VA- "Loma Northern Soul" [1/27/2023-Ace UK]

Info from Ace Recods-
The compilation is a mix of the loved and cherished sides as played on the Northern Soul scene from the early 70s onwards, to brand new master tape finds that will give this ageing cultural movement a timely shot in the arm for the ‘20s and beyond.
The Marvellos open with ‘It’s Your Love That I Need’ a 1966 Willie Hutch song that has only just been unearthed and is setting dancefloors alight with its mid-60s soul perfection. Their classic ‘Something’s Burning’ is here along with a recent gem ‘I Need You’ that is digitally presented for the first time too.

The equally accomplished and respected Invincibles have a solid three dance tracks – none of which were issued at the time. ‘Heartstrings’ is the catchy dancer destined to go big, while ‘Please Be True’ is for connoisseurs of the Impressions’ vocalising style. ‘Got A Thing Goin’’ however is a manic stomper for super-fit dancers and acrobats only – reminiscent of Little Joe Cook’s ‘I’m Falling In Love With You Baby’.

Philly’s Ben Aiken made his Northern name with the irrepressible ‘Satisfied’ when we were teenagers. Two unreleased nuggets ‘That’s All I Gotta Do’ and ‘If You Should See Her’ will keep him known and revered through our later years.
Carl Hall’s evergreen ‘Mean It Baby’ is augmented by his ‘Like I Told You’ – a real grower.

The girls join in with the legendary Linda Jones’ ‘My Heart Needs A Break’ opus, Delilah Kennebreuw’s Spectoresque collector’s favourite ‘Bright Lights’ and the girly stomper that is ‘See The Silvery Moon’ by the Apollas - poptastic.
Early-scene mod sounds are provided by the mysterious Clyde & The Blue Jays who tell us how to do ‘The Big Jerk’, the Olympics revert to the R&B of their earlier career with ‘I Finally Got A Break’ before their Mirwood soul makeover. Billy Storm tears it up with ‘Baby Don’t Look Down’ an early song from the man who would give us the soundtrack to Toy Story 3 – Randy Newman. The Enchanters ‘Just A Little Longer’ is a mid-60s Drifters’ soundalike, fresh from the tape reel.
The Soul Shakers ‘I’m Getting Weaker’, Kell Osborne ‘You Can’t Outsmart A Woman’ and Larry Lester ‘Go For Yourself’ are accepted as the building blocks of the Northern Soul scene and still sound wonderful. Sleepers include Bobby Freeman’s magnificent ‘Lies’, Tony Amarro & The Chariots ‘Runnin’ Around’ and the dynamic production of Charles Thomas ‘The Man With The Golden Touch’.

With such high-quality sides to choose from, we have treated ourselves to two “enders” – Bobby Reed’s beautiful ‘I’ll Find A Way’ one of Van McCoys’ very best and Tommy Starr’s melancholic ‘Better Think Of What You’re Losing’.

• 1 It's Your Love That I Need - The Marvellos
• 2 Go For Yourself - Larry Laster
• 3 Heartstrings - The Invincibles
• 4 You Can't Outsmart A Woman - Kell Osborne
• 5 Lies - Bobby Freeman
• 6 That's All You Gotta Do - Ben Aiken
• 7 I Need You - The Marvellos
• 8 Mean It Baby - Carl Hall
• 9 I'm Getting Weaker - The Soul Shakers
• 10 Just A Little Longer - The Enchanters
• 11 Please Be True - The Invincibles
• 12 If You Should See Her - Ben Aiken
• 13 My Heart Needs A Break - Linda Jones
• 14 See The Silver Moon - The Apollas
• 15 Bright Lights - Delilah Kennebruew
• 16 Something's Burnin' - The Marvellos
• 17 Satisfied - Ben Aiken
• 18 Runnin Around - Tony Amaro & The Chariots
• 19 Got A Thing Goin' - The Invincibles
• 20 The Man With The Golden Touch - Charles Thomas
• 21 Baby Don't Look Down - Billy Storm
• 22 I Finally Got A Break - The Olympics
• 23 The Big Jerk, Part 1 - Clyde & The Blue Jays
• 24 I'll Find A Way - Bobby Reed
• 25 Better Think Of What You're Losing - Tommy Starr

Various Artists [Loma] - Loma Northern Soul - Ace Records

https://acerecords.co.uk/cache/image...LO_500_500.jpg

Also available on 7" singles collection [info from Ace Records]-

To celebrate Kent’s 40th birthday [admittedly a month late due to pressing times], we are releasing our first ever box set of singles. This is due to getting access to the Loma vaults and finding some previously unheard soul gems to augment the best of the soul dance tracks from the esteemed imprint.
Starting with THEE discovery of the soulful ‘20s we present L A soul group the Marvellos whose ‘It’s Your Love That I Need’ – written by the great Willie Hutch – a Motownesque dancer whose arrangements and melodies are so stunning we also issued the backing track as an instrumental B side to it.
The Invincibles were another fabulous Los Angeles outfit whose four Loma releases were ballads but two great dance tracks, the sublime ‘Heartstrings’ and the manic ‘Got A Thing Goin’’ showed they could really turn it up when needed.
Ben Aiken’s ‘Satisfied’ is a stone classic Northern Soul dancer - finding the more subtle ‘If You Should See Her’ and ‘That’s All You Gotta Do’ in the vaults makes the Philly singer the best represented artist of the set.
New York-based Carl Hall is another singer with a released classic - ‘Mean It Baby’ and a great unissued tape vault-find – ‘Like I Told You’. The pair sit well together on their new 45 pressing.
The Enchanters cut several tracks after they left Garnett Mimms, ‘Just A Little Longer’ is a great Drifters-sounding number which we’ve coupled with the beautiful ‘I’ll Find A Way’ by Bobby Reed.
‘See The Silver Moon’ by west coast girl group the Apollas would have wowed them at Wigan. The poptastic number has the perfect stomping dance beat, beloved of the Casino’s patrons. Alas it was not heard until 2012 when researcher and co-compiler Alec Palao unearthed the master tape. We paired it with Larry Laster’s terrific ‘Go For Yourself’ which shares the backing track of fellow Northern monsters ‘Lighten Up Baby’ and ‘Somebody Somewhere [[Needs You)’, more than holding its own.
The flip of Ben Aiken’s ‘If You Should See Her’ debutant is Bobby Freeman’s magnificent ‘Lies’ out there on original vinyl but surely due for take-off.

Track listing and pre-order info here-
Various Artists [Loma] - Loma Northern Soul - Classic & Revelations 1964-1968 - Ace Records

FAR more interesting [[to me) than 'Thriller' - but, to each their own.

I look forward to giving this a listen.

I’d rather they’d finish the complete loma singles

Ace/Kent come out with the most interesting releases. I'm not familiar at all with most of these groups but you can be sure the mastering will be top notch. The only ones I've heard of is Linda Jones of course, the Olympics, Bobby Freeman, and Billy Storm.

Do we or any of our resident archivists have any inroads into Ace/Kent to know if they have any more Motown on their upcoming release schedule?

"Something's Burning" and "My Heart Needs a Break" are the highlights of this set. I think it's a worthwhile buy.

Best,

Mark