IT WILL NEVER BE OVER FOR ME

Lois Wilson celebrates the enduring power of Northern soul

First a recap: the last time Record Collector dropped in on the Northern soul scene back in 2004 it found a thriving community being infiltrated by the mainstream. Alongside a healthy club circuit and a wealth of DJs willing to open their boxes, there was a Radio 2 programme, the All Singing All Dancing All Night show, presented by Stuart Maconie, that welcomed in the new year with two-and-a-half hours of rare soul (it’s still going strong, but is now hosted by Craig Charles), a Kentucky Fried Chicken ad campaign utilising scene staples such as Frank Wilson’s Do I Love You and Jackie Wilson’s The Who Who Song, and a 16-year-old singer from Devon called Joss Stone, who covered Some Kind Of Wonderful by Soul Brothers Six on her Top 5 album, The Soul Sessions.

Four years later it’s another youthful soul singer who champions the four-to-the-floor beat. The 21-year-old North Walian vocalist Duffy’s No 1 single Mercy – in itself an exhilarating take on vintage soul – features an array of snappilydressed Northern soul dancers in its accompanying promotional video, pirouetting, high-kicking, spinning and swirling around a highly-polished wooden dance floor. Two of the dancers in question are scene regulars, DJs Liam Quinn, who runs the Belfast Soul Club, and Manchester’s Beat Boutique) and …

by Lois Wilson
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