Interview with Judy Street - 07/02/2014 - Written by Michael Thomas

Interview with Judy Street - 07/02/2014 - Written by Michael Thomas

Image provided by Judy Street

I had the fortune of interviewing Judy over the phone on the 7^th of February 2014. Judy was speaking from Nashville, Tennessee where she resides; the following are just some excerpts from our conversation that spanned the decades of her musical career.

We began talking about my background (being from Stoke-on Trent) and soon moved onto her recent trip to Blackpool to play a gig at the Tower:

JS: It was the quickest tour of my entire life! That was the only time that I got to go there (to England) and it was ‘Wham bam thank you ma’am!’ (laughs) I mean it was ridiculous, in that it was so quick, I didn't get to see anything. I got to see Blackpool and I performed at the Blackpool Tower, I landed on the Saturday morning at 7am and departed on Monday morning at 8am!

MT: That really is a whirlwind tour!

JS:  It was not fun! Well, it was fun but it was way too quick, we’ll get into that later!

We moved onto discussing my past, working at a Northern Soul inspired Independent Record Label (SONS Records) in the Midlands – and my recent interviews with other Northern Soul icons such as Nolan Porter and Gloria Jones. Their desires to return and play in the UK brought us back to Judy’s upcoming plans:

JS: Well, I’m not sure if you’re aware, but I’m going to be in Preston, May the 16^th, at the ‘53 Degrees Club’ (http://www.53degrees.net/). I’ll be there with my promoter for that date Andrew Kirkham, I’m not sure of his capacity whether he’s the owner or promoter, but he has also booked me in for Edinburgh, Scotland, on  May the 23^rd at the ‘Minto Hotel’ (http://edinburghmintohotel.com/). For these two shows that he has put together, he requested and I've been thinking about after being in Blackpool, people asked if I would do a cover of Northern Soul Songs. I mean many people said ‘you’re a one off hit wonder woman’, which I’m well aware of! You know, ‘What’ is my song you know, but they all came by including Richard Searling (http://www.richardsearling.co.uk/) and Glenn Walker Foster the DJ (http://www.mixcloud.com/glenn-walker-foster/) said you need to do Northern Soul cover songs. So I’ve had a few requests to do a set as opposed to just ‘What’ and walk off. So I’m actually in the process of recording my CD of 10 Northern Soul cover songs for this particular tour. I’m real excited about it, it’s songs like ‘Do I Love you, Indeed I do’ (Frank Wilson), ‘It’ll Never Be Over for Me’ (Timi Yuro), ‘Long After Tonight Is All Over’  (Jimmy Radcliffe), ‘Hit and Run’ (Rose Battiste), and the other one I’m doing is Gloria Jones’ ‘Tainted Love’! I really wanted to do that one as I think it’s a funny story that Soft Cell covered ‘What’ and had a hit, and also covered ‘Tainted Love’ and had a hit with that! It’s just a kind of twist to the story that Marc Almond (of Soft Cell) had a hit with my song so I’ll cover the song he had a hit with (Tainted Love).

MT: So what do you think of the Soft Cell version (of ‘What’)?

JS: The Soft Cell version? Do I have to comment?! The 80s was not really very popular music for me anyway. That techno thing is just not my bag. I prefer melodies, chord changes, and yeah...

MT: Well, I think there are probably 80,000 followers of our page (facebook.com/northernsoulofficial)  that would likely agree with you!

JS: I’m sure; they (Northern Soul fans) did a thing a few years back on YouTube which was ‘Judy Street’ vs ‘Marc Almond’ – what’s your favourite? I think it was hands down, Judy Street! It was very cute, I loved and appreciated that, however, I still would like to meet Marc Almond, and mutual friends of ours said that he’d love to meet me too. So it’s one of my goals, I would like to meet him and shake his hand, thank him for covering my song and say ‘nice to meet you’ (laughs).

MT: I've found that since this page has become as big as it has, that we get a lot of people from the scene getting in touch, so maybe we’ll end up putting you two together.

