Soul Britannia is a three-episode documentary from BBC 4 that examines the dynamic impact of Black American and Caribbean sounds on British music and the very fabric of British society. From the 1950s to the present day, Soul Britannia investigates vinyl obsessions, Soul dancing, imitation, innovation and much more. Soul Britannia aired in July, 2007.
All I can say about this doc is FASCINATING!!! I always knew that Black culture, particularly Black music was huge internationally. However, I did not know the particulars about the history of American Soul music in Britain. I find this doc to be fascinating because of the obsession that white Brits had for our music and Jamaican Reggae, while at the same time they were discriminating against Blacks and Black musicians living in their own country. In the 1970’s, white Brits like David Bowie and Scotland’s Average White Band brought their American influenced blue-eyed soul to the U.S. Black British musicians, on the other hand, had a hard time building a following at home and had limited success crossing over to the U.S.
