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Fantastic work from Archie Bell & The Drells – an important record that bridges their earlier and later sounds! It's a key transitional album for the crew – as most of the album's in the harder rawer Texas funk groove of earlier year, but some of it features newer production by Gamble & Huff, in that excellent smooth dancing style that took Archie light years from his roots. The Gamble & Huff tracks are the most obvious – the singles "I Can't Stop Dancing" and "Do The Choo Choo" – and the album's got other great cuts like the original tunes "Do You Feel It?", "You're Such A Beautiful Child", "Jammin In Houston", and "Love Will Rain On You", plus versions of Curtis Mayfield's "I've Been Trying" and "Sometimes I Wonder". CD also features three bonus tracks – "Low Down", "Going Out Of My Head (demo)", and "Who's Loving You (demo)".

An incredible bit of southern funk – the first landmark LP by Archie Bell & The Drells, and the first big burst of energy from the Texas scene of the 60s! The album's incredible – with Archie up front on rough-hewn vocals, the band grooving in a mad tangle of guitar, bass, and drums, and some super-fierce horn work by the TSU Tornadoes! You've no doubt heard the band's classic "Tighten Up (part 1)", but this album also includes the incredible "part 2" to the track – which takes the groove a million miles higher! And the whole album's equally great – filled with other tight soul gems that include "A Thousand Wonders", "I Don't Want To Be A Playboy", "Give Me Time", and "When You Left Heartache Began".

An incredible bit of southern funk – the first landmark LP by Archie Bell & The Drells, and the first big burst of energy from the Texas scene of the 60s! The album's incredible – with Archie up front on rough-hewn vocals, the band grooving in a mad tangle of guitar, bass, and drums, and some super-fierce horn work by the TSU Tornadoes! You've no doubt heard the band's classic "Tighten Up (part 1)", but this album also includes the incredible "part 2" to the track – which takes the groove a million miles higher! And the whole album's equally great – filled with other tight soul gems that include "A Thousand Wonders", "I Don't Want To Be A Playboy", "Give Me Time", and "When You Left Heartache Began".

A sweet little pre-Philly single from Archie Bell! "Dancing To Your Music" is produced by Prince Phillip Mitchell, and it's got a lightly swinging groove that brings out a really soulful side of Archie. The group's got some excellent harmony vocals in the background, and there's still a bit of the tight guitar from earlier records. "Count The Ways" is a great one too, with a heavy funk sound that's quite different for the group – and which gives them a really righteous groove, plus there's a nice psychedelic break towards the end too!

Fantastic work from Archie Bell & The Drells – an important record that bridges their earlier and later sounds! It's a key transitional album for the crew – as most of the album's in the harder rawer Texas funk groove of earlier year, but some of it features newer production by Gamble & Huff, in that excellent smooth dancing style that took Archie light years from his roots. The Gamble & Huff tracks are the most obvious – the singles "I Can't Stop Dancing" and "Do The Choo Choo" – and the album's got other great cuts like the original tunes "Do You Feel It?", "You're Such A Beautiful Child", "Jammin In Houston", and "Love Will Rain On You", plus versions of Curtis Mayfield's "I've Been Trying" and "Sometimes I Wonder".

20 track compilation that spans the career of groovy soulster Archie Bell, and his group The Drells. The set includes Bell's huge hit "Tighten Up", but it's also got a great array of other material from his different recording periods – all of which show him pushing way past his original groove, into a much richer soul vein. There's even stuff from his early and later Philly years – and titles include "My Balloon's Going Up", "(There's Gonna Be A) Showdown", "Girl You're Too Young", "Soul City Walk", "Strategy", "I Could Dance All Night", and "Ain't Nothing For A Man In Love".

A stormer from Archie Bell & The Drells – one of our favorite soul albums ever, and a masterpiece of mid-tempo soul! Archie Bell & The Drells sound amazing here – light years from the rougher funk of their earlier years, yet still with a groove that's undeniable – an incredible meeting of soul music scenes handled by the young Gamble & Huff team – who not only produce most of the record, but also wrote most of the tracks on the set! The groove is lightly lilting, and totally on the money – a sound that's incredible, and hard to describe in words – but which really grabs us from the get-go. All tracks are great, and totally fresh – and tunes include "I Love My Baby", "Houston Texas", "Showdown", "My Balloon's Going Up", "Giving Up Dancing", "Girl You're Too Young", and "Green Power".