JS: I looked on your page and saw that Nolan Porter was playing with that band ‘The Stone Foundation’ – I just think that’s a great story about how they got together. You know, they came to his rescue when his tracks were stolen, I thought that was so commendable that they just stepped right in and played for him on his tour, because something similar happened to me on the Blackpool tour. This isn’t on the record necessarily, but I had a track stolen from me while I was there at the Blackpool tower. Thankfully I had others but I was angry that someone would actually steal my track – it was quite sad. That was the only negative thing though – everything else was very fun, the people were amazing, there were 3,400 people and they all sang along, clapped, danced, it blew my mind it was so fun. That was the first time I’ve been able to perform it live for my fans, it was wonderful.

Judy Street performing at The Blackpool Tower - 2012

MT: Well the scene loves you – everytime that track is posted on our page, there is so much love out there for that song.

JS: The last thing on my artist page that a fan posted, a guy posted a video of his grandson that’s about 10 months old, sitting in a business chair, ‘What is on in the background’, this kid is bouncing around and beaming, is that adorable or what? We have the new generation ‘Keeping the Faith’!

MT: The next generation coming through, there’s a UK group dancing the same way as they did 40 years back (The Wigan Young Souls) – the scene has stayed strong to this day.

JS: Absolutely, I saw that at Blackpool Tower, the dancers that entered the contest were not parents, they were the kids! They were phenomenal. What amazing dancers, they were great. I would have loved to have been at Wigan in the 70s and seen it as it was.

At this point Judy’s dogs got a little vocal in the background until they were let out – back to the interview!

MT: So the first time you came to the UK was to do the gig in Blackpool. How open minded are you to come back and do more concerts across Europe and not just England?

JS: I was actually the one to start promoting the idea – that was when I got booked for the Blackpool Tower for the first time – And now that I’m returning and able to do more than just one track, I am so excited and thrilled, open to even playing as far as Barcelona!

MT: Well I was talking with Nolan Porter and Gloria Jones about the very same thing, it’s no secret that Northern Soul is popular as far as Spain.

JS:  You know what’s great about promoting this scene now? I don’t know about Nolan or Gloria, but I never ever benefited from being a part of the Northern Soul scene as it was, and it’s a shame. I guess it was for a reason and my life would have been different, and I’m thankful for being able to still sing and perform my song, and I would love be to a part of something with those other artists that are part of this genre. I think that it would be exciting to have those artists all together. You should try speaking with Eugene Thomas from the Epitome of Sound too.

Something that has always been on my mind, my producer H.B. Barnum, he was the writer of ‘What’, we have discussed that there should be a Northern Soul scene and event happening in Los Angeles. It would be a great way to promote it over here. People wouldn’t just come from the United States to see that but also from overseas to hear these artists all in the same place. You could have 8-10 artists all in the same place.

Also when I was over there (Blackpool) with my son, we took a lot of video, we wanted to put together the story of how unique the Northern Soul artists were and are – but we haven’t had the opportunity to place that, to put that out there in the United States. We interviewed a bunch of the record-sellers at their booths, they would be in their 50s or 60s, but then they’d be with their son in their 30s, who’d have their own children. My question was whether they’d introduce their children to Northern Soul music. Their response? ‘Absolutely!’ The answer was so cute – ‘by the time they’re ten or eleven I’ll take them over to a dance night and introduce them to all of that!’ – It was great talking to these people.

MT: Have you heard about the Northern Soul film that’s coming out?

JS: Yes I have! And I understand my song has been used too!

MT: I’m not sure when the film is being released but I know a lot of people are looking forward to it. I know Elaine Constantine grew up with Northern Soul and the film is coming from a great place – she’ll do it justice.

Back to questions from fans of our page – I understand your parents were both musicians, who was it that really brought you to being a performer yourself?

JS:  It was my father, he was the performer, they both taught students, but he was the performer. He would go out and play in clubs, so when I turned about 13, just hitting the teenage years, he would play the keyboard and say ‘Come Judy, I want you to learn this song’. He would play and give me the words to ‘Girl from Ipanema’  and ‘That Old Black Magic’, all the classics, and that’s how I really started. Later on when I was a little bit older he would take me to his clubs, I would sit in and sing songs.

MT: So your father led the way? what artists and music were you listening to when you were coming into your own as a performer.

JS: By the time I stopped singing the 40s stuff of my father’s era, the next generation was The Carpenters, The Beatles, The Eagles, James Taylor etc..

MT: So here’s a question I’d like to put to you, for all the fans that know ‘What’, Have heard ‘You Turn Me On’ – What tracks of yours would you tell them to seek out and listen to?

