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Swamp Dogg's on the cover, riding a giant rat out of the ghetto – an image that definitely hints at some of the politics on the record! The album's one of Swamp's key classics from the early 70s – recorded at a time when he was still super-sharp – and when the character was a... read more

24 tracks of heavy deep soul from Bettye Swann – a great female soul singer from the 60s who's rarely ever gotten her due! There have been some cheaply done reissues of Bettye's work over the years, but this is the first time a full set of her best work has been put together with a good set... read more

A tasty bit of late P-Funk! The album was recorded in 1980, on the wane of the main P-Funk groups – and it features Bootsy and Fred Wesley teaming up on the arrangements, in a set of bass-heavy, mostly instrumental tracks that groove hard like the best early work by Zapp! There's a great... read more

A great back-to-basics set for the Sweet Inspirations – now working here as the trio of Estelle Brown, Myrna Smith, and Sylvia Shamwell – and working with David Porter in a strongly Memphis mode! The arrangements on the set are a bit more ambitious than usual for Stax at the time... read more

A great back-to-basics set for the Sweet Inspirations – now working here as the trio of Estelle Brown, Myrna Smith, and Sylvia Shamwell – and working with David Porter in a strongly Memphis mode! The arrangements on the set are a bit more ambitious than usual for Stax at the time... read more

The Sweet Sweet Sweet Inspirations get the Gamble Huff treatment – and as it worked with Archie Bell, so it works with these guys – really well! The Philly sound gives the girls the right push that they need to keep from being just another snoozy Atlantic stable band, and it pushes... read more

Wonderful soul by one of the best female groups of the 60s! The Sweet Inspirations work here in a southern-tinged style similar to their classic backing work for Aretha Franklin – a sound that was already great behind Aretha, but which is even better here on its own – warm, spiritual,... read more

Heavenly soul from the lovely Sweet Inspirations! The record was the group's first secular album for Atlantic – after recording one gospel album, and doing the backings on a number of fine Aretha Franklin sessions – and it's a gem of a female soul record, with the same classic sound... read more

A sweet sweet groover from Switch – post-Motown, but still sounding great – and if anything, maybe finding a whole new groove in the process! The quintet have all the warm modes of their best previous tunes – a touch of funk at times, but a vibe that's even stronger on tunes that... read more

A seminal bit of seventies soul from Switch, and a record that really helped set the tone for countless others to come in the 80s – no surprise, given that the group's got members from both the DeBarge and Ingram families! There's a warmth here that few others can match – an earnest,... read more

A seminal bit of seventies soul from Switch, and a record that really helped set the tone for countless others to come in the 80s – no surprise, given that the group's got members from both the DeBarge and Ingram families! There's a warmth here that few others can match – an earnest,... read more

Quite possibly the best album ever from Ohio funky soul combo Switch – and certainly proof that the hope of Motown in the 80s was in ensemble group funk! This second album holds up really well, and thanks to some sweet production by Bobby DeBarge and Jermaine Jackson, the record's got a warm... read more

One of the last records Switch recorded before Philip Ingram went solo, and the rest of the guys broke off into DeBarge – and an album with some surprisingly sweet soul moments! The funky side of Switch is still stringly in place, but this record has some great little ballads ballads too... read more

A landmark soul album – and one of the first to break that acoustic-based Soul II Soul sound back into the American market. In a late 80s market of weak tinny soul albums, this one stood out as a deep rich wonderful gem, with a solid classic sound that's still pretty darn nice in any decade!... read more

A host of cool cuts from Dwight Sykes – an 80s soul artist, but one who clearly draws lots of inspiration from the laidback vibe of "Summer Madness"! There's a wonderful slow funk feel to these tracks – rhythms that strut around with an easygoing feel, while keyboards space... read more

How old was Foster Sylvers when he cut this record? Seven? Eight? Whatever the case, the little tyke forever changed the face of funky music with the incredible cut "Misdemeanor" – one of those chunky funky numbers that sounds like nothing else we've ever heard, and which has... read more

