Includes tracks by the Byrds, Mamas & the Papas, Beach Boys, Tommy James & the Shondells, the Knickerbockers, Lou Christie, Paul Revere & the Raiders, the Capitols, and Los Bravos – 22 tracks total. CD

Music from Roy Orbison, Chuck Berry, the Beach Boys, the Hondells, Dionne Warwick, the Searchers, the Ventures, the Marvelettes, the Drifters, Bobby Bland, and more – 22 tracks in all. CD

Music from The Honeycombs, The Supremes, The Dixie Cups, Don Covay, The Murmaids, Roy Orbison, The Kingsmen, The Shangri-Las, The Impressions, Maxine Brown, The Beach Boys, The Searchers, The Reflections, and more - 22 tracks in all. CD

Music from The Byrds, The Yardbirds, Wilson Pickett, The Miracles, The Beau Brummels, The Righteous Brothers, The Temptations, Sam The Sham And The Pharaohs, Billy Joe Royal, The Beach Boys, Barbara Lewis, and more - 22 songs in all. CD

Music from James Brown, The Zombies, Lee Dorsey, Cher, Peter And Gordon, Jackie DeShannon, Cannibal And The Headhunters, Gary Lewis And The Playboys, The Larks, The Vogues, The Kinks,and more - 23 songs in all. CD

Music fromBarry McGuire, Fontella Bass, Len Barry, The Beach Boys, The Beau Brummels, The Miracles, The Kinks, Martha And The Vandellas, Roy Head, The Ad Libs, Otis Redding, The Byrds, and more - 22 songs in all. CD

Music from The Beach Boys, The Temptations, The Young Rascals, The Standells, Donovan, Aaron Neville, The Lovin' Spoonful, The Four Tops, The Bobby Fuller Four, Percy Sledge, and more - 22 songs in all. CD

Music from the Coasters, Dion and the Belmonts, Ritchie Valens, Bobby Darin, Frankie Ford, the Drifters, Lloyd Price, the Crests, LaVern Bakers, the Bell Notes, and more – 22 tracks in all! CD

Don't think rock – think rhythm 'n' blues – with music from the Nutmegs, Louis Jordan, Shirley & Lee, the Five Royales, Clyde McPhatter & the Drifters, Little Walter, Joe Liggins, Nappy Brown, Johnny Ace, the Clovers, Five Keys, Billy Ward, and more! (Soul, Rock) CD

Music from Pat Boone, Johnny Burnette, Fabian, Connie Stevens, Neil Sadaka, Bobby Vee, Ray Peterson, Tommy Sands, Frankie Avalon, Paul Anka, and more – 22 songs in all. CD

Music from Dion DiMucci, Neil Sedaka, Bobby Vee, Buddy Holly, Tab Hunter, Pat Boone, Fabian, Connie Francis, Frankie Avalon, Johnny Tillotson, and more - 22 songs in all. CD

Includes music by the Chantays, Inez Foxx, the Impressions, Chiffons, Jaynetts, Garnet Mimms, Lonnie Mack, Ruby and the Romantics, Stevie Wonder, the Exciters, and more – 22 traks total. CD

Music from Manfred Mann, The Zombies, The Tams, Chuck Berry, The Newbeats, The Supremes, The Searchers, The Beach Boys, Gerry And The Pacemakers, The Premiers, and more - 24 tracks in all. CD

Includes tracks by an intriquing variety of artists including Robert Mitchum, Timi Yuro, Cleveland Crochet, Jackie Wilson, Gene Allison and others. (Soul, Rock) CD

Music from Bill Haley and the Comets, the Moonglows, Cadiallacs, Bo Diddley, Joe Turner, Smiley Lewis, Clyde McPhatter and the Drifters, Johnny Ace, Chuck Berry, the Penguins, Ruth Brown, and more – 22 tracks in all! CD

Music from Carl Perkins, Fats Domino, the Five Satins, Shirley & Lee, the Teen Queens, Chuck Berry, the Platters, Little Richard, the Cadets, Sonny James, Little Willie John, Ivory Joe Hunter & more. CD

Includes tracks by Jerry Lee Lewis, The Dell-Vikings, Fats Domino, The Tune Weavers, Chuck Willis, LaVern Baker, Buddy Holly, The Diamonds, and more! CD