JS: I recorded in the 80s, I recorded an EP, it was four-sides, it was more of the rock’n’roll genre of the time, it was entitled ‘More Than Enough’ and those songs have already been noted as not Northern Soul but I’ve had a good response on them. When you don’t know about Wigan Casino and all those places, you just go on with your musical career. In my bands, I had several different variations, I sang for years everywhere. I worked in California a lot, I got to see some wonderful places like Bermuda, Hawaii, I had a great career insofar as playing music.

MT: I saw that you and the family moved to Phoenix, Arizona.

JS: Yeah I went to high school and graduated there. My manager found me in a club I was singing at, I was a young girl of 19, and he said I’ll move you to California and record a single on you and you’re going to be a star. So we did that. He hooked me up with H.B. Barnum, we recorded ‘What’ and ‘You Turn Me On’. The latter was supposed to be the A-side because you know, here is this 19 year old girl singing those words, it was a little risqué, cool for the time. The rest of the story is the manager didn’t know how to promote it and he just kind of let the ball drop. I think that later on it got to Wigan and various DJs in England via H.B Barnum. Even he isn’t quite sure how that happened. Of course someone played it and listened to it, flipped it over, and said we like ‘What’!

MT: When you listened to the Demo of What, did you have any idea it would become what is was today, so popular in such a big scene?

JS: I didn’t really know until the internet came along, around ’96, I think it was the days of Napster that I found Judy Street ‘What’ listed and for sale in 11 different places. I was amazed and I contacted some of those people that had listed it on Napster and heard the story.

MT: That’s exciting!

JS: It was exciting! I almost couldn’t believe it. Seriously. Of course at that point you’re on the internet, and the people that wrote me back were questioning if I was even Judy Street. I was very unsure at first but when I saw it was sincere it was a great feeling.

MT: ‘What’ was released again in ’77 and in ’82 – was it you that decided to release that? How did that come about?

JS: No – you know I think that those were the ‘knock-off’ versions; I think that distributors took the song and re-released them. They couldn’t find the originals as people were in demand to purchase them.

MT: So the original records. Do you know who has them? Where they are?

JS: (Laughs) Oh Michael, Michael, Michael. When I found out about it on Napster one of the first people that contacted me was ‘RareSoulMan’, He’s a distributor of rare soul records, he contacted me and the first thing he said was ‘do you have any original records? Well of course I did, as it turns out he bought them all from me at $50 a piece and now he’s selling them for 5-600 a piece. So I didn’t do real well on that! I didn’t know at the time what they were worth – now I see they’re being sold online at that price – that’s that.

MT: What happened to the original tapes?

JS: You know, I have  talked to H.B. Barnum until I’m blue in the face about that. Those original tapes either 1) Don’t exist or 2) are in one or two of the warehouses he owns and he will not go looking for them. He has no inventory of where they might be. I would love to have the original tapes, but it’s not going to happen. I don’t have a master or anything!

MT: That’s a shame!

JS: Yeah! So when I went to play in Blackpool I had to get together with H.B. Barnum and re-record the track. It turned out good, it’s not a whole lot different, recreate it is what we did. I’m planning on bringing a couple hundred of the re-recorded tracks and covers to the shows though.

MT: Tell me what you do now; you’re a piano and drums teacher I believe?

JS: Well haven’t you done your research! Yes I am and I love every minute of it. It’s so rewarding teaching a 6-year-old that’s never played music and see them out of high-school as a jazz piano player. It’s wonderful. I teach about 30 students every week, they come to my studio, we have recitals. The typical stuff. I get to sing as much as I can. I play at a place called Rippy’s with my husband’s band every week. It was adorable, last week a couple tipped $20 once they heard about ‘What’ being a hit and said ‘Well, sing it!’ – so we played it on just an acoustic guitar with vocals. Nothing like it was but it was certainly fun.

Judy Performing in Nashville - 2011

MT: I’ll hold you to that too!

JS: Well if you get to the United States, sure! Nashville is a happening city, this is the music city! It’s not all country, we have other venues and genres – a lot of blues but unfortunately not Northern Soul yet!

MT: I have just a couple more questions – tell me about the ‘The Swinging Society’ (one of Judy’s past bands) – is there anything available to hear?

