What is most important for you in soul music?
Voice (power, musicality)
Voice (expression, credibility)
Lyrics
Melody
Groove/beat
Other
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"He has looked Robert "Kool" Bell (Kool & The Gang) straight in the eye! He dared to ask him why they have been faking the funk in recent years. He has sat in a car with Mitch McDowell from General Kane, discussing at length the problems of crack in the young Afro-American community. He also spoke with Mitch about his passion for p-funk. He has hooked up with old school hiphoppers The Jungle Brothers at a noisy airport. He’s even given Patti Austin a huge hug in Copenhagen. He has met Chicago housers Full House and Daryll Pandy during the period when four channel mixers were the only studio equipment needed for house music."
Born in 1967 and raised in southern Sweden. At the age of 8, he asked his parents for the new George McCrae single “Rock You Baby". There was something special here with a soulful voice on top of a melodic soulful groove.
He then began to explore his fathers' vinyl collection. The favorites came from Dionne Warwick and Stevie Wonder. In 1980 he bought his own first album, “Secret Combination†by Randy Crawford. His father is a musician and has been playing organs in churches almost all his life. Maybe there is a connection.
In the mid 80’s he discovered local radio stations, which were a rather new phenomena back then. But he did not appreciate the music they were playing. One day he asked one of the stations if he could run a show playing soul music and "Soul Power Radio" was born. Later "Soul Food Radio". He was doing a one hour weekly show playing soul and funk music only. The response was not overwhelming. Soul music was not the most played genre back then. He was even threatened on one of his live shows and was actually haunted by people for playing black music on the radio. He had to leave the studio through a backdoor for a period of time.
During that time he also did a job for a very well respected show on The Swedish National Radio called Soul Corner/P3 Soul. He interviewed Robert “Kool†Bell and Dennis “DT†Thomas of Kool & The Gang. In the same period he also interviewed artists such as Tyrone Davis, BeBe & CeCe Winans and Mitch McDowell of General Kane for his own local radio show. It was not always an easy thing to do interviews at a young age of around 20. But the artists respected him for his big knowledge and deep love for the music.
In 1991 he moved abroad to work in Spain for a couple of years, following this time he moved to Stockholm for a period. He lost close contact with the music for a couple of years during the 90’s, and is now trying to catch up with the music missing on his soulful map for that decade.
Over the years he has been playing everything from raw, naked and “uncensored†hiphop to quiet storm, smooth jazz, soulful house, deep soul, and hardcore funk. But his heart is in the deeper school of soulful music. It “must†contain a strong melody. He always comes back to the fact that soul music must reflect the person behind it. It’s all about credibility.
Join DJ Soulswede (Souly) on the first Saturday of the month
14.00-16.00 (GMT)
15.00-17.00 (CET)
9AM–11AM (EST)
Sky Digital Channel 0129 (To the UK & Eire)
Solarradio.com (Worldwide)
Ulf Norrman
“DJ Soulswedeâ€
Radio presenter and music journalist
Contact me
Upcoming guests (See blog for details):
Previous guests since November 2006:
Darien
Jonas
Demetrius Price
Reggie Calloway
Jeff Hendrick
Brown's Bag
Choklate
O'Bryan
Tune of the week:
CRYSTAL CITY invites music lovers to a magical place that shines with unusual brilliance, where Andre Ward is the tour guide. The musical journey begins with the funk laced, “They Keep Calling Me,†followed by the dreamy “Wishful Thinking,†which is accented by the vocal prowess of Barbara Fowler, whose voice is reminiscent of a young Anita Baker....
