I mentioned some names before, I need to clarify my opinion on Ian Levine, as he helped northern soul and then ruined it in the 80s!! he was the resident dj at Blackpool Mecca, the first 'soul club' that took a risk and started playing 70s soul as well as the powerful stomping 60s beats that kept the whizzing ravers of wigan, stoke and manchester going till the next morning....
one of the first tunes he took a major risk on playing was a tune called "it really hurts me girl" by the Carstairs... which became an ANTHEM across soul nights everywhere.
there are many subdivisions within northern soul now as a result of that, some hardcore mods and soulheads still cant accept the 70s sound, so it became known as crossover, and then there were divisions within the scene. some people just wanted the stompers from the 60s, some were craving the 70s crossover style, and a new breed of people started to creep into the scene as well, often in a different room to the 'main' room, playing slow jams, RnB, and "modern" soul....
all of that is fine, apart from mr levine had the 'wise' idea of tracking down many of the singers from the 60s tunes we all still love, and managing to convince them that he could revive their careers if they let him remix their music, or recorded new material for him. if he'd have hired the ORIGINAL session musicians we all loved from the 60s recordings, the funk brothers, richard popcorn wylie, willie mitchell etc... he'd have been an absolute hero to millions, i swear to you on my life, he could have been as big as elvis to people in the uk. but.... he DIDNT hire original musicians. sh*t, he didnt even hire musicians at all.
EVERY track ive EVER heard that ian levine has even breathed near has been ruined with 80s drums, fake strings, pianos, vibraphones, EVERYTHING about levine produced soul has come from a synth of some kind, i absolutely DETEST IT!!!!!!!!!!
so there you go, mr half good half bad levine, he brought a whole new decade of soul to the ravers, but then ballsed it up trying to remix everything everyone loved in the 80s!
plus that doctor who comment i read before was very interesting... it could definitely be him hahaaha
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