JS: No! Just some poorly recorded cassettes but we didn't’ have the faculty and ability to record anything that well. We were a travelling band and didn't have the opportunity to be in the studio.

MT: Finally aside from your own what is your favorite Northern Soul track to cover?

JS: Well I've done a version of ‘Hit and Run’ that I think is going to knock your socks off! I love it.

INTERVIEW END

I would like to thank Judy for her time that day; she is a charming woman with a warm heart and love for music (Northern Soul certainly included!) If you have the chance to see her on her next trip to the UK, get on down and remember your dancing shoes.

Michael

Interview with Nolan Porter - 31/01/2014 - Written by Michael Thomas

Artwork taken from Nolan Porter's album 'Nolan' (1972)

Nolan Porter was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, and lives there to this day. The following is an excerpt from a long phone conversation on Friday 31st January 2014 ahead of his European tour dates with The Stone Foundation (TBA Soon...)

MT: So, I hear you’re in Madrid this summer?

NP: Yeah for the last couple of years Neil (From the Stone Foundation) has been trying to get a dialogue and get us a gig over there and it looks like this year it’s going to happen, I’m really enthused...

MT: That’s great news!

NP: I know we’re only going to be there a couple of days – but what I’m hoping is that we’ll put in a really good performance and so have a reason to come back for longer than two days.

MT: There’s a lot of demand over here (UK and Spain from personal experience) for your music and performance, for soul music, I think you’ll always be welcome.

NP: Wow, I appreciate that, at this time of my life I’m enjoying singing the old songs and travelling, and it seems to be a really good time in my life to do that.

You know everything has changed so much with the internet, I’m just learning so much I didn’t know for so many years, but I remember when I used to get some statements from ASCAP back in the 70s – Spain would be in the mix – And I thought this is really cool they’re digging some of my old stuff. To finally go there now after all of these years where people are keeping my music alive over there I think that’s very cool, it gives me a chance to say thank you.

MT: Did you know about the Northern Soul scene when it kicked off in the 60s and 70s and whether you knew people were picking up on your music so much?

NP: No, I really did not know that people were picking up on my music in the UK until around 1996 – I really didn’t. I was with Lizard records before ABC, and that all broke up around 1974 when I had a hit with If I Could Only be Sure – That was in the Top 100 here – and the record company broke up, I think I was about 23, 24 years old and it was one of those deals where I would have to sue one of my own best friends, Gabriel Meckler, who produced all of that stuff, and I didn't realise that people-that everybody was trying to sue one another, cover their tracks, Lizard records developed two other names, vulture records being one, they were putting different songs under different labels and it was just a mess. So I got out of the record business in 1974, very discouraged, but I never got away from music, I worked singing from top 40 to singing some of my old songs to joining classical groups because I have a classical back ground also. But I didn't hear about the Northern Soul scene and the all nighters that were happening until around 1996. It was a friend of mine, a guy named Ryk Stolarz, he said “man you gotta look at this internet” - he embarrassed me into checking out the internet and getting some dialogue going. So it was pretty late but it was around then and it took me about 9 years later things started moving faster. I went to Wales, I went to Prestatyn. I did the big festival there, I did the weekender - there were about 4,000 fans at that gig.

MT: The scene is growing again; the all nighters are being well attended again

NP: That’s great; I mean maybe they’ll ask me to come back over. I was blown away; they had about 1,000 people and people were just trading records, dance contests all night, it was just great. They knew more about the old music than I did at that time. It was funny. It was just great to be there.

MT: You know there’s All-Nighters everywhere. There’s All-nighters where I come from (Stoke-On-Trent) and across the UK - that’s how I got into your music. The first time I heard it I was dancing to it and that was kinda the beginning for me, it’s amazing how strong the scene is now, Still!

NP: And here we are talking to each other on the phone and will meet in Spain!

MT: So you didn't know about the Northern Soul scene until 1996? So how have you found the international reception since? Has it been overwhelming?

NP: It’s been blowing my mind. Almost overwhelming when I go not just England; people are listening to me in Scotland, Wales, and now I'm finding out Spain, and now it’s starting to seep over here a little bit. People are getting more interested in the old soul, Motown, before Motown moved to California all the stuff was going on in Detroit and they had that stuff. And they’re starting to listen to that music here. It’s sorta still underground but it’s growing. I'm starting to do some gigs here, just doing my old songs, so it’s just been an incredible experience and I hope that I'm going to be on for awhile.

