70's Soul, Funk & Disco with Ady Crampton

Norma-Jean recalls her life, her music, in her words

The Pointer Sisters achieved mainstream success during the 1970s and 1980s. Their career spanned four decades and their repertoire has included such diverse genres as pop, disco, jazz, blues, soul, funk, country and dance.

Out with the girls at an open-mic night in NYC, Millie was challenged by her workmates to get up on stage and when she did, she impressed a member of the audience so much that he hired her to perform regularly at his club.  The rest as they say is history and here Millie takes us through that journey in her own inimitable style

Probably best known for her self-penned smash hit Somebody Else's Guy in 1984, Jocelyn chats about her life in music and her many collaborations as a featured artist

Celebrating over 50 years in the industry, they are the cream of soul, embellishing smooth ballads and upbeat dance favorites. As one of the premier R&B groups to ever grace the stage, their musical success can be attributed to a careful balance of soul, disco, jazz, and pop to the delight of millions of fans.

Here Kim chats about her life in music as a songwriter, performer, record label owner, radio presenter, youth coach and more, right up to the release of her brand new CD ‘Live In Detroit 1978’ in December 2020

Her career began long before that sought after 45 and continues to this day, enabling her to prove her talents as a singer, songwriter, producer, arranger, actress and TV voice-over artist. Here Jeanie reminisces her long career and tells us about her latest release, Happiness 2020

It became a transatlantic hit, prompting Junior’s appearance as the first black British artist on Soul Train and earning him Billboard’s ‘Best Newcomer Award’ presented by the legendary James Brown. The U.S. hit, ‘Too late’ which reached no 8 and his auspicious debut album ‘Ji’ followed. Junior continues to record and his latest single is a powerful rendition of A Change Is Gonna Come, the first release from his forthcoming LP.

He’s perhaps best known as the lead singer of The Spinners on their 1970 hit It’s A Shame and for his modern soul favourites Strong Love and You’re What’s Missing In My Life. Here G chats about his career in music, a forthcoming autobiography and his planned 2020 UK dates including his appearance at Blackpool International Soul Festival next June. You can hear our chat here:

Fresh from her appearance at the Skegness Northern Soul weekender, Gloria recounts her career, discusses unreleased material and her mission to improve the lives of Sierra Leon children through a self financed free school.

Having sold 11 million copies, it is one of fewer than 40 all-time singles to have sold 10 million (or more) physical copies worldwide. George is still performing, he’s also back in the studio recording his next album, yet still had time for a chat and here he recalls his long and glittering musical career

Following a chance meeting with school friends Brian and Eddie Holland who invited her to join their fledgeling label Invictus, she released three albums and earned two gold singles for Band of Gold and Bring The Boys Back before moving on to ABC and Capitol Freda continues to record and perform, with new material imminent and a forthcoming performance in Romford, London on November 30th 2019.

She was signed as a recording artist and soon moved on to writing music for herself and other Motown artists. She also extended her talents to include photography and scriptwriting, contributing much to the screenplay for the 1972 film Lady Sings The Blues for which she received an academy award nomination. Here she recounts her life as a white girl immersed in black culture at a time of hard segregation, her experiences as part of the Motown music and film phenomenon and that photoshoot with an elephant and a donkey!

Salty Tears brought Thelma to the attention of the mighty Columbia records where she released her eponymous LP including tracks written by Leon Ware, Sam Dees and Harold Payne amongst others. Salty Tears brought Thelma to the attention of the mighty Columbia records where she released her eponymous LP including tracks written by Leon Ware, Sam Dees and Harold Payne amongst others.

Candi Staton’s long career has produced hits like Nights On Broadway, Stand By Your Man, You Got The Love and of course, Young Hearts Run Free. She's been inducted into several Hall’s of Fame and is a four time Grammy nominee Here she chats to Ady about her life in music, her latest album, overcoming cancer and her forthcoming UK tour

Harold ‘Bobby’ Hutton began singing at the age of five. His professional career began In Detroit, Michigan after he won a talent show at the 20 Grand club and was invited to Motown by Mickey Stevenson where he was paired as a songwriter with Raynoma Gordy, however things didn’t go to plan and success came from a different city – Chicago

From Motown's inception to his departure for pastures new in 1967, Mickey Stevenson was responsible for hiring the artistes, songwriters and musicians, pairing them together, placing tracks with artistes, production and arrangements, choreography, distribution and promotion. Here Mickey chats with Ady about those exciting times

At the stroke of midnight on the day of her 14th birthday a limousine carried Carolyn to the Hitsville studios where she cut her debut single, a self-penned track called Forget About Me. Here Carolyn recounts that enchanted evening and tells Ady all about her life in music

They were one of the main acts on Philadelphia International Records with hits including Tighten Up, I Can’t Stop Dancing, Here I Go Again, Soul City Walk and Don’t Let Love Get You Down. Still recording and performing Archie chats with Ady about his career:

Recording in the 60s under her maiden name of Deniece Chandler, Deniece Williams is a grammy award winning singer songwriter and producer who achieved success in the 70s and 80s with songs such as Free, Let’s Hear It For The Boy and duetting with Johnny Mathis, Too Much Too Little Too Late