Titles include "Heart Repair Man", "Taking Over", "Take It To The Top", "Reach Out", "PS", and "I'm Getting Over".... read more

Two gems from The Sylvers – back to back on a single CD! Showcases is filled with great groovers from The Sylvers – a set cut when the group were firmly in their disco years – a great setting for their playful family-style vocals! In fact, moving to disco may well have been one... read more

The first album by The Sylvers – a hard soulful band made up of youngsters from LA, but who had a lot more going on than some of the other kiddie-soul bands of the early 70s! The group's a sextet at this point, with four male voices and two female ones – coming across as a sweet blend... read more

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A great little set from Sylvester – 3 sides recorded live in San Francisco, one more recorded in the studio! All the sides have a complicated approach to the groove – larger orchestrations that really show Syl pushing his conception of soul to the max, sounding really wonderful, and... read more

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An overlooked gem from Sylvester's years on Fantasy Records – a set that has him working strongly with soul maestro Harvey Fuqua, in a really great blend of disco and more laidback modes! There's a balance here that's like early Luther at his best – a way of being proudly poised, yet... read more

Includes the Larry Levan mix, and features cover art by Keith Haring.... read more

Strange stuff! "Automatic Lover" is a clear Kraftwerk rip off, complete with robotic vocals, and a cold German backing. Very different than anything else Sylvia ever did, and proof that she was certainly a nutter!... read more

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Beautiful spacey soul from Syreeta – and proof that she was one of Motown's great lost talents of the 70s! Leon Ware did the production, and Syreeta's high Minnie Riperton-esque voice is backed by a smooth set of mellow grooves with lots of cool electronic bits and weird moogy parts that... read more

Syreeta's a bit past the point of her early genius here – still singing in that warm and sweet style we love so much, but working with Jermaine Jackson, in a setting that's sometimes a bit too cold for her magic to fully take place. Overall, the album's got a few nice numbers – and is... read more

A great set of work from one of Motown's most enigmatic singers! Syreeta's best known to the world for her connection with Stevie Wonder, but she's a fantastic artist in her own right, with a soulful Minnie Riperton-esque voice that really sounds great on her mid 70s recordings. Of course, Stevie'... read more

Plenty of Magic here from T-Connection – a clubby set of tracks, yet one that's still put together more like a funk combo record from the mid 70s! The instrumentation is mindblowing – impeccable guitar and basslines, set to snapping rhythms that really capture the best Miami funk mode... read more

Funky club from the always-great T-Connection – all extended numbers, served up in one dancefloor-packing set! T-Connection are easily one of our favorite groups from the late 70s club years – and although they played big in discos, the combo also had a core instrumental sound that was... read more

A soaring stormer from T-Connection – and a set that has them sounding even better than before! There's a perfection here the group didn't have with earlier releases – a quality that goes way past indie funk ensemble, into the realm of some of the best mainstream acts on the bigger... read more

Great work by one of the funkiest disco bands of the late 70s! T Connection were always a step above most of their contemporaries, especially some of the weaker pop disco acts on the TK family of labels – which was the group's home during these years. They brought a really solid conception... read more

Ten years in for the Tabou Combo – and the group's sounding funkier than ever! The album's got a groove that's even tighter than some of their earliest records – and there's a definite funky feel to the music at times – not just Haitian styles, but a nice US influence too –... read more

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Soulful fusion by one of the best groups of their genre! The CD contains both albums recorded by Tarika Blue for Chiaroscuro Records in the 70s – both of them wonderful fusion records that have an incredibly soulful sound. The group features work by soulful luminaries like Justo Almario,... read more

A Def Jam classic from Tashan – and a record that really helped bridge the gap between male soul and hip hop in the 80s! The style's still as warm and soulful as most of Tashan's contemporaries, but the record definitely shows a bit of street soul in the rhythms too – often just a bit... read more

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Grady's most obscure album – and one that's got much more of a jazzy tip than his other ones. Richard Tee plays electric piano, and the band includes Billy Butler, George Coleman, and Ron Carter – all of whom do their best to keep things hip, and not fall into some of the schmaltzier... read more

