Show Posts - Roger

I blame my laptop's spell-checker for my Anita Baker/Harris error ... it's obviously an '80s Soul fan.  Roger

"what makes a song NS"Well, my answer to that is that it's quite simple really ... a song is NS if it has ever been a popular spin at "Northern Soul" events.  I suspect that you are making the common mistake of thinking that "Northern Soul" is a particular type of music when I think that it is really a rather insular, and to outsiders rather mysterious, "scene" consisting of various events where people get together to listen to, dance to, and discuss or even buy what is being played.  The people who attend these events think of themselves as being musically aware and expect to hear music that falls within certain parameters ... a record should be midtempo or uptempo and have a regular rhythm prominent throughout most of the song (though the occasional break is allowed and often welcomed), it should have a '60s (or early '70s) "feel" and ideally any vocals and instrumentation should have a soulful sound.  Then we have the whole "rarity" factor at the "Northern Soul" events ... ideally anything played shouldn't be too well known to the outside world ...  the whole scene has a big collectors element, those attending are often keen record collectors and there are likely to be stalls there hidden away in corners with record dealers selling old 45s.  Rarity is important and if playing a popular oldie DJs will get "brownie points" by playing the tune off a 7" copy on the original label or from a particularly rare issue, they will usually get "Null Points" by playing a tune off a bootleg 7", a CD, an MP3 or something similar.Many people will have travelled a long way to attend ... back in the '70s they wouldn't have wanted to hear something that they could have heard three times a day on their local radio station ... that attitude remains at many venues where the emphasis is on "rarity", with DJs seeking out ever more obscure tracks to spin as "exclusives".     So really we have a chicken and egg situation where particular recordings become "Northern Soul" by being played at NS events and events become "Northern Soul" events by playing NS records.   As to your Anita Baker oddity, it does have a regular midtempo rhythm throughout most of the tune which will appeal to the dancers and it's not very well known.https://youtu.be/piJ6cgzssGoIt also has a similar feel to the extremely popular "That's Not Love" by Holly St James which came in at #153 in the 2000 NS500 and #52 in the 2022 NS500. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5kDsbVPOOIAny more questions?Roger

Here's another one we missed.  One I was reminded of this morning when listening to Radio Caroline Flashback (their "oldies" station)."Jupiter" from Gustav Holst's "Planet Suite" ...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gu77Vtja30cWas used as the basis of the 1973 #9 UK Hit "Joybringer" by Manfred Mann's Earth Band ...https://youtu.be/uYLgh97Jhl0Listening to "Jupiter" I hear that it also includes the melody of the "Patriotic" song "I Vow To You My Country" ... I wonder if anyone ever did a "Pop" version of that!!??Roger

