This legacy is perfectly captured in the acclaimed compilation RCA Victor: A Northern Soul Legacy , which unearths 20 tracks from the label's deep archives (1966–1978). Why RCA Records are the Ultimate "Rarities"

For the Northern Soul obsessive, the name is a paradox. On one hand, it was the titan of the recording industry—the house that Elvis built and the innovator of the 45-rpm single format. On the other, the label famously struggled to understand the R&B and Soul boom of the 1960s, leading to a graveyard of unpromoted tracks that eventually became the "holy grails" of the UK underground club scene.

: High-energy tracks by artists like Roy Hamilton were ignored upon release in the U.S. but found a second life on the talcum-powdered floors of venues like Wigan Casino and The Twisted Wheel. Essential Tracks from the Legacy

In the world of Northern Soul, scarcity is everything. RCA Victor occupies a unique space because its commercial failures became its greatest cultural exports.

: Remarkably, RCA is one of the few labels where an official "stock copy" 45 is often rarer than the DJ promotional release.