Fantastic early O'Jays! The album's the first to feature the group meeting up with the Gamble/Huff team – a significant shift from their earlier work on Imperial, with a style that still retains all the vocal hardness of those days, but which makes a shift into a sweeter soaring soul groove! The move had been taken with similar success by Jerry Butler and Archie Bell & The Drells – and although the sound's a lot different than the group's later work for Philly International, it's a sign that they're really finding their voice, and a style that would push them to the top! Titles include "I Should Be Your Lover", "One Night Affair", "Deeper", "Just Can't Get Enough", "I've Got The Groove", and "You're The Best Thing Since Candy" – and arrangements are by Bobby Martin, Thom Bell, and Richard Rome.

Roctober strikes again with another fantastic issue of music wisdom and knowledge from the far side of the spectrum! This time around, the spotlight's on Zory Zenith & Zolar X – who are covered in unusual detail – but our Dusty Groove ears are most tuned to the articles on Archie Bell, Kraftwerk, and Bernie Worrell. Yet as usual, we find our eyes straying all over the issue – captivated by features on oddball artists we'd never heard before, and drawn in by the always-great reviews, comics, and smaller bits in the magazine! Other features include It's The Law, Hall Of Dynamic Greatness, Gaybot, Nardwuar Vs Tommy Chong, and Willie Restum.

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 them way past the cliched role they'd had as Aretha's backing group. Bobby Martin handled all the arrangements, Ugene Dozier produced – and cuts are written by the pair of them (among others) and the Gamble & Huff team. Vince Montana sneaks in some tasty vibes, and there's strong bubbling electric piano and organ from Thom Bell and Lenny Pakula. Titles include "Two Can Play The Game", "Shut Up", "That's The Way My Baby Is", "Gotta Find a Brand New Lover", "Ain't Nothin' in the World", and "Them Boys".

A great take on the sound of Philadelphia International – a double-length set of re-edits of Philly gems from years back – but all done in ways that are completely respectful to the originals! The approach here is wonderful – as warm and soulful as the Philly grooves from back in the day – but often extended and reworked slightly – the way you might have heard on a vintage 12" promo – which is even more impressive once you consider that some of these tracks never came out in that format! The choice of tracks is totally right on the money – and a great demonstration of that old school edit mode that never tried to mess with the track at all – just increase the pleasure it brought to the dancefloor – and the set features 21 very long tracks, including "Satisfaction Guaranteed (Morning Star re-edit)" by Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, "Only The Strong Survive (J*Ski re-edit)" by Billy Paul, "Free Love (Victor Rosado re-edit)" by Jean Carn, "Life On Mars (DJ Mila re-edit)" by Dexter Wansel, "Ain't No Stoppin Us Now (The Noodleman re-work)" by McFadden & Whitehead, "Nights Over Egypt (Womack & TOT re-edit) by The Jones Girls, "Strategy (Touchsoul re-edit)" by Archie Bell & The Drells, "Let The Dollar Circulate (Scratch N Sniff's ext re-reub)" by Billy Paul, "Darlin Darlin Baby (Deep & Disco re-work)" by The O'Jays, and "Be For Real (Tim McAllister re-edit)" by Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes.

Massive mixes from the mighty Tom Moulton – a huge 4CD package that not only includes some classic lost and rare mixes from the 70s, but also a whopping 17 previously unreleased Moulton mixes, appearing here for the first time ever! If there's anyone who's ever been well-suited to reworking a Philly groove, it's Tom – given his long standing association with the soul scene in the City Of Brotherly Love – and his crucial role in pushing soul tracks into the clubs during the 70s. As with most of Tom's best work, the mixes here are richly faithful to the originals – and never try to overstate themselves at all, just focus on the best elements, and bring them to the forefront of the groove! 4CDs, 31 tracks, and Moulton remixes of "Back Stabbers" by The O'Jays, "Dirty Ol Man" by Three Degrees, "Trusting Heart" by The Trammps, "Do It Any Way You Wanna" by People's Choice, "Nights Over Egypt" by The Jones Girls, "I Don't Love You Anymore" by Teddy Pendergrass, "Year Of Decision" by Three Degrees, "Slow Motion" by Johnny Williams, "The Love I Lost" by Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, "She's A Winner" by The Intruders, "Trammps Disco Theme/Zing Went The Strings" by The Trammps, "Let's Groove" by Archie Bell & The Drells, "The Devil Made Me Do It" by Robert Upchurch, "Love Is The Message" by MFSB, "Party Time Man" by The Futures, and "See You When I Get There" by Lou Rawls.

