Now, someone once said about Northern Soul, if you need to
ask, you'll never know. And that really says everything.
It's more than just music. It's a feeling, a belonging, and
if you're in it, you'll understand it completely.
If you're not, it's almost impossible to explain.
From its beginnings in the late 1960s and early 70s, it was a
underground movement. Just a handful of clubs
predominantly in the north of England driving something very
special. Places like Wigan Casino, the
Twisted Wheel, The Torch, Black Bull, Mecca.
These weren't just venues, they were institutions.
People travelled the length and breadth of the country to be
there chasing sounds you simply couldn't hear anywhere else.
The way I feel you're just don't know baby how hard it is oh to
be so much as love and thought so lean on I tell you a lie you
be so sad. But when you give on everything
you can oh it makes me feel so bad.
You're just don't know. Oh, I can't understand that,
baby. The nights I cried, just the
painting slides inside and you can't imagine, baby, how you
break my pride. But I'm so excited of myself and
I can't say no one else 'cause I know I love you still and I know
I'm always. You ain't got no idea.
You just don't know. I can't say no to it, baby.
You don't know baby. I know you don't know, baby.
It's more than a notion, baby. Everybody, you're mad.
Ain't Holly Aeroplan that you late baby fell through on you?
Oh, now what's better off for heart.
But I can't withhold it all. It's hard, but it's down away.
You know the spirit ain't down. It's more than I can bear.
You just don't know. Oh, I can't understand.
And play this. Just learn to play my soul.
And those sounds, rare in American soul records, pressed
in small numbers, often forgotten in their own country,
became the heartbeat of the UK youth movement.
Fast forward to today, and Northern Soul has become a
worldwide phenomenon. You hear tracks in TV adverts,
see compilation CDs everywhere, and even find Northern Soul
dance schools popping up across the globe.
But despite the global reach, the essence hasn't changed.
It's still about discovery, still about rarity, and still
about that moment when a record drops and only a handful of
people in the room truly know what it is.
Our Lord. In a wilderness you came alone
to end my loneliness. Once I have no inspiration,
You're over My salvation. Yeah, my salvation.
You gave me love. Like in the brain.
Now I got home. The world, the future brain.
Yeah. Yeah, baby, the sky was great
until you came along. No more Rolling dead.
The best I ever go. Y'all have no real invasion.
You'll know why. My fabasion.
Now when we talk about collecting Northern Soul, we
have to talk about price because just when you think the market
is peaked, it goes up again. Take records like Ginette by
Wade Flemons or the track have just played you what a track it
is. Salvation by Robert Thomas.
These aren't just records anymore, they're artefacts.
Prices have more than quadrupled in some cases, and when a copy
surfaces, it becomes a battle. Serious collectors just don't
hesitate. Of course, many dealers now
operate online. Platforms like eBay have changed
the landscape completely, but alongside that you've got the
specialist dealers running their own auctions, sometimes weekly.
These are curated, trusted, and for many collectors, they're the
gold standard. How many more years are you
gonna wreck my life? How many more years are you
gonna wreck my life When you treat me, baby?
Gonna wreak my life? How many more time are you gonna
treat me like you do? How many more time are you gonna
treat me like you do to all my money baby.
All of my loving too. I'm old and brave.
Got no place to go Bowling Green got no place to go.
You got yourself a youngster. Can't stand me.
No more going down in the cellar, going together, all of
my flow, going down in the cellar, going together, all of
my flow. And where I go, baby, nobody
knows. Nobody knows.
Now, in terms of demand, the traditional oldies still
dominate the sounds that fill Wigan Casino, the Twisted Wheel,
The Torch and Blackpool Mecca. They're still absolutely in
demand, still packing dance floors every weekend.
But the scene hasn't stood still.
The styles people want have widened, R&B has surged in
popularity and now you'll hear earlier Blues influence records
finding their place alongside the classics.
Artists like John Lee Hooker, Howling Wolf, Sony Boy,
Williamson, names really rooted in Blues history and now part of
the broader Northern Soul listening experience.
I'm writing this letter just to let you know things ain't
getting new. Well, if you find somebody new,
then there's a light I can move. But if you're playing on hurting
pain, come on, hold on it please.
Ain't no indeed. I'm only indeed.
And sometimes things can be. Roll a heart.
Go to sleep. But now I see the light and I'm
sorry if I hate you. See the tease days outside and
prove that I still love you. Now I see the light, and I'm
sorry if I have. You see the tease things outside
that proof that I still love you.
You make me before you think about the sheep, I mean, and the
tease that I cry. Traditionally, most North and
Seoul records sat between 1964, 1968, but those barriers have
moved late 60s and into the 70s. What we now call crossover as
firmly embedded itself into the scene.
These records carry a slightly more modern production,
sometimes smoother, sometimes more polished, but they earn
their place. Some of these have become
outright classics, including Ruby Andrews Just Loving You,
Celeste Hardy and You're Gone and A Tracker played you
Previously Guitar Ray and You're Gonna Wreck My Life.
But now I'm selecting a classic song from that era, and this is
Hamilton Moments. She's gone.
You know, life, it's a funny, funny thing.
You know, everybody believes that Love Is All about money,
but you know the strong believer that love, true love, is from
the heart of the soul. Time has come, days are gone.
I think of all the time that we had a wrong the Apple soul
inside. I don't fool around.
I walk around with my head all night.
I can't sleep, I can't eat. Happen to be bad situation.
