... 7-inch, Vinyl record

A great little track – one that's best known as something of a Miami soul hit, thanks to versions by KC & The Sunshine Band and George McCrae. This version's equally great – but done quite differently, as an east coast type club track – lots of strings soaring over the groove, ruff female vocals singing the lead, and a moogy solo on the instrumental version that has a nice P&P feel! 7-inch, Vinyl record

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

A shameless bit of self-promotion here – as Atlantic has The Sweet Inspirations cover "To Love Somebody", one of the strongest songs written by labelmates The Bee Gees. However, the move is a great one – and is possibly the first in what was a small (and great) trend (remember Al Green?) of southern soul artists covering songs by the brothers Gibb. "Where Did It Go" is an original – sweetly and deeply soulful. 7-inch, Vinyl record

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

Nice! We don't know if this is the same Love, Devotion, & Happiness that later recorded for RCA – but the single's an obscure one, on a tiny Chicago label, with arrangements by Tom Tom Washington. "Joy Sweet Joy" is a nice mellow mid-tempo track, with a dope production sound, and sweet soulful female vocals. 7-inch, Vinyl record

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

A great deep soul tune from James! The track's a holiday number – and the sweet little baby boy is ol' JC himself – but with James singing the vocals, the whole thing sounds like some great southern soul number, with Christmas only a deep memory away. Nice and slow and soulful – with strings and piano backing up the vocals. 7-inch, Vinyl record

Two tracks from the sweet voiced Donnie. "Sweet Baby" has a rolling midtempo groove, and a much better hook. 7-inch, Vinyl record

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

... 7-inch, Vinyl record

Beautiful harmony soul from Act 1 – a group we totally love when they're in this mode – just grooving enough to open up the vocals a bit, stepping along with some great east coast sweet soul production! "Night Of The Wolf" is a completely different track, but equally groovy – a sharp funky instrumental with all sorts of fast-riffing guitar, taken from a rare Italian sound library album of the 70s – and topped with a cool whistle that almost has a spaghetti western vibe! 7-inch, Vinyl record

A stunning bit of sweet soul from this very obscure Ohio group – done in a soaring harmony style that would have made the late 60s Impressions proud – but given this nicely stark backing and production that's maybe more in the New Jersey mode of the time! The Aswads are backed by the Naturall Band on the vocal cut – and the flipside is a searing take on the territory explored by James Brown in "There Was A Time" – moving nicely quick, and with all sorts of riffing guitar and electric piano! 7-inch, Vinyl record

A great return to form for the legendary Sidney Barnes – known best as a onetime member of both Rotary Connection and the P-Funk universe – but working here with great small combo backing from the Speedometer combo! "Best Thing" is an original by Barnes – sung in this sweet raspy style that gets great support from the funky group – who even thrown in a sweet Hammond solo in the middle! The flipside is a remake of Nolan Porter's "If I Could Only Be Sure" – a midtempo burner that has Sidney sounding even better on vocals! 7-inch, Vinyl record

Two rare KPM sound library grooves – back to back on a single piece of wax! "Name Of The Game" is fantastic – slow funk, but super-heavy – with measured drums that space things out as keyboards really take their time to build up the mood, before serving up a mighty sweet solo in the middle! The drums break nicely by their own at one point too – and "Confunktion" has a similar slow funk start, then really builds with frenetic energy on the drums – almost a proggish take on funk at times! 7-inch, Vinyl record

Includes "Stomp Your Stuff", "Alley Rat", "Sweet Papa", "Shake Your Shimmy", and "Wild Man Stomp". 7-inch, Vinyl record

Zowie! Two nice teen slang numbers, in a sweet pic sleeve too! 7-inch, Vinyl record

Although Gene Chandler is best known for his 60's Chicago soul hits, he also did some great modern soul tracks right around the turn of the 80's. This cut is one of them, and it's a sweet midtempo duet with Jaime Lynn that features some excellent mellow arrangements by Sonny Sanders. Gene's voice is as great as ever, and the production is very nice. 7-inch, Vinyl record

Great 70s harmonies from Classic Example – soaring here over a tune that has so much warmth and charm, it's hard to believe it's about a breakup! The track has these horns that cascade along with the vocals – and this lilting vibe that's completely compelling right away! "I Found Me A Girl" is slower and bluer – perfect sweet soul material, at a level that lets the group hit a more heartbreaking mode! 7-inch, Vinyl record

A great set of wedding bells ring out at the start of the tune – but things soon get raw and romping as Melvin Davis takes over – really hitting this soaring vocal range as the tune stomps, vamps, and grooves with a sweet blend of organ, piano, and saxophone! The flipside features another great romper – as "It's No News" has this cool skittish beat, almost in jukebox mambo territory – which really works great for Melvin's voice! 7-inch, Vinyl record

Early work by Ebony Rhythm Funk, and much funkier than their later stuff – which actually isn't that funky at all! The record's got a driving righteous message – kind of imploring the listener to get up and go get what they want! Wayne Henderson produced, too – with a sweet electric funk groove that's like early 70s work by The Crusaders on Chisa! 7-inch, Vinyl record

Two nice hard-to-find sides by this great Philly soul group. "You're the Reason Why" is a great mixed male/female group cut, with a sweet soul tempo and a male vocal lead. "Sexy Ways" is uptempo with a rolling Gamble/Huff style – rougher and funkier than usual, in kind of a late 60s Philly groove! 7-inch, Vinyl record

Later work by General Crook – very different than his funkier sides of the 60s, but still pretty darn great! "Best Years Of My Life" is a wonderful ballad cut – strings gently gliding as Crook's rich vocals come into deliver a sweet and sad lyric. "Testification" is more electric – with funky clavinet at the beginning, and a flanged-out approach on the vocals. 7-inch, Vinyl record

A sweet one! Both sides are recorded during the period when Garland switched from soul to blues – but "IOU" is still a great track, and kind of a heartfelt spoken number that says "thanks to mom!" in a way that only Garland could make us appreciate! Recorded at Muscle Shoals, too. 7-inch, Vinyl record

"Keep It To Yourself" is a fantastic fantastic fantastic soul track, and probably the greatest cut ever to come from the pen of Billy Butler. Billy performs it here with his group Infinity, and the track rivals anything his brother Jerry ever did. It's got a sweet sad ballad feel, and some amazing arrangements, courtesy of Vince Willis. Very nice, and we don't believe it's on his LP with the group. Plus, the flip's a nice uptempo progressive soul cut, with good vocals. 7-inch, Vinyl record

Two great cuts from 60s female soul singer Tobi Lark! "Challenge My Love" is a mid 60s Detroit groover from the hands of Dave Hamilton – nicely chugging beat underneath, sweet vocals by Tobi, and a bit of a brassy finish on the groove – all making for a nice midtempo dancer all around! "Sweep It Out" is a stone cooker from Tobi Lark – a romping Northern groove that has some weird harmony vocals shooby-doobing underneath Tobi's bold, raw lead – all on top of a rhythm that's completely infectious from the get-go! 7-inch, Vinyl record

Great stuff from one of the 70s' best vocal groups! "Seems Like" is stone mellow east coast harmony soul, with a sweet ballad style. "Town Called Nowhere" is even better, and has a nice choppy guitar, and a good midtempo groove. Very nice! 7-inch, Vinyl record

A killer – one of the group's best tracks! "Rover" has a stunning break on the intro – strings over drums, with a feel that's simply sublime, as the cut hits really hard and sets you up for some super-dope harmony vocals! "Better Off" shows the group's sweet side – but the tune's still a nice ballad! 7-inch, Vinyl record