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I just met an old cyclist who used to be from Carson Skinheads and is into northern soul also! This whole time, I thought DJ Chris Griffiths and I were the only riders out there who were into northern soul.
Are there any other riders out there into northern soul, northern soul record collecting, northern soul dancing besides us? :)
If you are, speak up and let's have a northern soul dance contest at a ride one night! Or at least just bump some 60's soul and get our groove on. Or ride to a 60's club one night?
I'm usually at Soulside every month, but that shit was starting to get lame cuz they were playing too much ska n reggae, not enough soul! I hit up Coquete a few times and that shit was lame lame lame. Satisfaction and Transistor don't even exist anymore. :( Is the mod scene dying out?
yeah that's why I am asking.. it had been years since i went to some of those places and when i went back it wasn't the same. I spent more time outside avoiding the crowded dance floor which I wasn’t used to and instead of 3 hour non-stop dancing, I found myself being outside for air and socializing and drinking (nothing wrong with that, but I miss dancing!!) I can’t make it out to a lot of the clubs that are every 2nd Friday of every 3rd month when the moon is at its waning crescent phase (I should put it on a calendar but that is too much effort sometimes)
anyway, let me know if you do something... I will ride out.
Kakihara responding to a comment by northernsoulbyrd
07.8.09 - 5:14 pm
I kind of dont get this terminology. northern soul is an english term referring to american soul. So americans saying northern soul is kinda of redundant. like a chinese person saying chinese food. when they would probably just say food. and yes i collect soul records.
buckchin responding to a comment by northernsoulbyrd
07.8.09 - 5:18 pm
Similar enough to be confused with break dancing though, no? I remember when I would invite my friends down to Soulside they'd ask how to dance soul music and I would send them these YouTube vids, haha. And they'd be like, "That's break dancing!"
Clifton that spins over at Underground, Solid Gold, ETC ETC? Of coarse I've met Clifton. Doubt he remembers me though... He must meet soooo many people.
you need to check out a club called " goodfoot" they have in long beach.i think its at que sera on fridays......alltho ive been to at alexs bar as well. good scene,lots of dancers and the faint smell of baby powder in the air.
Sweet. I've seen them a lot when they're playing with my friend's bands whether it be at par avion or some warehouse joint at downtown LA.
It would be awesome if they reunite.
Nowadays, I just see clifton at northern soul gigs like shout at the beauty bar while I'm trying to beat Jimmy, a former mojo filter, in fantasy basketball.
I've never promoted our club Hungry Beat here, but here goes. More than a few Ridazz have been:
http://www.myspace.com/hungrybeatlosangeles
We play a mix of northern soul and uptempo indie pop. Why indie pop? Well, you can hear the soul influence in everything from Orange Juice to Morrissey to Belle and Sebastian. Check out our playlists!
(We play 100% vinyl, almost all of it original issue. Most of us ride bikes as our main form of transportation.)
Ahh man, I haven't been to or heard of a couple of these clubs. It's too bad I'm moving to Portland... Any ridazz down to visit me in Portland and join me at Ghost Town Soul Club or a soulniter in Seattle?
MIDNIGHT RIDAZZ BRING THE HATE TO THE NORTHWEST!
(and by "hate" I mean the dance competition... not actual hate)
Too bad Coquette is the same night as the Ride With No Name... Otherwise I'd suggest a ride to Coquette for those of you who want to join me in some northern soul dancing. :)
Chris and i often ride down to Carbon on Mondays for Dam Funk's night of sweaterfunk, boogie and modern soul. get there early so you can throw some moves on the floor before it gets too crowded.
lots of good dancers and great records being played.
oh yeah Clifton is there pretty much every week too.
i've been going to this night since day one and it pretty much is the next stage in the evolution of Northern Soul.
That's awesome. I think that's exactly what the northern soul scene needs. If you've ever been to Soulside, you'd see how lame it is. No disrespect to my homeboy Marv, but it's SOULside... Not skareggaerocksteadysoulside, haha. I just wish there was one really great all-soul allniter I can go to that includes great music and doesn't include a bunch of lame dramatic young freshcuts tryna get into fights!
have been to Carbon only once... we made it a plan to go back more often but hasn't happened yet
it was fun! i should make it an effort to come out to the wesssside more often
Kakihara responding to a comment by onethirtynine
07.9.09 - 11:40 am
Haha, yeah that's my problem too. I'm too lazy to make it out to the Westside and plus it's all about the 213!!! Anyone remember the drunk tank in Echo Park? Or 12th & Union? LOL.
yes there are, but when a canadian says northern soul they are referring to soul bands from the north pole. But in the north pole there are no northern soul bands just southern soul bands.
buckchin responding to a comment by northernsoulbyrd
07.9.09 - 1:47 pm
"Northern" refers to northern England, where these clubs just kept playing soul music. It's got nothing to do with the the northern US.
