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OED Word Of The Day - Northern Soul
Northern Soul, n.
Pronunciation: Brit. /ˌnɔːðn ˈsəʊl/, U.S. /ˌnɔrðərn ˈsoʊl/
Forms: also with lower-case initial(s).
Etymology: < northern adj. + soul n.; apparently coined by Dave Godin, a columnist for the magazine Blues & Soul (see quot. 1971 at sense 1).
Brit.
1. A British youth movement originating in the north of England in the early 1970s, centred around dance clubs and characterized by an enthusiasm for (esp. obscure) American soul music of the 1960s. Freq. attrib.
1971 D. Godin in Blues & Soul 10–23 Sept. 21/3 Maybe there are some who read this in the Southern part of Britain who find it hard to understand just why I rave so much about the Northern Soul scene.
1979 D. Hebdige Subculture ii. 25 Northern Soul‥brought its subterranean tradition of fast, jerky rhythms, solo dance styles and amphetamines.
1995 ‘C. Croker’ in Comet Gain Casino Classics (record sleeve-notes), Presenting their Floor-Shaker Revue, a Northern Soul tour of the nation's casinos.
2. Any of various types of American soul music associated with this movement, often characterized by an energetic tempo and strong brass orchestration; (later also) British music which imitates the sound of 1960s American soul.
1979 D. Hebdige Subculture v. 85 Existing youth cultural options (punks, Northern Soul enthusiasts, heavy metal rockers, football fans, mainstream pop, ‘respectable’, etc.).
1989 Independent (Nexis) 23 Jan. 14 There are two kinds of skinhead, Original Skins like me who're into ska and bluebeat and northern soul and scooters; and the Oi Skins.
1999 Muzik June 39/1 Iran's Most Wanted impressed us no end‥by coming up on the night and asking him to spin some Northern soul.
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Dave Godin
Was at Sheffield City Poly at the same time as me, although at the time, I had no idea that he was such a big noise in the music scene and I didn't actually know him.
He was a mature student studying (I think) film history at the Psalter Lane Art College site. The only reason I knew anything about him was that he used to stand up and speak at student union meetings. It was all very left wing and militant in those days - the hard left were the vociferous ones, by and large - Socialist Workers' Party and the Women's Group in particular. Dave Godin always tried to put a different view across.
He did run for union president on a gay anarcho-libertarian ticket, which didn't get him very far. The winner that year was the president of the rag committee (who was as un-PC as they came), which showed that most students were sick of the rather dour and puritanical left wingers who monopolised most of the debates.
Dave Godin went on to run the Anvil Civic Cinema for Sheffield Council - it was Sheffield's first art house cinema and the forerunner of today's Showroom cinema. It was a dreadful place (it had previously been a privately-run 3 screen cinema and the smaller screens were like glorified broom cupboards) beneath the Grosvenor House Hotel, but I saw some great films there.
gay anarcho-libertarian
More arrows to his quiver then. I never knew. What I do know is that his VA comps. Dave Godin's Deep Soul Treasures Vols. 1-3 rank as some of the best soul comps. On a par with the lauded Kent comps. and outstanding in a crowded field.
Sadly missed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Godin
must admit to no knowledge
of Dave Godin's life and sad death. However, I do have the CDs he compiled and it introduced me to so much great music that again I had no knowledge of previously. A little late for an R.I.P but a hopelessly belated thank you for the legacy of love for Soul you left.
Barbara Lynn "You'll Lose A Good Thing"
http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=jAnSyQA_fT4
It always cheers me up with the endless
mithering and too cool for school name dropping around "Northern Soul" especially by my fellow Northerners that the term was mostly likely coined at 14 (?) Deptford High St in Dave Godin's shop.