Various Artists – Eccentric Northern Soul

by cjvinyl · Published July 7, 2020 · Updated October 7, 2024

Here in the US, we were deprived of the phenomenon known as Northern Soul. It wasn’t even a phrase I was familiar with until I started reading about Soft Cell’s “Tainted Love” as being a cover of a Northern Soul classic. (And no, no one stateside ever heard the Gloria Jones version, which was a B-side of a single that didn’t sell. It was written by Ed Cobb, manager of The Standells!). Since it has no meaning here in the US, I think the term, applying to smoother, less funky soul music, is still relatively unknown – but if you follow anyone involved with music in the UK or Europe, it’s a common designation. I used to think it was primarily British artists – not the case, at all, but what made up the Northern Soul scene often featured records that didn’t do a thing in the US.

So I was in Siren Records last October (2023) and saw this collection, and I didn’t even have to think twice. Really, give me an obscure collection of songs by groups I’ve never even heard of almost any day – I can’t wait to know what gems the person putting it together wanted me to hear. Going back to my “Back From The Grave” days, I’ve never really been disappointed by a collection of obscurities.

Holy cats, am I not disappointed in this one. It starts out with an absolute banger, “Tears Don’t Care” by the Out of Sights, then rolls into the fun girl group sound of “He’s A Flirt” by The Sequins, and on and on. The final track, Otis Brown’s “I’m Ready For Love,” has some of the most affecting tape stretch I’ve ever heard in my life – was it intentional? A happy accident? I don’t know but it does something magical to the horn part. Every track on this record is great, and since I bought it last year I have played it over and over and over.