You Didn’t Say a Word was originally only released as the b-side to Yvonne Baker‘s 1967 single To Prove My Love is True, on Cameo-Parkway Records, yet it soon became one of the former Sensations singer’s best loved songs. After digging through hundreds of floor fillers and rare records, Getintothis’ Adam Lowerson has finally managed to settle on ten of the best Northern Soul classics. One thing both can agree on is that Do I Love You was an instant hit with the Wigan Casino crowd. “It was massive from the very first play,” Searling says. “A huge hit from the off. It became a Wigan Casino classic.” Although The Twisted Wheel was the birthplace of Northern Soul, Wigan Casino was its most popular venue. It was once named the best disco in the world by Billboard magazine and at one point boasted over 100,000 members. Its all nighters, which began at midnight and ended at 8am, are the stuff of legend.

Few scenes in the history of popular music have endured and inspired as much dedication and devotion as Northern Soul. Iggy Pop’s riotous icons weren’t the only influence. As with A Storm In Heaven, The Verve brought a seemingly conflicting bunch of inspirational figures to bear on their new work. Having looked to Dr. John for their predecessor, Peter Salisbury now immersed himself in Tiki Fulwood’s drumming on the early Funkadelic albums, along with the sonic assault of NWA drum loops. McCabe felt that his guitar reverb tapped into a “dribbling, wibbly” Barry White thing. Experimental Japanese music and Miles Davis’ post- Bitches Brew explorations filtered into the likes of “Brainstorm Interlude”’s psychedelic swamp and the heavy fuzz of “This Is Music.” The opening riff sounds transported straight from a Bond film in which 007 ditches the casino for a sprung dance floor and dances with his enemies (someone should make that film… Wigan Casino Royale?). It has a cool and mysterious feel, yet is still a real stomper. The song was the last one ever played at Wigan Casino, pictured here in 1975, which closed in 1981. Photograph: MirrorpixIt definitely wasn’t Soussan,” insists Winstanley. “The record was sent to me by one of the groups I’d been talking to.” Northern soul is a culture based on chance finds, crate-digging and word-of-mouth recommendations. That’s why it would be redundant to fill this list with the titles everyone knows, although it would be churlish not to include some obvious selections, like Out on the Floor, for starters. It’s hard to imagine now that the song was almost lost as it feels as instantly familiar as all great pop songs should and is well and truly cemented as a dance floor classic. It’s the ultimate stomper, and impossible not to move to. Described by some as the greatest ever soul group, The Dells have enjoyed a hugely successful career selling millions of records and performing for decades. Winstanley says 500 vinyl demo copies of the song were produced to send to radio stations, but then all but one were destroyed when it was decided not to release it.

Although the Northern Soul movement was more focused on singles and songs than particular artists, Martha Reeves and The Vandellas were responsible for more than a few dancehall favourites.Yet the Jersey Boys hitmakers showed off their differing colours with their all but forgotten 1972 LP Chameleon, released on Mowest, the West Coast division of the legendary Motown label. The album flopped initially, but Northern Soul enthusiasts unearthed it later on, with The Night finally charting at number seven in the UK, three years later in 1975.