Girl, you left me here. Just take my hand, take my
heart. Get a locked activity.
Leave me alone. I work so hard just to see you
there. Now you want to turn your back.
And just one more way she's gone.
Well, well, well, well.
Oh, heaven. Can't you heal me?
Bleed until you got to have your back?
Girl, I don't. I don't know.
I'm not a plane. They're lying.
I'm not a shame back, Mama. Mistakes.
What's the world feel like me?
If you're a collector, geograhy really matters because Northern
Soul collecting has always been about sourcing records from
specific American cities and labels, and right at the centre
of that is Detroit. Detroit is absolutely pivotable,
home of Tam, the Motown and a whole network of associated
labels, Gordie Soul, VIP, Anna Harvey.
Alongside those you've got Richtic, Revilla, Golden World
labels that produced incredible music outside the mainstream
spotlight. These Detroit pressings,
especially the lesser known, places a pure gold for
collectors. Then you move to Chicago.
Will you let me have all of your loving and affection?
Yeah. Will you give me your heart and
leave it under my protection? Yeah, if you will.
I want you to be my wife. If you will, I'll love you for
the rest of my life. Hand it over, hand it over, hand
it over and I'll give my love to you.
Yeah, give it to me now, honey. Please don't wait until
tomorrow. No, give it to me now.
Put it awkward. Only bring me sorrows.
Yeah. Say you need my arms around you
every night, baby. Please tell me everything's all
right. Hand it over.
Have it all over, I need it now. Have it all over and I'll give
my love to you. I will give you everything.
If you would only say yes, I would try to buy you springs.
If it only meant your happiness, let me know you know where I
stand. Tell me now if you really want
me. Yeah.
I will be a happy man if you would really love me sincerely.
Come on, baby. Take me.
All right? I know.
Mama. This has got to be the night to
have it over. Have it over.
All right, Have it over and I'll hand it up to you.
Hand it all over. I need your kids.
Hand it all over. That's what I have.
So I hand it over, right? Now, of course, the big city
soul sound an artist like Chuck Jackson and Maxine Brown
recording on labels like Sceptre, Wandum, Musicor.
Sophisticated, polished, emotional records brought a
different dimension to the scene.
And on the West Coast, Los Angeles had labels like Door,
while New Jersey contributed its own distinct flavour through a
network of smaller imprints. But each city, each label, each
pressing, it all mattered. Because every record tells the
story. But here's the thing.
Northern Soul isn't just about the past.
Even today, newly recorded vinyl is breaking through onto the
scene, and when it does, it can explode in value almost
overnight. I stand here before you.
Don't turn me away. I know I was wrong now and I'm
here to stay. Now baby, give me one more
chance to be yours to the day I die and I try.
I'll try baby. I try happy outside.
I know that you're facing me as all turns you down.
Just do what you want to me, but don't shut me up.
I may not be able to give you all a thing that our money can
buy, but I'll try. I'll try baby.
I'll try thought, I'll try. How can I show you that my love
is true to satisfy you? Just give me your love there.
Give me your love there. Don't make me way, Don't make me
away. Just tell me you want me.
Tell me you want me more. Is too late baby.
Now baby, I don't even know if I can just be your kind of guy.
But I try. I'll try,
baby. I'll try, I'll try baby.
I'll try baby. Now, baby, I don't even know if
I can just be your kind of guy. What?
I'll try, I'll try baby. I'll try now baby.
I'll try baby baby. Now that track really is a
modern recording, but rooted deeply in that classic sound,
and collectors are all over them.
Another one making serious waves.
And I'm going to play this now because I think it's a fantastic
track, is by Billy Bird and it's called Lost in the Crowd.
I'm lost in the crowd. I feel the need to cry.
I laugh. I don't know where to go.
I don't see no one I know at the party.
We had a good day. Lots of people were there.
They were free to man and they told you and there for my best
friend. And she did.
Oh yes she did. Yes she did.
Oh yes she did. If I can understand.
I think I feel much better, little girl.
I thought me and you now our love, but last forever.
Don't you never either bother to tell me.
Give up a little white life. And now I'm walking through the
crowd. I don't see no one but you
there. I lost the crowd.
I feel the need to cry out loud. I'm so loud.
I'm still to cry. I feel the need to cry out loud.
Then they told you had left with my best friend.
Yes, you did, boy. Yes, you did.
You're happy, baby boy. Yes, you did.
And as we close tonight, from the packed dance floors of the
North to record boxes, auctions and collections spread across
the world, Northern Soul is still burning.
It lives in the grooves of those rare 40 fives, in the stories
behind every label and pressing, and in the people who continue
to search, play and preserve it. Because this scene was never
just about nostalgia. It's about discovery, it's about
passion. And above all, it's about the
music. Until the next time, bye bye.
I love you, I love you, I love
you. If you ask me forever, I would
be if you were my own guitar. If you wanted to hear another
music I would get all the angels to play a ha ha.
If you asked for a class of water, I would run over rivers
Drive. If you won't plant someone in
the hell, I would Gris for this. The thumb died before.
I love you, I love you, I love you.
If you wanted my life it would be OK.
All I love around you are. Hold on.
Day before yesterday, you're my dear, my ambition, my reason for
living this day. You're the alpha and only that.
Love is up to say because I love you, I love
you, I love you. OK 'cause my love, the crown you
walked on and the floor yesterday, you're my lady.
Open my hand been shut. My reasons are burning in this
day you'll be Alba and old me love.
There's nothing left to say because.