Magazine & Web Site

A Reasoned Argument.

All recorded music is pop music. Whatever the style, era, technology used to record it, it is all pop music. Simply because the aim of the person making the recording is to make it popular with others, thus the inherent design of recorded music is to be 'pop' music, and one would assume that Pop music is regarded as a disposable art form. However, several other factors are also significant in deciding whether a record can be considered of value, both monetary, and historical value.

I intend, using examples that are available in both printed and electronic media, to prove that certain records, of a certain style can be considered to be of considerable historical value, based upon their place within the socio-economic development of a culture in the United States of America during the 1960s, and their place as the basis for a whole underground culture within the United Kingdom during the 1970s, which has now spread world wide.

I have already mentioned that pop music is regarded as a disposable art form. Certainly in the late 1950s and early 1960s when the term pop music was first used, and significantly when the 7" vinyl record was introduced (as opposed to the 10" 78rpm record) the whole aim of most recording artists was to get a hit single.

Consequently, as the teenage market expanded, many thousands of groups and solo artists recorded their debut single. For most, it would be a one off attempt at stardom, the record would not sell, so they would be consigned to history without making any impact upon the charts.

Things were slightly different for the Black communities in America though.

When slavery was abolished in the United States of America it meant different things in theory and practice. The vast majority of Black Afro Americans were employed as slaves working in the South of the country on cotton plantations. Following the abolition of slavery the vast majority of Black Afro Americans were employed as employees working in the South of the country on cotton plantations. They were still poor, still had the worst living conditions, and were still discriminated against in the worst possible ways. The simple reason that they remained working on cotton plantations was that no other work was available to them as Blacks. Slavery might have been abolished, but that didn't change the political attitudes of the land owners and employers.

The first real changes came about almost Sixty years later when the industrial cities of the North needed a large influx of cheap labour to work in the factories that had greatly increased production, partly because of the war, and then throughout the 1950s as a result of consumer demand. This cheap labour came from a significant migration of Black Afro Americans from the South to the North of the States. Things didn't change that much, the Blacks still had the worst jobs, the worst pay and the worst living conditions, however, they were better off than they had been working on the plantations in the South.

By the late 1950s, things had improved considerably in the industrialised North, segregation still existed, but Blacks were able to earn a reasonable living wage. However, they still had the worst living conditions and the worst jobs. Traditionally it was regarded that the only way out of the 'ghetto' was through sports, boxing in particular never showed any racial bias against Black boxers, evidenced by the fact that there was a Black world heavyweight champion as far back as the 1940s. The 1950s though presented another route out of the ghetto; music.

The story of young Black teenagers hanging about on street corners and singing to amuse themselves is well documented elsewhere, suffice to say that Rhythm and Blues, and Doo Wop were the Black equivalent of Rock and Roll, in fact many of the Rock and Roll hit records were simply white cover versions of Black originals, re-recorded with the same tune, even the same inflection on the vocals, but by a white artist. This reflected the segregation that existed within society as a whole at this time, there was the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and the Race chart. Black American youth had found a way to express itself, admittedly within it's own culture, but status and money could be earned from being a recording artist.

The 1960s heralded the first real advances for Black Americans. As a culture, Black Americans had become politically aware, the end of segregation was in sight, white politicians had realised that Black voters could significantly affect elections. Race riots tore apart some cities, Dr Martin Luther King was assassinated, the Civil Rights movement became headline news and featured on television news almost every day. Integration into mainstream society was, certainly by the early 1970s, the way that America had to proceed.

It is against this backdrop that the specific genre of Soul music developed. Soul music was the refinement of the vocal groups of the Doo Wop and Rhythm and Blues era in the '50s caused by the combination of those styles with the strong Gospel roots that most Black Americans still retained.

