What you are about to read is the testimony of a Soul Survivor.
It uses his wonderful, unique life story as a backdrop to an intriguing hypothesis. He will contend that Northern Soul did not originate from Manchester‘s Twisted Wheel or the Wigan Casino - as is the received wisdom. Rather that it was a much more northerly phenomenon, born in and around the Moray area of Scotland with EIgin's Two Red Shoes Ballroom at its epicentre.
It is important to understand that in the 1960’s - due to the high cost and logistical difficulty of obtaining new music - a gig with a live band playing the latest songs was certainly an attractive and popular proposition. Straddled by the airbases of RNAS Lossiemouth and RAF Kinloss - mid-sixties Elgin was the main destination for visiting American airmen looking for a dance.
So in comparison with today's DJ's - 60’s bands were responsible for delivering new music, sometimes for the first time, to an eager listening public. They changed the arrangement or interpreted a song to suit the mood of their dancers, and they became ‘the selector’ - choosing which songs were going to set the floor alight.
Noddy Mackenzie (aka Jeep Solid) was there, performing the music, an integral part of the thriving live band circuit of the time. Later he went on to record with White Trash - signed to the Beatles legendary Apple label - and lived the life of a genuine rock 'face', rubbing shoulders with many of the names of the day.
Along the way he gathered many outlandish tales - of parties at 11 Downing Street, sharing dubious substances with bona fide mega stars, and to being adorned with his trademark name by 'Sensational' Alex Harvey.
Then last year, in a retrospective moment, 60-something Jeep - diagnosed only a few years ago with autism - decided to make the record of his life - quite literally. Now he has put together an album recorded in his way, using his unique ear - an album which seeks to resurrect and reaffirm the sounds of his past.
He has a spectacular way with words - very intense, very particular, very playful, very him. As a live performer, he's a sensation, not relying on note-perfect renditions but on an intuitive live rapport with his following — every gig is different, an inimitable relationship between audience and artist.
But I'm not telling this story, Jeep is. In the only way he can - in his language, in his style:
This is the unstoppable - perpetual narrative!
The 'Vortex Back to Atlantis',
The 'Industrial HAPPY',
