Friday, August 26, 2016

Follow me to the PoPcorn (VA, 2016)



Originating in Belgium at the end of the 60s/early 70s, Popcorn was a scene with an emphasis on often obscure black American records. Drawing parallels with the Northern Soul scene from around the same time, young people flocked from all over Belgium to cram into a converted barn to dance to these exotic sounds. Whilst Northern favoured an often uptempo 60s soul sound, popcorn focused almost entirely on slower numbers.
There still remains some confusion as to what exactly Popcorn means in musical terms. Not following established genre conventions, The Popcorn sound is hard to pin down - there are Soul, Blues, Ska, Pop, Jazz and Latin records which are all Popcorn – and all are represented here.

This release comes with sleeve notes from original Popcorn insider Gerd De Wilde and his contacts within the original Belgium Popcorn scene. Along with never previously published vintage flyers and photographs and combined with the 24 tracks of heady, intoxicating R&B, Blues, Soul and Jazz, “Follow Me To The Popcorn” is almost certainly the fullest document yet of the important, influential and yet so often misunderstood Belgium Popcorn scene.


Belgian Popcorn from Laid Back on Vimeo.

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