Includes tracks by Donna Summer, Village People, Love & Kisses, Lipps Inc, Meco, Parliament, Pattie Brooks, Michael Sembello, Giorgio Moroder, Brooklyn Dreams, Cher, Teri Desario and Captain & Tennille. (Funky Compilations, Soul) CD

An oft-overlooked gem from Parliament – released during the year 1976, and sometimes hidden between monster LPs like Funkentelechy and Mothership Connection – but every bit as great as those two classics! The album's got that tightened-up P-Funk sound that was working so perfectly at the time – still with all the fuzzy haired elements of earlier years, but presented with a bit more focus – and a powerhouse swing that really drives the tracks home with a funky groove on the bottom! There's a flowing sort of energy here that almost makes you think that the whole thing just emerged naturally from the brain of George Clinton – but all ensemble players have a strong hand in the action, and really get some great moments in on the set. Cuts include "Gamin' On Ya", "Do That Stuff", "Children Of Production", and "I've Been Watching You (Move Your Sexy Body)". CD

Here's where it all happens – the huge culmination of all the years of heavy funk and psychedelic soul created by George Clinton and the P-Funk empire – fused into an amazingly tight groove that helped win over much bigger audiences than ever before! The album title and cover are very fitting – as George Clinton launches the mothership, forges his classic space-funk image, and blows the P-Funk empire into an arena-filling mega-star act – all with grooves that are still some of the tightest, sharpest funk you'll ever hear – all these many decades later. The instrumentation is razor-sharp – played by giants like Fred Wesley, Maceo Parker, Bootsy Collins, and Bernie Worrell – and the lyrics still have all the edginess and naughtiness of the earlier years – tied together wonderfully to make a very unified album, and one that's full of classics too! Titles include "Mothership Connection (Star Child)", "Night Of The Thumpasorus Peoples", "P-Funk (Wants To Get Funked Up)", "Handcuffs", "Give Up The Funk (Tear The Roof Off The Sucker)", and "Unfunky Ufo". CD

Although these days, Parliament's best remembered for their classic studio albums, back in the 70s, the real P-Funk experience was the incredible live shows served up by George Clinton and the group! George, Bootsy, and the rest were undeniably at the top of their game at the time – rolling into cities and taking them by storm with their space-themed sets, wild costumes, and intense ability to jam live with a force that even blew away their records! This double live set is a great document of the P-Funk sound of the time – and features some great tunes from mid 70s Parliament, served up in modes that range from straight to very long and drawn out. Titles include "Give Up The Funk", "Get Off Your Ass & Jam", "Night Of The Thumpasorous Peoples", "Let's Take It To The Stage", and "Gamin' On Ya!" – all done with the sort of live jamming feel that made their shows go on forever and groove all night long. CD

Stone cold great collection of funk cuts by this legendary group – all wrapped up in a nice package with a good memory for the hits! Tracks include monsters like "Chocolate City", "Up For The Down Stroke", "Give Up The Funk (Tear The Roof Off The Sucker)", "P. Funk (Wants To Get Funked Up)", "Bop Gun", "Flash Light", "Aqua Boogie", and "Mothership Connection (Star Child)". Why even bother going out of the house? CD

After beginning life as a super fuzzed-out psychasouladelic band, Parliament emerged as one of the best pop-funk combos of the mid/late 70s – with a tight tight sound that mixed the smooth major label sound of Casablanca with the mad funk genius of George Clinton. This huge 3LP set brings together some of the band's best tracks from their glory years of the late 70s – when they were hitting the charts and selling a huge amount of albums to college kids stoned out of their mind waiting for the mothership to land. Tracks include "P-Funk (Wants To Get Funked Up)", "Mothership Connection (Star Child)", "Testify", "Mr. Wiggles", "Bop Gun", "Up For The Down Stroke", "Theme From The Black Hole", "Give Up The Funk (Tear The Roof Off The Sucker)", "Flashlight", "Ride On", "Rumpofsteelskin", "Agony Of Defeet", and "Children Of Production". 25 tracksin all! CD

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A real breakout album for The Village People – thanks largely to the hit "YMCA", which had surprising play at the time – and has gone onto become one of those ballpark hits that everyone seems to sing completely un-self-consciously! The group are still working here in a New York Sigma disco mode – with backings by the Gypsy Lane group – and apart from the "YMCA" hit, other long tracks include "Hot Cop", "My Roomate", "The Women/The Cruiser", and "Ups & Downs". CD

