British soul
Encyclopedia
British soul, Brit soul or the British soul invasion is soul music
performed by British artists. Soul has been a major influence on British popular music since the 1960s, and American soul was extremely popular among some youth subcultures, such as mods, skinhead
s and the northern soul
movement. However, a clear genre of British soul did not emerge until the 1980s, when a number of black and white artists who made soul their major focus began to enjoy some commercial success. The popularity of British soul artists in the United States in the 1990s and 2000s led to talk of another British Invasion
or a soul invasion.
from the mid-1950s and the subsequent interest in American music. In the early 1960s, rhythm and blues
, including soul, was particularly popular among some members of the beat music
boom, including The Beatles
, and among bands of who contributed to the British blues
boom, including The Spencer Davis Group, The Small Faces
, The Rolling Stones
, The Kinks
and The Who
. Most of these were popular with members of the Mod subculture, out of which grew the northern soul
movement, in which northern English
youths avidly collected and played rare soul records.
Britain produced only a handful of soul acts, most significantly the blue-eyed soul
singers Tom Jones
and Dusty Springfield
. Dusty in Memphis
(1969) is one of the few albums by a British performer considered among the great soul recordings. One black British soul band was The Real Thing. It has been suggested that the performance of soul in Britain was so limited because white
fans saw it as exclusively a black genre, and because black British
performers, while incorporating some sounds into other forms like reggae, considered soul a distant American genre. A handful of British artists continued to perform soul-inspired music in the 1970s. These included David Bowie
, whose "Plastic soul
" on his Young Americans
album (1975), helped keep the sound in the British mainstream. One of the key figures in Britain's soul and disco
scenes during the 1970s was Biddu
, an Indian-British
composer and producer who gained breakthrough success with chart-topping hits such as "Kung Fu Fighting
" (1974) with Carl Douglas
and "I Love to Love (But My Baby Loves to Dance)
" with Tina Charles, while his own Biddu Orchestra records also appeared in the charts. Other British soul artists working with Biddu at the time included The Outriders and Jimmy James
.
In the 1980s, the situation began to change radically, with a wave of nostalgia for 1960s soul music. There were flourishing soul scenes in major cities like London and Manchester, often with many black artists, supported by local and pirate radio stations, but most acts were unable to break out into the national consciousness. This interest was reflected and fuelled by a series of covers and songs inspired by soul for a number of major acts, including Phil Collins
's "You Can't Hurry Love
" (1982), Culture Club
's "Church of the Poison Mind
" (1983), The Style Council
's "Speak Like a Child
" (1983), Eurythmics
' "Missionary Man
" (1986), and Steve Winwood
"Roll With It
" (1998). For the first time since the 1960s, there were also notable acts who specialised in soul. These included George Michael
, who reinvented himself a white soul singer with the multi-platinum album Faith
(1987). Also significant were Sade
, Simply Red
, and toward the end of the decade, Lisa Stansfield
and Soul II Soul
. The latter's breakthrough hits "Keep on Movin'
" and "Back to Life" in 1989 have been seen as opening the door to the mainstream for black British soul and R&B performers.
In the 1990s, the British soul-influenced acts included Omar
and acid jazz
bands Incognito
and Brand New Heavies
. Particularly noticeable was the proliferation of British female black singers, many, like American artists of the 1950s and 1960s, coming out of a gospel
tradition. These included Mica Paris
, Caron Wheeler
, Gabrielle
, Beverley Knight
and Heather Small
. British soul in the 2000s has been dominated by female singers, most notably Amy Winehouse
, Estelle
, Joss Stone
, Duffy (singer)
, Adele
and Leona Lewis
. They have enjoyed success on the American charts, leading to talk of another "British Invasion
", a "Female Invasion" or a "British soul invasion". In 2009, Jay Sean's single "Down
" reached the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100
and sold two million copies in the United States, making him "the most successful male UK urban artist in US chart history." His success was followed by Taio Cruz
also topping the US Billboard Hot 100 in March 2010. The success of Sean and Cruz, as well as the upcoming US release of Tinchy Stryder
, has led to talk of how "U.K. stars seize American R&B". British R&B has also been increasingly incorporating electropop
sounds in recent years, exemplified by the music of Jay Sean and Taio Cruz.
