The popularity of all modern soul singers is determined by a single thing, being an unknown. It is a music genre made popular in England by youth sub-cultures who loved soul music from the United States. English DJs brought the songs of little known American singers to English venues, where they grew into a northern soul movement. The latter is a spin-off of the northern soul movement; it started in the 1970s.
The new style of music is characterized by soulful lyrics and melodies and an uptempo beat. The term modern came from comparison to the more traditional, and frenetic sounds of northern. The soulful sound was a newer, more complex genre than its counterpart. The two styles coexist in British venues today.
The fans began as converts from the northern style. They still appreciated the uniqueness of rare titles mined from little known, independent labels in America. However, they preferred the contemporary sound along with the new releases that never seemed to stop.
The famous venue Blackpool Mecca, was first a northern music club. The responsibility for initiating the shift goes to DJ Ian Levine, who played the rare song It Really Hurts Me Girl, a song by Carstairs.
A rift began to form between traditional purists and contemporary fans. Newer fans found traditional northern music too limiting; older genre fans called contemporary genre fans mainstream sellouts. Soon clubs were playing one or the other exclusively. Now, both genres exist in harmony at many English clubs that cater to these fan bases.
Singer Johnny Bristol was an example of the kind of artist followed by the new group of fans. He released songs for independent labels Anna Records and Tri Phi. They were marginal successes in the United States, but became underground favorites. He spent the next several years writing and producing songs for other artists. In the late seventies, he recorded two albums with Atlantic Records. One of the tracks called, Strangers in the Dark Corners, became a hit in the rare songs scene. It is the rarity of a song that gives it appeal to underground audiences.
The contemporary movement allows for greater crossover appeal than could be offered through the northern movement. Artists in the traditional genre are popular because they are unique, rare, and out of the mainstream. Newer genre artists, however, may start out being obscure, but often attain some level of general appeal. Bobby Womack, The Whispers, and Luther Vandross are among artists who fall into this category. They each rose from anonymity to great success and popularity with mainstream fans.
Luther Vandross was an unknown in the seventies when independent record label Cotillion released his first couple of albums. He went on to win eight Grammy awards and be nominated an additional twenty-three times. The Whispers put out three platinum and two gold albums. Two of their albums went to number one on the Billboard charts. In 2009, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted singer Bobby Womack. Often other modern soul singers would rise from obscurity to earn some level of fame and wealth. Some never moved beyond anonymity, but continued to have a strong fan base in the rare music genre.
The new style of music is characterized by soulful lyrics and melodies and an uptempo beat. The term modern came from comparison to the more traditional, and frenetic sounds of northern. The soulful sound was a newer, more complex genre than its counterpart. The two styles coexist in British venues today.
The fans began as converts from the northern style. They still appreciated the uniqueness of rare titles mined from little known, independent labels in America. However, they preferred the contemporary sound along with the new releases that never seemed to stop.
The famous venue Blackpool Mecca, was first a northern music club. The responsibility for initiating the shift goes to DJ Ian Levine, who played the rare song It Really Hurts Me Girl, a song by Carstairs.
A rift began to form between traditional purists and contemporary fans. Newer fans found traditional northern music too limiting; older genre fans called contemporary genre fans mainstream sellouts. Soon clubs were playing one or the other exclusively. Now, both genres exist in harmony at many English clubs that cater to these fan bases.
Singer Johnny Bristol was an example of the kind of artist followed by the new group of fans. He released songs for independent labels Anna Records and Tri Phi. They were marginal successes in the United States, but became underground favorites. He spent the next several years writing and producing songs for other artists. In the late seventies, he recorded two albums with Atlantic Records. One of the tracks called, Strangers in the Dark Corners, became a hit in the rare songs scene. It is the rarity of a song that gives it appeal to underground audiences.
The contemporary movement allows for greater crossover appeal than could be offered through the northern movement. Artists in the traditional genre are popular because they are unique, rare, and out of the mainstream. Newer genre artists, however, may start out being obscure, but often attain some level of general appeal. Bobby Womack, The Whispers, and Luther Vandross are among artists who fall into this category. They each rose from anonymity to great success and popularity with mainstream fans.
Luther Vandross was an unknown in the seventies when independent record label Cotillion released his first couple of albums. He went on to win eight Grammy awards and be nominated an additional twenty-three times. The Whispers put out three platinum and two gold albums. Two of their albums went to number one on the Billboard charts. In 2009, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted singer Bobby Womack. Often other modern soul singers would rise from obscurity to earn some level of fame and wealth. Some never moved beyond anonymity, but continued to have a strong fan base in the rare music genre.
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