These days, I write primarily about music and football. There was a time, however, when I taught and wrote about movies. One of the stories I wrote was about Lillian Randolph and her sister Amanda, two gifted actresses and singers whose film careers were primarily restricted to playing the role of “maid.”
You may remember Lillian from her role as Annie – the maid in It’s a Wonderful Life. At least she got a name in that one.
A colleague of mine in England told me that the English did not grow up with the same racial pigeonholing. There weren’t that many Blacks in England at the time. So they substituted the Irish washerwoman for the American black maid. It opened my eyes to something I should have known – that every culture will find ways to marginalize some of its people.
Ten great Northern Soul songs to get you dancing like it’s 1971
Maybe based on race, wealth, ethnicity, or education – the cause rarely matters. The fact of dividing society into classes hits the same.
But most of the greatest art originates amongst the marginalized. We don’t need to go into why that may be today. We’ll just accept it for now and move on. We’ll move on to the north of England. The art form we are discussing came to be known as Northern Soul.
Northern Soul was not created in the north of England. It was not created by the English at all. Most of it came from the USA – from New Orleans, Memphis, Detroit. A lot of it came from Detroit. It came from black singers and musicians. But it was discovered and popularized by working-class kids in Birmingham and Liverpool.
The classics of Northern Soul were B-sides …. modest hits in the USA …. But had a rhythm made for all-night dancing. The songs were rescued from obscurity by kindred spirits – those who were looked down upon by the wealthier, cultured denizens of London.
A youth culture that didn’t have the same options or pleasures as those to the south. What they had was the club where they could go hear music and dance all night.
In their comprehensive history of the DJ – Last Night a DJ Saved My Life – authors Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton devote a lot of time to Northern Soul. They make the argument that this is where the idea of the modern club really began.
It was where large groups of young people went to dance to recorded music that had been carefully curated by talented DJs to create the exact right vibe. It was a primitive performance by the standards established in big-time NYC clubs of the day, but it was a performance nonetheless.
One of Last Night a DJ Saved My Life's central points is that those famous NYC clubs were populated by the rich and the photographed. They were all about fashion and being seen, getting high and getting laid. The music was incidental.
For the devotees of Northern Soul, it was the exact opposite. The music was king. Here’s a short playlist to get you started. Be warned, you may started dancing whether you want to or not.
“Agent 00 Soul” by Edwin Starr
Edwin Starr is best known in the States for his song “War,” the most political Motown ever got. In the Northern Soul circles, he was Agent 00 Soul. The song was his first modest hit for Motown in 1965, but when it was rediscovered in the UK in the ‘70s, it became a club staple. Starr became a big enough star in England to pick up and move there.
Alex Harvey, the Scottish glam sensation would do his own version of “Agent 00 Soul” but his swinging take has nothing on the original, marking one of the only time Harvey was overmatched in song.
“Tainted Love” by Gloria Jones
If you know the hit ‘80s version by Soft Cell, Gloria Jones’ original is a revelation. Its relentless pounding rhythm walks all over Soft Cell’s softer take. Jones, whose original dates to 1964, rerecorded the song in 1976 for club use.
Sadly, she would withdraw from music a few years later when her partner – T. Rex’s Marc Bolan – was killed in a car crash in 1977. Jones, who was with him at the time, survived, but never again achieved success in the music industry.
“That Beatin’ Rhythm” by Richard Temple
As Jimmy Conwell, he released a series of moderately successful soul numbers in the mid-1960s. Recording under the name Richard Temple, he put out one of the Northern Soul instructional manuals. It originally appeared in 1966, but Conwell/Temple’s ode to American dances was rereleased in the UK in 1970 and became a club constant.
“I’ll Do Anything” by Doris Troy
As was true of Edwin Starr, Doris Troy’s best-known hit is not what made her big in the north of England. “Just One Look” was a top ten hit in the USA – making it all the way to No. 3 on the R&B chart in 1963. A couple of years later, “I’ll Do Anything” failed to register.
But in the clubs, the steady rhythm, cleverly punctuated at times by a blast of staccato, made her a local star.
“There’s a Ghost in My House” by R. Dean Taylor
In 1966, Taylor developed “There’s a Ghost in My House” with the Motown giants Holland-Dozier- Holland. But the funky, psychedelic tune never caught fire. Not the way his top ten hit “Indiana Wants Me” would do a few years later. Still, it proved a perfect fit in the north English clubs.
And it’s hard to go much farther north than Newcastle upon Tyne. It was probably there that a teen named David Lett may have first heard the song. Lett would later adopt the stage name David Vanian and form England’s first punk band, the Damned.
In a full-circle moment, when the Damned released their 13th studio album, Not Like Everybody Else, earlier this year, the lead track was a cover of “There’s a Ghost in My House.”
“I’m So Tired of Being Lonely” by the Sharpees
They were from Chicago and had some modest mid-‘60s success blending soulful harmonies with some aggressive horns. But they never really developed a following in their home country and disappeared once the ‘70s dawned.
Then, after the death of lead vocalist Herbert Reeves, several of those obscure recordings were rediscovered in the UK. The classic big heartbreaker “ Go On and Laugh” hit big, as did the dance instructional “Do the 45.” But “I’m So Tired of Being Lonely” had it all – a heartbreaker with an unstoppable beat.
“Just a Little Misunderstanding” by the Contours
See if you’ve heard this story before. The Contours had a huge hit in the early ‘60s with “Do You Love Me.” That song certainly played in northern clubs. But in true Northern Soul fashion, the club-goers gravitated more toward the more neglected “Just a Little Misunderstanding,” which may not have had quite the raw energy of “Do You Love Me,” but had an even better groove.
“From the Teacher to the Preacher” by Gene Chandler and Barbara Acklin
Barbara Acklin was working as a receptionist for Carl Davis while writing her own songs and looking for a way in to the recording industry. Davis produced Gene Chandler, and eventually one of her songs became the basis of a top 20 R&B duet with the “Duke of Earl” singer.
The upbeat shuffle with horn blasts was just over two minutes long – a perfect mid-tier dance tempo.
“Hey Girl Don’t Bother Me” by the Tams
The Atlanta-based group had been essentially without a label for three years when the gently shuffling “Hey Girl…” came out of nowhere to catch fire in the UK. The song, which had been a minor hit in the USA in 1964, hit number one in the UK seven years later.
“I’m Gonna Run Away From You” by Tami Lynn
Originally recorded in 1967, Lynn made the top ten four years later in the UK. Bert Berns, who wrote such classics as “Piece of My Heart,” “Twist and Shout,” and “Hang on Sloopy,” gave it a snappy beat, and Lynn’s commanding vocals indicated a performer who should have had a bigger career.
That merely scratches the surface. There are plenty of outstanding compilation discs floating around, though; like the original singles, they can be hard to track down.
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