The Northern Soul Podcast

Colin Skehan
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This Is the Northern Soul Podcast, its a journey back to the golden years of Northern Soul, featuring the rare, obscure and unforgettable sounds that filled dancefloors throughout the 1960s and 1970s. This isn't a history lesson from someone looking in from the outside—it's told by someone who lived it. I was there during the boom years of soul and dance music, working as a DJ in Manchester's clubs between 1974 and 1979, including the legendary Soul Cellar. I also owned an independent record shop .Every episode features authentic Northern Soul and Soul music from the 60s and 70s

  1. 22h ago

    Uptown Upbeat & Up North

    Tonight, we’re going uptown, upbeat and up north with a selection of stomping soul — seven Northern Soul favourites packed with groove, rhythm, energy and that unmistakable Northern beat.Before podcasts, playlists and streaming, When I was a club DJ, my job was simple: make people move. It wasn’t enough to play a good record. You needed the right sound to get the dancefloor going.And stomping soul dancing was a spectacle in itself — fast feet, spins, kicks, drops and incredible energy, with dancers giving everything they had while the DJ kept the records coming.Tonight’s Magnificent Seven takes us through some fantastic soul records and the artists behind them, from Detroit and Memphis to the Northern Soul dancefloors of Britain.Turn it up, find yourself a bit of space and get ready for some serious stomping soul.The Magnificent Seven — Uptown, Upbeat & Up North.

  2. 2d ago

    Northern Soul Masterclass : The Lost and Forgotten

    What makes a Northern Soul Masterclass? It’s got to be obscure. It’s got to have the beat, the drive and, above all, that unmistakable Northern Soul feeling. Tonight, we’re digging deep for records that slipped under the radar — forgotten artists, unreleased recordings and tracks that spent years hiding away before being discovered by the Northern Soul scene.From The Platters and Gigi & the Charmaines to The Squires and The Sharpies, these are records with stories of their own — music recorded decades ago, but given a completely new life on British dance floors.No obvious classics. No overplayed favourites.Just great soul records waiting to be discovered.This is Northern Soul Masterclass — Hidden in the Groove

  3. 4d ago

    London Calling : The 100 Club

    London’s 100 Club has been part of British music history for generations — but its place in the Northern Soul story is particularly fascinating.Hidden away on Oxford Street, the club became an important meeting point for the capital’s soul scene during the 1960s and 1970s. While Manchester had the Twisted Wheel and Stoke-on-Trent had the Golden Torch, London had its own distinctive scene, with DJs and dancers searching out the latest and rarest American soul records.The 100 Club was never simply about one particular style. Jazz, rhythm and blues, modern soul and American soul all found a home there, creating an atmosphere where musical discovery mattered. For the young soul enthusiast, it was somewhere to hear records that weren't necessarily available in your local record shop — and to dance to music that was beginning to take on a life of its own in Britain.Its importance to Northern Soul lies in that connection with the wider underground soul movement. Long before Northern Soul became associated almost exclusively with Wigan Casino, clubs such as the 100 Club helped create the culture: dedicated dancers, knowledgeable DJs, imported American 45s and a determination to find something different.London had its own soul identity — sophisticated, fashionable and constantly changing — and the 100 Club was right at the heart of it.For our Northern Soul story, the 100 Club deserves its place among the important venues that helped shape the scene before it became a national phenomenon.

  4. 5d ago

    The Secret Record Labels Of Northern Soul

    This time, we go behind the music and into the world of the American record labels that helped create the sound we know as Northern Soul. From Detroit to Memphis, Washington D.C. to Los Angeles, we explore the small independent labels whose records were often overlooked in America but became treasured discoveries on British dancefloors.We’ll hear the stories behind Ric-Tic, Thelma, Cameo-Parkway, Mirwood, Karen, Goldwax — and the extraordinary Shrine Records, one of the rarest and most fascinating labels in the Northern Soul story.These labels weren't making records for Northern Soul. In many cases, they had disappeared long before the British scene discovered them. But DJs, collectors and dancers gave these forgotten recordings a completely new life.Expect rare sounds, forgotten artists, fascinating label stories and plenty of authentic Northern Soul — music that was made in America, discovered in Britain, and kept alive on the dancefloor.

