Billy & His Imaginary Wigan Mates Released Cover Album “Keep The Faith”

SNUFF main man and UK punk legend Duncan Redmond is celebrating four decades in the music industry with a stunning album of Northern Soul covers.

The singing drummer, founder and driving force behind Snuff, UK punk’s most beloved, fun fuelled and horn filled troubadours of the past 40 years, Duncan has resurrected his occasional solo side hustle Billy No Mates and added some Imaginary Wigan Mates and a whole album of Northern Soul delights.

What always kept Snuff above and beyond the one-dimensional nature of many of their peers is their divergent unpredictability and Duncan is at it again here with a cracking collection of Northern Soul classics and lesser known favourites.

Fuelled by a love of fast beating 60s soul that dates back to his days working in a vinyl warehouse and further inspired by the likes of Dexys Midnight Runners and Soft Cell’s love of Northern Soul covers, ‘Keep The Faith’ is a collection of some of the genre’s most loved classics and lesser known gems, all given the inimitable Redmond treatment.

“It was fun. It is something I have been thinking about for a long time. I developed a love for uptempo soul and Motown while working at the warehouse and it just grew from there. I would hear the Motown and the harder faster stuff and they just blew me away to be honest. It just connected straight away. Not all of it by a long shot but the ones that hit, they just exploded, like ‘wow’.

“Some of it I can thank Dexys Midnight Runners for, because their B-sides always had Northern Soul songs on, and also Mark Almond and Soft Cell doing ‘What’ and ‘Tainted Love’, it kind of grew from there.”

It took just eight to ten days to record in what was originally booked as a Snuff recording session but with the band not having enough songs ready, Duncan knew exactly which songs to record. Playing all instruments himself, bar some sax from niece Flo and trombone from brother Dave, it is a true labour of love.

Boasting 13 tracks, ‘Keep The Faith’ is an upbeat delight that showcases Redmond’s taste and talent while also exposing his own self-imposed limitations. For while the album features plenty of Duncan’s changing personal faves, including current choices Carl Carlton’s ‘I Can Feel It’ and The Olympics’ ‘I’ll Do A Little Bit More’, alongside such as George McCrae’s ‘It’s Been So Long’, Fred Hughes ‘I’ll Keep Tryin’ and The Valentines’ ‘Breakaway’, others are missing because Duncan couldn’t reproduce the sound in the way that he wanted. Hence, we are denied his take on Martha Reeves and the Vandellas’ classic ‘Ready For Love’ or The Bobettes’ ‘Happy Go Lucky Me’ among others.

“I would have loved to have recorded ‘Ready For Love’ but just couldn’t recreate it. Some songs worked and others didn’t. Some I just couldn’t sing. I had to pick the ones that I was able to sing. Also, I found that my brain doesn’t work with keyboards. It’s fine with all sorts of assorted guitar parts but keyboards just don’t work. But it’s all been a learning curve and great fun.”

That desire to keep learning at the age of 62 bodes well for the future, whether with Snuff or Billy and his mates from Wigan or anywhere else.

A new Snuff album is promised for next year, but in the meantime enjoy a spin on Duncan’s dancefloor.