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’.
