VA - The Northern Soul Story Volume 4: Wigan Casino (2007)

The fourth volume in Sony BMG's top-notch The Northern Soul Story compilation series spotlights the Wigan Casino, which rivaled the Blackpool Mecca for tastemaking supremacy as British club culture's fascination with forgotten American soul reached its frenzied apex. If the Blackpool Mecca represented Northern soul culture at its most musically progressive and socially far-ranging, from its 1973 launch onward Wigan Casino maintained the traditionalist hard line, rarely deviating from Motown originals and I-can't-believe-it's-not-Motown soundalikes. But even if its play lists lacked daring, Wigan Casino captured the Northern spirit at its most hedonistic, with all-nighters that are now the stuff of legend: a massive post-Victorian theatre-cum-snooker hall, its environment was ideal for dancing, with a sprung wooden floor instead of the concrete flooring common to other clubs. Wigan Casino also held about 2000 patrons, although at its peak, card-carrying membership totaled a staggering 100,000-plus members. Spearheaded by DJs Russ Winstanley, Kev Roberts and Richard Searling, Wigan Casino broke more new records than any other club, and in 1978 it was named by Billboard magazine "Best Disco in the World," beating even New York's renowned Studio 54 at the peak of its own influence and notoriety. When city leaders closed Wigan Casino on December 6, 1981 to build a civic center that never even materialized, an era truly came to an end; a few months later, the derelict venue burned to the ground. This 25-track collection is a worthy tribute, complete with superb mastering and track-by-track liner notes by British DJ Ian Dewhirst. Highlights include Don Ray's "Born a Loser," the Spiral Starecase's "More Today Than Yesterday" and Tobi Legend's "Time Will Pass You By."