Interesting questions John ..."Who is Kev Roberts?" .... A Nottinghamshire based DJ who has been very involved with the NS Scene since the mid '70s .. DJ'd at Wigan Casino in the '70s, had radio shows in the '80s and '90s (used to listen to some of his shows on Mansfield FM) and was very involved with Goldmine Records, helping to compile compilations etc. etc. etc.  Kev decided in the '90s to research what were the most popular spins at the various NS All-nighters, All-dayers and specialist "Soul" events since the development of The NS Scene in the late '60s and surveyed DJs and Promoters to come up with a ranked list of the 500 most popular tunes in the 1968(ish) to 1999 period (plus another 100 'bubbling under' tunes) all of which were published in a book called "Northern Soul Top 500" in 2000.This is the book as currently catalogued at 45Worlds ..... https://www.45cat.com/book/title/northern-soul-top-500The rationale behind both book and chart was that it gave Radio and Club DJs or casual music fans some idea of what was meant if people asked to hear some "Northern Soul" ... I think it was largely inspired by the proliferation of "oldies" radio stations in Britain in the '90s, who seemed obsessed with regurgitating Top 50 "Pop" hits even though to many of their listeners these "hits" were not what they had been listening or dancing to at the time.   The existence of the book meant that every aspiring Smashy or Nicey (or even yours truly) was able to sound like they knew what they were talking about if the subject of "Northern Soul" came up but it had the side-effect of making some of the entries in the 500 become so well known that diehard followers of The Scene would criticise people who used it as the basis of their DJ playlists and some of the entries fell out of favour with a scene that was often as interested in "exclusivity" as it was in "musical quality" or "danceability" and an update of the chart and book was published in 2022.  Now I'm not sure whether the 2022 chart is supposed to reflect the 2000-2022 period or the 1968(ish)-2022 period and I don't know the exact methodology used to rank the tunes but in response to your questions ..."why are these three listed!Martha Reeves - No One ThereDavid Ruffin - Rode By The Place (Where We Used To Stay)Junior Walker & The All Stars - I Ain’t Going Nowhere"Because they are popular spins ... the Junior Walker tune has been since it was recorded, I saw Mr Walker "live" at an Alldayer in Nottingham around 1980 and "the kids" (probably average age 17) sat politely through the likes of "Shotgun" and "Roadrunner" but as soon as "I Ain't Going Nowhere" started the dance floor filled IMMEDIATELY!!"And why are these not?Martha & The Vandellas - I'm Ready For LoveEdwin Starr - 25 MilesPaul Petersen - ChainedSupremes - Love Is Like An Itching In My HeartKim Weston - Helpless & Take Me In Your Arms Rock Me A Little WhileIsley Brothers - Why When Love Is GoneR Dean Taylor - There's A Ghost In My HouseElgins - Heaven Must Have Sent You"Presumably as they don't rank in the most popular 500 NS tunes as surveyed.  It's a bit like asking why a poorly selling single isn't in the "Pop" top 50 ... simple answer "because it's not selling strongly enough".Actually "Ghost" was listed at #20 in the 2000 edition and "Helpless" at #453 but must have fallen out of favour (probably due to over-exposure) ... "He's All I Got" (The "B" side of "Itching") was listed at #425 in 2000, presumably "Itching" was always considered to be "too well known" as it was on The Supremes  massively selling "Greatest Hits" compilation.  The same would be the case with "I'm Ready For Love" as it was also a huge seller (both as a 45 and on the "British Motown Chartbusters" LP) and "Heaven" which would have been ditched as "too well known to play" after 1971; and as for Paul Petersen I don't think it's ever caught on and it's in competition with the version by Marvin Gaye.As for "Do I Love You" ... I think it's still played a lot because it has never become a "Pop" hit, for what it's worth I still like it a lot almost 50 years after first hearing it, but it is a bit overplayed.Roger

"what are Motown's most famous NS songs?"I think that is well documented John, due to the existence of publications such as Kev Roberts' "Northern Soul 500" books.If we are talking about "the most famous" I'd have this Top 4 ...1 - Frank Wilson - "Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)" which might never have received an official release if it hadn't been "discovered" by the NS scene.2 - R Dean Taylor - "There's A Ghost In My House" and3 - The Four Seasons - "The Night" both US flops when first released which might never have become major UK hits some years later if they hadn't been "discovered" by the NS scene.4 - The Elgins - "Heaven Must Have Sent You" a medium sized US hit back in 1966 which might never have become major UK hit some years later if it hadn't been "discovered" by the NS scene.The most recent 2022 edition of Kev Roberts book had the following Motown entries in the Top 500 ...  #1 - Frank Wilson "Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)"  #2 - Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons "The Night" #20 - Originals "Suspicion" #26 - Barbara McNair "You’re Gonna Love My Baby" #41 - Four Tops "Something About You" #49 - Marvin Gaye "This Love Starved Heart Of Mine (Is Killing Me)" #64 - Spinners "I’ll Always Love You" #80 - Contours "Just A Little Misunderstanding"#104 - Gladys Knight & The Pips "If You Ever Get Your Hands On Love"#109 - Edwin Starr "Time"#125 - Gladys Knight & The Pips "No One Could Love You More"#138 - Marvelettes "I’ll Keep Holding On"#148 - Junior Walker & The All Stars "I Ain’t Going Nowhere"#186 - Contours "Baby Hit & Run"#191 - Brenda Holloway "When I'm Gone"#195 - Brenda Holloway "Think It Over (Before You Break My Heart)" A.K.A. "Reconsider"#201 - R Dean Taylor "Let's Go Somewhere"#249 - Isley Brothers "Tell Me It’s Just A Rumour"#310 - Miracles "Whole Lot Of Shakin' In My Heart (Since I Met You)"#318 - Isley Brothers "My Love Is Your Love (Forever)"#324 - Velvelettes "Lonely Lonely Girl Am I"#342 - Brenda Holloway "Just Look What You've Done"#365 - Monitors "Crying In The Night"#377 - Jimmy Ruffin "He Who Picks A Rose"#383 - Martha Reeves "No One There"#389 - Junior Walker & The All Stars "Tune Up"#393 - David Ruffin "Rode By The Place (Where We Used To Stay)"#453 - Kim Weston "I'm Still Loving You"Roger

