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Label: Decca
Year of Release: 1966

"Northern Soul", like Catholicism, is one of the hardest concepts to define, forever snaking its way out of your grip just as soon as you believe youve got the whole affair firmly nailed. Rather as the Vatican appear to sit and reinterpret matters now and then, so too do the divine faithful at the Soul Weekenders up and down the country, leading to some rather rum records landing on official (and unofficial, disputed) discographies. Is Count Fives "Psychotic Reaction" a Northern Soul record, for example? Not by my estimation it isnt, but that doesnt seem to have prevented some people from taking that line in the seventies (I have a bootleg repressing of the disc on the "Sound of Soul" label).

Nestling neatly on the Decca compilation "Northern Soul Scene" is a single by this South African band, The Bats (theyre not Irish as the liner notes state). It only fits the genre due to its pounding, jogging rhythms, chiming piano lines and finger pops, but whether were arguing about its standing in the official list or not, its still a damn fine track. Effervescent, insistent and absolutely loaded to the brim with hooks, its hard to understand where the chorus starts and the verses begin - listening to this record would inspire movement in even the most dancefloor shy of humans. Sadly, I havent been able to include a clip of it in full, but its available to buy on iTunes if youre that way inclined.

Truth be told, the B-side "Stop Dont Do It" is pretty good in a mod-pop way as well, and it remains a massive mystery why this record didnt chart in the UK. Its pure, absolute pop, being neither ahead of its time in its stylings nor awkward, and the start of a career should have been assured for the band. Sadly, it was not to be.






Label: Decca
Year of Release: 1967

So sadly, then, by the tail end of 1967 the game was up, and "Its Hard To Get Up In The Morning" was their final UK single. This is an entirely different proposition and sounds rather like a slice of bouncy, McCartney inspired whimsy - sweet and pleasant enough, but hardly the barnstormer "Listen To My Heart" is, nor powerful enough to have stood a chance in the charts.

What became of The Bats when this failed to do the business isnt clear to me, but if anyone has any information, please come forward. They deserve masses of recognition for their one club classic at least.