While soul music is an obvious product of America, its influence began spreading internationally ever since the first note was released in the 1950s. In England, the much beloved genre has inspired more than a few generations of singers, producers, and various scenes. The Brit fans loved every nuance of the music as they studied it closely, could tell you the b-side of obscure discs and interpreted those inspirations into their own brand of R&B. While the Brit soul genre has always been integrated since its inception, many of the Black bands added an extra layer of funk when they began adding elements of reggae, technology and a pop sensibility that pushed the sound in interesting directions. As a tribute to the genre’s pioneers, soulhead and I have put together an introduction to British Soul.

http://www.soulhead.com/2...oul-part-1

Wish there was more posting on the actual thread instead of following off onto the link.

skilletnomicrowave said:

In my opinion, any talk of British Soul begins and ends with Loose Ends - hands down the greatest Brit Soul group of all time. Loose Ends were British, although I believe everyone in the group's families were from Jamaica. The bulk of their truly outstanding work was produced by an Italian DJ from Philly named Nick Martinelli. They made their mark in NYC whose WBLS and WRKS put the group on permanent round the clock rotation for the better part of a decade. At it's very best, most Brit soul is copying what was done in America in earlier eras, even if they are copying it very very well. Loose Ends forged a new trail in soul music PERIOD. (Caron Wheeler was de facto IN LOOSE ENDS and was supposed to be Jane Eugene's replacement before she went off and made those couple of really great redcords with Soul II Soul, so there's that.) Loose Ends did what every group aspires to do but 99.999 cannot pull off - they created their own SOUND, one that had never existed before, not even in America. That they are not first ballot Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees is a crime against humanity.

i cosign Loose Ends

i had "Zagora" on cassette...played it over and over and over again....memories...smh

Second that about Lewis Taylor! And I would also like to add Maverick Sabre