The Northern Soul scene is a dance-based music culture that originated in the English North and Midlands in the early 1970s, it still thrives today with a mix of fifty-year olds and new converts, and its celebration of 1960s Soul has an international following. This innovative and distinctive book brings together original commissioned essays and pivotal scholarly articles that have defined the field so far, interspersed with dossiers of published journalistic articles and photographs, and interviews with, for instance, producers and directors of Northern Soul-themed films. This publication represents a subject-defining book on the history and contemporary nature of the scene, and the first anthology of work in the field, which will provide a forum for vibrant dialogue and debate for a readership of lecturers and researchers, students and general readers interested in creative analyses and interpretations of the scene, past and present. The book links academic research, photography, film production and journalism in the documentation and analysis of historic and current music scenes. Representations of the scene from different media and different historical locations are juxtaposed to construct a rich and diverse statement about the music, people, places and practices that constitute the Northern Soul scene in the UK.

Sarah Raine is a PhD candidate at Birmingham City University's School of Media, researching the younger generation of the current Northern Soul scene in the UK and Spain, in particular the linguistic, kinetic and virtual narratives that participants construct in their pursuit of a scene-authenticated Northern Soul identity. Sarah's multidisciplinary theoretical approach builds upon her anthropological background, facilitating the study of a dance-based, retrospective, record-focused and increasingly international music scene. Sarah also act as a research, editorial and exhibitions assistant for the Birmingham Centre for Media and Cultural Research. Nicola Watchman Smith is Senior Lecturer in Sociology at Liverpool John Moores Unviersity. Tim Wall Professor of Radio and Popular Music Studies Associate Dean for Research, Faculty of Arts, Design and Media

Sarah Elizabeth Raine

Nicola Watchman Smith

Tim Wall