All You Need Is Love: Soul Stompers & Sixties Sing-Alongs

Washington March 1963

Enjoy these northern soul stompers and sixties sing-alongs! 😊

 Northern soul is more or less the opposite of smooth soul. It is a subgenre and dance movement that surfaced in clubs in Northern England and the Midlands during the late 1960s and the early 1970s. It is basically lesser-known Motown-influenced music from the mid-sixties with a heavy beat and fast tempo (100 bpm and above).

Although many of the lyrics of the late rock ‘n’ roll era sound quite innocent and were mostly about falling in love and getting married, there was certainly a dark side too. At the time no one seemed to care, but songs about schoolgirls were quite common, even when they were sung by 30-year olds, like Chuck Berry. In 1962 he was even sentenced to three years in prison, because he had transported a 14-year-old girl across state lines for the purpose of having sex. When the musical landscape changed in the mid-sixties, fore fronted by the Beatles, the lyrics of the pop hits changed too and artists started singing more about relationships and social issues and less about schoolgirls.

Actor David McCallum is best known for his part of medical examiner Donald ‘Ducky’ Mallard on the series NCIS, but he was also a musician in the 1960s. McCallum recorded four albums for Capitol Records with producer David Axelrod. His most famous piece is undoubtedly The Edge, which was sampled by Dr. Dre as the intro and riff to his track The Next Episode. A remarkable story about McCallum is that his wife, actress Jill Ireland, left him for Charles Bronson, after McCallum had introduced him to her during the shoot of the movie The Great Escape... McCallum died at the of 90 in 2023.

The track by The Dells is on the new compilation CD/LP Paul Weller Presents That Sweet, Sweet Music. It will be released by Ace Records on March 28:

“Paul has not only written an introduction but the way he has curated the music allows each side of the vinyl and the CD to flow like a river taking the listener on a journey through some of his favourite music.”

Next week the return of the series Smooth Sailing!

Tracklist:

David McCallum – I Can't Get No Satisfaction (1966)
The Dells – Run For Cover (1966)
Del Shannon – Break Up (1965)
PM Warson – A Little More Time (2024)
Judy Street – What (1968)
The Formations – At The Top Of The Stairs (1967)
Gloria Edwards – My Love Keeps Getting Stronger (1967)
The Cavaliers – Hold On To My Baby (1966)
Herb Ward – Honest To Goodness (1968)
Paul Anka – I Can't Help Loving You (1966)
Carol Connors – My Baby Looks, But He Don't Touch (1966)
Dusty Springfield – Brand New Me (1969)
Nancy Sinatra & Lee Hazlewood – Summer Wine (1966)
Marvin Gaye – One More Heartache (1966)
The Supremes – Run, Run, Run (1964)
Gene Pitney – Tremblin' (1967)
Edwin Starr – Headline News (1966)
Barbara Acklin – Am I The Same Girl (Soulful Strut) (1968)
Charlie Rich – Lonely Weekends (1959)
Scott Walker – Mathilde (1967)
Dionne Warwick – Trains And Boats And Planes (1967)
The Anita Kerr Singers – All You Need Is Love (1967)