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
performed by British artists. Soul has been a major influence on British popular music since the 1960s, and American soul was extremely popular among some youth subcultures, such as mods, skinhead
Skinhead
A skinhead is a member of a subculture that originated among working class youths in the United Kingdom in the 1960s, and then spread to other parts of the world. Named for their close-cropped or shaven heads, the first skinheads were greatly influenced by West Indian rude boys and British mods,...
s and the northern soul
Northern soul
Northern soul is a music and dance movement that emerged from the British mod scene, initially in northern England in the late 1960s. Northern soul mainly consists of a particular style of black American soul music based on the heavy beat and fast tempo of the mid-1960s Tamla Motown sound...
movement. However, a clear genre of British soul did not emerge until the 1980s, when a number of black and white artists who made soul their major focus began to enjoy some commercial success. The popularity of British soul artists in the United States in the 1990s and 2000s led to talk of another British Invasion
British Invasion
The British Invasion is a term used to describe the large number of rock and roll, beat, rock, and pop performers from the United Kingdom who became popular in the United States during the time period from 1964 through 1966.- Background :...
or a soul invasion.
History
Widespread British interest in soul music developed after the advent of rock and rollRock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
from the mid-1950s and the subsequent interest in American music. In the early 1960s, rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
, including soul, was particularly popular among some members of the beat music
Beat music
Beat music, British beat, or Merseybeat is a pop and rock music genre that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1960s. Beat music is a fusion of rock and roll, doo wop, skiffle, R&B and soul...
boom, including The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
, and among bands of who contributed to the British blues
British blues
British blues is a form of music derived from American blues that originated in the late 1950s and which reached its height of mainstream popularity in the 1960s, when it developed a distinctive and influential style dominated by electric guitar and made international stars of several proponents of...
boom, including The Spencer Davis Group, The Small Faces
The Small Faces
The Small Faces were an English rock and roll band from East London, heavily influenced by American rhythm and blues. The group was founded in 1965 by members Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones, and Jimmy Winston, although by 1966 Winston was replaced by Ian McLagan as the band's...
, The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
, The Kinks
The Kinks
The Kinks were an English rock band formed in Muswell Hill, North London, by brothers Ray and Dave Davies in 1964. Categorised in the United States as a British Invasion band, The Kinks are recognised as one of the most important and influential rock acts of the era. Their music was influenced by a...
and The Who
The Who
The Who are an English rock band formed in 1964 by Roger Daltrey , Pete Townshend , John Entwistle and Keith Moon . They became known for energetic live performances which often included instrument destruction...
. Most of these were popular with members of the Mod subculture, out of which grew the northern soul
Northern soul
Northern soul is a music and dance movement that emerged from the British mod scene, initially in northern England in the late 1960s. Northern soul mainly consists of a particular style of black American soul music based on the heavy beat and fast tempo of the mid-1960s Tamla Motown sound...
movement, in which northern English
Northern England
Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North or the North Country, is a cultural region of England. It is not an official government region, but rather an informal amalgamation of counties. The southern extent of the region is roughly the River Trent, while the North is bordered...
youths avidly collected and played rare soul records.
Britain produced only a handful of soul acts, most significantly the blue-eyed soul
Blue-eyed soul
Blue-eyed soul is a media term that was used to describe rhythm and blues and soul music performed by white artists, with a strong pop music influence. The term was first used in the mid-1960s to describe white artists who performed soul and R&B that was similar to the music of the Motown and...
singers Tom Jones
Tom Jones (singer)
Sir Thomas John Woodward, OBE , known by his stage name Tom Jones, is a Welsh singer.Since the mid 1960s, Jones has sung many styles of popular music – pop, rock, R&B, show tunes, country, dance, techno, soul and gospel – and sold over 100 million records...
and Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'BrienSources use both Isabel and Isobel as the spelling of her second name. OBE , known professionally as Dusty Springfield and dubbed The White Queen of Soul, was a British pop singer whose career extended from the late 1950s to the 1990s...
. Dusty in Memphis
Dusty in Memphis
Dusty in Memphis is a landmark album by Dusty Springfield, released in 1969. It was produced by Jerry Wexler and Arif Mardin and engineered by Tom Dowd. "So Much Love", "Son of a Preacher Man", "The Windmills Of Your Mind", "Breakfast in Bed", "Just One Smile", "I Don't Want to Hear It Anymore",...
(1969) is one of the few albums by a British performer considered among the great soul recordings. One black British soul band was The Real Thing. It has been suggested that the performance of soul in Britain was so limited because white
White British
White British was an ethnicity classification used in the 2001 United Kingdom Census. As a result of the census, 50,366,497 people in the United Kingdom were classified as White British. In Scotland the classification was broken down into two different categories: White Scottish and Other White...
fans saw it as exclusively a black genre, and because black British
Black British
Black British is a term used to describe British people of Black African descent, especially those of Afro-Caribbean background. The term has been used from the 1950s to refer to Black people from former British colonies in the West Indies and Africa, who are residents of the United Kingdom and...
performers, while incorporating some sounds into other forms like reggae, considered soul a distant American genre. A handful of British artists continued to perform soul-inspired music in the 1970s. These included David Bowie
David Bowie
David Bowie is an English musician, actor, record producer and arranger. A major figure for over four decades in the world of popular music, Bowie is widely regarded as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s...
