Northern soul

Now some people might think what on earth has Northern Soul to do with the culture of North Staffordshire?
For me the case is an easy one, but if you need convincing I'm prepared to spend a little time...

In the 60's in America the dream of Berry Gordy at Motown was to show the world just how rich a seam of music could come from black artists. They had voices, rhythm and a new energy in post war affluent America. What they lacked was equality and respect - this was one way to earn it.

Gordy built his Motown empire with a discipline that won him the admiration of many - aritists were well-groomed, well mannered and well behaved ( or at least in public they were) - other record labels followed suit and before long thousands of tracks were available to be heard.

In Britain we had mods, rockers and hippies to contend with and for teenagers bored with the diet of pop they looked to a new sound and in the late 60's Northern Soul as it had been dubbed found its way into the youth clubs.

Golden Torch

With interest growing and a whole new youth culture of clothes and attitude building with it, Northern Soul found itself the mainstay of bigger venues - The Golden Torch in Stoke on Trent and Wigan Casino.

The DJs enjoyed a god-like status because the discs were rare and a DJ got by not necessarily on his ability to entertain or engage an audience, but by the size of his collection. I say "he" because it was definitely a man's world.

Stepping Out

Many of the fans grew older, got married, got mortgaged and got wistful. In recent years the catalogue has started to appear on CDs which means anyone can buy them and now the old fans like nothing more than a get together at places like the George in Burslem, Alsager, Knypersely Cricket Club, Crewe's North Ward Club, The Little Vic in Newcastle to mention but a few.

They have money and maturity and a desire to remember their youth. They still try to dance the steps of thirty years ago and they are still very exclusive in their musical tastes.

It was a culture that made Stoke-on-Trent stand out - Birmingham and Liverpool never had big Northern soul scenes.

Major Lance chose Stoke to record a live album.
Until his death a few years ago the legendary Edwin Starr was a frequent visitor to the city.
Even those who never ventured into the clubs got to hear the music and I reckon for every one "anorak " there are ten who just like the sound.

Our Northern Soul show on BBC Radio Stoke was recently streamed on the world wide web - you have only to read some of the messages to realise the affection people have for this music and to realise it's a lifelong thing.