Music from Chuck Berry, Eddie Cochran, Conway Twitty, Little Richard, The Silhouettes, Bobby Darin, The Champs, The Crickets, and more – 22 tracks in all. CD

Music from the Drifters, the Ventures, Floyd Cramer, Jerry Butler, Roy Orbison, Jimmy Jones, Brenda Lee, Jimmy Jones, Conway Twitty, Neil Sedaka, and more – 22 tracks total. CD

Music from Del Shannon, Chris Kenner, the Shirelles, Gary Bonds, the Tokens, the Capris, the Marcels, Bobby Lewis, the Miracles, the Jive Five, Dion, Dee Clark, the Marvelettes & more. CD

Includes a bonus CD with an hour-long episode of Theme Time Radio Hour, Dylan's weekly satellite radio show – plus a bonus DVD containing a 'lost interview'. CD

An amazing set – all four of the legendary Warner Brothers albums by harmony giants Harpers Bizarre – plus bonus tracks too! First up is Feelin Groovy – the fab first LP by Harpers Bizarre! The group were one of the strangest pop ensembles operating in the seminal LA scene of the mid 60s – ostensibly a sweet harmony vocal group, but with a strangely childish approach that also had an ear open for the mind-blowing production styles of the Brian Wilson era. Van Dyke Parks was a big supporter of the group – and they perform a sublime version of his tune "Come To The Sunshine" as the leadoff track on the album – and even though Van Dyke didn't handle the arrangements of the record, the style of the music is very similar to his own, with guitar, bass, and drums coming into play with strings, woodwinds, and baroque orchestral touches. The record is as dark as it is sublime – one of those pop gems that hit big, but which has a brooding depth bubbling underneath the sugary coating – ala Pet Sounds. Tracks include "Happy Talk", "The Debutantes Ball", "I Can Hear The Darkness", "Raspberry Rug", and their huge hit version of "59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin Groovy)". Next is Anything Goes – the group's second album – and while it has a lot of similarities with the first, it's also a lot deeper of an expression of their strange blend of harmony vocals, sweet 60s pop, and the nostalgia for the early 20th century that was running through the Burbank Warner scene that included a young Van Dyke Parks, Randy Newman, Lenny Waronker, and other LA underground of the mid 60s. The whole record fits together beautifully – beginning with an old-timey radio kind of announcer, then sliding into sublimely crafted harmony tunes that include originals from the LA luminaries and the group, plus a few other surprising covers. Titles include the hit version of "Anything Goes", plus "The Biggest Night Of Her Life", "Milord", "Virginia City", "High Coin", "Jessie", "This Is Only The Beginning", and "You Need A Change". The Secret Life Of Harpers Bizarre is the third album by Harpers Bizarre – and one that shows them growing in leaps and bounds with each new release! The record is a sublime fusion of sweet pop California 60s harmonies (ala The Sandpipers or The Lettermen), baroque arrangements with a fake dreamy nostalgia (ala Van Dyke Parks or Randy Newman), and drug-addled underground takes on the eazy sound of the generation (ala Brian Wilson or Love). This album is one of their most perfectly-realized visions, and it features a great blend of older songs, all hipped-up to modern LA arrangements by the likes of Nick De Caro, Perry Botkin, and others. The record has an approach that's simply mindblowing when you consider the amount of funds and effort that must have been put into a record that would only be truly appreciated 40 years later – and it's filled with great titles that include "Me, Japanese Boy", "Look To The Rainbow", "Funny How Love Can Be", "Mad", "Green Apple Tree", and "Las Mananitas". Last up is the group's fourth album, unfortunately, the last Warner album by Harpers Bizarre – one of the few testaments of genius left to us by this incredible group! The record shows the group moving past the sweet pop and dreamy nostalgia of earlier albums – tentatively stepping into the haze of the late 60s LA scene with a blend of songs that share a lot musically with earlier work, but which also seem to have a more adult approach to some of their themes. Arrangements are by the group mostly – with help from pop geniuses like Jack Nitzsche, Nick De Caro, Lenny Waronker, Harry Nilsson, and Perry Botkin Jr. The harmonies are sublime – and the group effortlessly blends original tunes like "Soft Soundin Music", "All Through The Night", "When The Band Begins To Play", and "There's No Time Like Today, along with bizarre covers like "Hard To Handle", "Something Better", "I Love You Alice B Toklas", and Jim Pepper's "Witchi Tai To", which is worth the price of the record alone! Bonus tracks include "Both Sides Now", "Small Talk", "Poly High", "If We Ever Needed The Lord Before", "Malibu U", "Cotton Candy Sandman", "Lost My Love Today", and "Bye Bye Bye". CD

