ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the complex shift between community and individual identity in both the original scene of the late 1960s to early 1970s and Northern Soul's contemporary practice through the lens of post-sub cultural analysis. It examines constructions of identity and embodiments of the music on the dance floor. As a consequence of media intervention though, a greater emphasis is placed on the visual elements of the scene and the balance has shifted from a series of individuals carving out self-identity within a community, to a community protecting its practice from the spectacle of the individual. The chapter examines both the 1970s and the contemporary Northern Soul scene through participant interviews, reference to scholarly and popular literature, and textual analysis of film footage, fan websites and Northern Soul records. Therefore, the significance of mediated representations of subcultural styles, such as Duffy's borrowing of Northern Soul, lies in the unexplored issue of how such images impact on the contemporary vernacular scene.