It's a common misconception because most of northern soul does come from Yankee states, though of course there are the odd Stax/Volt and New Orleans singles that are popular in the northern soul circuit.
I get the concept. I just think it is wierd to refer to a style of music that oraginated in this country, as it was called in another country. Do you think the people who created the music call it norther soul. but you guys probably dont realize you can listen to soul without wearing a ben sherman shirt. IT is possable.
buckchin responding to a comment by cabhauler
07.9.09 - 3:01 pm
Fuck Ben Sherman. I used to work at the Ben Sherman STORE and they didn't know what northern soul was if it slapped them across the face with a big horse dick. Except for Peter... Peter ruled. :)
Besides, you don't wear Bennies when you're listening to soul music, you wear your Fred Perrys! DUH!!!
Well you just came into this conversation so you cant really be part of my generalize
unless you think I can tell the future. And i know you can listen to soul without wearing Ben Sherman. I do it all the time. I just think it is wierd that people find a correlation bewteen what you wear and music. from a style that happened 30 to 40 years ago.
buckchin responding to a comment by Kakihara
07.9.09 - 4:15 pm
And thats off topic anyway my origanal point was why people who dont live in england call that style of music norther soul. can someone direct rbi or another music person to this thread. i would like to hear what they have to say
um. I take it what you're saying is why did the people who originated the term "northern soul" is not from the origin of the music where it should have a proper definition. I'm not sure but that's like why is the "world series" only about the two final teams in the U.S. and Toronto out of 30.
The thing is after the 1968 summer olympics and the black power salute of the raised fist and the tourch symbols that made Northern Soul an icon is someone called it out first, popularized it, and cemented it the same way we confuse the world about the term "world series" which is always correllated about Baseball. However, that Someone was at Manchester selling 45's wherever they can, Including the Wigan Casino. It's like how the New York Papers called the first baseball championships the "world series" and it is what it its really.
I've often confused Northern Soul music with Motown or Philly Soul based on the beats and singers, but there's a distinct rythmn and lyrical difference that seperates Northern Soul from Motown. Like say listening to Edwin Starr, his songs are groovy and upbeat with optimistic lyrics that make you go "whirrd". But, he's not often correlated with Northern Soul, just sometimes played at during northern soul clubs. Listening to The Flirtations or Magic Night on the other hand is groovy with a shoegazy, realistically pessimistic lyrics, yet it's best to dance it off.
It's my take about it. Northern Soul is a particular style that is on it's own. It is what it is.
There's something endlessly fascinating about this phenomenon, wherein Americans adopt the music that Brits adopted from Americans.
I mean, don't get me wrong. Northern Soul is funky. It makes me want to dance. I will dance to that.
But it's as if, by virtue of these amped up kids in Manchester turning it into a "scene," it has acquired some kind of authenticity that it was previously lacking. Would it still be cool here without all the cultural baggage that it picked up by being cool there?
...is an interesting book about the English working class in the 1930s, notable as well for the strident way in which Orwell lays out his views on socialism and which parties or personalities would, or wouldn't, be capable of convincing the English workers of its necessity. If you would like to read this book, respond here and I will let you know what sort of consumer-driven identity you need to adopt in order to be allowed to do so.
buckchin - I was JK about the Fred Perry thing. And plus, mod fashion is still very much alive... It's not the BIGGEST trend, it's pretty underground, but it's definitely not dead. I may not be dressed when I'm at rides, to school or what have you, but I'm still definitely dressed my best when I'm at the soul nites.
Fuck it all... Doesn't matter what it's called or how you dress, just as long as you're down to get down to that sweet soul music!
No wories its all fun and games and a work day time killer. but i am glad you still love me. I do appritiate the fact that people still like good music because i do love this stuff and have some of those records. i just dont like the term. do you consider dj shadow and cut chemist mixed tapes northern soul?
buckchin responding to a comment by northernsoulbyrd
07.10.09 - 1:41 pm
No, in Britiain they DO call it northern soul and sometimes with a sense of derision, as in "What's up with those kids in the north, why don't they dig new music instead of playing stuff from the 1960s?"