  5. 5d ago

    Los Angeles : A City Making Soul

    Tonight, we're heading west — all the way to California — to discover a different side of the American soul story.Because Los Angeles wasn't just Hollywood, sunshine and movie stars.It had a serious soul scene of its own. Los Angeles became an important home for rhythm and blues and soul. And then came Mirwood.Founded in Los Angeles in nineteen sixty-five, Mirwood created a sound that would eventually become synonymous with Northern Soul in Britain. Jackie Lee, The Olympics, Bobby Garrett and others produced those fast, vibrant dance records that British collectors would later dig out and turn into Northern Soul favourites.And that's the fascinating part.Some of these records weren't huge American hits.Many were overlooked.But British soul fans heard something in them.The rhythm.The arrangements.The energy.The sound of Los Angeles.So tonight we're going to explore the city through its soul records — from Mirwood and its famous dancefloor sound to the lesser-known artists and labels that helped create the West Coast soul story.Because Los Angeles may be famous for Hollywood...But hidden among the palm trees, freeways and bright lights was another city. A city making soul.

  6. Sep 27

    1981 Wigan Casino :The Last Night

    December 1981. Wigan Casino is preparing for its final all-nighter. For eight years, this legendary venue had stood at the heart of the Northern Soul scene. Thousands of dancers had passed through its doors, chasing rare records, unforgettable sounds and the feeling of being part of something that belonged to them. But to understand the significance of that final night, we need to go back to 1973 — when Wigan Casino first opened its doors to the Northern Soul world. From the excitement of those early all-nighters to the records, DJs, dancers and culture that made Wigan unique, this episode follows the story through to December 1981, when the doors finally closed. One venue. Eight extraordinary years. And one final night that would become part of Northern Soul history.

  7. Sep 26

    1969 The Northern Soul years : The Year it all Began

    Northern Soul Years: 1969 — The Year It All Began Step back to 1969 — the year I believe Northern Soul truly began to take shape.Just before the dawn of the 1970s, the influence of the Mods, American soul music and the all-night club culture were beginning to merge into something new. From the Twisted Wheel in Manchester to the clubs of London, dancers, DJs and record collectors were searching for music that was different, exciting and made for the dancefloor.In this episode, we explore that fascinating crossroads between the Mod era and the emerging Northern Soul scene, looking at the clubs, the music, the dancers and the records that helped lay the foundations for what was to come.1969 was a remarkable year in its own right — from the Moon landing to the cultural impact of The Beatles and the release of the iconic British film The Italian Job.But beneath all of that, in dark clubs and packed dancefloors, something else was happening.Northern Soul was beginning.This is Northern Soul Years: 1969 — The Year It All Began.

    1969 The Northern Soul years : The Year it all Began

  8. Sep 24

    1973: The Northern Soul Years

    1973 — When Wigan Arrived: We step back into 1973, a year of contradictions. Glam rock ruled Top of the Pops, Britain faced strikes, inflation and industrial unrest, package holidays were taking off, and by Christmas the country was heading into the Three-Day Week.But after dark, another Britain was coming alive.Northern Soul was growing around American records that had mostly been created during the 1960s — rare, forgotten and often virtually unknown in Britain. Then, in September 1973, Wigan Casino opened its doors, changing the scale and visibility of the scene forever.We'll look at the music, the fashions, the cars, the cinema, the changing British lifestyle and the Northern Soul underground — and ask how a culture built around old records became something completely new. .1973: the music wasn't new — but the obsession was.

    1973: The Northern Soul Years
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About

This Is the Northern Soul Podcast, its a journey back to the golden years of Northern Soul, featuring the rare, obscure and unforgettable sounds that filled dancefloors throughout the 1960s and 1970s. This isn't a history lesson from someone looking in from the outside—it's told by someone who lived it. I was there during the boom years of soul and dance music, working as a DJ in Manchester's clubs between 1974 and 1979, including the legendary Soul Cellar. I also owned an independent record shop .Every episode features authentic Northern Soul and Soul music from the 60s and 70s

Information

  • Creator
    Colin Skehan
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2026
  • Episodes
    64
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Colin Skehan
  • Show Website
    The Northern Soul Podcast

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