Back in the early eighties my brother, who was a scooter boy, very kindly made me up a compilation of Northern Soul songs as I had expressed an interest in the genre. Having been really into RnB and Motown, it was no surprise that Northern Soul was going to grab, and hold my attention as it has.
Among the tracks, none of which were listed on the cover, was a track with a marching beat, punchy brass sound and great vocals, it immediately stood out as a really strong track among all the others, which were all great, but this song really stood out and I decided to find out a little more about Lorraine Silver and couldn't believe what I found.
In the school summer holidays of 1965, a 13 year old Lorraine headed out shopping in Oxford Street London and after looking through records, she decided to make a record and that wasn't as difficult as it sounds, as back in the sixties, Woolworths had their own record booths where you could record your voice and get a vinyl disc delivered in pretty much the same way as you get passport photos!
Lorraine sung a rendition of the Bryan Hyland song "Sealed with a Kiss" and then made her way to PYE records at Marble arch and delivered the disc to them asking if anyone wanted to hear it. A pretty bold gesture for a 13 year old girl. About 2 months later Lorraine was invited to an audition at PYE and subsequently given a recording contract.
The song scheduled to be recorded was The Marvelettes song, "I'll keep on holding on" but then she was given a ballad by American Shelley Fabares and asked to cover that instead. A band was arranged for the recording which included, on bass Klaus Voorman, who was a close friend of The Beatles and also designed the cover for the "Revolver" album.
Lost Summer Love was well received and heavily played on Radio Luxembourg amongst many other radio stations, including Ready Steady Radio which was based in The Marquee Club. Many articles appeared in the press and the teenager became a heroine amongst her friends at school and probably a figure for jealousy as she was allowed to miss out on lessons to appear at photo shoots and the like.
With everything going so well, the world was her oyster until The Overlanders turned up. Lorraine was due to appear on Ready Steady Go with a rendition of Lost Summer Love which could have lifted her career to dizzying heights, however, this was not to be, Lorraine's agent was also agent to The Overlanders and their rendition of "Michele" was making a big impact on the charts and Lorraine was replaced by The Overlanders for the filming of the show.
Lorraine recorded one more record for Pye, "The Happy Faces" an original song written by Johnny Harris who had produced "Lost Summer Love." The single didn't receive the backing it required and subsequently failed to chart.
Lorraine went back to school to finish her education but continued to perform in cabaret clubs and television talent shows like "New Faces."
"Lost Summer Love" continued to grow in popularity in the Northern Soul clubs, especially at the famous "Wigans Casino."
Jumping forward 23 years later in 1988, Lorraine's 2nd husband entertainment agent Barry Collings showed Lorraine an issue of Blues and Soul magazine that listed Northern Soul DJ Nick Greg's top ten Northern Soul tunes which, obviously, in my opinion, listed Lost Summer Love. Lorraine was amazed and totally knocked out to learn how popular the record was, even now.
As a result of this Lorraine went on to perform at many Northern Soul functions and still performs to this day.
Lost Summer Love has become something of a collectors item with original copies changing hands for £100.00 plus, in fact a copy sold on Ebay a while back for £360! The track, along with all her other recordings, has appeared on numerous Northern Soul collections.
Lorraine is currently touring with Chris Farlowe and Steve Ellis (Love Affair) as part of The Mod All Star Band.
| Sun 23rd Oct | Mod All Star Band : The Mod All Star Band + Steve Ellis + Cliff Bennett + Lorraine Silver + New Amen Corner | Palace Theatre Mansfield |
| Sat 18th Feb 2012 | The Mod All Star Band + Chris Farlowe + Steve Ellis + Lorraine Silver | Martlets Hall Burgess Hill |
| Sat 25th Feb 2012 | The Mod All Star Band + Chris Farlowe + Steve Ellis + Lorraine Silver | Fairfield Halls & Ashcroft Theatre Croydon |
| Sun 4th Mar 2012 | The Mod All Star Band + Chris Farlowe + Steve Ellis + Lorraine Silver | Theatre Royal Lincoln |
| Sun 25th Mar 2012 | The Mod All Star Band: The Mod All Star Band + Chris Farlowe + Steve Ellis + Lorraine Silver + New Amen Corner | Assembly Hall Theatre Tunbridge Wells |
| Fri 18th May 2012 | The Mod All Star Band: The Mod All Star Band + Chris Farlowe + Steve Ellis + Lorraine Silver | The Alban Arena St. Albans |
| Fri 21st Sep 2012 | The Mod All Star Band + Chris Farlowe + Steve Ellis + Lorraine Silver | The Kings Theatre Portsmouth |
And if that wasn't enough, Lorraine is also appearing on The Northern Soul Tour 2012 as a guest singer with Edwin Starr's band The Team:
EDWIN STARR’S BAND- THE TEAM
With ANGELO STARR + Special Guest LORRAINE SILVER
AGENT 00 SOUL * LOST SUMMER LOVE * 25 MILES
THE HAPPY FACES * STOP HER ON SIGHT * I’LL KEEP HOLDING ON * TIME * LANDSLIDE * WAR * GOODBYE NOTHING TO SAY * HEADLINE NEWS * I’LL DO ANYTHING * EYE TO EYE CONTACT
The late great EDWIN STARR’S brother ANGELO STARR is the original musical director of THE TEAM. He has now taken over lead vocals performing all the fantastic Edwin Starr classics, plus dynamic performances of some great Northern Soul covers.
EDWIN STARR’S original 8 piece band THE TEAM who backed Edwin on all his shows are still intact, with sax, keyboard, lead guitar, bass guitar, drums, percussion & female backing vocalist.They have a new CD out called “Keeping the Faith ”The first track is titled “Bless My Northern Soul” www.theteam-online.co.uk
Great feature...quite fancy checking out the Mod All Star Band live.
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