, whose "Plastic soul
Plastic soul
Plastic soul is a term coined by an unknown black musician in the 1960s, describing Mick Jagger as a white musician singing soul music.Paul McCartney heard the comment and later said that the name of the The Beatles album Rubber Soul was inspired by the term "plastic soul"...
" on his Young Americans
Young Americans (album)
Young Americans, released in 1975, shows off David Bowie’s 1970’s shift to his “obsession” with soul music . For this album, Bowie let go of the influences he had drawn from in the past, replacing them with sounds from “local dance halls”, which, at the time, were blaring with “…lush strings,...
album (1975), helped keep the sound in the British mainstream. One of the key figures in Britain's soul and disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
scenes during the 1970s was Biddu
Biddu
Biddu or Biddu Appaiah is an Indian-British music producer, composer, song-writer and singer who produced and composed many hit records worldwide during a career spanning five decades...
, an Indian-British
British Indian
The term British Indian refers to citizens of the United Kingdom whose ancestral roots lie in India. This includes people born in the UK who are of Indian descent, and Indian-born people who have migrated to the UK...
composer and producer who gained breakthrough success with chart-topping hits such as "Kung Fu Fighting
Kung Fu Fighting
"Kung Fu Fighting" is a disco song written by Jim Brusatto and Vivian Hawke performed by Carl Douglas, and composed and produced by Biddu. It was released as a single in 1974, at the cusp of a chopsocky film craze, and eventually rose to the top of the British and American charts, in addition to...
" (1974) with Carl Douglas
Carl Douglas
Carl Douglas is a former Jamaican-born, UK-based, singer, best known for his song "Kung Fu Fighting", which hit number one in both the UK Singles Chart and the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in 1974. The R.I.A.A. awarded gold disc status on 27 November, and it won a Grammy Award for Best Selling Single...
and "I Love to Love (But My Baby Loves to Dance)
I Love to Love (But My Baby Loves to Dance)
"I Love to Love " was a popular single by Tina Charles, from her debut album, I Love to Love; the song was composed by Jack Robinson and James Bolden...
" with Tina Charles, while his own Biddu Orchestra records also appeared in the charts. Other British soul artists working with Biddu at the time included The Outriders and Jimmy James
Jimmy James (Singer)
Jimmy James is a soul music singer, known for songs like Come To Me Softly, Now Is the Time and I'll Go Where the Music Takes Me.-The Vagabonds:...
.
In the 1980s, the situation began to change radically, with a wave of nostalgia for 1960s soul music. There were flourishing soul scenes in major cities like London and Manchester, often with many black artists, supported by local and pirate radio stations, but most acts were unable to break out into the national consciousness. This interest was reflected and fuelled by a series of covers and songs inspired by soul for a number of major acts, including Phil Collins
Phil Collins
Philip David Charles "Phil" Collins, LVO is an English singer-songwriter, drummer, pianist and actor best known as a drummer and vocalist for British progressive rock group Genesis and as a solo artist....
's "You Can't Hurry Love
You Can't Hurry Love
"You Can't Hurry Love" is 1966 song originally released by The Supremes for the Motown label.Written and produced by Motown production team Holland–Dozier–Holland, the song topped the United States Billboard pop singles chart and in the UK in the top 5, released and peaking late summer in 1966...
" (1982), Culture Club
Culture Club
Culture Club are a British rock band who were part of the 1980s New Romantic movement. The original band consisted of Boy George , Mikey Craig , Roy Hay and Jon Moss...
's "Church of the Poison Mind
Church of the Poison Mind
"Church of the Poison Mind" is a 1983 hit single for Culture Club. It was the first single to be released from their second album Colour by Numbers....
" (1983), The Style Council
The Style Council
The Style Council were an English band, formed in 1983 by the ex-The Jam singer and guitarist Paul Weller, with keyboardist Mick Talbot. The permanent line-up grew to include drummer Steve White and Weller's then-wife, vocalist Dee C. Lee. Other artists such as Tracie Young and Tracey Thorn also...
