Running In Another Direction – Various Artists 3x CD (Centre City)

Code: CENCCD006

£29.99

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Disc One
1. Barbara Pennington – Running In Another Direction
2. L.J. Johnson – Dancing On The Edge Of A Dream
3. Evelyn Thomas – Doomsday
4. The Exciters – Swallow Your Pride
5. Loleatta Holloway – Heartstealer
6. Tyrone Ashley – Just Another Rumour
7. Carol Woods – Heading Down Fools Road
8. Voices With Soul – Like A Lady
9. Doris Jones – Stranded In The Wilderness
10. James Wells – True Love Is My Destiny
11. Bettye Lavette – Have A Heart
12. Donna Williams – Make Me Fly Away
13. The Four Vandals – Without The Music
14. The Originals – Take The Only Way Out
15. Peter Lamarr And Gina Foster – Miracles
16. The Velvelettes – Running Out Of Luck
17. Tommy Hunt – Nothing But Good Times
18. Ebony Alleyne – All The Love In The World
19. Tammi Lavette – Seven Days
20. Delroy G. Pinnock – Halfway To Your Heart
21. Barbara Pennington – Fan The Flame
22. The Concentrations – Man On The Spot
23. Laverta Lewis – Better Times Ahead
24. Brenda Holloway – For All The Right Reasons

Disc Two
1. Peter Lamarr – Under Lock And Key
2. Doris Jones – Suddenly I’m Alive
3. Tahira Jumah – Waterfalls
4. L.J. Johnson – Floating
5. Tyrone Ashley – Feet Start Moving
6. Tamalia Banks – Can’t Believe It, It’s A Miracle
7. Brenton Colbert – Chase The Clouds Away
8. Eric Roberts – Outrageous
9. Barbara Pennington – I Can’t Erase The Thoughts Of You
10. Tammi Lavette – My Heart Keeps Saying No
11. James Wells – Double Dose Of Love
12. Evelyn Thomas – Love’s Not Just An Illusion
13. Midnight Sunrise – When The Beat Gets In Your Feet
14. Kitty Corbin – Witchcraft
15. Pearly Gates – Fading Into The Night
16. Carol Woods – Your Face Keeps Haunting Me
17. Twilight Affair – Coast To Coast
18. Susan Wells – Nightmare
19. Eastbound Expressway – Danger Zone
20. The Four Vandals – One Picture’s Worth A Thousand Words
21. J.J. And Ortheia Barnes – Send Some Love
22. Karen Pree – Girl With A Broken Heart
23. The Trammps – Feet Don’t Fail Me Now
24. Saundra Edwards – No More Room In My Heart

Disc Three
1. Doris Jones – He’s So Irreplaceable
2. Barbara Pennington – Spend A Little Time With Me
3. Carol Woods – Never Satisfied
4. Marvin Cotterell – Try Walking In My Shoes
5. Eastbound Expressway – Never Let Go
6. Loretta Stokes – Kidnap Me
7. Barbara Pennington – On A Crowded Street
8. Mike And The Modifiers – Waiting Round The Corner
9. Susan Wells – It Must Be An Ambush
10. Johnny Bristol – Look Into The Eyes Of A Fool
11. Venicia Wilson – Don’t Snap Your Fingers
12. The Four Vandals – No No No Girl
13. Ronnie Mcneir – Ten Times A Day
14. Frankie Gaye – What Goes Around
15. Carolyn Crawford – Which Way Do I Turn
16. Evelyn Thomas – My Head’s In The Stars
17. J.J. Barnes – On Top Of The World
18. Lois Reeves – Patience Is A Virtue
19. C.P. Spencer – You’re So Fantastic
20. Brenda Holloway – Home Is Where The Hatred Is
21. James Wells – All I Ever Need Is Music
22. Fay Jones – You Threw A Lucky Punch
23. Herman Griffin – Not One Chance In A Million
24. Donna Williams – Landed On My Feet

Weight 351.00 g
Title

Running In Another Direction

Artist

Various Artists

Label

Format

Genre

,

Release Year

Condition

Thirty years of classic Northern Soul and Modern Room Floor Fillers!

Cast your eyes over the track listing. Sense that you are on to something very special indeed. This second instalment, following the Reaching For The Very Best set, is a collection no less in power and majesty than its predecessor. No let up. No compromise. Rolled-gold soul. And it is remarkable that its producer, Ian Levine, can take another 70 plus tracks from the 2700 odd that he has produced in a career spanning 4 decades without letting that quality slip.

Its predecessor set the tone. Its predecessor established a successful recipe. A leading light on the Northern Soul scene and DJ at the legendary Blackpool Mecca in the mid 70s, Levine was barely 20 years old when he first tried his hand at producing. The first tranche date from that era. Always a controversial figure, Levine had begun introducing contemporary 70s soul into his Mecca playlist. Then, with trademark self-belief, he set out to make his own. The Exciters, Evelyn Thomas, and L.J. Johnson took Levine’s music into the upper echelons of the UK charts and established him as a producer of note.

Now, there are two types of people in this world – the leaders and the followers. The same is true of artists. Leading artists don’t rest on their laurels and Levine is in their illustrious company. Only the less able among us want to hold the others back. As the 70s wore on, the world was dancing to another beat. Different? Certainly. Soulful? Absolutely. Confounding the naysayers, Levine consolidated his stable of artists and reached out to dance floors across the world. The second tranche dates from this era and James Wells and Barbara Pennington scale the pinnacle of the U.S. disco charts.

As the 70s became the 80s Levine’s creative genius took another turn. Why tread the path worn by others? Where is the rule that says, ‘Thou must not have an original idea?’ Creating his own convention-busting genre gave Levine the biggest commercial successes of his career and, while not the focus of the present collection, HI-NRG paved the way for what was to come. Even though production of mainstream soul had taken a back seat, Barbara Pennington’s Fan the Flame and On a Crowded Street became the sound of Summer ‘85. Both of these are featured here.

Sometimes our best ideas begin as seeds – the acorn that becomes the oak. While our eyes are focused on the road ahead, it quietly starts to grow. The musical landscape had been shifting. The Nightmare label that Levine had established in 1986 was releasing a diverse range of dance tracks reflecting those shifts. HI-NRG tracks alternated with Northern Soul, Eurobeat, and the earliest examples of U.K. produced House music. Archie Bell and The Drells’ Look Back Over Your Shoulder, from the previous GoldSoul collection, dates from this time as does The Velvelettes’ Running Out of Luck in this. Then, as so often happens, fate intervened and Levine chanced to hear that the legendary Kim Weston was in the country. Her much anthologised single, Signal Your Intention (Mare26) began the trickle that became the flood and very soon it was clear to Levine that he had the opportunity to do something very special indeed. Only Levine’s grandiose ambition in concert with an intimidating song-writing ability would have been capable of imagining this: a reunion of every former, living Motown artist. New tracks and what, for many, would be a last chance to re-live the camaraderie of that magical, musical moment in time. The Motorcity label was born.

It’s the songs from the Motorcity era that are at the heart of this collection. Now, the aficionados among you will be familiar with the long-running controversy over the Motorcity tracks. ‘Are they really Northern Soul?’ ‘How come they sound so tinny?’ ‘Why didn’t Levine use a live rhythm section?’ Etc, etc. Well, time has a habit of placing controversies in perspective if we let it and that time has come. They were always great songs, they were always well sung. Brand new 2009 authentic soul remixes, on 7 of the Motorcity tracks and they never sounded better! Listen anew to such luminaries as J.J. and Orethea Barnes, Ronnie McNeir, Frankie Gaye, Carolyn Crawford, Lois Reeves, and C.P. Spencer. Let the legendary Bettye Lavette, so recently in the spot light at President Obama’s inauguration, send tingles up your spine. 7 new remixes, along with previous remixes, in an on-going programme to update the Motorcity sound.

Each decade in a long and illustrious career is represented. These songs cover a period of thirty four years. But to what will he direct his prodigious talents next? This is the final tranche. Not only do we have highlights from Levine’s recent Centre City albums but a taste of tracks to come. Delroy G. Pinnock’s Halfway to Your Heart is a standout track from the just released Soul Steppers set while Tahira Jumah’s Waterfalls is ‘Out there as one of my all-time best,’ says Levine. Listen and marvel!

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