Ahhhhh . . . By this point, George Clinton and the P-Funk team were on top of the world! The record is a masterful dose of slick mothership jamming – perfectly woven together with that tightly compressed style that really served Clinton's production work well. The tracks are long, but never too loopy – and thanks to help from the Bernie Worrell, Jerome Brailey, Gary Shider, and the Horny Horns, the album stays very tight instrumentally all the way through! Loads of Parliament classics, including "Bop Gun", "Funkentelechy", "Sir Nose D'Voidoffunk", and the massive "Flash Light", which we've heard a million times, but which never ceases to amaze us! CD

Often overlooked, but a very tasty album of late grooves from Parliament – not as much of a major hit as their previous records, but maybe even better because of that! The album's got the group's sound merging a bit with the Funkadelic vibe – that post-psych style of the George Clinton universe, where the groove is super-sharp, but also very long and freewheeling too – but in a way that never gets lost along its path! There's plenty of great numbers here – all with the best snapping P-Funk groove – and titles include "Agony Of Defeet", "Trombipulation", "Long Way Around", and "Let's Play House". CD

A pair of killers from Cameo – back to back on a single CD! Cameosis is full-on frenetic funk from Cameo – one of the group's tightest albums, yet still without any of the too-slick sounds of later years! The sound here is amazing – and we always find ourselves wondering how a group of guys can hit such perfect grooves with just a bunch of basses, guitars, and keyboards – a totally on-the-money style that vamps, leaps, and jumps with energy throughout. The vocals are great too – bubbling up in the mix almost like another instrument – and the album's got a depth that so many other copycat funk records from the time just couldn't touch. Wonderful throughout – with tracks that include "Shake Your Pants", "Cameosis", "On The One", "We're Goin Out Tonight", and "Please You". Also features a bonus 7" mix of "Shake Your Pants". Feel Me is a great 80s groove from Cameo – but one that's still done in the group's best early funk ensemble mode! There's maybe a bit more emphasis on the basslines and keyboards than before, but the sound of the music is still wonderfully full and spontaneous – very much in keeping with the warmly collaborative look of the group on the cover, who really sound like they're having a hell of a lot of fun making the record! The rhythms have a razor-sharpness that just about nobody else can touch – and there's all these cool little instrumental flourishes that sneak into the mix and really keep things interesting – odd sounds on familiar instruments, moogy moments on keyboards, and even some vocal inflections that come as a nice surprise. There's two nice mellow cuts – "Feel Me" and "Is This The Way", which have a sweetly compressed harmony sound on the lyrics – and funky numbers include "Better Days", "Keep It Hot", "Roller Skates", and "Is This The Way". CD

An amazing album that's probably one of the most unified albums that George Clinton ever recorded! The band's rawer style has been firmed up and economized – but a lot of the best elements are still in place, including a strange approach to vocals that has male and female voices interacting and counterbalancing in a similar style to that heard on some of Roy Ayers' best work from the early 70s. Clinton's begun introducing a lot of elements of Funkadelic into the group – but the tracks are still short and very tight, with a focused approach to both funk and lyrics that really makes the album stand up to repeated listenings over the years. The album begins with the sublime "Chocolate City", a surprisingly political number that has these incredible jagged piano lines that echo away madly – then it rolls into other great numbers like "Side Effects", "What Comes Funky", "If It Don't Fit, Don't Force It", and "I Misjudged You". CD

An overlooked later gem from Parliament – a set that's very tight and funky, and which really picks up the groove first laid down on "Flashlight"! There's a tightly snapping approach here that rivals the best late 70s work by Funkadelic – the later P-Funk mode that's even more focused on rhythms than before, and which gets away from the sloppy stuff to really hit home with the groove! Tunes are steeped in horny horns, wah wah guitar, and lots of electric keyboards – and titles include "The Big Bang Theory", which is virtually a blueprint for the LA G-funk sound of the 80s – plus the tracks "The Freeze", "May We Bang You?", "Party People", and "(GloryHallaStoopid) Pin The Tail On The Funky". CD

