Soul music is a widely appreciated music genre, but once you delve beneath the household names and mainstream radio friendly artists there are numerous sub genres. For decades within soul circles there have been numerous debates about what defines Soul and which the best sub genre is. In the broadest sense any music with ‘Soul’ is that which in terms of performance and delivery comes from the heart, with a real depth of feeling.

In this sense there are many types of Soul each surrounded by a scene acting as the foundation by supporting and nurturing their preferred sound. Some act as advocates of the music, whilst others treat it as a special exclusive club for the select few. Contemporary R&B/Urban, Northern Soul, Modern Soul, Disco/Boogie, Soulful House etc, are all well documented forms of Soul Music. There is however, one soul scene that is equally as relevant and flourishing as any other form of Soul, but rarely gets any recognition, not only acknowledging its existence, but also giving credit for its contribution and influence on much of the Soul enjoyed by the masses. It is the true definition of an Underground Scene, which until now even on the World Wide Web you will find little information. There are numerous artists and tracks that would have disappeared without trace were it not for this scene. This is the Connoisseurs Soul Scene, residing mainly in London.

The Connoisseurs Soul Scene is not only defined by a certain type of Soul Sound, but also the way the music is presented, which is unique from any other form of Soul.

The roots of this scene in the UK can be traced back well over 30 years, to the 70’s. Although emanating from London, the journey begins in the States, primarily in the mid west around Chicago, but Philadelphia also played a major role. It was not limited to these areas but the influence of these areas on the Connoisseurs Soul Sound was far more pronounced than anywhere else.

During the 1930’s due to the depression and drought, much of the Black community moved out of the South to settle in the North, East and West of the USA.

Cities like Chicago and Philadelphia amongst others became melting pots for the emerging ’Race’ music and Rhythm and Blues. This was where the industry was, and where jobs were.

Due to the size and diversity of America, black music tended to develop local scenes, around a particular sound. Even more so, when it came to recorded music, artists had to rely on a small number of powerful and prolific local labels in order to get a break. These Labels began to emerge as the powerhouses of Soul Music in the late sixties. They had the notoriously difficult task of not only setting up distribution channels, but also creating the ‘special relationships’ with radio jocks to secure airplay. Record producers were the power brokers, developing their own sound and selecting artists to fit with their vision. There was never a shortage of talented singers so if one artist did not want to conform there was always another who would. Hence many legendary Soul artists we enjoy today started their careers, by conforming to someone else’s sound, before success afforded them the freedom to discover their own direction.

The sounds generally found in Chicago and Philly were ‘sweeter’ soul sound than that found elsewhere. In particular Chicago had a much rawer, deeper, more heartfelt sound than say the slicker tighter sounding Detroit recordings delivered by Motown. Equally the Chicago sound tended to be far more focused on the ballads and mid tempo grooves. The reason for this is that much of the Chicago sound was influenced by Blues singers, most of who ended up there in the great migration of black communities, in the early part of the 20th Century. It is also worth noting that when these Chicago blues singers moved from acoustic to electric guitars it formed the framework for today’s rock music too!

During the late sixties and early seventies it became easier for black music – in particular soul – to find an outlet through radio. This led to Soul being appreciated across the world. However, in order to create today’s Connoisseurs Soul Scene an extra ingredient was added by a detour, before arriving at its final destination, London.

Soon these Soul sounds were leaking over to the Caribbean, especially Jamaica. However, Jamaica had its own sound in the form of Reggae, of which a key factor was the ‘Rhythms’ and heavy ‘Bass lines’ pioneered by the likes of the Studio One label. Since it was all about the ‘Sound’ the best environment to truly appreciate the music was in a ‘Dance’, often outdoors where huge bespoke built ‘Sound Systems’ were rigged up. These sound systems were built to emphasise the bass, and great care was taken to ensure the right dynamics were created. ‘Sound Systems’ or ‘Sounds’ soon became the name for the collective who hosted the ‘Dance’, incorporating the ‘Selector’ who played the music, the MC or Toaster who hosted the ‘Dance’, and of course the Sound system itself with all it’s support crew. This was pre the days of mixers and twin decks, so the role of the MC was to entertain the crowd, whilst the selector changed records, usually a 7inch. This ultimately led to the birth of Hip Hop, when this form of presentation was exported to the states, via NY. As this form of entertainment evolved, in addition to the MC adding to the atmosphere, many of the ground breaking sound effects used in dub reggae were added for extra punch over the tracks by the ‘Operator’. He also controlled the sound, using early home made equipment he was able to manipulate sound. It was common practice to ‘pull up’ or ‘rewind’ the popular tracks to build the atmosphere with the crowd, as many of the sounds were very competitive. In order to maintain their popularity the ‘Selector’ or ‘DJ’ often sought to secure ‘rhythms’, or one off ‘Dub Plate’ recordings, exclusive to their sound. So if you wanted to hear them you had to go to their ‘Dance’. All these factors combined created a unique atmosphere, initially confined to Jamaica.

Soon the combination of the Reggae sound, the sweet soul sounds of Chicago and Philly created a fusion in the form of Lovers Rock, a very soulful laid back sound, but with the added Reggae rhythm influence. The soul influences from these parts of the states are clear to hear, not only in the feel of the music, but also because many Lovers Rock classics are in fact covers of songs originally recorded by US soul artists from those areas.