Overlooked genius from Led Zeppelin – an album that was missed by many the first time around, because of it's tight focus and simplicity! For the set, the group step back just a bit from their more stylistically sprawling tendencies – almost as if they got some of the more ambitious ideas out of their system with Physical Graffiti, or simply wanted to get out there and kick some ass – a back to basics move, and one that sees some tremendous guitar work from Jimmy Page! The album still has some longer songs and complicated changes – this is Led Zeppelin, after all – and the lack of over-played classic rock radio fodder actually makes this one a better listen nowadays than the more iconic albums. Includes "Achilles Last Stand", "For Your Life", "Nobody's Fault But Mine", "Candy Store Rock", "Hots On For Nowhere", and "Tea For One". CD

A strangely beautiful rarity from the early 80s, by a singer-songwriter billed only as Lewis – a mystery man who looks like a shirtless soap opera actor – but delivers one of the coolest pieces of period LA esoterica we've heard in a long, long time! The sound is tough to describe, but it's somewhere between haunting acoustic folk and spare synth pop – with the gentlest of piano and acoustic guitar, smoothed out synth waves and fragile solo vocals – with a surprisingly genuine sense of emotion, but that comes as a surprise only after reading the notes and considering the scant biographical tidbits available. Whoever this guy is (or was?), it's a fascinating listen – falling in some strange musical realm where it makes sense to blend spacey synth backdrops with acoustic songcraft and unashamedly romantic lyricism. Includes "I Thought The World Of You", "My Whole Life", "Like To See You Again", "Things Just Happen That Way", "Summer's Moon", "Love Showered Me", "Romance For Two", "Even Rainbows Turn Blue" and more. CD

An incredible version of one of our favorite David Bowie albums ever! Aladdin Sane was a real turning point for Bowie – recorded on the heels of the tremendously popular Ziggy Stardust album, but really pushing the boundaries past the more straight-ahead rock and glam of that record. Instead of just sitting on his laurels, Bowie tripped out into a wilder, weirder world with this one – mixing together elements of some of the baroque arrangements of early records, with the meaner leaner sound of the 70s – populating the songs with freaks, weirdos, and odd characters that gave the whole thing a really creepy edge. The whole thing's an oft-overlooked gem that, to us, is truly one of Bowie's most magical moments – and it's finally given its due here, in a beautiful 2CD package that features a whole disc worth of bonus material, plus a hard book-like cover, and a big booklet of goodies! Original titles include "Drive In Saturday", "Panic In Detroit", "Aladdin Sane", "Watch That Man", "The Jean Genie", "The Prettiest Star", "Time", and "Lady Grinning Soul" – and bonus tracks include "John I'm Only Dancing (sax version)", "Time (single edit)", "All The Young Dudes", and live recordings of "Drive In Saturday", "Life On Mars", "John I'm Only Dancing", and "Jean Genie". CD

