and Soul magazine. He first used the term in that magazine in 1970, I believe.

Quote: "I didn't invent the term Northern Soul, but merely coined the term to define the kind of music that young people from the north of Britain were preferring to those in the southern parts, who were falling under the spell of the changing direction that the US soul and R&B charts were taking in the late 60s" (Dave Godin in the foreword to "The In Crowd" by Mike Ritson and Stuart Russell, Bee Cool Publishing, 1999)

Andy July 2006

Misleading

I wouldn't recommend this article to anyone as it stands. The reference to northern USA is plain misleading, right at the start (though I understand the writer may be trying to convey the flavour of much NS by referring to Motown, Detroit, Chicago).

"Northern" = northern UK, as pointed out, and besides, heaps of songs deemed "Northern Soul" are from southern states anyway, or even from outside the US. And can you say it's a "musical style"? It's like saying "British Invasion" is a musical style. I'd rewrite, but it'd be good to see some more discussion here firs

I also would have reservations as it carries on common myths one being that significant numbers of mods (especially in London and the south east) got into psychedelic sounds - this myth emanates from the fact that a few bands ,who in no way represented the majority of working class mods changed their music with the fashion. The vast majority of South eastern mods who were almost completely working class became 'hard mods' and then skinheads and then eventually quite a few became involved with the more funky soul scene of the south east.Very few of those types of people would have been involved in anything rock-related- completely different kinds of people. I suppose this is tenuously connected to Northern soul but needs addressing as it occupies a significant place at the start of the article.

Northern or northern

I think the N in Nothern should always be capitalised here, see here. Maikel (talk) 00:31, 6 April 2008 (UTC)

Examples

I think the page doesn't feature enough examples of northern soul tracks. Could we make a list and then integrate them into the article? Sebmcateer (talk) 20:05, 27 February 2009 (UTC)

Shome mishtake, shurely?

"The earliest recording that can be considered to be the 'true' northern soul sound is "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)" by The Four Tops (1965, Tamla Motown)"

"The first nightclub that effectively defined the northern soul sound was Manchester's Twisted Wheel Club and its resident DJ Roger Eagle. The club opened in 1963"

Surely those two sentences contradict each other? I can't correct it because I don't know which is right, but if I had to I'd guess that Ady's statement is the incorrect one. He himself has put pre-'65 tracks on some of his compilations. Deke42 (talk) 02:29, 31 March 2009 (UTC)

The Wheel opened in 1963 but it wasn't a northern soul venue at that time. It developed into a northern soul venue later on, as the music policy changed to suit the clientele. Both statements are factual.

Lebkuchenteile

Duffy?

"Duffy's single Mercy features dancers performing the spins and flips that are commonly associated with northern soul in the video. The song also has a very northern soul sounding feel to it."

Well let's see. The organ riff is the piano riff from Connie Francis's 'Falling', that heavy synth riff is the staccato guitar riff from Connie Francis's 'Falling', and the melody line is strangely similar to - er - Connie Francis's 'Falling'.

Mercy is pure rock'n'roll played on modern hardware. Of course I'm not allowed to say this on here cos I worked it out for myself and that's not allowed. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Deke42 (talk • contribs) 02:41, 31 March 2009 (UTC)