50 at 50 – Northern Soul Songs

A retrospective of the first fifty years of my life, picking fifty items that resonate with me. This one is about Northern Soul songs. Ones released in 1970 or after. This is tricky, as although the scene really took off in the early seventies, a lot of the ‘rare’ soul singles that were being picked up and played were forgotten items from the sixties. They may well have got reissues on different labels and become chart hits in the seventies or later, but where this is the case I’ve tried to leave them off the list, instead treating their release date as the original release date. For every song on this list, I had to discard four others because they were originally released before 1970.

There are some on this list that purists would dismiss as not being Northern Soul, as they are covers, or were commercially successful at the time, or just as being too modern (some great Acid Jazz releases included). But they all have that four on the floor Northern Soul vibe regardless. Plus there are at least two records on here that Northern Soul snobs hate, so I’ve picked them on purpose. Plus there are no Motown releases included, I did a separate list for Motown, though a couple of its subsidiary labels’ releases are included.

The first one on the list is one of those, and of course it’s got a wider audience of hate since Donald Trump has taken to whipping out pieces of paper with the lyrics to it on them and reading them out at his rallies.

  1. Al Wilson – The Snake
  2. James Fountain – Seven Day Lover
  3. The Carstairs – It Really Hurts Me Girl
  4. The M.V.P.s – Turning My Heartbeat Up
  5. Jimmy Castor Bunch – Trogladyte (Cave Man)
  6. Dennis Coffey & Detroit Guitar Band – Scorpio
  7. Don Thomas – Come On Train
  8. Eloise Laws – Love Factory
  9. Joe Tex – Under Your Powerful Love
  10. The 8th Day – Rocks In My Head
  11. Soul Searchers – Ashley’s Roachclip
  12. Dobie Gray – Out On The Floor
  13. Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons – The Night
  14. Frances Nero – Footsteps Following Me
  15. Billy Butler – The Right Track
  16. Just Brothers – Sliced Tomatoes
  17. Edwin Starr – Back Street
  18. Reggie Garner – Hotline
  19. Toney Lee – Reach Up
  20. Pharrell Williams – Happy
  21. Nolan Parker – If I Could Only Be Sure
  22. Wayne Gibson – Under My Thumb
  23. The Voices Of East Harlem – Cashing IN
  24. Bobby Hutton – Lend A Hand
  25. The Drifters – You Got To Pay Your Dues
  26. Lou Pride – I’m Com’un Home In The Morning
  27. Men Of North Country – Debut
  28. The Dilemmas – Fahrenheit
  29. Lord Large & Dean Parrish – Left, Right and Centre
  30. Lord Large featuring Clem Curtis – Stuck In A Wind Up
  31. Men Of North Country – I’m Comun’ Home In The Morning
  32. Filthy Six – Girlfriend
  33. Milk – Hometown
  34. The Prophets – I Got The Fever
  35. Fascinations – Girls Are Out To Get You
  36. The Pointer Sisters – Send Him Back
  37. Nolan Parker – Keep On Keeping On
  38. Millie Jackson – My Man, A Sweet Man
  39. Billy Woods – Let Me Make You Happy
  40. Otis Smith – Let Her Go
  41. The Exciters – Reaching For The Best
  42. Levi Jackson – This Beautiful Day
  43. Jimmy James – A Man Like Me
  44. Curtis Mayfield – Move On Up
  45. Mr Flood’s Party – Compared To What
  46. Bobby Sheen – Something New To Do
  47. The Skullsnaps – I’m Your Pimp
  48. Millie Jackson – A House For Sale
  49. Armada Orchestra – Philly Armada
  50. Laura Lee – If I’m Good Enough To Love (I’m Good Enough To Marry)

Now, where did I leave my talc?