Although the nightclub is not there in its physical form, it lives on, through the people and it’s music.

Northern Soul emerged in the economically disadvantaged regions of Northern England during the late 1960s. From Manchester and Sheffield, including Newcastle, Blackpool, and various parts of Southern Scotland, such as Glasgow and Edinburgh. Previously renowned for its significant contributions to the Industrial Revolution during the 19th century, these areas had transformed into a hub of widespread joblessness, menial labor in factories and mines; however, Northern soul music dramatically changed the culture in these areas, bringing a music that was outspoken about racism, ecology, war, and drug abuse, among other topics. Motown mixed with R&B, and dance vibes was introduced in nightclubs by DJ’s, it saw songs from Marvin Gaye “This love starved Heart“, Frankie Valli “You’re Ready Now” and the renowned song “Out on the Floor” by Dobie Gray. The music genre become popular among the younger generation and gave a voice to the working class.

The weekend kicked off with Craig’s special edition of his regular Saturday night Funk and Soul show, dedicated to Northern Soul, his introduction to the all-nighter began at 6pm and concluded at 9pm. The show showcased a ten-piece soul house band known as The Signatures, alongside esteemed guests such as Richard Searling, a renowned figure from the iconic Wigan Casino, and the talented all-female R&B group, The Flirtations.

Additionally, Craig was set to embark on a quest to locate the most elusive Northern Soul record, which was recently sold for an astounding £100k. Then from 9pm, Stuart Maconie joined the festivities and collaborated with Craig to present a broadcast of the Northern Soul Prom.

This extraordinary event was conceived by Stuart and featured a captivating performance by the BBC Concert Orchestra.

Richard Searling recalls, “As soon as those doors opened, there’d be a flood of people. Once inside, they went upstairs, paid the entry fee, passed through a set of double doors and entered the dance hall. There, the wall of sound would hit you. The club’s cocktail of aromas would also hit you. “That smell of condensation, of Brut, of sweat… It was absolutely amazing.”

The all-nighter playlists continued with Golden Torch, Wigan Casino, Twisted Wheel and The 100 Club. The Northern Soul’s morning after mix, saw a Northern Soul Special from 4am unitl 7am and Lights On With Stuart Maconie 7am until 8am.

The amazing weekend was recorded by BBC Radio 6 and is available on BBC iplayer, click here.

Perhaps known best for their tracks ‘Come On Eileen’ and ‘Geno’, Dexys Midnight Runners were formed in 1978 by ever-present lead vocalist Kevin Rowland and guitarist Kevin Archer. Inspired by punk (Both Rowland and Archer were previously in the punk band The Killjoys) and Northern Soul (indeed, the ‘Dexys’ in their name is short for Dexetrine, a stimulant popular with Northern Soul enthusiasts who used their drug-induced energy to dance all night), Dexys Midnight Runners released their first album, Searching for the Young Soul Rebels, in 1980 to critical acclaim. Their second, Too-Rye-Ay, released in 1982, adding new wave and folk elements to their sound, proved to be an even bigger hit as it reached number two on the UK Albums Chart.

Their third album, Don’t Stand Me Down (1985), was not as popular and preceded a twenty-seven year wait until the release of their next, One Day I’m Going to Soar, released in 2012 under the shortened name Dexys. Their latest release comes seven years after their previous, Let the Record Show: Dexys Do Irish and Country Soul (2016), featuring, as the name suggests, interpretations of Irish compositions. The Feminine Divine therefore marks a highly anticipated return to releasing original material penned by the band itself and is sure to be met with excitement and glee by adoring fans and critics alike.

Watch ‘I’m Going To Get Free‘, a single from the new album, below:

In a press release the band have stated, “After taking some time out to refocus his energy, Kevin Rowland came back to music with a fresh perspective and new-found positivity”, adding that the new record is evidence of Rowland being “a man whose views have evolved over time ” and an unlearning of “the masculinity he had been raised with”.

Tickets for all tour dates are available to pre-order from April 14th here.

See below for the September tour dates:

05/09/2023 – Barbican – York
07/09 – Philharmonic – Liverpool
08/09 – Bridgewater Hall – Manchester
10/09- O2 City Hall – Newcastle
11/09 – Royal Concert Hall – Glasgow
13/09- St David’s Hall – Cardiff
14/09 – Regent Theatre – Ipswich
16/09 – The Halls- Wolverhampton
17/09 – Cliffs Pavilion – Southend
19/09 – Dome – Brighton
20/09 – Palladium – London
22/09- Forum – Bath
25/09- 3Olympia Theatre – Dublin

(photo credit: Sandra Vijandi)

The new album, You’ve Always Been Here, comprises of 11 covers, from Matt Bellamy’s fragment of ‘We’ll Meet Again’ to the wall of sound that is ‘Love’s Gone Bad’. The group carries Northern Soul into a new dimension, full of electric guitars, feedback, and the combined talent of musicians at the very top of their game.

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YOU’VE ALWAYS BEEN HERE IS OUT NOW We hope you all love it! Grateful for all your support up until this moment. Buy your copy of #YouveAlwaysBeenHere through the link in our bio!