Although Howard Tate's work on Verve has gotten a lot of acclaim – thanks to an excellent CD reissue – this later album for Atlantic still remains in the ranks of soul obscurities. The album's perhaps not as great as Tate's Verve work – in that the arrangements don't fit as hand-i... read more

Incredible southern soul from Tommy Tate – work recorded in the 70s for the Koko label, a good deal of which was never issued at the time! Koko never released a full album by Tommy back in the 70s – just a smattering of singles – so although his talents are mighty, he's been... read more

One of Capitol's biggest soul bands of the 70s – and a strong sweet group who made the shift from mellow soul to the disco years. Includes the band's massive "Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel", but we prefer their mellower stuff – like their sublime version of "She's... read more

Always-great work from Tavares – one of those groups who never seemed to miss, and who seemed to weather the disco era a lot better than most of their contemporaries! This 1980 album is key proof of that fact – a tremendous little set, done at a point when Tavares could have rested on... read more

Tavares chill things out nicely, definitely heading for the "new directions" in the title, and going for more of a mellow sound that was clearly going to help them reach new audiences in the post-disco years. The harmonies are as great as they always were in the early days, taking a... read more

A smooth batch of modern soul from this great 70s vocal group! By this point in their career, Tavares have already had great fame on both the radio and dancefloor charts – moving effortlessly between sweet harmony tracks and more strident disco ones. This set has the group working in a... read more

A wicked little set from singer Debbie Taylor – a vocalist who really only shone brightly for this one album – but who's left more than enough of a soul legacy with its greatness! The record's an important early effort from Patrick Adams – and it's cut with a rough-edged style... read more

The early 80s debut from singer, songwriter Gary Taylor – also playing Rhodes, piano and synth on this set – filled with nicely grooving 80s soul! The songs are solid, and though he'd go on to write songs for a number of soul and R&B stars, he lets these numbers build slowly into... read more

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A landmark album from Johnnie Taylor – a set that not only gave his career a giant boost, but which also helped shift southern soul into hip new territory in the late 70s! The music's a great change from Taylor's previous work at Stax – and the set features warm production from Don... read more

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A great little album of modern soul, cut by Johnnie Taylor years after his early raw Stax recordings, and about half a decade after his hit with "Disco Lady". The record's a surprising treat, and has Johnnie singing with smooth slick arrangements, in a warm mellow style, given a nice... read more

A massive double header – two great albums back to back! Rated Extraordinaire is our favorite album ever from Johnnie Taylor – an incredible set from the late 70s that really has Taylor reinventing his sound – and coming across as a great talent for a mellow groove! The album... read more

Sweet, smooth, and bluesy – perhaps not as hard as some of Johnnie's earlier Stax work, but with an increasing sophistication that really shows his development as a soul singer. The record's a good bridge into Johnnie's modern soul work at Columbia – and it's got arrangements by Wade... read more

Smoother Johnnie Taylor than in earlier years – gearing up for the shift to Columbia a few years later, with backings recorded in both Detroit and Muscle Shoals. Johnnie's vocals are still fantastic – and the album sports the great hit "Cheaper To Keep Her" – but that's... read more

Johnnie Taylor's first album for Stax – and a tremendous little set that easily stands as one of his greatest records ever! Sure, we love Johnnie in all his incarnations – but there's a special sort of something here – a rawness and earnestness – that makes the whole thing... read more

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The Temptations on Atlantic Records – sounding different than their Motown years, and still pretty darn great! The group's got some wonderful help here from the team of Brian and Eddie Holland – still very much in fine fine form, and coming up with some backings that have a warm modern... read more

A masterpiece in psychedelic soul from The Temptations – perhaps the most perfectly realized album from their years working with Norman Whitfield! The set's awash in that bottom-heavy, rumbling funk mode that Whitfield brought to the group at the end of the 60s – served up in bold... read more

