Sublimely satisfying work from Ashford & Simpson – a stone killer from the height of their late 70s glory days on Warner Brothers! The pair are working together wonderfully at this point – wrapped up in that blend of upbeat soul and righteous undercurrents that made them a real cut above in mainstream soul – getting great help from arrangers William Eaton, Paul Riser, and Al Gorgoni – all of whom know how to hit that perfect Ashford & Simpson balance between tightness, class, and soulful spontaneity! Backings are always filled with lots of jazzy touches, too – the kind of sophisticated soul elements other would cop from the pair in years to come – and titles include "Over & Over", "It's You", "If You're Lying", "Couldn't Get Enough", "Destiny", "So So Satisfied", and "Tried Tested & Found True". LP, Vinyl record album

A really all-star performance from Quincy Jones – one done at the Budweiser Superfest, and which features vocal contributions from James Ingram, Patti Austin, Ashford & Simpson, and Michael Jackson! Q is at the height of his R&B production years here – and he translates that studio magic into a stunning live performance, with help from all-star giants in the instrumental lineup – including Greg Phillinganes and Rod Temperton on keyboards and a bit of vocals too! The set was originally recorded for radio broadcast – and titles include "Love Is In Control", "Razzamatazz", "Stuff Like That", "Ai No Corrida", "Just Once", "Do You Love Me", and "One Hundred Ways". (Jazz, Soul) LP, Vinyl record album

The first-ever full length album of work by Candy & The Kisses – a really great east coast girl group who recorded these tracks for Scepter Records in the mid 60s! The trio are great – and have a way of snapping sweetly and hitting a groove that might have sounded very familiar with a bit of Motown polish, but which is maybe even nicer here with some looser handling by Scepter – a nice sort of bite that's a bit like The Exciters at times! The label only issued a few singles by the group back in the day, which means that eight of the tracks here are previously unissued, and one more was only ever released as a promo track – brought together to give the world a long-overdue full picture of this really lovely group from Staten Island. There's a number of early Ashford & Simpson compositions in the mix – and titles include "The Last Time", "Out In The Streets Again", "I'll Settle For You", "Let Love Win", "Together", "Are You Trying To Get Rid Of Me", "Looky Looky What I Got", "Keep On Searchin", "You Did The Best You Could", "Smokey Joe's", and "One Sweet Kiss". LP, Vinyl record album