The U.K.
continues to be an international hotbed for Soul Music, and a man who always seems to be at the center of things is Ralph Tee. The native of North West London was smitted by Soul Music as a teenager and was soon DJ'ing around his school and building a following. He launched the Soul magazine Groove Weekly at age 20 and a couple years later became Assistant Editor at the influential Blues & Soul magazine. By his mid 20s he moved to the top job at Street Scene. This gave Ralph the chance to create his first CD compilation and he focused on his musical love, Philadelphia soul, releasing a number of anthologies of Philadelphia International Records and such artists as the Jones Girls and Archie Bell & the Drells. After stops at Arista Records and Ian Levine's short-lived Motorcity label, in 1989 Tee co-founded Expansion Records, which has arguably developed into the most important independent Soul music label in Europe. Expansion began with soul compilations but soon became an important driver of new music by underrated soul artists like Gary Taylor, Evelyn "Champagne" King and Ali Woodson. Expansion has created an enviable catalog of great music and has been an oasis for American soul singers trying to reach European audiences. Tee continues to branch into new areas, creating the Passion Jazz label and more recently soul music documentaries, while continuing to DJ around the world and to move Expansion forward. He's one busy guy, and Soul Music fans everywhere have benefited from it.