Four incredible albums from the young Georgie Fame – plus a bonus CD of rare material, bonus tracks on all CDs, and 18 previously unreleased tracks – all in a box set with a 48 page book, 5 postcards, and a poster too! First up is Rhythm & Blues At The Flamingo – blistering early work from a young Georgie Fame – a set that definitely lives up to the Rhythm & Blues in the title! The set was recorded live at London's hip Flamingo club – and Georgie and The Blue Flames are very much in command of the crowd – burning with the intensity of a American small organ combo, especially the early 60s variety that often played equal parts soul jazz and R&B! Georgie's on the Hammond, and also sings with a rough-edged style that's plenty soulful, and incredibly appealing – a mode that oozes charisma, but never sounds fake or forced. Titles include "Do The Dog", "Eso Beso", "Work Song", "Baby Please Don't Go", "Shop Around", "Humpty Dumpty", and "You Can't Sit Down". Fame At Last is a brilliant mix of jazz, soul, and R&B – all filtered through a mod sort of London freshness, as early proof that the city could always take some great things from our own musical roots, and feed it back to us with a whole new flavor! Georgie's no copycat here, though – and the sound is instantly Fame-like – a style that's really not the sort that any Americans were doing at the time, and certainly never this well. Hard-burning Hammond colors most of the tunes here – played with a tightly vamping quality – but it's Georgie's charmingly crackling vocals that really win us over! Titles include "Gimme That Wine", "Pink Champagne", "Monkeying Around", "Green Onions", "Let The Sunshine In", "Get On The Right Track Baby", "I'm In The Mood For Love", and "I Love The Life I Live". Sweet Things is a definite sweet thing from Georgie Fame – a record that has him filling in his sound even more than before, with tremendously soulful results! The backings here are bigger than before – a bit tooled in an American soul mode, but still with that beautifully raspy Georgie Fame touch – lots of jazzy inflections on the vocals, and a way of handling a tune, even a familiar one, and really working it on his own level. Hammond still fills in most of the tunes, but other instrumentation includes some nice African percussion from Speedy Acquaye, saxes from Pete Coe, and some nice bold drums from John Mitchell. These come out to the forefront on the classic funky tune "Music Talk" – and still sound great on other numbers that include "The World Is Round", "Last Night", "Dr Kitch", "My Girl", "Ride Your Pony", and "Sweet Thing". Sound Venture is one of the jazziest early albums from Georgie Fame – a set that has him singing with the big band of Harry South, at a level that's a lot more complicated than some of his other work with The Blue Flames! The style here still has that mod 60s London feel, but it also has some deeper inflections as well – modes borrowed a bit from Jon Hendricks or Mose Allison, yet served up with even greater complexity – at a level that really points towards the tremendous growth Fame would unleash over the next few years. Members of the group include Tubby Hayes, Ronnie Scott, Tony Coe, Dick Morrisey, Kenny Wheeler, and many other key Brit jazz figures of the time – and titles include "Three Blind Mice", "Dawn Yawn", "Feed Me", "Lovey Dovey", "Lil Darlin", "Lil Pony", "I Am Missing You", and "Many Happy Returns". CD5 is Bend A Little – a package with 20 unusual titles – demos, rare tracks, and outtakes – including unreleased tracks, IBC recordings, and even two German tracks too! Plus, each individual CD comes with bonus tracks – 40 bonus tracks, in addition to the 20 more titles on the Bend A Little set – a huge amount of material! (Vocalists, Rock) CD

A big crossover classic for the champions of the Minneapolis scene – their first for Sire and featuring some of the greatest rock songs of the 80s, be it college radio, mainstream or any thing – greatness period! The sound is a bit more polished than the Twin Tone years, but there's no scrubbing out the shambling attitude, and truth be told, the more soul-searching material here is some of the best stuff they'd ever record. Includes the all time classics "Left Of The Dial" and "Hold My Life", plus "Little Mascara, Lay It Down Clown", "I'll Buy", "Kiss Me On The Bus", "Waitress In The Sky", "Swingin Party", and "Here Comes A Regular". CD

Roxy Music's third album, and a record that really shows that the group have found a tremendous voice of their own – quite a thing to do, given the heady brew of records that were coming out in the year of 1973! There's a style here that's familiar enough to draw the listener in – maybe some echoes of territory you might hear in work from David Bowie, Lou Reed, John Cale, or the now-solo Brian Eno – but once inside, you find yourself in a completely different world – a mad blend of guitars and strings, saxophones and electronics, all used in these ways that are tuneful enough to be catchy, but also deeply unsettling too – as are the lead vocals of Bryan Ferry, who comes across like some older European singer who's been let out of the madhouse for the sessions. This isn't a singles-heavy record, but instead an album-length journey that never gets old, even as the years move on – and which is as powerful to new ears discovering the record for the first time as to longtime fans. Titles include "Street Life", "Just Like You", "Amazona", "Psalm", "Serenade", "A Song For Europe", "Mother Of Pearl", and "Sunset". CD

