Based in the Northern regions of England, Northern Soul was the first underground club scene using DJs who presented the rarest records for highest reputation. The sounds were soul stompers, discovered for not built around, the crowd's demand to dance. This of course made the timeline of the scene finite, but fiercely tribal in the devotion to the clubs and DJs.
Since the majority of this scene was ignored by commerical music forces, it gave the factory working youth of industrial England something completely their own. Amphetamines gave them the ability release and party at all-nighters, drugs being a direct connection to the Mods influence.
Two of the major clubs for this scene were The Wigan Casino and The Mecca. The Wigan Casino had a larger dancefloor and their DJs Kev Roberts and Richard Searling pumped body-soul music to keep the punters hopping. The Mecca, presided over by DJ Ian Levine was a bit more cerebral and focused more on the rarest or tightest grooves.
Northern Soul developed its own fashion such as the first baggy pants, dancing styles, and popularized the DJ obsession for covering up their best tracks label (Steaming them off, or even renaming them!).
Some of the biggest hits of the scene included R. Dean Taylor's 'There's a Ghost in My House' and The Four Tops 'I Can't Help Myself', (The rarest being Frankie Wilson's 'Do I Love You'). Northern Souls DJ's would often travel to America in search of the most obscure music, and like, Ian Levine, required/had the financial ability & time to hunt.
Northern Soul Gave way to Disco, Nu-NRG, and influenced club culture ever after, even if often forgotten or its influence left unknown.
I'm reading the history of the disc jockey by Bill Brewster and Frank Broughton who write for Mixmag-USA.
These are my own words from a brilliant chapter of their book.
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