The Four Vandals

Steve Brookstein (lead singer), Gerod Harris, Paul Esmond, Julian Cannonier

The group were created by Ian Levine in 1999 and featured Steve Brookstein on lead vocals. Levine 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, plus he was determined to find the right project for Steve Brookstein. The idea came to him of The Four Vandals, seeming to come out of New Jersey. It had the ring of truth about it, because one of the former Temptations, Damon Harris, had originally sang in a group called The Vandals, and their records were released by a company in New Jersey, so Levine figured that a group with the name of The Four Vandals would have the ring of truth about it. But the record not only had to sound authentic, but it had to look authentic too, plus sound like it was in mono, and have a late 1960's feel about it. So in 1999 they recorded The Wrong Side Of Town and pressed it up in America, and let a record dealer in Carolina send just three copies over to England. The record was made to look thirty years old, even down to being soaked in a bucket of water, and having talcum powder rubbed into the grooves. Brookstein won the very first X-Factor in December 2004 and then the cat was out of the bag, causing quite a backlash when the Northern Soul scene found out Wrong Side was in fact a new record.