Keeping the Faith: A History of Northern Soul

The Northern Soul scene emerged in Britain during the late 1960s and 1970s and it is a cultural and music scene largely associated with the 1970s. Initially, American soul music arrived in Britain during the 1960s either through the work of leading African-American recording stars especially on the Motown or Stax label or as music made by lesser known artists which was sought after by collectors in Britain. From the late 1960s this was known as the ‘rare soul’ scene. These were recordings from artists who had been unsuccessful or had only made one or a couple of recordings or where on smaller and rarer US labels or where from mainstream soul artists, but were not commercially successful or were recorded before they had achieved fame. The soul underground’ was one of particular interest to the British ‘Mods’ (‘Modernist’) movement during the 1960s mainly in the major cities and especially in London