Fantastic sounds from Terry Allen – one of the key underground Texas talents who were helping transform the style of country music in the 70s – and one of the few who maybe never fully got his due! Terry's from the same scene as David Allen Coe, Billy Joe Shaver, and Guy Clark, but his music is much more underground than theirs – maybe only ever designed to be put forth in an intimate club setting, late in the night – where the very conversational style of Allen's songs almost make them feel like barroom musings of a cat who's seen a heck of a lot of life on this planet, but still very able to peer into the souls of those he comes across. This double-length set is Allen's masterpiece – originally issued on a small pressing back in the 70s, and very much an alt-country relic – but from a time when such a thing didn't even exist. Titles include "Cocktails For Three", "High Plains Jamboree", "Amarillo Highway", "Lubbock Woman", "Rendezvous USA", "The Girl Who Danced Oklahoma", "Truckload Of Art", and "The Pink & Black Song". Great reissue – with corrected sound, and a huge booklet of notes on Allen – with essays by David Byrne and others. (Folk/Country, Rock) CD

The Thin White Duke turns to the east – and gets a whole new sound with help from Brian Eno! The album is an amazing departure from some of David Bowie's previous work – a set that's sparer, more spacious, and which is often instrumental – quite a statement, given Bowie's reputation as a songwriter at the time! It's almost like Bowie's shaking off all the confused stardom of the previous parts of the 70s – and is stepping forward as a new being from a new space – cleaner, leaner, and simpler than before – but hardly evacuated of soul at all, certainly not as much as you might guess from the Man Who Fell To Earth image on the cover. Titles include "Speed Of Life", "Be My Wife", "A New Career In A New Town", "Warsawza", "Art Decade", "Weeping Wall", and "Sound & Vision". Features great bonus tracks – "Some Are", "Sound & Vision (rmx)", and "All Saints". CD

A gem of a record from the late 60s British scene – one based around the sound poems of writer and poet Terry Durham! The record features Duram speaking and singing his own lyrics – supported by musical backings arranged by John Coleman, shaded in by some wonderful work by players that include Alan Parker on guitar, Evan Parker on saxes, and Chris Karan (from the Dudley Moore and Roy Budd trios) on some especially nice drums! Despite the poetic approach of the session, Durham's rough vocals give it a real sense of humanity – with none of the high-art pretension you might expect, and a real "everyman" sort of feel that comes from the overall delivery of the tunes. There's a nice link here between the other British jazz and rock experiments of the time – and in a way, Durham's a lost link in a lineage of hipper British artists that include Nick Drake and Scott Walker. A few tracks even get a bit funky, and titles include "The Fortunate Isles", "Sleep Train", "White Room Dreaming", "Branwells Corner", "Crystal Telephone", "Moving Through My Life", and "Stills From A Late Nite Movie". (Jazz, Rock) CD

Charlie Louvin's amazing late career creative upswing continues with these Murder Ballads And Disaster Songs – the kind he's sung for 50 something years – done wonderfully this time for Tompkins Square! Back in the 50s, the Louvin Brothers put out 2 widely disparate theme albums in a short stretch, the ominous Tragic Songs Of Life and the spiritual Satan Is Real – and Charlie does a similar thing with this record and its counterpart Steps To Heaven. He does magic with a few numbers from Tompkins Square's superlative People Take Warning box set of archival folk & blues recordings, and a few other gems, with sly honky tonk arrangements. Mark Nevers staffs the sound with some of the best young pickers and players in Nashville, including Chris Scruggs, William Tyler, Ben Hall & others – and as a bonus, we always love it when Andrew Bird lays off the whistling, the live looping and gimmickry, and just fiddles – as he does wonderfully here on "Darling Corey". Other tracks include "Wreck Of Old 97", "Katy Dear", "Down With The Old Canoe", "The Little Grave In Georgia", "My Brother's Will", "Dixie Boll Weavel", "Is This My Destiny", "Mary Of The Wild Moor", "My Texas Girl" and more. (Folk/Country, Rock) CD

