Chicago soul Curtom, Mayfield ran the labels Windy C (Five Stairsteps, Holly Maxwell, June Conquest), and Mayfield (Fascinations, The Mayfield Singers) (which featured two future soul stars: Donny Hathaway and Leroy Hutson, and Holly Maxwell). In 1980, Mayfield closed the Curtom office and moved to Atlanta, and not long afterwards Brunswick closed its office, which had by then moved to Chicago, as well. With these closings, and with disco and funk replacing traditional soul in popular appeal, Chicago soul music had effectively come to an end. Another label active in Chicago in the mid-to-late 1970s was Chi-Sound Records, under the production aegis
British soul notably Geno Washington and the Ram Jam Band, and Jimmy James and the Vagabonds, established strong reputations as live acts in Britain, largely playing cover versions of American soul records; Washington was an American expatriate, and James was from Jamaica. A handful of British artists continued to perform soul-inspired music in the 1970s. These included David Bowie, whose "Plastic soul" on his "Young Americans" album (1975), helped keep the sound in the British mainstream. Elton John experimented with the Philadelphia soul/disco sound while working with producer Thom Bell in 1977, sessions which eventually resulted in a UK #1 for John