All posts by Mick

MisterB (UK)
Best ever!
What a fantastic show this is. Mick is so passionate, it drips through everything he says and his choice of tunes.

Bazzzaboy (UK)
Soul Discovered
This has to be the classiest Soul Music show on the radio. Soul Discovery with Mick O’Donnell’s love of the music, be it deep soul, slow R and B or Gospel – is evident by his sheer enthusiasm and obvious joy of the tracks he plays. Current classy Soul played alongside gems from the past, the show is always introducing the listener to music that they might never otherwise hear. Each show is a real joy. 10 out of 10

Peter Churchill  (Sweden)
My name is Peter Churchill, I’ve been Collecting and listening to soul for 40 years, I’ve listened to your Soul Discovery show’s for many years and it just gets better, you just Keep finding tracks that blow me away for ex Karan Clarke, He loves me, Willie Hutch, I can sho can give love, Sandra Richardson, Madeleine Bell etc, I’m hard to please but you just about knock it on the Head for me. I was a regular tourer in the 80s seeing and enjoying all the top artist , Jean Carn, Maze, Patti, Shirley Brown, Bobby Womack, Barry W, Incognito, PAZ the amazing jazz Q, LSG, Gladys, Luther V and many more amazing gigs with a lot of goosebumps and fantastic memories, them times are difficult too experience again but that doesn’t mean theres not a lot off quality top soul artist out there today, its just a big act to follow. 

Thanks for keeping soul Alive and Keep spreading the word

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New and Jazzy Releases for July 2024

Jazz First by Tony Poole

Nana Afrika by Mausiki Scales from Long Memory (Tippin’ da Scales Music)
Keybordist and founder of the Atlanta-based Afro Beat Funk ensemble, Mausiki Scales and the Common Ground Collective. Their music bears influence to the music of Fela Kuti and Roy Ayers. The infectious ‘Nana Afrika’ features a killer groove with added spiritual poetry. Nana, West African (Ghana) literal meaning ‘grandparent, elder, ancester’. No doubt  a future worldwide groove club classic.

Roll The Dice (Raregroove Reprise) by Soulpersona & Carl Hudson fom Magic Bullet. (Sunset City Records)
Potentially the peoples choice pick from the duo’s new album ‘Magic Bullet’. Remixed into a more jazzier affair that highlights the Fender Rhodes and trumpet solos. An exclusive bonus mix only available on Bandcamp. Also included on this 3-track EP is a vocal version featuring Deborah Bond.

Continue reading New and Jazzy Releases for July 2024 →

Soul Underground with Karl White

Northern Soul – The Post Wigan Years


The following article was written for the sleeve note of the 10 CD Box Set The Odyssey: A Northern Soul Time Capsule compiled by Ian Dewhirst and released at the beginning of 2015.  It is a brief overview of the Northern/Rare Soul scene since the demise of Wigan Casino.  it is by no means a comprehensive and full overview of what was happening and has happened since 1980/1981.  It focuses only on the main all-nighters of the time.  There has been 100s off venues since Wigan that have held an all-nighter and it was impossible to mention all within the constraints of the word count I was held to.  It neither focuses on Soul Nights of which there was literally 1000s and even more today.  The majority held no influence on the scene in the way the likes of Blackpool Mecca did.  That isn’t to say there was none, some are featured but many are not as space didn’t allow .  Hopefully there will be a book to follow that will feature many of the venues and clubs omitted.

Much has been written about the Northern Soul scene up to the demise of The Wigan Casino, but very little has actually been written about what followed. For many, the scene died when Wigan Casino closed its doors for the final time. These same people would perversely discover that the scene was far from dead and that a hard-core crowd had continued to keep the flame burning and in the process, had taken the scene back underground with an aggressive upfront music policy.

Continue reading Soul Underground with Karl White →

The Harlem Gospel Travelers


“Rhapsody”

Label:  Colemine Records
Release Date: Friday 23rd August 2024  
Format:  LP Vinyl

With The Harlem Gospel Travelers’ new album Rhapsody, the extraordinary vocalists Ifedayo, Dennis Bailey, and George Marage are able to fully explore the entire range of music that influenced them. The follow-up to their acclaimed 2021 release Look Up!, the record is a dive into a lesser-known but hugely important era in the evolution of gospel music.

Starting in the mid-1960s, local gospel groups and singers began incorporating elements of popular soul and funk styles and in 2006, Chicago-based reissue label Numero Group released Good God! A Gospel Funk Hymnal. HGT’s longtime friend and mentor Eli Paperboy Reed approached the group with the idea of digging through the Numero catalog and recording some of the gospel-funk material, reinterpreted in their own way—from the high-energy, old-school soul of “God’s Been Good to Me” to the hip-hop-inflected “Get Involved.” 

Continue reading The Harlem Gospel Travelers →

Bridge 


“Crying For Love” /“Listen”

Label: Izipho Soul Records
Catalogue Number: ZP104 
Release Date: Friday 26th July 2024  
Format:  7’ Vinyl

Paul Tillman Smith is a significant figure within in the music community of Oakland/Berkeley, California. His connections and collaborations read like a who’s who of famous musicians.

As leader of 70s Buddah Records group ‘Vitamin E’ and then onto ‘Bridge’, the subsequent band cut an album in 1981 for the CBS distributed Bang label that never saw the light of day. It was released by First Experience Records as a double LP and CD in 1999 and is recognised as being one of the finest unreleased discoveries within its genre.

Continue reading Bridge  →

History of – Paul Tilman Smith……So Far

19/07/24

The Norman Connors days.
Me and Norman were the young Jazz drummer up-and-comers in the sixties in New York. Normans momma was in Philadelphia and mine was in California. Norman could run to his momma’s house to eat while I starved to death,lol. We were best friends but god obviously had different intentions for the both of us. Norman had no idea I had a love for writing silly little songs on the piano from the age of fifteen.

