Main content
Sorry, this episode is not currently available

Northern Soul - Keep the Faith

Northern Soul marked the birth of late-night dance culture in Britain. Paul Mason discovers the origin of this underground music scene and why it inspires so much devotion.

Northern Soul marked the birth of late-night dance culture in Britain. Paul Mason, economics journalist and once a regular at the famous 'all-nighters' at Wigan Casino, discovers the origin of this underground music scene and why it continues to inspire such devotion.

Many of the songs that eventually became Northern Soul classics were once rejected or unreleased. Recorded in the 1960s by African-American artists attempting to replicate the successful Motown sound, these discarded tracks would later be rediscovered and revered by white working-class dancers and music fans in the north of England.

Paul Mason tells the extraordinary story of Northern Soul and the dance culture that sprang up around it, influencing musicians, choreographers and filmmakers and growing into a global phenomenon.

30 minutes

Music Played

  • Sandi Sheldon

    You're Gonna Make Me Love You

  • Earl Jackson

    Soul Self Satisfaction

  • The Exciters

    Blowing Up My Mind

  • The Precisions

    If This Is Love

  • Stevie Wonder

    Uptight

  • Major Lance

    It's The Beat

  • The Supremes

    Baby Love

  • The Vel-Vets

    I Got To Find Me Somebody

  • The Parliaments

    I Wanna Testify

  • Cobblestone

    Trick Me, Treat Me

  • The Vibrations

    Cause You're Mine

  • 7th Avenue Aviators

    You Should Have Held On

  • Turley Richards

    I Feel Alright

  • Dobie Gray

    Out On The Floor

  • Inner City

    Good Life

  • The Carstairs

    It Really Hurts Me Girl

  • Gil Scott‐Heron

    The Bottle

  • Jimmy Radcliffe

    Long After Tonight Is All Over

  • Holly St. James

    That's Not Love

  • Gene Chandler

    There Was A Time

  • Gloria Jones

    Tainted Love

  • The Jades

    I'm Where It's At

  • JΓ³nsi & Alex

    All Animals

  • Tobi Legend

    Time Will Pass You By

Credits

Role Contributor
Director Maurice O'Brien
Series Editor Janet Lee
Presenter Paul Mason

Broadcasts

ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Arts

The best of British art and culture at your fingertips