In order to illustrate the effect and influence of Soul music I have chosen to use the Motown Records Group based in Detroit, whilst Motown became the largest independently Black owned corporation in America I could just as easily have used Chess Records in Chicago, Atlantic Records in New York, King Records in Cinncinatti, Modern Records in Los Angeles, Stax Records in Memphis, and these are just the main record companies within those cities.

Motown records was started in 1959 by Berry Gordy Jr with a loan of $800 from his family Credit Union. At it's inception Motown was no different than any other of the many hundreds of record companies within Detroit, However Berry Gordy was a remarkable business man with true vision. He surrounded himself with talented young Black performers, and experienced white business men. This combined with the songwriting talents of William 'Smokey' Robinson, and Brian and Eddie Holland with Gene Dozier almost ensured that the company would get hits. Probably even more significantly, Berry Gordy wanted his records to be hits in the white market place. This was a crucial marketing tactic. A record by a Black American could be a local hit in Detroit and sell in excess of 50,000 copies to the Black market alone, and assuming the Record company was honest, could give the artist a very healthy income (Although it was recognised that the real income from a hit record came not from the record itself, but from the monies generated by touring on the back of a hit record). However, if the same record became a national hit in the white market it could easily sell in excess of 3,000,000 copies. Consequently, the tours used bigger venues, and ran for longer thus generated far more money for the artist.

It must be remembered though, that whilst I have named several record companies in several cities, these are only the tip of the iceberg in terms of records released. For each record released by Motown, in Detroit alone there would have been five or six other releases by independent Record Companies. As with all businesses, some were successful, others disappeared without trace at the time of release. Some like Ric-Tic Records became a challenger for Motown's crown in Detroit. Berry Gordy solved this aspect of competition by buying Ric-Tic Records in 1968 for what was a huge sum in those days, a reputed million Dollars.

A whole generation of American teenagers, both Black and white grew up listening to "The Sound Of Young America" (One of Motown Records' advertising slogans). Those teenagers are now in middle age, and a large number are in considerable positions of power and influence within the large American corporations that dominate the global economy these days. It is not without significance that the music they first heard thirty five years ago is commonly used as the background music to many commercial advertising campaigns.

That wasn't the only affect upon American society. The Vietnam war saw the draft calling up what has now been proven as a disproportionate number of young Black Americans to fight in Vietnam. There wasn't a particularly strong movement amongst Black Americans to oppose the war. They felt that they had only just been accepted as Americans, so they were proud to go and fight for their country. That's why the music that accompanied the troops to Vietnam was Black music overall. Listen to the soundtrack to the Robin Williams film 'Good morning Vietnam'. Pure soul music throughout. That's also the reason why the protest songs about the war tended to come from the disenchanted white Rock and Roll music scene.

Black music though did have it's own protest songs in the 1960s and 1970s. Artists such as James Brown, Marvin Gaye, Curtis Mayfield, and The Temptations all had hits which were social commentaries on the political state of America. It was recognised that great advances had been made throughout the Sixties in terms of equality in most areas, and by the mid 1970s, Black Americans wanted equality in all areas of their lives, and felt that it had been achieved.

By the mid 1970s Black Americans had moved from living entirely in the ghettos, having the worst education, and working in the worst jobs, to being able to access higher education all over the country, thus leading to better paid jobs, and better social conditions. The role models for the generation which achieved the level of integration that existed by this time were the sportsmen and women, singers, and record company owners who had become nationally known during the Sixties and early Seventies.

The style of Black music also changed during the mid Seventies, Disco records became the in-demand sound. Many artists who had previously been recognised as Soul singers made the transition to Disco records successfully. Many did not, thus the whole genre of Soul music became pressured by reducing demand and many previously successful recording artists careers ended in the mid 1970s.

It is only recently in the United States that the social and historical significance of these recordings has been recognised. As the prominence of Black Americans in business and politics has increased these people have realised that they were inspired and guided by the music of their youth, and only now, with hindsight is the value of these recordings being realised.

