Various Artists - BBC Proms- Northern Soul, Royal Albert Hall, London, Britain, 7-15-2023

Here's something I randomly discovered due to it appearing on my YouTube suggestions. At first, it didn't look too appealing, because I wasn't familiar with any of the singers or other musicians. It turns out that's because they're not well known. But this is a BBC celebration of the musical genre "Northern Soul," and I really like Northern Soul. I gave it a listen, and I enjoy it very much. So here it is. If you're into Northern Soul, or soul music in general, you should give this a try.

For those who don't know, what is Northern Soul? As far as musical genres one, it's very strange, because it was mostly defined by the geography and tastes of people who came to love a certain kind of music. 

Being an American that lives far away from where all this happened, I only have a limited understanding. But from what I gather, in the mid-1960s, the British public basically discovered Motown and other soul music after many years where that music hadn't been available. Some people really fell in love with it. And when musical tastes changed around 1967 with psychedelic music and other musical trends, they still couldn't get enough of the danceable Motown-ish sound of soul music circa 1966. So, mostly in the midlands and northern parts of England, people kept listening to that sort of music, and dancing to it in clubs. Thus the name "Northern Soul," for Northern England. 

However, they soon got tired of the really big, well-known classics, and there was very little new music of this type being created. The solution was they dug deeper into obscurities, finding many worthy gems. Well into the 1970s (until disco in the late 1970s), there was a thriving music scene where many clubs played obscure American soul songs every weekend, allowing people to dance and party to that music late into the night. The music scene continued into the 1980s and beyond, though at a lesser level, with periodic revivals.  

Here's Wikipedia's article, which explains it better, and in more length, than I can:

Northern soul - Wikipedia

Anyway, so while Northern Soul isn't that different from the big soul hits of 1966 or thereabouts, there are hundreds of songs that are big in the Northern Soul scene but totally obscure everywhere else. For this concert, six upcoming and relatively unknown British singers were chosen to perform a kind of "best of Northern Soul" song list. Each of them took turns singing lead vocals, while the remaining five would sing backing vocals. And they were backed by a large BBC orchestra. 

The popularity of this genre shows in how the Royal Albert Hall was sold out, despite all the decades passing since Northern Soul's heyday. And I'm writing this in February 2026. I understand there is going to be another BBC Northern Soul concert this summer, and then a short tour, with most or all of the same singers.

I looked up these six singers at Wikipedia and/or rateyourmusic.com. All of them are pretty obscure, with some of them not even having entries. But they were selected for their soulful vocals, and all of them did very well, in my opinion. So if you just want one album to show you the best of Northern Soul, this is a good one. Unless you're into the genre already, chances are you won't be familiar with the vast majority of the songs, with a few exceptions, like "Tainted Love." So if you're listening to this type of music for the first time, chances are you'll discover some excellent obscurities.

I took the video I found on YouTube, converted it to audio, and broke it into mp3s. According to the BBC website, about six more songs were performed in the actual concert. If anyone has any of those extra songs, please let me know. 

This album is an hour and 16 minutes long. 

01 talk (Stuart Maconie)
01 Turnin' My Heartbeat Up (Brendan Reilly)
03 talk (Brendan Reilly)
04 Out on the Floor (Brendan Reilly)
05 I Need You (Nick Shirm)
06 Gone with the Wind Is My Love (Frida Mariama Touray)
07 The Night (Darrell Smith)
08 Landslide (Brendan Reilly)
09 Hold Back the Night (Brendan Reilly)
10 The Drifter (Darrell Smith)
11 You Don't Know Where Your Interest Lies (Natalie Palmer)
12 No One Could Love You More (Vula Malinga)
13 You're Gonna Love My Baby (Frida Mariama Touray)
14 You're Gonna Make Me Love You (Frida Mariama Touray)
15 If That's What You Wanted (Darrell Smith)
16 Temptation Is Calling My Name (Darrell Smith)
17 What (Natalie Palmer)
18 I Got to Find Me Somebody (Natalie Palmer)
19 Better Use Your Head (Frida Mariama Touray)
20 You Didn't Say a Word (Vula Malinga)
21 There's a Ghost in My House (Darrell Smith)
22 talk (Stuart Maconie)
23 I'm on My Way (Nick Shirm)
24 Long After Tonight Is All Over (Nick Shirm)
25 Time Will Pass You By (Vula Malinga)
26 talk (Vula Malinga)
27 Tainted Love (Vula Malinga & Everyone)
28 talk (Vula Malinga)
29 Do I Love You [Indeed I Do] (Everyone)
30 talk (Everyone)

https://pixeldrain.com/u/D5r9rf1X

alternate:

https://bestfile.io/en/sWHXwQGFdHp2SpX/file

I wanted a cover image showing all six of the singers. But I couldn't find an instance in the video when they were all standing together. So instead I went with three of them, more or less randomly chosen. At least that's better than showing just one. From right to left: Frida Mariama Touray, Nick Shirm, and Vula Malinga. You can see part of the BBC orchestra in the background.