British soul
[5] Arguably the most notable Motown-influenced act from the UK aside from Springfield were the Foundations, a multi-racial soul group described by Billboard as "the best practitioners of the Motown sound to be found on the far side of the Atlantic" in the late 1960s, who scored transatlantic hits with "Baby Now That I've Found You" (the first UK number one for a multi-racial band), "Build Me Up Buttercup" and "In the Bad Bad Old Days (Before You Loved Me)".
[7] At the same time, bands led by black singers, notably Geno Washington and the Ram Jam Band, and Jimmy James and the Vagabonds, established strong reputations as live acts in Britain, largely playing cover versions of American soul records; Washington was an American expatriate, and James was from Jamaica.
He experimented with the Philadelphia soul/disco sound while working with producer Thom Bell in 1977, sessions which eventually resulted in a UK #1 for John when "Are You Ready for Love" was re-released in 2003.
The Equals (with Eddy Grant), who had come to prominence in the late 1960s playing Caribbean-influenced pop-rock, embraced harder funk sounds on their 1970s releases, most notably on their UK top 10 hit "Black Skin Blue Eyed Boys".
[21] Heatwave, a multi-national but British-based disco-funk band, not only scored transatlantic hits with "Boogie Nights", "Always and Forever" and "The Groove Line", but also launched the career of songwriter Rod Temperton, who went on to write some of Michael Jackson's biggest hits, including "Off the Wall", "Rock with You" and "Thriller", as well as working with acts such as George Benson, Donna Summer, Herbie Hancock and Aretha Franklin, among others.
There were flourishing soul scenes in major cities like London and Manchester, often with many black artists, supported by local and pirate radio stations, but most acts were unable to break out into the national consciousness.
Also of note were Junior, whose major hit "Mama Used to Say" made him the first black British act to appear on Soul Train, followed by Princess with "Say I'm Your Number One" (1985), Jaki Graham with "Could It Be I'm Falling in Love", Central Line with "Walking into Sunshine" (1981) and the bands Linx and Freeez.
Increased interest in soul was reflected and fuelled by a series of covers and songs inspired by soul for a number of major acts including Phil Collins' cover of "You Can't Hurry Love" (1982), Paul Young's "Every Time You Go Away" (1984), Steve Winwood's "Higher Love" (1986) and "Roll with It" (1988) and songs by new wave acts including the Style Council's "Shout to the Top" (1984), Eurythmics' "Here Comes the Rain Again" and "Missionary Man" (1986), ABC's "When Smokey Sings" (1987), and Spandau Ballet's "True" and "Only When You Leave".
[25] Dexys Midnight Runners also achieved two UK number ones in "Come On Eileen" and "Geno" with their distinctive blend of Celtic folk, new wave and, most importantly, soul music.
British soul in the 2000s was dominated by female singers and female-led bands, most notably Amy Winehouse, Estelle, Joss Stone, Duffy, Paloma Faith, Florence Welch, Adele, Floetry, Noisettes, Jessie J and Leona Lewis.
[29][30] In 2009, Jay Sean's single "Down" reached the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 and sold millions in the United States,[31] making him "the most successful male UK urban artist in US chart history" at the time.
Several other names gained popularity as well, including Paolo Nutini,[37] Michael Kiwanuka and Samm Henshaw[38] who achieved remarkable success in recent years.
Northern soul has also seen a resurgence in the UK and British artists such as Paul Stuart Davies, Johnny Boy and Stefan Taylor have contributed to its popularity in the present day.