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In case you missed it, The Jaded Hearts Club are a supergroup in every single sense of the word. They have the most stellar line-up – Miles Kane (The Last Shadow Puppets) and Nic Cester (Jet) as joint frontmen, Graham Coxon (Blur) and Jamie Davis playing guitar, Matt Bellamy (Muse) on bass and Sean Payne (the Zutons) as the drummer. Sometimes Abi Harding (The Zutons) joins them on the saxophone.

To prove it, The Jaded Hearts Club released a series of singles leading up to this release: ‘Reach Out I’ll Be There’ (see below), ‘This Love Starved Heart Of Mine (It’s Killing Me)’ and ‘Love’s Gone Bad’. It seems fair to say that all the energy and glamour of The Jaded Hearts Club is found among these three singles; while the rest of the album tracks are exciting, they don’t have the explosive enthusiasm of their early singles. They come with energetic, lockdown-appropriate, black-and-white music videos, and Matt Bellamy in different but equally intriguing Rule Britannia-esque accessories. It’s all very, very cool.

Following these, You’ve Always Been Here has the best intentions in the world. The band’s desire to reinvent Northern Soul is overpowering and infectious, and you can sense how eager they were to find out what their combined talents could do. A lot, is the answer. Sometimes it completely hits the mark. Sometimes, though, it falls flat, stripping the covers of their unique qualities, leaving behind something that is undeniably very talented, but a little soulless.

Ultimately the album is technically impressive, but it wants for a sense of cohesion. In many ways so does the group themselves; the six (sometimes seven) strong and talented personalities sort of blur together. There is absolutely no doubt that this group could tackle any song in the world with spades of ability, but You’ve Always Been Here could probably have done with a bit more of a story. The Jaded Hearts Club are easily the greatest cover band in the world, but we don’t quite know what makes them tick.

All three of the album’s singles are particular highlights, as are Nic Cester’s ‘Long and Lonesome Road’ and ‘I Put a Spell on You’. To my mind, this is the version of the line-up which delivers the most. Nic Cester doing the vocals, accompanied by powerful percussion and the familiar wind instruments of Northern Soul feels like the group’s greatest strength – and where they’re strong, they’re unstoppable.

Since 2017, the group have shared powerful, covers of everything from the Beatles (their starting point) to The Isley Brothers. According to Rough Trade, Davis wanted a Beatles band to play for his birthday. He’s quoted as saying: “I knew a bunch of 1/2 decent musician friends so I asked if they’d form an early ‘60s Beatles band. Everyone had such a good time that we decided to do it again.” Their website declares that they “have been described as the ultimate Beatles cover band.”

Surely, in one of those dream dinner party games (six people on your ideal dinner table, dead or alive, you know the drill) you couldn’t come up with a better line-up. What we really want from The Jaded Hearts Club, though, is a bit of purpose – we all know that there’s a niche for them in this current moment, but none of us know why. When they do show us exactly what 21^st century Northern Soul can do, it’s completely unforgettable.

Supergroup is absolutely the right term for the combined talent of Miles Kane (The Last Shadow Puppets) and Nic Cester (Jet) as joint frontmen, Graham Coxon (Blur) and Jamie Davis playing guitar, Matt Bellamy (Muse) on bass and Sean Payne (the Zutons) as the drummer. Sometimes Abi Harding (The Zutons) joins them on the saxophone. Musically, they are as fantastic as you’d hope – Kane and Cester have different but extremely powerful voices, and the rest of the band make their instruments look and sound like a natural extension of themselves.

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Currently, we’ve only seen the group publish covers – mainly incredible, stripped back, guitar-based versions of Northern soul classics. There is rumour of original music, and they play all sorts at their infamous live shows, but it doesn’t look like any of this will feature on their debut album. For now, having the band re-invigorate Northern soul classics is more than good enough! The singles they’ve released in 2020 include versions of ‘Reach Out I’ll Be There’ (July), ‘This Love Starved Heart of Mine (It’s Killing Me)’ (April) and short little version of ‘We’ll Meet Again’, sung by Matt Bellamy.

Regarding their newest track, Kane called it: “‘Love’s Gone Bad’, a rare northern soul stomper that we dug from the underground. We beefed it up and gave it golden wings with matching loafers! Be prepared to dance!” 

The video is so cool – it’s all in black and white, set in London’s Moth Club, and Matt Bellamy is wearing heart-shaped sunglasses. It’ll have you dancing, spinning, and probably online shopping for loafers and corduroy trousers. Mainly it’s Kane dancing with a partner. The other band members do show up though, playing their instruments while Kane and his partner leap about, spectacularly in time with each other. Although, of course, The Jaded Hearts Club offer a rock-based take on Northern soul, the video is very much in the spirit of the 1960s dancehalls where the genre really took off.

The group formed in 2017. According to Rough Trade, Davis wanted a Beatles band to play for his birthday, and he’s quoted as saying: “I knew a bunch of 1/2 decent musician friends so I asked if they’d form an early ‘60s Beatles band. Everyone had such a good time that we decided to do it again.” In 2019 they recorded a live album at London’s iconic ‘The 100 Club’. Their website declares that they “have been described as the ultimate Beatles cover band.”

It’s not so long to wait for their album now – but you should know that the 12” version, on marble patterned vinyl, is already sold out for pre-orders! The Jaded Hearts Club are so fantastically energetic, even these three-minute videos feel like a true taste of what they’re like live. Hopefully there will be more of that to come, following the release of You’ve Always Been Here.