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Anacostia make the move to Tabu Records for this sweet second set – and they seem to have picked up more of a groove along the way! The same elements as before are firmly in place here – production by Charles Kipps, with supervision from Van McCoy – but the groove is a bit more... read more

Soaring work from guitarist Michael Boothman – a record that's probably more in a soul instrumental mode than a jazz one – but which is plenty darn great, thanks to help from a variety of top-shelf talents! Boothman's working here with Leon Pendarvis – who plays keyboards on the... read more

Funky Entertainment is right – as Brainstorm move into a bass-heavy groove that's every bit the sound of late 70s mainstream funk! The group still have some of the smooth dancefloor style of earlier records, but the emphasis here is much more on the bottom of the groove – popping and... read more

Our favorite album by this overlooked 70s soul group! The album's a real club stormer from the old days – a soaring blend of upbeat tunes with a sound that's righteous and smooth, and never cloying. These guys are kind of riding on the high of an Earth Wind & Fire kind of groove –... read more

The album's a real club stormer from the old days – a soaring blend of upbeat tunes with a sound that's righteous and smooth, and never cloying. These guys are kind of riding on the high of an Earth Wind & Fire kind of groove – missing the cliches of most other bigger funk acts,... read more

A set that definitely lives up to its title – a stone stormer from Brainstorm – one of the tightest funky ensembles of their generation, and one of the few who could go deep while still laying down a groove! The set's got a perfect balance of modes – enough of the appeal of... read more

A set that definitely lives up to its title – a stone stormer from Brainstorm – one of the tightest funky ensembles of their generation, and one of the few who could go deep while still laying down a groove! The set's got a perfect balance of modes – enough of the appeal of... read more

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Nothing Fragile here – as Cherrelle comes across with plenty of power on this debut LP – thanks to sharp production from Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis on some of the best cuts, and an overall groove that's right on the best side of early 80s soul! The Jam/Lewis tracks are heavy on... read more

Nothing Fragile here – as Cherrelle comes across with plenty of power on this debut LP – thanks to sharp production from Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis on some of the best cuts, and an overall groove that's right on the best side of early 80s soul! The Jam/Lewis tracks are heavy on... read more

Sweet 80s grooves from Cherrelle – a set that really has the singer cooking strongly with the production team of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis – complete with all the heavy beats you might expect! Jam and Lewis borrow plenty of bottom sounds from the styles of hip hop and electro, and do a... read more

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An incredible batch of Brazilian fusion – cut by keyboardist Manfredo Fest, and one of the few records he ever waxed in the US during the 70s! The record mixes Fest's soaring Brazilian groove with a tight soulful set of arrangements by Jerry Peters – a bit club-oriented, with a similar... read more

An incredible batch of Brazilian fusion – cut by keyboardist Manfredo Fest, and one of the few records he ever waxed in the US during the 70s! The record mixes Fest's soaring Brazilian groove with a tight soulful set of arrangements by Jerry Peters – a bit club-oriented, with a similar... read more

An incredible batch of Brazilian fusion – cut by keyboardist Manfredo Fest, and one of the few records he ever waxed in the US during the 70s! The record mixes Fest's soaring Brazilian groove with a tight soulful set of arrangements by Jerry Peters – a bit club-oriented, with a similar... read more

This one continues the sound of the group's previous album on Tabu – lots of slap-bass funk, touched with electro bits, coming off surprisingly nicely overall! The instrumentation's mostly from keyboards and bass pedals – and the vocals are a bit buried in the mix, but there's some... read more

The General pulls out all of his slap-bass funky stops on this one, for a nice early 80s session of LA groovers with a fairly electric feel. Tracks include "Knock Down The Walls", "Girls", "Don't Stop", "Wait At The Mountain", and "It's Getting... read more

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The start of a legendary run for vocalist Alexander O'Neal – and a set that really helped redefine the sound of male soul in the 80s! O'Neal got his start in an early version of The Time, and he's working here with Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis – but the sound of the record is way deeper... read more

The start of a legendary run for vocalist Alexander O'Neal – and a set that really helped redefine the sound of male soul in the 80s! O'Neal got his start in an early version of The Time, and he's working here with Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis – but the sound of the record is way deeper... read more

The start of a legendary run for vocalist Alexander O'Neal – and a set that really helped redefine the sound of male soul in the 80s! O'Neal got his start in an early version of The Time, and he's working here with Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis – but the sound of the record is way deeper... read more

One of the crowning achievements of Alexander O'Neal – a set that uses cool little intro tracks to help structure the standout songs on the set – giving the whole thing a much more well-conceived approach than other mainstream soul albums of the time! Some of the cuts draw from O'Neal's... read more

One of the crowning achievements of Alexander O'Neal – a set that uses cool little intro tracks to help structure the standout songs on the set – giving the whole thing a much more well-conceived approach than other mainstream soul albums of the time! Some of the cuts draw from O'Neal's... read more

The 80s hits of Alexander O'Neal are remixed and compiled here, in a style of album that was briefly the rage for US soul acts at the end of the 80s. All the original tunes were produced by Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, and the remixers include Keith Cohen, Steve Beltran, and Ben Liebrand. Titles... read more

A beautiful album of sexy soul, recorded with a smooth modern sound that's very different than Sharon's earlier albums. Jerry Peters and Sharon did the arrangements, and the tracks have a nice sound that's got a little bit of a jazz, which takes Sharon's vocals into a whole range – and lets... read more

An ambitious set of funky jazz tunes from Lalo – cut in the proto-disco style of some of his later CTI work, but also done with some interesting instrumental flourishes from track to track. The album's got a "gypsy" spirit in the compositions – sometimes touched with a bit of... read more

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While side 2 of this album was produced by Gene Dozier, the entirety of side 1 had Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis at the helm, and they came up with a couple of huge numbers for the group with "Just Be Good To Me" and "Tell Me If You Still Care", two prototypical 80s mellow grooves,... read more

For the longest time we'd look at this album and just figure the SOS Band were well past their prime here, but when we finally got around to dropping the needle on it, we were pleasantly surprised. Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis handle the production, and it's mostly mid and downtempo material, but all... read more

The seminal first album from the SOS Band – a record that really showcases the new sound of soul for the 80s, yet still holds onto all the best elements of the previous decade too! These guys have a great ear for groovers – well-demonstrated by the play they got on the dancefloor... read more

The seminal first album from the SOS Band – a record that really showcases the new sound of soul for the 80s, yet still holds onto all the best elements of the previous decade too! These guys have a great ear for groovers – well-demonstrated by the play they got on the dancefloor... read more

A solid smoker from the SOS Band – maybe one of the group's best-remembered albums, and for good reason too! The set's got a groove that's beautiful right from the start – 80s funk that's really a cut above, and touched with just the right mix of jazzy elements and warmer moments too... read more

A solid smoker from the SOS Band – maybe one of the group's best-remembered albums, and for good reason too! The set's got a groove that's beautiful right from the start – 80s funk that's really a cut above, and touched with just the right mix of jazzy elements and warmer moments too... read more

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The SOS Band's second album – and a masterpiece of 80s groove! The key word here is "tight" – as the whole thing holds together like a pile of money dipped in honey – keyboards, bass, percussion, and vocals all sweetly grooving with that post-70s funky feel that the... read more