Ian Levine can be quite a Marmite and divisive figure to many on the
Northern Soul scene. Undoubtedly, along with Colin Curtis at the Blackpool
Mecca's Highland Room in the early to mid 70s, he was responsible for
introducing many records which became classics.
The rot set in for many with the introduction of new releases into the
playlist in the mid 70s which became know as, and still is, 'modern soul'. Many outside the scene still
don't quite understand the term but it was a term used at the time to
differentiate between traditional 60's stompers and 70s productions as for many Neanderthal / Northern Soulies soul music apparently ended on New Years eve 1969!
In the mid 70s Levine started producing records which were known as
tailor mades, as they were new productions emulating the Northern Soul
sound. His first foray was The Exciters "Reaching for The Best" in 1975
followed by records by, then unknown artists, Doris Jones, Barbara
Pennington, Tyrone Ashley, Evelyn Thomas and one of his best James Wells.
This, to many, was the antithesis of the 'spirit' of the scene which was
always about finding undiscovered 'authentic' oldies.
Levine then instigated Hi-NRG music in the 80s and in the 90s co-wrote one, and co-produced three, tracks on Take That's debut album and worked with The
Pasadenas.
He founded Motorcity Records in the late 80s which went bust and then
Center City Records. Both specialised in recording well known (and
lesser known) Detroit artists, either re-recording well known Northern
Soul tunes or his own compositions in conjunction with other
writers. He must have written close to a thousand songs.
The reason for all the preamble is that on Friday five compilations, all
consisting of 25 songs, have been released as "Ian Levine's Northern Soul
Classics", Vol. 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5.
It's too easy to dismiss them as his sound is pretty formulaic, but there
are often songs that surprise. We haven't checked the track listing
comprehensively but many, if not all, have been released
previously, often many times on many different compilations.
We won't embed Spotify link (as they will take up too much space 125
songs!) but will provide links to them on Spotify. We may at a future time cherry pick some of the best into a playlist, as an interesting one which looks new is former Elgins lead singer Saundra Edwards taking on what we thought was Diane Jenkins' "Two-A-Way Zone" but it's a new song remixed by Nigel Lowis.
Click on image below for link to where you can buy from.
| Explicit: | N |
| Genre/Style: | Northern Soul / Tailor Made |
| Format: | Album / Compilation |
| Media: | Digital |
| Label: | One Media iP |
| Cat No: | None |
| Date: | 25/08/2023 |
| Price: | £7.99 each |
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