A masterpiece in psychedelic soul from The Temptations – perhaps the most perfectly realized album from their years working with Norman Whitfield! The set's awash in that bottom-heavy, rumbling funk mode that Whitfield brought to the group at the end of the 60s – served up in bold... read more

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A late 60s Motown classic – with a deep heavy soul sound that mixed psychedelic elements into a rolling righteous groove – with a style that was perfect for the political tenor of the times! The formula worked extremely well for The Temps, and shifted them from being just a regular... read more

A classic set of psychedelic soul from this fantastic 60s group! The record is one of the groundbreaking albums the Temps cut with producer Norman Whitfield – and it's a landmark session that perfectly showcases what Whitfield's full-on, guitar-heavy, bassy-bottom style could do for the... read more

An all-star effort from The Temptations – and a well-titled set that has the group brimming over with classic vocal talent! The group's expanded to a seven-piece outfit for the album – with Eddie Kendricks and David Ruffin back in the fold, singing alongside Dennis Edwards, Otis... read more

Sublime work from the Temptations – still recording here with Norman Whitfield, who's really opening up his bag on most of the record – and taking the group into expansive territory that was barely hinted at in their early work! The album's got some incredible tracks in the Whitfield... read more

A tightly funky set from The Temptations – a record that has the group still standing strong in the post-Norman Whitfield years – working here with producer Jeffrey Bowen in a groove that's almost got some P-Funk touches at times! Things are somewhat polished, but still in the best... read more

During the late 60s, the Temptations career really started to take off – and the group emerged to become a landmark vocal ensemble with a groundbreaking effect on the history of soul and funk. Working with Norman Whitfield, they forged a righteous heavy soul sound that was quite different... read more

A great 80s set from The Temptations – one of the few Motown acts who managed to deliver great work again and again over the years! The production has some 80s traces that are slightly dated, but the vocals are still top-shelf all the way – strongly moved much more into a mellow and... read more

A fantastic record, and one of our most treasured Latin Soul albums from the late 60s! Ray Terrace leads a totally sharp little Latin combo through a host of originals and soulful covers, and the real highlight of the record is Willie Torres, who sings English vocals in a very deep soulful style... read more

A great little solo set from Jean Terrell – a singer who's probably best known for her work as the leader of The Supremes after Diana Ross left the group, but who sounds even better here on her own! The album's still got the strong-voiced sound that Jean brought to her Motown years –... read more

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A tasty live set, with a smoking raw groove that you don't always get on Joe's studio albums! The crowd really goes wild for Joe – and with only some small group backing behind him, he's got nothing left to do but go over the top with his vocals! As proof of that, the record includes the... read more

Hard to go wrong with Joe Tex at this point in his career – as the singer's not only at the top of the game of southern soul, but also helping to forge great new changes in the genre as well! The set begins with Joe's classic "Buying A Book" – easily one of his best-remembered... read more

A great little funky single – produced by Walter Junie Morrison, with a tight P-Funk groove that's got plenty of jazzy riffs. Sounds like the Horny Horns in the best parts, with a soulful approach that's better than most of George Clinton's work from the time!... read more

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One of the strangest covers we've seen in years – and a perfect fit for this obscure session of unusual grooves! Drummer Bubbha Thomas is working here in a mode that's kind of an electrified 70s take on the Texas showband style of earlier years – a mode that has the core funky combo... read more

One of the sexiest covers ever from Carla Thomas – and one of her most sultry records, too – a set that really has her growing up, stylistically – and coming across with a new sort of boldness in her vocals! The production is prime 60s Stax, with a slightly classy touch for the... read more

The queen of Memphis soul – caught "alone" after a some earlier hit recordings as part of a duo with Otis Redding – but now on her own in the years after Otis untimely early passing! The album has Thomas strongly returning to the sound of her first few albums on Stax –... read more

An overlooked gem from Irma Thomas – and one of her deepest soul albums ever! The set was recorded with Swamp Dogg at the production helm, and he gives Irma this wonderfully rootsy feel throughout the record – the kind of vibe she definitely never got in the 60s, and a sound that seems... read more

