What people are saying...
Recently I saw a great party band. Mr. & the All Nighters had us all up dancing to some of our favourite tunes from such greats as James Brown and Dusty Springfield. They call their music Northern Soul. It combines the best of soul music, rhythm & blues and good old rock & roll. The band is tight and consistently "in the groove" with two great vocalists, talented lead and bass guitarists, a terrific brass section and a drummer who holds it all together. Mr. M. & the All Nighters provided lots of fun and fine music for the evening. I'm looking forward to seeing them again.
Peggy Stortz, West Vancouver
What is Northern Soul ?

Northern Soul was a phrase coined by journalist Dave Godin back in the early 70s to describe the phenomenon of young white soul enthusiasts who wanted to dance all night to obscure sixties soul music.
Northern Soul Trivia:

Many people believe the original version of "Tainted Love" came out in the 80's with Soft Cell's version. In fact Gloria Jones released the track in 1966, Marc Almond heard the track at Wigan Casino, at which he attended on a regular basis before making it big with Soft Cell.

A Canadian Connection to Northern Soul:

In 1975 the instrumental song "Footsee" made it to no.9 in the UK charts. Turns out the original version of the is song was recorded by a Canadian band "The Chosen Few" on Roulette records.

“This wacky instrumental is a record that made all hardcore Northern Soul fans cringe when it hit the UK pop charts in 1975 but for a lot of us it was the first time we ever knew something called “Northern Soul” existed. Wigan’s Chosen Few weren’t a real group and “Footsee” was actually the b-side of an obscure Canadian surf record (apparently such a thing as “Canadian surf” exists too) that was remixed by a DJ at the Wigan Casino who added the football crowd noises and put it out under a made-up name. This isn’t exactly a soul record at all but at the Casino they often played eclectic tunes like the themes from “Joe 90? and “Hawaii Five-0? just because they had a good beat. Somehow this novelty number ended up in the charts - reaching #9 - and when the Canadian group couldn’t be found for a Top of the Pops appearance, the BBC roped in a group of teenagers from the Casino to do a bit of “Northern” dancing on the show (apparently Pan’s People didn’t know how).”

“Another subject that sometimes raises the hackles is that of “tailor made” records, the most famous of these being “Footsee” by Wigan’s Chosen Few. Originally published on Roulette as a B-side, “Footsee” by The Chosen Few (a reggae band, I’m told) was a boring relentless instrumental. Our friend Simon Soussan (or Russ Winstanley, dependent upon which story you believe) played around with it a bit, added some car horns and crowd noises and voila! the perfect Northern dance record. It was so well received that after a bit of remixing, it was released on Pye Disco Demand as “Footsee” by Wigan’s Chosen Few.”

About Wigan Casino, Mr M's & The All Nighters

It is somewhat ironic that a musical form, originally created in North America, found its greatest success in the UK and is now being revived world wide, including back in North America via the various scooter and soul clubs.

Our name "Mr M & The All Nighters" is actually a play on several revered names from the history of British Northern Soul music.

In 1973 a Victorian dance hall in the English Northern town of Wigan in Lancashire opened its doors to an experimental - "all night" Saturday night/Sunday morning dance session. Within a very short time Wigan Casino gained a reputation as a hub for keeping classic soul music alive, at the time disco music was at its height.

Such was the popularity of the "all-nighters" the management opened up another room at the venue calling it "Mr M's" named after the general manager at the time Gerry Marshall.

The "club" membership reached a staggering 150,000 at its peak in the 1970's. The venue was always filled to capacity and featured both DJ's and some of the original performers including Gloria Jones, Martha Reeves and Jackie Wilson. One legendary night James Brown himself supposedly turned up, checked out the crowd and left with out a word. Wigan Casino was voted No. 1 "disco" in the world by Billboard magazine in 1977

The Casino "all nighters" ran until November 1981. Soon after, the building mysteriously burned down and soul fans lost a major venue.

Called the greatest British music "fad". Northern Soul continues to be played at dozens of "all nighters" across the UK, Europe, Australia, USA. Vancouver's "flame" is kept alive by the East Van Soul Club, set up in by Ian Gregson 2005 to promote soul music in the Vancouver area. Check out EVSC on Facebook.

Today Northern Soul is more popular than it has ever been, with countless radio shows, documentaries, books and web sites dedicated to keeping the flame alive. This year will see Northern Soul hit yet another peak in it's ironic history.

Of course Northern Soul has also inspired fashion designers - check out these recent NY fashion statements

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