> Andy BB wrote:
> > They'll probably play lots of great Motown - which sadly the
> > majority of DJs are too pretentious to acknowledge.
>
It's all about Motown really isn't it? I know Chess is MY fave label, though
Motown is undoubtedly the most influential label in history(?!). BTW Check
out Martha Reves' 'I Gotta Let You Go' on Gordy from '65 I'm not so sure
that this isn't the pinnacle of Motown 'Northern Soul'. Fabulous. You can
hear it down Club Carnaby St. at the weekend..!
I do disagree though that the Motown label is overlooked. What we
(relatively) young ones (Ed excepted) fail to remember is that these lads
and lasses have been hearing Frank Wilson every week for over thirty years.
And with the recent discoveries by Chris King of late after his meticulous
searches through the Motown vaults, there are loads of 'new' tracks to be
found, like Gladys Knight 'If You Ever Get You Hands On Love', Jimmy Ruffin
'He Who Picks A Rose' (one of my fave tracks ever, miles better than
everybody elses attempt), Tammi Terrel's version of 'I've Got To Find A Way
To Get You Back' (nearly as good as the Temp's version) and I could go on
and on....
> > The reason most Northern Soul is rare is because it's shite in
> > comparison to the more popular and common tracks.
>
Nah, that's like saying you'd never listen to any Motown again because it
didn't sale as well as Oasis or Blur. The reason it is rare is two fold.
Small record labels couldn't afford to distribute nationwide across the US
like Motown and Stax/Atlantic could. And secondly, most of the good northern
stuff from big labels never got released because they knew it wouldn't sell
as well as all their big hit tunes. Oh, and the fact that most record
companies would rather promote a white artists output over a negro anyday. I
can't believe that we're having this debate about availability and quality
again. Just because a record is rare lends no question to its quality. I
have to agree that a lot of rare stuff is quite frankly not worth the brass
it was recorded with, but if there's only a few copies of what people
believe to be their fave record ever, then they'll be likely to pay a shite
load to own it!
>I'm beginning to find the term 'Northern soul' not only misleading
but
>completely and utterly ridiculous!
Don't despair Paul. There's a bloke I know on the Northern scene, who swears
that northern is 100mph, black and 60's and shouldn't be anything less. I
have to agree with him to a certain degree, but I much fancy the midtempo
stuff that southerners in the early 70's thought they were too cool to
listen to. Northern is definitley a 60's music thing though it's SCENE being
a 70's inception.
>It covers anything from indie-label soul to actual Motown tunes to
Chess
>soul to Crap 70s British pop............
You mean unlike Indie music which covers anything from indie-label indie to
actual big record releases and welsh bands to crap 90's British pop......
>What do all these have in common?
They all have an element of music that few since have mananged to include,
that is SOUL. Oh no, he's gettig on his soul horse again. But seriously,
it's the common emotion of soul that links al these genres, like guitars and
baggy jeans link most indie music.
>They get a bunch of tasteless,
hard working, grownup,
>badly-dressed
for going to a wedding, northern working class penguins
> idiots spinning and clapping and flipping and flapping on the
>dancefloor....
>Must just add that I disagree with Ed about Higher & Higher and
This Old
>Heart being all-time classics... There're FAR superior
'classics'.....
>for example 'Tears of a clown'.... oh yeah! whoops!!!! ;-)
I still have to go for Tears of a clown as a prime example of Motown's great
institutional sound, though I've been after a bloody copy of Shop Around for
ages. ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS track!
>See ya all d'ahn 'a mousetrap, yeah?
Without a doubt!
Matt......
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