's "Speak Like a Child
Speak Like a Child
"Speak Like a Child" was the debut single from The Style Council and was included on the album, Introducing The Style Council in 1983 . Backed with "Party Chambers", it became a big hit, peaking at #4 on the UK Singles Chart. Paul Weller and Mick Talbot were already well-known from their previous...
" (1983), Eurythmics
Eurythmics
Eurythmics were a British pop rock duo, formed in 1980, currently disbanded, but known to reunite from time to time. Consisting of members Annie Lennox and David A...
' "Missionary Man
Missionary Man (Eurythmics song)
"Missionary Man" is a song by the British pop music duo Eurythmics. It was taken from their sixth album, Revenge, and continued the band's rock/R&B musical style of the time and featured Jimmy Zavala on harmonica....
" (1986), and Steve Winwood
Steve Winwood
Stephen Lawrence "Steve" Winwood is an English international recording artist whose career spans nearly 50 years. He is a songwriter and a musician whose genres include soul music , R&B, rock, blues-rock, pop-rock, and jazz...
"Roll With It
Roll with It (album)
Roll with It is the fifth solo album by blue-eyed soulster Steve Winwood. It topped the album charts in the United States, and has sold over three million copies. The title cut topped the pop singles and the album rock singles charts with subsequent hit status afforded the album tracks released as...
" (1998). For the first time since the 1960s, there were also notable acts who specialised in soul. These included George Michael
George Michael
George Michael is a British musician, singer, songwriter and record producer who rose to fame in the 1980s when he formed the pop duo Wham! with his school friend, Andrew Ridgeley...
, who reinvented himself a white soul singer with the multi-platinum album Faith
Faith (George Michael album)
Faith is George Michael's first solo album, released in October 1987 via Columbia Records/Epic Records. The album has won several awards including the Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1989. To date, the album has sold over 25 million copies worldwide, and received diamond certification from...
(1987). Also significant were Sade
Sade (band)
Sade is a British smooth jazz band that formed in 1983, named for Nigerian lead singer Sade Adu. Their music features elements of R&B, soul, jazz, and soft rock....
, Simply Red
Simply Red
Simply Red were a British soul band that sold more than 50 million albums over a 25-year career. Their style drew influences from blue-eyed soul, new romantic, rock, reggae and jazz...
, and toward the end of the decade, Lisa Stansfield
Lisa Stansfield
Lisa Stansfield is an English singer and songwriter.-Early years:Stansfield was born to Marion and Keith Stansfield in Heywood, Lancashire, in England, where she attended Redbrook School, Rochdale. Her first television appearance was on a talent programme in the Granada TV area in 1982...
and Soul II Soul
Soul II Soul
Soul II Soul are a British group that was created in London in 1988. They are best known for their 1989 UK chart-topper and U.S. Top 5 hit, "Back to Life ".-Career:...
. The latter's breakthrough hits "Keep on Movin'
Keep on Movin' (Soul II Soul song)
"Keep on Movin'" is a song by British R&B band Soul II Soul. It was the second single released from their debut album Club Classics Vol. One, after "Fairplay"...
" and "Back to Life" in 1989 have been seen as opening the door to the mainstream for black British soul and R&B performers.
In the 1990s, the British soul-influenced acts included Omar
Omar Lye-Fook
Omar Lye-Fook and known as Omar, is an internationally acclaimed British soul singer, songwriter and musician. Omar grew up in Canterbury, Kent. He learned his craft classically, playing the trumpet, piano and percussion. Omar also spent two years at Chetham's School of Music in Manchester, and...
and acid jazz
Acid jazz
Acid jazz is a musical genre that combines elements of jazz, funk and hip-hop, particularly looped beats. It developed in the UK over the 1980s and 1990s and could be seen as tacking the sound of jazz-funk onto electronic dance: jazz-funk musicians such as Roy Ayers, Donald Byrd and Grant Green are...
bands Incognito
Incognito (band)
Incognito is a British band, as well as one of the members of the United Kingdom's acid jazz movement. Their debut album, Jazz Funk, was released in 1981, with thirteen more albums following, the last of which, Transatlantic RPM, was released in 2010....
and Brand New Heavies
Brand New Heavies
The Brand New Heavies are an acid jazz and funk group formed in 1985 in Ealing, a suburb of London, England.-Biography:The Brand New Heavies began in the 1980s as an instrumental acid jazz group called Brother International....
. Particularly noticeable was the proliferation of British female black singers, many, like American artists of the 1950s and 1960s, coming out of a gospel
Gospel
A gospel is an account, often written, that describes the life of Jesus of Nazareth. In a more general sense the term "gospel" may refer to the good news message of the New Testament. It is primarily used in reference to the four canonical gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John...
tradition. These included Mica Paris
Mica Paris
Mica Paris is an English soul singer, radio and television presenter, and occasional actress. Her forename is pronounced Misha.-Beginnings:Paris' roots are in soul and gospel music...
