Dave Godin was the man who coined the term “northern soul”, but he was more than that. A journalist, record shop owner, music industry consultant, and label boss, practically everything Godin did could be traced back to a single root: a tireless advocacy for American soul music in all its forms. “Dave was a fascinating man,” says journalist Jon Savage. “He was unquestionably one of the 20 people who helped to bring modern black American music to this country.”
The son of a milkman, Godin grew up in Peckham, south London, before Luftwaffe raids forced the family out to Bexleyheath, Kent. He was introduced to black American music by way of hearing Ruth Brown’s Mama He Treats Your Daughter Mean on a jukebox in an ice cream parlour, and while on a scholarship to Dartford Grammar School he became acquainted with a young Mick Jagger, even sitting in on some early Rolling Stones rehearsals. “But when I interviewed him, he was very catty about the Stones,” says Savage. “I think he saw them as vandals – complete appropriators of black culture. His attitude was to always promote black American music, first and foremost.”
It was as a writer that Godin first distinguished himself, and in 1964 his column in Home of the Blues magazine caught the attention of Motown’s Berry Gordy Jr, who flew him out to Detroit and offered him a job as the company’s UK consultant. Godin spearheaded the creation of a new umbrella imprint, Tamla Motown, with distribution through EMI, and when the first Motown Revue – featuring the Supremes, Martha and the Vandellas and Stevie Wonder – landed in the UK in the spring of 1965, Godin was there to meet them off the plane.
Come 1967, Godin was running a record shop, Soul City, in London’s Covent Garden. It was here that he coined the term “northern soul”, to categorise the music beloved by the northern football fans who dropped by at weekends – not after the sophisticated funk increasingly beloved of the London cognoscenti, but obscure soul seven-inches with a pumping four-to-the-floor backbeat that made them perfect for athletic dancing. You might think a south London soul boy imposing terminology on distant regional scenes might raise some hackles, but not so, says Russ Winstanley, who promoted and DJed the Soul All-Nighters at the legendary Wigan Casino between 1973 and 1981. “Dave’s influence on the scene was absolutely exceptional,” he says.
The beating heart of the northern soul scene, Wigan Casino was immortalised on film in Tony Palmer’s classic film The Wigan Casino and was even voted the best disco in the world by Billboard Magazine in 1978, ahead of Studio 54. “He knew what the music was, and what it meant to us. The terminology was exactly right,” says Winstanley.
Winstanley recalls his first meeting with Godin: “I first met Dave in 1974, although I’d already spoken to him on the phone a number of times. He came up to the Casino for our first anniversary, and there’s a picture of him up on the stage with everybody, his fist clenched in a Black Power salute.”
The pair became firm friends, and Godin was always ready with an astute music recommendation. One tip was Tommy Hunt, former vocalist of Pittsburgh doo-wop group the Flamingos, but now living quietly in the UK. Winstanley booked Hunt to play the Wigan Casino’s second anniversary in 1975 to a rapturous reception; a year later, the veteran soulman was in the Top 40 with Love On the Losing Side, and even appeared a couple of times on Top Of The Pops.
Savage says Godin was motivated by “a love for music, and a love of freedom”. Undoubtedly he was a man of deep principle and passion. A conscientious objector, an anti-capitalist, vegetarian since the age of 15 and later in life an advocate for Jainism, an ancient Indian tradition of nonviolence, even in his later years Godin’s passion for the music never dimmed. In 1997, aged 61, he launched a new series titled Deep Soul Treasures for Ace Records, dedicated to another obscure, gospel-inherited strain of American soul music. “Maybe it’s music for neurotics, I’m working on that theory,” Godin mused in an interview with Savage in 1995. “I wouldn’t regard myself as an altogether stable character. But by God does it speak to my condition.”
“You didn’t have arguments with David, you had debates, and he’d usually win you over,” says Winstanley. “We were on a similar wavelength, to our detriment sometimes. We’d go and do things just because our heart said to do it, instead of our heads. But he was always looking out for the underdog. I loved the guy to bits.”
How to dance, northern soul style
The kick
Difficulty: Low
Liven up your fancy footwork with a karate-style kick – the higher the better, but make sure you’ve limbered up first.
The spin
Difficulty: Medium
Go for one, two or even three revolutions – and if you’re feeling really ambitious, add a leap then fall into the splits.
The backdrop
Difficulty: High
Move your weight into your toes, bend at the knees, fall backwards and support yourself behind with one or both hands.
Famous for a reason
Dave Godin didn’t seek fame, it found him because of his passion for music. The Famous Grouse’s reputation is also built upon being famous for a reason. Created in 1896, the founder Matthew Gloag didn’t want to be famous, he simply wanted to make the best whisky he could possibly make so he created The Grouse Brand. It soon became so popular that it was renamed The Famous Grouse. Renowned for its quality, craftsmanship and exceptional taste, The Famous Grouse is available in four expressions, including the smooth The Famous Grouse Mellow Gold and the distinctive The Famous Grouse Smoky Black.
Please enjoy The Famous Grouse whisky responsibly.