MT: So we have some questions from the fanpage: What keeps on keepin’ you on?

NP: It’s primarily the love of music, I would say that. Also, I don’t think in terms of age so much, when you have some something that you love and that you desire that you should try to develop a passion for, you’ll keep working, you’ll keep going if you have a passion. If you don’t have a passion for it, you’re not going to keep moving on. I love these old songs. They’re kinda like my children. They were never dead to me in my heart, in my creative heart. But I didn't know that halfway across the world that they were alive, that people were digging on them. I know it sounds a little strange but I have a personal feeling for each one of those songs. So that; and the love of old music, the love of interaction with people, like yourself, the opportunity to do music with different people, that all keeps me going.

MT: You collaborated with Paul Weller and he covered your track. How did you find out that he was covering your track?

NP: By then, I think, Patrice my wife, I married Frank Zappa’s little sister, she was on the internet and started talking to a guy by the name of Paul Mooney in England and people didn't know whether I was alive or dead. She started just opening the door by talking to him, and then he sent me the CD and I was blown away. Of course, Paul Weller, I don’t mean to minimize that, Paul also helped really open some doors to me. I tried to thank him when he came to LA, he didn't know I was here, so I couldn't get backstage to see him. But I wrote him a nice letter, a kind of 2 page letter to thank him and just wishing him well and now I'm finding that I'm probably gonna meet him when I come to England this time because he’s been in touch with The Stone Foundation. That’s very cool.

MT: So when are you going to be in England? What shows do you have lined up for this summer?

NP: I got the itinerary sent to me yesterday, every date booked, I'm playing with the Stone Foundation. Looks like I’m gonna be at the Musicians Club in Leicester. I remember being there one year ago and it was the rainiest night of my life. We packed the club and we had a ball. That was a really, really special night in Leicester. I like that club. I’m going to be July 23^rd in the 100 club and the Globe Cardiff. So I think I’m just doing 3 or 4 shows, the Cardiff, the 100 Club, Leicester and then I think I’m coming into Spain.

MT: So how did you meet The Stone Foundation?

NP: Before we even met, they saved my butt. I was getting some tracks made. A guy by the name of DJ Chalky out of Dudley, in the Midlands, he brought me over and I had tracks, but they were stolen at an airport. So Stone Foundation made recorded tracks for me in England and sent the attachments. Cos' there was a few gigs where they weren't going to be able to play with me. There were a couple gigs where they did, but there was a couple where we didn't. So that’s what we call a solid. They really did me a favour and saved my sweet ass. That’s kinda how we met and then of course we started playing together and we hit it off but I was stuck in Dudley in the Midlands a lot so I didn't really get the chance to hang out with them. But we stayed in touch by phone, Skype, and then when I went back over in 2012 and did the tour from the north to the south of England, we just hit it off really well and started recording stuff. So basically we did meet during my 2010 show but they bailed me out of a serious spot; one of the hardest working bands in England.

MT: So are there any future records on the horizon with The Stone Foundation?

NP: I did a song called “The right Track”, which was featured in a detective show that they showed here from time to time. It was a duet and then “Tracing Paper”, one of the duets with Neil Jones. Then when I was back there in 2012, I did some background vocals and made another CD. I haven’t even heard the finished product yet but these guys are in the studio all the time. Neil Jones and Neil Sheasby, they’re good songwriters, and the guys love recording. It’s amazing the communication that they have with all the guys. It’s amazing that they all keep putting their input. They just keep cranking it out.

Nolan Porter and The Stone Foundation

NP: I’ve been thinking too that I’d love to do another analogue album with some other stuff – perhaps it will never be as popular as it used to be but it seems to me that people want stuff on vinyl because you just can’t reproduce that sound any other way....

... I've got some stuff, I'm still writing and I know some other writers – I just like original music and perhaps I’d like to re-release some of the older ones, and of course do it analogue – that would be very interesting.

You heard of Charles Bradley? Didn't he do an album analogue only on vinyl? I heard his CD; I think he recorded his latest Musical works at Daptone studios in New York (Note: Daptone have an analogue studio in Bushwick, Brooklyn) - they record some analogue stuff.

