Part 1 of 5 Dj Sets
Who are the Great Soul Deejays? part 1
No doubt been done a zillion times before but it's probably worth doing periodically as people come and go and perspectives change.
When I did my defence of Colin Curtis, I had him among the top 5 Northern Soul C NS ) DJs of all times. I thought I should elaborate and then go beyond just NS. I originally intended to say he was in the top 3 but thought I should acknowledge Soul Sam, who has always had a devoted following and a massive impact albeit, in my view, a negative one. Then I thought I should include Russ Winstanley, probably the most powerful man in NS during its most iconic period, though also in a negative way in my opinion.
I suspect that if we were to line up the ultimate list of NS classics, Ian Levine will have uncovered more than anybody else. Reading the In Crowd, the point where it became something that I would recognise as NS was Circa 71 and Levine and Dave Godin were probably the key figures in turning it into a coherent scene. I have never thought of the Wheel as NS proper but that is a discussion for people much older than me. Levine is often written off for his tailor made NS records and for what he became, but his creations proved very popular with many, including a 12/13/14 year old me. Many of us followed him and Curtis into ( what we used to call New York ) Disco, Funk and Jazz Funk and, despite what the history books say, the In Crowd tag stayed with us, while NS went into its dark ages. Levine discovered Euro disco, had a hand in Take That but seems to have forgiven NS more recently.
In Kev Roberts's top 500, he has Levine and Curtis as 1 and 2 respectively in the 70s, NSs only significant decade, but the casino as the number 1 club, which just goes to show how politics and religion can become more important than music, and not just ( original ) vinyl, but bricks and mortar, the idea of the all-nighter and tactics to stay awake all night.
I would probably switch 2 and 3 and have Searling second. I may be doing CC an injustice but my rationale is that he was second to Levine while Searling was the credible end of Wigan, probably the top club in 73/4 though none of my crowd, Alex included, were going yet. Returning to my list, I imagine Richard uncovered more classics than anybody else besides Levine.
I rang Russ Winstanley a few years ago and found him an extremely friendly and decent bloke and he is probably more responsible than anyone else for the increasing popularity of NS during the seventies. However, as the mid- seventies turned into the late seventies, a new generation arrived, with Wigan Casino as it's temple, and many seemed to like plastic more than music, rareity more than quality, and northern more than Soul. In fairness, I think NS had already died of natural causes and, although it became an ever so slightly cool cult in the eighties and has suffered a massive revival since, it's nice to drop in on but no longer my idea of a lifestyle choice.
Briefly returning to the issue of ( original ) vinyl, the old argument against pressings was that the artist didn't gain; like Frank Wilson did well out of the 15k. I recently heard the singer out of Epitome of Sound on the radio during his recent visit and it's hard to imagine this could happen if You don't love me hadn't been extensively available at an affordable price. On the issue of CDs, the next time you are talking to a Soul Artist, ask them what they think of CDs and watch their reaction when you tell them that some people don't think it's OK to play Soul on CD. Or are they wrong too?
nice
great
thanks Al
quality