Jimmy James is a Jamaican born singer known for songs like “Come To Me Softly”, “A Man Like Me”, “Now Is the Time” and “I’ll Go Where the Music Takes Me”. Based in Britain, he has performed as the lead singer of Jimmy James and the Vagabonds since the mid 1960s and continues to delight audiences across Europe. Here Jimmy chats with Ady about his life in music

Here Tommy talks about his career in the music industry which spans over 60 years

Ben chats with Ady about his musical career thus far and his brand new LP ‘How Do I Talk To My Brother’

Lorraine Silver secured a recording contract with UK label PYE aged just 13 and went on to record the Wigan Casino favourite ‘Lost Summer Love’

American singer and film/TV actor Dean Parrish, born Phil Anastasi in Brooklyn NY, is probably best known for his northern soul anthem I’m On My Way which became famous for being the last record that was played after each soul all-nighter at Wigan Casino. Here Dean recounts his life in music and his love of the UK soul scene and announces his brand new 45 release through UK label Static Wax records.

Group member Myron Edwins recounts his journey through the 70s as a child performer and discusses the impending release of their previously unissued material

Spyder Turner is well loved on the northern soul scene. He caught the eye of MGM records in 1967 and released several 45s and an LP including his big hit Stand By Me plus the popular crossover track I Can’t Make It Anymore. Through the 70s and 80s Spyder partnered with Norman Whitfield and released 2 LPs and wrote and performed music for film soundtracks. Having now returned to Detroit, Spyder continues to record and is still performing in the US and abroad.to enthusiastic audiences.

A member of the famous Patrick Adams collective, Venus wrote the smash hit Girls for The Moments, recorded as a solo artist releasing the disco anthem Nightrider and also recorded as part of studio project Phreek. Venus chats with Ady about her musical past and future.

US Singer/songwriter from New Jersey, Billy was a member of The Broadways, The Moments and latterly Ray Goodman & Brown. A former staff writer at Sylvia Robinson's All Platinum label, billy is currently recording again, assisted by the legendary George Kerr

Nolan Porter is an American singer / songwriter who recorded 2 albums in the early 1970s. His best know songs Keep On Keepin’ On and If I Could Only Be Sure continue to pack dancefloors across the UK. Nolan looks back on his career and talks about his exciting new single release.

American soul/disco singer from Memphis Tennessee, Randy talks about his career that started with the Newcomers and saw him release 5 solo LPs and of his upcoming performance at Blackpool International Soul Festival #4 in June 2019

With the launch of her 7th LP after an absence of 11 years, Gabrielle chats with Ady about her new offering, a CD entitled Under My Skin

The Pointer Sisters achieved mainstream success during the 1970s and 1980s. Their career spanned four decades and their repertoire has included such diverse genres as pop, disco, jazz, blues, soul, funk, country and dance. The Pointer Sisters have won three Grammy awards and received a star on the Hollywood Hall Of Fame in 1994. The group had 13 US top 20 hits between 1973 and 1985. The group had its origins when sisters June and Bonnie Pointer began performing in clubs in 1969 as Pointers, A Pair. The line-up grew to a trio when sister Anita joined them. They then got a record deal with Atlantic records and released several singles. The trio grew to a quartet when sister Ruth joined in 1972. You can listen to their conversation here

Ruby Andrews (born Ruby Stackhouse) is best known for songs including "Casonova (Your Playing Days Are Over)" (1967), "You Made A Believer (Out Of Me)" (1969), and "Everybody Saw You" (1970) Ruby released 3 albums in the 1970s and now owns the iconic Chicago label Zodiac, that launched her career. Ruby headlined this year’s Northern Soul Survivors weekender at Skegness

Howard started out in Miami, holding fort in local bars and clubs until the appearance of a life-changing business contact. That was Sandy Torano, a guitarist and producer associated with performers such as the Commodores and Phyllis Hyman. Johnson was his choice for a new vocal group and thus began the singer's recording career. It was 1977, the group was called Niteflyte, and the label was Ariola. The project lasted for only two albums but created enough of a buzz for A&M to sign Johnson to a solo contract. A trio of close associates -- Kashif, Paul Laurence Jones, and Morris Brown -- produced Keepin' Love New (1982), Johnson's solo debut; both "So Fine" and the title track did very well in the British market. The singer recorded two more albums for the label: Doin' It My Way (1983), produced by The System, and The Vision (1985), some of which was handled by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis. At the end of the decade, the singer returned to A&M as part of the duo Johnson & Branson with Regis Branson. In the interim, Johnson did some recording with singer Donna Allen. Howard Johnson, solo artist and lead singer with 70s jazz-funk band Niteflyte chats about his life in music and his forthcoming LP

With one of Soul Music’s all-time great group names, the Chairmen of the Board has pleased music lovers for over 30 years. The group came out of the box strong in 1970 with the wonderful “Give Me Just A Little More Time,” a classic early 70’s radio smash highlighted by lead singer General Johnson’s emotive, plaintive vocals. “Give Me” was the foundation of the group’s excellent debut album, which also featured the infectious “(You’ve Got Me) Dangling on a String,”. Group leader General Johnson died on October 13, 2010 at age 67. At the request of General Johnson to keep the group’s legacy strong , 38 year member Ken Knox continues to lead the group touring with members Thomas Hunter and Brandon Stevens and 6 musicians. You can listen to the interview here: