The mid-1970’s saw a breakaway scene develop amonst fans of rare soul.
Clubs such as Wigan Casino (and similar venues) was where you went to hear Northern Soul – especially 60’s ‘stompers’ with an incessant 100mph beat. This suited the amphetamine-fuelled environment of such venues – the sweat, the dancing, the baggy clothes, and the whole ‘niter’ experience that you travelled miles to enjoy – but there was also a demand for the better-produced contemporary soul music that was now coming out of the US, and maybe didn’t sound like two dustbin lids being banged together.
The venue renowned for championing this style of soul music was The Blackpool Mecca, who’s famous Friday nights were hosted by DJ and promoter Ian Levine. To be more accurate, the actual venue was The Highland Room, which was part of the swish seafront Mecca complex. One ascended to it via an escalator, and the dress policy required gentlemen to wear ties. It was a slightly different club experience, held in more opulent surroundings, and with a more refined style of music in which one could dance to tracks dubbed as ‘floaters’ or ‘shufflers’.
The most famous track from this period was probably The Carstairs – ‘It Really Hurts Me Girl’ – a sublime danceable production released in 1973, complete with exquisite pleading soulful vocals. As with many Northern Soul records, it was rare as hen’s teeth, despite being pretty contemporary, and this added to it’s appeal. You can look it up on YouTube these days.
My favourite Mecca track is the one that was used as the traditional ‘closer’ – ie played at the end of the night, as the final track. It’s an instrumental, and always sounds just perfect.