MT: Neil Sheasby (Stone Foundation) asked if you’re looking forward to sitting on a plane to Madrid with him and also can you feature “The Fifth One” from “No Apologies” at this time?

NP: I’d love to do that if they want to do it that too. I never thought anybody would ask me to do that. I would love to do that song.

MT: Do you play “Groovin’” in that set?

NP: “Groovin (Out On Life)”? No, I like “Keep on Keepin’ On”, “If I Could Only Be Sure”, “I Like What You Give” and then I did one of the crowd-pleasers “Give Me Some Kind Of Sign Girl”.

MT: To give you some background I'm working here in Barcelona currently, but from Stoke-on-Trent in the Midlands, and when I picked up the guitar many years ago and that riff on "If I Could Only Be Sure" was one of the moments that pulled me into playing - so thank you!

NP: Well thank you for that man! I've finally lived long enough for younger people to call up and say ‘man, I started playing guitar listening to your music’ and I find that really inspirational to me and me thank you for that.

MT: So the guitar riff on “If I Could Only Be Sure”, did you write that?

NP: I wrote that with Gabriel Mekler, who used to produce Steppenwolf and Three Dog Night in their hay day.

MT: He produced “Keep On Keepin’ On” right?

NP: Gabriel was really something; he was a really talented person. I wrote the lyrics and I thought I wrote the music but then I saw “written by Nolan Porter and Gabriel Mekler” and I was like OK. This is so long ago, he did produce it and we collaborated on it. I believe that his name is on the record anyway.

MT: Do you remember what kind of guitar it was recorded on?

NP: I don’t remember the type of guitar, but I remember the guitar flair. You might know. That was Johnny “Guitar” Watson. That’s probably what got Paul Weller about the song more, was that guitar lick. And that’s Johnny singing with me on the background in some parts. He was really, Johnny Guitar Watson was something else, he spent the last few years of his life in England. He’s got one of his last few CDs he writes about is very cool. I remember he was one of the best R&B guitar players. I used to see him at the blues club a couple times in LA before I even met him and he was just so multi-talented. Him and Frank Zappa became really tight friends at the end, in the last few years of Frank’s life. And he recorded Johnny on a few tunes and it’s just wild. He was with Lizard Records for awhile and he liked Gabriel Mekler a lot.

MT: So did you meet Frank Zappa at Lizard Records?

NP: No. I never met Frank. It was really interesting how I ended up with his sister so many years later. I was recording with The Mothers of Invention. They came to Lizard Records and they recorded my first album, “Nolan, No Apologies”, that was The Mothers of Invention. So that was that and they used to talk about Frank sometimes and if they never said anything negative, they worked together well and they went their separate ways because Frank just started going his different way with music. But I never met Frank. When I met Patrice, Patrice and I met in 1999, there was a mutual friend of mine who was trying to pull us together just to meet, because she knew that we both sang, and we were both very busy. It was nice to meet Frank Zappa’s sister but ain't no big thing. Finally we did meet and we started singing together and that’s all she wrote and we've been together since 1999. So I never met Frank but I feel like I know him. It’s a family of musicians and we've become a real family. And now it’s like I'm a part of the family. It’s become a real family and a real surprise in my life that I didn't see.

MT: How does it feel to be able to actually play and sing and do something you love with your wife as well? That’s the full set right?

NP: I love it. I love it. Patrice, she’s more of an R&B singer than I am. I mean, she can wail. Frank (Zappa) thought that she was really good also but he said this business will make you sick. Frank got sick. Frank used to tell the record companies to take a hike; he kinda did things his own way, on his own label. He was really successful in one way but it took a toll on his health and so he and his dad were always trying to protect his little sisters. Patrice, they called her Candy at the time. But Patrice, after her children were born, she started singing around LA and she started picking up some steam. So I know a lot about him, I've read a lot about him and I'm intimate with a lot of his family. You know, you get to know somebody posthumously and I feel like family. One of my cousins played in his group, Napoleon, Frank actually hired him and he still plays Frank’s music today. It’s really a family. That’s the real legacy of Frank Zappa: almost everybody that worked with him, their careers went well for them. They became better players than they would have become without their association with Frank.  They did things that they didn't think they could do and it’s a real family and they still earn loyalty and even then you had them in the desert at a place called “Lancaster” when he was 14, there’s still a family. It’s pretty amazing. I hope somebody does a documentary about them.

