Motown Treasures

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-500

The 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 There
David 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 Love
Edwin Starr - 25 Miles
Paul Petersen - Chained
Supremes - Love Is Like An Itching In My Heart
Kim Weston - Helpless & Take Me In Your Arms Rock Me A Little While
Isley Brothers - Why When Love Is Gone
R Dean Taylor - There's A Ghost In My House
Elgins - 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