“Let’s Talk It Over”

Abstract

In this chapter, issues of gender and generation are highlighted. Again, we begin with an autoethnographic section which critically considers and represents the experiences of the author as a young woman on the northern soul scene as she narrates her engagement with older members of the scene in a very particular type of conversation. We then go on to explore this dynamic through the experiences of the nineteen-year-old record collector and DJ, Bobby. Following a critique of northern soul scholarship and popular music more widely, we return to the conversations that begin this chapter and—in reference to the wider practices of the scene—consider how the central power dynamics of the northern soul scene place barriers in the paths of young newcomers.