Sublime 70s soul all the way through – a tremendous collection of mellow groovers and midtempo steppers – quite possibly the best volume so far in the Wants List series! The cuts here are all wrapped around a really unified groove – that 70s style that was never too funky, nor too uptempo – just nicely laidback and warm, yet still with a bubbling, gentle sort of rhythm. Production is full on most tracks, but there's always a great edge in the vocals – and although many of the artists here are bigger names, the cuts on the set (as you might guess from the title!) represent some of their more obscure tracks from the decade! Titles include "Lovely Lady" by Vernon Burch, "Trying To Get Next To You" by Arnold Blair, "If I Can't Stop You" by CB Overton, "Is This Really Love" by Charles Drain, "Show Me The Way To Love" by Carl Davis & The Chi-Sound Orchestra, "Midnight Lovers" by Passion, "Smother Me With Your Love" by Betty Wright, "The Rub" by George & Gwen McCrae, "Feed Me your Love" by The Fatback Band, "Harder & Harder" by Archie Bell, "The Man In The Street" by William Bell, "Sweet Music Soft Lights & You" by Ken Williams, "Wondering" by Betty Everett, "Electrified Love" by Ernie Hines, and "Feel Good" by Michelle Wiley.

A killer full length set of work from Cliff Nobles – the artist best known to the world for a late 60s instrumental hit, but a pretty great singer as well! This wonderful collection features both vocal and instrumental sides of the Cliff Nobles sound – tunes that are a testament to his underground soul strengths at the end of the 60s, with a great blend of sock-soul and pre-funk modes! Cliff scored biggest on the charts with his classic "The Horse" – a brassy, upbeat instrumental with a groove that's right up there with the best Archie Bell or Bar-Kays work of the late 60s – but that cut was actually the flip of the vocal tune "Love Is All Right", a wonderful showcase for his singing skills. Both tracks are featured on the set, and the collection continues with a mixed vocal/instrumental sort of appeal – a mini soul party on its own, with a really fresh blend of modes. Titles include "The Horse", "Love Is All Right", "Judge Baby I'm Back", "Horse Fever", "If You Don't", "The More I Do For You Baby", "The Camel", "Getting Away", "Burning Desire", "Switch It On", and "This Love Will Last".

Fantastic early O'Jays! The album's the first to feature the group meeting up with the Gamble/Huff team – a significant shift from their earlier work on Imperial, with a style that still retains all the vocal hardness of those days, but which makes a shift into a sweeter soaring soul groove! The move had been taken with similar success by Jerry Butler and Archie Bell & The Drells – and although the sound's a lot different than the group's later work for Philly International, it's a sign that they're really finding their voice, and a style that would push them to the top! Titles include "I Should Be Your Lover", "One Night Affair", "Deeper", "Just Can't Get Enough", "I've Got The Groove", and "You're The Best Thing Since Candy" – and arrangements are by Bobby Martin, Thom Bell, and Richard Rome.

Culled from the rich history of the Atlantic records label, and lovingly put together with great notes and everything! 28 tracks in all, including "Knock On Wood" by Eddie Floyd, "Try A Little Tenderness" by Otis Redding, "Mustang Sally" and"Funky Broadway" by Wilson Pickett, "When Something Is Wrong With My Baby" and "Soul Man" by Sam & Dave, "Sweet Soul Music" by Arthur Conley, "I've Never Loved A Man The Way I Love You", "Do Right Woman – Do Right Man",'Respect", "Baby I Love You", "Natural Woman" and "Think" by Aretha Franklin, "Show Me" and "Skinny Legs & All" by Joe Tex, "Tramp" by Otis & Carla, "Soul Finger" by the Bar Kays, "Memphis Soul Stew" by King Curtis and "Tighten Up" by Archie Bell & The Drells.

An amazing tribute to one of the best soul songwriters in the 70s – the mighty Phillip Mitchell, a key force in mixing together deep soul roots with more sophisticated styles for the time! Mitchell's got this mighty positive way of putting over a tune – lyrics that still hold onto the emotion of the past, yet also come through things with a forward-thinking style too – one that really helps get past obvious cliches, and which always seems to make a Mitchell-penned track stand out as the real gem on an album of 70s soul! Many of the artists here are from a southern soul background – no surprise, as Mitchell made most of his magic south of the Mason/Dixon line – and the set really brings together a great number of artists, and really shows the deep reach that Mitchell had at the time. Titles include "Hitch Hiking To Heartbreak Road" by Bobo Mr Soul, "Something New To Do" by Bobby Sheen, "Carry Me" by Ernie Shelby, "I Don't Do This" by Sidney Joe Qualls, "Free For All" by Mel & Tim, "Come Through Me" by Garland Green, "Here I Am Again" by Candi Staton, "You Made Me What I Am" by Erma Coffee, "Gonna Have A Murder On Your Hands" by JJ Williams, "Archie's In Love" by Archie Bell & The Drells, "Leftovers" by Millie Jackson, "How Can I Go On Without You" by Corey Blake, and "That's The Way I Wanna Live My Life" by Tommie Lee.

