The 7 best Northern Soul tracks of all time
Northern Soul
Not a style anyone recorded — a style of listening. Northern English all-nighters from 1970 built a canon out of failed American soul 45s, prizing a fast four-four stomp and obscurity itself as a value.
Autoplay · 6 of 7 play here · plays through and starts again
Swipe the list left or right to move through the queue
/
Dobie Gray / Out on the Floor
A song about dancing all night that flopped in America and became a commandment in Lancashire. The Wigan anthem, and it sounds like it was written for the room it found.
Frank Wilson / Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)
A Motown producer's one attempt at singing, withdrawn before release. Two copies are known to survive; one sold for a five-figure sum, which is the scene's economics in a sentence.
Jimmy Radcliffe / Long After Tonight Is Over
One of the three records that closed the Casino at eight in the morning, and the most desolate. Nobody who was there talks about it casually.
No verified video yet · not in the queue
Gloria Jones / Tainted Love
A B-side nobody bought, resurrected on the Northern circuit, and then turned by Soft Cell into a global synth-pop hit. The original is faster and considerably angrier.
Yvonne Baker / You Didn't Say a Word
Intro, chorus, and no time wasted. Northern soul favoured records that start at full speed, and this is the purest example of the preference.
Tobi Legend / Time Will Pass You By
The last of the Casino's three closing records. A warning about wasting your youth, played to people who had spent the night doing exactly that.