The Vonettes, Van McCoy's classic girl group, sing their Blackpool Mecca and Golden Torch anthem "Touch My Heart". The lead singer of The Vonettes was Kendra Spotswood, also known to all Northern Soul fans as Sandi Sheldon. For many years, Sandi Sheldon had been a mystery to us. Along with Leon Haywood's "Baby Reconsider", her song, "You're Gonna Make Me Love You" was one of the major records to turn an underground scene about Motownesque rare soul, into what we truly know as Northern Soul today. It was so supremely rare and brilliant in its obscurity, to create a whole generation of fans and record collectors. Sandi Sheldon was Van McCoy's girlfriend. Her real name was Kendra Spotswood, under which she first recorded for Van, on the Tuff label. Then she recorded for Phillips as Kenni Woods and then as Sandi Sheldon. She then became lead singer of The Vonettes, on Cobblestone Records. I was desperate to track her down for "The Strange World Of Northern Soul" documentary and this took years to do, because, along with Tobi Legend and Dean Parrish, she was one of the three names who'd made massive Northern Soul classics, who had remained the most elusive to find over the years. I finally did locate her through Van McCoy's sister, Mattie Taylor. She is a truly warm, lovely person and was so excited to come to England in 2002 and perform for the first time.
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