Blue plaque for man who coined 'Northern Soul'

The man who coined the term "Northern Soul" is to be recognised with the unveiling of a blue plaque in Sheffield.

Dave Godin, who was born in London in 1936 but who moved to Sheffield to study in the 1980s, is also credited with bringing Tamla Motown to the UK.

Chris Rogers, who has campaigned for 15 years for a tribute in Sheffield to Mr Godin, who died in 2004, said his cultural contribution "should be recognised and celebrated".

The plaque is due to be unveiled on Sunday at the former site of The Anvil, an arts cinema which Mr Godin campaigned for and ran for many years.

The Anvil was the first council-run arts cinema outside London and was well-known for showing independent films in the 1980s and 1990s.

Mr Rogers, who is from Sheffield, explained that while Mr Godin was the owner of the Soul City record shop in Deptford, London, he had noticed that people from the north of England, often football supporters following their teams to matches in the capital, were coming to his store to seek out high energy Soul music by black American artists.

As a result, Mr Godin told his staff not to waste time suggesting other types of Soul records to those customers, but to show them the special items he had set aside.

"They were looking for a particular type of record, a particular type of beat," Mr Rogers said.

"He basically had a box of these records, imported direct from America, 45s on vinyl.

"He referred to this box as 'Northern Soul', because it was predominantly the northern people who were buying it."

What became widely known as Northern Soul went on to reach its peak in the 1970s, with DJs at famous clubs in places like Wigan and Blackpool playing only that style of music.

Mr Rogers said Mr Godin was also "known as the man who brought Tamla Motown to the UK on the first tour outside of America".

"He became great friends with many of the great artists, including Marvin Gaye who would call Dave Godin at his Sheffield home regularly," he explained.

Meanwhile, Mr Godin is also recognised as having played a part in the career of the musician then known as Reg Dwight, who was a customer at his shop and who he offered the chance to play keyboards for a band as a session musician.

Dwight went on to become the global superstar better known as Elton John, and this incident is featured in the biopic Rocketman, with Mr Godin played by actor Aston McAuley.

Moving to South Yorkshire in the mid-1980s to study film as a mature student and then settling in Sheffield, Mr Godin also made a major contribution to culture in his adopted city, Mr Rogers said.

Film was one of Mr Godin's great passions and he lobbied for and later managed The Anvil Civic Cinema in Sheffield, he explained.

Mr Rogers said: "A long-term vegan, he became a tireless campaigner against cruelty to animals in film production, demonstrated against film censorship and protested with numerous anarchist and anti-capitalist organisations."

The blue plaque marking Mr Godin's life and achievements, which was funded by Terry Lee, a Sheffield businessman and DJ, is set to be unveiled at the former site of The Anvil on Charter Row at 15:00 GMT on Sunday.

Mr Rogers, who now lives in France, said the event would be the culmination of a long campaign to mark Mr Godin's achievements, which had even attracted big name supporters such as Martha Reeves, of famous Motown group Martha and the Vandellas.

“His contribution to British and American culture should be recognised and celebrated," Mr Rogers said.

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