Young Soul Rebels: A Personal History of Northern Soul

Northern soul is the ultimate underground music scene. Hidden away from the mainstream, it has defied the logic of fashion and outlasted more visible youth culture movements such as punk and rave. Author Stuart Cosgrove is an insider who has been a well-known collector on the scene for decades. Here he takes the reader on a rollercoaster journey to the stubborn heart of soul music's secret society and the legendary clubs that became the cathedrals of rare soul: the Twisted Wheel in Manchester, the Golden Torch in Stoke, Wigan Casino, the Top of the World in Stafford, and the evergreen 100 Club. As in the author's cult book Detroit 67, Young Soul Rebels tells a wider social history, looking at the all-nighters and the flamboyant characters who shaped the scene, the obsessive collecting of rare vinyl, the amphetamine abuse, police raids on soul clubs, the north–south divide, the Yorkshire Ripper murders, the miners' strike, the collapse of the industrial north, bootlegging and the rise of new technologies, which against all expectations have breathed new life into the scene. This is a candid and witty story of the cult they couldn't tame.