Jazzy club from Joe Thomas – 2 tracks that feature the Ebony Godfather's flute alongside some sweet electric backings! "Funky Fever" has a silly title but is actually a nice little cut – one that has electric keys and warm arrangements from Brad Baker, plus a bit of vocals on... read more

2 of the best Rufus Thomas funky albums for Stax – back to back on a single CD! First up is Did You Heard Me – recorded in the early 70s with backing by The Movement and The Bar Kays, and with a good raw Stax sound on most cuts! Rufus is certainly in the "funky ___" mode... read more

One of the best Rufus Thomas albums from the 70s – a key record from his comeback years, and one that has him trading in his older R&B mode for a harder, funkier Memphis groove! Rufus was 52 at the time, but thanks to a never-dying fire, and some great youthful arrangements, the set... read more

A killer live set by Rufus Thomas – recorded right at the height of his funky comeback, before a very right-on crowd at PJ's Nightclub in LA! Rufus was always a great entertainer, and he really opens up in this live setting – doing some nice versions of "Do The Funky Chicken"... read more

Timmy Thomas live, in front of a massive crowd in Johannesburg – really grooving with enthusiasm that's captured beautifully in the recording! The set's a great reminder that Timmy had lots of power away from the studio – that he wasn't just drum machine bits and disco riffs, and could... read more

A massive groover from Timmy Thomas – really hitting here on all burners, and moving with a groove that's much fuller than the drum machine fills of his early years! The sound is Miami club at its best – wickedly uptempo rhythms that are played with razor-sharp intensity – still... read more

Amazing work from Timmy Thomas – a southern soulster with a groove like no other! At some level, Timmy shared the bluesy and sweet soul styles of his Miami contemporaries at the TK label – but at another, he had this wild approach that often used bits of electronic percussion, in a... read more

A Miami soul masterpiece from start to finish – and a lesser-known record from drum machine hit maestro Timmy Thomas! The album's got the feel of Timmy's classic Why Can't We Live Together album – but the overall sound is a bit fuller and richer, with a soulfulness that grabs us right... read more

A soulful set from Carroll Thompson – the debut from the sultry UK singer, and a set that went onto become a key classic in the lovers rock genre! Carroll has a great way of mixing Jamaican styles with a bit more of a London vibe – coming up with a criss-cross of modes that really... read more

A smoking disco double-header from THP Orchestra – two excellent albums back to back, with loads of bonus tracks too! Early Riser has a groove that really has the group starting out strongly – a perfect early disco approach that's funky and instrumental, but which often echoes some... read more

A killer package – two full albums, plus bonus tracks too! First up is Maybe – amazing early work from the Three Degrees – tracks cut before their more famous disco years in the 70s – but already showing a whole new approach to girl group soul! At some level, the trio take... read more

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A sweet late 70s set from The Three Degrees – who've moved on over to CBS/Epic after their hot streak at Philly International – with a bit more of an expansive sound than usual! They're still working in a core Philly mode with recording at Sigma Sound and arrangements by Richard Rome... read more

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Classic! The third LP from the Time, and last before Morris Day went off and started his solo career – though by this point Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis had departed the group. Nonetheless, the sound is still tight modern funk, with Jesse Johnson and crew keeping things in the great post-Prince... read more

One of the two 80s masterpieces by this amazing Minneapolis group, before Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis left to change the face of commercial R&B! This first album and it's follow-up remain as a couple of the more enduring moments of slick, stylish American pop soul, and represent just a huge... read more

A strange name for a group that hardly stood the test of time – but a great record that's well worth discovering! Timeless Legend were a young soul group from Columbus Ohio in the mid 70s – and on this rare LP, they've got a sweet little style that's every bit as great as that of... read more

A later bit of Philly disco – recorded at Sigma Sound studios with really soaring production from Tom Moulton – and some surprising help on a number of tracks from a young Arthur Baker! The style here has that Instant Funk sort of groove – a bit more bass at the bottom than... read more