Chicago house refers to house music produced during the mid to late 1980s within Chicago. The term is generally used to refer to the original house music DJs and producers from the area, such as Ron Hardy and Phuture.
Ron Hardy was an American, Chicago, Illinois-based DJ and record producer of early house music. He is well known for playing records at the Music Box, a Chicago house music club. Decades after his death, he is recognized for his innovative edits and mixes of disco, soul music, funk and early house music.
Northern soul is a music and dance movement that emerged in Northern England and The Midlands in the early 1970s. It developed from the British mod scene, based on a particular style of Black American soul music with a heavy beat and fast tempo.
Ian Geoffrey Levine is a British songwriter, producer, and DJ. A moderniser of Northern soul music in the UK, and a developer of the style of hi-NRG, he has written and produced records with sales totalling over 40 million. Levine is known as a fan of the long-running television show Doctor Who.
The Twisted Wheel was a nightclub in Manchester, England, open from 1963 to 1971. It was one of the first clubs to play the music that became known as Northern Soul.
The Casino Club was a nightclub in Wigan, England. Operating between the late 1960's to closure in 1981, it became known as a primary venue for Northern soul music. It carried forward the legacy created by clubs such as the Twisted Wheel in Manchester, the Chateau Impney (Droitwich), the Catacombs (Wolverhampton) and the Golden Torch. It remains one of the most famous clubs in Northern England. In 1978, allegedly the American music magazine Billboard voted Wigan Casino "The Best Disco in the World", ahead of New York City's Studio 54, although there is no tangible evidence of this award ever being publicised.
Deep funk is a subgenre of funk music which features a "hard, lean" sound and emphasis on groove, improvisation, and musicianship over traditional songwriting. The term is also used to describe rare funk recordings sought out by collectors and DJs. Artists such as James Brown and the Meters were basic reference points for the style.
Russ Winstanley is an English DJ, originating from Beech Hill, in Wigan, Lancashire.
The Golden Torch, more commonly known as The Torch, was a nightclub in Tunstall, Stoke-on-Trent, England. Opened as a mod venue, it later became important to fans of Northern soul with their all-nighters. Peter Stringfellow was amongst the many DJs who at some time had a residency there while the main soul all-nighter DJs included Keith Minshull, Colin Curtis, Alan Day and Maretyn Ellis
Richie Kaczor was an early DJ during disco's infancy in the 1970s.
Neil Rushton is a British journalist, DJ, record dealer, record label entrepreneur, event promoter and author who is closely associated with the Northern soul scene.
Colin Curtis is a British DJ whose career spans several decades and musical developments.
Outta Sight Records, also known as Outta Sight Soul Essentials was formed in the UK in December 2006, as part of the Castle Music family of imprints within the Sanctuary Records Group. It was conceived as a vehicle to reissue the soul catalogue owned by the group. The catalogue included the Pye and Piccadilly/Dawn UK labels plus De-Lite, Sugarhill, Chelsea, Perception, Today, Maple and associated subsidiaries. In late 2007 Sanctuary was acquired by the Universal Music Group (UMG). Outta Sight reverted to being an independent label and was relaunched in February 2010. The label, based in Warwickshire, England is distributed in the UK by Passion Music Limited and Essential Music & Marketing.
The Carstairs were an American group of the 1960s and 1970s whose 1973 single, "It Really Hurts Me Girl" is credited with starting the modern soul music scene and genre.
"It Really Hurts Me Girl" is a song and single by American group, The Carstairs.
Rose Battiste was an American rhythm and blues singer from 1960s Detroit, Michigan, United States. Her best known tracks were "I Miss My Baby" written by Richard Parker as "D. Peoples", and "Hit And Run". In 1970, Ian Levine brought records from the U.S. to England, including Rose Battiste's "Hit and Run". Battiste was filmed performing at the Blackpool Mecca for the video collection The Strange World of Northern Soul by Ian Levine. She drew a following after being rediscovered in England during the Northern soul movement.
Diane Shaw from Manchester, England is a British soul singer, who has been touring and performing for 20 years. In that time Shaw has gained a considerable following around the UK, particularly on the British Modern soul and Northern soul scene.
The Crisco Disco was a New York City discotheque notable in the history of modern dance, LGBT and nightclub cultures.
Casino Classics: Chapter One is a compilation album released by Casino Classics in 1979, which compiles the first seven northern soul singles that the label had released or re-released as 45 rpm releases in 1978–79 following their popularity at northern soul nightclub Wigan Casino. The singles, some of which were rare, were originally released on the label in order to cater for the nightclub's record-collecting goers at the height of the nightclub's popularity. The compilation is the first in the Casino Classics series and was released to general acclaim. It has been described as a best-selling album. In 2015, Cherry Red Records re-released the album as part of the Casino Classics: Complete Collection box set.
"Skiing In The Snow" is an American soul song which became adopted by the Northern soul subculture in the UK, written by Sandy Linzer and Denny Randell.
