(Funk, Soul, R&B) VA - The Age Of Northern Soul! - 2012, MP3, 320 kbps

1973 was a pivotal year for the Northern Soul movement. Its high-temple - Wigan Casino - had opened its doors to the faithful and this, slightly peculiar, underground music scene was about to break nationally. But it was all a far cry from the spiritual home of the music's roots which lay in the Bible Belt of the southeastern United States. It can be traced back to the late forties, to the birth of rhythm and blues, itself a hybrid of gospel, blues and hot jazz. A decade later, due to the rapid expansion of independent record labels (not least Detroit's Motown Records), R&B music inevitably found its way to these shores, and captured the imagination of insurance salesman and budding DJ Guy Stevens. Rhythm and Blues had arrived and buried deep in its grooves was the unmistakable dance beat that we call Northern Soul.