NOLAN PORTER AND PATRICE ZAPPA-PORTER playing together on the occasion of Patrice's 60th birthday to raise money for Achievable. Courtesy of Achievable.org

MT: So you've been to the Weekenders, and you've seen the dancing, what do you think of the Northern Soul dance scene?

NP: It’s so cool but you know what’s so funny? It’s becoming popular over here in some of the underground clubs and everybody has their own version of it, but they don’t know how to do it. It’s like if there’s some Northern Soul dance instructors that came over here from England, they could make some money. They love the music, they dance, but it’s not the same thing. But the whole psychology of the Northern Soul scene, I tell them, they don’t dance together like we do here. Here it’s a dance of the peacock, trying to get somebody in bed. But over there, people express their own form of movement and I know that in the Northern Soul scene there’s a certain type of step that’s similar to every other step but they’re being creative with their own thing. And a lot of other people over here are starting to pick up on that. You find it gratifying and kind of humorous; people trying to imitate the Northern Soul dancing.

MT: Do you have any other recorded material that I should put out there to readers that have only heard “If I Could Only Be Sure” or “Keep on Keepin’ On” and want to hear more, where would you direct them?

NP: You know I did some stuff in the early 80's, one called “Bird Without A Song” It’s  RnB but it’s kind of different kind of lyric, not exactly a love song. There’s one called “Only A Thought Away”, you should listen to those and tell me what you think. I've been hoping to push those songs.

MT: What got you into writing music in the first place, were you from a Gospel background, did you study music in school?

NP: I guess it mainly came from my mother. My mother auditioned for a the Count Basie Orchestra, while she was pregnant with me! She said no, but my mother is actually where I got my voice. Coming up into school I start singing in choirs, old English music, classical music, and then of course when the beach boys were playing surf music and Motown moved out here in 1963 I started listening to Stevie Wonder and Gladys Knight, I just had such a living in Los Angeles – I mean you've been to London, there’s so many influences, and even though LA didn't have a term for world music, I was exposed to so much music. That was also a way for me to get to know different communities. I got close to the Latin community because I worked with a guy from Mexico City, he showed me some songs, I got close to members from the Jewish community and started singing Yiddish songs joining the Yiddish chorus. I just love language. I started singing a bit of Italian. I don’t speak those languages but I thought that music would bring me into my own music. My early tunes had that classical influence like in “If I Could Only Be Sure”. It wasn’t obvious, I wasn’t a classical rock musician, but those early influences and living in LA, a melting pot of so many cultures, I’d like to think some of it has come into my music.

MT: Do you find yourself listening to much contemporary music? If you put the record player on and listened to a track now what would it be?

NP: Well you know, me and Patrice were a little late when we discovered Amy Winehouse, you guys have known about her forever, we were listening to her every day for about four months. Patrice is so critical of singers sometimes but she fell in love with Amy and so did I. I've been falling in love with soul music all over again through English musicians. She’s one of them. I’m not into the top 40 anymore but there’s a group called Alabama Shakes, there’s some really fine singers. Sometimes I even listen to some hard rock, some grunge, just to keep abreast of what’s going on and I find the artistic quality. I don’t listen much to rap but  I realise that some rap, especially in the early days, was really good, really and art form, and when you put it to music, it can be really effective – I try to keep my mind open.

MT: Well would you collaborate again? Are there any other artists that you’d like to work with?

NP: If there was a rapport, as a matter of fact, did you hear of a group called “Wild Child”, they’re a Doors tribute band for the last 30 years, I'm collaborating with the guitar player for that group, who plays with Robby Krieger (Guitarist - The Doors)  and the original Doors, one of them just died (Ray Manzarek) but we collaborated on a couple of tunes, he wrote the music and I write the lyrics and we’re doing some good things – I'm open to collaboration. I do that with Stone Foundation when I do vocals with them.

END OF INTERVIEW

I would like to personally thank Nolan for his time that day, as a long time fan of Northern Soul, and more over of Nolan's, it was a fulfilling moment and one I'll long remember. What a guy.

