Song of the Day 11/16: Major Lance, “Since I Lost My Baby’s Love”

El Somnambulo isn’t the only one who loves the soul music of the ’60s. There’s an entire scene built around it in England known as Northern Soul.

The name has nothing to do with where the music comes from but rather where its fans reside: the northern industrial part of England, especially Manchester, where people developed a taste for American soul music. They don’t restrict themselves to the hits — in fact, they prefer obscure singles that for whatever reason didn’t click in the US, the rarer the better.

Major Lance grew up in Chicago where he attended the same high school as Curtis Mayfield, who got him signed to Okeh Records and wrote a number of singles for him in the early ’60s. This Mayfield-penned tune was his biggest hit, reaching No. 1 on the R&B chart and No. 5 on the Hot 100 in 1964. It was the label’s first Top 10 record in a decade.

Lance’s fortunes declined after Mayfield concentrated on the Impressions, and by 1971 he was with Stax Records’ Volt label just as that company was falling apart. This was originally a B-side but it’s a popular Northern Soul cut.

Lance moved to England in 1972, where his old singles had become popular, then returned to the US and stayed active on the Carolina beach concert circuit until his death in 1994. He had at least nine children by a number of women. One of his daughters, Keisha Lance Bottoms, just finished serving a term as mayor of Atlanta.