A full package of work from the great Chaz Jankel – the keyboardist/composer who first rose to fame with Ian Dury & The Blockheads, but who went onto make some even better work on his own! Jankel's the guy responsible for the great groove on some of the best Dury classics – and when he went solo, he moved even more into funk and soul territory – drawing strongly on influences from American club, and cutting some great records that managed to cross over big on these shores! There's a relatively lean, clean sound to most of these grooves – early 80s beats and keyboards, with some nicely uncluttered vocals – but almost more of a focus on the instrumentation, which sometimes has a bit of a fusiony feel – but still that strong sense of a hook that made Chaz so great at the time, and which kept things true to form as these records moved over the course of his strong early 80s run. The set features the full albums Chas Jankel, Chasanova Questionnaire, Chazablanca, and Looking At You – plus a 12 track set of remixes and rarities – very important, as some of Jankel's work circulated most strongly on the 12" single scene of the early 80s. 48 tracks in all – titles that include "Just A Thought", "Ai No Corrida", "No 1", "3,000,000 Synths", "Questionnaire", "Thank You Very Much", "109", "Without You", "Johnny Funk", "You're My Occupation", "Am I Honest With Myself Really", and lots more cuts – plus a big booklet of notes! (Rock, Holiday Gift Ideas) CD

A long-overdue fifth entry in this amazing series – and like the previous volumes, a double-length set of rare material from the Motown vaults! 20 of the 43 tracks on the set are previously unreleased – and all of the material here goes way past the hits – to really show the full amazing scope of music that Motown was recording back in the day – with obscure cuts from the big names on the label, and some equally great tracks from artists who never fully got their due! The groove is upbeat on most tracks – very much in the Northern Soul spirit of the label – and titles include "Whisper You Love Me Boy" by The Lewis Sisters, "True Fine Boy" by The Funk Brothers, "A Toast To The Lady" by Frank Wilson, "I Want A Love I Can See" by The Underdogs, "Don't Be Too Long" by Anita Knorl, "All I Have Left Are Memories" by Sammy Turner, "Hold On To Me Darling" by Ann Bogan, "Determination" by Ivy Jo Hunter, "I Don't Want You Anymore" by Chris Clark, "There's No Love Left" by Eddie Holland, "Then" by The Temptations, "A Miracle Happened" by Johnny Bristol, "All I Want Is A Little Bit Of Love" by Barbara McNair, "In Your Heart" by Patrice Holloway, "Tomorrow's Child" by Terry Johnson, "It" by Little Lisa, "When Someone's Good To You" by Oma Page, "Too Much To Hope For" by Marvin Gaye & Kim Weston, "I Wish I Liked You" by Connie Haines, "The Truth Does Hurt" by Funk Brothers, "I Don't Know What You Got" by Edwin Starr, "Only You" by Brian Holland, and "I Found My Love In You" by Tommy Good. (Soul, Holiday Gift Ideas) CD

A long-overdue fifth entry in this amazing series – and like the previous volumes, a double-length set of rare material from the Motown vaults! 20 of the 43 tracks on the set are previously unreleased – and all of the material here goes way past the hits – to really show the full amazing scope of music that Motown was recording back in the day – with obscure cuts from the big names on the label, and some equally great tracks from artists who never fully got their due! The groove is upbeat on most tracks – very much in the Northern Soul spirit of the label – and titles include "Whisper You Love Me Boy" by The Lewis Sisters, "True Fine Boy" by The Funk Brothers, "A Toast To The Lady" by Frank Wilson, "I Want A Love I Can See" by The Underdogs, "Don't Be Too Long" by Anita Knorl, "All I Have Left Are Memories" by Sammy Turner, "Hold On To Me Darling" by Ann Bogan, "Determination" by Ivy Jo Hunter, "I Don't Want You Anymore" by Chris Clark, "There's No Love Left" by Eddie Holland, "Then" by The Temptations, "A Miracle Happened" by Johnny Bristol, "All I Want Is A Little Bit Of Love" by Barbara McNair, "In Your Heart" by Patrice Holloway, "Tomorrow's Child" by Terry Johnson, "It" by Little Lisa, "When Someone's Good To You" by Oma Page, "Too Much To Hope For" by Marvin Gaye & Kim Weston, "I Wish I Liked You" by Connie Haines, "The Truth Does Hurt" by Funk Brothers, "I Don't Know What You Got" by Edwin Starr, "Only You" by Brian Holland, and "I Found My Love In You" by Tommy Good. (Soul, Holiday Gift Ideas) CD

An explosive look at the mighty songwriting legacy of The Beatles – served up here in a giant 3CD package that features the group's famous songs covered by a whole group of their contemporaries on the UK scene! You'd think that most of these artists might be jealous, or resentful – not wanting to give a nod to the songwriting skills of Lennon, McCartney, or Harrison – but instead, they really revel in the tunes – often really transforming them, and completely making them their own – in ways that follow some of the best inspirations of the new psych generation, and which make the whole collection a lot better than just some straight rehash of hits by the fab four! The song selection is brilliant – dozens of tracks that we never would have heard otherwise – and as with all Grapefruit packages like this, the whole thing comes with a detailed booklet of notes on the music – way more information than you'd find even if you spent the whole day searching online. 68 tracks in all – with work from The Sorrows, Ice, The Spectrum, Real McCoy, The Eyes, Loose Ends, Rainbow Ffolly, Affinity, Yes, Blonde On Blonde, Spooky Tooth, Big Jim Sullivan, The Gods, Orange Bicycle, The Tremeloes, Jason Crest, Tomorrow, Circus, The Hollies, Camel, and many others! (Rock, Holiday Gift Ideas) CD