Here's where it all happens – the huge culmination of all the years of heavy funk and psychedelic soul created by George Clinton and the P-Funk empire – fused into an amazingly tight groove that helped win over much bigger audiences than ever before! The album title and cover are very fitting – as George Clinton launches the mothership, forges his classic space-funk image, and blows the P-Funk empire into an arena-filling mega-star act – all with grooves that are still some of the tightest, sharpest funk you'll ever hear – all these many decades later. The instrumentation is razor-sharp – played by giants like Fred Wesley, Maceo Parker, Bootsy Collins, and Bernie Worrell – and the lyrics still have all the edginess and naughtiness of the earlier years – tied together wonderfully to make a very unified album, and one that's full of classics too! Titles include "Mothership Connection (Star Child)", "Night Of The Thumpasorus Peoples", "P-Funk (Wants To Get Funked Up)", "Handcuffs", "Give Up The Funk (Tear The Roof Off The Sucker)", and "Unfunky Ufo". CD features a bonus version of "Star Child", a promo radio version! CD

Ahh, the dancefloor soul perfection of the beautiful Donna Summer – and classic late 70s production by Giorgio Morodor and Pete Bellotte – songs that are played often, even to this day, but will never be played out! Was this the one that coined the phrase "shipped gold, returned platinum?" We can't remember, but whatever the case, it's one of those sets that used to be ubiquitous, but which now we can hardly ever find in good shape! Includes shorter mixes of "Love To Love You Baby" and "I Feel Love" – plus the hits for the album "On The Radio" and "Enough Is Enough". Other cuts include "Last Dance", "Hot Stuff", "Bad Girls", and a shortened version of "MacArthur Park". CD

A huge disco cash-in moment of the 70s – but a great one too, and a strong illustration of the power that Casablanca Records had in both the clubs and charts at the time! The movie and record were both a bit over-pressed upon release, but they nonetheless stand as a great snapshot of the way that funky soul had taken over the clubs during the disco generation – giving showcase to a whole host of new young artists, and exposing lots of mainstream listeners to soul music at a level they wouldn't have touched a few years before! Donna Summer was one of Casablanca's big acts at the time – and she really dominates the record with her classic rendition of "Last Dance", plus tracks "With Your Love" and a disco remake of "Je T'Aime Moi Non Plus". Both other cuts are strong too – and include "Lovin, Livin, & Givin" by Diana Ross, "Too Hot Ta Trot" by The Commodores, "Disco Queen" by Paul Jabara, "Leatherman's Theme" by Wright Bros Flying Machine, "Floyd's Theme" by Natural Juices, and "Find My Way" by Cameo. CD

A batch of Parliament and Parliament related funk nuggets get a nice CD presentation of the original, rare, and or extended takes that were previously only available on the original vinyl! All told, more than an hour's worth of prime and/or rare P Funk! Tracks include "Aqua Boogie" (original 12" version), "Flashlight" (original 12" version), "Agony Of Defeat" (original promo-only 12" version), Parlet's "Ridin' High" (original 12" promo-only version), "Oh I" (original 12" promo-only version), "Up For The Down Stroke" (alternate version) and more. CD

A seminal album from Parliament – one that's very very different than the freaky fuzz of their Osmium debut – and which has the tight ensemble really coming down on the money, in the best funky 70s George Clinton mode! The record features a much more stripped down sound – nice and funky, with a blueprint of the bass-driven groove that would dominate the P-Funk sound of the 70s. Bootsy's on bass, and the group features Eddie Hazel, Bernie Worrell, and other likely suspects – all working with a news sort of sharpness compared to earlier P-Funk material – virtually the blueprint for everything else to come. Clinton, Hazel, and Worrell produced – and titles include the monster jammer "Up For The Down Stroke", plus other goodies like "The Goose", "Testify", "Presence Of A Brain", and "All Your Goodies Are Gone". CD

One of the greatest soul records of all time – and an album that we'd never part with! Gloria Scott only ever recorded this one full LP – but that's more than enough, as the whole thing's a masterpiece – produced by Barry White with the best of his 70s approach, and featuring songs written by lesser-known White protege, Tom Brock! Nearly every single cut's a classic – a mixture of deep soul, mellow soul, and slight traces of funk – all gliding effortlessly together with White's stone cold production, and Gloria's instantly captivating vocals. Titles include "Love Me, Love Me, Love Me, or Leave Me, Leave Me, Leave Me", "I Think Of You", "That's What You Say", and "Too Much Lovemakin" – and the whole thing's great! CD

One of the first great moments of the Munich disco scene of the 70s – an electric batch of soul served up in support of Donna Summer's landmark title hit! The set features the full 16 minute version of "Love To Love You Baby" – done as a monumental suite that dips, turns, slinks, and slides alongside Summer's sexy vocals beautifully. As with that track, Giorgio Moroder arranged the others on the set as well – along with tunes in more of a straightforward soul approach for the time. In retrospect, that was a totally brilliant approach – trailblazing on one hand, and saleable to the mainstream on the other! Other titles include "Need A Man Blues", "Full Of Emptiness", "Whispering Waves" and "Pandora's Box". CD

