Soulboys

Soulboys (sometimes spelled soul boys) were a working class youth subculture the late 1970s and early 1980s. Fans of American soul and funk music, the subculture emerged in Nort-West England asnorthern soul event attendees began to take more interest in the more modern funk and jazz funk sounds of artists such Lonnie Smith and Roy Ayeres instead of obscure 1960s soul records that characterized the northern soul scene.

The subculture emerged at nightclubs in theSouth East England such as The Goldmine in Canvey Island and The Royalty in Southgate. DJs involved with the development of the soulboy scene included Chris Fill, Robbie Vincent, Greg Edwards and Froggy. Caister Soul Weekenders became the main event in the soulboy scene and still exist today. The casual subculture that emerged in the 1980s was heavily influenced by the soulboys, including the sideways fringed wedge hairstyle. Although the soulboy scene was huge by the early 1980s, it received little media coverage because it was centred around American funk acts and was largely working class. Therefore, it received far less coverage than more middle class cultures of the same period, notably the new romantics.