Several museums have been established across America to commemorate and celebrate these pioneers of the music world. Certainly Detroit has 'The Hitsville Museum' based at the original Motown building on West Grand Boulevard. Chicago similarly has the Chess recording studio Museum in their original building. Cinncinatti has the King Records Museum, and Memphis, having used Graceland as it's major tourist attraction for many years is now investing nearly a million Dollars in a museum for Stax records. In addition, several books have been published over the last ten years. Some are artist biographies, some chart the history of Record Companies, and some chart the socio-economic effect of Soul music upon America.

To summarise the argument for recognising 7" 45rpm Soul records as having significant historical value in America I would direct you to the dictionary definitions contained within the Merriam-Webster Dictionary.

Main Entry: sig·nif·i·cant
Pronunciation: -k&nt
Function: adjective
Etymology: Latin significant-, significans, present participle of significare to signify
Date: 1579
1 : having meaning;
2 a : having or likely to have influence or effect : IMPORTANT <a significant piece of legislation>; also : of a noticeably or measurably large amount

Main Entry: his·tor·i·cal
Pronunciation: -i-k&l
Function: adjective
Date: 15th century
1 a : of, relating to, or having the character of history b : based on history c : used in the past and reproduced in historical presentations
2 : famous in history

Main Entry: ¹val·ue
Pronunciation: 'val-(")yü
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French, from (assumed) Vulgar Latin valuta, from feminine of valutus, past participle of Latin valEre to be worth, be strong
Date: 14th century
1 : a fair return or equivalent in goods, services, or money for something exchanged
2 : the monetary worth of something : marketable price
3 : relative worth, utility, or importance

Consequently, given that the records produced in the 1960's and 1970s can be judged to have or likely to have influence or effect, based on history, they must also have relative worth, utility, or importance.

In other words: Significant Historical Value.

So how does this apply in the UK ?

The world record price for a 7" American 45rpm record is currently £15,000. This huge amount was paid in 1998 by Scotsman Kenny Burrell. One would not be criticised for assuming that Mr Burrell was either mad or a fool for paying this much for one single. He is neither. He is an extremely successful business man in Scotland, and he is also a Northern Soul fan.

Northern Soul music is the longest running underground cult music scene that has ever existed. The scene, it's values, it's music, it's culture, and it's adherents form a paradox that appears impenetrable to the outsider, but the basis of a lifestyle for those on the inside.

To explain this further, one would have to go back to 1964, when the Mods were doing battle with the Rockers on Brighton seafront every Bank Holiday weekend. The Mod movement was born in London from very much the same socio-economic roots as the revolution that hit American teenagers in the same period. For the first time, young people began to gain an identity which could be regarded as different from what had gone before. Throughout the 1940s and 1950s teenagers were just regarded as young adults (Or if they dared to be different were regarded as "the wrong crowd"). By the 1960s teenagers had gained an important foothold in the economic market, they had money to spend, and wanted to spend it on themselves.

Fashions came and went, both clothes, music, methods of transport. All became vitally important in the lives of teenagers, and they had the money to support their trend setting habits. The Mods, either by luck or design, decided that their choice of music was going to be American Soul music. It was 'cool and right up to the minute', both pre-requisites for any Mod. However, like most trends within four years the Mod movement in London and the South had been replaced by the latest fashion, which didn't include Soul music.

Things took a different route in the North and Midlands though. Whilst the dedication to fashion was just as strong in the North, the music played a much stronger role. Clubs like The Twisted Wheel in Manchester developed a whole scene based around Mods, and more specifically their love of Soul music. So much so that the only magazine dedicated to Soul music in the UK, but based in London, sent their star reporter, Dave Godin, to see what all the fuss was about in Manchester. The resultant article was printed in 1970, and titled "The Soul Of The North". Unbeknown to Dave Godin, his article was to establish an identity for an underground cult which still exists today, 31 years later.