One of many compilations advertised on TV, both during the broadcast of Soul Train and at other times, collecting the sort of hit tracks that people would shake their rumps to in the Soul Train line. 22 tracks in all, so we suspect they're edited just a touch, all with Don Cornelius' stamp of approval, including: the Moments "Love On A Two Way Street", Honey Cone "Want Ads", the Isleys "It's Your Thing", Five Stairsteps "Oooh Child", Betty Wright "Clean Up Woman", Archie Bell & The Drells "I Just Can't Stop Dancing", Shep & The Limelites "Daddy's Home", Edwin Hawkins Singers "Oh Happy Day", SLy & The Family Stone "Every Day People", James Brown "Papa's Got A Brand New Bag", Joe Simon "Drowning In The Sea Of Love", the Delphonics "La La Means I Love You", and more!

One of the best albums of the Latin Soul era – a stunning crossover record that borrowed a lot from 60s soul! The title cut's the leadoff one on the set – the tight-grooving "Meditation", a thinly veiled cover of Archie Bell's "Tighten Up" – one that takes the Texas groove uptown in NYC, adds in vocals that have lots of Latinized touches. Other tracks follow with a good mix of grooves and ballads – stepping from upbeat percussion-driven boogaloo to mellower soul, in the style of some of Joe Bataan's best work. Tito Ramos handles the English vocals on the set, and he's got a sad, heartfelt style that brings a lot of honesty to the rough-hewn lyrics of the tracks – and Tony Rojas follows him up with a few Latin numbers that really cook. Great all the way through, and tracks include "Cupid", "Sudden Emotion", "Very Bad Times", "Mr. Slick", and "Cool Clave".

Massive mixes from the mighty Tom Moulton – a huge package that not only includes some classic lost and rare mixes from the 70s, but also previously unreleased Moulton mixes, appearing here for the first time ever! If there's anyone who's ever been well-suited to reworking a Philly groove, it's Tom – given his long standing association with the soul scene in the City Of Brotherly Love – and his crucial role in pushing soul tracks into the clubs during the 70s. As with most of Tom's best work, the mixes here are richly faithful to the originals – and never try to overstate themselves at all, just focus on the best elements, and bring them to the forefront of the groove! This totally cool package features 31 mixes in all – pressed up as eight 12" EPs – most with four tracks each, leaving plenty of room for very long mixes! Titles include Moulton mixes of "Jam Jam Jam" by People's Choice, "I Don't Love You Anymore" by Teddy Pendergrass, "Party Time Man" by The Futures, "Intro/My Love Don't Come Easy" by Jean Carn, "Trusting Heart" by The Trammps, "Don't Leave Me This Way" by Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, "Let's Groove" by Archie Bell & The Drells, "Dirty Ol Man" by Three Degrees, "Slow Motion" by Johnny Williams, "I'll Always Love My Mama" by The Intruders, "The Devil Made Me Do It" by Robert Upchurch, "Back Stabbers" by The O'Jays, "See You When I Get There" by Lou Rawls, and "Love Epidemic" by The Trammps.

Soaring sounds from Philadelphia International – the label that virtually defined the sound of soul in the 70s, thanks to a succession of ultra-big hits! Those cuts are great, but this set goes even deeper – to move past the chart standouts, and come up with a brilliant batch of Philly groovers that stayed mostly on the underground – but which have had a huge influence on the global scene over the past few decades! All the best Philly 70s elements are in place here – tight rhythms, impeccable musicianship, and production that finds a way to polish without ever making things too slick – a wonderful blend that makes these tunes totally top-shelf all the way through – and even fresher than some of the bigger hits you'd know from the artists. Titles include "Hey Baby" by Anthony White, "I Heard It In A Love Song" by McFadden & Whitehead, "Old People" by Archie Bell & The Drells, "Sunshine & You" by The Futures, "Groovy People" by Lou Rawls, "You Can't Come Back Now" by Jean Carn, "Tell The World How I Feel About Cha Baby" by Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes, "Let The Dollar Circulate" by Billy Paul, "Found A Love You Couldn't Handle" by The Stylistics, and "I'm Just Thinking About Cooling Out" by Jerry Butler.

A relatively contemporary score from the great Eric Demarsan – who we love for his work in the 60s – yet a soundtrack that's also handled with the same sense of space and somberness he brought to his music for the films of Jean-Pierre Melville! Most numbers here have a slow-growing sort of energy – keyboards mixed with larger orchestrations, but often used in a relatively subtle way – and marked by some key tenor sax solos by Archie Shepp on some of the album's best tracks – used in ways that break out with a bit more free emotion than the rest of the score. Titles include "Piano Droit", "Pigalle By Night", "Alice Et Nadir", "Les Visions Troubles", "Les Belles Histoires", "Un Frere", and "Frissons Rouges".