Leon Haywood - Baby Reconsider

Leon Haywood has had an enormous and varied career, but this one song, "Baby Reconsider", has earned its place in history for being the very first record to turn the Mod Soul scene in the North of England in the late 1960s, into a Rare Soul scene, which became known as Northern Soul. This record, on the Fat Fish label, with its classic sixties Motown sound, and its throaty Marvin Gaye type vocal, was so rare and so prized, that people would travel 200 miles on a Saturday night in 1969 and 1970, to the Twisted Wheel in Manchester, just to hear it. Thus the brinkmanship of rare soul and valuable records was born. And of course, when I embarked upon the epic journey of making The Strange World Of Northern Soul DVD set, I just HAD to re-record it, and have Leon filmed. Soul/funk journeyman Leon Haywood periodically dented the charts in the 1970s with hits that tapped into the grooves and musical hooks of the day's trends. An accomplished songwriter and arranger, Haywood never pretended to be an innovator, and his hits are cheerful derivations of '70s midtempo funk and romantic ballads, usually embellished by smooth string charts. His best material recalled the late 60's / early 70's Motown sound; on the slower material in particular, his vocals bore a resemblance to those of Marvin Gaye. Haywood's roots extend way further back than the 70's; he toured and recorded with R&B saxophonist Big Jay McNeely's band (which also backed Sam Cooke on the road) in the early 60's. In the mid 60's, he had his first chart entry with "She's with Her Other Love" on Imperial. In 1967, he had a solid R&B hit (and small pop one) with "It's Got to Be Mellow", whose commercial soul sound betrayed his Motown influence. He didn't come into his own as a solo artist until the mid 70's, when he had big R&B hits with "Strokin'", "Come and Get Yourself Some", and "Keep It in the Family". His biggest single, "I Want'A Do Something Freaky to You" (with orgasmic female gasps and moans that made it pretty clear what "freaky" really meant), crossed over to the Top Twenty pop listings. The discoish "Don't Push It Don't Force It" was his biggest splash, making #2 R&B in 1980. After the mid 80's, he eased out of the record business into business ventures; in the 1990s, he produced blues albums by Jimmy McCracklin and others on his own EveJim label. But we will always love him best for this one wonderful song.