Wonderful stuff from one of the best indie soul artists of the early 80s! The cut's a very solid groover, marching along at a midtempo pace while smooth keyboards from Hubert Eaves soar over the top. James D-Train Williams' vocals are wonderful – rich and strong, kind of in the mode of early Luther, who this track reminds us a lot of! 12-inch, Vinyl record

A fantastic bit of spacey soul – and an amazing collaboration between the Mizell Brothers and vocalist Rance Allen! The set's quite different than Rance's earlier, rootsier work for Stax – and instead has the soaring, joyous quality of some of the other great Mizell productions from the time on albums by Gary Bartz, Bobbi Humphrey, and Johnny Hammond! The best cuts here soar along with a really jazzy feel – that trademark Mizell groove, supported with excellent production that somehow manages to fuse a wide range of keyboards, rhythms, and string together with a really lean sound. Rance's spiritual vocals are wonderful throughout – and the whole album's essential for both Mizell fans, and any lover of righteous 70s soul! Titles include the sublime classics "Truth Is Marching On", "Reason To Survive", and "Peace of Mind" – plus "I'm Gonna Make It After All", "Got To Be Ready", and "You're My Everything". LP, Vinyl record album

A great album of funky grooves put together by Bill Cosby, and featuring some of his funky friends from LA, like Stu Gardner, Gildo Mahones, Mel Brown, Willie Bobo, Monk Montgomery, and Paul Humphrey! The set's not to be confused with the similarly titled album on Uni – but is equally great – and it features 3 looooong funky tracks – "Abuse", "The Blues", and "Bunions" – all with a lot of silliness, plus two shorter ones, including "I Love You Camille", written for his wife to stop her getting mad at all of his philandering! LP, Vinyl record album

Larry Graham and crew are definitely going for a fuller sound on this set – starting off the record with a funky marching band, in Tusk-like fashion – then rolling into some bass-heavy funk that tops even their previous records for tightness! The groove is a key element in the growth of west coast funk in the 70s – bass in the lead, but keyboards percolating in all over the place, in a style that's almost got touches of jazz – and which sets the stage for many of the Zapp-sounding projects of the future. Titles include "Love", "Mirror", "Entrow", "Do Yah", "Save Me", and "I Got A Reason". LP, Vinyl record album

A key album in the post-Hendrix tradition of funky black rock – and the only album ever recorded by Cleveland's Purple Image! The approach here follows nicely in the same territory worked by Funkadelic and Fugi in the early days – a heady, fuzzed-up blend of trippy guitars, heavy rhythms, and some nice sweeter soul touches – all in a mode that swings nicely between really messed-up tunes, and others with a lighter, more soul-based approach. Side two of the record is dominated by the great jamming track "Marching to a Different Drummer" – easily enough to rival anything on Funkadelic's Free Your Mind album – and other cuts include "Living In the Ghetto", "Why", "Lady", and "We Got To Pull Together". LP, Vinyl record album