There's overlap but I don't think northern soul necessary means "mod" or whatever we think of as stereotypically "mod." Look at those videos, lots of the kids aren't wearing what we think of as the mod uniform. They just want to dance, and if it means wearing shorts and wife-beaters so be it!
Nathan, it's cool to many because it's white kids being into black music and there's notions of working class identity and racial harmony. Some of that is no doubt just people projecting their ideas, but you can't deny that it is special in a way.
You can also see loving sweet soul music that's singles-based as being sort of a rejection of traditional classic rock orthodoxy.
DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist don't make music that you could call "northern soul" but if you listen to "Brain Freeze" they do pay homage to it because a lot of those 45s as northern staples.
cabhauler responding to a comment by buckchin
07.10.09 - 2:05 pm
Noble, a lot of northern soul is Motown and its many subsidiaries. There is no separation. Edwin Starr is definitely a northern soul standby, either way, since he had stuff on other labels as well.
The US major leagues attract the best talent in the world today, so I think it's safe to call the World Series in 2009 a true "world championship."
cabhauler responding to a comment by Noble Experiment
07.10.09 - 2:10 pm
Like I said... Doesn't matter what you wear. You know who you are and what you're about. I remember I was at Soulside once and I seen some foo in sweats and I was like WTF? But that foo was busting out with backdrops and splits like no other. Like I said, doesn't matter what you wear.
Well yeah the world series baseball analogy was horrible. yes it is called the world series and it is a dumb name. but it is also dumb to start a sport and name it after a pre existing sport as america did with football. but america started baseball and decided to call it the world series. Now in england they always reffer to american football as american football. now if americans started to call football american football that would be the equivalent of america calling american soul music northern soul.
buckchin responding to a comment by cabhauler
07.10.09 - 2:28 pm
why do Americans it the Tour de Frawnce? why not the Tour of France?
onethirtynine
07.9.09 - 9:47 pm
reply
and this does not make any sense either. yes we call it the tour de france because thats what it is called. just like we say el salvador not the salvador. Now if french people started to call it the the tour of france that would be the eqivalent of us calling american soul northern soul as it is refered to in another country.
buckchin responding to a comment by onethirtynine
07.10.09 - 2:37 pm
Confusing to anyone you talk about sports with. But i do say football in refering to soccer. or footie. but thats just cause i know a lot if people who follow footie
buckchin responding to a comment by northernsoulbyrd
07.10.09 - 2:43 pm
that was might point. we call it Northern Soul because that's what it is. Northern Soul is a specific kind of soul music and doesn't just mean "American soul." there are a lot of British artists with records that have become big on the Northern Soul circuit. there are no specific Northern Soul artists. there are only records and they are usually rare records by lesser-known artists trying to emulate the popular Atlantic, Tamla/Motown, Stax/Volt or Philly International sounds. these records would be put out by small record labels who only have enough money to press 500 copies. without the proper marketing, these records would then disappear into obscurity until some DJ discovers it and likes the sound of it. fast, danceable, not too glossy. the records get played at some all-night event, the dancefloor gets filled by hyperactive ex-mods on ecstacy. then the records earn their keep in the Northern Soul hall of fame. this pretty much began in the Northern parts of England. that's why it's called Northern Soul. now you can find Northern Soul fans pretty much all over the world and we continue to call it Northern Soul because that's what it is. maybe you should just think about it in terms of human culture in general instead of in terms of "here" and "there."
i know cats in England who like East Coast hip hop. i've got a friend in Germany who likes West Coast gangster rap. i know a lot of kids from Mexico who really dig the Southern funk sound. should stop calling those types of music by what they are simply because they aren't located in the heartland of America?
"why do Americans it the Tour de Frawnce? why not the Tour of France?
onethirtynine
07.9.09 - 9:47 pm
reply
and this does not make any sense either. yes we call it the tour de france because thats what it is called. just like we say el salvador not the salvador. Now if french people started to call it the the tour of france that would be the eqivalent of us calling american soul northern soul as it is refered to in another country.
"
Does anyone wanna come on a chill ride to the beach with the Nocturnal Cyclists on Sunday night? I'll bring a music trailer and we'll bump nothing but the best of northern soul! :) Who's up for it?
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Ridazz Roulette!
wooo
Sorry i wasnt in manchester in 1980. So i dont know the Status quo. What was it like?
Also, this --------------------->