Iggy Pop's mid-to-late 70s era working David Bowie as a co-writer, producer and incredible creative foil – in a 7CD box set! It includes Iggy's first 2 and to this day all-time great solo albums The Idiot and Lust For Life, neither of which seem to have aged a day since 1977, a full CD of alternate mixes and out-takes, the original classic live album TV Eye – 1977 that compiled soundboard recordings from the '77 tour – and perhaps this box set's deepest dug treasure trove – 3CDs of complete sets from that same 1977 tour at London's Rainbow Theatre, The Agora in Cleveland, and at Mantra Studios in Chicago! While the Idiot and Lust Of Life showed Iggy to be a lot more versatile of a front man and songwriter to anyone who might not have seen past the manic firebrand howling out front for The Stooges, his live material from that era is pretty amazing too, embracing the Stooges catalog with some of the more innovative style of his early solo albums –bigger arrangements, woozy keyboards and soulful back up singers among them without sacrificing any of the...well, we gotta say it...any of the raw power. Nearly as ferocious as ever but with a real sense of style and craft – and there's a wealth of it collected here for the first time ever. Also includes a 40-page hardback book! CD

Really wonderful work from the Texas scene of the 60s – not the heady psych or garage usually associated with the state, nor the more Latin-inflected modes from the border – but instead a unique batch of music that feels more like work from either coast, and which comes across with a surprisingly soulful sound! The 60s scene in East LA is well-known as a hotbed of early Chicano soul – and plenty of Spanish Harlem groups also dug doo wop at the time too – and the Royal Jesters fit perfectly right into that spot – working like a garage band, but with a stunning approach to vocal harmonies that really rivals the underground soul acts of the time. Most of the best cuts are relatively mellow and laidback – ala Joe Bataan's sweet soul work – and a few other nice numbers bring in a romping party vibe to balance things out, with some of the festive qualities you'd expect from the crowd scene on the cover. Yet it's the soul tunes we love the most, and the album's filled with them – a heady collection of 28 tracks that includes "I've Got Soul", "I'm So Sorry", "Afro-lypso", "My Life", "Spanish Grease", "Back To You", "Just A Friend", "Theme For A Lonely Girl", and "Meet Me Down In Soulsville". CD

The final album from the Talking Heads, and a set that returns them to some of the global elements of their mid-period records, but with a vibe that shows lots of the shifting studio technology of the time! The set's almost a precursor of some of the remix modes that would show up on the world music market during the 90s – as David Byrne and crew effortlessly borrow beats and instrumentation from Latin, Brazilian, and other cultures – while still weaving those elements into tunes that resonate with the work the group had been doing on more recent records. Byrne's vocals have that maturing quality that echoes with more soulful currents than at the start – and the set features a fair bit of guest instrumentation, from rock, jazz, and world music musicians. Titles include "Flowers", "The Democratic Circus", "Cool Water", "Mommy Daddy You & I", "The Facts Of Life", "Blind", "Totally Nude", and "Mr Jones". CD

The 2 great albums by Big Star – back-to-back on CD! #1 Record is simply one of the best rock albums of the 70s – partly remembered as a defining moment in power pop, but to us there's a depth of emotion here that goes way beyond chords and choruses, and sinks into our very souls every time we listen to it! Indespensible Memphis rock, to say the very least. Titles include "Feel", "Ballad Of El Goodo", "In The Street", "The India Song", "When My Baby's Beside Me", "Give Me Another Chance", "Watch The Sunrise" and more. Radio City is also one of 70s rock's finest moments. With Chris Bell out of the picture, one could successfully argue the traits that it lacks from the first album, but this thing stands up as work of genius all its own – with a raw, shambling immediacy to the songs that cut incredibly deep. Amazing stuff all around – totally indispensable! Titles include "O My Soul", "Life Is White", "Way Out West", "You Get What You Deserve", "Mod Lang", "She's A Mover", "Morpha Too", "I'm In Love With A Girl". CD

A tremendous live set cut during the height of David Bowie's years in Berlin – and the kind of performance that showed that his more experimental work from this time could be every bit as appealing as the classics! The first half of the set features some amazing numbers from the Heroes and Low years – presented here with some darker orchestrations that sound really wonderful, and which slightly recast the styles of the tunes on the albums. The second half mixes in some older classics with a few surprising bits – making for the kind of "star appeal" that must have been welcome to more mainstream Bowie fans during these more obscure years. 20 tracks in all – including "Beauty & The Beast", "Breaking Glass", "Speed Of Life", "What In The World", "Heroes", "Warszawa", "Be My Wife", "Soul Love", "Star", "Art Decade", "Alabama Song", "TVC 15", and "Ziggy Stardust". CD