Book Research - Northern Soul: Music, drugs and subcultural identity

Northern Soul
Music, drugs and subcultural identity
Andrew Wilson

Chapter 3 - Making sense of the drugs

> Here the author is commenting on a conversation he had with Northern Soul fans who are recounting their experience with drug use.

"Sharon just said 'do you want some?' And we were all there together so it were just one big laugh. Sharon just blurted it out, 'Oh I've took it like,  so you'll be alright'. ... It never crossed our minds when we went [to the all-nighters before that], we just acted the way they [people on speed] did anyway. I like music and I like to dance all night, it didn't bother me when I was younger, but I think once you've had speed you can't guh tuh a 'nighter without it ... it's not the same, it's not the same feeling is it?."

Chapter 4 - High-risk behaviours

> In this section of the book the author is referring to how people moved on from using speed/amphetamines to opiates and an opiate user explains his experience.

"Most opiate users began by using them after an all-nighter. Some people were attracted by the antidote that opiates provided to a hectic session of amphetamines. Jack explained how he began to use them to help to 'come down' from speed:

"That last year, that's where I came unstuck ... instead of going to the nighters and enjoying them for what they were, cos you didn't get much bother really did you, [from] t' squad. I couldn't wait for t' nighter to finish, whereas before I would never have thought that way ... it come tuh stage where when it got to six o'clock I were counting the minutes so I could ger home and have a hit of dike (Diconal) ... so I started using dike to come down with instead of barbs ... I had easy access to it through the chemists...I associated dike with giving relief from feeling bad off speed in the morning."

Chapter 5 - Disengagement and later life impact

> In this section of the book the author focuses on the deterioration of the scene for some of its fans and a couple of people mention how they became uninvolved with the scene later on in their lives.

"While most people had a nostalgic view of their early years of involvement in the scene, there were real examples of deterioration from the mid-seventies. The diminished quality of the drugs and music was the most cited deterioration, which can be seen as a relative depreciation, but the increasing number of deaths associated with the scene was an objective fact. Bob Drew on this as one reason contributing to his decision to leave the scene, though his explanation also shows how this negative perception fed into and off several different factors. His initial response, when questioned about reasons for leaving the scene, was to focus on his relationship and marriage. When I reminded him about moving to work in Germany, he recalled that he did so to avoid a prison sentence after being implicated in the supply of drugs. 'Also', he added, 'people were starting to die around that time, and I was uncomfortable with it'. While he know many of the people that died in this period the death of his best friend, after a drugs overdose, had a marked impact."

"Don's account of leaving stresses the deterioration of the scene ... he emphasised the declining appeal of the all-nighter:

"There was some media attention to it, it all got a bit commercialised and hoards of people started going and it lost its culture really, it lost its attraction. When it stopped being an underground scene, there was interest from the press and I think the television camera on the clubs at some point wasn't there? The some of the stuff charted and got ripped off didn't it, the scene was abused ... it lost a lot of credibility really. And, that's the main reason."