Sunday, September 29, 2013

R. Dean Taylor: There's a Ghost in my House



In honour of Paul Mason's documentary earlier this week - you can still catch in on the BBC iPlayer - here is a Northern soul classic.

"There's a Ghost in my House" was originally released in America as a B-side in 1967. Helped by the Norther Soul boom, it reached no. 3 in the British singles chart in 1974.

Mason placed strong emphasis on the affinity between Northern working-class youth and Black American music - something Joe Boyd has also written about.

But R. Dean Taylor, an important figure in Northern soul was white. He was the first white artist to be signed to Motown, and he wrote this song with that company's great songwriting team Holland, Dozier, Holland.

2 comments:

  1. Paul Mason, I believe, though the Peston documentary on late-'80s jazz-funk weekenders is pleasing to imagine.

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  2. Mason it is, thanks.

    These broadcaster fellows are all the same.

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