The Wigan Casino - Tony Palmer

The Wigan Casino was not a gambling den near Manchester, anymore than The Road to Wigan Pier by George Orwell is about a funfair by the seaside, although curiously the two are inextricably related. The Wigan Casino was a dance hall and home to Northern Soul’ at the height of its fashion in the mid- to late 70s in the centre of a once prosperous manufacturing town, once bursting with cotton mills, now brought low by economic hard times. It remains the most famous club in Northern England. 

Sons Books

The Rare Soul Bible (Dave Rimmer) - This book is a route map for the serious Soul Vinyl Addict. 

Sons Inspirations

JJ Barnes - As an American R&B singer he first recorded in 1960. His early releases including “Just One More Time” and “Please Let Me In”, on the record labels Mickay and Ric-Tic, had relatively little success, but were subsequently picked up as Northern soul favorites. He also covered The Beatles’ “Day Tripper””, before moving for a short period to Motown.

Jimmy Ricks

Jimmy Ricks was born in Adrian, Georgia before his family relocated to Florida. During World War 2, he moved to New York where he worked as a waiter at the 400 Tavern in Harlem (148th Street & St. Nicholas Ave).

Whilst there, he met Warren ‘Birdland’ Suttles who originally hailed from Alabama. In early 1946, they decided to form a vocal group and recruited… (read the rest of the article here)

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KTF

Steve Sayles 1997

Find out what the four classes are here.

Sons Books

Northern Soul: Music, Drugs and Subcultural Identity (Andrew Wilson) - This book provides a vivid historical ethnography of the 1970s Northern Soul Scene, drawing on the author’s personal involvement in this as well as extensive research. The book examines how cultural patterns and normative standards are established through individual practices and group interaction,and aims to show how participants in the scene became converted to actions that they once thought unacceptable - for a substantial majority this was amphetamine use, and for a minority, opiate use and burglary.

Sons Favourite Places

Save the the Twisted Wheel/Legends Club - Opened in 1963 the club was one of the first clubs to play the music that became known as Northern Soul. The Twisted Wheel Club moved to it’s new home in Placemate 7 (now Legends/The Outpost) on Whitworth Street, in 1966 where it still holds hugely popular events twice a month.

Sons Inspirations

The Four Seasons - An American rock and pop band who became internationally successful in the mid-1960s. They are one of the best-selling musical groups of all time, having sold 175 million records worldwide.

The new single from The Novellos “The Lady is Not For Turning” is out on 2nd July.

You can pre order the single now from Rough Trade or Piccadilly Records.

A full list of world wide stockists can be found on The Novellos brand new website.

Something to look forward to…