Bonjour Mes Amis.Just come across this documentary from the French Arte TV Channel, it's mainly in English but there are some portions "en Francais" with subtitles.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omnZ0ycDw7QThere is a fascinating theory given towards the end about how "Northern Soul Dancing" developed.  Roger

I wonder why they used Jean singing "My World Is Empty Without You" to illustrate "Everybody's Got The Right To Love"?I wonder if they ever noticed?Roger

Much as I hate to say it, I quite like this and I can imagine that if in 1970/71 it had been released by the genuine article I'd have been rushing down to my local record shop to buy a copy!!It does make me wonder who "owns" the rights to peoples vocal style ... the vocal on the track sounds EXACTLY like Levi Stubbs so if this actually became a conventional "hit" with radio play, millions of streams on Spotify and YT views etc. etc. etc. would The Stubbs family be entitled to any royalties??However I do have an issue with the illustration for the video ... there are FIVE "Tops" on stage!!   Roger

These videos just seem to regurgitate the same old stories, just with differing clickbaity titles to reel us in.Funny how the reason given for Mr Gordy's initial dislike of "What's Going On" is that "he didn't want protest songs on his label" seeing that, when the song was being recorded Motown was riding high in the charts with "Ball Of Confusion" by The Temptations and "War" by Edwin Starr ... both of which were protest songs!!Roger

Seems that they are by a New York artist called Walter Yablonsky ...https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/70475486/the-marvelettes-painting-motown-girl?msockid=1954ffa224e866be2925ea4e2508677cWalter has a Facebook page full of all manner of artistic stuff .... https://www.facebook.com/walter.yablonsky/photosI think I'll give a miss on buying the paintings, but having just bought a ticket for this upcoming Friday's EuroMillions lottery (Estimated jackpot £169Million / US$200Million) who knows ... they might look good hanging in the Motown wing of my dream mansion!!    Roger

Presumably that was filmed at Expo '67 in Montreal, Canada, the "world fair" that was being held around the time that "Mirage" was released.I thought that it was seriously suggested that The Tops should have Levi Stubbs name added to them but Mr Stubbs quashed the idea out of loyalty to "his boys".  I could be wrong of course but what would they have been called ... "Levi Stubbs & The Three Tops" perhaps??   Roger

That "Come See About Me" LP also contained a version of "Your Precious Love" (the Ashford-Simpson/Gaye-Terrell song) with Mr Sedaka duetting with his daughter Dara Sedaka.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YpPctUf4SDsAnd this is his version of "Come See About Me" ...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EmygadLXpE&list=PLlAzRpr2El63axQdk_NGK0MADSb5SE215RIP Neil Sedaka ...Roger

Will you be putting in a bid John? Or will you be saving all your pennies for that Stevie Wonder "Live In Brunei" CD Box Set?   Roger

Seems that back in 1996 Stevie Wonder, supported by Seal, appeared in the South-East Asian country of Brunei to play at events to celebrate the 15th Birthday of the ruler's son!!I've found this clip of him singing "Ribbon In The Sky" at one of the events and he sounds great.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reFNlGVLTTcPerhaps even more importantly for us collectors and completists it seems that a three CD box set of this was issued in Brunei ... here are details of it at Discogs ... https://www.discogs.com/release/26984165-Stevie-Wonder-Seal-The-15th-Birthday-Celebration-For-Prince-BaharDiscogs has yet to have had a copy of this release sold through its marketplace but someone is trying to sell the box set at £4,000.https://www.discogs.com/sell/release/26984165Interestingly, it looks like the same buyer is trying to sell it on EBay for the lesser amount of £3,678.70https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/126511080771?mkevt=1&mkpid=2&emsid=e90001.m164960.l179212&plmtId=700008&mesgId=3037&mkcid=8&ch=osgood&bu=45249900111&trkId=ed751e93-107d-3ce8-87ad-473a58699ebd&cnvId=700003&recoId=126511080771&recoPos=3It brings to mind what Mr Gordy is reputed to have asked the youth of Detroit about new releases .... "If you had $5000 to spare would you buy this Stevie Wonder release or an all expenses paid world cruise?"Any takers?    Roger

Pleasantly gloomy version ...Geo seems to be a Dutch singer called George Dijkhuis who sang with a group called Sympathy in The '70s.https://www.45cat.com/artist/geoInfo about Sympathy here ....https://therockasteria.blogspot.com/2024/12/sympathy-as-long-as-we-can-see-1974.htmlRoger