Northern Soul

Northern soul is a music and dance movement that emerged in Northern England and the English Midlands in the late 1960s from the British mod scene, based on a particular style of black American soul music, especially from the mid-1960s, with a heavy beat and fast tempo (100 bpm and above).

The Odyssey: A Northern Soul Time Capsule is the single most comprehensive overview yet of a truly unique UK musical culture which has now lasted over 45 years and has spread across the world. The music follows the evolvement of Northern Soul, from it's early beginnings at Manchester's Twisted Wheel club in 1968, through to The Golden Torch, Blackpool Mecca, Wigan Casino and Cleethorpes Pier in the 1970s, Stafford Top Of The World and The 100 Club in the 1980s and the huge dearth of Soul weekenders and the 100 Club again from the 1990's to the present day. Featuring a mind-numbing 222 tracks, all licensed from legitimate sources. The most comprehensive Northern Soul track-listing ever. The Odyssey: A Northern Soul Time-Capsule truly does what it says on the tin. This is the most exhaustive history of the Northern Soul scene ever released.

The northern soul phenomenon was the most exciting underground British club movement of the 1970s. At its highpoint, thousands of disenchanted white working class youths across the north of England danced to obscure, mid-60s Motown-inspired sounds until the sun rose. A dynamic culture of fashions, dance moves, vinyl obsession and much more grew up around this - all fuelled by the love of rare black American soul music with an express-train beat.

Northern soul is a music and dance movement that emerged independently in Northern England, the English Midlands, Scotland and Wales in the late 1960s from the British mod scene. Northern soul mainly consists of a particular style of black American soul music based on the heavy beat and fast tempo of the mid-1960s Tamla Motown sound.

Motown discs are a big part of the "Northern soul" scene in Britain, where 1960s soul records are collected and spun at dance clubs with a fanaticism seen nowhere else. This two-CD, 48-track set compiles a lot of the rarer and more sought-after Motown items among the Northern soul crowd. The anthology's a fine acquisition for those who don't collect Motown with an eye to piling up dozens of CDs' worth of rare material, but do want a lengthy, representative collection of seldom-spun tracks cut for the label.

Le Chant du Monde are proud to present their new collection, entitled ‘Secret Nuggets Of Wise’. The first to be released is a compilation of Northen Soul, simply titled ‘Secret Nuggets Of Wise Northern Soul’.
Originally called Rare Soul, Northern Soul was born out of a movement in the north of England, hence its baptismal name, and has its roots in American soul music.
In the late 1960s, after years of glory, the Tamla Motown fury began to decline, and new musical styles emerged. However, soul fans and clubs in the north of England persisted in wanting to only listen to the sound of the 1960s. DJs played with that insistent and peculiar beat that characterizes Northern Soul. When the youth of the area rediscovered the black American soul music of the 60s, the Northern Soul fury set the whole country on fire. In 2022, the embers have not completely extinguished, and the nostalgia is still present.