Ian
Levine Presents Reaching for the best – The Story of Blackpool Mecca
This
actually is a very good compilation, miing th eold, the new, the well known and
less well known tracks given prominence by Ian Levine.
Two minor
off the chests to start with I don’t like the way it jumps from an oldie
stomper to a more modern track, personally I would have preferred chronilogical
tracklist.Also several of the
tracks have cropped up on recent compilations.
The
groundbreaking and enduring tracks are all here like the Carstairs, Gil Scott
Heron, Montclairs Voices of East Harlem and so on, and groundbreaking for
different reasons, the Levine tailor mades as they became known like Weak Spot,
Reaching for the best, and some out and out stompers like Landslide.
Just to
pick out a few I particularly enjoyed right now (given the fact that I grew up through
this era and a diet of Blackpool Mecca).Dreamin a Dream by the Crown Heights Affairwhich I haven’t played for ages and it sounded particularly
good.From the same year was Pat
Lundy’s shufler Party Music.In
the context of reminiscing the Charisma band is probably my favourite of the
whole package.
I’m so glad
– Whatnauts ods early 70’s but is pure Northern Soul. Never did like (and still
can’t get into) the leftfield Towaway Zone, give me the more straightforward
commercial but nonetheless soulful Larry Saunders or Bessie Banks.
Disk 2 is
marginally more esoteric starting with the wonderful Delilah Moore – It takes
Love.More 75 to 77 disco with
Carrie Lucas, Jeanne Napoli neithe particularly good in my view, but Street
People is superb as is Whispers In Love Forever.Silent Majority is another favourite as is Charen Cotton.
Otis Smith
to this day never lets you down, again pure Northern is the superb Sensations.
One of the
better compilations currently doing the rounds.
VARIOUS ARTISTS Ian
Levine Presents Reaching For The Best (The Story Of The Blackpool
Mecca) - Discotheque
released: 05/07/2004
Cat No: DQFDD004
barcode: 5050441 400421 Track
Listing:
In the hands of Ian Levine and Colin Curtis, Blackpool Mecca
was the venue where Northern Soul legends were built and broken. Now Levine
returns to celebrate this Northern institution with a suitably diverse
collection of the sounds that used to fill the Mecca dancefloor. This is
not only a seamless assembly of classic soul, but an instant record
collection that would cost you thousands of pounds to assemble any other
way.
