Blues and Soul

[Simon White]

As it hasn't really been mentioned on these pages, I thought I'd better bring this up - UK magazine 'Blues & Soul' has ceased publication after 40 years.
It changed hands last year and then changed format. Issue 1000 was the last to date and it looks like will be it now. Although there were a couple of rescue attempts and I know some potential new owners names were (often erroneously) mentioned elsewhere, these haven't come to anything.

The magazine had always reflected the current Soul, Dance & Black music scene in the UK and as such, past issues are a fascinating snapshot of what was going on, from the early days of Disco and then right the way through, the popularity of Northern Soul in the 70's through the Rare Groove phenomenon that gripped UK dancefloors at one time, to the point where House and Hip Hop became the favoured club music of the day. They covered Jazz and Reggae of course too.

Blues and Soul always featured current music and as that the music changed so did the mag. I think a lot of the older readers stopped buying and they lost a lot of their hardcore readership, but at the same time maybe didn't really bring enough new readers on board.

It still exists online and so maybe it'll come back in a printed form, but who really knows.

But for the time being, in effect there is no Blues and Soul, and sadly that says an awful lot.

Echoes (which started in 1976 as 'Black Echoes') is still going and recently staged a protest at the "MOBO" (Music Of Black Origin) awards in London asking 'MOBOs Where's Your Soul?' a reaction to the fact that they don't have a category for Soul artists !

[buckaroo]

:icon_eek:
I'm slightly shocked to read your post Simon, but then again, I'm one of the people that stopped buying it. I have boxes of back issues which I've been looking through recently (by coincidence) with a view to selling/dumping :icon_sad:. Alas, a lot of these music / style mags just lost their way and became far too pretentious and self reverencial (The Face, Sky) hence their demise. As you correctly state, the old back issues are extraordinary to read. What a time capsule they are.:icon_smile:

[Simon White]

They're still online and the recent isues archived to some extent.


This is quite interesting-

Blues and Soul Music Magazine - Feature - B&S 40 ESSENTIAL DANCE TRACKS

[K-Bee]

B&S has been such a vital part of my musical upbringing ever since I bought my first ever copy back in july of 1986. Although the magizine hasn't really been catering for my personal music taste in the last five or so years (it ended up as being a urban/hip-hop publication), I really hate to see it go.
Without this magazine, I wouldn't know what know about music today.

[Simon White]

B&S has been such a vital part of my musical upbringing ever since I bought my first ever copy back in july of 1986. Although the magizine hasn't really been catering for my personal music taste in the last five or so years (it ended up as being a urban/hip-hop publication), I really hate to see it go.
Without this magazine, I wouldn't know what know about music today.

It is a shame K Bee.. like you I found the mag had largely moved away from what I was interested in but what I learned and still learn from back issue is invaluable to me.

Seems now the very well respected Jazz Dance magazine 'Straight No Chaser' is going to close now too.
I guess all this is inevitable though...the internet is all consuming !

[kim58]

Blues And Soul and Black Echoes were essential reading back in the late 70's early 80's. I stopped buying around 82 when I stopped doing the mobile. My back issues and my record collection are things that my wife just doesn't understand. ('If they're worth so much money why don't we sell them all and have a holiday'?) Also essential was the late James Hamilton's pages in Record Mirror. I was privileged to meet him several times in Rayners Lane in the early 80's - what a guy.

[Simon White]

An update on this...two of the magazines writers have set up a website here -

Blues and Soul Unplugged: Soul news and reviews

..with the idea of carrying on what was essentially the Soul side of the magazine. It's only been up a week so early days yet.