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The soaring debut of one of the greatest groups of the disco era – and one that would go onto be the sound of Salsoul Records too! The large mostly-instrumental ensemble is headed up by Vince Montana – who brings plenty of Philly disco touches into play with the group's wonderful blend... read more

A beautiful little record by Pharoah Sanders – quite different than most of his other recordings of the 70s, and done in a smoothly jazzy mode that also features plenty of soul! Sanders did the set in collaboration with Norman Connors – and the style is in that same great mix of mellow... read more

A key album in the legendary 80s run of Shalamar – and a set that gets a tremendous amount out of a very stripped-down sound! The sound of Shalamar builds from a bit of bass, some snapping drums, waves of keyboards, and especially great vocals – warm and sweet, but never too commercial... read more

Great work by Bunny Sigler – and a perfect bridge between his earlier Philly soul from the late 60s, and his later disco from the end of the 70s! Bunny's in perfect form vocally – and the record is a super-strong batch of tracks that deserves to be well up there in the Gamble/Huff... read more

A stone classic from Skyy – one of those groups who virtually helped invent 80s groove! Like the best of the genre – such as Slave, BB&Q Band, and others – Skyy have a soulful approach that goes way past the simple cliches that other groups were so content to only muddle... 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

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 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

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

One of THE disco hits of the 70s – a set that spawned not only a huge hit single for Anita Ward, but which also firmly pushed the Miami scene over the top! The record's a wonderful mix of modes – served up with stone southern soul production from Frederick Knight, but also given plenty... read more

One of those great 70s records that really reminds us that, way past Burt Bacharach, Dionne Warwick's a heck of a great soul singer! The album's a bit more polished than some of her other post-Scepter efforts from the decade – yet still comes off quite well, with Dionne really stretching out... read more

Sweet 80s soul from Dionne Warwick – an album that features a fair bit of production work from Barry Gibb – and a sometime sound that definitely shows his presence! The style here is smoother than Dionne in earlier years – with a nice undercurrent of jazz in the instrumentation,... read more

My Melody from Deniece Williams and it's definitely one of here most beautiful albums of the early 80s – the more we think about it, it may be one of her best ever from beginning-to-end! It's lush and beautifully produced set Thom Bell, providing such a lovely backdrop for Deniece's... read more

A pretty sweet late 70s set from Deniece Williams – produced by Maurice White of Earth Wind & Fire – and it sounds like it! The set ranges from catchy, crossover ready funky soul sweetened ever more by Deniece's amazing voice, to more stripped down and intimate numbers. There's a... read more

Genius work from Denice Williams – a singer who'd cracked the charts a bit as Denice Chandler, with a little girl soul sound, way back in the 60s – but who's grown up considerably by this essential 70s set! Chandler's voice is still a bit high – almost in a Minnie Riperton sort... read more

A killer bit of modern soul – one of the standout classics from the best years of Arista! Richard Evans produced and arranged this excellent set of smooth soul grooves for Linda Williams. Linda plays keyboards and sings, and the album was recorded in 2 different sessions – one in LA,... read more

A beautiful album by Bill Withers – filled with incredibly well written songs, and an amazing instrumental technique that blended folksy elements with smoother 70s soul, in a sound that would put Bill at the top of the charts for many years, yet still give him cred with soul fans for decades!... read more

A standout set from the duo of Calvin Yarbrough and Alisa Peoples – sounding great on this set of mid 80s grooves! The production of the set has all the hallmarks of Lonnie Simmons' Total Experience style – bouncy rhythms and sweet keyboards, wrapped up in that mix of catchy and funky... read more

Classic club from Karen Young – definitely one of the campier talents on the West End label, but still pretty soulful overall! The album's almost more in the mode of work on Prelude than West End – as tracks are all long, and roll along with a fair bit of instrumentation in the mix... read more