Eventually the Twisted Wheel club was closed by the Police in 1971 amidst allegations of drug abuse at the allnighters that they ran on a Saturday night. The Twisted Wheel was not the only club playing all night Soul music though, clubs abounded all over the North and Midlands. Sheffield boasted the King Mojo (Owned at the time by Peter Stringfellow). Crewe had the Blue Orchid, Doncaster, The Bin Lid, Wolverhampton, The Catacombs, so the scene carried on.

At this time, all the records which were played were British releases of American records, there were significant problems with importing records up until 1972 (Mostly the fact that prior to 1972 it was actually illegal to import records !) so the dancers and DJs had to rely on British record companies releasing records made by American artists.

In the late 1960s, The Golden Torch Ballroom, in Tunstall, Stoke On Trent, was bought by a local entrepreneur called Chris Burton. It was an old cinema which had already been converted into a nightclub and was used to provide a venue for many of the 'Beat Groups' who played around the Country. Both the Beatles and The Rolling Stones are reputed to have played at the venue prior to becoming big name stars in the late Sixties. However, by 1971, and spurred on by the closure of the Twisted Wheel, Chris Burton decided to try running Northern Soul allnighters every Saturday night.

This coincided with the relaxation of the law on imported American records. Up until this time, the UK record companies had only been releasing, in the vast majority, Soul records that had been hits in America. This meant that whilst the major companies in America had an outlet in the UK, all the smaller independent releases had never been heard in this country. The relaxation of the law meant that imports flooded into the country, highly desirable, as status symbols, and as reputation builders. The best DJs had the best records, therefore got to DJ at the best clubs.

The Torch was eventually closed in 1973, again following allegations of drug abuse, but on the actual basis of overcrowding at the club and nuisance to neighbours from club goers leaving the venue on a Sunday morning. By this time though the music had established itself as a lifestyle, with its own culture, trends, to a certain degree even its own language. Collecting records had also become a very important part of this scene.

In late 1973, 23^rd September to be exact, a night club in Wigan, Lancashire, called the Casino opened it's doors for its first allnighter. Over the next eight years, the Casino would become a legend in Northern Soul terms. Eventually over 25,000 people became members of the club, it was voted No 1 Night-club in the world (With the world famous Studio 54 in New York in second place.), and regularly packed in excess of 2,500 members in at every Saturday night allnighter.

The record collector culture came to the fore at Wigan, with DJs and collectors travelling to the States on a regular basis to search through the warehouses containing the abandoned Sixties Soul singles that nobody in America wanted at that time. Values of records became astronomical, the rarity of the record affected the value, but more often the popularity of the record on the dance floor determined the value. It has to be remembered that in the 1960s, a record pressing plant in America would accept a minimum order of 300 singles. Consequently, if that single failed to sell, the record company would not have any other records pressed up, meaning that only 300 would ever exist. Ten years later, in Lancashire, if that record became a really big in-demand sound, it would soar in value. Over the eight years of its allnighters the Casino DJs must have found and played in excess of 100,000 different American Soul records, sometimes, multiple copies of records would be found so the price dropped drastically, on occasions, only one or two copies of a record would be found, making them almost priceless.

That brings us back to Mr Burrell and his £15,000 single. The record itself, "Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)" by Frank Wilson became one of the biggest anthems of Wigan Casino. The story is well documented, by The Scottish Daily Mirror amongst others, suffice to say that only two copies have ever been found of the record. The second one being the copy that Mr Burrell bought in 1998. Consequently it has not only maintained its value, but has become even more of a collectors most wanted single.

Wigan Casino closed in 1981, as a result of a planned town centre development this time. Many of the scene's followers left at this time. They imagined that their youthful pastimes were over and it was time to get a career, married and have children. The Northern Soul scene still continued, but on a much smaller scale. Clubs in Stafford, Warrington, Bradford, and of all places London, took up the mantle of being 'the standard bearer for the ultimate underground music scene'.

One would have thought that eventually the reduction in numbers attending events would have killed the Northern Soul scene off. Of course, the opposite happened. As most of the people who left after Wigan Casino closed reached their late Thirties they had, generally, established themselves in their chosen careers, got married, and had children who were now growing up. They also had a greater disposable income than at any time previous in their lives. The rejuvenation of the Northern Soul scene was gradual but persistent. To the extent that there are probably now as many people attending Northern Soul nights all over he country as there ever were back in the 1970s.

Northern Soul is still an underground movement, but these days the there has been a subtle change in the definition of underground. As with America, the teenagers who discovered Soul music have now reached middle age, they have quite important, powerful, well paid jobs, and are in a position to influence the media quite extensively. Remember, if all 25,000 members of Wigan Casino want to buy a CD, it will outsell everything else in the charts and become a number one album.

Furthermore, the same age group of people have now held ex patriot Northern Soul nights in the following countries: Australia, The Philippines, Japan, Hong Kong, Italy, Austria, Germany, Spain, France, Canada, and surprisingly, The United States of America. At each of these venues the records have been fond memories for the English and Scottish attendees, but brand new records for the indigenous people who attended, and were on the whole of a younger generation. So the music, and culture, will continue on for at least one more generation.

So, as with all professions, there are Northern Soul fans in the media. Several books have been written on the scene, some describing specific clubs, some the scene itself. Several television documentaries have been shown, and Radio Two has now broadcast two series of six shows specifically about Northern Soul.

There are specialist record companies dedicated to producing CDs for the Northern Soul scene. Two in particular, Kent Records, and Goldmine / Soul Supply have now released well over 100 CDs each. One would have thought that the availability of so many records on CD would have killed the market place for original vinyl 45s. Again, the paradox that is the Northern Soul scene, dumbfounds outsiders to the scene. The demand for original vinyl 45s has soared, to a level that is probably higher than at any stage over the last 40 years.

The buyers of these records are in the main middle aged men and women who wish to re-establish the record collections they had in their youth. These records were the soundtrack to their teenage years, and in many cases, were records that they owned when they were teenagers. With fairly large disposable incomes, and the dedication of the slightly obsessed collector, the record buyers have bestowed upon these records a different set of values to those in America.

They may be different values, and may well be approached from a different perspective, but it does not lessen that fact that in the UK the records have a significant historical value for a whole generation of teenagers throughout the late Sixties to early Eighties.

So, to summarise the argument for recognising 7" 45rpm Soul records as having significant historical value in the UK I would again direct you to the dictionary definitions contained within the Merriam-Webster Dictionary.

Main Entry: sig·nif·i·cant
Pronunciation: -k&nt
Function: adjective
Etymology: Latin significant-, significans, present participle of significare to signify
Date: 1579
1 : having meaning;
2 a : having or likely to have influence or effect : IMPORTANT <a significant piece of legislation>; also : of a noticeably or measurably large amount

Main Entry: his·tor·i·cal
Pronunciation: -i-k&l
Function: adjective
Date: 15th century
1 a : of, relating to, or having the character of history b : based on history c : used in the past and reproduced in historical presentations
2 : famous in history

Main Entry: ¹val·ue
Pronunciation: 'val-(")yü
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English, from Middle French, from (assumed) Vulgar Latin valuta, from feminine of valutus, past participle of Latin valEre to be worth, be strong
Date: 14th century
1 : a fair return or equivalent in goods, services, or money for something exchanged
2 : the monetary worth of something : marketable price
3 : relative worth, utility, or importance

Consequently, given that the records produced in the 1960's and 1970s and listened to by a British audience in the 1970's up until today can be judged to have or likely to have influence or effect, based on history, they must also have relative worth, utility, or importance.

In other words: Significant Historical Value.

As a final point, I would return to Mr Burrell. Can you imagine anyone, especially a Scotsman, investing £15,000 of their hard earned money in buying one record if they didn't think it was of significant historical value ?

Dave Rimmer.

April 2001.