One of the first great moments of the Munich disco scene of the 70s – an electric batch of soul served up in support of Donna Summer's landmark title hit! The set features the full 16 minute version of "Love To Love You Baby" – done as a monumental suite that dips, turns, slinks, and slides alongside Summer's sexy vocals beautifully. As with that track, Giorgio Moroder arranged the others on the set as well – along with tunes in more of a straightforward soul approach for the time. In retrospect, that was a totally brilliant approach – trailblazing on one hand, and saleable to the mainstream on the other! Other titles include "Need A Man Blues", "Full Of Emptiness", "Whispering Waves" and "Pandora's Box". CD

An insane bit of fuzzed-out funk! This is Parliament's rare first album – a trippy batch of tunes that come off of Clinton's experimentation in the Detroit soul scene, infused by the rock-heavy energy of the city at the time, and probably a heck of a lot of cannabis, too! The record is quite different than the slick funky sound of the group's later work for Casablanca – and has the psychedelic funk sound of the early work of Funkadelic, which was also recorded during the same period. The album's filled with funky classics – including "I Call My Baby Pussycat", "Little Ole Country Boy", "My Automobile", "Funky Woman", and "Nothing Before Me But Thang". CD

An insane bit of fuzzed-out funk! This is Parliament's rare first album – a trippy batch of tunes that come off of Clinton's experimentation in the Detroit soul scene, infused by the rock-heavy energy of the city at the time – and probably a heck of a lot of cannabis, too! The record is quite different than the slick funky sound of the group's later work for Casablanca – and has the psychedelic funk sound of the early work of Funkadelic, which was also recorded during the same period. The album's filled with funky classics – including "I Call My Baby Pussycat", "Little Ole Country Boy", "My Automobile", "Funky Woman", and "Nothing Before Me But Thang". CD features loads of bonus tracks too – 7 more numbers that include "Red Hot Mama", "Come In Out Of The Rain", "Unfinished Instrumental", "Loose Booty", "Breakdown (mono)", "Fantasy Is Reality", and "Breakdown (stereo unedited version)". CD

Way more than just the "essence" of Nancy – an excellent 4CD set, with a huge amount of rare material! Here's the breakdown: Disc 1 features "Spanning The Decades" – a selection of rare singles and chart hits, most on CD in the US for the first time; Disc 2 is "From The Vaults", with 14 previously unreleased live recordings, and another 9 previously unissued studio tracks; Disc 3 is "Nancy's Choice", featuring 22 tracks that are Nancy's own personal favorites, 4 of which have never been issued in the US; Disc 4 is "Hidden Gems", 18 choice cuts from Nancy's albums, all issued on CD for the first time in the US! Wonderful throughout – with a total of 81 rare tracks on 4CDs, all packaged in a nice booklet style. Titles include "Hurry Change", "Are We Losin Touch", "But Only Sometimes", "Save Your Love For Me", "The Seventh Son", "Small World", "Just Go", "Go Away & Find Yourself", "Ribbon In The Sky", "Below Above", "Listen Little Girl", "Wave", "I'm Gonna Let Ya", "The Island", "Casablanca", "Dindi", "Godsend", "Suzanne", "I Remember", "Theme From Hotel", and "Free Again". (Vocalists, Soul) CD

Sublime second generation soul from Brenda & The Tabulations – a sweet set of Philly grooves, recorded at Sigma sound with help from Norman Harris, Bobby Eli, and John Davis! The album's every bit as groove-heavy as you'd expect from work by those dancefloor heavyweights – and the record's a great change from the earlier style of Brenda and the group – more positive and progressive, yet still with a few of the fragile ballads that first got them noticed! There's a great sense of class and poise to the record – a progression from the early years that's similar to that which many other Philly artists experienced with Gamble & Huff – almost more surprising here, given that sometimes a Casablanca record didn't come out with the same sort of care. Titles include "Superstar", "Home To Myself", "I Keep Coming Back For More", "Let's Go All The Way Down", "Leave Me Alone", and "Everybody's Fool". CD also features a bonus 12" mix of "Let's Go All The Way Down" – and an excellent Reel Music job of mastering and liner notes! CD