The Impact of Club Classics Vol.1
“An Era Defining Album”
Soul II Soul are a British musical collective formed in London in 1988, the official lineup was Jazzie B, Caron Wheeler, Nellie Hooper, Simon Law, Doreen Waddell, Rose Windross, Daddae, Aitch B,and Jazzie Q. No Soul II Soul no black British youth culture as a prominent part of regular rock and pop music.
They instigated an underground-meets-mainstream situation, to set up the kind of DIY,street-driven musical revolution the British music business hadn’t seen since punk. This more than anything else, paved the way for styles such as jungle, dubstep and grime to develop and flourish free from corporate interference.
Club Classics Vol. One reached number one in the United Kingdom and was certified triple platinum by the British Phonographic Industry for sales in excess of 900,000 copies. In the United States, the album reached the Top 20 in the main chart, and number one on the Top R&B Albums chart.
It provided timeless snapshots of the bubbling London nightlife, it was a cross between Detroit and Chicago House music mixed in with Disco and Soul. At the time most English groups were driven by their A&R man to sound American. They took cue from their great home-grown Funk and Reggae acts and mixed them together with Electro influences. They made it really simple to unite all the club crowds back then, from Soul to House heads.
“That's why we called the album Club Classics, because these were tunes you'd hear in a club.” Jazzie B in November 1991 Soul II Soul had given black British music a voice. Literally. Rather than sounding American or Caribbean, their vocals were proudly North London. Soul II Soul’s success provided a vivid template for what could be possible for the country’s constantly evolving black underground.
This is them performing live in 2022 at The Soul Town festival.
The dichotomy of Ruido.
A moment in the present.
Indulge in the music of culture.
A moment in the present.
Indulge in the music of culture.