All Points Bulletin - Lucky Number

Recorded in 1998, one year after Ian Levine first discovered Steve Brookstein after seeing him come second on an ITV talent contest, hosted by Jonathan Ross, this is a version of a song that Ian had already recorded for Motorcity Records with Ronnie McNeir, whose original version can be seen among the videos on the Ian Levine MySpace page. Way back in 1998, after trying a few solo records, plus a duet with Steve's then girlfriend Kate Jackson, who also recorded under the name Venicia Wilson, Ian decided to form a new Northern Soul band around Steve. This band was called All Points Bulletin, and Kate Jackson was also in the band. Ian was making a documentary about Northern Soul, called "The Strange World Of Northern Soul", and the idea was to create a new young fresh Northern Soul band to show that the scene didn't have to be just about thirty year old records. So All Points Bulletin made three songs, "I'm On My Way", "Lucky Number", and "You've Been Away", and filmed two of these songs in a rehearsal room in North Acton, with, curiously enough, Ian Levine's cousin, Daniel Glatman, in the band, before Daniel went on to create Blue. Ian's partner in the documentary, Neil Rushton, got cold feet about All Points Bulletin, so in 1999, when the film reached its final edit, the footage was left on the cutting room floor at first. So here is the priceless video footage of Steve Brookstein almost ten years ago, with his first Northern Soul band, prior to The Four Vandals, singing "Lucky Number".