Next month it will be 35 years since Russ Winstanley booked Wigan Casino for its first Northern Soul all-nighter, starting at 2am on a Sunday morning. The faithful paid 75p each to dance until 8am to rare black American records - and though the price has gone up a bit, the scene is now bigger than ever.
It was Wigan Casino that partially influenced Robert Stigwood to make the film Saturday Night Fever, and household names from Peter Stringfellow to Mick Hucknall were inspired by the Northern Soul scene. When ITV showed a documentary on the Casino for its This England strand in 1977, it reached an audience of 27 million and the reverberations are still being felt.
Look at the video accompanying Duffy’s No1 single Mercy. There in the darkness of a small club, young lads 
pirouette and footsie to a Detroit-influenced Sixties soul groove. TV adverts featuring Al Wilson, Frank Wilson and others have appeared plugging everything from cars to KFC. There’s instant street credibility to be had for any artist or brand associated with a scene that has always been wild, free and grass-roots.
The phrase Northern Soul was coined by the late London journalist and rhythm & blues guru Dave Godin in his weekly Blues & Soul magazine column in June 1970 to describe a danceable type of rare soul cherished in clubs across the North and Midlands. The sound was based on the 4-4-2 beat of the Four Tops’ Tamla Motown classic I Can’t Help Myself, although it would come to be associated with faster stompers as heard during the Wigan Casino era from 1973 to 1981. But the most important element was its emotional, soulful content.
TERRY CHRISTIAN’S FIVE TOP SOUL TUNES
Darrell Banks: Open the Door to Your Heart
(1966 USA Revilot, UK Stateside and Black London promo)
Darrell Banks was tragically shot dead in the street a couple of years after this was released. The flip side Our Love is In The Pocket is another big favourite.
Sandi Sheldon: You’re Gonna Make Me Love You
(1966 Okeh records)
Produced by Van McCoy. Legend says it reached the Twisted Wheel via the Wolverhampton DJ Froggie Taylor who bought it from a dealer who got it in a bag of records he bought from John Peel.
Eddie Parker: Love You Baby
(1968 Ashford)
Tracked down in the Eighties working on a car production line in Detroit, Eddie Parker has God-like status for his two monster records I’m Gone and this ten-ton truck of freneticism and vocal power.
Frank Wilson: Do I Love You
(1965 Soul S3519)
A run of 500 of these was pressed as Tamla Motown promos in 1965, only two are known on the scene, the rest were destroyed. A true northern treasure.
Gerri Grainger: I Go to Pieces (Everytime)
(1972 USA Eric, UK Casino Classics (BMG))
Makes my eyes brim with tears every time I hear it. A sentimental whirlwind: pass the Kleenex, a tear is painting my cheek.
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October 26th, 2008 at 5:22 pm
I still have my 80's Fishtail Parka, they will get more popular as the winter sets in, “Trendies” wearing them with their Trainers, looks awful, could be worse they may bring back “Duffle Coats” the most awful fashion item invented aaarrrggghhh!!