Neil Rushton

Neil Rushton is a British journalist, DJ, record dealer, record label entrepreneur, event promoter and author who is closely associated with the Northern soul scene.

Rushton was born in Birmingham in the mid-1950s, but moved to nearby Walsall at the age of 10 and now lives in Burntwood, near Lichfield.

He developed a passion for black American music during the late 1960s and first became involved in the Northern soul scene in the early 1970s, attending Northern soul events such as The Catacombs in Wolverhampton and the Golden Torch in Tunstall, Stoke-on-Trent.

In 1975, aged 21, Neil promoted a Northern soul event at the Queen Mary's Ballroon in Dudley Zoo. He then went on to found the Heart of England Soul Club (HESC) and organise and promote hugely successful Northern soul and Jazz Funk "all-dayers" at Tiffany's in Coalville, Leicestershire and later The Ritz in Manchester and Blackpool Mecca. The 1977 Blackpool Mecca Soul Festival was organised in conjunction with DJs Ian Levine and Colin Curtis, featured the US band Brass Construction and was attended by 3200 people. HESC events were notable for their eclectic music policy, which was designed to appeal equally to fans of the traditional Northern soul sound along with those who followed the more contemporary sounds of Jazz Funk and Disco. This split in the Northern soul scene was reflected in the schism between regulars at the Blackpool Mecca and Wigan Casino soul nights at the time.

Later that decade, he founded Inferno Records which specialised in the licensing and reissuing of music made popular on the Northern soul scene. Amongst Inferno Record's releases were two popular Northern soul compilation LPs, Out On The Floor Tonight and Soul Galore and a reissue of Freda Payne's "Band of Gold" on 7". The label also attained some minor success when it leased the rights for Gloria Jones' "Tainted Love" from AVI Productions in Los Angeles and reissued the original song on 7" and an extended all-nighter version on 12" vinyl format. This was in the wake of Soft Cell's 1981 UK#1 cover version and the Inferno reissue 7" sold 45,000 copies.

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