Enjoy
Michael

The Northern Soul Top 500

I came across a great book today, 'The Northern Soul Top 500' by Kev Roberts. Kev has been a central force to the Northern Soul scene since the early days, so one can rest assured that it'll be a worthwhile read. Below is 'sample excerpt' taken from the foreword to the book (by Frank Wilson himself!). If, like me, it whet your appetite for more, I've inserted a link for paperback copies at the Amazon store. Happy reading.

Michael

Northern Soul

Foreword by

Frank Wilson

I had been producing records independently for around 18 months in the early early 60’s when I came to work for Motown. During that time I had written and produced a song for Ike and Tina Turner with another recording quickly following for their backing group the Ikettes. Things were starting to roll, especially following a song I had written for Stevie Wonder entitled ‘Castles In The Sand’.

At that time Brenda Holloway, a new young beautiful and talented songstress with Motown was having an incredible impact on my desire to become a popular songwriter and producer. I thought that the only thing that stood in my way was sufficient opportunity to realise my dream.

Shortly after I secured a position as a producer with Motown, Berry Gordy Jnr. invited me to move to Hitsville, USA in Detroit from my base of operations in Los Angeles and I jumped at the opportunity! Within weeks I was there in the studio, producing a song on ‘Smokey’ Robinson! After Smokey’s’ record came out I started to work with Marvin Gaye, The Four Tops, Diana Ross, The Supremes, The Marvellettes, The Originals, Kiki Dee, Jimmy Ruffin and Eddie Kendricks.

Now besides being one of America’s top five producers I also ranked number one in Britain - thanks! At this point my work as both a songwriter and producer with these great artists had already sold over 35 million records worldwide! Later, lost in all of my success with Motown was a song that Berry had originally intended to release on me as an artist, it was entitled ‘Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)’. Prior to producing all these other artists I had been doing a bit of songwriting around the Los Angeles area and often became the vocal vehicle for my own material.

Now standing backstage at the Fox Theatre in Detroit, Michigan one night in 1966 a decision was made that changed my life in more ways that I could have imagined. It was decided between myself and Berry that, rather than becoming a recording star myself, I would instead concentrate on being a writer and producer for Motown stable of awesome talents.

Berry then ordered that all of the masters with my voice on be destroyed and overdubbed another artist (Chris Clark sic.) on my backing track! Somehow, and I don’t know how, a copy surfaced in England and was played in the clubs... The rest is, one might say, history!

It seems to me that England is made up of people who are by nature explorers, discoverers and pioneers. I should therefore have not been surprised to find that ‘Do I Love You’ has been caught up in the phenomenon called ‘Northern Soul’ which has been secretly bubbling under in the North of England for quite sometime but is now seeping slowly into the rest of the world.

How did I become such an integral part of such an occurance? It has to be supernatural, it has to be God because I knew nothing of it until just a few years ago!

A producer/promoter from London called me up enquiring whether I had any idea where he might get his hands on an original recording of ‘Do I Love You’ - of course I didn’t! I had NO idea an original still existed! Though today I consider it to be one of my life’s great achievements!

Since this discovery, I have done countless interviews for the print and electronic medias with regard to this unique musical uprising known as ‘Northern Soul’ and my own part in it. What have I learned about it personally? Northern Soul is a love affair, some callously suggest that it is just American music that never made it. But if you are in love with it you know that it is music that has found a true home in the hearts of those who have found it to be for them a ‘treasure’.

I’m honoured to be included in this book and happy that Kev has asked me to write this foreword to his work which chronicles the experiences, history and most importantly harmonies of this grand odyssey known affectionately in England as Northern Soul.

Writer and Artist behind ‘Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)’

Sadly Frank passed away on September 27, 2012. My fondest memory of the man came in Los Angeles, March 2004 when joining our Northern Soul gathering at the Wilshire Grand Hotel. Frank came up to our room for a chat before meeting the gathering downstairs in the Point Moorea bar. He casually mentioned a call would be coming through for me at 8pm.

Shortly after 8 the phone rang, with Frank urging me to pick up. A voice said ‘Thanks for looking after Frank and keeping our music alive’.... to quote the man. The phone went dead...... I said ‘Frank who was that ??’..... with a strong look into my eyes..... he whispered...... ‘Berry Gordy’.

A moment I could never forget.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0953929108