After I left the Jazz Avant Garde John Coltrane era and came back to Oakland I kept playing but started writing again. In the mean time Norman became one of the best show-men Jazz drummers around and people started noticing him and the right record producer gave him a shot and making records and he then started making great records. We had made a pack that if either one of us could ever help the other we would so the band Vitamin E was born. His wife named the band and I at first hated that name but now ironically I use Vitamin E everyday, hahahahahahaha!

Continue reading History of – Paul Tilman Smith……So Far →

Aflex Combo

“Hibaros” / “Something Blue”

Label: Jazz Room Records 
Catalogue Number: JAZZR 039
Release Date: July 2024  
Format:  7’ Vinyl

Japanese Producer and multi-instrumentalist Keisuke Yamazoe’s outfit Aflex Combo are a super jazzy jazz-funk outfit whose occasional releases are always incendiary. Jazz Room Records are pleased to release this special cover of the underground club classic “Hibaros” by B&G Rhythm (Donny Beck & Steve Gutierrez and featuring Bobby Lyle!) and after one listen you will agree that this is a must-check 45! Over on the flip is “Something Special”, a Latin-tinged jazz-funk number that’s every bit as essential as the floor rocking A-side.

Paul Murphy
https://jazzroomrecords.com/

Ben Jones (UK)
Just wanted to say it’s really good to hear the show again. Been a follower of Soul Discovery for years and was sad when I learnt it was no longer being broadcast Sunday evenings. Always a quality listen and I’ll be locked in this coming Saturday.

Steve Scotney (UK)
Hey Mick, Hope you’re well and thanks for keeping up the great show and website / Podcasts etc. Fantastic soul as always and a weekly lifeline for me 

Jerrij Johnson – California Flight (U.S.A.)
I love your Soul Discovery radio shows.

Continue reading Listener Feedback →

Soul Discovery Show – An Exclusive Interview with Candi Staton 19/06/24

In the early ‘70s with a string of hit R&B records, produced by her great friend, the late Rick Hall of the legendary FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals: “I’d Rather Be an Old Man’s Sweetheart (Than a Young Man’s Fool),” “I’m Just a Prisoner (of Your Good Lovin’),” “Sweet Feeling,” “Stand by Your Man” and a cover of “In the Ghetto” that remains nearly as celebrated as Elvis Presley’s original. In the late ‘70s, she reinvented herself as a disco diva, returning to the charts with “Young Hearts Run Free.” She then returned to her gospel roots, a move that unexpectedly led to her career resurgence in the ‘90s and 2000s, as two songs originally written as Christian anthems, “You Got the Love” and “Hallelujah Anyway,” won new audiences with dance remixes.

Continue reading Soul Discovery Show – An Exclusive Interview with Candi Staton 19/06/24 →

Jazz First – Tony Poole

Tony’s love affair with jazz was ignited in 1984 when he was presented the opportunity to host a jazz programme on a hospital radio station. One of the few ways to broadcast legally in the UK back in the day. Since 1977, as a DJ he had been championing soul and jazz funk in his locale of north London, Herts & Essex. Then having just discovered the UK Jazz Dance scene this was a welcome opportunity to progress one step further.

That same year Paul Murphy released his first Phonogram compilation LP ‘Jazz Club 1’ which proved to be a valuable starting point for a new musical direction. In fact, Paul was Tony’s first ever radio interview, carried out at his long-defunkt Palladin Record label office in Soho.

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Erica Falls & Vintage Soul “Up” / “Making Of Love”

“Up” / “Making Of Love”

Label: Izipho Soul Records
Catalogue Number: ZP105 
Release Date: Friday 10th May 2024  
Format:  7’ Vinyl

UP by New Orleans songstress Erica Falls is considered by discerning real soul heads to be one of the finest soul tracks from last year.
From the intro and opening line ‘Baby take me for a ride on your magic carpet. 747 glide through the clouds, baby be my pilot….’ you just know UP is going to be special. The incredible soulful vocals ascend in harmony until reaching the apex, and if you don’t want to come down, simply play it again – It’s ‘classic in the making’ tag ensures freshness upon multiple listens!

Continue reading Erica Falls & Vintage Soul “Up” / “Making Of Love” →

The Shades Of Brown 

“Searchin’ For Love” / “Black Woman” / “Teasin’ Woman” /“Girl In The Streets”

In 1969, a transformation in Albina was underway. Displaced by the Vanport flood two decades prior, an influx of Black residents had settled in the area after redlining practices among the city’s realty boards provided few other options. A local economy among Albina’s Black residents had flourished for a time, but soon declined due to chronic disinvestment by the city’s elites. As with many urban centers in America, the impending ghetto-ization of the neighborhood developed as the civil rights movement was in full swing. And the citizens of Albina had something to say about it. 

Continue reading The Shades Of Brown  →

Micky Gynn – Soulful Football

Soulful Football Update: 28/04/2024

Heart To Heart  “Tuff” (Raven Records) LP 1982
Although this once obscure album, was a real, collectors dream, in 2015, it got an official reissue. Why pay £1000 for an original, when you can get it for £50. The original, I would say, always sounds so much better though. Lol.
A soul group, out of,  Atlanta, Georgia. The standout tune on this 1982 album, Nowhere, To Go, is superb. My type of early 80s midtempo soul. Also, on the album is another mellow tune, Never, make A Believer of Me, which was also released as a 45.
These fabulous local labels, with this gem, out of Dothan, Alabama keep the soul world ticking along.

Continue reading Micky Gynn – Soulful Football →