Various

The In Crowd: The Story of Northern Soul During the '70s, in England's industrial North, hundreds of kids would descend upon clubs like Wigan Casino and dance until sunup to obscure American soul singles - a precursor to today's rave scene. Northern Soul, named for the origin of the music's club scene rather than the music itself, bred a fierce competitiveness among its record collectors, the result being that obscurity was often equated with quality. While dozens of Northern Soul compilations have been choked with music that remained obscure because it deserved to, The In Crowd is rarely less than solid throughout its 50 joyous tracks. Generally originating from Eastern hotbeds like Detroit, Philadelphia and New York, these '60s soul sides used prime Motown as a template, but - whether deliberately or due to lesser budgets - offered rawer, more urgent results. Try to figure out why the likes of the Charades' "Key To My Happiness" or Betty Everett's "Getting Mighty Crowded" (later covered by Elvis Costello) weren't hits. This is as ideal an introduction to the genre as one could want, and an overwhelming example of how fertile late '60s soul was even beneath the commercial rada