Mark E Smith on the power of northern soul: “You never know the names”
Mark E Smith always seemed to have a far more expansive taste than his punk peers, soaking up a vast wealth of musical inspiration that extended far beyond the realm of buzzsaw guitars and safety pins. Perhaps one of the most surprising scenes that Smith’s pool of influences extended over, though, was the blossoming northern soul scene of the 1970s.
Not far from The Fall’s native Prestwich, during the early 1970s, young people from across the industrial landscape of northern England flocked to places like Manchester’s Twisted Wheel, Blackpool Mecca, and, of course, Wigan Casino, all of them utterly entranced by the obscure and forgotten sounds of American soul music. From its very beginning, during the tail-end of the mod scene, northern soul was always fairly niche, but as the 1970s marched on, its impact became increasingly unavoidable.
Northern soul’s increased relevance, in fact, coincided with the rise of the punk rock scene during the mid-1970s, and it was punk that first provided The Fall with a platform. It is inevitable, therefore, that Smith became exposed to the unshakable, footstomping power of northern soul during those early years, even if it took a little while for those sweet soul sounds to come across in The Fall’s output.
During the early 1980s, around the same time that Wigan Casino closed its doors for good, Smith drew upon the northern soul scene for The Fall’s ‘Lie Dream of a Casino Soul’, an often misinterpreted ode to the scene and its domination of northern England, blended with the typical snarling sarcasm of the songwriter’s distinctive delivery.
A few years later, in 1987, Smith once again revisited the soul scene, recording a cover of R. Dean Taylor’s casino classic ‘There’s A Ghost In My House’. Even if the confrontational, post-punk poet persona adopted by Mark E Smith doesn’t immediately conjure up images of sweaty all-nighters, talcum powder, and baggy trousers, then, it is fair to say that The Fall took on a few influences from the northern soul boom.
The Fall frontman went on to confirm his adoration for the soul scene during a 1999 interview with the New Musical Express. When asked for the best song “for a night on the tiles”, the legendary frontman declared, without hesitation, “Northern soul. Anything.”
Smith went on to explain the unique power of the northern soul scene, sharing, “The thing about northern soul is that you never know the [artist] names or the titles, because it just doesn’t matter. I’ve got all that stuff but I can’t tell you what anything’s called.”
It is true that, in virtually every other music scene throughout history, the movement has been built around a certain number of specific artists; for punk, it was the likes of the Sex Pistols, The Clash, or The Ramones, for instance. Whereas, there are countless beloved northern soul records where the artists are huge obscurities, many of whom perhaps only ever released one song and were never heard from again.
That disparity between northern soul and the rest of the musical landscape is one of the keys to its universal power. As Smith says, it doesn’t matter what the artists are called, or even what the song titles are, so long as they have that power to make you move, and to speak directly to your soul. In fact, a core part of the art of being a northern soul DJ is deliberately playing songs that nobody has ever heard before.
It is no surprise that Smith has a natural appreciation for the northern soul scene, not only because it blossomed around the same time as his own musical output, but also because it seems to share his appreciation for the obscure, underground, and non-commercial. Even though, ironically, The Fall’s version of ‘There’s A Ghost In My House’ ended up becoming one of their most commercially successful hits.
