One cannot deny the commitment from the Sanctuary records group in making available to the general public the very best in back catalogue soul music be it from the 60/70/80's and their back catalogue releases over the last five years bears testament to that quote. The company's latest offering is aimed fair and square at the northern soul scene with the re-release of the mid seventies vinyl LP 'Solid Soul Sensations' which was compiled at the time by none other than Pye Records guru Dave McAleer and former Blackpool Mecca DJ and record producer Ian Levine with a 26 track compilation drawn from the legendary Scepter/Wand catalogue.

What was unique about this album at the time of its original release back in 1975 was that the songs contained therein were currently being played at the famous Wigan Casino and some of which had found their way onto the newly introduced Pye Disco Demand 7" single series of which a few actually achieved UK chart status. Without wishing to question the music played at Wigan during its huge run there is without question a number of songs that were played there that one would rather forget in a hurry and listening to them thirty years on I can imagine only too well why the record company A & R team rejected them as single releases, or worst still did not commit much in terms of effort in promoting them.

Drawing on the huge catalogue of Scepter/Wand whose output during the sixties resulted in some very tasty uptempo cuts of which this CD showcases some of the best. Seasoned northern soul collectors have for years now raved over the Shirelles song 'Last Minute Miracle' a massive track from these ladies and is perhaps THE strongest song on this set. The Charts whose song 'Desiree' had been a northern soul favourite on the Wand label issued in the US during 1967 also saw their 'Living The Nightlife' track achieve similar status via Wigan Casino during the seventies.

If there is one track that does very little for personally then it has to be Billy Thompson's 'Black Eyed Girl' but try telling that to my radio listeners a while back where this thumping uptempo affair became one of the shows most requested tunes during a survey done at that time. You don't have to search too far to find the gems on this disc and one of the most appealing songs is Curtis Blandon's superb 'In The Long Run' which again found many requests at our Sunday Soul Club live events. One name that that any self respecting compilation will always feature is that of the legendary Maxine Brown who has been a prominent artist on the rare soul scene (thanks largely to Ady Croesdell) and her 'Let Me Give You My Lovin' has probably had more plays at all-nighters than I've had hot dinners.

There are an extra ten bonus tracks tagged onto the original listing including another cut from Maxine entitled 'Wonder What My Baby's Doing Tonight' as well as the scene's most potent northern song in the last forty years with Jack Montgomery's Dearly Beloved' a truly wonderful song that gets better as the years go by. If I had to recommend any song to a newcomer on the scene then it would be this which I know would convince anyone that northern soul IS the greatest music ever made. Other bonus tracks include 'This Man' by Wally Cox and a song co-written by the late Edwin Starr under the title of 'Let's Get Back Together' by the Honey Bees.

Owners of the original vinyl copy of this LP will clearly want to upgrade to CD if only to preserve the original but with the inclusion of the bonus tracks will no doubt make it an essential purchase.

Rating 8/10