, Caron Wheeler
Caron Wheeler
Caron Wheeler is a two-time Grammy Award winning British R&B/soul singer, who gained fame by writing and singing the lead vocals on the two biggest hits for Soul II Soul Caron Wheeler (19 January 1963) is a two-time Grammy Award winning British R&B/soul singer, who gained fame by writing and...
, Gabrielle
Gabrielle (singer)
Louisa Gabrielle Bobb is a multi-platinum selling, BRIT Award winning English singer, who records under the name Gabrielle. Gabrielle began her career temping during the day and singing for free in London clubs at night...
, Beverley Knight
Beverley Knight
Beverley Knight MBE is a British soul and R&B singer, songwriter, and record producer who released her debut album in 1995. Heavily influenced by soul greats such as Sam Cooke and Aretha Franklin, Knight has released six studio albums to date...
and Heather Small
Heather Small
Heather Small is a British soul singer, best known for being the lead singer in the Manchester based band M People. Her debut solo album was Proud in 2000...
. British soul in the 2000s has been dominated by female singers, most notably Amy Winehouse
Amy Winehouse
Amy Jade Winehouse was an English singer-songwriter known for her powerful deep contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres including R&B, soul and jazz. Winehouse's 2003 debut album, Frank, was critically successful in the UK and was nominated for the Mercury Prize...
, Estelle
Estelle (musician)
Estelle Fanta Swaray commonly known as Estelle, and formerly as Est'elle, is an English R&B singer-songwriter, rapper and record producer.-Early Life:Estelle was born 18 January 1980 in Hammersmith, London, England...
, Joss Stone
Joss Stone
Jocelyn Eve Stoker , better known by her stage name Joss Stone, is an English soul singer-songwriter and actress. Stone rose to fame in late 2003 with her multi-platinum debut album, The Soul Sessions, which made the 2004 Mercury Prize shortlist...
, Duffy (singer)
Duffy (singer)
Aimée Ann Duffy , known as Duffy, is a Welsh singer-songwriter. Her 2008 debut album Rockferry entered the UK Album Chart at number one. It was the best-selling album in the United Kingdom in 2008 with 1.68 million copies sold...
, Adele
Adele (singer)
Adele Laurie Blue Adkins , known professionally as Adele, is an English singer-songwriter. She was the first recipient of the Brit Awards Critics' Choice and was named the number-one predicted breakthrough act of 2008 in an annual BBC poll of music critics, Sound of 2008...
and Leona Lewis
Leona Lewis
Leona Louise Lewis is a British singer and songwriter. Lewis first came to prominence in 2006 when she won the third series of the British television series The X Factor....
. They have enjoyed success on the American charts, leading to talk of another "British Invasion
British Invasion
The British Invasion is a term used to describe the large number of rock and roll, beat, rock, and pop performers from the United Kingdom who became popular in the United States during the time period from 1964 through 1966.- Background :...
", a "Female Invasion" or a "British soul invasion". In 2009, Jay Sean's single "Down
Down (Jay Sean song)
"Down" is an R&B-electropop song by British artist Jay Sean. The song was released in North America as his debut single from his first album there, All or Nothing. In other markets, including the UK, the song serves as Jay Sean's lead single from his third studio album. The single features American...
" reached the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
and sold two million copies in the United States, making him "the most successful male UK urban artist in US chart history." His success was followed by Taio Cruz
Taio Cruz
Taio Cruz is a British singer-songwriter, record producer, occasional rapper, and entrepreneur. In 2008, he released his debut album Departure, which Cruz wrote, arranged and produced himself. It achieved initial success in the UK and earned him a MOBO Award nomination...
also topping the US Billboard Hot 100 in March 2010. The success of Sean and Cruz, as well as the upcoming US release of Tinchy Stryder
Tinchy Stryder
Kwasi Danquah III , better known by his pseudonyms Tinchy Stryder and Star In The Hood, is a Ghanaian British recording artist, music executive, A&R executive, and businessman...
, has led to talk of how "U.K. stars seize American R&B". British R&B has also been increasingly incorporating electropop
Synthpop
Synthpop is a genre of popular music that first became prominent in the 1980s, in which the synthesizer is the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s by the use of synthesizers in progressive rock, electronic art rock, disco and particularly the "Kraut rock" of...
sounds in recent years, exemplified by the music of Jay Sean and Taio Cruz.