In the late 40’s, after the War, commencing with the ‘Windrush’ – an influx of Jamaicans emigrating to the ‘mother country’ and settling in London – brought with them their music, and an ongoing connection with their musical roots in the Caribbean. This meant by the late sixties and early seventies there was a thriving Reggae Scene in London. Of course this also meant the philosophy of the Jamaican ‘Dance’ was additionally bought to the UK. These events were often referred to as ‘Blues’, ‘Shubeen’ or ‘Rave’ – which was the original meaning. These events were held in illegal unlicensed premises – often empty houses. This was long before late licences and most legal venues refused to host such events anyway. Generally these events started in the middle of the night running well in to the following day. Due to the illegal nature of these events the promotion was purely by word of mouth – for those in the know.

Initially these events were strictly Reggae affairs, for many years Soul was regarded as too ‘soft’ and not cool or credible on the circuit. Eventually by the mid seventies these events started to introduce and accept Soul as part of the mix. Generally, in order to blend with the Reggae sounds the Soul would be more mid tempo. It was therefore also natural that much of the preferred soul sound came from Chicago and Philadelphia as being a key influence for the Reggae ‘Lovers’ sound they worked well together. By the late seventies some events and ‘sounds’ began to exclusively play this kind of Soul, especially with the advent of pirate radio also playing this kind of music. However, although playing soul, the ‘sounds’ kept the essence of a ‘Dance’. They still had the ‘Selector’ or music man who hunted out the hottest sounds. The Operator – who ran the sound itself, and who still utilised the sound effects over the records, and the MC – who hosted the night. It was still common practice to ‘pull up’ or ‘rewind’ records, which is a format that still remains to this day, especially if you go to any of the soul ‘Revival Dances’ held in London.

In the early eighties, although the concept of the Soul ‘Sound’ System was diversifying into many different forms of soul, there remained in certain parts of London many Soul Sound Systems keeping true to their reggae roots. This was in terms of presentation and the type of soul they played, and many still incorporated reggae.

As the popularity of this scene grew, terms like ‘2 Step’, ‘Rare Groove’ or ‘London Soul’ started to immerge to differentiate this particular style of Soul. Increasingly, during this time, the music that was being focused on was older, often more obscure, little known Soul releases. This was for a number of reasons; Firstly this kind of sound (although stemming from US recordings) was being overlooked in the states, so often disappeared into obscurity very quickly, only to be ‘discovered’ years later by this London Scene. Secondly much like their reggae heritage, each Sound wanted to keep their edge over the competition by obtaining music ‘exclusive’ to them. So the more obscure and harder to find the better, as other sounds would find it hard to lay their hands on the same tracks. This also led to many tracks being ‘covered up’ to prevent other competitive sounds from being able to find the tracks.

A great debt is owed to the real collectors behind all the ‘name’ DJs, or ‘Selectors’ in Sounds. The individuals who dedicated themselves to searching high and low to find these tracks, which in the end resulted in many artists eventually getting the recognition they so deserved, but never received in their native America. People like Stan, Victor, Junior, Tony ‘Glasses’, Des ‘Dollars’, Colin, Tony S, Des Parkes, ….

By the late eighties ‘Rare Groove’ had come to mean many different things, and as the wealth of hot new ‘undiscovered’ tracks started to dry up, it became harder and harder to find something not already being played, thus the scene started to shrink. A hardcore of fans still kept the scene going well into the early nineties when the term ‘Connoisseurs’ was introduced to rebrand the scene away from the often misused and hi jacked terms ‘Rare Groove’ and ‘2 Step’.

During this time to help refresh the scene it started to embrace more contemporary mid tempo ‘Slow Jam’ sounds, not only from the majors, but independent labels too. These too often dried up quickly becoming ‘rare’ shortly after they were released, which helped Sounds maintain there ‘exclusive’ selections. The other factor that helped move the scene into the more contemporary soul releases was the practice of the US majors frequently pressing up very limited 12” promo only copies of tracks for radio airplay. These included unreleased mixes, which often, due to lack of initial support were never released, and the artist was dropped from the label. Due to this fact, many of these ‘promos’ quickly became rare and hard to find – again this was something the DJs liked. It helped reinvigorate the scene, and for a time regained similar levels of popularity to that enjoyed in the eighties.

By the late nineties and early in to the 21st Century the scene became tired again, but once again was kept alive by a hardcore of followers. By 2004, and due to a number of factors the scene began to refresh itself and regain its popularity. As the major labels started to fall into decline (due to the digital revolution) they started to cull much of their roster of artists. Typically, amongst many of the first casualties were the Soul artists. However, whilst the digital revolution had become a major threat to traditional record labels it provided an opportunity for artists to build profile, and sell their music across the world via the internet. Previously it required the huge global infrastructure only a major label could provide, but this was no longer necessary. This enabled more artists to be able to release their music, without the interference of major labels attempting to direct them. This has led to a far greater range and choice of music than ever before. However, since there are so many releases the challenge has become sifting through them all to discover the hot tunes. This also works in the favour of the DJ as it makes it easier to cover up, and maintain their ‘exclusive’ discovery amongst the wash of releases.

Once more the scene is gaining in popularity, whilst also maintaining the link with its roots by not only still incorporating classic old tracks, but also new ‘rare’ discoveries. Ultimately it is now all about those unsigned independent Artists putting out their own releases that provides the scene with most of the new big tunes.

The presentation style in the ‘Dances’ has been refined over the years. However, they still manage to retain all the feel and essence of their original Jamaican Reggae predecessors.

Welcome to the London Connoisseurs Soul Scene…..